I went to my first Charismatic church last night. It was an incredibly moving experience. Don't get me wrong, whispering tongues was a little strange for me because I have never actually been in the midst of it like that before, but you could almost feel the tangibility of the Holy Spirit moving amongst this small group of people.
So this is a small church in Joshua that is about the same size as CJ. No one was afraid to call out to the Lord (and there was a lot of that.) No one was afraid to raise their hands in worship. No one was afraid to clap or cry or just "be" with the Lord. Everyone did something a little different. There was complete joy in the Lord. Wow.
The worship team was incredible. The lead singers were sisters. One was sixteen and the other was probably 20ish. Their voices were, well, I can't quite explain it. They were awesome, almost bringing me to tears. You know the girl who sings the Revelation Song, well like that, times 2. They weren't singing to lead the singing, they were singing because they loved the Lord. It was like we weren't even there. One of the songs was written by one of the girls and her husband. It was called Who Do You Think That I Am? I wish I would have written down all the words because it was moving. It talks about who God is, beauty, sovereign, savior, then it talks about what God is, Now, right Now. During the song, the older sister went and picked up her newborn baby and stood in front of the church singing the song with all her heart, tears streaming down her face. When the song was over, she took the baby back to her mom. My friend leaned over to me and told me that the baby was not supposed to be here. She said that in her 4th month, she started miscarrying the baby. The doctors and nurses told her that there was nothing they could do to stop it and they needed to be prepared for the loss. That night, she got up in the middle of the night and was praying and took communion and asking God for a miracle to save His child. She said that God came down and she felt His presence. She said that she felt a touch on her head that sent chills down her and a voice that said, "Who touched me?" When she went to the doctor the next week the doctors were astounded and couldn't figure it out, but everything was fine and normal. She said that the doctors asked her, "Who touched you?" She and her husband wrote the song to give God the glory for the miracle He gave them.
Wow.
I feel like I need to say something about the preaching, but I wasn't there for a preacher, it was a guest speaker. He spoke about his travels and the miracles he has seen and there were some big ones. He talked about how God's church has fallen away from signs and wonders, but they are still very real and can happen. He said that when God performs a miracle in your life, He marks you as His. He is tangibly claiming you as His own. He said that when it happens, it is a token of His reality. It is a manifestation of who He is, perfect in every way. I never thought of it like that, but it's true.
Wow.
When I left, I felt like I was glowing from being in the presence of the Lord. I felt warm all over, walking on air. I think that there is something to say for an unadulterated love and passion for the Lord. There is something in being able to show it and not feeling like you are crazy or everyone is staring. There is something to say for just being able to "soak in His presence" with other people. I was fired up for God when I left. I was ready to start preaching the gospel and I think had I had a chance to run out and talk to the lost, boy, there would have been some savin last night. But, I should be on fire like that all the time. I think if people could bottle that feeling and flow in it all the time, wow, how awesome life would be. Praisin and preachin baby!
So, I say all this to say, we should be in a constant relationship with God. We should be constantly looking for the Hand of God. We should be looking to keep the fire flaming, not just sparked. God wants us to live like that. He wants us to be on fire for Him. He has soooo many blessings waiting for us, that they are overflowing because we aren't where we need to be or aren't even asking for them.
So today, I challenge you to turn inward and upward and let God fan your flame and start a bonfire. Ask Him to pour out your blessings and look for opportunities to pour out some on someone else. If you share, He will increase yours and you can share more. Be faithful. Stay in His word. He will keep all the promises that he gives. He is faithful.
Be blessed,
Until we read again...
Faith Writers
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
A lot can happen in a month...
First off, I would like to apologize to those who enjoy reading my blogs.(If there is anyone out there... :-) I am sorry. I realized today that it has been over a month since my last post at the end of April. Wow. I have had so many things happen and going on that it is nearly impossible to tell you all of it. I wasn't sure where to start, so I just didn't.
I started out May with the excitement that it was the last month till school got out. It was exciting and mindblowing. Where did the year go again? I just can't remember...
1May - We started out the month with Jessi performing in her last ballet and tap performance for Cinco De Mayo and she did fabulous! She of course was the tallest one. I have pics on my other computer, but I am on my laptop right now, so I will try to add those later.
2May - We went to the most awesome Christian concert called Come Worship Ignite and it was 5 minutes from my house. We saw David Crowder Band and Chris Tomlin, among a few others. There was thunderstorms, tornado warnings, rain, rain, cleansing rain (that was for you Amber...), but the only thing that happened was it got better! Did I say it was AWESOME!
7May - I got to enjoy an allday fieldtrip with Catie and Miranda. I was celebrated at Jessi's preschool for Mother's Tea and it was wonderful because I got some special time with Jessica.
9May - I registered Jessica, my last child for kindergarten. That was tough. It hit me that she is it. Next fall, all 3 of my girls will be in school. I thought I would be excited, but when they took her back for the testing, tears started swelling in my eyes and I knew what it would feel like when I take my baby to class for the first day of school. I will actually be crying at the Boo Hoo Breakfast. Ho hum. Tears swell in my eyes just thinking about it.
10May - Mothers Day. Nuff said. It was wonderful! The girls got me a sweet card that played music and recorded their voices saying, "I love you Mommy". James lets the girls pick out their own gifts so I got, a Wii game from Catie (M and M racing), a vase and some pretty fake flowers, "so they won't die Mommy," from Jessica and Miranda picked out a red pot "because it's your favorite color and you can make tea in it Mommy." So sweet and thoughtful too, all of them!
