A Jealous Tale

Well, if you don't know me or have never met me, I thought you might like to see a side of me that may not come across over the screen. So here is my jealous tale...straight from the horse's mouth.

About 2 years ago, my good friend Melisa had been telling me stories about this lady and about them cooking together. Reading BooMama's post today reminded me of this story...so I had to share! Anyway, while my friend tells me her stories over a period of a couple of weeks, I begin to process in my brain that my friend is having this new friend over a lot for supper. I wonder, "Why didn't she invite me?" So inwardly, I am becoming jealous that my friend has invited this other woman over and hasn't asked me, too.

About 3 weeks later, I am invited to a birthday party at a bed and breakfast for a friend, who is turning 70. Now in this group of about 8 ladies, I am the youngest. Everyone else was retired and some had grandchildren. Melisa ( a couple of years older than me) had also been invited, but she wasn't able to come. So I'm sitting at the table having the first course, when these ladies begin to discuss that same lady that my friend Melisa had had over for dinner. Her name was Paula Deen. So I'm listening to these ladies and thinking, "Wow, this Paula sure is popular. Even my friends here seem to know her." I'm feeling jealous again.

By the second course, the ladies are still discussing this Paula lady...and the word TV comes out. So I inquire, "Is Paula on TV?" Everyone at once begins to tell me, "Oh yes" and "Oh she's a wonderful cook!" "Very Funny, too!" So I spill the beans about what I thought about Melisa and Paula. Everyone laughed and were incredulous that I had never heard of Paula Deen.

Well, I had to go home and call Melisa. She, too, laughed her head off. She probably still is every time she thinks of it.

Me? Well, I had to confess about that jealousy thing to God. And you know what? I think He laughed too! As we would say in the south, "Bless my heart."

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

What I Often Attribute Unfairly

Have you ever had someone say something about you that is not true? Even in kindness? Like, "Oh Holly, you are so patient." Huh? Or "Holly I know you are struggling with this." Well, what if I wasn't struggling, but now find that I'm struggling more with the fact that you said I am? Do I look like I'm struggling?

Well, certainly I'm struggling with some things. Like laundry and house cleaning and children who have very loud voices. But I'm not struggling with what you think I am.

Here's another good example, "You're mad at me. I know it!" Well, no, I wasn't mad at anyone, I was, well, I was thinking about all the things I need to do. I guess I was just frowning---because, well, sometimes I don't even know where to begin. So I don't begin. That is why I am frowning. And mad? Well, I am mad. At myself. Because sometimes, I just want to get it all to square one again. I feel like cards being shuffled and turned every which way. Sometimes, I just want to be a tall, straight stack of cards.

So as I was thinking about these things, as I tried to sleep last night, I began to think of how I often think that God is mad at me. I figure sometimes that because I don't have my act together or haven't had the same kind of quiet time that somehow He's disappointed in me. So here I've gone and wrongly attributed His thoughts towards me. It comes from my childhood...these thoughts of mine. I have to bring that to the light for sure. Somehow, I fall back into a bit of superstition and a bit of feeling that God is ready to squash me. But He's not. Not at all...He's not that kind of God.

So how do I make it right? I have to stop and acknowledge that He isn't who I thought He was when I was a child...afraid of Him. I have to remember who He Is. AND that would be so many other things that I have learned since then. He is faithful. loving. good. kind. generous. BIG. strong. on my side. pursuing me in love. smiling. healing. helping. joyful. and always ready to save. I know that He is proud of me! I know that He isn't holding this standard like a piece of meat over my head, ready for me to jump high enough. That's just not Him.

When it all comes down to it, even the things I wrote about Him above, each attribute, each quality, He is more than those. If He had something He wanted me to do, He would have written it. He did? Oh yeah! He wrote two things He wants me to do every day...love Him with everything in me and love my neighbors as myself. That's it? No daily list of do's and don't's? No standard of routine? You see somehow, I want to be able to check a list to say who I am to Him. But you know what? He's already said who I am! It hasn't changed one bit. I am His very favorite one (so are you!), the apple of His eye, His princess, His joy and beautiful to Him. When He said Mary (Martha's sister) had chosen what is better, what was she doing? Was she keeping on top of everything? Had she woken up early to pray? No, I think she was at the end of herself and realized that He was giving her a new beginning. So she sat. She sat and she listened. That's all.

So as I begin AGAIN today, I come to Him and say, "Here I am Lord, like your very favorite one...not a thing I have done, BUT YOU? You have done everything. So I sit and I am listening. I don't know everything there is to know about You, Lord. But I want to learn more...AND I know, I know that You know everything about me. And still...and still...You love me. Amazing! I receive it! Help me to sit in it and relish the joy of walking in the Truth."

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Fighting Fighting Everywhere and All the Moms Do Shrink!

It has been a crazy few weeks since school has let out. For the first time, I am a Mom with four children underfoot and they are screaming loudly inside and outside the house (I too am screaming on the inside). I now hold a higher respect for their teachers.

Sydney was born after school began last August, so we have had only a few times with ALL of them at home. So I must get busy and creative...again I get to live out my dream of cruise director. Only there is no water, no boat and no doctor (and no plank!). I am the doctor, too! So in the midst of holding my sanity, I found this. It is good to keep a good sense of humor when you're a Mom! I hope it makes you laugh, whether you are a Mom or not.

I found this in my treasure chest of good stuff. It was from a Great Hills Retreat in Austin several years ago. AND it was written by Joyce Armor. She calls it The Mother's Dictionary: Zany definitions only a parent can appreciate

Zzzzzz: What you'll do soundly again when your children are grown and able to keep what they're really doing a secret from you.

Whoops: An exclamation that translates roughly into "Get a sponge."
Whodunit: None of the children who live at your house.
Whistle-blower: A child whose mommy has a headache. (this is strangely familiar from today...)
Wear and tear: What happens when children and clothes come in contact.
Weaker sex: The kind you have after the kids have worn you out.

Verbal: Able to whine in words.

Utopia: That fictional wonderland where children reply, "Yes Mother, whatever you say."
Unrest: What parents get when a child is sick.
Unarmed: A doll who has been disciplined by your sweet little daughter.
Ultrasound: The noise your crying baby makes.

Two-minute warning: When the baby's face turns red and she begins to make those familiar grunting noises.
Twins: Wombmates
Town crier: A child who finds a reason to burst into tears every time you take him out in public.
Top bunk: Where you should never put a child wearing Superman jammies.
Time flies: The reason your child will be wearing diapers one day and a purple mohawk the next.
Thunderstorm: A chance to see how many family members can fit in one bed.
Temper tantrums: What you should keep to a minimum so as not to upset the children.

Supreme court: Where sibling disputes still couldn't be resolved.
Sugar daddy: A father who lets the kids eat junk food when Mom's not around.
Straight flush: when a child flushes the toilet without using it.
Storeroom: The distance required between the supermarket aisles so that children in shopping carts can't quite reach anything.
Sterilize: What you do to your first baby's pacifier by boiling it and your last baby's pacifier by blowing on it.
Steeplechase: The race to get the kids into the car and to church on time.
Spunk: One of those traits that are much cuter in other people's children than in your own.
Spoilsport: Competition to see which grandparent can overindulge your children the most.
Slush fund: The money children set aside to buy snow cones.
Sickness: What keeps kids in bed all week, until Saturday morning.
Show-off: A child who is more talented than yours.
Sharing: What children do only when parents are watching.
"Settle down!"" An abstract command ignored by children through the ages.
Setting an example: Hiding your sinful behavior from your children.
Separatist: A teenager who would rather die than be seen with his parents.
Second trimester: The second three months of pregnancy when you ask yourself the question, "Will my husband notice if I eat this gallon of ice cream and side of beef before he gets home?"
Saturation point: What a diaper usually reaches before you reach the diaper.

Rationalize: To wait to get back into shape until after your last child is born. (Hmmm that sounds familiar, too!)

Puddle: A small body of water that draws other small bodies wearing dry shoes into it.
Protective coloring: When you color with your child to make sure she confines her artwork to the coloring book.
Prepared childbirth: A contradiction in terms.
Prenatal: When your life was still somewhat your own.
Pregnant pause: The amount of time it takes for a nine-months pregnant woman to get out of a chair.
Preconceive: To get pregnant before you intend to.
Paradox: Two obstetricians.

Ow: The first word spoken by a child with older siblings.
Opinionated: Anyone who knows more than you about childcare.
On the wagon: Where three children insist upon being when the wagon holds only one.

Nothing: The answer to "What did you do in school today?"

Modesty: What women in labor soon get over.
Milestone: The moment when you stop worrying about something hurting the baby and start worrying about the baby hurting something.
Manual dexterity: Your ability to reach the wipes while still keeping a baby with an open diaper pinned to the changing table.

"Look out!": What it's too late for your child to do by the time you scream it.

Ingrate: every child until he becomes a parent.
Independent: How we want our children to be as long as they do everything we say.
Impregnable: A woman whose memory of labor is still vivid.

Hearsay: What toddlers do when anyone mutters a dirty word.
Hearing aid: A child who informs you of all the rotten things her brother says when you're out of earshot.

Gravity: Why parts of your body are getting closer to your children.
Grandparents: The people who think your children are wonderful even though they're sure you're not raising them right.
Genes: The reason your daughter will grow up to blame her thighs on you.

Full name: What you call your child when you're mad at him.
Fifth dimension: Where all those missing pieces of puzzles, Lincoln Logs and Mr. Potato Head are.
Fever: What your child comes down with the day before you plan to leave on vacation.
Feedback: The inevitable results when the baby doesn't appreciate his strained carrots. (Also happened to me today)
Family Planning: The art of spacing your children proper distance apart to keep you on the edge of financial disaster.

