Another Travel Day

We arrived in Denver about 2:00 yesterday afternnon. Who would have thought the ugliest part of our trip so far would be when we crossed over into Colorado? For almost 3 hours this is what we saw. Not my idea of Colorado!!


This picture was taken in North Platte, Nebraska where we stayed Sunday night. When Steve was young his dad was a International Harvester zone parts supervisor and he traveled all over and would always bring Steve back buffalo nickels, so Steve saw this and wanted his picture taken with it because of those memories. We also saw this war memorial there.



The final pictures are of Steve's and His mom before we left Nebraska. And the two of us and his brother at the reunion.

Sunday Snippets

Well we were back in Omaha this morning for worship. We tried to talk Steve's mom into visiting a different church, but we had no luck and were back at the Pilgrim Christian Church. I was dreading going but found myself praying in the car on the way for the Lord to change my attitude. Worshipping God should not depend on where I am. I do think that God knew that fellowship with other believers is part of what builds us up. I did find it a little hard to focus this morning because the pews at this church have to be the most uncomfortable I have ever sat in. They are very low to the floor and seem to hurt my knees and make it very difficult to stand up from. I am used to using the pew in front of me to help pull me up and these pews are spaced so far apart you can't reach the pew in front of you (most people would find that leg room a blessing) Today a woman led singing, although I use that term loosely because basically she stood at the microphone and sang. She never looked up and did not really direct. We once again only sang 2 verses of each song. I have always had a problem with skipping verses just because I think the authors of most songs are telling a story and it is like skipping chapters in a book. You just don't get the whole message of a song when you skip verses. I did have a really cool experience as we sang "Open My Eyes Lord". I had my eyes closed and saw a silohuette of Jesus and He was reaching out and touching my face. I immediately started to cry.

The sermon was thought provoking. The text was I Peter 1:3-12. He started out by asking us what the biggest news story was this week. People from the floor said: Gas prices, the longest All Star Game in history, Obama visiting the Middle East, fires in California, and the Dark Knight breaking all movie records. He said we could take a vote and see which one would win the biggest news but they would all be wrong that the biggest news was in this reading in 1 Peter:
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things."

I am not sure I have ever thought that the angels in heaven did not experience salvation. That they were in heaven watching as Jesus died, ressurected and ascended.
They are in heaven longing to understand what the prophets of old spoke about--our salvation. The preacher challenged us all to take inventory of what we spend our time thinking about. Are we more caught up in thinking about the things of this world or are we dwelling on our salvation?

Verse 8 says "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy" Am I? Am I so focused on the prize of of my salvation that I am filled in an inexpressible and glorious joy? I am afraid I have to confess that too many times my face relfects my focus on the trials of this life instead of bubbling over in joy because of what the Lord has already done for me. I can only hope that this is a lesson that will not be short lived in my life but I can truly keep my eyes focused on eternity. 2 Peter 1:5-9:
"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins."

For me the key words here are in verse 8, "in increasing measure", I cannot stay stagnate or ever be satisfied, I must be increasing in each of the qualities until the Lord comes again. I am glad that I have others like you to help me along that journey. Would love to hear how the Lord spoke to your heart today.

Favorite Artists

Last night I was listening to my IPOD before I went to bed and just enjoyed going to sleep to three of my favorite male singers. Michael Card, John Michael Talbot and Dennis Jernigan. I thought I would tell you a little bit about them just in case you aren't familiar with them. The song from Michael Card was "I Left Everything To Follow You". I tried to find it on YouTube to post, but could not find it although there are a lot of other songs. What I love about Michael Card is he is a song writer who has written songs that tell the stories throughout the Bible. He has three albums of the Old Testament and two or three of the new. We have seen him in concert several times and he does not consider himself as a performer, but leads you in worship. He said one time that he submits his lyrics for his elders approval before publishing them. We have just found him to be such a humble man and enjoy the stories he tells through his music.

John Michael Talbot is probably one of the first people I was introduced to when I first began listening to contemporary christian music. He is a Franciscan Monk and his music soothes my soul. When we were in Eureka Springs early last May we saw in their newspaper that his headquarters was there and they had a fire that destroyed their chapel and another structure.

Finally, there is Dennis Jernigan. I like his music most because I know that he is a redeemed homosexual and his songs are mostly about redemption. I have also heard him in concert several times and again he would not consider himself a performer but a worship leader. He has given his testimony about his redemption from homosexuality and gives light to what it looks like when you totally surrender your life to the Lord. I don't know how many years he has been married, but he now has nine children! I found this testimony on YouTube and it is so sweet I could not help but post it for you to get to know him, if you don't already.

Anyway...you may not have time to listen to any of these, but wanted to post about them while they were fresh on my mind. If you look all three of these guys up in your hymnal you will find songs that we sing that are written by them. El Shaddai, When The Night is Falling, Nobody Feels My Heart Like Jesus, Jesus Let Us Come To Know You, You Are My All and All, and Thank You to name a few. I am thankful for the Christian artists who produce music from their own relationship with the Lord that makes it easier for me to connect to the Lord, draw closer to Him and lull me into a very peaceful sleep at night! (which can be very helpful in sleeping in so many strange beds in a few weeks time!)

On The Road Again

Steve and I are back in Salina, KS for the 2nd time in two weeks on our way back to Omaha for his mom's family reunion. We were stopped about 30 minutes outside of Oklahoma City while they cleaned up an accident. We saw two helicopters land and leave, so assume there were two injuries. From what we could tell it looked like a motorcycle accident. I do wonder if I will ever be able to pass an accident or hear a siren where my own memories don't just flood back.

Anyway...I have always wished there were more cops on the road to catch all the people who have no regard for speed limits. When the speed limit is 70, I just don't think people need to go faster than that. But I even want it more now that we are all suppose to be doing our part to conserve gasoline. If everyone would just go the current speed limits I doubt they would need to pass legislation to make us all go 55. Who is going to do that anyway??? The Leamings and a few others that believe that the God wants us to honor the laws of the land. So there you have it, now you all know I want people to get caught for breaking the law. I follow it and they don't and it makes me angry when they get away with it.

Mom's Favorite

We all know that mothers are supposed to love all their children equally.
Hopefully you never felt like this?



My mom and I had a special day today as she took me out for an early birthday celebration since I will be gone on the actual day. We went to see Kit Kittredge.We were both surprised that it was actually a good movie. However, I don't think it should be rated "G". The subject matter about the Great Depression and how Dad's left families to find work and people had to live in Hobo camps where they were looked down upon by others and accused unjustly. It had a good moral message, but I am not sure children under the age of 8 would have even understood? Couldn't help but wonder if the kids watching even knew what a typewriter was?