So, at church there was a video and a beautiful song they did. The video was a slide show of pictures of the church moms with thier kids. It hit me that there was only one picture of me with my girls and it was from 2005. I never let anyone take my picture, so how could there be any. I was saddened for my girls. My own pride had taken that away from my girls. After letting it eat me up for the rest of the day, I decided that I was not going to do that anymore. God loves me just the way I am and my girls would love to have pictures with their mom. That was a tough lesson to learn the hard way. If you are reading this and you hate getting your picture taken, stop it. You are being selfish and if something happens to you, you want people to have pictures to go back and remember you with. That was the next lesson that I learned.
Later that day, my dad called me to wish me a happy Mothers Day. I asked him how my Grandma was doing. A few weeks before she had had a stroke. Dad said that hospice had been brought in and the nurse had said that she probably would last only 1-3 more months. I was in shock. My Grandma had only been in the nursing home for a few months. My Grandpa had been in for almost a year. He had some dementia issues and was put into this home that was a specialist in those types of issues. Grandma didn't really need to be in that type of home, but my dad wanted them to be together. I could go into all those details, but that would make this long blog even longer, so I won't.
12May - Catie had her first choir competition. We got to go out to Sandy Lake Amusement Park in North Dallas. It was great. It was a nice day too. Lots of sun and her choir got 2nd place. Yea! Oh, I forgot to tell you, my dad called me that morning about 7am our time and told me that Grandma passed away at about 530a our time. (there is a 2 hour time difference between Oregon and here.) So in the midst of Catie's wonderful time, I was trying to figure out, do I go home or do I stay here. When is the funeral, what is the plan?
The funeral was going to be the next week on Thursday. I knew that I would not be able to go due to both of my little one graduating that week and Catie had her first out of town field trip to NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. My mom was going to go with her, but I still wanted to be in town. I decided to get on a plane at
6pm so that I could drive home and be with my dad and sister. Dad was going to wait on the cremation so that on Thursday we could have a viewing and I could say goodbye.
14May - Saying goodbye to grandma. That was surreal. I have never actually looked at a body before. She looked peaceful. She looked skinny. She didn't look like grandma. Just thinking about this is hard for me because it just hit me yesterday when I saw a picture of her that that is all I have left. Pictures. Grandma and I loved each other, but we were never very close. She always had a special thing for my sister. I guess I was always jealous of that. The last few times I have seen her though, she had softened towards me and we actually got spent time together playing cards. Grandma loved to play Kings on the Corner. She has had some memory issues for a long time. All she wanted to do anymore was play cards. Grandpa (before he took a turn for the worse) and Aunt Bonnie were so sick of playing cards that when I came and offered to play they were so thankful! It was nice. That is a special memory that I will always have of Grandma because she loved me playing cards with her. It made her so happy.
So, that brings me to happy part of my trip home that week. I got to see my grandpa. My dad had told me that Grandpa didn't really respond to anyone anymore. He just sat there and was not really there. He said sometimes he would respond with a simple head nod or yes or no, but Dad didn't believe he was sure what he was responding to. Grandpa and I were so close, so I couldn't believe that. I refused to believe that. Without making this too much like a book, long story short, Grandpa did respond to me. Grandpa did talk to me. It wasn't a whole conversation and it was slow and choppy, but he did. He even told me "I love you too." He made eye contact with me and I could see he was there and wanted to say so much more, but couldn't make it all connect to work from brain to mouth. My dad even witnessed some of it. He was so shocked and happy that we decided to take grandpa to the house he built and lived in for like 40 years. Grandpa was so glad to be there. He sat in his chair and yelled at the dogs to, "Shut up!" just like he always did. When we were out side, he picked up his hand and pointed at the dogs who were sniffing the cars and said, "Look at those dogs." It was totally awesome. I told dad that Grandpa was still in there and that he needed stimulation. He needed to be talked to and to made to use his brain to get it firing again. I hope dad does it. I told Grandpa before I left that I would be back and I would bring the girls with me because they really wanted to see him. He smiled and nodded his head. Nuff said about that. It makes me want to cry some more to think about all that.
16May - Catie was in her first wedding out in East Texas. She was the flower girl. She did great, it was beautiful. Jessica went and all she wanted to do was, "hug the princess." (the bride). Does that surprise anyone???
18May - Miranda graduates from Kindergarten. Wow. Can't believe it. Cried again. Go figure.
21May - Jessica graduates PreKindergarten. Wow. Can't belive it. Cried again. Go figure. Catie makes it home from Houston safe and sound with my mom. Had a great time. Thank you God!
30May - Catie gets her softball trophy, Yea! Miranda gets to show us all the new and awesome tricks she has learned in gymnastics and gets a medal. Yeah! She learned so much so quick and improved SSSSSSOOOOOO much so quick! Wow. Cried again.
4Jun - Schools out. Summer time begins. Swim season. A new season. Everyday is a new day to begin again.
What I learned this month. Kids grow up quick. Enjoy them while they still want to enjoy being with you. Let people take your picture. You never know when that is all they will have to remember you with. Love your family. Always tell everyone that you love them, all the time. You never know when it will be the last time. Love your friends. They will be there with you to pick you up when you fall.
