Job

I haven't written in a while. We are in the midst of moving from MI to PA and the entire thing has been a trial. This is by far the hardest "house buying" we have ever experienced. It seems to be centered around the realtor for the seller and it has been very difficult, to say the least.

So I decided, or God prompted me, to read Job. You want to talk about trials! WOW I am only on chapter 18, so there is still SO much more to go, but what amazes me about Job is his unfailing relationship with God. His dedication to the Lord. The Almighty!

As you all know the hardships just kept coming, children, servants, cattle all dying. Sicknesses of every kind coming upon him. "Friends" who weren't exactly being friendly, yet, he still knew God was there.

But even more amazing is that Job knows that God has allowed this to happen to him. He knows God has control of the situation, YET, he loves the Lord. He knows that he is ruler of all and that no one is righteous before Him. He still believes in his God. He still knows that HE is around, watching over him. And that his trials were justified, somehow. He may no know the reason, but he knows that God will see him through.

WOW, just WOW! I know that at times like these I just sit and wallow in self pity. There are times I want to hang out in my justified sadness and make everyone miserable with me. To be honest I get so caught up in my feelings that I forget that God can help me with all of that. He can bring me out of the storm. But only if I acknowledge Him. If I don't, than there never seems to be a ligtht at the end of that tunnel. Dispare sets in and boy is it ugly!

It is only when I begin to see glimpses of the end do I really take the time to thank the Lord. Maybe that is just it. For we wimpy believers God will look at us and say, "OK I will toss her a little nugget." I know that at times I need just that. I need Him to give me some good in the bad. OR to be reminded to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit so I will recognize some good among the bad. It is only then that I realize that I need to get out of this funk and look at the glass in a different light. Psalm 23 says that my cup will over flow. When I look back, it most certainly has and these little hiccups along the way are just that, hiccups. Not world ending occurances!

God is still God. He is still in control. He will never leave me or forsake me. He is always there. I just need to take the time to listen and look for Him, in each moment of the trail.

Thanks Job. What an unbelievable lesson.

Fathers Day

In this day and age there are so many men out there that are not being men. I walk down the street and see boys, I think, that are dressed to make my generation confused about if they are male or female. They think this is cool? Why? I just don't get it.

I want my son to grow to be a man. I want him to WANT to work hard, earn a living to support his family, love and honor his wife, love and discipline his children, and a list of other manly things. Why is this a lost art? Why is it that so many young men I have met in the last 5 years have no aspirations of working hard? Why do they feel that sitting on the couch at their parents home is a good thing? Why do they not respect themselves or the people in their lives?

On that note, I have to say that I am ever so thankful that my sons, and daughters for that matter, have a hard working, wife loving, child respecting father to look up to. My husband has set the bar high and I know that my children love him for it. I am thankful to God that he took my husband, made him HIS and molded him into a man that our children can be proud of, that I can be proud of.

Thank you Lord Jesus for a loving husband. Thank you for the blessing that you have given me in him.

Tell your husband/fathers how wonderful they are! They need to hear your words that bring honor and respect more than anything else.

XO

mom's

I love my mom, but we see the world differently sometimes and that makes getting along tough.

But a month ago I put all that aside and sat down to remember all the great things she has done for me over the years. The list is long, which is a good thing!

So, for Mother's Day this year I put those things down on some nice card stock paper, bought a nice picture frame and gave it to her. I not only gave it to her, I read it out loud to her for all of our family (18 at the time) to hear. I think I needed her to know how I feel and I am sure she needed to hear it.

This idea isn't my own. I read a book by Dennis Rainey a few years back about leaving a legacy to your parents. He talks about writing down all the things you love about them, or the things they have done for you BEFORE they are no longer with us. He also encourages you to read it outloud to them. HARD!!! It is a great book and although I read it three years ago I wasn't in the right frame of mind to write my letter until recently.

The letter is below. I hope this encourages you to write to your parents and if they aren't with us any longer, write it anyway. It will be a good thing for you to remember and to share with your children about what a great mom or dad you have/had. No matter how difficult our lives might have been or are now, there is ALWAYS something loving you can say about your parents. My dad is next...................

