Give it a Swift Kick

Jackson and I woke up early to leave for Dallas on Saturday morning. It was 6 am when we pulled out of our driveway. When I drive, I like to make good time. I only stop every three hours to fill up on gas and take a potty break. I knew that if I left at 6 am I could get to Dallas around 6pm.

We were on the road and making great time out of Colorado Springs when I heard a horrible noise. I thought maybe the road got rough so I just moved to the other lane. That didn't work so I looked in my rearview mirror and saw smoke. Oh no, a flat tire. I pulled off the side of the road. Thank you Jesus, a nice family saw what happened and pulled off in front of me. The husband and his two boys helped me unload my suitcase to get my spare tire and they began to change my tire.

The only problem was that the tire wouldn't come off. All the boys pulled and tugged on it as hard as they could. We didn't know what to do. I called Discount Tire and asked if they had any suggestions. The nice man from Discount Tire said that sometimes with my car you just have to give it a nice swift kick. Who would have thought? It worked. The man just kicked the tire and it came right off. I know, only in my life does this kind of stuff happen.

I am sure that if the nice family wouldn't have stopped to help me, I would have already thought to kick the tire. I am sure I would have kicked it about a hundred times in frustration because I was so mad that my good driving time was messed up.
Anyway, we got the spare on and I had to turn around and drive back to Pueblo to get a new tire. It was about 9 am by the time I pulled back onto I-25. My record was ruined so I decided to just slow down and enjoy the trip. Jackson and I had a ball. Don't we all get in such a hurry and so busy that we forget why we are even doing what we are doing.

I am off to Mexico with my hubby on Friday to stop and enjoy life together. To do nothing together.
We are going to "be still and KNOW that He is God" while enjoying His magnificent creation on the beach!

The Plane Has Landed

Drew has arrived safely and I was dying to find out all that happened. I tried to give him a minute before asking 100 questions. Once we got in the car, Drew asked, "Mom, when can I have a girlfriend?"

This was not the question I was expecting to answer right after getting off a plane from a mission trip. I didn't plan on sending him to Mexico to find a girlfriend. A better relationship with the Lord, yes. A girlfriend, NO!

I am not quite sure what to think. A girlfriend, he is 11.

Can you believe it? I am not quite sure why I didn't think it would happen. It is obvious that when you send 12 middle school boys and girls away for over a week, it is bound to happen. But, I am not ready for this!

Helicopter Mom

I was standing outside our middle school room at church and I was just watching Drew while he was hanging out with his friends. I was just wanting to see how he was acting, what he was doing etc. You know, being a mom! Our middle school pastor walked up to me and said, "Hey, Helicopter Mom!" I looked at him stunned because I was not sure what he meant by that. He started laughing and said, "you are hovering." I thought it was hilarious because I was doing just that and had never heard it put quite that way.


Well, I want to hover this week while Drew is in Mexico and I can't. All we have heard since they got there is that they arrived ok. I am glad to have heard that but I want much more. I want to know exactly what is going on and I can't. It is a very weird feeling for me. I want to hover but I can't.


I have to trust that all is well with Drew and the team and continue on with life here. I have no choice. This is good for me, I know. God wants for me to trust Him with my son and allow him to work in his life without my interference - imagine that. What a hard lesson to learn. As my kids grow, I should step back and allow the Holy Spirit to move in them, to convict them and not me (all the time). It is exciting and scary at the same time.

I can promise you this: It has increased my prayer life. Nothing like a 11 year old in Mexico with a youth group to keep you up at night!

Global Food Crisis

WHAT IS THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS?
The World Food Programme calls the global food crisis a phenomenon, a "silent tsunami," that is affecting families in every nation on every continent. Food prices for popular menu items like rice, wheat and beans have doubled in the last year. Though increases in food prices have hit all budgets, it's the poor who bear the brunt of price inflation. The higher prices are forcing people who survive on just $1 a day to spend upwards of 80 percent of their budgets just on food. As a result, many people, including millions of children, are going hungry. The longer food prices rise, the more people will be plunged into hunger and poverty.