I know this is late too, but to those that helped James when I was gone to Oregon, Thank you so much. I know that it was a pain, but I am so grateful. I knew that my family was taken care of and that is one thing I didn't need to worry about. I love you all so much!
So, all that being said... God put something on my heart last week and when I work out the details, I will be posting it soon. Be ready... :-)
Be blessed, until we read again...
I started out May with the excitement that it was the last month till school got out. It was exciting and mindblowing. Where did the year go again? I just can't remember...
1May - We started out the month with Jessi performing in her last ballet and tap performance for Cinco De Mayo and she did fabulous! She of course was the tallest one. I have pics on my other computer, but I am on my laptop right now, so I will try to add those later.
2May - We went to the most awesome Christian concert called Come Worship Ignite and it was 5 minutes from my house. We saw David Crowder Band and Chris Tomlin, among a few others. There was thunderstorms, tornado warnings, rain, rain, cleansing rain (that was for you Amber...), but the only thing that happened was it got better! Did I say it was AWESOME!
7May - I got to enjoy an allday fieldtrip with Catie and Miranda. I was celebrated at Jessi's preschool for Mother's Tea and it was wonderful because I got some special time with Jessica.
9May - I registered Jessica, my last child for kindergarten. That was tough. It hit me that she is it. Next fall, all 3 of my girls will be in school. I thought I would be excited, but when they took her back for the testing, tears started swelling in my eyes and I knew what it would feel like when I take my baby to class for the first day of school. I will actually be crying at the Boo Hoo Breakfast. Ho hum. Tears swell in my eyes just thinking about it.
10May - Mothers Day. Nuff said. It was wonderful! The girls got me a sweet card that played music and recorded their voices saying, "I love you Mommy". James lets the girls pick out their own gifts so I got, a Wii game from Catie (M and M racing), a vase and some pretty fake flowers, "so they won't die Mommy," from Jessica and Miranda picked out a red pot "because it's your favorite color and you can make tea in it Mommy." So sweet and thoughtful too, all of them!
So, at church there was a video and a beautiful song they did. The video was a slide show of pictures of the church moms with thier kids. It hit me that there was only one picture of me with my girls and it was from 2005. I never let anyone take my picture, so how could there be any. I was saddened for my girls. My own pride had taken that away from my girls. After letting it eat me up for the rest of the day, I decided that I was not going to do that anymore. God loves me just the way I am and my girls would love to have pictures with their mom. That was a tough lesson to learn the hard way. If you are reading this and you hate getting your picture taken, stop it. You are being selfish and if something happens to you, you want people to have pictures to go back and remember you with. That was the next lesson that I learned.
Later that day, my dad called me to wish me a happy Mothers Day. I asked him how my Grandma was doing. A few weeks before she had had a stroke. Dad said that hospice had been brought in and the nurse had said that she probably would last only 1-3 more months. I was in shock. My Grandma had only been in the nursing home for a few months. My Grandpa had been in for almost a year. He had some dementia issues and was put into this home that was a specialist in those types of issues. Grandma didn't really need to be in that type of home, but my dad wanted them to be together. I could go into all those details, but that would make this long blog even longer, so I won't.
12May - Catie had her first choir competition. We got to go out to Sandy Lake Amusement Park in North Dallas. It was great. It was a nice day too. Lots of sun and her choir got 2nd place. Yea! Oh, I forgot to tell you, my dad called me that morning about 7am our time and told me that Grandma passed away at about 530a our time. (there is a 2 hour time difference between Oregon and here.) So in the midst of Catie's wonderful time, I was trying to figure out, do I go home or do I stay here. When is the funeral, what is the plan?
The funeral was going to be the next week on Thursday. I knew that I would not be able to go due to both of my little one graduating that week and Catie had her first out of town field trip to NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. My mom was going to go with her, but I still wanted to be in town. I decided to get on a plane at
6pm so that I could drive home and be with my dad and sister. Dad was going to wait on the cremation so that on Thursday we could have a viewing and I could say goodbye.
14May - Saying goodbye to grandma. That was surreal. I have never actually looked at a body before. She looked peaceful. She looked skinny. She didn't look like grandma. Just thinking about this is hard for me because it just hit me yesterday when I saw a picture of her that that is all I have left. Pictures. Grandma and I loved each other, but we were never very close. She always had a special thing for my sister. I guess I was always jealous of that. The last few times I have seen her though, she had softened towards me and we actually got spent time together playing cards. Grandma loved to play Kings on the Corner. She has had some memory issues for a long time. All she wanted to do anymore was play cards. Grandpa (before he took a turn for the worse) and Aunt Bonnie were so sick of playing cards that when I came and offered to play they were so thankful! It was nice. That is a special memory that I will always have of Grandma because she loved me playing cards with her. It made her so happy.
