Ahhh the good ole days...

What happened to the good ole days?  When did they cease to exist?  Was it maybe 10 years ago? 20, 50, just when exactly did they stop?  An indicator, well to me anyway, is music.  If you note music today, a LOT of it is sampled for music of years past.  All the good love songs are gone, the teen age anthems are recycled garbage and apparently if you don't say 15 curse words in the first 5 seconds of the song, it won't be a hit!  Give me Ray Charles, give me Nina Simone, give me Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, give me an original!  Ah well, guess we will just have to be thankful that we can listen to the oldies and goodies on the web forever. :D

On That Day

This is a  poem I wrote last year for Christmas.


Imagine the joy that Mary felt
When she heard the glorious tale
That soon she would be mother to
He whom all would hail.
That on that day angels would sing
Shouting their glory above
Behold we have a newborn king
The Lord's embodiment of love.
Behold He is our Savior!
Jesus shall be his name.
And from this day you will see,
This world won't be the same.
Shepherds came to see him
Lying in a manger there
So excided where these men
They couldn't wait to share.
Can't we be as excited
As those shepherds on that day
That we've been given this gift from God
Our Redeemer we call the WAY.

It's been awhile

I have seriously been slacking in my post writing.  I need to find a good balance in my life, but life has seemingly taken a alternate route. Prayers are welcome to get me back to what I thought was God's will for me.  Thanks so much.

Go ye therefore into all the world...

I'll wager that if I were able to see a show of hands, that most if not all of you who read this would say that they have heard this before.  This is what we have been commanded to do as Christians.  Not suggested, commanded.  We are to spread the news of Jesus' love, sacrifice of himself for our sins and of his Resurrection.  What I wonder is, why isn't this happening?  I cannot speak for all people, churches or denominations, only myself.  I feel like I have my priorities askew.  Finding time to do missions, learn more about them, teach them to my children and others around me shouldn't be left to whatever time I have left.  It should be priority #1.  It just seems like life jumps ahead, and that is no ones fault but my own.

What I need from each of my readers is to pray for me.  Pray for my church that we might be more mission minded.  I feel like God is leading me to something and it is kind of scary.  I am a helper by nature, not so much a leader.  But!  I will follow God in whatever He wants me to do.  Please pray for me that I will have a steel resolve and will always look forward and never behind.

I pray that God blesses you all, and please don't forget to drop me a line and visit the prayer request page.  I add them as I get them, if you leave me a message, I'll put yours on the page as well.

Respect, what's that?

I remember when I was young there was this underlying almost fear that I held for my parents.  The thing is, I was never spanked, I just knew better.  When I was told to do something, I did it.  And when not, I didn't.  What I would love to know is, where did the respect go?  As you may see by my page, I have three cuties that can make me smile one second and be frustrated beyond belief the next.  One of the three (not naming any names) has a serious problem with their attitude.  I have no idea of what to do with them.  The mouth, the eye rolling and just generally disrespectfulness (yes I know that isn't really a word) is driving me nuts.  There is just an underlying tension between the two of us sometimes and I just can't seem to get them to understand how this is damaging our relationship.  I want us have no irritation in my voice, no stiffness in my back around them but years of disrespect has conditioned me for it.  I would love any suggestions from more experienced parents.  I just wanna know, where did the respect go?

Don't give tools the credit!

Imagine this scenario...
            A masterful carpenter is putting the final touches on an intricately carved piece of furniture.  Just by            viewing the furniture you can tell how much work and skill went into its creating.  Then, a passerby comes along and sees this piece of furniture.  The admirer looks at all the fine detail and all the hard work.  Then the passerby tells the carpenter "Man! Those tools did an amazing job making this furniture".

During Sunday school, this picture rolled though my mind like a movie.  Sometimes that is how God speaks to me, so I thought He might want me to share this.  So here we go.

What is wrong with this picture?  I am sure that you have already discerned that the problem is that we never give the tools the credit for making anything magnificent.  Picasso didn't give his paintbrushes credit, nor did Van Gogh, but rather when people viewed what these men had created, those admirers probably said what beautiful work the artist had done.

Why is it then that when we do exactly what we have been told to do by God, we want to take credit?  We are to go forth into every nation and tell them of the news of Jesus' love, life and sacrifice for them.  Sometimes when people are only an introduction for someone to God, they want to say "I brought them to salvation".  No you didn't.  Only the Holy Spirit can convict someone.  No words we say, no matter how eloquent, no actions we take, no matter how righteous or forceful can make anyone accept Christ's gift.

So don't give tools the credit for a plan laid out so masterfully by the Creator.  Just be glad that you are able to be used in creating such a beautiful thing as a new life in Christ.

God uses women too....

When we think of women in the bible, most of the ones that stand out as godly women are women who didn't come from great means, importance or social status.  The women we associate with good character are women like Mary (Jesus' mother) who was but a mere girl when chosen to be the mother to our Savior.  There are other women, like Ruth, whose actions were such an example as to have a whole chapter dedicated to them.  Neither of these women had wealth, but quite the opposite.  Mary was a teenager who had been affianced to Joseph at around the age of 14.  We know that she was approached by an angel and told that she would give birth to Jesus (from the time before and since there has never been another birth that didn't require two sets of DNA so we know what people probably thought of Mary).  Ruth was an old widow who was faithful to her mother-in-law Naomi.  She found favor in God's eyes and was married to Boaz and taken care of even in her old age.

I say all that to tell you this, women are important to God.  He used them in the bible to do important works for Him.  God used Jael to defeat an enemy of the army of Israel.  He could have used anyone, he could have chosen the most mighty warrior that Israel had, but chose instead to use a courageous and faithful woman.  When you look at statistics for missions funding and we think of those yearly church offerings, what sort of names do you think of?  Eliza Broadus, Annie Armstrong, those ring a bell?  The thing they both have in common is that they are both women and both loved God.

God can use anyone to teach, preach and evangelize.  You don't have to have seminary school under your belt to tell someone of God's love.  There is not a asterix at the end of the Bible saying that all the words in here only apply to men and when Jesus says the harvest is full but the workers are few, he wasn't referring to just men.  He used women in the Bible, and He will use you today.

What Could Be Is Now

Can you imagine a life without worry
Without care and without pain?
A life with joy and peace with
Comfort that is sustained.

Life for you my loves,
Could be called unfair at best.
At time it's seemed unbearable
Like an un-passable test.

Please know that it can be better
If you keep your eyes ahead
Let go of the past, it is unchanging
Your faith in Him embed.

I'll take your pain, if you will
For I have two sturdy knees
Lay your cares, I'll give them away
God will take them away from me.

~For my sister and my niece.  I'll be with you through this new journey.  I love you both with all my heart.  Please always know that.