XO

Mom,
I wanted to share some things that I love about you for Mother’s Day.

I love that figured me out from the start and worked with me on my strengths and weaknesses
I love that you made me try sports even though I was petrified to do anything new.
I love that you tried your hardest to make me a student, even though I only wanted to socialize.
I love that you let me sit and talk with your friends on occasion. It made me feel all grown up.
I love that you trusted me when I went out in high school.
I loved that you instilled in me a moral compass in all aspects of my life, even if I didn’t always follow it.
I love that you sent me awesome care packages in college just so I wouldn’t feel lonely.
I love that you always made the holidays so special with decorations, goodies and gifts.
I love that you still correct my grammar.
I love that you gave me a passion for cooking as you are a fantastic chef.
I love that you love my husband
I love that you love our children

I know that over the years we have had our differences and we are not big on telling each other our feelings; but I also know that you will always love me and I will always love you.

Thanks for being such a great mom.
XO
h

Beautiful Song

It has been FOREVER since I have had a chance to write. I haven't had a writing bug, but I also haven't had much of an opportunity. Traveling all over the US gives me lots of things to write about and lots of time to do it, but the last month we have been living with friends and family and it is hard to get away to have my own private thoughts let alone write.

So even though this is not really my own writing, I wanted to share it with you. It is a wonderful song that I have heard on the radio lately. I do enjoy this group, Casting Crowns. They have some great songs. Here it is. I hope it makes you think like it made me think.

the words are below. If you get a chance check out the youtube video with words. So beautiful and touching.

XO

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzcPAOIOU7w


If We Ever Needed You

Hear our cry, Lord we pray,
Our faces down, our hands are raised,
You called us out, we turned away, we've turned away.

With ship wrecked faith, idols rise,
We do what is right, in our own eyes,
Our children now, will pay the price,
We need Your light, Lord, shine Your light.

If we've ever needed You, Lord, it's now, Lord, it's now,
We are desperate for Your hand, we're reachin' out, we're reachin' out.

All our hearts, all our strength,
With all our minds, we're at Your fate,
May Your Kingdom come, in our hearts and lives,
Let Your Church arise, let Your Church arise!

If we've ever needed You, Lord, it's now, Lord, it's now,
We are desperate for Your hand, we're reachin' out, we're reachin' out, we're reachin' out

If we've ever needed You, Lord, it's now, Lord, it's now,
We're are desperate for Your hand, we're reachin' out, we're reachin' out,
If we've ever needed You, Lord, it's now, Lord, it's now,
We are desperate for Your hand, we're reachin' out, we're reachin' out

We need You now
Revive us now
We need You now

QUESTION!

So, I am chatting with my brother, who by the way doesn't really care about religion, but thinks he should join the Catholic church because his wife and kids go there and he wants to participate. While I commend his desire to have their family all in one accord, he is coming from the wrong place. Don't you think you should want to go to church because you ah.....LOVE GOD, want to be OBEDIENT TO GOD, and maybe want to WORSHIP GOD? I didn't say that to him in those BIG LETTERS :) but we continued to chat.

So, and this is what he says next:

" I don't understand what the big deal is about wondering who is going to get into heaven and who isn't. Why don't we just live our lives and try to be the best people we can be. Who cares!"

.................any suggestions on how to answer that one?

Family is hard to convert! :)

XO

Sweet Words

I love to cook, but even more so I love to sit around a full dinner table and chat with my family. I actually do the majority of the listening for a change as the kids always have something interesting to say.

This is a favorite time of mine. It is like a winding down of the day. Pretty much all things are done by 6:00 at our house. School is finished, chores are done, work is over. The time to relax is now. I try not to think about the clean up from dinner, which in my kitchen is ALWAYS big since I am a very messy cook! I relish the time we share while enjoying a good meal.

Easter Dinner was no exception. But this time my husband was asking specific questions and the person who answered was the last person I thought would know all that he knew.