Then we went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. Yummmmmmm! We split the Country French Salad and the Chicken Alfredo with Sundried Tomatoes. Mother had the Chocolate Coconut Cheesecake and I had the Carrot Cake Cheesecake. It was yummy too, but have to admit I like my old standby the Chocolate Brownie Sundae Cheesecake much better.

I am blessed to have a mother that I enjoy spending time with. We are the best of friends and I praise God for her steadfast and unconditional love.

Wedding Weekend

As I mentioned yesterday, Steve and I spent the weekend in Stephenville to be able to participate and celebrate in Matt Tietjen's wedding. On Wednesday Nights for the past 10 years I have met a group of ladies at Wendy's (first it was Purdy's)for a time of fellowship, food and laughs. When they asked me to join them 10 years ago they were already going strong and called themselves the Supper Club. (Joyce and Randi Kerby and Tanya Lloyd are missing)

We headed down on Friday to help Deb set up for the Rehearsal Dinner. She had rented a facility called The Castle in Mingus, TX. You may have seen it on your way to or from Abilene up on the hill. It is a hunting/game perserve but was a really cool place. Unfortunately, on Friday the winds were whipping really bad up on that hill and they did not die down. We had a nightmare of a time trying to set things up. The tablecloths would not stay on the tables (we finally had them tied down), we couldn't hang the hurricane candles, in fact nothing was going really well so we decided we would just go check into the motel and come back later as the staff had told us the winds should die down about 4:00. We got back a little after 5:00 and there was no difference. We had bought double stick tape to try and keep the name cards on the tables adhered and even after placing them flat on the table the wind was blowing them away so we began straight pinning them to the tables except that so many had blown away we kind of lost track which ones went at which table. Doing our best to get it right we had 3 tables still to go when the wedding party started showing up. ooops. Then after all the trouble of setting up all the tables with floating candles and other candles everywhere not one of the stayed lit. We wanted it to be so perfect and it was not, but....the wind could not deter everyone from having a good time.





The food was really good. We got to chose from steak or fish, both were delicious and then the dessert was some sort of decadent chocolate mousse cake.

Saturday, we just hung out until it was time for the wedding. Amy Kay attended the Graham Street church of Christ in Stephenville so that is where the wedding was. Her family did a beautiful job of decorating. Her colors were black and a mint green. She was a beautiful bride. Matt had insisted that he not see her until she walked down the aisle (no pre wedding pictures) and I later told him I have watched a lot of grooms watch their bride come down the aisle, but never had one looked so sweet watching her as he did. Dan Stevens officiated and did such a wonderful job. He had been Matt's youth minister starting when he was in the 7th grade. We got a few laughs from the ring bearers who were Matt's cousins (3 and 7)the three year old starting making Incredible Hulk gestures and did not want to stay on stage, so they motioned for him to come down. Will stayed up there and did well until Dan told Matt he could kiss the bride and Will stuck out his tongue and said "oh yuck" to which all the groomsmen lost it. Matt's oldest cousin Betsy sang and did a beautiful job.


The reception was nice. I have to post the last two pictures because I think they are too funny. The bridesmaids jumped for the bouquet. The groomsmen just let the garter fall to the floor. What was that about?


All in all it was a GREAT weekend! Made me thank God for the blessing of friends!

Sunday Snippets

Steve and I returned this afternoon from a weekend trip to Stephenville where we had the joy of celebrating in Matt Tietjen's wedding. I will post pictures and stories about that tomorrow.

We got up and left this morning in time to stop at worship at the North Richland Hills church. We made it right when they began the first song. Not too visitor friendly as there was no seating left and no one to show us what to do. After walking several aisles down we tried to get to a middle of a row and fortunately the people were nice and just scooted over.

I don't know about you but from time to time a worship song becomes one of my favorites and right now one of my favorites is Had It Not Been, so I was so glad to be able to sing it this morning with another 1,000+ voices.
Had it not been the Lord who was on our side
Had it not been the Lord who was on our side
The anger of the enemy would have swallowed us alive
Had it not been the Lord who was on our side.

Had it not been the Lord who was on our side
Had it not been the Lord who was on our side
The waters would have engulfed us, we would have surely died
Had it not been the Lord who was on our side.

Blessed be the Lord who would not give us up
Blessed be the Lord for His unfailing love
The snare is broken and we have escaped
Our help is in the name of the Lord. Blessed be the Lord!

Our help is in the name of the Lord.
(Our help is in the name of the Lord)
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the Lord

Rick Atchley, their pulpit minister was on a mission trip so we got to hear Jonathan Storement, who is their young adult minister. We were so impressed with his sermon.
He spoke on Good vs. Evil and what that looks like when we live like Jesus in forgiveness. He used several scriptural examples, one being when Peter cut off the ear of Malchus. He pulled out his own sword on the stage to keep our attention. He mentioned that whatever weapon we try to use against others, someone will have a bigger weapon. He said that Peter escalated the situation and Jesus deescalated it. That Peter was willing to die for Jesus but not with Jesus. When it came to Jesus' ministry that the Pharisees were not angry with him for claiming to be the Messiah because there were at least 70 other contemporaries claiming to be the Messiah at the same time. It is because he referenced Daniel 7:13-14 in Mark 14:61-62, so He did not just claim to be the Messiah but quoted scripture and said He was the fulfillment of that prophecy. Jesus knew that his enemy was not Caesar, but Satan. Colossians 2:14-15 "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." Jesus defeated evil by letting it do its worse to Him. When Jesus was on the cross and said "I'm thirsty" it showed His humanness. The actual victory over Satan came with His death on the cross. Rome used the cross as as their sign of victory as if to say "don't mess with Rome". The word excruciating actually means "out of the cross". The resurrection was proof of the victory. I John 3:8 "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." Jonathan then went on to tell us how we can carry out that victory in the world. It seems so simple "anytime we act like Jesus" and yet all of us struggle in living this out moment by moment. He told a story about a man named James Vanderbrock who shot this ladies 18 year old son and then later killed her husband. They eventually arrested him and at his trial the woman asked to speak to the judge. She explained that she still had a lot of love to give and wanted the killer to come to her house twice a month so that she could give him a big hug and I can let him know that God and I forgive him. The court room burst out in singing Amazing Grace and James Vanderbrock passed out. He also told the story of Ruby Bridges the first child to be integrated into schools. He said that when she was walking up the sidewalk to school people were shouting out horrible obscenities to her and it required that she have bodyguards accompany her. The reporters noticed that she would talk to herself as she walked and one day asked her what she was saying to the people. She said "I am not talking to the people, I am talking to my God and saying 'Father forgive them'". Jonathan stated that the way to defeat evil is to not play by its rules. If we are to follow the way of the cross we must plug our story into His story.

I am not sure I did his sermon justice, but it was powerful.