Equations: The point at which you need a tutor to explain your child's homework to you.

Dumbwaiter: One who asks if the kids would care to order dessert.
Drooling: How teething babies wash their chins (Yep, that too is part of my today!)
Double fault: When both your children are guilty.
Deja vu: When you respond to your child the same way your mom responded to you.
Defense: What you better have around de yard if you're going to let de children outside.
Deadweight: A corollary to the law of gravity that states a sleeping child weighs three times as much as the same child at any other time.

Contractions: What are to cramps as Lake Michigan is to a puddle.

Bottle-feeding: An opportunity for Daddy to get up at 2:00 am.
Bilingual: A child who can ignore parents in two languages.
Bathroom: Where your child doesn't need to go until you're backing the car out of the driveway.
Baby book: Where you put locks of hair and pictures of him naked so you can embarrass him when he's a teenager.

Amnesia: Condition that enables a woman who has gone through labor to have sex again.

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

A Little Thrill for You

I tell you what, if these pictures don't make you want to Praise His Name, then nothing will!

We took the Rocky Mountain National Park Road the back way to Estes Park and came home today on the Peak to Peak Byway.

Chris is going to try a little road later that I probably will never see. It is called the "Oh My God" road. In this context I believe it's a prayer and therefore not taking the Lord's Name in vain. I think when they named it, they prayed to get off of it alive. THAT, my friends, is not my kind of thrill! It is Chris' kind of thrill, though. He can have it...maybe he'll stop and take some pictures for me. The key word being stop!

It was a wonderful get-away these two days. I always pray for some wonderful views and wildlife. This time, I specifically prayed for "things I haven't thought of" and got them--in abundance! It was a beautiful two days with perfect weather. (In case you are wondering...we saw herds of elk, a couple moose, and a coyote.)

It occurred to me that this simple little snow melting scene is the beginning of a mighty river. We actually stopped at Milner Pass (Continental Divide) 10, 758 feet above sea level, where the waters flow to the Atlantic and Pacific. Isn't that somethin'?

The views here in Colorado can surely take what breath you have left (after the altitude) completely AWAY! This trip was about 2 1/2 hours away. Sometimes I have to pinch myself that we live here.

We saw bicyclists everywhere (even over 11,000 feet)! I have such respect for these folks climbing to heights in their bikes THAT I would and could NEVER go. Also I'd be whining BIG-TIME. And probably would need an ambulance.

Let me add that when we got home, there was a beautiful sunset over Pikes Peak--just another reminder that we only have to look out our back door to be knocked-over with beauty!

"Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you." Jeremiah 32:17

Do you need to know that He's working in power in your life today? Ask Him! He most certainly will!

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

A Little Bit of Fun

In Estes Park last night, I saw these...I laughed aloud and thought I'm coming back tomorrow to buy them. So today, I made a bee-line for the shop that carried them. It was hard to narrow it down...but for $3.50 each they were a good buy.

My VERY FAVORITE was the one about caring--which is not true at all, but I loved her expression! And I couldn't pass up the chocolate washing one either. The last one applies to me sometimes, especially the cleaning part.

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

A Very Good Day!

Today was the last day of Vacation Bible School for me. It has been a challenging week, getting our four fed and to the church by 8:15 every day, teaching 12-14 students a day and coming home with my four again by 1:00--Up and down stairs at least 10 times a day. Whew! May I also add that by the end of the VBS day at 1:00, my four are chattering until I feel my head spinning? Thank God for our instituted nap/rest time! I just woke up from mine :)

The best news of the week? We have 18 new brothers and sisters in Christ! Four from our group!! Chills are running down my arms, as I consider the wonderful-ness of that!
So to celebrate I tried to find my prettiest of pretty photos to share for the weekend. We are headed again this weekend to get some more good 'un's. So I will be faithfully charging my camera and snapping pictures everywhere.

So have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Do you know that Jesus loves you so very much?

'Praying for each one of you! (By the way, my good friend Heather took this next photo at Garden of the Gods...she has a great eye for photography!)

Thank you for being a blessing to me, too.

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

What I Need to Know

From VBS (Vacation Bible School) to BBS (Blogger's Bible School), here is something that came out of my mouth today with the kids, totally unplanned. I think God wanted me to chew on it. I still am. But while I do, I thought you might want to chew on it with me.

Here's what came out, "What do you need to know about God today?" I asked the kids and they said that He was keeping them safe, that He died on the cross for everyone's sins and that He made everything. So I thought to myself, "Holly, what do YOU need to know about the LORD today?"

Here's my answer (right now, as I said, I'm still chewing)... I need to know that He's taking care of the things and the ones I care about. I need to know that the things I laid at His feet and the things I daily lay at His feet are secure...that He's working them all out IN.HIS.TIME! I need to know that He cares about those things and that He has a plan in place. I need to know, really, that I can hope in Him...that's He's gonna be faithful with the big stuff and the small stuff. I need to know that when I let my nine year old ride his bike that he's not going to be hit by a car. I need to know that when Chris takes all our children on these off-roads, that they'll make it home safely and won't fall off the mountain-side. I NEED to know that!

I also need to know that the plans God had for me before my birth are all working out according to His plan. I need to know that I'm walking in the path He chose for me. I need to know that 4 1/2 years of college might someday pay off. I need to know that if I truly lost everything that I'd land safely in His Hands and could pay off everything and wouldn't despair. I need to know that about Him.

I need to know that I'm training our children up in His ways, that I'm preparing them for their future...that we are preparing them. I need to know that if our oldest decides to go into the military, as he has said he wants to do, that God will be protecting Him in those foreign lands. I need to know that I'm protecting the kids enough and not too much. I need to know where the areas are that God wants me to turn from and change, so that I don't weigh my children down with heavy loads that will become strongholds for them. I need to know that GOD is teaching me and that His Holy Spirit is working in me. I NEED to know that.

So for protection, teaching, guidance and all the details of each concern, I HOPE in Him. If He were not in my life, I would certainly be a mess--no kidding. There are so many roads I have travelled and only one has been secure, the one I'm on right now with Him. He has chased me down and set my feet on a ROCK. Why? Did I do anything special? Was there something about me that made me choose-able?

The answer is yes and no. Yes, I am special because I was made in His image, for Him, to bring Him glory and make Him smile. Yes, He chose me! But no, I am not any different than anyone else. He made you, too. He made the one that you think, "Their life is hopeless." He made them in HIS image. He's choosing them--to love Him...to put their hope in Him...to truly know Him. That's what I need to know.

You see, I've seen some really bad things happen to really good people. I've also seen some really great things happen to people who care for no-one but themselves. AND when God looks at them and looks at me, HE cares the same. He loves the same. He favors the same. He's not put us on opposing teams! He sent Jesus to die for them and for me. We are on the same team.

So how in the world can I not know that each detail, each one HEAVY on my heart is even heavier on HIS heart? He loves them. He's pursuing them. My part? Well, it's to pray and to know that He's working out each thing needed. If I lose everything and gain Him, it is enough. If I have to walk away from someone dear to me, I don't have to do anything more than just place them gently and daily in the Master's Hands. That's all I need to know.

What do you need to know about Him today?

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

A Gem I Found

I have always wanted to go and look for diamonds in Arkansas. Every time we'd drive by, my heart would beat a little faster...for perhaps, I could be the one to find a clear and beautiful diamond.

Since I haven't been able to do that and we no longer live close by, I have poured my diamond seeking into Word studies in the Bible. Sometimes, I get lost looking for a deeper meaning to a verse that already has such meaning to me. Perhaps I will unearth a clear, beautiful and hidden Truth. As I've said, I like treasure hunts!

One of my favorite gems that I unearthed really hit me...in fact, I have to admit, it gets in my blood and makes me so very happy inside that now I often do "this" in light of my treasure.

Let me take a couple of steps back...there I was, age 16, making my own money and really wanting to honor God with my very own tithe. I didn't grow up knowing a lot of Bible stories. In fact, I knew nursery rhymes and other stories by heart when you may have been learning about David and his five small stones or Jesus and the little boy with his lunch. So as I was making money and going to my best friend's church, where her Dad pastored, I gave my tithe. I gave 15%. Now I didn't know about the 10% deal, but figured that I should give back to God at least what I tipped the servers in a restaurant. Later when Chris and I married at 20, I was in charge of paying bills (still am). So I began to tithe the 15% and Chris, being the supporter that he is, laughed his head off! He said, "No silly, it's 10%. Here, come and look." I think at that point, out of sheer competitiveness, I wanted to know what the Bible said about everything and began to read it through every year.

That year, Chris and I had his scholarship, grants, loans and the money we both earned part time. We did tithe. Then we gifted! Oh how I loved gifting!! I found that I could buy gifts for young children in Angel Tree, whose parent was in prison. I well remember the joy I felt in wrapping each gift. It was such a high! Then I found that we could help to support missionaries, who were working around the globe. Oh, my heart flutters even now thinking of the many now forgotten gifts we gave. I took to heart the verse about sharing what we give with others and getting our treasure right then. Oh no, not me...I wanted to store those babies up! So over the years we have given...cheerfully, hilariously, joyfully, immediately when God placed it on our hearts...sometimes even when we didn't really have it to give.

