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.