At the end of the sermon we sang Dennis Jernigan's "Who Can Satisfy?"
Who can satisfy my soul
Who on earth can comfort me
And love me like You do
Who could ever be more faithful and true
I will trust in You
I will trust in You my God
There is a fountain
Who is a King
Victorious warrior and Lord of everything
My rock my shelter my very own
Blessed Redeemer
Who reigns upon the throne
Who could ever be more faithful and true
I will trust in You
I will trust in You
I will trust in You my God
Who reigns upon the throne

The service could have ended then, but it didn't there was still communion in which we sang the combination of "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross" and Chris Tomlin's "The Wondrous Cross", it was again moving. Then to top off the morning, there was a baptism of a man (probably in his 30's). It was very touching and after he was baptized and the congregation applauded they sang to him "I love you with the love of the Lord". It was very sweet. Altogether a blessed morning. Hope your day was blessed as well. Would love to hear some of your Sunday snippets and how God spoke to you today.

The Shack

Today I finished reading The Shack by William P. Young. I started it Tuesday evening. I don't think I have ever read a book so quickly. I didn't know I could read in the car, thinking it always made me car sick, but I did. This is an amazing book. If you have read it I would like to hear about your take aways. If you haven't read it, get a copy, I don't think you will be disappointed. However, I will have to tell you that Steve had read it some time ago and he did not particularly enjoy it, so I guess it is not for everyone. Since it is about how God speaks Truth out of tragedy, I think the take away for each person would be different depending on your circumstances.

While it is a work of fiction, there is a lot of Truth in it. Let me share some of the quotes that particularly touched my soul.

"You mean," Mack interjected a little sarcastically, "that I can't just ask, 'What Would Jesus do'?" Jesus chuckled, "Good intentions, bad idea. Let me know how it works for you, if that's the way you choose to go." He paused and grew sober. "Seriously, my life was not to be an example to copy. Being my follower is not trying to 'be like Jesus',it means for your independence to be killed. I came to give you life, real life, my life. We will come and live our life inside of you, so that you may begin to see with our eyes and hear with our ears, and touch with our hands, and think like we do. "

"Mack, just because I work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn't mean I orchestrated the tragedies. Don't ever assume that my using something means I caused it or that I need it to accomplish my purpose. That will only lead you to false notions about me. Grace doesn't depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering you will find grace in many facets and colors."

"You see, Mackenzie, I don't just want a piece of you and a piece of your life. Even if you were able, which you are not, to give me the biggest piece, that is not what I want. I want all of you and all of every part of you and your day." Jesus now spike again. "Macky, I don't want to be first among a list of values. I want to be at the center of everything. When I live in you, then together we can live through everything that happens to you. Rather than a pyramid, I want to be the center of a mobile, where everything in your life--your friends, family, occupation, thoughts, activities--is connected to me but moves with the wind, in and out and back and forth, in an incredible dance of being."

I was thankful for this book as it helped me work through some of my own questions that I have had for God during the last few years. While I know that if I would have let Him God would have spoken to me through His Word, but instead He spoke to me through this book and I am thankful and I can honestly say I am at peace because I know in my heart God is good all the time!

If My People Pray

This morning as I was reading our Daily Bible Reading in II Kings 17, I could not help but think of our country and 2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." Is it even imaginable that we could actually do as the Israelites and move so far away from God that we would be as described here?

"All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they built themselves high places in all their towns. They set up sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the LORD had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that provoked the LORD to anger. They worshiped idols, though the LORD had said, "You shall not do this." The LORD warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: "Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets."
But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who did not trust in the LORD their God. They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the LORD had ordered them, "Do not do as they do," and they did the things the LORD had forbidden them to do.
They forsook all the commands of the LORD their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sorcery and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger."

How do a people that saw God do so much and watched Him save them time after time, war after war, turn their back on Him to worship gods who can do nothing for them? But believe them even to the extent that they would sacrifice their own children to them by fire?? I just find that amazing. So I begin to think of our country and will we ever get to the same point as the Isrealites? Not if enough of us will take 2 Chronicles 7:14 to heart. And then there is God's anger. We don't talk about that very much. What does it look like in our day and time? Not sure, but sure don't want to experience it.

Sunday Snippets

Hope you all had a fun 4th!! Steve and I had a great time at his aunt and uncle's place in Central City, Nebraska. They have a nice 3 acre place in the country. The weather was wonderful and we were able to sit outside in the shade all day long with a cool breeze. Then we watched as neighbor after neighbor shot off fireworks. I forgot how fun that could be to be somewhere where fireworks are no prohibited. Then the fire dept. put on a big show that we could also see from their yard. When is the last time you saw someone playing croquet?? I couldn't play but had lots of fun watching.

This morning we went to church at the Pilgrim Christian church where Steve's mother attends. There was a whopping 41 people there last Sunday, probably about the same today. The minister is a one man show. He made the opening welcome, announcements, took prayer requests (from the floor) and then led the prayer, led singing and preached the sermon. Two other men did do the communion. It did feel rather homey to just open the floor to prayer requests and hear men and women say what needed to be prayed over. Did think it was interesting that when the prayer was led after the requests that most of them were not mentioned in the prayer specifically. Guess everyone is suppose to do that on their own. Sang several hymns I had never heard before with a piano and a violin. But every song they skipped the 2nd verse? His sermon was on the blessings that we have being priviledged to live here in the United States. Because of those blessings we should have hearts of gratitude and the blessings and gratitude lead us to be obligated to live out God's purpose for us which is to spread His message of reconciliation to all people. Not the most profound sermon I have ever heard and not a lot of "a ha" moments, but nevertheless a good reminder.

Steve's mother wanted to eat at an older restuarant in town equivalent to the Golden Corral. She enjoyed the salad bar while Steve and I worked very hard to cut and chew the very tough steak. When we got home it was drizzling and then there was a power outage for about an hour. So I read a book by flashlight while Steve looked at the weather forcast on his blackberry and his mom lit a candle and listened to the weather radio. Sound like an exciting time to all of you??

Here are a couple more pictures from our trip up. You know you are from the big city when a John Deere tractor flying the Flag gets your attention to make a u-turn and take a picture.


We saw this property where an obvious tornado had wrecked havoc. The pictures didn't do it justice. Particulary notice how the tin roof piece got wrapped around the tree. We saw two other places along our journey as well, but did not stop and take pictures of them.



Then it was just amazing after we crossed the Nebraska state line how there was mile after mile of corn fields. They said the blessing to all the rains that they have had is that they will have a bumper crop this year.


Hope everyone makes it back into your workweek okay after the long weekend. Us? We will still be on vacation :)

Fun Travel Day

Today we left Salina Kansas, heading for Central City, Nebraska. It was only a 3 1/2 hour drive. We saw in the little travel book that when we went through Concordia, Kansas there was the Orphan Train Complex. I had no idea what this was, Steve did and thought it would be interesting to stop. Indeed it was. Did you know from 1854 to 1929, 250,000 orphaned, abandoned or homeless children were relocated from New York city to cites throughout the Midwest? Some were blessed to end up with loving families, many were used as farm laborers and treated inhumanly. I found the exhibit particularly interesting because it was the beginning of child placement in Social Work as we know it. Here are a few of the pictures I took.