So about two years ago, I did a word study on the "cheerful giver." I found that the word was "hilaros" in the greek. Now in college at A&M, I had a very good friend named Hilaire. I always loved her unique name...loved her, too! She gave hilariously! I remember when she and a friend brought about 8 boxes from their honors dorm at A&M, where kids were throwing away some really good, unused stuff: shampoo, conditioner, drinks, ramen noodles, toothpaste, toilet paper, laundry detergent, fabric softener and so many other things. It was a gift that we enjoyed for at least 4 years...did you read that? F.O.U.R Years!! anyway, in my study on the word "hilaros," I came across a gem. Here it is:

Cheer, Cheerful, Cheerfully, Cheerfulness:from hileos, "propitious," signifies that readiness of mind, that joyousness, which is prompt to do anything; hence, "cheerful" (Eng., "hilarious"), 2Cr 9:7, "God loveth a cheerful (hilarious) giver."
Note: In the Sept. the verb hilaruno translates a Hebrew word meaning "to cause to shine," in Psa 104:15.

Now let's read Psalm 104:15 The chapter begins with describing God's provision for his people, so in verse 15 it says, "And wine that makes glad the heart of man, Oil to make his face shine, And bread which strengthens man’s heart."

So to me I read this verse and thought...each time I give cheerfully, readily, immediately following a prompt from God, I am anointing them with oil--not just any oil, but the oil of gladness. What I have done has blessed them and blessed God...can you see them shining?

Also this oil causes fatness or can be used as medication in the old testament or in the new testament, it can be used for FUEL! I want to honor God in my life. I especially want to see what I give, which is really God's, become fuel for His love being spread around. Now that will cause many, many faces to shine! I think someday, when we stand around His throne, every tribe, every tongue, every nation, there will be one thing that we share in appearance...Our shining faces! For we have been given much, indeed we have...He has cheerfully given to us, has He not? Christ and Him only...his life for mine. I think I'm feeling oily, how about you?

One thing I really wanted to take home with you today is not about just the end result of giving. It's the front end of it. Do you have someone who you've never forgiven a debt for? Are you keeping tabs today? Because if you are, it's stealing your shine. I think that the beginning of a cheerful heart is the releasing of the debts of others and the embracing of the fact that what we have in its abundance is His. It always was His and always will be His, but He has entrusted it to us...entrusted to me, entrusted to you. My greatest prayer is that I will be found faithful with what He has entrusted to me. Oh may it be so!

Could you use some happiness today? Pour it out brother. Pour it out sister. Let's cause some faces to shine! You won't be sorry...and like me, it may just become your very favorite thing to do...that as Beth Moore's Grandmother would say, "amounts to a hill o' beans."

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Our Formula

Maggie asked me to share my formula for a healthy family. It really made me think, because I KNOW what it FEELS like, but have never really put it to paper. So here's my best try at it.

First of all, I am constantly analyzing the attitudes of my family....wondering, where did that come from? What may be contributing? So I find that the best way to get all in line is a little "pull in" time. That is when we have a TV/ computer free week, and we spend time doing what families should be doing...playing games together, cooking meals together, reading aloud in the evening and going outside to play. The first day of this really is hard! Everyone has withdrawals and kind of grumps around. Chris and I are not really TV watchers so much. We watch the news and a couple of shows. Other than that we watch videos. The kids, however, are a different story. They watch all manner of PBS, Nick Jr., Noggin and Disney. I have a few shows that I say "no" to even on these stations, mainly because of the attitudes.

For over a year I home schooled Noah and Kylie. I loved this time so much!! There are so many things we can do together to learn. I love to get out some crafty stuff on the kitchen table and let them make something. I also love to find some fun experiments to do together. One thing Chris does with the kids is drives them all over the back roads around here (I'm a big chicken on most of these Colorado roads!) and often they come back with a few trash bags full of trash. That teaches them to care for the environment and not disregard others by throwing trash out the window. There are teachable moments in almost everything we do...really! So I try to take time and think of ways to teach. If there's an accident on the road, I turn off the radio and begin to pray....same for any emergency vehicle that passes. We pray! If someone happens to ask a hard question, especially spiritual ones, we turn off everything and listen to the question and do our best to answer...pointing them to TRUTH. That makes for curious children, who know we care enough to answer.

One thing I have always been strict about is afternoon naps/ rest times. This been a life source to me and has given them either rest or quiet--both needed in every single person's life--Time to reflect, time to create, time to get away and be yourself. I find that Noah will spend this time creating Lego creations while listening to the Christian radio station, because he wants to! At nine years old, he has a heart for God that challenges me so much. I think it is because of this time by himself. Tabor and Sydney sleep. Kylie will still sometimes sleep at age 7, but often she spends the time creating pictures for others or playing with her stuffed animals or even cleaning her room. She likes to do that...I think that is a good quality that I want to encourage! During their nap time, I often have my quiet time. Sometimes, like today, I get a nap, too! I'm a leader at Vacation Bible School this week, and it has already worn me out. Sometimes I read or listen to music or clean, while listening to music or one of Beth Moore's MP3's. It gives me a lift and teaches me at the same time.

Chris contributes a very important part to this formula. He often takes them one-on-one and spends time with them. He is the one who lays the kids down at night. It is his time. Why don't I do it? I like to, but it is Chris' time with them. On Weekend's, Chris is the early riser, making breakfast and bringing me coffee about 8:30 or so (he brings it to me every day in bed). He shows them how important "we" are. The kids know that...it gives them security. Sometimes Chris will even take them all somewhere. I then can have a day alone, which I need for my own healthy attitude and a clean house, too. It just re-fills my tank for time alone with the kids the next week. The very most important thing that Chris has modeled for the kids is laughter. Truly he laughs a lot and teases a lot. The kids enjoy it, too. I think Chris has shown them not to be so very self-important. He wants them (may I say ME too?) to see that sometimes their behavior is ridiculous. I think it is a good thing to be able to laugh at ourselves, when we are being silly or clumsy or just really behaving badly and making a show of things. Laughter is a good thing!

This may not be a very politically correct thing to say, so hold on with me for a moment....are you ready? We don't play soccer or t-ball or anything that eats up family time in a week. Now I realize the benefits of it, I do! But truly, it becomes a drain on our family. Chris and I agree. We play games together outside and inside. We teach about strategy and teamwork...but this organized sports thing is just not for us. I hear fun times happen there at the ball park, but we have fun times here, too. I think the things our kids learn and desire to learn, they will make a point of telling us and asking about it. No one has ever begged to play, so why should we fill our schedules with it? Kylie would love to learn to ride a horse. I know this! It is something, I'd like her to have an opportunity at in the next year...even for a week. Noah likes to shoot paint balls with Chris. He is saving his money for his very own gun. They will probably play (with all the protective gear!) on Saturdays sometimes. But it is not a scheduled thing. I like that. Sometimes, we just need to be alone as a family and spend time "engaging" with one another.

Finally, one thing I want to focus on that we do as a family...is part of WHO we are. Friday nights are family night. We order pizza or make it homemade together. We watch a family movie or play games or both. Sometimes I will read aloud...like The Hobbit or The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Everyone loves it! The most important thing we do as a family on family night is our blessing box. This is where we say aloud all the blessings God has done for us...the "God-incidences." I write them down on a sheet of paper and cut them into strips.. Chris and I have done this from early on in our marriage. It helps to keep us focused on the fact that God cares about our daily lives, every single detail...AND we are thankful. At the end we all sing Count your Blessings and finally a song I learned in Campus Crusade, "Give God a hand for all He's done, for giving us His only Son, let's all stand up and give God a hand (Clap Clap Clap Clap)." That's it. We have four big boxes so far full of blessings.

Chris usually quotes Steve Farrar from Point Man where Steve says, "Quality time comes in Quantity Time." We can't just plan fun outings and expect them to be the quality time. Sometimes it is, and sometimes it's not. We just spend time together. And during that time, the question may come, "Mom, why did God send His Son to die?" That is really what it's all about...train them up in the truth and spending time to let them know that they are important.

The fact is...they know the games we play to NOT spend time with them...they have it figured out that sometimes we avoid them...that's why we get so very mad when they follow us everywhere! We want the time alone, and they need the time with us. I say that from experience. So give them the time with you and CARVE out the time when they need to be alone or play outside. Say OK, now it's time to go outside...30 minutes. That way they know that it's not just getting rid of them. Sometimes they even beg to stay out longer. I don't know if that makes sense, but I guess one of the biggest struggles I have is clearly defining times and space for them. If I'm on the phone, I am adamant that they tap my leg, so if I need to hear something the other person says, I won't be rude. Then I can ask them to hold on--at a good time. Sometimes when the conversation is serious, I will point "Go out." The kids know I will come and hear them out soon. They also know that in emergencies, they may yell and interrupt. This is so far working with our two oldest and we are teaching Tabor, our three year old, about it.

All in all, we have a happy family. We like to spend time together; and I think we also make sure that whomever God sends to our home, they become family, because we treat them as such. It is just who we are. When these things are happening, some joy is going on and some peace and kindness and love...a well-oiled wheel that doesn't squeak.

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Engage Your Mind

Let me confess, last week I disengaged from everything except the "have-to's." This morning after hearing our very talented and godly new youth minister preach, he asked us to write what we heard God saying to us on a tiny mirror...to remember. Here is what I heard the Lord say to me, "Engage."

Now I knew exactly what that meant, it meant not only to get involved in this thing of life again, but to do it with purpose, with intention, with focus...because.it.matters.

