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.

It's all about perspective

Commonly we as people categorize ourselves into two categories when it comes to optimism.  You're either a glass half empty person, or a glass half full.  But aside from how optimistic we are, how do we categorize how we view things that are "have to's" in life?  Like laundry, like work, dishes, the one hour commute?  When we look at those things as "have to's" instead of "get to's" then it is kind of like we are always a "glass half empty" person.

Yesterday as I was sweeping up the dried mud my husband had left with his work boots, I started to grumble inwardly.  No sooner had I started, than God had whispered to be "Be thankful that he is working, and that is able to work".  Wow.  When you think about it like that, the perspective is a WHOLE lot different.  Anything we do in life can be looked at as "I have to".  Or we can look at it as "I get to".  It is all in the way we choose to view life.

Let's all try this for just one day.  Let's be thankful for all the chores we do.  Let's be thankful for things that seem like work.  If you are working you are alive.  Be thankful to be alive, to get to spend one more day with your family, your friends. 

Confess and be Healed

Last night during evening church service, my pastor Dan Gutenson gave us a very inspirational sermon about the healing power of prayer.  The focus was not so much on physical healing, as it was on spiritual healing.  The scripture that he used was from  the book of James .  James 5:13-16 says "Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

Brother Dan shared with us that afflicted doesn't necessarily mean ill.  When you look up the correct translation of the word it means weak.  Tell me one time in our lives when we weren't weak and down trodden?  That study of the word and especially the last verse, Confess your faults, spoke to me.  The Holy Spirit used that sermon for me to speak up, and ask for the congregation to pray for me to be in God's word daily, and not just to say I have done so, but to actually receive a message every day from it. 

I would like to ask you all now, whomever is reading this, to also pray for me.  I need it.  I will also pray for you.  Thank you Brother Dan for delivering what I think God wanted you to say just to me :) 

A Bittersweet Memory

Yesterday was the day we chose to celebrate all of my children's birthdays.  Since their actual birthdays are all within one month, we give our family a break, and let them all join in at one time.

The day was marked with chili, lil' smokies, cake, ice cream and presents.  Lots of kids, laughter and a few tears.  But a day I feel blessed to have witnessed.  My children and those that got to attend had a wonderful time.

In just a couple of weeks, it will be the anniversary of my nephew Jeffrey's death.  He was 26 when he passed.  When he died, he had very few possessions.  One of his mainstays was his shotgun.  While the search party were searching for him, they found this laying in the grass just a bit away from where he was eventually discovered.  I would dare say that when we saw he left that behind, we knew we wouldn't find him and smile about it.

My father took Jeffrey's gun.  He got it completely redone.  It was rusty and dirty, and when finished it looked like a completely different gun.  Yesterday, at my oldest sons birthday party, my father gave it to him.  Jeffrey's mom, my sister Lisa, told my father that Jeffrey would have wanted Jakob to have the gun.  Watching my son be handed that gun was one of the saddest moments of my life.  I wish Jeffrey could be here to pass it to Jakob, to teach him to shoot it and to take care of it. 

Jakob receiving Jeffrey's gun

Jakob will treasure it.  As he treasures the memories he has of Jeffrey.  He will always be in our hearts.  I will always live my life, knowing he never got the chance. 

Dear Friends,

God bless my friends tonight
Help them through this life
Thank you for sending them to me
I pray that they're alright

Bless the one that pains
She needs a brighter day
Lead her, heal her, strengthen her
Please take the reigns today

Bless her mate restore his will
Give him a loving calm
His cup I ask for You to fill
He needs your hand to guide him now

Thank you Lord for those most dear
Whatever your purpose, I know not yet
But when You chose to show it to me
I promise not to forget

~:D

3 Winter Babies… Why did that seem like a good idea?

Not only are all my children winter babies, they were all three born within the same month.  Baby 1 was Jan 10, baby 2 was Dec 29 and baby 3 was Jan 25.  What was I thinking when I … wait.. I wasn’t.  Anyway, in accordance with most Western (and I’m sure lots of other ern countries) I prepare for the birthday.  And I do mean THE because we have a single party for all three.  How could you get all that family to come to three parties, in wintertime, in Kentucky?  What a whop on the wallet that is!

Isn’t life wonderful though?  I have good friends, most I’ve never met.  Kinda like it that way.  I know they love me for me.  Not what I can do for them.  I have a wonderful family.  Insane, and God given.  I love each and every member.  And I have a wonderful God.  What more can a person want? 

Nothing. Amen

My Shoes

Imagine I said I hated you

For the color of your eyes

Well you could get some contacts

We could compromise

For those dear souls that are hated

For the color of their skin

A solution can’t be found for that

With a trip to the 5 and 10

Walk a mile in my shoes

Before you decide to hate

If you don’t even know me

Can’t you pause, just wait

Why spend your life hating

When there is so much more to do

Life is much more worthwhile

When you love like God can do.

Ten Years Of Motherhood

I woke up this morning and thought, ten years ago at this moment, I was in the hospital in labor with my firstborn.  I had all 3 of my sisters by my side.  At 6:30 pm I welcomed my son, Jakob Ethan Mink into the world.  At a whopping 7 lbs. 7.5 oz., he would forever change my life.  I went from Christina to Mommy in an instant.  All the sappy movies and books can’t prepare you for the indescribable love you feel when you hold your child for the first time. 

Motherhood is a very long and hard job.  But it is the one job that I’ve had where the rewards are worth it.  To see my children grow up to hopefully be God centered people, who care more for others than they do themselves will be my reward.

I thank God on this day for allowing me to be the vessel to deliver three of His creations.  I feel blessed that He trusted me enough to care and nurture three souls that He created for a specific purpose.  That the Creator of everything deemed me worthy to be the mother to three of His children.

Thank you God. Happy birthday Jakob.