Another Read

This is another thing I read yesterday but forgot to post. I really enjoy Ed Young Jr. of Fellowshipchurch.com in Grapevine. Every sermon I have heard him preach is straight to the heart but he always gives it in a contemporary and creative fashion.
I thought this article from Crosswalk.com was thought provoking. I can only hope that I grow and develop into a dwelling of my Lord that makes everyone "ooh and awe".

Trading Spaces - The Reveal
by Ed Young

When people see God's redemptive show unfold in your life and mine, what do they do? As they walk through our "house," the rooms of our relationships, emotions, and actions, do they react with "oohs and awes" or tears and sobs.

We've got to understand the biblical importance of the house. In the Old Testament God was in the house. He dwelt in the tabernacle and in the Temple. In the New Testament he was out of the house as God revealed himself through the person of Christ. And now the Bible says we, as Christ-followers, are the house, the dwelling place for the Holy Spirit of God.

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own" (1 Cor. 6:19). Since we are the house, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit of God, our life is all about revealing the décor of the Designer.

The question is, What do others see as your life is revealed? As people tour your life, they are yearning to see what the Designer has done. When people tour homes, they get ideas. When people tour your life and mine, what kind of ideas do they pick up about marriage, child-rearing, priorities, honesty, or generosity.

If you are a Christ-follower, God wants to design a model home out of your life. So don't conceal God's design...reveal it, because the ultimate goal in life is to simply reveal the glory of the Designer.

Then to just make you smile today here are some pictures I was sent today of Tanya Lloyd's granddaughter. Are they not precious??

Tuesday Thoughts

I read several things today that caused me to think a little deeper than usual. First of all in my Bible reading in Ezekiel 5:8-12:
"Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations. Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again. Therefore in your midst fathers will eat their children, and children will eat their fathers. I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds. Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your vile images and detestable practices, I myself will withdraw my favor; I will not look on you with pity or spare you. A third of your people will die of the plague or perish by famine inside you; a third will fall by the sword outside your walls; and a third I will scatter to the winds and pursue with drawn sword."

This is definitely not the God that I like to think about. I much prefer the God of mercy and grace. I forget that He is also a God of anger.

Then I read an article from an email update I get from Al Menconi. Al has a ministry of helping parents wade through media for the purpose of helping their children make informed decisions about what they expose themselves to. He had this statement in his article:
"I am reminded of a story about a psychiatric ward that had a unique way to test the mental competency of its patients. The patient is put in a room in which the sink is plugged and the faucet is running. The patient then is given a mop and instructed to mop the water that is spilling on the floor. Any patient, who attempted to mop the mess without first turning the faucet off, was considered mentally incompetent.
How about you? Are you trying to "mop up" weak areas in your family without first turning off the faucet of compromise in your life?"

I thought that it was a great analogy and caused me to think about what areas in my own life do I need to tighten up the faucet?

Finally, on Mike Cope's blog someone made reference a site called Nooma. I had never heard of it and watched a video on the nature of God. You can view it at
http://www.new.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=666228146313 (couldn't get the link to work so you will have to copy and paste it)
In discussing the book "The Shack" with different people, several have had a problem with God being portrayed as a woman in the book. We all know God is spirit and as spirit He really has no gender. We know that when Jesus referred to Him, He called Him Father, but scripture also tells us that God has Mother qualities. I thought this video was very interesting in presenting God's feminine characteristics.

So I am sure I did not do any of these thoughts justice today, but for me it was a day where God revealed several truths in different ways and today at least I was listening.

Happy Birthday Mama

Today is my mother's birthday. You may be thinking,"sure have been a lot of birthday's lately" and that is true. Out of the 8 of us in our family, 4 of us are a week apart. Then there is also a son in law, nephew and sister in law within those 4 weeks as well. So we have alot of August birthdays.




Nevertheless today is my mother's. We had a good time today. I was suppose to take her for a Riverboat ride in Granbury yesterday, but they did not have enough reservations and canceled on us. So we set up my new Wii (my anniversary present from Steve)and had fun bowling, playing tennis and trying to golf (not as much fun). I made chicken fajitas for dinner (a favorite of my mom's) and we had strawberry shortcake for dessert while we watched some Olympics.