I also knew what I had not been doing last week...did I even listen to the kids at all? Did I think of others? Did I think of the preparations needed for the working or formula of a healthy home? It was as if I walked through the week blindly. I felt trust in the Lord...no doubt about that. But other than that I was just passing the time. It's quite possible that I did think of others, but I stumbled into it. Stumble...now that is an apt description for me. I stumbled through the week, waiting for results to tell me that everything was going to be OK. I trusted that whatever the outcome, the LORD had me in His Hands. But I just didn't know what that outcome would be...so I hurried time and truly didn't try to think--at all, about anything.

So I decided to look at the word "engage." Here's what the Merriam-Webster online says about this word:

1 : to offer (as one's word) as security for a debt or cause
2 a obsolete : to entangle or entrap in or as if in a snare or bog
b : to attract and hold by influence or power
c : to interlock with : MESH; also : to cause (mechanical parts) to mesh
3 : to bind (as oneself) to do something; especially : to bind by a pledge to marry
4 a : to provide occupation for : INVOLVE b : to arrange to obtain the use or services of : HIRE
5 a : to hold the attention of : ENGROSS b : to induce to participate
6 a : to enter into contest or battle with b : to bring together or interlock (weapons)
7 : to deal with especially at length

intransitive verb
1 a : to pledge oneself : PROMISE b : GUARANTEE
2 a : to begin and carry on an enterprise or activity b : to take part : PARTICIPATE c : to give attention to something : DEAL
3 : to enter into conflict or battle
4 : to come together and interlock (as of machinery parts) : be or become in gear

As I read this list, I thought I WAS engaged...I had enmeshed myself with nothing last week.

Then I began to think of the battle that we're waging...not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of darkness, Satan. Now does he ever take a break from engaging in warfare with us? Does he ever let things become "purposeless?" I don't think so. So WHY DO I?

Did you catch the part of the definition that said, "to deal with, especially at length?" THAT is exactly what we have...a conflict that we deal with at length. I think sometimes...no I KNOW sometimes that the biggest obstacle in my conflict is ME. I get in the way and I forget to PRESS ON in this thing.

If I were to train for a marathon and decided to not train at length, I would not make it very far. In fact, I might not even make it 1000 yards...I would be out of breath, my sides would hurt, maybe coughing and sputtering, but I would not make it to the finish line. I would have to quit. So why in the world do I not train this mind of mine that often DIS-ENGAGES? I think when we become soft like that, we will certainly not run this race with perseverance. Last week, I wasn't.

So my question is...how do we stay engaged in this race, in this battle, in life? Certainly, we want to be in it to win it...until He comes. That's what I want! So how? How do we not become so very SOFT? I think the answer is found right here:

Hebrews 12:1-3
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

2 Peter 1:3-4 "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."

Here's how I read these two Words: Look around you, people are watching! Get rid of those things that have caught your feet, like vines with thorns that want to trip you and tear you. Look at the race you are running. See the goal? It is Christ Himself! Run like He did...run it with faithfulness and perseverance. Then rest in the knowledge that everything He requires in this race, HE has given to us! It is ours for the taking. Now how do we take it? We take it by acknowledging Him in everything we do and talking with Him about our attitudes and reading and absorbing His Word into our marrow. Knowing it and living it.

I pray that I never have to have an unintentional week again, but if I do? I know He's faithful to teach me again and forgive me again. For He is an AGAIN kind of God.

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

This is Your Brain on Prayer

UPDATE: I just got a call from the doctor. The MRI came back in the normal range! HalleluYah! I asked about the guys discussing something and he said, well your structure inside the brain or celitercica (sp) never fully developed. He said that it's kind of "empty." I asked if that meant people could call me an airhead and get away with it. He laughed and said, it won't affect anything right now but during my development, it could have affected my lungs or thyroid. So now I go to the endocrinologist in two weeks for an evaluation. Can you Praise God with me today?? THANK you, each one for your kind words and prayers! Love you! Have a great weekend!!!! I will post my 100 things tomorrow.
Normally, the idea of having a big test like an MRI on my brain would put me beside myself...
panicking and worrying...crying. But let me tell you how yesterday went. I felt quiet all day...not worrying at all, just quiet.

At Penrad, I found a magazine and looked at it, still feeling quiet. They called me back and after a short wait, I walked into a computer room of sorts. Doug, a late thirties bald man, looking like the band leader from Letterman, took my Chris Tomlin See the Morning CD. He asked how I was. I told him I was a bit fearful. He asked if I was claustrophobic. I told him no, but that I felt afraid of something new like this and was concerned that I'd move. He told me not to worry, they could do the test again. It would only be 15 minutes.

So I laid down, head first. He gave me earphones and a "cage" for my head, to hold it still. So in I went. I was totally unafraid (can you say the POWER of GOD!) and looked at this mirror that showed the bottom half of my body (not in the tube) and a dark window, through which I could see Doug and another man I did not know. So I listened to my CD and watched them. I watched him get the image, like a photo on a square screen. He'd look at it and take it somewhere. One time I saw them interact over what they saw. They discussed it, and then the man I didn't meet left Doug, who kind of leaned back in his chair with his hands kind of going back over his bald head, like we might put our hands through our hair. So whether that was a concerned response or simply tired, I don't know. I just watched and thought, "Hmmm..."

The machine was loud, but I couldn't hear it so much as I could feel it. It sounded like a drill to me. At times, it shook me some, and I could feel the hair on my arms sticking up. Something was going on in my body, not something bad, but I could feel a change of sorts. I was never afraid after I spoke to Doug in the room (that is your prayers, I know!). I never moved, only swallowed hard a few times. The test was over quickly. I asked Doug, so is there a brain? He laughed and said yes. I then asked is said brain OK? Of course I knew he couldn't tell me, but I wanted to see his body language. He didn't give anything away and said I'd hear from my doctor in 48 hours. So now I wait--perhaps until Friday. I probably won't update the blog again until I know the results. Then it looks like my 100th post is coming up, so I will write those 100 things then. I hope I can come up with that much!

Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for taking time to check on me and thank you for caring! Our family really appreciates it, especially me. Just to let you know, I really don't have any feeling about this test. I don't feel afraid, but I also don't feel like I know one way or other what they will say...it's a fog, but as George Mueller said, "No my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the Living God who controls every circumstance of my life." Amen?

All these photos were taken Sunday and Monday on the way to, at and home from Estes Park. Enjoy!

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

What's Got Us Jumpin' and Shakin'

The day began slowly...tired from all the driving the past couple of days, trying to clear the floors of stuff and getting laundry going, when I heard the sound. No not just heard, FELT the sound. This sound was so powerful, we all ran outside...for we knew, the Thunderbirds were here!

Tomorrow the Air Force Academy will graduate 980 cadets from the class of 2007, so today they are practising and flying RIGHT.OVER.OUR.HOUSE!

So the kids watch for them and yell, "There they are!" and jump up and down cheering. It fills my heart with pride for our country.

I am not only impressed with the sound of the jets, but the ability of these airmen to maneuver. There are five planes flying so closely together that they must be on task and in-control to do what we saw them doing today. I cannot tell you how glad it makes me to live right here in Colorado...part of some LIFE going on today...knowing the anticipation of these 980...thinking of their hard work to be graduating and wondering if one day one of our children might join them.

I just got a call from the nurse. ALL of my blood work came back normal (still hyper-thyroid). What does that mean? I really don't know. It may mean that there isn't a problem at all and my levels have found their "normal" again. I still have to go tonight to the MRI, so I will call tomorrow and ask my doctor some questions. Thanks for your prayers!

'Hope you enjoy the pictures...

let me tell you with the speed of these jets, it's hard to get them!

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Somebody Pinch Me!

We took a drive yesterday to Estes Park. We loved it so much, we spent the night and drove home through the Rocky Mountain National Park. Here is a picture journal of our time.

First of all this Memorial Day, we remember those who died in serving our country and their families. Chris and I are quick to get teared up at anything related to our armed forces. We love and appreciate them so much! Just Friday night at the movies, we saw a commercial for the Marines and were both teared up, until one guy stood up and yelled, "Go Army!!" Many other whooped and hollered in agreement. We laughed. What a great and proud country we live in. We love the United States so much! (Chris took this picture last night at Estes Park with our flag and the sunset.)

You know--I'm not scared of heights, just falling from them! We were about 12,000 feet up...wish this picture showed that better.

I told Chris when we passed a sign on our way home for "Clear Creek," I know why it's clear, because it's so close to the source. He said, "You know that is very profound, if you think Who our Source is. Very well said." I then began thinking of some of those rivers as they get further down from Texas into Mexico...NOT-SO-CLEAR there! This photo was taken in Idaho Springs as we were headed to Beau Jo's, Colorado Mountain Pies (Pizza that is very good!)

There wasn't one place on this whole trip that I didn't think was beautiful...it was very awe-inspiring. We saw a man painting a picture of the scenery and I thought, "What a great place for it!" We saw elk up-close in the field

(playing with one another!) and one strolling ON.the.ROAD (it was walking on the left of Chris' truck and we could touch the bold thing)! We all had such a wonderful time. I think God is so very creative in His Work!
I wanted to add the pictures from the very top of the trail at Rocky Mountain National Park. At the top, the ground is tundra, like the Arctic Circle. No trees can grow and the ground never thaws. It was misty as we drove and apparently they do some major plowing! Sorry for the reflection, but it was too cold to put the windows down for this one!

Finally a picture of our family (with almost-sleeping Sydney in her pack) at the river walk at Estes Park. I added a special picture of Sydney when we ate at Dunraven's Inn. It was very good Italian food and we enjoyed a fancy dinner...yes, with four children. They were very good. We have learned many tricks over the years to occupy them...lemons, folding napkins, etc...

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Have a Wonderful Holiday!