These toys are from the 1900's and belonged to Mabel. It was all that she had and at the time they cost 15 cents.



We entered an address into the GPS once we got to Central City for dinner. We had decided on Woody's Bar-b-que. It took us to Hordsville, population 164. When we pulled up to the restaurant it was actually house with a catering truck in the driveway (Woody's Bar-b-que). When we went back to take a picture for the blog the truck was gone (we thought it would make a funny post) So we ended up eating at the Lincoln House the only restaurant in Central City. We actually picked a restaurant that Steve felt right at home in because 90% of the clientele had grey hair :)





Some more pictures to post tomorrow. Let's just say I now know why they call Nebraska the Cornhusker State :)

Taking A Break

So Steve and I are leaving in the morning and will be gone a few days to celebrate the 4th of July with Steve's father's side of the family in Central City Nebraska.
Steve's mom and brothers won't be attending but we will enjoy visiting with aunts and uncles and cousins. Please keep us in your prayers for safe travel. I am pretty sure I am going to give myself permission not to blog except for my Sunday Snippets unless something just really just can't wait. Hope you all have a really fun 4th of July celebration. Take time in the midst of family, friends, food and fun to thank God for blessing you and allowing you to live in the United States of America where you have the freedom to worship and praise Him.

Family

Family can be your greatest source of joy and your greatest source of sorrow. I don't think there is anyone that does not experience that in their family system. Hopefully you are blessed to be in a family who share a common faith in God, but even then there can be disappointments. Without sharing any details that would embarrass my sister I just ask all my readers to be in prayer for her and her husband Mel as they take time to care for their 10 year old grandson who has been neglected by his mother and his father. They came down from Denver to pick him up here in the Dallas area and spent the weekend with us. We had a great visit, we laughed, we cried, we swam, played games, prayed together, worshipped together, shopped at Sam Moon and did lots of eating! They left this morning headed back to Denver. Cameron will be with them at least a month and perhaps longer.

I think I have mentioned on this blog before that I was a social worker for about 12 years before Steve and I married. I worked at residential treatment centers where children were removed from their parents by CPS for neglect or abuse. I could tell you stories that would curl your toes. It is defintely where you see evil personified. But the hardest part of the experiences I had with these children was knowing that it would be a small percentage of them that would be able to overcome the major obstacles that had been put in their path so that they would be overcomers and not victims. I cannot count how many times I gave my "Final Chapter" speech, telling each child that was on my caseload that the final chapter in their book had not been written and it was up to them to write it. No one could change the horrible circumstances that had happened to them and they could end their story saying "because this, this, and this happened to me that is why I am this way today" OR "this, this, and this happened to me, but in spite of that look at what I am today". One is the statement of someone that stays in the victim mode, the other is the statement of an overcomer. The hard part???? How do you help a 10 year old know they want to be an overcomer?? All they want is to be loved by the mom and dad that God gave them. How do you help them know that there is a God who loves them deeply when He has not protected them from the horrific things that have happened to them? Hopefully, through the love of other people like sweet, Godly grandparents.

So please lift Cameron, Caren and Mel up in your prayers and ask for God to take the seeds that Caren and Mel will be planting and let them take deep, deep root in Cameron's heart. Here is a picture of him with my dad so you can put a face to who I am asking you to pray for.

Sunday Snippets

The weekend has been busy because we got notice on Thursday that my sister Caren and her husband were making a quick trip from Denver to pick up their grandson (from Forth Worth) to take him to spend some time with them this summer. They arrived about 4:00 on Friday and will leave in the morning. We have had an interesting time entertaining a 10 year old boy all weekend.

This morning we went back to Highland Oaks because I knew my sister would love the worship. We were not disappointed. My favorite song we sang today was "God Will Make A Way". I needed that reminder again this morning. (turn off my playlist before listening)


Their missionary from Brazil,Rod Nealeigh, spoke this morning on the call of Abraham from Genesis 12 and how Abraham was able to heed God's call to move because he had faith and trust in God and God had a better place in store for him. He asked us to consider how much do we consider this world our home? Are we comfortable here or do we realize that we are the foreigners and that our home is not here but in heaven?

Hebrews 11:13-16
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Where are my eyes focused? Rod said "we think when God says move we have to have it all figured out before we move" Where is the faith in that?

I Peter 2:9-12
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

So I have to ask myself this Sunday, what do I look like to the world. Do they recognize me as one of them or do I stand out as a stranger? Am I keeping my focus continually on the fact "this world is not my home, I'm just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue"?

May we all have the faith of Abraham to have the faith to walk toward the better promise and the better world and not get too comfortable here.

So what did God speak to your heart today?

My John McCain Discovery

I am not much for talking about politics. I just find the whole system pretty frustrating. The other day I was reading Tim Perkin's blog and he had some pretty strong opinions about Obama one of which is he is not pro-life. I thought I would go out and see what John McCain's position was because I really had not taken the time to see where he stands on much of anything. Well, I wanted to post what I found out, because it was the first piece of information that I have read about him that actually impressed me.

"On “Meet the Press,” McCain said he had “come to the conclusion that the exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother are legitimate exceptions” to an outright ban on abortions. “I don’t claim to be a theologian, but I have my moral beliefs.” If Roe v. Wade is overturned and abortion outlawed, McCain said he believes doctors who performed abortions would be prosecuted. “But I would not prosecute a woman” who obtained an abortion."

"Of the remaining pro-life Republicans, none can match McCain’s record of opposing abortion. He has served in Congress for 24 years, and cast a lot of votes on abortion legislation during that time. His record is not merely exemplary — it is perfect. McCain’s votes on abortion really could not be better. A campaign advertisement in South Carolina says of John McCain: “Pro-life. Not just recently. Always. Never wavering.” The ad is true.
...
Twenty-four years of service at the national level — almost all of them in the Senate — make a big difference when we are talking about the next President, compared to candidates who have been small-state governors. There is no need to speculate or to rely upon promises or take matters on faith when it comes to McCain and abortion. He has demonstrated himself to be the best pro-life choice.

I mentioned a recent South Carolina advertisement about McCain’s pro-life voting record. As good as that record is, the ad contained still more powerful evidence of his pro-life convictions. This part of the ad shows Cindy McCain walking beside a diminutive Catholic nun. Mrs. McCain is holding an infant in her arms. It is (the ad text says) “little Bridget, a baby she and John adopted in 1993 from Mother Teresa’s orphanage in Bangladesh. Bridget has been a great blessing to the McCain family.”