Don't Do Familiar Again

Sometimes it seems like life is on auto-pilot.  Then suddenly you are cast into a turbulence so severe you are not even sure if you will make it off this trip alive...
Having a niece in the ICU on the brink of death jerked me out of auto-pilot.  The terrible thing would be if we took this gift from God for granted.  If we let life slip back into what is comfortable and familiar.  Please tell me that I am not the only one that realizes that if we do the same thing, we will get the same outcome we have always gotten.  Life is too precious to take for granted.  Think of those that we've lost, those that we've almost lost and then tell me that there isn't room in your life for some improvement.  Each decision that we make should first be thought through.  If it will displease God, it will hurt my family, and it will hurt myself, I try not to do it.  However; I am by NO means perfect.  I do think that I have gotten the main idea of life down.  The secondary concepts I may still need some work on.  But one thing I can tell you for sure that I've discovered in my 30 years is that sometimes people will stick to familiar even if familiar hurts.
Please don't do familiar again.
I love you.
You were created for something beautiful and what you are doing now is not beautiful.


Praise God for bringing my niece back from the brink of death.

Pictures I love

What did you think prophecy meant?

Everyday I watch the news and it seems like at least once a week in our country or some other country there is a natural disaster that has beaten past records on its strength and death toll.  I am not surprised by these, what I am surprised by is the fact that people are surprised it is happening.  It has been written down for a long time.  Granted, it doesn’t give the date and time each flood, hurricane, tornado or earthquake will occur, but it does say that they will occur. 
Luke 21: 7 - 12 says:
⁷And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?
⁸And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.
⁹But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.
¹⁰Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:
¹¹And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
¹²But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake.
While all of these things that the Bible has foretold does mean death, sorrow, and hurt, for Christians it also means the culmination of all we have lived for since accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  The only way to make the things that WILL continue to happen less scary, is to understand why they are happening.
If you are reading this, and you have not accepted Jesus as your Savior, please contact me, or someone else of faith and ask us how we can help you.  Being a Christian isn’t restrictive, it is liberating because you no longer have to be in control of your life.  Let God take the reigns and you will be fine.

A different kind of thought...

It is funny how you meet someone who challenges they way you think about things.  What is even funnier (not ha ha, but like wow, really) is when you meet someone who you are sure has stepped right out of a movie with all their personality and pizzazz.  I shall not illuminate on this any further, just wanted to have this written down so perhaps I will remember this day later on in my "golden years".  Anyway, I have news to share:

My niece Rachel Clark aged 26 is fighting for her life at this moment.  She is suffering from ARDS, and she is also septic.  Monday morning she was discovered unconscious on the floor.  She was brought in to the hospital and since then it has been a roller coaster.  I am begging any of you who reads this to please, please pray for her.  She is the mother of three beautiful babies.  They have been through so much already, I pray that they can see a wonderful outcome from this situation.  God is mighty, He is a healer and a miracle worker.  We've read of Him raising people from the dead, parting seas, and many more wonders.  Rachel is in very critical condition, and prayers are greatly appreciated.  Also, if you have any prayer requests you would like people to pray for, please don't hesitate to hop over to the prayer request page and leave me a comment.  I'll add it to the main page.  God bless each one of you.  Thank you in advance for the prayers.

If You Value Your Life Like God Value's His Church...

Then you won't try to defile it!  This is a re-write of a bumper sticker that my pastor saw.  The original bumper sticker said something like, if you value your life like I value my truck you won't touch my truck.  But this statement totally ties in with what our evening sermon was about this Sunday.  We studied about 1 Cor. 3:16-17 which says

¹⁶Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
¹⁷If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

There are a few key points in this passage.  Here are the questions that my pastor posed to us:

1. Who are the ye in the sixteenth verse?
2. What does it mean by the word defile?
3. Who are the defilers?
4. How does someone defile the temple?
5. And what does it mean by "him shall God destroy"

A lot of questions for such a small passage of scripture huh?  But questions that we might not take the time to consider with just a regular skimming of the Bible.  So here are the answers that Bro. Dan gave us.

• The ye is plural, it would be the church as a whole and as individual churches also. 
• Defile means neglecting of duties by the guardians and leading away of the church from a state of holiness in which the church ought to be.
• The defilers are believers, Christians.  The greatest threat to t the  church is from the inside.
• We defile the church by letting divisions to occur within the church, by allowing bad theology to permeate our churches and by bad methodology or bad conduct. 
• By destroy, well, we really don't know what God intends to do.  The Bible doesn't say for sure, we can only take references from other areas of the bible (see 1 Cor. 11:30)

Which brings me to the beginning, the title of this post.  As humorous as the bumper sticker would be, valuing your life doesn't mean God will strike you with a bolt of lightening.  During this part of the sermon, I felt a sense that perhaps this would mean the quality of your life (although I am not trying to limit God by saying that punishment by death wouldn't happen).  This sermon has a very important message in it.  When God gives you a command, you should want to keep it because you love Him.  Doing the opposite shows defiance, not love. 

God is my Bounty®

He is strong enough to hold me up and soft enough to comfort me.
The most durable in any situation and absorbent for life's blows and tears.

He can help me clean my messes up no matter what their size.
He is the one I continue to pick even after all these years

No need for me to select a size for He is perfect for any need.
Always available whatever the cause, finding Him down on bended knee.

I highly recommend Him to all my family and friends.
Although His price was very steep, He was kind enough to prepay for me.

In You Whom I Boast

There's nothing I can do to get
me to you.

I can claim no glory for my
blood washed soul.

The perfect plan was in action
long before I.

My claim to glory is only
in your name.

For even at your weakest you are
mighty by far.

In your most foolish of moments
Your wisdom surpasses.

What will be my legacy for this life
But your name

Nothing! And amen and amen. Glory be to
God's holy name

Paul's Journey

WOW........  I am so thrilled today that I felt that the first word of this post needed some extra emphasis.  This morning at Watts Chapel Baptist we were blessed to have hosted a beautiful singing quartet called "Paul's Journey".  They are from Houston, Texas and tour all over the United States.  (I added a link directly to their web page so you could check them out and buy their CD's.  There are also links to other ways to connect to them and their tour dates/places as well.)  Let me just say that I do not possess the words to tell you how much of a blessing these men were to our church!  I hope maybe God will tell me the words tonight, but as of yet I am speechless.  If they are ever near your state, you should go listen to them.  If you don't get a blessing, you must have had ear plugs in! 

I can tell you for sure that if they come back to Kentucky, I will be there to see them.  Keep them in your prayers, for their music ministry is a full time job!  They need prayers, love and support (and yes I mean money)!  Please go by their website and check them out. 

And by the off chance that any of the members of the group should read this, please let me say again how thankful I am that you are doing EXACTLY what God created you for!

My Gift

How can I sing my praise to you
With my voice?
I will in honor of what you've done
And who you are.
Not because I sound so sweet
As an angel, oh so glorious.