I will probably not post again until Wednesday next week, unless I hear a new thing from the doctor. Right now, my EKG came back normal. The blood tests that I had yesterday have not come back, so I'm sitting tight and going on with things...tonight the Pirates of the Caribbean! I was so frustrated with how they ended the last one. It was our anniversary, too. Nothing was tied up at all! So tonight, Chris and I will let the "rest of the story" be told.

May this weekend holiday be such a blessing to you and your families! It is indeed the time to pull out the bar-b-que pit and do some grilling. By the way, a lot of the snow has melted off of Pike's Peak. I will get some good photos for next week. Thanks for your prayers and kindness to me and my family. Here are a some photos to bless you with!

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Thick in Him: Life Lesson 6

I like to garden. I'm not always consistent with it and truly not the best at it, but I like it. I like to plant something and feel the ache in my muscles, dirt on my hands and knees and the thrill of knowing that something has been invested in my yard. I love to see the fruit of it--first the little green sprout, then some leaves and finally about to bloom, then blooming! It is a little bit of Heaven on earth, I think.

When we lived in Texas, we had a Tropicana rose bush. There may have even been 2-3 bushes in the group, but they had been there awhile...at least 10 years. At first I let it go and enjoyed the blooms, then I found that it was getting really leafy. I thought that was good, too. But it wasn't. When a rose bush is leafy, there aren't as many blooms. I was told to cut it back. So I began with the smallest branches and a few that were bigger because they were not blooming. In doing so, it looked awfully bare...at first. After that, there were so many blooms...60 or more. And they smelled Won-der-ful!!

So one afternoon, I was sitting on the roof of our home in Texas, rocking in my glider rocker above the roses. I had been praying for our children...I know what I prayed was initiated by the Lord. I began to pray, "Lord, make me thick in You. I want to be a thick branch, so that the heritage for our children is strong and blooms." Chris and I want our heritage in the Lord to be so very plugged into the vine, which is Jesus, that it may pass from generation to generation. We don't want one generation to not love and serve the Lord in their day...until Jesus comes for us. Not one. I am jealous for this line.

Jesus says in John 15: 1-8, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

So what does it take to be thick in Him? Abide in Him with courage. I cannot be ashamed of Christ in any circumstance or minimize His power and truth. The fact is a child can see through someone not being genuine. So we need to be genuine...and to do that, we need to know Jesus and spend time reading His Word. Quality time with Him will indeed come in the quantity time. Also, just to acknowledge in our lives that He is our source, He is our breath and life and food and water. What He gives satisfies and sustains. We live that before our children and before everyone else. We also point out to them that "we" do not have all the answers. He does. We can learn and learn and learn 'til our knowledge indeed is great, and even then we do not have all the answers...we have more equipment to serve Him in different capacities, though. When times get tough, our children need to see us clinging to the Rock, who is Christ. It is in these hard times that we can live out before our children, trust in Him. I have said before, "I don't know why this is happening, but He is faithful and able to help, no matter the outcome."

Another part if being thick in Him, is receiving His provision and calling it good. Take time to acknowledge what He gives before the Lord, before your children, before the world who is watching. All things are from Him and all things are His. Today our children are growing up with a sense of entitlement...I deserve to have whatever I want. God gives us just what we need and expects us to be good stewards, meaning that none of it is ours, but we are responsible for how we use what He abundantly gives. The fact that we live in the United States itself is a responsibility and a gift. The responsibility is to be involved in government, to vote, and to teach our children how important it is to be involved in the process. One person in government can make a huge impact, for good or bad, all over the world. To say that "I'm just not interested in politics, I'm too busy to stand in a line tonight." is showing our kids that the process is not a big deal...oh, it is a big deal. Our freedom to even write what I am now writing is at stake. The gift of living here in the US is that tomorrow I can make a decision to serve the Lord in some capacity, be it go to a shelter and help the homeless or give money to a ministry, like Life Today or Family Life, and they have the freedom to use it without a cent of it being paid to the government. Wow! That could change, though.

My point is this, we have to pass these things down to our children...abiding in Jesus, receiving His provision and being responsible with that provision. Being thick in Him...trusting Him, looking to Him, acknowledging Him, receiving from Him and being a good steward of what we receive....all of it makes for some beautiful blooms with a sweet aroma, pleasing to the Lord. That is a heritage I want for our children. What about you?

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Sit on It: Life Lesson 5

In my 20's, I was quick to tell about myself, an open book, without any discretion at all. It was something about me that could be good...to a point. Also I was good at keeping a secret for someone else, but unfortunately not for myself.

It got me in a lot of fixes (another southern expression, meaning "trouble that you get stuck in," which seems kinda odd since you'd think the word fix would mean what it says...actually it means the opposite...but I digress). When I would tell everything that happened to me, somehow it would steal the joy of it.

For instance, have you ever won anything? When I won something, I was quick to spread the word, then somehow the joy for me of the "win" was divided among the many I told. Hold that thing in for awhile and give God praise for it. It can be shared later at just the right time.

I believe the concept of treasuring something in my heart occurred to me about 5 years ago. I found that sharing some exciting news wasn't always received in the way I thought it would be...I had shared something and by doing so and listening to the response, my excitement for that news began to get smaller. Somehow the sharing was not what I was supposed to do. So I began to dwell upon those things and hold them in my heart. It became a secret I shared with only the Lord--I sat on it. Then I could smile about it and sort of wink at Him, like "I know what you know, but I'm not telling anyone about it." Does that make sense?

I think again of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, who pondered these things in her heart. You see there was something she shared with the Lord that no one understood and few believed--Joseph even had to have an angel tell him to believe her. Jesus was God's Son and Mary? Well she was a virgin, who gave birth to Jesus. So I think when the birth occurred as it did--in a stable with the stable animals and some dirty shepherds, who were amazed. Don't you think what she pondered was the way of God's Hand working right before her eyes. And She? She got to take part in the work...and smile at the treasure that was hers.

The way I think about it is that there were things going on in her heart and mind with God that only they shared at that time. I don't think she told Joseph at bedtime. I think she sat on the thing. She held it close. She pondered. She treasured. Until the time was right that is...to share it. Then she shared her testimony...so that today we can read about it.

Jesus says, "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces." Matthew 7:6

I'm certainly not calling people pigs or dogs...what Jesus is talking about is giving a treasure to the one not suited for the treasure. He gives us treasures. He gives them abundantly and sometimes, we are not to tell others about them. He may have created that moment, that treasure just for you. He has spoken a few things over my life. I know them, but I don't want to go and let those sweet things become trampled upon. Others may not mean to trample, but they do...they aren't ready for the treasure.

Can you picture Mary again with her young son Jesus being picked on by a neighbor kid? She didn't go out and say, "Well, you know little kid, my son is the perfect, spotless Son of God. He can do no wrong. So you better go back home and leave Jesus alone." No she held back. She treasured it and you know what else I think she did? She went and told his Daddy about it. I'm not talking about Joseph, you know.

So here's the crux of what I want to share with you today. There are good things that happen...treasures that God gives us that we are supposed to keep to ourselves until the time is right. The second thing is the most important, I think. There are bad things that happen, too. We have them happen and we want to go and tell others how very wronged we have been. What God calls us to do is to bring it straight to Him. We certainly get our just reward when we go and share...commiserate with someone else about it. There is no lasting joy from that and no justice either. God is Big. He sees what has happened. He KNOWS. So let Him have it. He will counsel. He will give you peace about it. He will deal justly.

There are a host of examples in the Bible, but how about Nathan the prophet? God told Him what David had done. So Nathan set David up. Knowing that David cares for the underdog, having been one, he tells of a rich man who takes a poor man's very favorite sheep, who was like a pet. So David goes off on how badly that rich man needs to be punished, only to find that HE is that man. He is the one who did wrong. Now I want to ask you, who orchestrated this justice? God did--I think even with a sense of humor. I think that when we trust God with these things, we can turn them over to God, who will rightly deal with them. He will be everything they need in just the right amount of mercy and justice. The point of it will drive them HOME to Him. That is His heart...to bring the prodigal home. I want Him to do that, don't you?

(UPDATE: I just got a call from the doctor. My EKG was normal today. The blood tests are not back, yet. I will still need to have an MRI. I'll let you know more as I find out. THANK YOU, oh, Thank You for your prayers. They have certainly been turned up as praise to God! I added a couple of pictures of Pike's Peak. It snowed last night...isn't that crazy? Now it's melted and 54 degrees, up to the 70's this weekend. I love Colorado! I like the surprises of it.)

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Suspenders and Belts: Life Lesson 4

A Today Word: Isn't God good? You see I have been afraid of this whole MRI thing. I have yet to cry, which is often where I go when my fear turns into despair. There I find myself a muddle in a puddle. But not this time. And I'll tell you why! Suspenders and belts, that's why. These handy creations hold up your pants, and they hold them in, too-- in my mind picture today, they are keeping my head held up and holding me together.

I was praying about which life lesson to write about today; and, although good ones, they were not TODAY ones. So stick with me as I tell you what the Lord has shown me. He told me to focus my mind ahead, as He's holding me together. You see I could let this thing scatter, and as Beth Moore says, have all sorts of vain imaginings. I could really, really let my mind wander, until I've planned my own funeral. Wait, I'm NOT letting my mind go there...But, I know it could. That's the thing. This is something I do have control over, this mind of mine. And this is the clear word I heard today from Him, "Gird it Up."

So I thought, ok, let's go to Bible Gateway dot com and get in the New King James Version to find the usages of girding. So far I'm finding in the Old Testament, it is used for sackcloth, lament or a sword (sounds like being ready for some fighting, huh?). Hmmm...here's a good one!