Indeed she has. But there is a little more to the story than is there told. For one thing, there were two babies. Mrs. McCain brought home a second infant from the same orphanage. That baby became the adopted child of the McCain’s best friends. Second, Mrs. McCain did not go to the orphanage in order to adopt. While she was touring the facility, Mother Teresa unexpectedly said to her (in so many words): “If you do not take those two babies with you, now, they could die right here. But you can save them.” Cindy McCain did.

I believe that there is a profound lesson here about what it means to be pro-life, a lesson which goes beyond the important (but obvious) fact that the McCains live by the same principles which lie behind John’s voting record. “Little Bridget” was not sought out by the McCains. She was not expected or planned for. She was an unanticipated gift whom the McCains welcomed, not because she was antecedently “wanted” by them, but because she was a baby, a unique and unrepeatable human being with a right to life because she is a human being and not because some other people’s plans include her — or don’t."

Just thought I would share some quotes from Googling. Perhaps there are others that didn't know this about John McCain either.

10,000th Blog Reader

The winner of the gift card for being my 10,000 reader is Tim Perkins. Thanks to everyone who checked in today. Hope you all have a great weekend!!!

Blog Reader 10,000

If you are blog reader number 10,000 let me know who you are as I have a special $10.00 gift card to Barnes and Noble for you.

It is hard to imagine that their have been 10,000 readers to my blog in 18 months. I find it very humbling that anyone reads it at all. But I did not even have a counter at the beginning so I don't know how many it has actually been. But if I just take the 18 months, it means 555 people have read it every month or 18 people a day. I know who some of you are by your comments, but am always pleasantly surprised to find someone has been reading that I did not know about.

Anyway...to those of you who faithfully check in, I thank you. I pray that I will continue to post things that are worthy of your time.

I could use a little extra prayer coverage today for my sister Caren. Please pray for her and her husband to have safe travel as they come down from Denver to get their grandson who will be spending the summer with them. They are having to make a fairly quick trip and it is a long drive. Thanks for the prayers!

Cross Jewelry

I recently read this devotional thought by James McDonald entitled The Cross of Christ. First I will give you the article, then my thoughts:

The cross of Jesus Christ is the signature symbol of the central event in the history of civilization. Yet, today we depict the cross as common, jewelers pound it into all sorts of finery so we can staple crosses to our ears and wear them around our necks. Merchandisers manufacture this symbol of unlimited atonement into fuzzy things for our rearview mirrors or decorations for our gardens. From teacups to t-shirts, people have used the cross to corner the market on crassness. Department stores hawk chocolate-covered crosses for Holy Week, Baseball players and businessmen cross themselves before a big moment. The cross itself has become big business,but it was never intended to be some lucky trinket. This is profanity in the truest sense. Is it any surprise we have lost the wonder of what happened on Calvary?

The resurrection of Christ was the event that accomplished salvation and verified Christ's victory over death, but it was the cross of Jesus Christ that showed us the grace of God. Everything that God wants us to know about Himself comes together in those crossbeams.

Our entire purpose in life is to elevate the cross. Think on Jesus there, in your mind's eye, picture Him stretched out against the sky. What's He doing up there? Answer: He's subbing for you and me. He's taking God's wrath for your sin. He's satisfying the just demands of a holy God. He's paying the price that God's holiness requires so that you and I can be forgiven. In the place where our blood should have stained the ground, Jesus hung as our substitute.

While I understand this author's point of view, I don't agree with it. Maybe I am rationalizing my cross necklace, earrings, watch etc. Perhaps I shouldn't have a cross wall at my house with 20+ crosses hanging on it? But for me each cross is a reminder of exactly what the author described here. I am in constant remembrance of the sacrifice Christ made for me. To me it is kind of like having a MezuZah like the Jews had to remind them of the Deuteronomy 6 passage to "Love God with all your heart..."

I have worn the same cross necklace around my neck for about 15 years now. I never take it off (unless it is for surgery or for x-rays because they make me). I don't feel complete without it as it is my constant reminder that Jesus is with me. Maybe I should not need a tangible reminder of that fact. I also think it is a testimony to other people that I am a Christian. I know the way I live my life needs to be my testimony, but I cannot tell you how many times the clerk at a store who does not know me says something about my cross and it is an opening to give a testimony of God's love. Anyway... I think this is one of those areas that Romans 14:5 is referring to when it says if you consider one day more more sacred but someone else thinks they are all alike, that both of you should be convinced in your own mind and do whatever to the Lord.

So if you have a different opinion than me about wearing a cross or displaying one in your home. That is okay. But I would be interested in hearing your opinion.

Fun Music

Today Steve and I went to see Get Smart today and it begins with the Abba Song "Take A Chance On Me". I love Abba!!! Their songs always made me just want to get up and dance. Saw the Broadway production of Mama Mia at the Dallas Summer Musicals several years ago and it was just so much fun!! I am anticipating going to see it on the movie screen in July. I wonder if the audience will all stand up and dance to Dancing Queen the way we did at the musical?

Anyway...thinking of Abba brought back memories of the summer of 1975 when I was on a mission trip in Germany. Our first week we stayed in a youth hostile and every morning we were awakened with this song playing on loud speakers. Most found it irritating. I actually enjoyed it! It is called La Paloma Blanca (A White Dove). You will need to scroll to the bottom of my blog and turn off the playlist before starting the You Tube, or you'll hear both songs playing at once and think you are schizophrenic.

Faith In Action

Today I was reading our June issue of Outreach Magazine and there was a feature on an organization called Faith In Action. http://www.putyourfaithinaction.org

There were several stories about churches who decided that being the church was more important than going to church. On Sunday different churches chose to go out into the community and do service together as church instead of their traditional church. There was an example of a church who sent members to local gas stations and paid $1.00 per gallon on peoples fill ups. They said they did it for 2 hours and the lines were a mile long with people waiting and when they were asked why, they just said it was there way of showing they cared because they knew everyone was hurting in their pocketbook. Another church had no warning and the preacher dismissed them and told them to go to the store and buy food for a local food bank after first giving them information about what the needs were. They found that people were more generous than when they had done a bring a bag of groceries because they had actually seen the need, and the spontaneity caused them to be more free with their money. But the example I liked best was the church that did not know that three people had been planted near their building for them to see on their way to worship. One was a man holding a sign that said "Lost home, lost job, need money".
Another was a woman and her three kids with a broken down car, and the last was a woman on the inside of the building at their cafe sitting at a table crying. Unbeknown to the members they were being filmed and then the minister showed clips and asked the congregation "Did you just drive or walk by them. Was going to church more important to you than being the church?"As the congregation began to make the connection, the three people walked down the center aisle to the front. Each recounted their experience and how they felt as cars and people passed them by without even a glance in their direction. "There was an audible gasp when they walked in," the preacher said, adding that the testimonies packed the real punch to the illustration "The three people were visibly hurt that hardly anyone stopped to help."