So, that brings me to happy part of my trip home that week. I got to see my grandpa. My dad had told me that Grandpa didn't really respond to anyone anymore. He just sat there and was not really there. He said sometimes he would respond with a simple head nod or yes or no, but Dad didn't believe he was sure what he was responding to. Grandpa and I were so close, so I couldn't believe that. I refused to believe that. Without making this too much like a book, long story short, Grandpa did respond to me. Grandpa did talk to me. It wasn't a whole conversation and it was slow and choppy, but he did. He even told me "I love you too." He made eye contact with me and I could see he was there and wanted to say so much more, but couldn't make it all connect to work from brain to mouth. My dad even witnessed some of it. He was so shocked and happy that we decided to take grandpa to the house he built and lived in for like 40 years. Grandpa was so glad to be there. He sat in his chair and yelled at the dogs to, "Shut up!" just like he always did. When we were out side, he picked up his hand and pointed at the dogs who were sniffing the cars and said, "Look at those dogs." It was totally awesome. I told dad that Grandpa was still in there and that he needed stimulation. He needed to be talked to and to made to use his brain to get it firing again. I hope dad does it. I told Grandpa before I left that I would be back and I would bring the girls with me because they really wanted to see him. He smiled and nodded his head. Nuff said about that. It makes me want to cry some more to think about all that.
16May - Catie was in her first wedding out in East Texas. She was the flower girl. She did great, it was beautiful. Jessica went and all she wanted to do was, "hug the princess." (the bride). Does that surprise anyone???
18May - Miranda graduates from Kindergarten. Wow. Can't believe it. Cried again. Go figure.
21May - Jessica graduates PreKindergarten. Wow. Can't belive it. Cried again. Go figure. Catie makes it home from Houston safe and sound with my mom. Had a great time. Thank you God!
30May - Catie gets her softball trophy, Yea! Miranda gets to show us all the new and awesome tricks she has learned in gymnastics and gets a medal. Yeah! She learned so much so quick and improved SSSSSSOOOOOO much so quick! Wow. Cried again.
4Jun - Schools out. Summer time begins. Swim season. A new season. Everyday is a new day to begin again.
What I learned this month. Kids grow up quick. Enjoy them while they still want to enjoy being with you. Let people take your picture. You never know when that is all they will have to remember you with. Love your family. Always tell everyone that you love them, all the time. You never know when it will be the last time. Love your friends. They will be there with you to pick you up when you fall.
I know this is late too, but to those that helped James when I was gone to Oregon, Thank you so much. I know that it was a pain, but I am so grateful. I knew that my family was taken care of and that is one thing I didn't need to worry about. I love you all so much!
So, all that being said... God put something on my heart last week and when I work out the details, I will be posting it soon. Be ready... :-)
Be blessed, until we read again...
Monday, April 27, 2009
Marathons and sprint writing
Well, I am sure most of you heard about James. I can officially say that I am married to a marathoner now. He ran his first marathon and it was brutal. The weather was the hottest it had ever been since they started the race 10 years ago (right after the OKC bombing). It was in the mid 70's and it the wind was blowing anywhere from 20-30 miles an hour. It was brutal. The previous high temperature was only 53 last year.
The race started at 630am and there were 20K people downtown. 19K were running one of the races. His race took almost 15 minutes for all the runners to cross the start line. It was an incredible sight. I, being the sweet weenie that I am, ran/walked the 5k at 645am. It took me a whole 43 minutes to cross my finish line, at which time, I walked town to the memorial and took in the awe of it. If you haven't had the chance to go, you should. It is beautiful and you can sense the presence of God in it.
After that, about 8ish, I walked back up to about a 2 and a half blocks before the finsih line and waited. And waited. And waited. Oh, and waited. I finally saw James' friend, Robert, who was doing the half marathon and ran down the 2 blocks to catch up with him and show him where I was. His wife was doing her first marathon too. So then we waited. And waited. And waited some more. (Long day of waiting ever.) By this time, James other friend who was running the marathon, Raj, well his brother had come with us too. He finally made it to where we were so it was Robert, Suresh and myself now. Waiting.
I got a phone call at 1020am from a 405 number. I normally don't answer numbers I don't recognize, but it hit me, it might be one of the medical tents calling about James, so I answered it. It was James. He was way behind schedule due to running into the 30 mile an hour wind and he was only at mile 22. We all did the math and figured it be another 40 or so minutes. So we waited. And waited. Finally, at 1110am, 4 hours and 40 minutes after the start, we saw James. I was so excited I almost cried. I ran out and he ran over to me and gave me a big sweaty kiss! (he was really sweaty!) An hour or so after that, Roberts wife finished hers and about 45 minutes or so after that, Raj finished. He was hurting bad, but he finished. He is really tall and was already having some knee issues prior to that, but he finished! Yea!
So it was a long day, but it was well worth it and I am now offically married to a marathoner. yea!!! Oh and we checked the times on the internet last night and James finished in the top half of marathoners. The average finish time was 4 hours and 51 minutes. Last year, with the temperature at 53, the average finish was 4 hours 30 minutes, so you can see how much weather plays a part in a person's ability to perform. He did pretty darn good for a first timer huh???
ps....no pictures are attached because James did not want his misery kept forever on camera. :-)
So, Sprint writing. Awhile back, I entered a 24 hour writing contest for Saturday. The way it works was you get a topic and word count at 12n on Saturday and have 24 hours to turn it in. I didn't get the topic till about 2pm due to wifi issues and we were in the car on our way to OKC. (I was getting carsick trying to type.) When we got to the hotel, I spent about an hour or so writing my 900 word story during the Mavs game. We went to dinner, then got back about 830p. I spent about 45 minutes editing it and turned it in. Whew...what a Saturday that was... I should find out how I did in a month or so. The contest was limited to 500 writers and they are giving out 85 prizes, so hopefully, I will win something. Wish me luck. Also, the silent character contest I entered on the 15Apr, well I should find out on 4May if I won or not.