Isaiah 45:2-6
" I will go before you And make the crooked places straight;
I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron.
I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places,
That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel.
For Jacob My servant’s sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name;
I have named you, though you have not known Me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me.
I will gird you, though you have not known Me,
That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other;"

Oooh, I like treasures! And in hidden places, too. I will be in a dark place (or at least a confined one...By the way, I'm not claustrophobic, I have climbed some tight places in caves I've gone through). The doctors will indeed be looking at some secret and hidden places in my brain.

Also, notice who is girding me, the Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace! He is the One who calls me by name, He knows me. And because I look to Him and obey and follow His commands, because I BELIEVE Him, He has called me His friend. Now that's indeed a treasure.

Then in the New Testament, I found the verse that I had heard Him whisper in my heart:

1 Peter 1:13
"Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;"

My understanding and "version" of this text is "Hold it together, Holly, don't wig out on this one! Because of Jesus, you can focus your eyes on Him and hold on to Him, knowing His heart towards you is LOVE."

Here are two very good words (of many) that I received from Sisters in the Lord. Because of their words and because I listened and agreed with them, I think the Lord was ready with this "Word to Gird."

"First and foremost, we stand against FEAR because in Christ, we have no fear of bad news; we trust in HIM!! Ps 112:7"

Oh I needed to hear that and I needed to agree with her in that, so I DID agree and took it to heart.

"Thank you that when your eyes were roaming the earth looking for a heart that was willing to be used by you----you saw Holly. I thank you that you will allow nothing to touch us that will destroy us. If it will not bring glory to your name--you will not allow it to touch your servant.Thank you that we know you are in control. It is an honor to serve you with her Lord--please place your hands over her ears to keep out the lies of the enemy. Thank you that you have heard my prayers. I love you Lord. In your name, the name that is above all names---AMEN!"

Now that humbled me and it hit me that the enemy of my soul, Satan, would love to lie to me about this. He'd love for me to be eaten alive by it. For he is roaming and looking to devour.

Again, a good word by Peter about this enemy:

1 Peter 5:8
"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

That sounds a lot like girding up your mind, doesn't it? So my TODAY word is not only for me, but for you, too. I think what God wants me (and you) to know today is that He loves us, He will protect us...But He calls us to not "go to pieces," but to TRUST in that love and protection.

Gird it up, Girls! He will be faithful to do the Work.

(UPDATE at 4:15 pm....the doctor called and said my thyroid levels are very high (hyperthyroid), and I'm to go in the morning for more blood tests and and EKG. I still have to have the MRI next week. Thanks for your continued prayers! Holly)

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Strings: Life Lesson 3

God works with me and teaches me in associations, parables if you will. I have had times where He has given me a picture that correlates with something He is doing. So tonight, I want to share about STRINGS...it has come to me in two parts at two different times.

First Part: I saw a scene of a huge convention center. Have you ever gone to Women of Faith or something similar, where there is a sea of faces? Picture that. In my picture I saw each one in the place handing one another a string. Now let me describe the string...it is a piece of yourself, something that you share that goes beyond, "Hi, how ya doin'?" Something that goes beyond the next level, "What would you like to eat?" I have attended many, many conferences--Every Women of Faith except the first one...many Living Proof Live and Great Hills Retreats...so many, many conferences. My point? In my experience, not everyone wants to go to any level deeper than "Hi" or "What to eat." But that is what the whole thing is about...about those strings.

So at this conference in my picture, the speaker may share something that is deep like, "I almost jumped from the bridge that night, but the Lord stopped me." Whoa. Now that is some string. How about this one? "My husband has cheated on me and I can't get over it." (not my story, by the way) Or how about this one, "I really haven't had much of a relationship with the Lord in my life...I don't even know who He is." Sharing.Your. Heart. That is the string. So picture with me, each one sharing with one another...sharing with a stranger....sharing with the speaker. Picture that auditorium of strings. What does that look like? A web of sincere love for one another and for God...a strong hammock to rest upon...weaving...connection...abiding with one another in the Lord.

It blows my mind to think of Heaven and the times of sharing how someone, even me, shared something that changed the course of a life. Can you imagine that? Do our lives really make a difference? I think they do, very much. Do we even have to talk with that one face to face? No, I have written card after card after card in prayer rooms for over 9 years to many, whose story I read and prayed over...so I responded in prayer. I still do. The Lord has given me an uncanny memory for prayer requests. These people gave me their string, and I gave mine back to them. We had a connection. Perhaps my card sat on their desk, where they could see it, like ones I have kept on my desk or in my Bible. These people have made a difference...and perhaps, at JUST the RIGHT TIME! I know that these sorts of things have happened to me...a good word at the time I needed it most. Like today... but I'll share that in a minute.

Second Part: Every single time I pray for someone, be it someone I know personally, someone I admire, or even someone who is far, far away in Hollywood Neverland, I have handed them a string. Every time a prayer goes out on any one's behalf over the whole world, a string attaches to that one...in a very real, but unseen way...an impact was made. A course of a life can be altered. Eternal things are at stake in this realm of prayer. I think that each time the Lord brings someone to mind, pray for them...your string does make a difference! Wait 'til Heaven and see if I'm right. I pray for all the young role models making all the wrong choices. I ask God to pursue them, as He did me. I ask Him not to give up on them. Can you picture those strings laced all over the globe. It has created a binding, a strong cord, protection and LIFE to others. Prayers really do make a difference. My source of hope is in Him, and in the fact that He hears me when I pray. Tonight, I have some dear missionary friends in Peru, South Africa, China, Thailand, and a place I can't say. I can touch their lives this very moment by praying for them...Let me show you how, "Lord, guide, direct and protect those on foreign mission fields this day. Lead them to the lost and give them strength and peace on their journeys. Provide for every need, Lord and Go beyond their wildest imaginations to show them your love for them tonight. In Jesus' Name. Amen." It is that simple. Strings...

So here is my string to you tonight and my good word at the right time. I have had two days with a sitter for my two youngest and the two oldest at school. Yesterday, I cleaned like MAD! Today, I made a doctor's appointment for this never-ending cold I have had for about three months. Also, by the way, I had a manicure and pedicure and bought Chris Tomlin's Cd See the Morning and the new Karen Kingsbury book, Sunrise...Ahhh, refreshment! Anyway, I went to the doctor saying, "Oh, I've had this cold...and by the way, I have had this problem with my hands shaking (tremors) sometimes for the past three months...like I'm hyper or geared up." So he took my blood to check for hypo-glycemia or thyroid problems or the like. Then he said I might want to get you scheduled for an MRI for your head. So I left and came home...shared the request with Sharon on her comments and she emailed me the sweetest, tear-jerking message...here is the part that hit me with a smile and TRUTH ya'll! "You are my sister and although I may never see you face to face on this side--I love you. Be at peace." Isn't that wonderful? So I got home from my fun and before the kids got home, I had a message: "We want you to have an MRI...get it scheduled as soon as possible." It sent me reeling. Why? What about the blood work? You still want me to go before that? "Yes." So as of 5 pm, I have scheduled my very first big-deal kind of test. On Tuesday, May 29th at 6:45pm, I will be signing in and for 45 minutes, I'll be still and scanned. So please send me some strings back...I covet them! God is indeed in Control. I'm looking up and sending out some strings to each of you tonight!

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

On the Shelf: Life Lesson 2

In 1992 at Texas A&M, Chris and I were really absorbing everything we heard from our favorite pastor, Brother Chris Osborne. He picked up the word of God and spoke boldly. He honors his position and the Lord by taking it seriously, spending much time with the Lord. He would translate the text as he preached. He would go a verse every week. I think it took about 5 years for him to go through the book of John! We respect this man. Well, one morning, we heard Brother Chris speak about "God USING you to do His works that He planned in advance for you to do." Now as college students, we were all asking, "What is God's WILL for my life?" That was a prevalent question among us, especially since we were spending a LOT of time and even MORE money to finish in a certain major or two.

So in His sermon, Bro. Chris said, that if you are unwilling to obey and abide in the Lord, you will be put on a shelf. Now to obey and abide means spending time with Him, reading the Bible, praying...thinking about Him...AND realizing that He is actually with us all the time, ready to hear us and to speak to us, too.

Just like my Bible gathering dust, so I am. Is God angry with me? Is He going to drop me entirely? No, He isn't. But I am not bearing any fruit and my relationship with the living Lord has become stagnant. Yikes.

Well I have been thinking about that statement for over 15 years. It sits in my mind and sometimes I take it out to chew on it (a southern expression that means "to think about it" and "turn it over in your mind"). As I think about how I want to live, do I really want to be placed on a shelf? No, I don't. I was CREATED to have a deep desire to be useful. It is an inherent quality in every person breathing. Now are there some who have chosen to not be useful? Oh yeah there are! But wouldn't you say their life is like an unread book? We ALL want to be useful, and we ALL want to be known. But most importantly, for the Believer, we want to bear fruit.

What is fruit? Well, it is the good output that comes from your input. It is the blooming crepe myrtle after cutting it extremely back. It is the gift we give to others by caring for them and valuing them. Fruit is the child grown up, who is healthy and joyful and can't wait for each new day...maybe he is doing something the world might think is important or maybe she is working in a place listening to the stories of people long forgotten, so they can be known. That is fruit.

I know I am on a shelf, if my first reaction to someone asking me to do something for them is huffiness or simply not wanting to help. I know I am on a shelf, if I can't seem to fit my Bible reading into the day, but have spent the day reading a host of other things. I know I am on a shelf, if I am only looking out for me. I know I am on a shelf, when... YOU fill it in.