Lord how shall I shout to others of you
I've not been given the countenance
For confrontation such as that
I can humbly tell them of your love
And pray that you guide my words

I am so thankful for this body God
And that you've called others to do
What I've not been given the gift for
Beautiful singers, powerful evangelists
Thank you Lord for my gifts

I pray each day that I can use them for you
In honor of your love and devotion
In silent praise to your name, I write
You whisper words to me; they flow endlessly
Without thought or pause

For Lord, you are more than the poems I write
You are the reason that I do
I give all my praise and my love
I give everything I have
I give it all to you

Amen

An Innocent point of view

Green grass beneath my feet
Just so simple
A home to millions of things
Ants crawl over my feet in search
Always in search of
Blue sky above my head
So majestic
See those birds soaring, wings outstretched
Flying, carelessly fulfilling God's plan for them
His plan at work
Baby eyes staring back
So angelic
Little arms around my neck
Hugging me, God's gift to me
I accept this task
See this world
From the eyes of an innocent
Isn't all so bad, so cruel and unjust
It can actually be beautiful and amazing
When you see how God planned it

Just a little while

Just to hear your newborn cries
Feel your baby skin
Smell your sweet smells
Lasts just a little while

To be able to go back
Cherish those moments more
Linger in each of your breaths
For just a little while

I'll never get those moments back
But we'll make more each day
If God lets me stay with you
Just a little while

~I love you Jakob Ethan Mink!  You were my first true love and always will be.  I know sometimes you think I am the worst mommy ever, but I promise everything that I do, I do to make you a good man one day.  I pray each day for you and hope that God guides you in the right direction all your days.  

How it slips away

Time is such a fragile thing.  I have had to reexamine how I value my time, what I do with it and how I place importance on the things I have chosen to spend my time on.  For one thing, if you notice the date of my last blog entry, it was almost a month ago!  A month, really?  How does a whole month slip by?  It is really easy to just skim through life sometimes without really delving in to the beauty of it.  So this post will be a catch up.  I'll try to do it chronologically, but my memory is terrible so.... :)

This week at our church we are having VBS.  I usually do nursery, but felt this year it wasn't what I was supposed to do.  This year I am helping with recreation.  And let me tell you what a blessing it has been.  Getting to see the kids laughing and having fun with the silly games brings a simplistic joy to my heart.  It most assuredly makes the 90+ degree weather bearable. 

This past weekend I hosted the second annual Backpack for Kids Charity Yard Sale.  We made 376.00 last year and this year made 500.00.  My brother Wayne and my mom gave me almost 200.00 of that before the yard sale even started!  I had so much help for it, it made me realize even more how blessed I am.  My sisters helped, one of my sisters co-workers, my brother, husband, father, mother, church friends and even some of the kids came and pitched in!  I wish that this money didn't need to be given to this cause, but it does exist.  Kids go home from school on Friday not knowing if they will eat anything of sustenance (or anything at all) all weekend.  Without the backpacks of food, lots of kids would go hungry.  There are lots of causes in this world, but God has laid hunger on mine.  I can't imagine those babies with growling bellies, knowing that there is no relief in sight for those hunger pains.

I thank you all for taking the time to read what I write.  I will make myself sit and write more often.  It really is cathartic for me to do this.  And somehow lets me feel more connected, even though some of you I'll never meet. 

Lots of love.
Christina

What a Daddy Is…

He isn’t always the one who holds you when you’re born

Nor even the one who is at your first birthday party

Because physical presence does not a daddy make.

A daddy is the own who is there when you are sick

Holding your hand and wishing he could take away your hurt

A daddy is happy you are there and doesn’t count you a mistake

He is there for guidance through the journey of your life

Information and advice with compassion and love

He’ll be there for you even after your biggest blunder

A daddy is more than genetics and blood even more than a last name

How can you tell a father from a daddy?

A daddy will never let you go under

Crave Pure Spiritual Milk

^{Last night at church our pastor spoke on the words from 1 Peter 2:1-3.  That scripture says:}

 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.  Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

This scripture really challenged me.  I read it and re-read it.  I had to ask myself, do I really crave God's word?  Do I seek out opportunities to delve into it and seek to find subtle nuances that were hidden to me before?  I honestly had to answer, no.  I read the Bible.  I remember some scripture (some, not a lot), and the major stories of the Word, but I don't read it to seek something new from it always. 

God's word to us should be a craving.  Why?  It is our direct link to what God has commanded us to do, how He has illustrated for us to conduct our lives and mostly because it was sent for us to know Him better by.  When you think about how a baby needs milk, how they don't stop fussing until they get their need met, you must then compare yourself with that same urgency.  Do you merely read God's word to read it?  Or do you read it because you crave it? 

I seek to develop a craving for God's word.  Brother Dan gave us a really good start at developing a craving for that "pure spiritual milk".  The first step was to rid yourself of all these that were mentioned in the scripture.  Like a child, if you are full with bad stuff (in a child's case, junk food) you won't be hungry for the healthy good stuff.  We need to rid ourselves of sin and the love of it to be able to have room for God's word.

The second step, read it!  Get in there and dig in.  God reminded me during this sermon (as He often does) of something I already knew, but hadn't put the two together.  Researchers say that in order to get a toddler/child to like a new food, they must try it between 6-15 times (Read about it here).  So if it takes a child that many times to develop a taste for something so basic as food, how many more times must I read God's Word before it surpasses habit and reaches a necessity? 

Thank you God for using Bro. Dan once again to tell me something that I needed to hear. 

For You

Tears stain the walls of my home
Flung from my fingertips
I cry for you

Spots worn thin on the carpet there
Down on bended knee
I pray for you

Blood trickled down his face
Hanging on that cross
He died for you

A Soldier's Story

A tear rolls down her baby face
as she tells her daddy goodbye
Not really understanding
Why he must go away

Her daddy tells her he'll see her
soon but is unsure inside his heart
Hoping that he's won't be breaking
this promise to her today

He kisses his wife the love of his
heart, she understands but doesn't
want to.  Knowing this could be her
last kiss, it means more to her now

He's prepared for this his whole career
Leaving them here today he doesn't
feel prepared at all but
He will fulfill his vow

To protect and serve even unto death
Freedom for all even those that hate him
He hopes they understand
As he stands proud, like a mighty tree

One last look back he takes as he
boards the plane to leave
Another tear, from daddy's girls, man
Freedom does not come free

From this to that

How can you go from this to that
In the span of twenty six years
How can we be smiles one day
The next uncontrollable tears

How is life so fragile
You didn't plan it that way
How could you be gone
You had so much more to say

How can my heart hurt for you
When you don't feel any pain
How can I forget your smile
When it's seared inside my brain

How will life go on from here
Different but it will go on
How do I know this for sure
You were here, now your gone

My beautiful family

Just a cute lil collage I made with Picasa3. :)

Thank God

Tonight if I should die what will I
Have to do? Just claim my reward
And know that I love you.
Never forget the things I’ve taught you please.
Know how much I’ve prayed for you
God has a plan for your life if
Only you follow his will. And if I should
Die tonight, know I’ll love you still.

You have a ministry too!

A few years ago, if someone would have told me that I could clean and still be doing work for God I would have laughed (inwardly of course) at them.  I never really understood what having your own ministry for God is. 