Until we read again...
wt
The race started at 630am and there were 20K people downtown. 19K were running one of the races. His race took almost 15 minutes for all the runners to cross the start line. It was an incredible sight. I, being the sweet weenie that I am, ran/walked the 5k at 645am. It took me a whole 43 minutes to cross my finish line, at which time, I walked town to the memorial and took in the awe of it. If you haven't had the chance to go, you should. It is beautiful and you can sense the presence of God in it.
After that, about 8ish, I walked back up to about a 2 and a half blocks before the finsih line and waited. And waited. And waited. Oh, and waited. I finally saw James' friend, Robert, who was doing the half marathon and ran down the 2 blocks to catch up with him and show him where I was. His wife was doing her first marathon too. So then we waited. And waited. And waited some more. (Long day of waiting ever.) By this time, James other friend who was running the marathon, Raj, well his brother had come with us too. He finally made it to where we were so it was Robert, Suresh and myself now. Waiting.
I got a phone call at 1020am from a 405 number. I normally don't answer numbers I don't recognize, but it hit me, it might be one of the medical tents calling about James, so I answered it. It was James. He was way behind schedule due to running into the 30 mile an hour wind and he was only at mile 22. We all did the math and figured it be another 40 or so minutes. So we waited. And waited. Finally, at 1110am, 4 hours and 40 minutes after the start, we saw James. I was so excited I almost cried. I ran out and he ran over to me and gave me a big sweaty kiss! (he was really sweaty!) An hour or so after that, Roberts wife finished hers and about 45 minutes or so after that, Raj finished. He was hurting bad, but he finished. He is really tall and was already having some knee issues prior to that, but he finished! Yea!
So it was a long day, but it was well worth it and I am now offically married to a marathoner. yea!!! Oh and we checked the times on the internet last night and James finished in the top half of marathoners. The average finish time was 4 hours and 51 minutes. Last year, with the temperature at 53, the average finish was 4 hours 30 minutes, so you can see how much weather plays a part in a person's ability to perform. He did pretty darn good for a first timer huh???
ps....no pictures are attached because James did not want his misery kept forever on camera. :-)
So, Sprint writing. Awhile back, I entered a 24 hour writing contest for Saturday. The way it works was you get a topic and word count at 12n on Saturday and have 24 hours to turn it in. I didn't get the topic till about 2pm due to wifi issues and we were in the car on our way to OKC. (I was getting carsick trying to type.) When we got to the hotel, I spent about an hour or so writing my 900 word story during the Mavs game. We went to dinner, then got back about 830p. I spent about 45 minutes editing it and turned it in. Whew...what a Saturday that was... I should find out how I did in a month or so. The contest was limited to 500 writers and they are giving out 85 prizes, so hopefully, I will win something. Wish me luck. Also, the silent character contest I entered on the 15Apr, well I should find out on 4May if I won or not.
Until we read again...
wt
Sunday, March 29, 2009
My nine year streak is OVER...
Well, I finally had to take one of my girls to the ER for stiches. Poor Jessica had a meeting with a mean old ceiling fan on top of a bunk bed at a friends house. Don't worry, there was a lot of blood, but she was a trooper. In fact, when I got back to my friends house (in like 2 minutes...) the only one's left crying were Miranda, Catie and Torie. Jessi wasn't crying anymore, till she saw me of course.
We went to the ER and only had to wait about 10 minutes in the waiting room, it was a head wound you know. We were in and out in about, oh, 3 hours. Thankfully Jumanji was on ABC Family and we got to watch that. She didn't cry at all while the doctor did the stiches. She held my hand and when he was done, she had a big smile on her face. She wanted her milkshake.
We went to TGI Fridays for dinner and our waitress was so sweet that she had the manager comp all the kids some ice cream for dessert. So, here are some pictures for you if you are interested. She got 7 stiches and the doctor took about 30 minutes to get it done, just to make sure he did it right.
Don't be scared by her evil eyes...she was trying to be funny and the other pics I took wouldn't come out. She really is sweet. :-)
You can see in the pictures that she had another scratch, that was the second swipe of the next blade, but Catie grabbed her and pulled her back before it got a good whack at her. Thank you Catie!
We went to the ER and only had to wait about 10 minutes in the waiting room, it was a head wound you know. We were in and out in about, oh, 3 hours. Thankfully Jumanji was on ABC Family and we got to watch that. She didn't cry at all while the doctor did the stiches. She held my hand and when he was done, she had a big smile on her face. She wanted her milkshake.
We went to TGI Fridays for dinner and our waitress was so sweet that she had the manager comp all the kids some ice cream for dessert. So, here are some pictures for you if you are interested. She got 7 stiches and the doctor took about 30 minutes to get it done, just to make sure he did it right.
Don't be scared by her evil eyes...she was trying to be funny and the other pics I took wouldn't come out. She really is sweet. :-)
You can see in the pictures that she had another scratch, that was the second swipe of the next blade, but Catie grabbed her and pulled her back before it got a good whack at her. Thank you Catie!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Kingdom Dog Isaiah 40:31 - video Awesome!
One of my friends emailed me this video and I had to share it. It is awesome. Especially if you love God and dogs...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKohJ1k4oKA
Enjoy -
Until we read again...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKohJ1k4oKA
Enjoy -
Until we read again...