You know what that shelf is like...for heaven's sake you are sneezing from all the DUST!

I know I have come off that shelf, when I am concerned for the needs of others... when I follow through on a prompting to call or write someone... when I think about asking others to come over. I KNOW I am far from the shelf, when my deepest desire is to pour into other lives...be it time, giving help, giving money or simply thinking about them and saying a prayer. My focus has shifted...OUTWARDS. That's where I want to live and breathe.

So here's a couple of reflections I have had over the years...I hope it speaks to you!

Room in the Inn October 3, 2001

Crowding out the still small Voice...

Filling life with every noise.

Unconsciously, we cheat ourselves.

Dissatisfied--placed on a shelf.

Our Ears, we fill with sound,

Our Eyes, don't look around,

Our STOMACH'S filled to the brim...

so there's no room for Him!

Oh, Christian let Him be born.

INSIDE you, all is torn.

Every direction pulled today...

Let Jesus fill in every way.

Be aware of all within--

Come Savior, there's room in my Inn!

Broken Pot January 11, 2002

Broken pottery--mired with self

Alone upon a dusty shelf

Heart displaced, no where to fill

Cracking, useless, a constant spill

Then it's Maker holds it near

Scrubs it clean, allays it's fear

Heat applied to a fragile form

Making ready--a new heart born!

Hotter still becomes the fire

Chaff blown--restored, inspired

A useful vessel begins to see

A vision of mercy, a heart that's free!

Filled, overflowing, vessel of worth

Yielded, sacred, found re-birth!

Is is possible that this post finds you dusty today? There's an easy fix for that...

Be Still and Know Him...right this moment, go and spend time...even if you don't know where to begin. Ask Him to show you and Open up His Word. You won't be sorry.

If you're not dusty...keep on walking away from that shelf!

I also added a couple of pictures: one is of tonight's sunset and I also added a rainbow from last Friday.

I had a poster once with a saying of Helen Keller's. Here is what she said, "The most beautiful sunsets are made from cloudy skies."

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Three Vessels: Life Lesson 1

I thought I'd spend this week sharing a few life lessons that God has taught me...some came completely by surprise and by circumstance like this one.

It began when I was pregnant with our first child, Noah. I had shared with my doctor that my sister died in 1968 from gastroscisis, which is an open stomach. My cousin was born in 1971 (the year I was born) and lived with the same thing, so it was possible that this could be genetic (doctors still do not know for certain whether it is environmental or not). So in my late second trimester, I was to have a level two ultrasound to check.

Do you know what she looked at?
She looked at the baby's umbilical cord.

As the nurse was examining, she said, "There should be three vessels -- in gastroscisis, one vessel isn't attached."

So I asked, "The umbilical cord has three vessels? What do they do?"

"Yes," she replied, "TWO arteries carry deoxygenated blood from the baby back to the mother and ONE vein that carries oxygenated blood from the mother to the baby." (emphasis mine)

So the umbilical cord is a cord of three strands? I began to turn this one over and over in my mind.

Can you think of where my mind went? It went to Ecclesiastes 4:9-12:
"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

So, I began to think of the wonder and intricacies of the mind of God. He is consistent in His work. When Solomon penned Ecclesiastes under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, he talked about friendship, protection and sustenance. He mentions two friends, but a three strand cord. Who is the third? I think he is pointing to God Himself, who after Christ came would be in every Believer by the Holy Spirit. Now that is something, isn't it?

When God created Adam, was there an umbilical cord? No...but God Himself walked with Adam in the garden and God also created a help-mate suitable, a friend, a wife -- Eve (makes three, right?). When they were cast from the garden, I believe God maintained the three strand cord theme with a reminder, the umbilical cord. Don't you think He's something?

In the Bible, the use of the word "cord" may be used for fastening, harnessing, measuring, binding as for a prisoner, from generation-to-generation, love, blessing, friendship and an inheritance. You might think of a rope and it's strength because it has three woven strands. But let's talk about the three vessels of the umbilical cord. What do they carry? They carry blood...sustenance and life!

Isn't that amazing? God uses this strong cord to give life to each of us! I am overwhelmed with the thought of His care. He ties everything in, doesn't He? Pardon the pun.

Blood is very important in the Bible...for without blood there can be no forgiveness of sin. Without the blood of the perfect and spotless Lamb of God, Jesus. When you come to the foot of his cross and lay your life down before Him, asking forgiveness for your sins, his blood sprinkles down upon your life...a Holy Transfusion! For when you come to see Jesus as your Savior, you then walk an exchanged life...all because of His blood, because Jesus became a vessel.

I leave you with the words to my very favorite hymn, Come Thou Fount written by Robert Robinson over 200 years ago...it never gets old! I've enjoyed sharing this with you today--it was a hard topic for me to write about, but I believe that God will use it. See you again on Tuesday!

Come, thou fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer; ( stone of help)
Hither by thy help I’ve come;
And I hope, by thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter (could this also be a cord? It means shackles or chains),
Bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for thy courts above.

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

10 Reasons Why I Love Colorado (Part 1)

Sunrise after the Snow












































Hoarfrost like lace on the trees

































Layers of clothes for hot or cold weather and the fact that within 10 miles, it changes!
























Snow Days and Snow Paint

























The Zoo and the Giraffe's Long tongue

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

10 Reasons Why I Love Colorado (Part 2)

Chris' Wild at Heart Truck (Has a tent that attaches!)

Our view of Pikes Peak from the Sonic





























Garden of the Gods and Friends and Family Coming to Visit

























Warm Sunshine and Kitty Cats































Smiling Sydney

























And finally...
Free to Dance! OR Pose:)















OH, you mean that's 11?? Well, I really could go on...and on...and on! Have a blessed weekend!

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

The Queen of Please

Do you know the Prince of Peace? His name is many things, but first and foremost, it's Jesus. Well, the Prince of Peace has been dealing lately with the Queen of Please. In fact the Queen has left the building. She's now as dead as Elvis, unless someone (namely me) decides to resurrect her like in the National Enquirer or something.

But first, would you like a drink? Yes, with mint or lemon? Ice? Sugar? Cream? (now for all you who think I'm a southern girl, I grew up in Illinois my first 10 years...people really do put cream in their tea) Now I can be a good hostess and still not be a pleaser.

You see, I am that queen of please...pleasing people, making sure they're happy and bound and determined (Did you catch the "bound" part? Good. I hoped you'd catch that.) to be miserable unless everyone is happy with me, with their surroundings, with everything really. I want them to be happy, so I can be happy. Underlying all this, I'm sure there's also a part of me that just wants them to be quiet, ya know? Also, there's a huge part of me that finds my VALUE in their happiness. That's where the Prince of Peace, Jesus, comes in...bringing His Peace. Not the kind that the world gives...an everlasting peace.

The problem that then enters, when the Queen of Peace bows down to the Prince of Peace, is that there are SOME relying on your pleasing skills. They're all ready with their value and approval in hand...ready to give you a pat on the back...a well done...maybe even give you a banquet! And it's nice... for a while...then it seems so empty. So in kicks the pleaser again, filling her tank with all the praise she can get...at a cost higher than current gas prices ($3.29 now ouch!).

Then Jesus comes in and brings his medical kit. Sets you down on a bench, while He kneels before you. He begins to clean those wounds, that are bound to come when you don't measure up to the standard others have set. Then He applies the neosporin, an antibiotic, to make sure that this never sets in and gets infected. That is called his forgiveness and grace. Finally He applies the bandage (you know I need them!). This bandage is one that doesn't get old or icky when you go about your way. It protects. That is His Holy Spirit. When you ask Jesus to come into your life, He begins this process, but all along His Spirit is there...immediately! I think the problem that I struggled with so long was simply getting to the point where I put my trust in His protection.

You see, I have many, many wounds (as I'm sure you have). There are many that He healed a long time ago. Some are still works in process. But He doesn't stop at just His medical bag...He begins to apply so many other WONDERS in my life...like Joy. Could you use some Joy today? Or Peace? Is your heart troubled? How about forgiveness? Could you stand to forgive someone today that has wronged you, even if they don't see they did? Could you stand some forgiveness for what you have chosen to do to yourself or others?

It's been only a couple of months, when I hung up my people-pleasing dance bag. When I finally turned from my need to please, into my life came a release in my life like NO OTHER. I am free, as I told a friend today. I am free! I am so very, very free!

John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." If you keep reading, it talks about a place that He's preparing for us this very moment. Detail by detail...beautiful! And a banquet! Did you know that in Heaven there's a banquet? A wedding supper really. Read about it, it will make you LONG for Heaven, like I long for Heaven.

And finally...there's been some inflation going on in the Smith home. Let me let Chris tell you about what happened with Tabor this morning:

Tabor: Daddy will you change me?
Chris: Tabor, why didn't you use the potty?
Tabor (grinning sweetly and with a slightly condescending tone): I sorry Daddy, while I was asleep I tee-teed in my diaper...(Pause)..but, for five dollars I won't do it again!

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

To Bless

This was the blessing Jacob gave to Joseph...
I'm asking that God
give it to each of you,
as well.

Genesis 49:26

Your father's blessings are greater than the blessings

of the ancient

mountains

than the bounty

of the age-old hills.

Selah - Don't you want to pause and think about that?