I read this and knew that I would be one of the ones feeling guilty because being "at church" would have been more important to me than seeing my opportunity to be the church. God is showing me more and more how my heart and priorities need to change and hopefully I am listening and learning. I pray that He will show Steve and I how to be a part of a community of faith that values being the church more than being at church and will embrace our Lord's command to "Go and make disciples". While a lot of churches are embracing the "missional talk" very few are actually living it out. Perhaps it is because they are filled with people like me who keep reading about it but still aren't stepping out in faith to actually do it.

Sunday Snippets

Actually I will begin my Sunday Snippets by talking about a wedding Steve and I went to last night. Ashley Moore was one of the children in the 3rd-6th grade group that I used to do things with in Mesquite (before coming to R.E.)She just graduated from ACU and was getting married. It was such a fun wedding! The music was non traditional, she and the flower girl were barefooted, the bridesmaids and groomsmen did a twirl when the girls came down the aisle. The reception was cake and coke floats! The best part for me was seeing about 8 of the kids who were in that group. 4 of them were in the wedding party. To see that they had maintained those friendships all these years was just so sweet.

Then tonight we had a great time at Life Group. It was a game night and we played a game called Encore where you have to sing songs with a certain word in the title. The women won (we won our game night last month too!) Then we played the musical version of Scene It. It was a fun evening.

This morning started off with me listening to Ed Young Jr. on T.V. as I got ready for worship. He had a great lesson about the "Pits of Life" using the life of Joseph to teach the lesson. He talked about how all of our pits have a purpose. He suggested if we find ourselves in five pits or more, we might question what God is trying to teach us that we are not learning. I started thinking and I could only come up with 4 pits in my life, so hopefully I have learned the lessons? He reminded us that the race we are on is not a sprint it is a marathon. And that God uses the pits in our lives to transform our character. Therefore the race will be unique for each one of us. He said when we are in the pit we can either get chummy with the adders, who will cause us to look like them and act like them or we can keep our eyes on the ladders who will be those who try to help and support us and help us to get out of the pit. He said we need to use the breakdown to breakthrough in order to breakout. I cannot really do his sermon justice, but it was timely for me and encouraged me to keep running the race and trusting God to see me through.

Steve did not sleep well AGAIN last night because of his pinched nerve, so he did not feel like going to worship this morning. My mom and I went to Greenville Oaks.
We sang one of my favorite songs "Ancient Words". I love this song that reflects on God's Word and the timelessness of the truths. "Ancient words, ever true, touching me and touching you, we have come with open hearts, oh let the ancient words impart".
I think we should sing this song before every sermon to prepare our hearts to receive the Word. The preacher's text was on Ephesians 4. He stressed how God loves it when spiritual babies are born, but he does not want us to stay that way. He talked about the body and our different spiritual gifts. It was a familiar text but the one thing he did say that I had not thought of is that even though we may not have a gift we still have a responsibility. We may not be gifted to teach but all of us still should have the desire to teach others about Jesus, we may not be gifted in singing but we all have the responsibility to praise God in song, we may not have the gift of mercy but we are all to be merciful, we may not have the natural gift of evangelism but we still need to be evangelistic. But there are areas that each one of us are gifted at and while we each may have a different gift they are all powered by the same spirit. He gave the analogy of what if you were given a very special gift that someone took great care to get for you and you took it from them and just put it on the shelf without opening it, how would it make someone feel? It is how God feels when we don't use the gifts He has given us.

Hope wherever you were today the Lord was able to speak to your heart through His ancient Words. Have a great week!

Contemporary Christian Music

I remember well, it was 1981 and I was driving in my car by myself somewhere on the roads of California and I was singing at the top of my lungs with the Pointer Sisters and their hit "I want a man with a slow hand, I want a lover with an easy touch..." It was at that moment I said to myself "Oh my goodness, what are you singing?" It dawned on me that there were several songs with less than desirable lyrics that I was singing along with because I liked the beat of the music.

It was at that very moment that I made the decision to only listen to Contemporary Christian Music. If I was going to sing, at least I could sing things that praised God. I remember my first real exposure was Keith Green. My first concert was Carmen. I now own over 100 Contemporary Christian CD's. I love my Sony CD player that allows me to put 50 of them in at a time and just set it on shuffle. Whenever I am in a depressed mood, all I have to do is play my music and it lifts me up. Since my accident I have not listened to my music as much. I am watching way more television which is not good. So the past couple of weeks I have made a concerted effort to turn off the T.V. and play music more. I had forgotten how much it helped my spirit.

This is all to say that I don't know how I have missed Bebo Norman. I thought I was buying a new album because of his song "I Will Lift My Eyes" that I like so well. It was copyrighted in 1996! and his first album was in 1999. I was so surprised. Well I now love his album "Between the Dreaming and the Coming True".

My new favorite song is "I Know Now". Couldn't find a download for you to listen to, but here are the lyrics.

I took a walk down to the river
A broken heart in my hands
Before the Taker and the Giver
To make my final stand

I waded out into the water
And I sank just like a stone
But I was lifted by the Angel
To never be alone

And I never knew
I could lay my burdens down
And I never knew
Redemption could be found
But I know now

I saw Your mercy in the morning
In the color of the sky
I let the Spirit wash me over
And the sun began to rise

I took a walk down to the river
And I laid my burdens down
Before the Taker and the Giver
And I am finally found

So how about you? What is your favorite Contemporary Christian Song past or present?

Few Friday Thoughts

Steve and I's daily Bible reading had us reading in the book of Hosea the past few days. Wow! I can't believe that the Israelites were not scared of God's anger as Hosea related to them things like this:

"Now they sin more and more;they make idols for themselves from their silver,
cleverly fashioned images,all of them the work of craftsmen. It is said of these
people,"They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calf-idols. Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears,like chaff swirling from a threshing floor, like smoke escaping through a window. But I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of [b] Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God but me, no except me. I cared for you in the desert,in the land of burning heat. When I fed them, they were satisfied;when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me. So I will come upon them like a lion,like a leopard I will lurk by the path. Like a bear robbed of her cubs,I will attack them and rip them open. Like a lion I will devour them;a wild animal will tear them apart. "You are destroyed, O Israel,because you are against me, against your helper I will have no compassion,even though he thrives among his brothers. An east wind from the LORD will come,blowing in from the desert;his spring will fail and his well dry up. His storehouse will be plundered of all its treasures. The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground,their pregnant women ripped open."

Not our picture of the God of grace and love. I could not help but wonder if God sent a prophet to us today what would He say?? When you read that the lines are city blocks long in California of homosexuals lined up to get married, I just can't help but think we better prepare ourselves when God removes the blessings we have so richly had in this country. Little by little we are becoming a nation that can no longer say "one nation under God".