WHAT IS CAUSING THE CRISIS?
Since 2005, food prices have risen a whopping 80 percent because of...
• rising fuel costs
• rising food demand from populous nations like India and China
• natural disasters destroying crop yields all over the world, including the United States
• growth of biofuels

The global food crisis is forcing poor families to spend more of their household budgets on food, leaving little for anything else. In Bangladesh 95% of the 11,782 children Compassion serves there are affected. Many children are eating only at the church-based center (also known as a Compassion project). In Haiti, inflation rates have risen 40%, pushing up food prices. All 60,000 children served by Compassion in Haiti have been affected by the food crisis there.
Experts predict the combination of a weakening dollar, soaring oil prices, and reduction in food production will not dissipate. They are predicting this long-term crisis will tighten its grip on poor countries, causing more children and families to suffer.

ABOUT THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS FUND
Compassion International has launched the Global Food Crisis Fund to bring aid to those most adversely affected by rising food costs. More information is available and donations can be made at https://www.compassion.com/contribution/giving/global-food-crisis.htm

Donations to the fund will provide:
• food vouchers to children and families needing immediate relief.
• seeds and agricultural tools so that families can grow their own food as well as earn extra income.
• supplemental nutrition services offered at Compassion-assisted centers around the world.

ABOUT COMPASSION'S DAY OF PRAYER AND FASTING
Compassion International has set aside June 25 as a day of fasting and prayer to honor the victims of the global food crisis and pray for them. To place a Compassion Day of Prayer and Fasting widget on your blog go to: http://www.springwidgets.com/widgets/view/42681

FOOD CRISIS INFORMATION PAGE: http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/global-food-crisis/default.htm
• CRIS FUND DONATION PAGE: https://www.compassion.com/contribution/giving/global-food-crisis.htm
• DAY OF PRAYER AND FASTING WIDGET: http://www.springwidgets.com/widgets/view/42681
• POST ABOUT THE FOOD CRISIS ON COMPASSION'S BLOG: http://blog.compassion.com/tag/global-food-crisis/

Underdog

I am sitting here in my big brown chair watching the golf tournament. We were all on our way to Lowe's to get tile for our bathroom and then suddenly the golf tournament gets really close between Tiger and some guy named Rocco. So, here I sit. It was so funny because the sports commentator said that Rocco looked liked he should be cleaning Tiger's pool and not beating him in the U.S. Open. Poor guy. I am cheering for him. I always like when the underdog wins. That is one thing my dad always taught me. He always cheered for the underdog (unless our Cowboys are playing). My dad has always taught me to stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves. I am a fighter by nature so the underdog does well when I am in his corner. My dad taught me many things but today as I sit here cheering for the underdog to be Tiger, I can't help but think of my dad. We have spent many of Sunday afternoons watching golf tournaments.

Most importantly, my dad loved me and took care of me when I was the underdog. He always took me back in and never withheld his love from me when I made choices that weren't the best for me or anyone in our family. He loved me when it looked like I was not going to make it. He showed me Jesus. He was a pastor for a long time and we had many rough years but He always put us first as a family. He didn't just preach Jesus to me, my dad showed me what Jesus was like. I am in the gospels in my Bible reading and I can't get over the fact how many times it says Jesus had compassion on the people. My dad roots for the underdog...just like Jesus.

Happy Father's Day

To all you dad's out there. Have a Happy Father's Day!
My dad, you are the best dad ever. Thanks for always loving us no matter what!
To Brad, thanks for the dad you are to the boys. We love you so much!

My Baby

Is all grown up and heading off to Mexico. He is going with our middle school to Copper Canyon to help build a mission lodge and lead a VBS for the kids. Please pray for all of them. He was very excited and we are very excited about all God is going to teach them and do through them.

Neighborly Love

There is an illustration about a man on a bus with 4 kids and his kids are running up and down the bus. They kids are acting horribly. They are disturbing all the other passengers on the bus. The passengers keep looking at the man, hoping that he will do something about the kids but he seems to just stare off into space. It finally got so bad with the kids that one of the people decided to talk to the man about the behavior of his kids. Come to find out, the man had just left the hospital where his wife had died and these kids just had to say goodbye to their mother. Everyone on the bus began to help the man and the kids instead of glare at them and wish they weren't on the bus. That is what happens to us when we enter others’ worlds instead of look at them from a distance and wonder what in the world they are doing.

