One voice in a million

Three points converged this weekend to work on my mind. A thought that kept coming up over and over.

1.) My oldest Child turned 9- I was drawn to thinking about how unique each child is. My two are not very much alike despite the fact of being raised as similarly as possible. My son is almost never jealous, ever- trust me I did nothing to earn this he was just born that way. He talks faster than the human ear can process and he loves all things robotic.

2.) I heard this song: Natasha Bedingfield's "Strip Me"- and no it's not one of those nasty little pop songs you have to change the station for so your kids don't hear. It was in a movie and I liked it so much I looked it up on the net. Basically the song celebrates the fact that when all is stripped away from us in life, we still have a voice that can be heard. We are unique and we should not take that for granted.

3.) Our bible study in youth class Sunday was on spiritual gifts and then as very often happens, our pastor, who was preaching a totally unrelated sermon series, ended up spending most of his time on spiritual gifts. The idea struck me that our spiritual gifts are probably as unique as our DNA and God crafted it that way. He never wanted to create the same being twice.

That seems pretty significant. Don't you think?

He gave each of us a voice and those who recieve His spirit get talents (gifts) to express that unique voice to glorify Him is a way that only that person in that time can do.


It is the most tragic and heart breaking thing that we take the fact that we were crafted by a master craftsman for granted. It is misery that we treat ourselves like trash.

I cannot help but Love this guy

PS. it's not my hubby.
Steven Curtis Chapman.

He is a man who walks the talk. When his Daughter Maria was killed in a horrible accident, in which his son accidentally ran over her, he and his family fell into the arms of Christ. They never turned from Him, even when the anger came and the doubt came, they kept their faces turned to Him. The testimony they gave was Pure Power!




They were on every show- Larry King, Good Morning America, etc...
God shines in their faces, speaks in their words and they obviously living in victory in a fallen and pain filled world.
Here is a link to an interview: Powerful!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGYQFk95Dhw



He re-wrote several song endings after her death. Cinderalla and Yours.

WELL, his new single just came out and it was such a wake up for Me and My husband. It's called "Do Everything" it comes from-

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men

Here is the behind the song story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NOMv90r9xM

Here is the link to hear it: http://stevencurtischapman.com/

and Here are the Lyrics with my commentary in italics:

You’re picking up toys on the living room floor
for the 15th time today
Matching up socks and sweeping up lost
Cheerios that got away
You put a baby on your hip and color on your lips
and head out the door  -So been there!
And while I may not know you I bet I know you
Wonder sometimes does it matter at all  -Oh yeah, the endless cleaning & parenting
We’ll let me remind you it all matters just as long as you
Do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you -oops you got me, 'cause I have never thought of housework as part of that equation.
Cause He made you to do
Every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face
And tell the story of grace
With every move that you make
And every little thing you do


Maybe you’re that guy with the suit and tie
Maybe your shirt says your name
You may be hooking up mergers, cooking up burgers
But at the end of the day
Little stuff big stuff in between stuff
God sees it all the same
And while I may not know you I bet I know you
Wonder sometimes does it matter at all -Hubby confesses he never thought of having to do the other guys work in this light
We’ll let me remind you it all matters just as long as you do
Everything you do to the glory of the One who made you
Cause He made you
To do every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face
And tell the story of grace with every move that you make
And every little thing that you do




Well maybe you’re sitting in math class
Maybe anekatips on a mission in the Congo
Maybe you’re working at the office
Singing along with the radio
Maybe you’re dining at a five star
Or feeding orphans in Myanmar
Anywhere and everywhere you are
Whatever you do it all matters
So do what you do and don’t ever forget
to do
Everything you do to the glory of the One who made you
Cause He made you to do
Every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face
And tell the story of grace as you do
Everything you do to the glory of the One who made you
Cause He made you to do
Every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face
And tell the story of grace with every move that you make
And every little thing that you do
Ooh oooooh
Every little thing you do

Now that my friends is the line of thinking that comes from a man who really knows the God he serves. Lord, I want to love you like that.

Effort

Father's day 2011
After the AM church service, my hubby grilled up several pounds of various meats. I mean just the smell alone had all our mouths watering badly. He loves to grill. My Dad and Mom came over to partake. I baked a red velvet cake and made my best potato salad ever- secret ingredients: Bacon and spicy brown mustard. He chilled a pure dripping sugar watermelon all night. We feasted. Afterward we pulled ourselves out of the food coma and we swam. My kids are ecstatic when Daddy swims. Mom's achy breaky back will not provide the launch sequence for total water lift off. Oh, but Daddy has it down to a science.