Okay...I know that sounds so pessimistic so just let me say tonight I saw a bright light, saying perhaps there is hope. It isn't going to come from people of my generation, but the current generation of teens. They are so much more world conscious and willing to take a stand and "do something". Tonight Steve and I were blessed to go to a fundraiser at Richardson East that a few of our teens organized for an agency called The Dispatch Foundation. You can find more information about them at http://www.dispatchfoundation.org or watch the video on my sidebar.
Heather, Anna, Becca and Tyler had some of us sit at tables with food and other's sit on the floor with no food. They would then ask our permission to give our left overs to those on the floor so they could eat. They wanted to simulate what it would be like if resources were shared. There would be no poverty, no hunger. These kids know they cannot do a lot for a country like Zimbabwe so far away, but they know they can do something. I was touched by their hearts and their efforts. I only wish more RE people would have supported their efforts. Only about a dozen adults showed up. However, if you are reading this blog and could not attend I bet they would still welcome your donation. If you want to read a blog of a teenager who is trying to make a difference check out http://beeveestudios.wordpress.com.

Yes, let's pray that these kids are showing hope for the future and our nation will turn around before it is too late.

Who Is The Best Husband?

First of all let me give a quick update on Saturn Road's VBS Elijah:Man On Fire.They did a good job and had about 900+kids in attendance (I don't think I told you that Richland Hills had 3100 pre-registered!). Anyway...I knew Elijah would be going up in a chariot and sure enough he rose in the chariot about 10 feet in the air. (I think it was a forklift)The kids went wild. Of course they had to end the evening singing "These Are The Days Of Elijah".

So on to today's post.

Take a look at the pictures below and vote for who you think is the best husband.


GREECE?


SERBIA?


IRELAND?


ENGLAND?


UNITED STATES?

While I was out in the pool yesterday morning I was listening to my CD's on the pool speakers when this song by Randy Travis called "When Mama Prayed" came on. I know I have heard it before but the lyrics hit me a little bit different on this day.

I am so thankful that I have a mother who prays and who has been faithful to pray. I can't honestly say that I remember seeing her pray as a child. We prayed at meals, but did not really pray as a family in front of each other. But now we pray together a lot. I love listening to my mother pray. She loves God and she enjoys talking to Him. My other siblings call her often and ask her to pray for different things. We all know that she will be faithful to do that for us.

So here are some blog questions about this song.

The lyrics say:
Daddy never went to church on Sunday,He said that's one thing I'll never do.
But mama never gave up she said one day,He'll be sitting here beside of me and you.
I can still hear mama softly talking,With her tears falling on her folded hands
So that Easter Sunday Daddy walked in, That's when I began to understand
When mama prayed, good things happen
When mama prayed, lives were changed
Not much more than five foot tall
But mountains big and small crumbled all away
When mama prayed

Do I keep on praying even when it seems the answer might never come? I have several members of my family that are not in relationship with God. Have I given up praying for them? I remember hearing a story not too long ago about a man who had prayed for 60 years that his friend would become a Christian. And a week after he died his friend answered God's call.

Seventeen and wild I hit the bottle,Doing anything I dang well please
Burning down life's highway at full throttle.While mama burned a candle on her knees
Then one night I came home half sober,I saw mama kneeling in the den
As I listened she and Jesus talked it over,And I knew my restless days were 'bout to end

What do your children know about you by the way you pray? What do my friends and family know about me? Do we really believe our prayers can make a difference in the life of someone else?

It isn't like every one of them got answered,But the times they weren't it seems to me were rare
You almost felt sorry for the devil,'Cause heaven knows he didn't have a prayer
When mama prayed

I think this is actually the lyrics that hit me the most yesterday. Does Satan say "Oh no, look out, there that Lynn is praying again"? Does He see me as a lost cause because he knows the strength of my prayers. Or is their a chink in my armor making me vulnerable to his attacks?

I have a lot of room to grow still in my prayer life, but hopefully day by day I realize more and more the importance of intercessory prayer and will keep praying for those that don't know the Lord to come to know Him and have the blessed life that I am priviledged to have.




Randy Travis Lyrics
When Mama Prayed Lyrics

This and That On Tuesday

It is nice that my husband reads my blog. He keeps me in check. None of you commented that Jefferson Airplane did not make "Come On And Take A Free Ride" popular. It was the Edgar Winter Group. Now when I searched Google I saw that name but thought "who in the world are they?" and since I was familiar with Jefferson Airplane assumed it was them. So there you go...and Steve says the Edgar Winter Group are Texans. Who knew? Also I didn't post another song that was in the Jonah musical last night because I could not find it. But my musical trivia husband knew that it was Del Shannon's "Runaway". Jonah sang different words to that song when he was talking about Running Away from Ninevah. It was a really cute rendition.

Wow! Did the wind blow today or what? Steve stood at the window in the sunroom and as he was there a huge limb on our neighbor's tree just crashed through their fence.
Then the blessing and cursing of having a pool. I had just got out after doing water aerobics and was barely dry when the storm hit. Then tonight had to spend about 90 minutes cleaning up all the leaves on the deck! I was so hot but couldn't jump in the pool because of the debris the skimmer is still picking up and the extra chlorine I had to put in it. Just had to settle for a cold shower.

Steve and I had the blessing of taking dinner to Jeff Curtis tonight. He had told us a couple of weeks ago that he loved the fajitas at Cantina Laredo. It was a big sacrifice for us to go pick him up dinner from there because we had to eat there too :) I had their Mexico City Chile Relleno and it was delicious!! When we left Jeff's room there was a little lady trying to push her wheel chair and she asked us if there was a place where she could go because she was so tired. Steve tried to direct her to the dining room but she said she needed to lay down. We asked her if she knew her room number and she said "I used to". We looked on her chair and it said room 212, so we asked her if we could push her to her room which was still 20 rooms from where we were. I felt so sorry for her. How does she usually get around?? Anyway...we pushed her to her room and helped her get in bed. Probably not the smartest thing to do but definitely the right thing to do. Then as we were leaving another little lady asked us a question that I could not understand and was not coherent, but we just smiled and said "I think so". Just made me so sad that these sweet people have to be in such a place. I know not all families can take care of their aging parents, but there has to be a better way?? I really like the new foster home settings. I think they are a much better alternative.

On the way home we stopped at Garden Ridge to return a pool umbrella for the 2nd time. Both of the others broke. One after one day, this one after a couple of weeks. I have to give Garden Ridge credit at least they let me return them totally hassle free, but I would much rather buy a quality product that could at least last through the summer. Thus the reason the umbrellas are only $29.99.