Our 9 year old little boy, as most of you know, is adopted. Along with his sweet smile, easy laugh and impish personality came some big cognitive delays, amongst other things. Teaching him right from wrong has been a challenge to say the least. Trying to get him to understand abstract things has been near impossible.

But not tonight. Tonight our little man surprised, amazed and excited us all. He not only answered all the questions, he answered them so fast that the other three didn't have a chance to get a word in. The conversation went something like this:

Daddy: So, who can tell me why we celebrate this special day?
Isaac: Because Jesus died on the cross on Good Friday and rose on Easter Sunday
Daddy: Very good Isaac, why did he have to die?
Isaac: Because we are sinners Daddy and he rose so he could prepare a place for us in heaven. (I am not kidding, those were his exact words!! THANK YOU SWEET JESUS!)
Daddy: What would happen if He didn't die for us?
Isaac: Then we would go to hell and it isn't nice there, you would much rather be in heaven. You have to tell Jesus you love him and tell him you are sorry for your sins and then you get to go to heaven with him.

My heart was singing that night. It is still singing when I remember it all. I wish you could understand what I do about Isaac and his struggle to learn the simplest tasks. I wish you could see him struggle to read each word, to write his alphabet. I wish you could see how hard he works with such little gain.

But it doesn't matter does it? In the grand scheme of things my little boy is brilliant! He has heard the greatest mystery of all times and believes. He has taken in the wonder of Christ and has faith to believe.

how he gets it and what he understands is no matter to me. It is obvious that God has touched his heart. It is obvious in my mind that God has a plan for my little boy. It is obvious that God has begun a good work in him......................PRAISE THE LORD!

XO

witnessing to the reluctant........

I was just on facebook with a gal I knew in highschool. I am up in the night again and she sent me a message to chat. I didn't know her all that well, but I hung out with a friend of hers.

FB is a strange thing. People you barely knew come out of the wood work and become your friends. It is cool, and a bit disturbing all at the same time HA!

Anyway, we chatted about lots of stuff and then she just started dumping (for lack of a better word) all this stuff out. She never got married, her parents are both gone, she is an only child, she wants to have kids, she has frozen embryos, she isn't religious, she is spiritual, even though she grew up a Jew....................and so on.

So what makes people just come out and tell you their life history in a matter of 2 minutes? She sounded so depressed (and said as much). What is she missing?

:) I know you all know the answer to that.

From our perspective it is almost like a DAH!!!!!!!! thing isn't it? We all want to yell the answer! We want to give her the cheat sheet.

I agree, that everyone should have the cheat sheet! We should all be told the answer. But what if the person doesn't believe it? What if they are the kind of person you need to tread lightly with and not come out and scream the Gospel in their faces?

I believe that sometimes God needs to fight this battle alone. Well, not completely alone. He needs us to plant that seed, to mention things here and there, well actually He doesn't need us at all............ok, just go with me here for a moment.

Sometimes you just need to live your life, open and out there for people to know you are who you say you are. You need to mention the love of Christ in your life as often as you see fit with that person. You need to be privately praying for that person. BUT, God needs to do all the work. It is ultimately God who changes that persons heart. It is God who decides who is going to be in that book of life. Not us. It is God who should be leading US on how we should be with that person. Not what a book says or other people say.

So, I did just that. I let her know my point of view. I let her know how God saved me from myself. How much my life has changed because of Him. How pathetic I was before Him. But then I stepped back. I let her talk/type. I encouraged and loved and felt for her. Again, the answer was screaming at her. I can see it..............I know what she needed. It beckons her, but she doesn't see it. She doesn't want to see it.

But, I will keep trying. She said that I should call her and talk about it with her sometime. I was thrilled for the opportunity, but it is 2 AM and I would wake everyone up in this RV with a phone call. But I will make that call, because God beckons ME to do it. What I will say and how I will say it is up to Him. I know that He will give me the words that I need and the heart that I need to tell her why HE is all she needs!!!!!!!!!!!

XO