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Idiosyncrasies and Oddities

(Opening scene) Chris arriving home from work...I say, "Boy, my head is hurting...this pressure change sure is giving me a headache. I just took two acetaminophen and about two hours ago, I took two ibuprofen." All the while, Chris is staring at his new phone and clicking through something. He says he is very eclectic (looked it up, means composed of elements drawn from various sources) in his music choices on his phone. So then he plays this song...

Toby Keith "I Wanna Talk about Me" in part

We talk about your work how your boss is a jerk
We talk about your church and your head when it hurts
...You know talking about you makes me smile
But every once in awhile

I wanna talk about me
Wanna talk about I
Wanna talk about number one
Oh my me my
What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see
I like talking about you, you, you, you, usually, but occasionally
I wanna talk about me
I wanna talk about me (a bit of a yodel to the word, "me")

DID you hear the sarcasm in that song??? So I reply, "Hmmmm, I see."
(Scene closes)

I used to tell Chris he was a closet-country-music-listener. Now he has come out of that closet! You see, Chris is a really smart, really witty fellow. He likes-what-he-likes and is not easily swayed. His mantra (sacred counsel, formula, from manyate "he thinks) is that HE is ALWAYS RIGHT and one would do well to know that (hear that with a Texas drawl). Well, hmmmm, I see.

Our home is filled with idiosyncrasies (a peculiarity of constitution or temperament ) and oddities (the quality or state of being odd ). For instance:

1) Normally, I am the set up for the joke--the gullible one, stepping right into it. Chris just hits that baby over almost every time. Sometimes he just smiles and says, "Bless your heart." According to the comedian, Steve Geyer, that means, "You're an idiot." Chris knows I know that.

2) Our children think that they have "potatoes" in their ears. Why you ask (thinking, yes, they are ODD!)? Well Chris once told our oldest, Noah, that his ears were so dirty, he could grow potatoes in them. So, now you see...

3) If our children offer to help take your shoes and socks off, they will blow on your feet. What? Yes, when they were little in East Texas, where it is so very sweltering hot!!!, I would take off their shoes and socks and, you guessed it!, blow on those sweaty lil' feet.

4) When we play games, it is BEST if Chris wins and I lose. This is because Chris is competitive and a very bad loser and me? I am a very, very, very bad winner....meaning I rub it in...Ha Ha!

5) Chris is a very good one-liner kind of guy...Tabor (3) has also inherited this quality. If you say to Chris, "I'm feeling better." He will reply (from Monty Python's Holy Grail), "No, you'll be stone dead any minute." He also quotes from Bill Cosby (Bill Cosby Himself) and many other movies.

6) Tabor hums his own "theme" music as he goes about the day. Do you remember Kronk from The Emperor's New Groove? His is the super-est-of-super-hero-theme-songs that Tabor hums and sings, "done, don, da doooone!!"

7) We sometimes chuckle during a serious time, because we associate it with something else--in nearly 17 years of knowing one another, we have a LOT of history! And don't dare play Taboo with us...not that we're competitive or anything. Hmmmm, yes, I see!

8) The fact that I'd even post these from my yesterday's story...

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

AND Exhibit C

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Peer Through the Glass

If you were to look curiously through the window to see what goes on in our home, you 'd find something that is not found on any 1/2 hour television program.

For instance, yesterday evening, Chris came home with a large, very large, oh-so-large roll (like a toilet paper roll)--very big! It is at least 8 feet long with a hole in the middle about 6 inches in diameter. The use? A really cool thing the kids can play with OR make Cannons for their play set outside. They talked through it like it was a communication toy, whilst I hurriedly got ready to go to a family birthday party.

Everyone was loaded in the truck, except me. I was gathering the tools for the trip. I got a bottle for the baby, extra clothes for her and our 3 year old, my make-up bag, and my purse, so I might dash through Wal-Mart for a two year old's gift (tangent at Wal-mart: oh, and extra shorts and underclothes for Kylie...she's grown so tall and National Treasure is on sale -- our other copy is lost into oblivion...then Father's Day cards...oh look sandals...the kids need sandals for the summer!). Back to my gathering stuff! I grabbed the camera to catch some good, stormy pictures...maybe even lightning! So with four bags in my arms and a camera, I begin to head to the garage....until my sandal caught on the cool, very large, toy thing-y for the kids. What happened? I swung gracefully around and caught my balance and went on my way, saying Ta-da!... Nope, I tripped. I have a carpet burn on my nose to prove it. I tried to cover it with make up.

Now how did my caring and gentle knight-in-shining-armor react? He laughed. Then he chuckled. This morning I awoke to hear those three words every wife wants to hear "Poor-skinned-nose!" How can someone be prideful with that?

We are a fun bunch. We may all need therapy when this parenting thing is said and done. We laugh at ourselves...we laugh at each other. But, hey, we're laughing, right?

So today, I'm walking Tabor down the stairs for his nap. Do you know what he told me? "I'm not picking my boogers anymore." So I said, "You're not?" To which he replied... "No, for four dollars, I won't."

There you have it.

Proverbs 17:22 "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

A Couple of Swells

Are you a Judy Garland fan? Have you seen Easter Parade? Here's a few of the lyrics to We're a Couple of Swells (picture two hobos):
We're a couple of swells
We stop at the best hotels
But we prefer the country
far away from the city smells
We're a couple of sports
The pride of the tennis courts
In June, July and August
we look cute when we're dressed in shorts

The Vanderbilts have asked us up for tea
We don't know how to get there, no siree
No, siree
We would drive up the Avenue, but we haven't got the price
We would skate up the Avenue, but there isn't any ice
We would ride on a bicycle, but we haven't got a bike
So we'll walk up the Avenue
Yes, we'll walk up the Avenue
And to walk up the Avenue's what we like

I was trying to think of a good way to begin this tale...I think picturing a couple of hobos may be nice. But my friend Heather F. may not agree. Hee hee! Oh, of course she will, she is just as silly as me. Heather was my Bible study leader in Campus Crusade at Texas A&M. She and I decided to participate in what we called Blitz. You show up Friday and a group is there. We pray. Someone encourages us to share about Jesus with others on campus, gives us the 4 Spiritual Laws and off we go.

Heather and I were scared. But we felt like we needed to try; after all, that was why we came. So we tried. I remember we shared them with a stranger on the steps of a building. It just didn't seem to go well, but who knows? She may very well greet us in eternity and thank us. We can hope! Then I saw a girl in my business math class. She smiled when she saw me...but after we shared with her, she avoided me the rest of the semester. In fact, she moved across the room, so it was obvious that she wanted nothing more to do with me. Now we may have tried to share more, but these are the only two I remember 15 years later. We may have inquired (like can we share something with you?) a lot and got "No's."
So what did Heather and I do? Did we not go anymore? We went, but we found a place to share prayer requests and we prayed for each other. I think that is where our wonderful friendship was forged. I know I can call and tell Heather anything. I know she will pray for me. And I know too that she will laugh with me. Pictured above is Me, Heather, and John (her husband_--Christmas time at Texas A&M.

Today, our friends serve in Peru as missionaries. They had three boys and then adopted a boy and girl. We love them like family...well, they are in the family...Jesus' family! It's a good thing!

So what are your views on evangelism? I have attended a conference at our old church with Bill Fay who wrote Share Jesus without Fear. I have read the book Living Proof by Jim Peterson, about lifestyle evangelism. I have just finished reading Terri Blackstock's The Listener. It was a fictional story about a man who began to hear the "heart's cries" of everyone he came in contact with, so he was able to speak to their deepest heart's needs. She states that we can "live" like Christians and think somehow it will cause people to want to know Jesus, too. But really, we do need to talk with them about Jesus and what He's done in our lives. It challenged me. I really have spent several years asking the Lord to use me. I begin to tell others about Jesus and my walk with Him, about how He's changed my life...but then I see myself at Blitz and somehow think I will scare people more than draw them. In many practical ways, though, I do minister to others...a meal, a call, a card or cookies, a hug, a smile and just simply listening to them. I believe whole-heartedly that not one of those things will fall the the ground empty. Our Pastor, Bro. Chris, at A&M taught us about how the Holy Spirit draws a person to want to know Jesus...so all I have to do is let Him work through me and get the "me" out of the way.

The next picture, above, is of all our kids (except Sydney, who wasn't here yet) this summer at Garden of the Gods (Top from left are Justin, Colton, Kevin, Jason and Miranda...siting are Kylie, Tabor and Noah). Finally I added a picture of Miranda and Kylie. Perhaps someday, they two will share Jesus with others and find that sharing prayer requests was really what the Lord had in mind, anyway!

Again, what are your views on evangelism?

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Ramblings and Rumblings

It's about to storm outside...the thunder is drawing nearer and it smells.like.rain. I love that smell. Did you know in Colorado there are several incidences of people being struck by lightning? Lightning hits here often. Here's what the National Weather Service writes,"In Colorado cloud to ground lightning flashes occur nearly a half million times each year. With our population, millions of visitors each year, and many outdoor activities, it is not surprising that in Colorado three people are killed each year, and 18 people are injured."

Tabor just came in and asked me, "Can we get a dragon, Mama? Not a fire one, but a nice long one?" My answer? "Let's ask Daddy tonight." "OK, Mama," Tabor said and walked right back out.

Sydney has begun full-scale crawling. I was doing the dishes in the kitchen (open to the family room) and Sydney crawled her way across the room into the laundry room. So I called Chris to give him the warning, "Sydney is mobile." "OK," Chris replied, "since she's in the laundry room, maybe we can teach her to do the laundry." Dry smile...dry laugh. Ha ha, thank you very much.

Well, since there's lightning, I better go for awhile. I'll post some pictures, if I can get some good ones!

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)