Those of you that are involved in a church body (and if you are not, you really should) may not even be aware of all the opportunities to serve God that exist.  The first thing to do when seeking a ministry is to make sure you are doing what God has called you to do and not just what you think will make Him happy.  God has a specific purpose for each of us.  Not everyone is called to do every job.  We are all parts of the body.  Some are the knees (prayer warriors), some are the mouths (speakers, singers,), some are the hands (people who help in a physical way) (please note, these are just my interpretations of the body).  But EVERYONE has a job to do.  You need to ask God where He needs you.  Be aware of where He is working and then join Him. 

There are several ministries in each congregation I am sure.  I can give you a few examples of the ones at our church and what they do.  Ask your church if you have this program and if you think God is calling you to do that, join Him.

• AWANA program is a ministry for children children of any age.  There are lessons for kids ages 1-13/14.  Bible verses are taught, missions education is taught, good social interaction with kids and adults that love God.
• Vacation Bible School (VBS) is done (at my church and I assume all others) during the summer break for kids.  The age range is similar to that of AWANA.  Again they will learn about God, Jesus and how to accept Jesus' gift of salvation.  It usually lasts 1 week.
• GROW Team is a group of people who go out on neighborhood visits to shut-ins, people in need of salvation and sick people.  They also (at our church) send out cards of sympathy, get well cards, and encouragement cards.
• Bible Studies are awesome ways to get involved.  Sometimes (and this really should say always)  the pastor has so much their plate that they don't always have time to host bible studies.  Guess what, you have a home, and a bible, you have a perfect setup for a bible study.  Or you could meet at chruch as well.
• WMU is a group for ladies who are interested in missions.  See my post about WMU and what they do.
• Church Cleaning Crews do just that.  They clean the church.  Now I know some churches pay for this service, and we used to do that.  But having volunteers from our congreation to do this has saved us lots of money and also given us a new way to fellowship.
• Sunday school teachers teach a Bible lesson on (usually) Sunday mornings.  Our church has a different teacher for all ages groups.  That gives a lot of opportunity for you to work with God.

Now please note, these are just a few.  There are also things you can do like taking up food, clothing, and hygiene items for your local food bank, homeless shelters and domestic violence shelters.  Any way you can get out in the community and spread God's love is a ministry.  It doesn't just have to be in the church.  Take a walk around your neighborhood and bring a Bible, and some tracks with you.  Introduce yourself to people, get to know them and their situation.  People are in need of God and we are called to show them His love.  How will they know if someone doesn't move to show them. 

Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly [is] great, but the labourers [are] few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. ~Luke 10:2

"If you stay ready, you ain't got to get ready"

Yesterday was supposed to be "The Rapture" according to an 89 year old radio station owner.  He spent tons of money promoting and spreading the word of this day.  It was supposed to happen in each time zone at 6pm.  Well.  It is now 2:39 pm on Sunday, May 22 and I am still alive.  I've not seen any dead bodies littering the ground or anything unusual, so I'm guessing that he was wrong.  In fact I know he was wrong.  I'll give you one perfect reason that he is wrong. 

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." ~Matthew 24:36

How can people that believe in God, Jesus and all things related to Him (including the Bible) not understand that He will not come back when people are expecting it.  He says the coming will be "like a thief in the night"... For any of you who have ever been robbed, I am sure you can attest to the fact that the robber didn't leave you an advanced warning of the day and time that they will be at your home.  When we least expect it is when He will come. 

This is why we always say to be ready all the time.  Apart from Christ's second coming, you should be ready because this could be your last second on earth.  You could be reading this blog and die right now.  Don't wait until you think Jesus is coming back to get ready, you need to stay ready. 

Pregnancy Crisis Center

Last night at Watts Chapel's WMU meeting, we had a guest come in that worked for the local pregnancy crisis center.  First let me say that I had no idea any such thing existed.  And then let me say that I was more than thrilled that it did. 

What the center does is quite remarkable.  There are a number or services that they provide.  Free pregnancy tests, counseling, adoption help, parenting classes, talking to teens about sex and the ramifications of having sex before marriage, among many others.  What struck me as so remarkable is the level of passion that the representative had for this organization. 

They are completely privately funded, no government help at all, which is a very important thing because...they actually tell the clients about Jesus.  YES!  They council people from a biblical standpoint.  For instance, she gave an example of talking to teens at the local high schools about abstinence.  She actually gives them a demonstration when she talks to them.  She gets some kids to help her show something.  She gets one teen to stand in the floor and represent a person at birth.  Then she stands one teen a few feet away representing the average age kids start having sex (which is 15), then she gets another to stand a bit away representing the median age of someone who just got married (which is 25), and lastly she represents the median age at which we die (around 70).  She shows them how much time they will actually have to have sex after they marry.  The gap in between 15 and 25 is really not so long.  A visual for them which I am sure turns some heads. 

They also offer a post abortion bible study.  For those that have had an abortion, sometimes they get an incomplete message (totally depending upon which health care provider they see) about what an abortion will do.  Yes it will end the pregnancy, but it will also leave you with a big scar on your heart.  The only thing that can heal that wound is God, and a bible study would be the perfect thing for that.

I am sure I speak for all the ladies when I say how thankful we are that such an organization exists.  When you've found yourself with a pregnancy that you didn't plan and sometimes don't want, it is nice to know that you can get more than just medical advice.  Thank you for all you do.  If you would like to get in touch with someone for donations or to learn more please click on the link below:

http://www.prccky.org/

My Sweets

                                 Kayleigh and Rainbow

                                  Out on a hike

                                  Riding his bike

                                  In his PJ's

Get Involved

Oh yeah, that sounds like fun, sitting around with a bunch of old ladies talking about Tupperware and stuff.  That is pretty much what I thought about our church's WMU (Women's Ministry Union) when my mom asked me to come to the meeting.

I (very reluctantly) said I would come thinking that it would just be something to do for my mom.  In reality, it is something that every woman should be involved in, women of all ages. 

What we do is have a meal together first (love my mama's cooking), then we will read from the Missions Mosaic the names of missionaries around the world that are having a birthday on that day.  We pray for them and ask God to be with them always and to help them know what to say in every situation.  We then discuss new and old business, who we will donate money to, what causes we can support and how we can help the church in whatever God is entrusting it with.  We also have a lesson about a wide variety of things.  Things ranging from Prayer to Patience, Saving money to being a missionary in our own ways.  From these lessons I have learned more than I could imagine.

I'm sure your church has a lot of programs that you may not even be aware of, maybe you have a WMU and don't know about it.  If you aren't sure, I suggest you take a look at it.  I promise you will be blessed.  I have gotten to fellowship with some wise ladies, learn a lot about them, learn a lot about myself and more importantly, learn a lot about God.