Summer Fun

This will be my second summer out of Children's Ministry and I have to admit, I am still really missing the hustle and bustle of summer activities. I always loved the summer and all the fun things we got to do. Tonight I drove over to North Richland Hills to watch the first night of my sweet friend Patty's VBS. For years Patty has run a program (first at Altamesa and now at Richland Hills)she calls Summer Spectacular and puts on a 3 night musical surrounding a character in the Bible. Tonight was Jonah: A Whale of a Tale. It was so much fun. Can you believe she had 3,100 people pre-registered?? It was a packed house.

Whenever she does these musicals she takes popular songs crossing all genres to appeal to all ages and rewrites the words to tell the Bible story. Some of the songs tonight were Thriller where the cast is all dressed in black and the lyrics were talking about how evil the city was. They broke out into that old song We Don't Need No Education....it brought down the house. Another song was Jefferson Airplanes Come On and Take A Free Ride which they changed to the captain singing to Jonah Come On and Take a Sea Ride. Then when the storm hit and they needed to throw
Jonah overboard they sang Knock On Wood, remember Thunder, Lightening I've got to knock, knock, knock on wood was changed to "we need to throw you off this boat".
Then the finale was the Big Fish coming down from the balcony down across the stage, swallowing Jonah and then going off stage and up the aisle. The kids were all going crazy (except a few small ones that were so afraid they were crying).

This post does it very little justice. It was so fun. But the biggest blessing for me was seeing Patty's daughter, son in law, and two girls who grew up in her ministry at Alta Mesa and they are still working with her. She said this is the 17th year that Lindsey has helped her choreograph the production. How rewarding to have kids that you help raise stand beside you in ministry. One of her boys that grew up under her is now one of the Children's Ministers at Saturn Road and they are also doing a musical VBS this week on the life of Elijah. I hope to go over and see their production on Wednesday night. Wish it could be tomorrow night as I bet that is when Elijah calls down the fire on Baal. Hey, but maybe Wednesday I will get to see Elijah taken up in a chariot of fire??

Yep....summer is fun in the life of children's ministry.

Sunday Snippets

Most Sunday morning as I am putting on my makeup and getting ready I listen to Charles Stanley on the television. I really enjoy his teachings and find them to be very practical for my daily life. This morning he was talking from Psalms 81:10"Open wide your mouth and I will fill it". He talked about trusting God to provide all our needs. He then went on to say if my cup is not full it could be because there is something in the way impeding God from filling it. He suggested that we ask God what is hindering his filling. He said if there was disobedience or idolatry in our lives that God would not fill our mouths. I am hoping that in the next few days I can be brave enough to ask God this question and see what He is going to reveal to me. I think I am often afraid of what He will say, so I don't ask Him for clarification. But since I don't feel like His blessings are flowing on me at this time, I will be asking the question.

We returned to Highland Oaks this morning for worship. My dad was able to go with us and made it through the entire service and lunch afterwards. This was his first time to be to worship service in 18 months,so that was a big deal. He loves catfish, so we took him to a catfish buffet (Ole Whisker's) afterwards.



Lynn Anderson was the guest speaker at Highland Oaks today. Don't know how many times we have heard him speak over the years? Many. He is a gifted speaker. Today he had a sermon for father's based on David's life. So here are some snippets from the sermon.

He began by quoting a scripture in Hosea 8:7 "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind" (but he actually said Joel and I did not discover the error until looking it up for the blog). He then talked about David's life and even though he committed the sin with Bathsheba and had her husband murdered that he repented of that sin and God forgave him. However, just because we are forgiven doesn't mean that we don't have to reap the consequences.

Lynn went on to make these points about David. As a father he was:
1. Out of sight: He had so many wives and so many children, he could not give
them all personal attention. He commanded armies. So he was not real
available.
2. Out of touch: He did not know his boys. He did not see in Amnon his lust
and greed. He did not recognize that his son was following in his
footsteps of rape, and murder.
3. Out of line: His own behavior had been out of line and he did not hold his
boys accountable because of his own guilt.
4. Out of control: How do you address in your children what is a reflection of
your own sin?
5. But he was not out of time: look at his relationship with Solomon. They
planned temples of worship together and wrote songs together. How would of
David's other sons have been different if they had seen and/or heard David
pray?

Lynn quoted a U.S. News and World Report article about a survey done with 1000 teenagers. 25% said they did not discuss their daily lives with their parents. 42% had not recieved any words of praise in the past 24 hours, 50% had not recieved a hug or a kiss and 54% had not heard the words "I love you". I tried to find these statistics and discovered they are from 1985. I wonder if they would still be true today??

Lynn ended the sermon with reminding Father's that it is not too late their story has not been finished yet.

We sang one of my favorite songs "When The Night Is Falling" by Dennis Jernigan. I love the idea of God singing over me.

Tonight at Life Group we continued listening to each other's faith stories and heard an incredible testimony of a sister who has faced a horrible trajedy in her family. It just reminded me again of how important testimonies are and that each of us share the wonderful deeds of our father.

Would love to hear some of your snippets from Sunday.

My Dad

After 400+ posts you tend to forget what you have already said. I had to look back to see if I had posted about my dad before and I don't think I have. For Father's Day we took my dad to the Chinese Acrobats at the Eismann this afternoon. We all really enjoyed the show and found their dexterity to be amazing. We especially enjoyed the fellow who stacked six chairs on top of a small platform and then did handstands on the top. Who thinks of such things? Where do you go eat after Chinese Acrobats? The Great China Wall Buffet of course. We had a good time. We were just so thankful that my father was up to going out and did so well! Hopefully we will be able to continue our Father's Day celebration tomorrow and go to worship together. He loves catfish, so we are going to Old Whiskers for lunch.

I am just so very thankful that God is allowing us to have more time with my father. He is anxious to go home and be with God, but we selfishly want him to stay with us a while longer. He feels like he does not have a lot to contribute right now since his health does not allow him to do the things he would like to do. But we are just so blessed to be in his presence. He is auch a gentle giant. So humble. He loves God with all of His heart.

The reason I love my dad so much is because His love for God overflows on me. He and my mother married when I was 15. He had three children, she had three children,5of us were teenagers when they married. I only lived with him my sophmore, junior, and senior year but from the get go he loved me just like I was his own blood. He never used the stepdaughter terminology and I never called him my step father. The more he loved me the more I was able to understand God's love and the way that He has adopted us and made us his children. I know so many other blended families who did not have this uncondtional love for one another. How very thankful I am that God blessed me with a Father that knows how to love like He does.

How thankful I am that He and I share faith in our God and have the assurance that we will one day spend eternity in heaven together. I don't have that same assurance with my birth father. We do not share faith. But God has done a major healing in our relationship where at least we do communicate (for 15 years we did not).

So I hope you all have a wonderful time with your father tomorrow. Happy Father's Day to one and all!