Yes, they cling to him like monkeys of the sea.

His water wresting skills are legendary.

My daughter reveling in the fact that this year she can touch bottom.



Family, it's the best kind of challenge. To be perfectly truthful, as soon as I got married I realized I had problems and issues I never even dreamed of. Parts of my personality reared their ugly heads like aliens who had been using me as a cocoon. I loved my husband and I sincerely wanted my marriage to be life long, so I started the long, hard, difficult work of therapy, bible study and right choices that would lead me to be a better wife.

Kids take the thing to a whole new level.

Things that I never noticed as a wife became glaring red flags as a mother. Since when did "Back to the Future" have so many curse words? Since when did so many movies have casual sex? TV shows? Songs? 

Since when did I get so self-centered, impatient, and generally greedy? Don't touch my candy bar kid! Just let mom sleep, text her message, check her email, etc...

When a little child is sitting next to you, one whom you are responsible for (yes that's a ton of bricks that hits you as you drive away from the hospital), you look at the world with reborn eyes. The muck and mire that years of culture have slowly grown over your retinas (cataracts of sin) get ripped off. 

I realized I wanted desperately to get this right.

For this little group, this little family that meant the world to me, I had to fight harder than I had ever fought before.

I strove to move close to God. As I did, I saw millions of dark areas of my heart, but I had a renewed vigor to root them out. In many ways I still struggle today, but my hate for my own selfishness that leads me to choose me over God or them is strong now.

The price is too high.

Laziness is too costly.

I pray God will give me wisdom, strength, and patience to navigate this world with them. I pray He will give me hope when it is not easy or fun.

Getting Family right is the Mount Everest of Life. Do it right and God walks away with tons of Glory.

I had to discipline my son on father's day and I began to feel hopeless. I was sure he would never understand what I was trying to teach. But that night he came to me and apologized and talked with me about his desire to do better and we talked about how much we both love each other. God hears my prayers, and just when I need Him most He is there.

Scouts Honor

I spent this past week as a craft/woodworking instructor to 110 boys ages 6-11. I stayed on my feet from 7:30 to 3:30 building bird houses, tool boxes and step stools. I was actually pretty proud of myself for mastering pre-drilled holes, wrangling split wood and nail holding without finger loss.


My son did things he has never done before- BB gun target bulls eyes, archery and swimming goals. It was so good to see him feeling proud of himself. We all need that every now and then. To learn something we really did not see ourselves ever learning.


God's the master of that in our lives. The character trait you never thought you would have- low and behold that's just the one He's got waiting in the wings for you. Patience, Hospitality, Courage, etc.. things that are maybe as foreign as Japanese Kabuki Dancing to you will be planted and grown by the Holy Spirit right in your heart.


I am watching that in a friend of mine. She has a newly acquired power to say no to old vices, a stirring to reach out to strangers, a hunger to read and understand God's word. I cannot describe the thrill I feel at seeing this in her. I am deeply proud of our God. I am just as thrilled to see me choosing joy over bitterness, speaking words of life, soft words over biting ones. Looking at the glass and not seeing it half empty and the rest of it taken up with poison, as my sister would say about our tendency to pessimism.

He makes me feel honorable and fulfilled in Him. He gives me a reason to look up.

 Makes me feel the words of this song:
Your Great Name
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gbBrlAVm20&feature=related

On the Mountain Top

We just returned from Youth camp. If anyone has ever attended a Church Youth camp as a teen or as a chaperone, you know it's a Mountain Top experience. Everyone focuses on God for an entire week. All the things of Earth become strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

This Camp is like no other and after 4 years I cannot recommend it enough: http://www.globalyouthministry.org/index_in.html .

This year was a spectacular example of that. 11 teenagers and 4 adults met with Jesus. Lives were changed- none of us left the same. We learned to accept nothing less than Jesus showing up. We learned that sin is a deadly pet we keep that must be killed with extreme prejudice or it will try to kill you. We face the fact that we need to say Yes to Jesus before we even know what He is asking. He's that Trustworthy! We learned that the end zone may be only a few steps away but only God can see that.

So Here we were on the Mountain.

(okay I'm not in the picture but I took it)

But the real kicker is how do you take the mountain top down with you into the valley of "back home".

You see "back home" we are the only ones who know what happened. "Back Home" most of the people we know don't really give a hoot what happened. "Back Home" it's easier to just accept that we would rather do what we want over what God wants. 