Just like the Israelites

For my daily Bible reading my passage today included Numbers chapter 11.  In this passage we are told of the Israelites complaining of God being insufficient for them.  Now, the Bible doesn't say the Israelites said that, but essentially they did.  They complained numerous times about numerous things.  In the beginning of the chapter the Bible says they complained, it displeased the LORD and he sent fire down and it consumed those on the outskirts of the camp.  You would think that would be a lesson learned right?  (Of course by then, they'd already had many lessons).. But no, it wasn't.  Because soon after that, they once again complained.  This time about their food, or in their opinion the lack there of.  Now, they had the gall to actually hint that they were better off as slaves in Egypt because they had fish to eat.  They wanted meat.  God's manna wasn't enough for them.  Really?  He has rained down food for you, everyday, don't have to hunt for it, it's right there.  When there is morning dew, there is morning manna.. but that isn't enough?  So, what does our God who provides do?  He says (not quoting) You want meat?  I'll give you meat till it runs out your nose!  Till you are so sick of it you can't stand the thought of it again.  He sent meat (quail) that was stacked around 2 cubits high (around 2 feet).  WOW.  He said there would be more than the Israelites would even want. 

Now, knowing that God is an unchanging God...what must we expect now?  Of course... you question God, you essentially say God isn't who He says He is (since He says He is our Provider), what must you expect but this:

³³And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.
³⁴And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.

You knew that was coming right?  God doesn't change.  The same God that judged these people for complaining about their circumstances is the same God that will judge us too.  Do we expect Him to be lenient upon us?  These were His chosen people.  He didn't care to burn them, plague them or kill them.  When He tells us what He is, why do we question Him?  We are just like the Israelites. 

Just Pots and Pans

God has a funny way of delivering a message, doesn't He?  Sometimes he delivers it through my children, sometimes through strangers, sometimes through His word.  Sometimes He uses objects.  Today He used pots and pans.

The sermon today at church, our Youth Pastor Josh Blanton took over the job of delivering God's word to us just as He has said it.  First of all I must say he did just exactly what God wanted, He opened my eyes.  Second of all Josh's sermon started off my day thinking about my mortality.  (Yes I know, once again).  What it made me think of is, do I do enough for God.  Not saying that you get to heaven on your works, but God doesn't give out free rides either.  Narrow is the path.  Josh made a very important point.  He gave us three warnings to consider when talking about showing people the way of salvation.  Here are his words:

1.  We drift towards that which is easy and popular.
2.  We profess what we do not possess.
3.  We assume salvation without biblical foundation.

Let me give you a short synopsis of each.  The first is that we want the way to salvation to be as simple as repeat these words and you will go to heaven (without changing the life that you are living now).. Guess what.. The sinners prayer is not a magical incantation.  It is only a stepping stone towards God.  If you are praying that and expecting what Josh termed "fire insurance", you'll be sadly mistaken upon your death.  Matthew 7:21-23 says:
"²¹Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
²²Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
²³And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. "

God plainly says that not everyone that calls upon His name will enter into heaven.  The second thing Josh talked about: Professing what we aren't possessing.  That is talking about looking within ourselves and making sure that when we say we are going to heaven, we really are.  Did you just pray the sinners prayer and carry on like nothing happened.  When you really pray that prayer, when God has convicted you and your soul is yearning for Him, I promise you, you will notice a change.

The last thing that Josh talked about what assuming salvation.  The verse that he took this from is also in Matthew 7 and verses 24-27:

²⁴Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
²⁵And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
²⁶And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
²⁷And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

You cannot claim salvation through Jesus' blood if you are actually building your Christian foundation on a very shaky ground.  You must be firm in the fact that you have truly accepted God's gift.  If you have any inclination that you aren't saved, you aren't.

That is the first part of my day.  After church I donned my cleaning clothes and went to my mama's house to help her clean her cabinets.  My mom is 70 and I can hardly even say that sometimes without crying.  As I was cleaning out the cabinets, I ran across my grandmothers cast iron skillets.  She would have been 101 on this very day.  Seeing that part of my grandmother, those pans that she so lovingly cooked for her family in, made me think of the day (unless I die first) that I will be cleaning out my mothers cabinets. 

This made me think, do I do enough for my mama?  I try to always be there when she calls.  I wish I could jump every time she needs me at the second she needed me.  But I do try.  And I think she knows that.  This second part of my day made me wonder if I don't do enough for God, and I don't do enough for my mother, who am I doing for?  The answer is me.  I do for me.  I will not quit doing this blog, because when I write something here, I feel it is direct message from God.  But I am going to cut out more time in my life for my God and for my mom. 

I KNOW my mom is going to heaven, and will be happy that she won't be in pain anymore, but I will also be sad that I won't have my mother here on Earth for spiritual guidance, love and direction.  She has been a true inspiration in my life.  Thinking of a life without her is almost too hard for me to bear.  Seeing her pans along with my grandmothers really brought the message that Josh gave this morning home for me.  But they are just pots and pans right?

Bradley

When I look upon your angelic face
It is barely visible there
Time is slowly erasing the pain
That came from everywhere

A baby yet, a hurt so old
My soul aches for you
If only I could erase these years
Make your reality untrue

Life is getting better
You're a soldier young boy
The war you've been through
Will surely end with joy

You're surrounded by love
You can be a child now
No more shaky branches
You're standing on a firm bough

Hannah

Your world has been changed
My dear
You miss them in your voice
I hear
Sometimes the ones we love
Won't change
To accommodate our needs they
Can't rearrange
Don't let the hurt you've
Been Dealt
Suppress the love from others
You've felt
You're beautiful, you're precious
I know
Something better in you life
Will show
I love you and I'll be there
For you
I'll be praying, watching all that
You do.

Ashley

Blue eyes
Clear tears
Utterly confused you are

Tiny hands
Tinkling giggle
These moments warm my heart

Sad whimpers
At night
While asleep you turn and toss

This world
Not you
Is sorrow, pain and loss

Know this
My sweet
I'm here for you today

If I
am alive
In my heart you'll stay

Love you
Ashey poo
Yes dear I'll pack you

I'll always
Love you
The love that you are due

A Cute Lil Video :)

One of my friends shared this on Facebook, I thought I'd share it with you all too :)

http://www.godvine.com/The-Innocent-and-Funny-Prayers-of-Children-408.html

Clothed in His Righteousness

Last night was our Wednesday night Bible Study at Watts Chapel Baptist Church.  Our pastor is away doing revival so we got the opportunity to hear from one of our members Brother Paul.  It is so wonderful that God gives us opportunities to help Him that not only grow others understanding oh Him, but also our own. 

He used the scripture Isa 61:10-11 as his main focus.  Those verses state

¹⁰I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

¹¹For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. (Biblegateway.com, KJV)

What we paid close attention to is the righteousness of Christ.  He was totally blameless, not a mar against him.  He was the only one that could be a sacrifice for our sins, we needed a lamb without blemish.  Brother Paul also gave a few quotes from Martin Luther.  Here is one:

"This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness, not health, but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it, the process is not yet finished, but it is going on, this is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified." 

It is an awesome thought to think that the creator of all life loved us so much that He sent His only son to Earth knowing the suffering, persecution and pain that he would endure.  And even more awesome to know that Christ did so willingly.