This happened to me today. I had begun to get a bit self righteous over some of the parenting styles in the neighborhood. I wondered why their kids said this, watched that movie, or was able to roam the neighborhood unattended. We had talked to our boys about what was allowed to be said and my self righteous attitude obviously wore off on my kids. My oldest called a neighbor kid a pervert and told him to go home. He had just decided he didn't want to play with a kid like that.

I struggled for about an hour with this and prayed for most of it. I just didn't know what to do. I was proud of my son for standing up for what was right but not for the way he handled it (the self righteous attitude). So I knew that God was telling me to go over and talk to the neighbor. My heart was pounding as I walked over there. I wanted to share our concerns and let them know we loved them but we haven't known them long. It is never easy when we are talking about things are kids do, I know. We, as moms, become Mama Bears and ready to protect and defend.

God did the most amazing thing. As we were talking she began to share her struggles, how there were some hard things she was dealing with in her family. I began to have what God wants for me to have--a heart for her and what she is going through. I got to get down on my knees on her front porch and pray for her.

Today, instead of being the group on the bus watching and judging others, I entered her world, and hopefully, I showed her God's love for her and her family. I pray that I was a blessing to her and an encouragement.

I think so many times, we as the church are like the passengers on the bus. We sit and watch and wonder why the world acts like it does. We tell them how wrong they are, we watch from a distance, shaking our heads and don't ever enter in. I learned a valuable lesson today, one that I pray I won't soon forget.

P.S.

P.S. I just found this verse in Ezekiel 16:28-29 "Moreover, you played the harlot with the Assyrians because you were not satisfied; you played the harlot with them and still were not satisfied." What a testimony of where we need to get our satisfaction from. We look to other things are we are still not satisfied. Let us be satisfied by Him!

Deepest Desire

I decided to transplant my plants on one of the coldest and windiest days of June. Yes, it is June in Colorado but we had high winds and weather in the 40's yesterday. Most of the plants that I transplanted look like they aren't going to make it. My daisies are actually laying on the ground. I am praying for God to raise them up!
Do you need to be raised today? Are you feeling like you are laying on the ground of life? Disappointed with how your life is turning out? Not understanding why something has happened or hasn't happened?
I am studying Hosea to teach at our women's retreat this year and I am amazed at all that God does for us that we don't realize He has done. Israel was clueless to all the things God had provided for them. At one point in Hosea 11:2 God says, "But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me." One of God's charges against Israel was that the more He did for them, the farther they turned from Him. It was the blessings of God that seemed to draw them away from Him. It was His provision that the Israelites gave thanks to others for. It broke His heart and He heaped punishment on them SO that they would return to Him. While reading the old testament, there has been a clear theme - God brings punishment and calamity to us, only to bring us back to Him. That is His goal, for us to return to Him.
In Hosea 11:3-4, He says, "It was I who taught Emphraim to walk, taking them by their arms; but they did not realize it was I who HEALED them, I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them." Once again God is showing them all that He has done for them and still they turn to other things to find their satisfaction. We will only be truly content in Him. Contentedness is not about circumstances; it is a state of the heart. But we all do this, don't we? God provides for us and we turn to other things to fulfill our needs. I am guilty. I think "if this just happens, I will feel better," but just like the Israelites, we don't. We ask for manna and when He provides it, we want meat from heaven. We are never satisfied with what He gives. We keep wanting more.
There is a very important lesson here we must all learn and only through the Spirit can we conquer this. I have begun to pray that God would fulfill my deepest desires. That in Him, I would be overflowing, that He would be my deepest longing. My prayer is that God would raise me up from the ground to walk in a manner worthy of Him, pleasing Him in all respects. Lord, make that my deepest desire.

Shoveling

I have been working in the yard most of the day and I am worn out. I know that I am going to be sore tomorrow. I can already feel it. My wonderful neighbor who I talk about often said I could come and get some of her plants. She has a beautiful yard and many plants and flowers. We were going to divide the plants and bring some of her plants over to my yard. Now y'all, I must tell you, neither of us has ever done this before. I show up with my landscape book and I am ready to go. I read the book before I went over there and it said that all you do is dig up the plant and cut it in half with a shovel. I have to tell you that I was a bit nervous. I was sure that we were going to kill all of her wonderful plants by taking a shovel to them. So far, we didn't kill them and we transplanted them to my yard. I will keep you updated if they all live or not.