Friday, March 20, 2009
Another dream...cautionary tale
Ok, so I woke up this morning with the overwhelming feeling that I needed to share this as soon as possible.
I dreamed that I went back to work at my old job in a call center. It was different. The building was the same. The view was the same, but the inside had been remodeled. At first, of course, I had difficulty getting around, but as I walked and worked, it got easier. Most of the readers I have will know that the place I worked before was filled with darkness. I walk in Marvelous Light now, so I could see all the darkness and it could see me. It followed me around, tempting me and trying to be my friend. I would try to hide from it, but it still came. It knew where I was.
After drinking some water, I left the building. I wanted to run away, but I didn't. Instead, I flew. Me, the fraidy cat of heights flew away and it was awesome! I was with 2 other people, but I can't remember who they were. Two of the dark folks followed me too. They wanted to be my friend. I just wanted to get away from them. We stopped in an old town grocery store. You know, the ones in the back country's that look like wooden buildings that were built in the 1800's? I ran into the delivery garage in the back of the store. I was frantically searching for a water bottle. I found one, but it was empty and dirty. I tried to clean it out, but the water was gross. I kept thinking, I have to have some clean water or I won't be able to fly. Next thing I know, the dark people found me. They wanted to "help" me. I told them no and tried to fly away. I guess I got a drink of the dirty water because I flew, but it didn't last long. I saw a clean pool below me and thought of falling into that, but I kept going. I saw some ponds too, but didn't fall into those. Instead, I dropped next to a large puddle of dirty musky muddy water. The dark people behind me stopped to help me. I knew I was dying and they just sat there and patted me on the back and told me it would be okay.
That was when I woke up. Folks, let me tell you what I believe was being shown to me in this dream. I told you a little about my old job. The new me, the one alive in Christ, see old things through new lenses. (although I am not that new anymore, that is what God used to show me this lesson.) I went back to my old job and seeing it in new lenses it looked different and it was filled with darkenss. The longer you walk in darkness, the easier it gets to see. That also makes it easier for darkness to be around you. I guess I realized it and wanted out. I hid and then for some odd reason, I drank water. I know weird, but listen to this... In my dream experience and reading several books and even confirmation in the bible, water signifies the cleansing in the Holy Spirit. Water is cleansing in a baptism and makes things clean and new. I walked out the door expecting to run and started flying. Flying signifies freedom that we don't have without God in our lives. (Again, these are my opinions in my experiences.)
So, now let me get right to the point of why I need to tell you this. I believe that God was telling me to get His messages from His word and not always from people who say they are teaching His word. Such as preachers on TV. Have you ever noticed that some preachers don't even open the bible when they are giving you suggestions on how to live your life? Oh, it's there, but they don't ask you to use yours. That is dirty water. Have you ever read an article in a "religious" magazine or book and they tell you all these wonderful things, but never tell you where they found it in the bible? That is dirty water. I believe God wants us to get back to his clean fresh water of life which is His word, the Bible. I believe that God can do wonderful things with us. Things that are as freeing as flying, if we just open up His word and let Him give us revelation. I think that it is too easy to rely on other imperfect people to tell us what His word says instead of diving into it ourselves. You know what that is? Well, it's just plain LAZY. In the court of law, isn't it hearsay to quote someone else when you are on the stand? Doesn't that make it inadmissable in the court of law? Why? Do you want to go to the judgment seat when you die and tell God that you only did what _______ said you were supposed to do? Have you ever played the game telephone with a bunch of kids? Start with Mama ate Papa's peanut butter sandwich and end up with Mama caught Papa stealing a lunch box. Get my drift? That could be what is happening to God's word. It is being distorted. Even if the person preaching the word is an awesome man of God, you need to be writing those scriptures down and looking them up yourself to make sure they weren't taken out of context. If he didn't quote scripture, you need to go ask him where he came up with that lesson? Ask him for the scriptures? God will give you a little nudge if that was truly His word that was spoken. He is faithful.
So, I guess this was a cautionary tale. I am not preaching, by the way. I am asking you to simply get into His word and have Him show you what, He showed me. I know that I need to be delving into His word more and stop relying on TV preachers to teach it to me. I hope that someone else out there needed to hear this message. I felt it so important that I didn't even go through my email when I opened my computer before I started typing this. Okay, well, I did peek at one. The evil one sure is a good tempter...
Be Blessed, until we read again...
I dreamed that I went back to work at my old job in a call center. It was different. The building was the same. The view was the same, but the inside had been remodeled. At first, of course, I had difficulty getting around, but as I walked and worked, it got easier. Most of the readers I have will know that the place I worked before was filled with darkness. I walk in Marvelous Light now, so I could see all the darkness and it could see me. It followed me around, tempting me and trying to be my friend. I would try to hide from it, but it still came. It knew where I was.
After drinking some water, I left the building. I wanted to run away, but I didn't. Instead, I flew. Me, the fraidy cat of heights flew away and it was awesome! I was with 2 other people, but I can't remember who they were. Two of the dark folks followed me too. They wanted to be my friend. I just wanted to get away from them. We stopped in an old town grocery store. You know, the ones in the back country's that look like wooden buildings that were built in the 1800's? I ran into the delivery garage in the back of the store. I was frantically searching for a water bottle. I found one, but it was empty and dirty. I tried to clean it out, but the water was gross. I kept thinking, I have to have some clean water or I won't be able to fly. Next thing I know, the dark people found me. They wanted to "help" me. I told them no and tried to fly away. I guess I got a drink of the dirty water because I flew, but it didn't last long. I saw a clean pool below me and thought of falling into that, but I kept going. I saw some ponds too, but didn't fall into those. Instead, I dropped next to a large puddle of dirty musky muddy water. The dark people behind me stopped to help me. I knew I was dying and they just sat there and patted me on the back and told me it would be okay.
That was when I woke up. Folks, let me tell you what I believe was being shown to me in this dream. I told you a little about my old job. The new me, the one alive in Christ, see old things through new lenses. (although I am not that new anymore, that is what God used to show me this lesson.) I went back to my old job and seeing it in new lenses it looked different and it was filled with darkenss. The longer you walk in darkness, the easier it gets to see. That also makes it easier for darkness to be around you. I guess I realized it and wanted out. I hid and then for some odd reason, I drank water. I know weird, but listen to this... In my dream experience and reading several books and even confirmation in the bible, water signifies the cleansing in the Holy Spirit. Water is cleansing in a baptism and makes things clean and new. I walked out the door expecting to run and started flying. Flying signifies freedom that we don't have without God in our lives. (Again, these are my opinions in my experiences.)
So, now let me get right to the point of why I need to tell you this. I believe that God was telling me to get His messages from His word and not always from people who say they are teaching His word. Such as preachers on TV. Have you ever noticed that some preachers don't even open the bible when they are giving you suggestions on how to live your life? Oh, it's there, but they don't ask you to use yours. That is dirty water. Have you ever read an article in a "religious" magazine or book and they tell you all these wonderful things, but never tell you where they found it in the bible? That is dirty water. I believe God wants us to get back to his clean fresh water of life which is His word, the Bible. I believe that God can do wonderful things with us. Things that are as freeing as flying, if we just open up His word and let Him give us revelation. I think that it is too easy to rely on other imperfect people to tell us what His word says instead of diving into it ourselves. You know what that is? Well, it's just plain LAZY. In the court of law, isn't it hearsay to quote someone else when you are on the stand? Doesn't that make it inadmissable in the court of law? Why? Do you want to go to the judgment seat when you die and tell God that you only did what _______ said you were supposed to do? Have you ever played the game telephone with a bunch of kids? Start with Mama ate Papa's peanut butter sandwich and end up with Mama caught Papa stealing a lunch box. Get my drift? That could be what is happening to God's word. It is being distorted. Even if the person preaching the word is an awesome man of God, you need to be writing those scriptures down and looking them up yourself to make sure they weren't taken out of context. If he didn't quote scripture, you need to go ask him where he came up with that lesson? Ask him for the scriptures? God will give you a little nudge if that was truly His word that was spoken. He is faithful.
So, I guess this was a cautionary tale. I am not preaching, by the way. I am asking you to simply get into His word and have Him show you what, He showed me. I know that I need to be delving into His word more and stop relying on TV preachers to teach it to me. I hope that someone else out there needed to hear this message. I felt it so important that I didn't even go through my email when I opened my computer before I started typing this. Okay, well, I did peek at one. The evil one sure is a good tempter...
Be Blessed, until we read again...
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Basking in the Son
Do you ever have those weeks when God is giving you stuff so quick it just is too hard to keep up? This past week has been one of those for me. I keep trying to tell Him that I need to come up for air, but I am drowning in his glory. Have you ever heard that you need to be careful what you pray for? Well, I have been praying for God to let me see people and myself as he sees me and he has answered it in ways I haven't fully grasped yet. It's like, I know it, but I can't put it into words. Yes, me being a writer, stumped for words... go figure.
So what I realized is there is sadness all around me. I watch people and can see that they are hiding behind masks. I do too and it makes me sad. They long for acceptance or forgiveness. They long for unconditional love. A love that is so uncharacteristic of the love that they receive in their lives, that if they did have it, it would be so forgein that they would never fully benefit from it. That love can only come from God and sin has blanketed their lives makes it nearly impossible for them to see it.
This past week has been a flurry of events. I don't want to elaborate at this time because I am not sure what to do with all the info yet. I'm still processing. What I have been so excited about though is that I have been writing like a fool this week. All kinds of things. Usually the Holy Spirit gives me words at the most inopportune times. Like when I am outside jogging, when I am driving or even in the shower. (Do they make anything water proof for the shower yet?) So this time, when words started to hit me, I was sitting in the middle of church. I was so tired because I had just had a surgical procedure done on Wednesday and then went and WALKED the Cowtown 5K on Saturday while my husband was doing the half marathon. Yes, I know it was silly, but I did it anyway. I did not overdo it, don't worry. Anyway, I was sitting in church so tired I could barely stay awake, so I closed my eyes to listen to the pastor talk and really hear his words. All of a sudden, I had to start writing. It was the craziest feeling ever. I popped my eyes open and started franticly looking for something to write with, of course, I didn't have my purse or any paper. I found the closest thing, an info card that my six year old had drawn pictures on and started writing like a fool all around her pictures. I drew arrows to follow the words and wrote over the hearts that weren't colored in. It was incredible. I just wrote.
When I was done, I realized what it was all about. God IS love. All this week he was showing me what people were missing. If we could just love people like he loves us. I felt warm and fuzzy. Like I was basking in the sun. (Hence the blog title.) I would tell you what I wrote, but I think it was for me to understand what God is, then try to share. God is love. He is the feeling between two people that is real. He is the voice in your head that tells you things, like not to sin, go talk to that person, read your bible or you need to apologize, you get the picture. People call it intuition, but it is God.
Just think for a moment, if we all functioned the way God created us to, following our intuitions (ie. Holy Spirit), we would always be showing love. God created man in HIS image. They even talked about it in The Shack, (if you haven't read it yet, read it). His image is the image of love. It encompasses everything. The beauty of the blooming trees. Those fluttering butterflies you get when you meet your soul mate. The crying of a newborn baby. The feeling, the actions, it's all about the love. In the beginning God was love and he created someone to share that with. So, I believe inherently, we all know that there is more than the Big Bang. Why do you think that in peoples most desperate moments, they cry out to something or someone they don't even believe in? Because deep down, they know love and they know he is the answer. They are just too proud to admit it.
Everytime we share love we share a piece of God. Everytime, he fills in the missing piece. That is why we can continue to love one another. That is why when we have another child, we can love them just as much as the first one. The more you give the more you get. Therefore, that intangible faith that we have in a God that we can't actually see or feel is truly tangible. We see and feel him everyday through the people we share our lives with. Each piece of nature surrounds us and that is Gods way of showing love to us. If we follow that little voice in our heads, the Holy Spirit will always lead us the love way and ever a-way.
God is love and he is the true foundation of our lives, whether we profess to believe it or not.
It is. He is. The best way to learn to love others better is to learn to let others love us. That includes the God of the universe, whose only wish is that we would love him above all other things. I don't think that's too much to ask, do you?
So, throw away that sunscreen and come bask in the Son with me, there are plenty of chairs.
I promise, you won't get burned.
Until we read again...
wt
So what I realized is there is sadness all around me. I watch people and can see that they are hiding behind masks. I do too and it makes me sad. They long for acceptance or forgiveness. They long for unconditional love. A love that is so uncharacteristic of the love that they receive in their lives, that if they did have it, it would be so forgein that they would never fully benefit from it. That love can only come from God and sin has blanketed their lives makes it nearly impossible for them to see it.
This past week has been a flurry of events. I don't want to elaborate at this time because I am not sure what to do with all the info yet. I'm still processing. What I have been so excited about though is that I have been writing like a fool this week. All kinds of things. Usually the Holy Spirit gives me words at the most inopportune times. Like when I am outside jogging, when I am driving or even in the shower. (Do they make anything water proof for the shower yet?) So this time, when words started to hit me, I was sitting in the middle of church. I was so tired because I had just had a surgical procedure done on Wednesday and then went and WALKED the Cowtown 5K on Saturday while my husband was doing the half marathon. Yes, I know it was silly, but I did it anyway. I did not overdo it, don't worry. Anyway, I was sitting in church so tired I could barely stay awake, so I closed my eyes to listen to the pastor talk and really hear his words. All of a sudden, I had to start writing. It was the craziest feeling ever. I popped my eyes open and started franticly looking for something to write with, of course, I didn't have my purse or any paper. I found the closest thing, an info card that my six year old had drawn pictures on and started writing like a fool all around her pictures. I drew arrows to follow the words and wrote over the hearts that weren't colored in. It was incredible. I just wrote.
When I was done, I realized what it was all about. God IS love. All this week he was showing me what people were missing. If we could just love people like he loves us. I felt warm and fuzzy. Like I was basking in the sun. (Hence the blog title.) I would tell you what I wrote, but I think it was for me to understand what God is, then try to share. God is love. He is the feeling between two people that is real. He is the voice in your head that tells you things, like not to sin, go talk to that person, read your bible or you need to apologize, you get the picture. People call it intuition, but it is God.
Just think for a moment, if we all functioned the way God created us to, following our intuitions (ie. Holy Spirit), we would always be showing love. God created man in HIS image. They even talked about it in The Shack, (if you haven't read it yet, read it). His image is the image of love. It encompasses everything. The beauty of the blooming trees. Those fluttering butterflies you get when you meet your soul mate. The crying of a newborn baby. The feeling, the actions, it's all about the love. In the beginning God was love and he created someone to share that with. So, I believe inherently, we all know that there is more than the Big Bang. Why do you think that in peoples most desperate moments, they cry out to something or someone they don't even believe in? Because deep down, they know love and they know he is the answer. They are just too proud to admit it.
Everytime we share love we share a piece of God. Everytime, he fills in the missing piece. That is why we can continue to love one another. That is why when we have another child, we can love them just as much as the first one. The more you give the more you get. Therefore, that intangible faith that we have in a God that we can't actually see or feel is truly tangible. We see and feel him everyday through the people we share our lives with. Each piece of nature surrounds us and that is Gods way of showing love to us. If we follow that little voice in our heads, the Holy Spirit will always lead us the love way and ever a-way.
God is love and he is the true foundation of our lives, whether we profess to believe it or not.
It is. He is. The best way to learn to love others better is to learn to let others love us. That includes the God of the universe, whose only wish is that we would love him above all other things. I don't think that's too much to ask, do you?
So, throw away that sunscreen and come bask in the Son with me, there are plenty of chairs.
I promise, you won't get burned.
Until we read again...
wt
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