My mother said to me this morning, “We are all saved, whether we want to be or not.  The only thing is, we must first accept that gift of salvation.”

I pray if you are reading this and you haven’t accepted Jesus’ gift of salvation that you will.  Contact me, or pray this prayer I will put at the bottom with a sincere heart.  God will hear you and you will see changes come to your life. 

"God, I recognize that I have not lived my life for You up until now. I have been living for myself and that is wrong. I need You in my life; I want You in my life. I acknowledge the completed work of Your Son Jesus Christ in giving His life for me on the cross at Calvary, and I long to receive the forgiveness you have made freely available to me through this sacrifice. Come into my life now, Lord. Take up residence in my heart and be my king, my Lord, and my Savior. From this day forward, I will no longer be controlled by sin, or the desire to please myself, but I will follow You all the days of my life. Those days are in Your hands. I ask this in Jesus' precious and holy name. Amen."

Another Mothers Day

 


God thank you for blessing me with these three beautiful children. As mothers day approches, I want to thank you not only for my three blessings, but also for blessing me to be born into such a loving and nurturing family such as I have. It is something I know people often take for granted, because not all people are as fortunate as I have been. I love you mommy.

I love you Jakob, Kayleigh and Aiden. Thank you all for not only making each mothers day special but every other day as well.

My Favorite Job

Tiny toes and fingers
Lots of gooey kisses
That shaky first step
Fingerprints on the windows
Spills on the floor
Doesn't last that long

Mispronounced words
I can do it myself
Mama can I sleep with you
I've got a new friend
First day of school
Five years already

I've got a crush
Please can I wear makeup
Can I go on a date
I've got my licence
My baby you aren't anymore

Graduation day
College
Walking down the aisle
My first grandbaby
Tiny toes and fingers

He IS My Portion

On BibleGateway part of todays reading passage is "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Psalm 73:26).  This message stuck me as particularly important to day because of a conversation that I had this morning. 

We are all going to die at some time.  We don't know when or how, but we do know it is a certainty.  But if we live our lives in fear of death and the unknown, then we are telling God that His strenth is insufficient to carry us through.  This verse says what we should be feeling beautifully "God is the strenght of my heart and my portion forever".  He is all we need. 

It still amazes me how a verse can be read 14 times, not really meaning anything, then that one time you read it, it is like God just added that in there that day for you.  I love you God and thank you for your continual inspiration.

Likes Flies to Honey

We've all heard that old saying.  You get more flies with sugar than you do with vinegar.  Meaning you'll get people to be more responsive to what you want them to do if you are sweet to them. 

I've heard it said that you can't sugarcoat God's word.  That is absolutely right.  But what we must do, is we must allow God to direct us in the right way to present His word to each individual.  I understand that when we are sharing the gospel with a group, it is hard to individualize, but when we have the opportunity to do it in a one on one fashion, we must allow God to help us to know what is going on in that person's life.  We do not know, but He does.  We may encounter a person that is in an abusive relationship and they are lost.  Would it be more beneficial for them to hear God loves you more than a human love, he cares for you and created you for a special job in His kingdom, or that God is a vengeful God that rains down wrath upon people when they don't do as He says?

 For them to learn the whole truth about God, we must first show them His love.  We must not only tell them of His love, but demonstrate it in our lives.  Enough with the Sunday morning Christian.  If you are going to represent Christ, you do so all the time, not just in church.  When you are going against what God has commanded and people are witnessing you do that, it is firstly a bad reputation for you, secondly a bad representation for the church you attend and most importantly, a misrepresentation for God. 

Be mindful of God's leadership.  We don't want people to be drawn to God's word and Jesus' gift of salvation like sugar.  We want them to be drawn like honey.  We want them to come to the sweetness and get stuck there and never depart. 

It isn't just about statues anymore...

Weird title huh?  Well once again, God has used a study that He led me to take to convict me of something.  He used this past weeks lesson about hindrance in your prayer life to convict me of of two things.  Two of the sins that can majorly effect your prayer life are idolatry and broken relationships.  I knew about the idolatry (sort of) but hadn't really thought about all the idols that I had in my life.  The T.V is a biggie, Facebook games is another (or was until I blocked them today).  I put these things in a more prominent place in my life than God.  I spend more time playing Facebook games than I do praying and studying God's word.  This can be be changed though.  And it has, and will continue to.

The other one that I never even considered was broken relationships.  To think that an earthly dispute could have a negative impact on my relationship with God had never crossed my mind.  I thank God for leading me to this study so that I might try and repair these relationships.  I am taking steps, and for those of you who might read this and feel like I've hurt you, I ask that you contact me.  I do not want to be in any way responsible for hindering someone else's prayer life.  If you are carrying a grudge against me, let me know so we can settle it.  There is nothing important on this earth to keep us at any distance from God. 

Thank you God once again for all You do.  The spiritual gifts far outshine the physical.  This physical life is fleeting, heap on me all the spiritual gifts this earthly mind and heart can stand please. 

Seasons of my Life

I've been afraid of changing cause I built my life around you.  But time makes you bolder, children get older, and I'm getting older too. ~Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac, Landslide)

As I was watching TV yesterday, I came across Stevie Nicks singing Landslide with Sheryl Crow.  For some reason tears start falling down my cheeks.  I always am aware, but for some reason I just pondered it more on this occasion than normally.  I am getting older.  My children are getting older too.  Those singer/songwriters that I have loved so long are aging, dying.  Ten years ago if  you would have told me I would be watching television coverage about Michael Jackson or Patrick Swayze dying I would have thought you were nuts. 

We don't really dwell on our mortality that much, well we try not to I suppose.  But if we don't, do we really live life like we should?  If I knew then what I know now, I would have burned memories into my brain, cherished them forever.  Stevie Nicks wouldn't have had that impact on me for sure.  I wouldn't think about people I've lost and wished that I'd have spent more time with them. 

Life is exactly like a landslide.  One day you are standing on top of the mountain, looking around at God's masterpiece.  In the blink of an eye, you are tumbling down, you've lost your footing. sliding and can't get a grasp. 

Really pay attention while you are on top of the mountain.  Look deeper than the surface. 

Sometimes you just need to talk.

Sometimes we go through rough patches in our lives where we feel like no one listens and no one cares.  All it takes in one of these moments is for one person to say something kind to let you know that they do care to totally transform your mood. 

For about 4 1/2 to 5 years  I've been a stay at home mom.  This was a very hard thing for me to get accustomed to, and I still haven't quite got it down.  Some days I start feeling like I am not productive.  Then I have to talk myself down off the pity party ledge before I jump head-first into a cry me a river.  Anyway, I tell you that so tell you this...besides my husband and family I really don't get a whole lot of grown up interaction.  I find myself saying familiar three year old words in a grown up conversation.  That's disturbing.  Recently in the Disciples Prayer Life study we were asked to pick a prayer partner to pray with on a regular basis.  So I approached a gal at church and asked her if she would mind me calling her and praying on the phone with her.  (Well not in those exact words, but you know).  I was more than thrilled when she accepted.  That conversation has done more for me than she can even know.