We have knit our little group together in the Holy Spirit and we will acknowledge everyday that what made the mountain amazing was Jesus and "Guess What?", He is in our hearts everyday, anywhere.

We refuse to accept mediocre Love, Power and Passion .

We will not leave our knees in prayer until Jesus shows up, shows off and Glorifies His name in our Church.

We will guard our hearts and listen to the warning of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We will look at each other for signs of distress and offer ready help.

We will look for ways to speak life into others.

We will read and memorize His Word because we know it's a nuclear bomb of spiritual power to destroy the plans of Satan.

We will be warriors even if we do it alone.

We will remind ourselves our purpose is to make sure Jesus gets "Bragging Rights" to all that happens in our lives.

Oh, Lord hear our cry and be the power supply for the spotlight that shines on YOU!

Matthew 6: ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Life's a stage

Oh, a mother's love. We sit through hours of practice, rehearsals, ticket sales all for those few moments on stage. My daughter has an uncanny dedication to dance, a quiet focus that seemed weird at age 3 but has continued on. Now at age 7 she is dedicated to ballet. She just finished her last rehearsal with one dance school and will be moving to another that specializes in Ballet.

I have to confess, I love to watch graceful ballerinas at work. I find myself longing to dance with them. My toe points on it's own, my hand curves and floats up from my side. I quickly clamp down on those urges, with a glance around to make sure no one saw.


Maybe I should take dance classes for myself. Just for the fun of it. I have no fantasies that I am graceful- I have broken a toe rather dramatically by waking into my own sofa. But sometimes we need to give ourselves permission to follow a dream that makes no practical sense at all. Why do we mother's feel guilty for having fun? Plain old, not goal oriented fun. Maybe you don't, and good for you, but I never felt more guilty for wanting to "waste" time until I became a mom. But aren't the coolest Mom's the ones who have a passion for life in general that runs in tandem with Motherhood. The amazing Photographer, the Runner, the Teacher, the Swimmer, the Cook, etc... whom you can tell loves their child to bits.


I could sugar coat my little secret by saying- Hey, I am going to take a dance class for exercise and isn't that healthy of me. It would be a lie, because if I did it, it would be because the urge to dance won the day over the urge not to. 


I hope you dance.

Leviticus Made Easy

The Bible is worth any effort it takes to draw it into your mind, but I have taken on the challenge of going through Leviticus with my 7 and 9 year old children.

I strongly feel it's the job of my husband and I to educate our children about what we believe. Anything else they get at church is bonus. The primary job is mine, because it's my example of how I feel about what I believe that will leave the most lasting impression on them.

Do my actions match my words? Do I seem to love God and his word above all else? If they see that I do, then it will imprint on their little hearts that my faith is for real and theirs should be too.

It all got started when my 9 year old son petty much deemed all the kid's devotionals I was using as "baby stuff". So, I figured he was ready for the meat and potatoes of reading the actual bible. I personally just read the bible straight through a chapter a day over and over. I thought, why don't I just read them the chapter I just read earlier in the day and we talk about it. We started in Genesis because in God's timing I was just starting over. No lie, I do substitute more kid friendly words at times (especially on grown up topics like oh, say that grand old town of Sodom) but I do not change up the message. We use a very easy to read translation.

So when we started Leviticus, which provides the detailed laws of the old covenant of God with the Jews before Christ , I faced a real challenge.

How to make this relevant to them and not impossible to understand.

I think Chapter 5 provided a perfect example how this works.

1) I read the chapter and I have to then figure out how I would explain this to and elementary age child living in 2011. This has been pretty amazing for me because I am seeing connections I have never seen before.

2.) Here's the break down of the actual chapter: Three things that a person could do that were sins against God, that might happen without the person registering they had done wrong until later. The things were: Not reporting something they witnessed in a public case,  touching something unclean and making a foolish or hasty oath/vow for good or evil. Three things were required after they realized they had done these sins: Confession to the priest, animal or grain sacrifice and a monetary offering as restitution.

3.) The break down for us is- if we realize we have withheld information in a public case, allowed ourselves to watch, hear or participate in something we know is sin (unclean to the new testament Christian) or if we foolishly promised a good or evil act in haste we need to confess to God (no priest required since the veil was torn at the Crucifixion), we need to ask the final sacrifice, Christ, to forgive our sin and we need to make right anything or anyone hurt by our act. The money offering symbolic of paying back/making right the wrong done.

I had never seen Leviticus as being so practical before. What an eye opener.

Daily Bonus Flowers just for you from my Garden: