Isn't it great when the weather accommodates your mood? I sit here on this cold spring day with clouds of gray and bits of nasty snow careening to the ground. I feel a lot like that today. Cold, lifeless, not a lot of color to be found, and bits of nasty pouring out of me. My grandpa died yesterday. I didn't think it was going to upset me because when my grandma died last year the only thing I was upset about was how upsetting it was to everyone else. The short time I had with my grandma, growing up was horrible. She was mean, my extended family got involved a lot. I just remember a lot of yelling, strife and contention. It was the only time in my life, the police were called to my home for domestic violence. My grandma was pitching a whopper of fit and it had turned into my fault. People were yelling and screaming and slapping each other. Some will fault me for speaking of it, but it doesn't change the fact that it happened and as a young teenager it was a horrifying experience. Now, to not speak ill of the dead, when my grandma got older she was the sweetest little thing you would ever meet. Her personality dramatically altered with dementia. My younger siblings had the opportunity to experience a completely different grandma. So that is probably why they were so sad . . . now that I stop to think about it, but I told you that bits of nasty, just like the snow that stubborning clings to spring comes pouring out of the sky, bits of nasty seem to pour out of me. It's a process. Some might identify with and others may shake their head and wonder who gave this girl internet and a blog!
Yesterday I received a call . . . thankfully not a Facebook status about my grandpa (I found out about my grandma by my cousin's Facebook statuses.) I do appreciate my mom taking the time to tell me. My grandpa had had a stroke at the beginning of the week, was not able to eat, so they put a feeding tube in him, but that caused an infection. His heart, too weak from the stroke, wasn't able to keep up the blood flow needed to repair him and actually his insides rotted away. That's the clinical side of it. When I first heard he wasn't doing well, I was clinical about it. I didn't think I would cry or be upset having handled my grandma's death so well! (I say that with a WHOLE lot of sarcasm.) We had a fun day planned. We were going with a bunch of church kids to a bounce house experience! It was going to be a lot of fun! The kids were looking forward to playing. I was looking forward to some girl time with a couple other ladies. I wasn't going to be a pastor's wife that day . . . I had decided. I was just going to be one of the moms with one of the many kids in the crowd. I was going to laugh, joke, have fun, etc. I wasn't going to offer advice, I wasn't going to teach, I was just going to enjoy the fellowship of two dear ladies and really enjoy myself. We pulled into Wendy's and I got the call that the surgery didn't go well, they closed him up and said it would be a matter of hours at most a couple of days and he would die. I cried. I quick called my husband (he has this super power to calm me down, I love him so much) I cried again. He said, he would love to send me out if we could afford stand I thanked him for that sweet sentiment. I tried to get a hold of myself but it was too much. I cried again. You know, I really put a damper on our fun day! That knowledge came to me briefly and I cried some more. I told myself to get a hold of myself. Then I cried out to God and asked Him to get a hold of me. The rest of the day I talked, I might have laughed, I don't remember, at lest I didn't cry. Oh, I did lose my debit card, that is proof I wasn't completely myself. It was hard to process much yesterday, with such sad news in such a happy and colorful place.
Yesterday was kind of a blur. I held a lot in, surprisingly a lot more than I realize. I really loved my grandpa. I didn't know my mom's parents and I didn't really like my grandma (I loved her with christian love but I never really liked her). But I loved and liked my grandpa. Sure, my grandpa made mistakes he was human being. But instead of the mistakes I want to tell you some things I loved about my grandpa and some things he passed down to me. You see, I don't have a thing in my house given to me from my grandparents. I own nothing that belonged to them. Nothing I can touch that they once touched, nothing I can smell that has their scent lingering there, nothing. Part of that made me sad (I really don't know why, but I suspect it is part of the processing process aka grief). I remember when we went to visit my grandpa in Spokane, WA. It was so beautiful there. It was one of the two vacations we took as kids. My grandpa reminisced about my parents as young people. He even told me the joke he told for my mother the first time my dad brought her over for Sunday dinner! He always seemed to have a cup of coffee in his hand. I remember how my grandparents and then the whole clan moved out to TN. I remember the time before all the clan came, when I had my grandpa all to myself for a short wonderful while! I remember how calm he seemed. He would walk around the block with me, coffee in hand, regaling me tales of being in the ministry. My grandpa was a Southern Baptist Preacher (he later became independent baptist). He told me about pastoring, about dealing with people problems. He loved being in the ministry. He had also been in the Air Force but he loved the ministry.
I remember when things would erupt with the clan. My grandpa would usually be the peace keeper or he'd end up in the hospital with chest pains and that usually calmed everyone down. I remember the first time I had enough money saved up to take my grandpa to coffee. To treat my grandpa instead of him always treating other people. I clutched my handful of coins and asked him if he would like to go to coffee ( I get my love of coffee from my grandpa!) I remember how we went out that day. Just the two of us. It is one of the few times I had my grandpa all to myself. He smiled down at me, even as a kid I knew he was humoring me and that in a different way I was humoring him. We talked. I asked questions and he talked. I loved listening to my grandpa talk.
I remember the times I got to play the piano for my grandpa to sing in church. That was exciting. I remember him telling me to keep up the playing and one day I would be great. I'm not great but his encouragement got me a lot further than I would have ever gotten without it! I remember many good times with my grandpa.
I remember the first set of pearls I received, they were from my grandpa. They came in this beautiful black velvet pouch. They were gorgeous! They actually had been a forgotten present. Not till we took down the Christmas tree did we find it fallen under the tree skirt of the tree! I love pearls now, If you were take all my costume jewelry away and only let me have one, I would choose pearls hands down, every time!
There are a few things that really shine about my grandpa, (despite the nasty weather outside). His love for people. He would give you the shirt off your back if he hadn't already given it to someone else and it didn't matter how many times you wronged him, he was a pretty forgiving man. It took a lot for my grandpa to write you off and it usually only happened when you did something to his family. He loved having people over. He loved ministering to them. He loved serving them. He would have 50 people over his house, feed them well, as in steaks, and provide fellowship. He put up with a lot of nonsense from my extended family and still loved them fiercely. He often loved the unloveable. They would find refuge and acceptance in his home. He was quick to admit his mistakes and quick to try to work on them. I never knew my grandpa when he was a pastor but I saw it every time he helped people, every time he opened his home, every time he talked to people. He had a pastor's heart. Even up until his death he had opened his home to a new church plant in Mesa, AZ to have their mid-week service in his house. He loved God and what God loved, he loved the church. My grandpa would have church people over just to love on them. Not to take the place of the pastor, no, he always fiercely defended the pastor and even when he had to leave a church due to the pastor's behavior he refused to talk bad about God's man. He told me over the phone, "It is what it is, God has moved me on." When my husband and I contemplated starting a church in Phoenix he promised to help if God moved us down there. He was generous and kind.
My grandpa called me sweetheart. All the time. I don't know how many girls he called sweetheart but he called me sweetheart. It was always so comforting. I remember vividly the first time my boyfriend called me sweetheart and how I cried a few months later when I called my grandpa to tell him about my boyfriend and he called me sweetheart and I realized why I loved being called sweetheart by my boyfriend! It was a bit of love given me by my grandpa that when spoken will continue to touch my heart!
I wish I had known him better. We didn't live around my grandpa except for a few years growing up and then we lived so far away that we couldn't go visit often. And even though I have nothing to hold of his, I have some far more important things he gave me, my love of coffee and pearls, my love of God and what God loved, the church, and my love of opening my home to people of all kind! I will miss my grandpa, but he is in heaven, no pain, no suffering, no more drama. He is with the God he loved and served so faithfully in every way he was capable of for so many years! If I have the opportunity to grow old I hope I will be like my grandpa, "when I am old and gray headed, O God, forsake me not till I have shewn thy strength unto this generation and thy power to everyone that is to come."
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Monday, March 10, 2014
Friendship and Disagreements
I have a question about friendship. Since when did being friends mean you can't disagree with your friend and you can't tell them they are wrong? Have you noticed that trend in America? If you are my friend, then you are going to agree with everything I say and everything I do. NO, I'm not for a very basic reason that I am not you and I am different than you. Because I'm human and you are human and we are both flawed and going to make mistakes. I don't even agree with everything I DO and Say, so trying to get me to agree with everything you do and say, forget it!
Does the bible have anything to say about this? Why actually it does! Proverbs 27:6 says that "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." Then there is that ever quoted famous verse from Proverbs 27:17, "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." Speaking about agreeing with your friends and sometimes intentionally wounding your friend with the intent of helping them, we see that the bible is clear. Sometimes we do have to tell our friends hard things that will potentially hurt their feelings. Sometimes we have to disagree with our friend. Sometimes they are wrong and if we are going to be a REAL friend we must speak the truth to them IN LOVE! Colossians 4:6 exhorts us to "Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." And Ephesians 4:29 tells us to "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." When we have to reprove a friend, we need to make sure it is for their good. It is to edify, to build them up, to minister grace, to help them be the best version of themselves that they can be. When those times come that you have to "talk" to your friend can I offer a few practical suggestions.
1. Examine your heart and ask why are you going to talk to that friend?
2. What do you want the end result to be?
3. Do you have a bible principle that will support what you are saying? If so use it, the bible is the only thing promised to not return void.
4. Remember, people will not always remember what you do and say but they will remember how you made them feel. There is a way to get on to someone and still make them feel special and valuable. Remind them that you love them and that love for them is what spurred you to say what you did. Remind them they are valuable and it is only one mistake, it's not the end of their life . . . yet.
5. Pray, Pray, and PRAY. Then when you go to meet with them, pray again with them. Ask them to pray out loud. Ask them to pray for you and that you will say what God wants you to say and how to say it. Pray out loud for them that they will hear what God has laid on your heart. This will keep God central in your discussion.
6. Don't attack the person . . . attack the problem! The person is NOT the problem, they made a mistake, they are not the mistake!
7. Be honest. Be clear. Use simple language. Don't complicate the matter with lots of words but don't lie about how you feel or the situation. That won't help anyone, you or your friend.
8. This is a big one: ACT, don't react. As women, we are natural reactors. Determine before hand that you are going to be sweet, kind, and nice. That you are going to move at every impulse of the Holy Spirit and as a result you are going to do and say what God wants you to.
But what about those times when you offend your friend unintentionally? There are times when being human you will hurt your friend. There are times when you will make a mistake, say an ill word, be an outright grouch and go around wreaking havoc on some poor unsuspecting friend. The bible says that "A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle." When we offend or think we have offended, Matthew 18 gives some clear instructions on what to do. We are to go to our friend and, NOT with a haughty attitude, but rather a humble attitude seeking their forgiveness. Ask them to explain what you did wrong (IF you don't know) with the attitude of being able to correct your behavior. Be sincere. Don't be judgmental. If your friend is able to identify how you were wrong, apologize. Ask them to forgive you. Ask them to pray with you then, out loud, pray and ask God to forgive your wrong and to help you do better.
There is certain level of maturity that comes in in realizing that we are not going to agree with everyone 100% and that that is ok! If we all agreed 100% with everyone we would be nothing short of robots, but thankfully we are not! We are individuals and we all have the potential to make it better for someone else here on earth! But whatever we do, let it be with grace so as to help our friends.
Does the bible have anything to say about this? Why actually it does! Proverbs 27:6 says that "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." Then there is that ever quoted famous verse from Proverbs 27:17, "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." Speaking about agreeing with your friends and sometimes intentionally wounding your friend with the intent of helping them, we see that the bible is clear. Sometimes we do have to tell our friends hard things that will potentially hurt their feelings. Sometimes we have to disagree with our friend. Sometimes they are wrong and if we are going to be a REAL friend we must speak the truth to them IN LOVE! Colossians 4:6 exhorts us to "Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." And Ephesians 4:29 tells us to "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." When we have to reprove a friend, we need to make sure it is for their good. It is to edify, to build them up, to minister grace, to help them be the best version of themselves that they can be. When those times come that you have to "talk" to your friend can I offer a few practical suggestions.
1. Examine your heart and ask why are you going to talk to that friend?
2. What do you want the end result to be?
3. Do you have a bible principle that will support what you are saying? If so use it, the bible is the only thing promised to not return void.
4. Remember, people will not always remember what you do and say but they will remember how you made them feel. There is a way to get on to someone and still make them feel special and valuable. Remind them that you love them and that love for them is what spurred you to say what you did. Remind them they are valuable and it is only one mistake, it's not the end of their life . . . yet.
5. Pray, Pray, and PRAY. Then when you go to meet with them, pray again with them. Ask them to pray out loud. Ask them to pray for you and that you will say what God wants you to say and how to say it. Pray out loud for them that they will hear what God has laid on your heart. This will keep God central in your discussion.
6. Don't attack the person . . . attack the problem! The person is NOT the problem, they made a mistake, they are not the mistake!
7. Be honest. Be clear. Use simple language. Don't complicate the matter with lots of words but don't lie about how you feel or the situation. That won't help anyone, you or your friend.
8. This is a big one: ACT, don't react. As women, we are natural reactors. Determine before hand that you are going to be sweet, kind, and nice. That you are going to move at every impulse of the Holy Spirit and as a result you are going to do and say what God wants you to.
But what about those times when you offend your friend unintentionally? There are times when being human you will hurt your friend. There are times when you will make a mistake, say an ill word, be an outright grouch and go around wreaking havoc on some poor unsuspecting friend. The bible says that "A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle." When we offend or think we have offended, Matthew 18 gives some clear instructions on what to do. We are to go to our friend and, NOT with a haughty attitude, but rather a humble attitude seeking their forgiveness. Ask them to explain what you did wrong (IF you don't know) with the attitude of being able to correct your behavior. Be sincere. Don't be judgmental. If your friend is able to identify how you were wrong, apologize. Ask them to forgive you. Ask them to pray with you then, out loud, pray and ask God to forgive your wrong and to help you do better.
There is certain level of maturity that comes in in realizing that we are not going to agree with everyone 100% and that that is ok! If we all agreed 100% with everyone we would be nothing short of robots, but thankfully we are not! We are individuals and we all have the potential to make it better for someone else here on earth! But whatever we do, let it be with grace so as to help our friends.
Monday, February 10, 2014
When do we grow out of needing friends?
I've been thinking about a thought recently. . . friendship. We encourage friendship . . . in our children. It is important for us that our children/teens are liked enough by others to have friends, and, at least I hope, it is important for our children to be the right kind of friend. Friendship seems to come more naturally for us to develop in our children. We develop their friendship by having their friends over our house. We let our children go to their house. We take our children and their friends places. We let our children give gifts to their friends. We let them do things for their friends and with their friends. But we, ourselves have grown out of needing that same bonding. We rarely model for them how to be a friend, and/or having the right kinds of friends. We are so busy we don't have time to have other ladies over. We are so busy being grown up we don't take the time we need to just hang out with our girl friends. We are so busy being "spiritual" that we don't take time to be with other women unless it is inside the confines of ministry. We never just have people over to spend time with them . . . we have to have a purpose . . . we have to be ministering to them . . . we have to be fixing their problems then that somehow justifies us having them over or going to coffee with them. We crowd our schedules with making money, running our kids around, cleaning our house, serving at church, etc. but we forget to leave time for friendships. We are too grown up for that . . . or are we? At what time do we not need the stress relief of a good belly laugh with a friend? At what time do we no longer need advice for the changing seasons of our life? At what time do we grow up enough that we have it all together and never need help? At what time do we need to stop modeling for our children not only how to BE the right kind of friend, who to have as a friend, but how to develop a friendship?
Maybe we have forgotten how to . . . maybe, instead of growing out of needing friends, we've simply forgotten what it was like to sit on the bed with our friend and paint our toes as we share a moment, as we share our thoughts and ideas about life, about boys, about what ifs. Maybe we've gotten so busy or our husbands are grouches and we don't know how to entertain anymore. Somehow it's ok for us to entertain little people but we ourselves feel awkward doing it with adults. Maybe our friends will realize we don't have as nice of a house as we'd like and so we don't want to open ourselves up to that. Maybe our husbands selfishly hold us back from having people over because they don't want people to see our house. Maybe we just aren't good house keepers and we need to clean. One thought here: You can have the nicest house and furniture in the world and people might not feel comfortable in your home, you can also have the junkiest furniture in the world and people might feel comfortable . . . it all depends on the people in the home. YOU make people feel comfortable and welcome in your home, your inanimate objects DO NOT!
So that begs the question how do we be the right kind of friend, who is the right kind of friend to have, and how do we develop our friendships? Also one more . . . does the bible, our basis for life, have anything to say on friendship? I will be answering these questions in the upcoming blogposts, but for now feel free to leave your comments! I would love to hear from you on some answers you have to these questions!
Maybe we have forgotten how to . . . maybe, instead of growing out of needing friends, we've simply forgotten what it was like to sit on the bed with our friend and paint our toes as we share a moment, as we share our thoughts and ideas about life, about boys, about what ifs. Maybe we've gotten so busy or our husbands are grouches and we don't know how to entertain anymore. Somehow it's ok for us to entertain little people but we ourselves feel awkward doing it with adults. Maybe our friends will realize we don't have as nice of a house as we'd like and so we don't want to open ourselves up to that. Maybe our husbands selfishly hold us back from having people over because they don't want people to see our house. Maybe we just aren't good house keepers and we need to clean. One thought here: You can have the nicest house and furniture in the world and people might not feel comfortable in your home, you can also have the junkiest furniture in the world and people might feel comfortable . . . it all depends on the people in the home. YOU make people feel comfortable and welcome in your home, your inanimate objects DO NOT!
So that begs the question how do we be the right kind of friend, who is the right kind of friend to have, and how do we develop our friendships? Also one more . . . does the bible, our basis for life, have anything to say on friendship? I will be answering these questions in the upcoming blogposts, but for now feel free to leave your comments! I would love to hear from you on some answers you have to these questions!
Friday, February 7, 2014
Seek His Face in the Book . . .
Recently I have asked several ladies what it would be like if you woke up, your husband woke up and you didn't say a word to each other. He didn't acknowledge your presence. He sat across from you drinking his coffee, checking his Facebook. He calmly went into the kitchen and washed his dishes. He got his shower, he bumped into you on his way to get dressed, but didn't say a thing. He left for work, never texted during the day to see how you were doing or see if you needed anything from the store. He came home, ate dinner, didn't say thank you, didn't say anything for that matter. Read a little, watched a movie, never once asking what you'd like to do for the evening. Then he goes to bed. You being a good wife, think that perhaps he is deep in thought so you don't want to disturb him. You let him go. The next day he does the same thing all over again. I don't care how good of a wife you are, by this time you begin to wonder what is wrong with you. You glance in the mirror to see if you have some terrible something wrong with your face, nothing you look the same as normal. You tentatively raise your arm and sniff at your body but everything there seems to be ok. I daresay any of else would let this behavior go for more than a couple of days, actually after an hour of this behavior we would probably be looking at our husbands and say, "Look Bub! What's up?!" Or something less nicer. You wouldn't let your husband completely ignore you. You wouldn't let him get away with that. You might begin to think there is something wrong with you. You have given your life for this guy. Sure, you could have had ANY guy on the planet but you graciously chose him . . . well, in all honestly you were thrilled when he asked you, but still, you know you're not ugly, you know you are a decent and albeit somewhat pretty woman. There ARE other fish in the sea but when he asked, you were thrilled to say yes! Now, this is the man you cook for, you clean for, you don't look at other hot guys with their six packs because of him. You don't dream about other guys because of him. You have given up a lot for him. And he is completely ignoring you! Very few of us would let this go on for more than the morning. Oh they may get by with it because of work and needing to be on time but at the end of the day if he hadn't said a word, buddy it would be ON!
Now, let me ask you. How do you think God feels when you wake up. Your hair is a wreck, it's sideways and up ways, and thisaways and not the way it should be. You take your bad breath and stumble into the bathroom and brush those teeth God has given you. Now you can talk without fear of knocking anyone out, but do you take the time to praise the God who made you . . . no you completely ignore Him. You start the coffee and sit down with that beautiful cup of chai tea so hot, and steamy, and creamy and delicious and never once thank Him for providing it. You eat your breakfast and don't stop to thank Him . . . maybe you do. Maybe you have the decency to pause and offer a trite thank you to the God of all heaven who cares about the smallest details of your life. By this time, you realize you have spent more time on Facebook and Candy Crush than you should have so you rush in to the bed room and pick out your clothes. You hurriedly take your shower, throw on your clothes and go out the door. You never stop to read your bible. You never stop to take time with the One who cares more for you than His own life itself. You may pause and think you need to spend time with God and that you'll do that when you get home. You go throughout your day. You pause for lunch, but not to pray. You rush home and make dinner for the starving natives. You help the children through their homework. You find your day slowing down but do you stop to think that this would be a great time to read your bible and spend time with the Beloved? No, that tv show is calling your name and it is so loud you can't hear your Savior, gently calling and pleading to spend time with you. You watch that show, do the dishes and get ready for bed. Never once spending real time thinking about the God who not only saved you from hell but saved you to have a deep and meaningful relationship with Him. You go to bed, wake up and do the whole thing again, tomorrow, the next day and the next. Oh you're a good little christian though, because YOU go to church and even help in the nursery! But you never feel God's presence on a day to day basis. You never know the peace that comes from spending time with God and giving God complete control of you life, thoughts, actions, attitude, day, etc. You live a less than mediocre life, you die, and you get to heaven.
There you see your Savior. The One who not only knew how many hairs you have on your head but gave numbers to each of them. The One who said that He knew when a sparrow fell to the ground but that you meant more to Him than many sparrows. The One who was more of a friend to you than a brother. He let you completely ignore Him day to day and still loved you and did things for you and was there when you needed Him! The One who said willingly gave His life for you. You see the wounds in His hands that speaks to that sacrifice for you. You see His lovely face. Your eyes connect with His but you look away. You realize you spent more of your life with Facebook than His Book. You realize you spent more time talking on the phone telling your friends your problems than you did on your knees telling the One who could handle the problem. You realize that so much of your life was wasted . . . the relationship you could have had . . . the people He wanted you to tell about Him are lost and in Hell . . . simply because you did not spend time with Him like he so desperately wanted you to!
You know the cool thing is . . . this is all hypothetical . . . you're not in heaven. You are here on earth. There is still time, yet even today to start to spend quality time with the One who loves you more than anyone could ever love you!
Now, let me ask you. How do you think God feels when you wake up. Your hair is a wreck, it's sideways and up ways, and thisaways and not the way it should be. You take your bad breath and stumble into the bathroom and brush those teeth God has given you. Now you can talk without fear of knocking anyone out, but do you take the time to praise the God who made you . . . no you completely ignore Him. You start the coffee and sit down with that beautiful cup of chai tea so hot, and steamy, and creamy and delicious and never once thank Him for providing it. You eat your breakfast and don't stop to thank Him . . . maybe you do. Maybe you have the decency to pause and offer a trite thank you to the God of all heaven who cares about the smallest details of your life. By this time, you realize you have spent more time on Facebook and Candy Crush than you should have so you rush in to the bed room and pick out your clothes. You hurriedly take your shower, throw on your clothes and go out the door. You never stop to read your bible. You never stop to take time with the One who cares more for you than His own life itself. You may pause and think you need to spend time with God and that you'll do that when you get home. You go throughout your day. You pause for lunch, but not to pray. You rush home and make dinner for the starving natives. You help the children through their homework. You find your day slowing down but do you stop to think that this would be a great time to read your bible and spend time with the Beloved? No, that tv show is calling your name and it is so loud you can't hear your Savior, gently calling and pleading to spend time with you. You watch that show, do the dishes and get ready for bed. Never once spending real time thinking about the God who not only saved you from hell but saved you to have a deep and meaningful relationship with Him. You go to bed, wake up and do the whole thing again, tomorrow, the next day and the next. Oh you're a good little christian though, because YOU go to church and even help in the nursery! But you never feel God's presence on a day to day basis. You never know the peace that comes from spending time with God and giving God complete control of you life, thoughts, actions, attitude, day, etc. You live a less than mediocre life, you die, and you get to heaven.
There you see your Savior. The One who not only knew how many hairs you have on your head but gave numbers to each of them. The One who said that He knew when a sparrow fell to the ground but that you meant more to Him than many sparrows. The One who was more of a friend to you than a brother. He let you completely ignore Him day to day and still loved you and did things for you and was there when you needed Him! The One who said willingly gave His life for you. You see the wounds in His hands that speaks to that sacrifice for you. You see His lovely face. Your eyes connect with His but you look away. You realize you spent more of your life with Facebook than His Book. You realize you spent more time talking on the phone telling your friends your problems than you did on your knees telling the One who could handle the problem. You realize that so much of your life was wasted . . . the relationship you could have had . . . the people He wanted you to tell about Him are lost and in Hell . . . simply because you did not spend time with Him like he so desperately wanted you to!
You know the cool thing is . . . this is all hypothetical . . . you're not in heaven. You are here on earth. There is still time, yet even today to start to spend quality time with the One who loves you more than anyone could ever love you!
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
When God wrecks your car . . .
This past few weeks we had a terrible snow storm that kept us in our homes for several days. I decided to hunker down and enjoy the slow pace because we usually go go go all the time. Five or Six days out we decided to head out. The roads were not yet perfect and our van was in desperate need of new tires. As we were going there was a truck buried in a snowbank. I looked at it and told my husband that God had really protected us. The next thought from the Holy Spirit was, "Would you still praise God if that was you in the snowbank?" I thought about that and started praying and telling God that my children, my life, my influence, my time, my car were His and whatever He wanted to do was ok with me." As I prayed that last part our van swerved and landed in a snowbank and trees and well, a wreck. A man came along and pulled us out. It was worse than we hoped. We took the van down to our local body shop where a church member works and they decided to keep it. Our insurance gave us a car, it is so awesome! Heated seats, nice tires, woodgrain on the inside! It's beautiful! As we were int he snowbank waiting for our tow truck I told God thank you for wrecking us. Not thank you for what He was going to do but thank you for wrecking us and no matter what happened I was going to praise Him.
Let me tell you some things that were wrong with our van.
1. Bald Tires
2. Radiator was dying
3. Needed an alignment
The tires alone were over $100 each. The front tires were the worst. We have been trying to save for tires but haven't been able to get very far. Well, when we wrecked we had a $500 deductible. So there went the tire money and then some! The radiator went completely when we wrecked. And something else that gets messed up when you replace the radiator went bad. So the insurance fixed that. And we got an alignment because the whole thing got hit out of alignment worse than it was.
The church member told us that they worked out our deductible and it was $150. But here's the clincher: We decided to pay tithe this week, knowing that if we did we would not have enough for the deductible but trusting God to take care of it. A gentleman in the church gave us $100. Then another one gave us $60. That's $10 extra for the deductible. Then another man gave us a $200 walmart gift card for groceries! That will pay for 2 weeks worth of groceries or more! I'l tell you what . . . YOU CANNOT OUT-GIVE GOD! Be faithful.
So not only do we have our needs met, but we have 2 new tires, a new radiator, an alignment and a few other things fixed on our car and all for $350 less than we were originally told! I'll tell you what, it wasn't easy to thank God for wrecking our van, but it's so much easier now. When God allows bad things to happen thank Him because He is going to use it for our good and for His glory! If you are going to thank Him for the good He is going to do from it, you need to thank Him for the bad that brought the good!
Let me tell you some things that were wrong with our van.
1. Bald Tires
2. Radiator was dying
3. Needed an alignment
The tires alone were over $100 each. The front tires were the worst. We have been trying to save for tires but haven't been able to get very far. Well, when we wrecked we had a $500 deductible. So there went the tire money and then some! The radiator went completely when we wrecked. And something else that gets messed up when you replace the radiator went bad. So the insurance fixed that. And we got an alignment because the whole thing got hit out of alignment worse than it was.
The church member told us that they worked out our deductible and it was $150. But here's the clincher: We decided to pay tithe this week, knowing that if we did we would not have enough for the deductible but trusting God to take care of it. A gentleman in the church gave us $100. Then another one gave us $60. That's $10 extra for the deductible. Then another man gave us a $200 walmart gift card for groceries! That will pay for 2 weeks worth of groceries or more! I'l tell you what . . . YOU CANNOT OUT-GIVE GOD! Be faithful.
So not only do we have our needs met, but we have 2 new tires, a new radiator, an alignment and a few other things fixed on our car and all for $350 less than we were originally told! I'll tell you what, it wasn't easy to thank God for wrecking our van, but it's so much easier now. When God allows bad things to happen thank Him because He is going to use it for our good and for His glory! If you are going to thank Him for the good He is going to do from it, you need to thank Him for the bad that brought the good!
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Their Favorite Outfits
My Kiddos
This was Abby's Christmas gift from a lady in TN. I love this hat on Drew. It is his winter hat. I got it 2 sizes too big so it'll fit him longer! I got quite a deal on it! It was less than $3 brand new!!! 
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