We pray together (not every morning but I want to do that...consistency is not my strong suit) at 5:30 am and talk about things that are bothering us, or things that we would just like to talk about.  It is soooooo refreshing to have someone else tell me that I am not the only one that feels a certain way about things.  Once again I am thankful for God's guidance in helping me fill a need that I had in my life.

If any of you feel the same and would like someone to talk to, get a gripe off your chest or just hear each other breathe (:D )... just let me know. 

Thank you for reading.  And Nikki if you read this, thank you too. :)

Almost Persuaded to be a Christian

In todays sermon at Watts Chapel Baptist, Brother Dan read from Acts 26:1-30.  He focused mainly on verse 28 where King Agrippa tells the Apostle Paul that Paul had "almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian".  The King knew of Paul's past.  He knew that Paul had been a Pharisee, an opposer of Christians and of the way of heaven through the sacrifice of Christ.  He had had Christians thrown in prison and been a complete opposite to Christianity.  Then on the road to Damascus, Paul recieves a word from God that totally changed his whole world.

Paul told the King, you know of my life, and the change that it has taken.  You know of Christ.  You know of the prophecies.  With all of this knowledge (and mind you the the King was alive during the time of Jesus' walk on this earth, he had first hand knowledge that He did exist), the King still was only "almost persuaded". 

We today have not ever physically met Christ, but most of the people where I live do believe that He lived.  They even believe that He died for their sins on the cross.  If they believe that, then why is it that in my area alone, in the Bible Belt, there are still people that have not accepted the gift Christ gave.

My prayer today is that we can spread the gospel, share the news, pray about it and leave in God's hands.  It is not up to us to make someone see the truth, it is just up to us to tell them The Truth.

It is Well with my soul

Last night during our Wed. night Bible Study, we studied the book of Numbers and more specifically chapters 6 and 7.  In Chapter 6 and verse 22 the Bible gives us a "Priestly Blessing" that Aaron and his sons were to give the Israelites.  It reads:

 ²⁴ “‘“The LORD bless you
and keep you;
²⁵ the LORD make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
²⁶ the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’  (Biblegateway.com)

And in this blessing, Bro. Dan asked us what does it mean when it says "give you peace".  He said that peace (in this instance) doesn't mean without turmoil, it means that no matter what life gives you, you should be okay and at peace with it.  The more he explained it, the more it made sense.  While he was talking one of our hymns came into my brain.  "It is well with my soul".  One of the lines in that song says:

"When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul."

God spoke to me in that moment and told me that whatever comes my way, it should always be well with my soul, because he knows what is coming on the other end of everything.  He has control of my life. 

Thank you Lord for all you do for me.  Thank you for this gift of technology that allows me to share with others what you have given to me, peace. 

It Shouldn't Take a Disaster to Thank Him!

How many times in our lives do we take for granted ordinary, mundane or seemingly trivial things?  Like for instance, your phone, the Internet, even the library.  Three different ways to get almost instant access to any kind of information that we want.  When was the last time that you thanked God for each of these things?  Better yet, lets get down to something that he directly made...you.  When was the last time you thanked God for your toes, eyes, nose, ears, internal organs?  I've begun to thank Him more for things that I can't see, like my heart, my lungs, and my kidneys.  Those are unsung heroes, until one of them fail to do their job.  Oh THEN we notice them. 

I would like to challenge anyone who reads this post to take some time today.  Think of things that you use without thinking.  Then think of what life would be like if they weren't there.  Don't forget to include body parts.  It will really open up your eyes to what we really should be thankful for.  I know it did mine. :)  God Bless you all.

Busy Doing Nothing

In my churches Prayer Life studies, a verse came up last week that really resonated with me.  The verse was Matthew 11: 29-30.  It says “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”.  How many times in our lives have we felt like we are overburdened with life’s worries?  Like if one more thing is put on us we will break?  Why is it that we forget to unload all that to God?  We pray for His miraculous help in times of great crisis, but we forget that He is ALWAYS there.  If we truly believe that He can help us in our greatest hour of need, how then is He incapable of helping us to find a job, or to manage our budget, or find a good baby sitter?  God is in control.  We sing it, we say it, but we don’t act it.  We go through life only calling on His name when we feel like there is no other option.  God is the first answer, not the last choice.

I gave the title to this post “busy doing nothing” because I have found myself with lots of extra time since my Facebook fast started on Monday.  I had been letting my blog writing go by the wayside.  I have had more time to be detail oriented when cleaning the house.  More time to read God’s word.  So I'm not hating on the Facebook fast.  That was just something to keep me busy while doing nothing.

Thank you Lord, for you love, your presence and your conviction.  I give you thanks today for my breath, my intricately made body and my health.  You prove yourself as my constant Watcher, my Companion, my Rock and my Shield.  Thank you for the many facets of You Lord.  Thank you.

The "P’s” of Prayer

Don’t you just love it when you are sitting in church, expecting to hear from God personally, and then it feels like the pastor is talking directly from God to you? 

Tonight's service at Watts Chapel Baptist church  (Crab Orchard, KY)was all about the powerful prayer that Elijah prayed in 1 Kings chapter 17.  The widow whom Elijah had been staying with had discovered her son was dead.  She cried to Elijah “What do you have against me, man of God?  Did you come to remind me of my sins and kill my son?”  Elijah takes her dead son from him (notice that doing this would have made Elijah ceremonially unclean in that day and he would be much of an outcast for a period of uncleanliness) and took the boy to his own bed, laid him out and stretched himself atop the boy praying for God to restore his soul.  Imagine that.  Nowhere in the bible before this has it stated that any individual had ever prayed such a bold prayer. Elijah KNEW that God could answer and he persisted until God did.  Three times Elijah stretched himself out and prayed to God. 

The “P’s” of Prayer given to us tonight were:

The Place of Prayer (meaning where you pray at)

Your Pace of Prayer (Praying on a regular basis, not just during crisis)

Your Posture of Prayer (Not physical posture as Elijah, but spiritually humble)

Boldness of Prayer:  (Praying a prayer even if there is no prescience for it.)

Purpose of Prayer: Remembering that it is not just to say what we want and get it off our chests, it is communicating with God in expectation that He is able to do greater than we can even think to ask.

Lastly, and this was not given to my pastor, but I think God meant me to tell it to him was Participation of prayer.

This is the first time sine I have been baptized that something has compelled me so much that I could NOT not go forward during the alter call.  Many times I have felt God nudging me down the aisle, but this time he pushed me.  God spoke to me during the sermon and told me that when I pray for someone to know Jesus as their Savior, He may ask me to be the one to tell them the Way, and that I should participate in my own prayer.  I came forward tonight, told Bro. Dan what God had laid on my heart and asked him and the entire church to pray that I could have boldness as to not be scared or nervous as I all too often get in any potentially confrontational situation.  Please pray for me to have boldness and a calm heart when God chooses me for an assignment.