However, I have been thinking since then that many times I feel like that. That God has taken a shovel and just split me in half. Have you ever felt this way? The Bible calls it pruning, which I know is a bit different that dividing plants, but work with me here. :) Why does He do this, that we might bear more fruit. Now, I have new plants because my friend was willing to let me take a shovel to her plants. I can look back over my life and see that every time I felt that a shovel was going to split me into a million pieces, He was faithful and shoveled out of my life what needed taken out. There was and still is lots that needs removing.

The result of the dividing is the addition of a new plant. It is often in our times of struggle that others look on and want to know our God. In this time, we can rejoice that through our struggles and hurts, others can look on and come to know our God.

Happy Shoveling!

Thought on Bible Studies

This is an article from a pastor friend of mine. I thought it was great and something we should all read and think about.

"Think about it. We are immersed in a Bible study culture. We have Sunday School, small groups, cell groups, women’s studies, men’s studies, youth discipleship classes, age group Bible studies, missions studies, off-campus studies, home Bible studies, precept studies, Beth Moore Bible studies, business Bible studies, denominational studies, non-denominational studies, distance learning... and those are just the ones I can come up with off the top of my head.

There’s nothing wrong with Bible study. I’m all for it. I encourage it. We need it. We are raising the most biblically illiterate generation in recent memory. We need to know, study and love the Word of God. But when is enough, enough?

I was talking to some older men the other day about how, when they were young, they often only had a preacher one or two Sundays out of the month. When my dad was growing up, they went to the Baptist church twice a month and to the Methodist church the other two weeks. They were active Baptist church members, but the Baptists didn’t have church but twice a month. If they wanted a day of worship each week, they had to go to the Methodist church.

It seems the older generation knows their Bible better than those of us who have been blessed to have multiple Bible studies and options. Their Bibles seem more worn. Because of the limited opportunities, they never looked at Bible study as an option.

Psalm 119 talks about the importance of the Word. Numerous terms are given to describe the Word and the benefit of knowing Scripture and hiding it in our hearts. We all know how blessed we can be to sit under the teaching of a Sunday School teacher who has studied the Word and come to the class well prepared to feed us.

It is my hope as a pastor to bring food, not scraps, to the table when I preach. On a typical Sunday I preach two distinctively different messages. My prayer is always that those who are listening and (thankfully) taking notes are absorbing the truth, not just letting it go in one ear and out the other." Mike Catt

Welcome To The Neighborhood!

We moved into our house at the very end of last summer. There were not many opportunities to meet our neighbors because it gets cold quick here and I don't hang outside in the cold. I rush into my house and try to hibernate for the winter. So, as it began to warm up, we started meeting our neighbors and discovered LOTS of kids around us. It is a blessing and can be a curse.
We have one sweet little boy who is a bit younger than Jackson and they have figured out how to climb the fence to each other’s house. In the beginning, I thought this was great. They could play all day and I don't have to continuously run around from house to house. However, a couple of mornings Jackson thought he would join our neighbors for breakfast, an early breakfast. He just woke up and went outside and climbed over to our neighbors and knocked on their back door to play. He was in big trouble.
Both kids now think they can just come and go whenever they please. Yesterday, Brad and I had a couple of hours with a quiet house (no kids!) only to discover our neighbor kid in our pantry! He was hungry and wanted some food. I tried to tell him that Jackson wasn't home and he needed to go back to his house. He wasn't convinced.
Jesus says to have faith like a child. Kids just do things differently. They haven't figured out yet what all "rules" of social etiquette are. They just come on in, open the pantry and ask for food. We could learn from them in our relationship with the Lord. They are so open and honest and believe that what needs they have, someone will take care of them. Let's be like our neighborhood kids, that we may "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

Weather!

Here is the summer weather we enjoyed today. It made it a bit hard to jump on the trampoline. I had at least 8 kids running through me house. Luckily, I had these to help with my mood.