On a side note, I know that I am on a fast from Facebook in preparation of our upcoming Revival at Watts Chapel (starting Sun. March 13th at 11-12 am, that night at 7 pm and then each night until Wed. at 7 and nursery is provided), but I am not technically on Facebook, I am just posting this from Windows Live Writer.  I pray this word I received can help some of you as much as it has helped me.

In a Fleeting Moment

Man life goes by so fast.  The sad thing is that even when it isn’t going by fast on it’s own, I am wishing it away.  “I will be glad when summer gets here”, “I can’t wait for Friday”.  I can’t think of a single person that I know that doesn’t feel the exact same way and do the same thing.  One thing that we are forgetting is that we are not promised tomorrow.  In God’s word he says “^{13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. ? (James 4: 13-17)}

So if it is stated plainly that we are not even promised the next breath, why then do we keep on putting off important things for another day?  Why then do we just mull about aimlessly?  Is there nothing important for us to be doing?  You would think with all the people who have never heart about Jesus, and those that have not accepted Him as their savior that there is SOMETHING we could be doing. 

My prayer is this.  Lord, please let me always be present in each breath.  Let me never again wish my life away.  Please give me boldness to use whatever gifts you have blessed me with to reach out to people.  I don’t know exactly what all Your will is for me but I pray that I am always in the center of Your will. 

I ask these things in Jesus’ Name,

Amen

A Word From God

I watch a show on ABC called “What would you do” every Friday.  It is a hidden camera show that shows scenarios devised to capture peoples reactions to various social situations.  Everything from breastfeeding in public to spousal abuse has been covered.  Every time I watch that show I think to myself, “What would I do?”.  Would I react in the correct way, would I just pass by and ignore, would I call out the injustice?  Funny how God delivers a message to you huh?

This morning during service at Watts Chapel Baptist, Brother Dan Gutenson was delivering to us a message about promises or vows that we make to God.  He gave us some reasons that we generally make promises to God such as being in the midst of a crisis (God if you will _____ I will _______ for you).  He also spoke about a promise we make when we accept Jesus as our Savior.  We vow to God to share His word with others.  To be a witness for Him and bring others to Him.  He also said that often times when we can witness to people and don’t, we justify it to ourselves by saying “Someone else will do it”. (That is also the main reason on the TV show that people give when they ignore the situation)  When Brother Dan said that it was like a bolt of lightening went off in my head.  God told me WWYD.  When I am presented with an opportunity to witness to others about God what DO I do?  Generally nothing.  I am too nervous.  I am not embarrassed about my faith, but when I am in a potentially confrontational situation I literally break out in hives.  Even if it is arguing about my bill over the phone, I still get nervous.

I wrote exactly what God said to me on my arm that moment.  I knew if I wrote it anywhere else I would forget about it.  Then during our evening service, Brother Dan talked about hearing from God.  He asked when was the last time you heard from God.    That reaffirmed to me that I had heard from God.  Brother Dan reminded me of something Henry Blackaby says “God’s not into idle chit chat”.  Meaning when He says something, you need to remember it.

(Picture says WWYD Someone else will witness)

So as the show says at the end… What would you do?  Will you speak up for God?  You promised  Him you would.  Pray for me that I always have the courage to speak up when offered the opportunity. 

Life Lessons from a 3 Year old

Is it possible for a 30 year old woman to learn anything from a toddler?  Well thanks for asking…yes there is.  And yes I did.  Today while doing my Bible Study and my homework for a class I am taking about prayer, my 3 year old (who was playing a computer game) kept asking me to help him beat the game.  When I would come and help him out, he would then tell me “No do it this way”.  I thought to myself why ask for help if you are not going to like what I offer.  WOWWIE WOW WOW (as Junie B. Jones would say) like a bolt of lightening it hit me.  How many times have I asked for help from God and then when He gives it to me I say “Not like that”. 
Sometimes we ask for help from God (and rightly so) but when He delivers us in a way we were not expecting we get frustrated.  Why is that?  We are asking help from GOD.  From He who has always been.  The creator of all life.  Yet we decide sometimes that He gave us something wrong. 
Do you see my life lesson now.  God delivers messages in strange (and very cute) ways sometimes.

Take a stand and Shut your mouth.

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. ~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Brainy Quotes.com)

Have you ever been in a situation where you hear a child say something that you KNOW they did not decide on their own.  Something that had been instilled in them by friends or family?  Now when it is a good thing that they child says, fine (like Jesus loves me), but when a child is spouting hate, that burns me up!

I have raised my children to not ever discriminate against someone because of their color, economic status, odor, abilities or different abilities.  I have only told them, if they are nice to you, be nice to them, if no one will play with them you should be the first.  I cannot understand why parents would want to create hate in their child.  For that matter I cannot understand why people in this day and age hate someone (or whole races) just because of their color, sexual orientation, religion or any one of the myriad of reasons people hate.

One of my children came home from school one day and told me that the President (Barack Obama) shouldn’t be president.  When I asked him why he said well (I won’t name the child’s name) said that because he was African he shouldn’t be our president.   I was flabbergasted.  We don’t have a large population of other colors/religions/ethnicities in my community.  I think the last time I remember it was 1% Black, 1% Hispanic and the rest are white.  But I explained to my child that our president is an American, therefore he should be the president.  I also told him not to repeat things that he hears other children say because that is not how we live.  My husband is Hispanic, so I used the  scenario of how would you like it if someone was mean to daddy because he wasn’t white.  My son said he would be mad.  I said well, if a child that is a different color heard someone say that about them, what do you think they would feel?

I also told my son and daughter that when they hear something being said that doesn’t sound like what I’ve taught them, they should stand up and say that it is wrong.  Tell someone.  I can only hope that they will always do that.

Going Green!

After much thought and nervous thinking I’ve decided to make some lifestyle changes.  My kitchen is almost a plastic wonderland.  That’s crazy.  I have known about the presence of BPA for quite some time.  I just haven’t found the right way to approach it to my husband that I wanted to get rid of most of our dishes.  Today was that day.  I asked him would he mind if I made a few changes to our dinnerware, because I’d leaned that plastic-ware was not great for our health.  To my utter amazement he told me that HE HATED PLASTIC!!!  SAY WHAT??? I said he told me that he hated plastic.  He says he hates the way it smells.  Ok I’m running with it.  That is all the reason that I needed to then tell him that our budget was gonna get stretched just a bit week by week until we (or rather I) had purchased all the required items for a family of 5.

Thanks to some wonderful help from a far advanced greenie (my friend Stephanie Proffitt), I will embark on this adventure this coming week.  We will be acquiring new dinner ware, glass ware, and I am even of thinking getting some 17 dollar sippy cups for Aiden.  It is expensive I know, but it is my child. 

Prayers are welcome (mostly for my husband and his wallet) as I embark on this very new, very exciting journey.  Thank you again Stephanie for all your help.