Mom with 2 of her 9 grandkids


I praise and give thanks to God today for His gift of my mom. What a blessing it is to have a mother who loves the Lord and has done her best to nurture that faith in me. It is only because she has remained faithful to His call that I am who I am today. I am thankful to know that we will bow before the Lord together one day and share eternity together. I am thankful for the relationship that we share and that I am blessed to live close enough to her where we get to share special days and celebrations like today.



Happy Birthday Mama! I love you dearly!

Sunday Snippets

Started out this morning listening to Charles Stanley on television and he was talking about the judgment. He talked about how the purpose of the judgment was not condemnation but revelation. God will reveal our real selves to us. We will each be judged differently by three standards.
-how much Truth did we know
-What opportunities did we have
-What did we do with those opportunities.
Couldn't help but think of what opportunities I am wasting?

Steve and I were back at Richardson East this morning because Steve wanted to hear the guest speaker, Dr. Mark Black from David Liscomb University who was setting the stage for the new adult Bible study on the book of Luke. He had some interestig points to make about all the stories that Luke tells that center around feasts/banquets/dinner table or food (Rich man and Lazarus,Mary and Martha, Zaccheus, Prodigal Son, Feeding of the 5,000, Road to Emmaus,Last Supper, etc) He thought there was four reasons that Luke had the table emphasis.
1. Sitting around the table is where we become family.
2. Jesus shows the acceptance of the unacceptable around table.
3. The table is where we share our resources (food) with others
4. It is a picture of the feast we will have in heaven.

John's sermon was comparing the physical training of an athlete to our spiritual training. Of course it was an opportune time for him to use a lot of Olympic language and comparisons. He had been doing a series on being the church and he was finishing it up this morning emphasizing that we all have different gifts but serve a common purpose and should do whatever we can to build each other up.

The highlight of today was being with our Life Group. Although we were missing several people we had a good discussion on worry. I think we agreed that usually worry is a symptom of lack of trust. It isn't that we don't know that God is good and will work things out for our good, we just struggle in letting go of control and letting God be God. Life Group is just such a great place for us to be authentic with one another and trust one another with life. I am blesed to be a part of such a special group. Hope you had a blessed Sunday!

Happy 32nd Birthday Steve!

Today is Steve's 32nd Spiritual Birthday. 32 years ago today He was baptized and began His walk with the Lord. I am so very thankful for this day. Without it, I would not have the wonderful Christian husband that I have. I am blessed that His committment and love for the Lord spill over on me every day. Steve is the most selfless person I know and he is ALWAYS putting my needs before his own. The best part of our marriage is knowing that He will always help me love the Lord more and serve the Lord better and that one day we will kneel in God's presence together.

It is hard to honor him on special days like today because he doesn't allow you to do much of anything special for him. If he has a flaw it is that he does not enjoy getting gifts, so no matter what I get him it usually does not go too well, so I have learned to just make the day special by just cooking his favorite meal. So this morning we had corned beef hash and eggs and tonight we had meatloaf. And in a little while we will enjoy a sugarless chocolate cake and icecream.

Happy Birthday Steve! I love you.

Reality Stinks

Today I got up early for me, 7:00 a.m. and headed up to the Child Development Center because I had volunteered to do chapel. I spent about 5 hours yesterday getting my lesson together on Jesus changing the water to wine. It took me about 45 minutes to set up and then chapel lasted 30 minutes. I was totally wiped out! Just last week I had told Tresia Eason that perhaps I could be an afternoon teacher in the Child Development Center she had an opening in the Pre-K class and that sounded like a lot of fun. Well, it was pretty apparent today that I still am not up to physically doing that. My ankles just cannot withstand standing on them for long periods of time. I do better walking than just standing. So...I am really having to talk to myself today to keep myself from going down that negative thinking path. I know that God has a plan for me, I just wish it wasn't taking Him so long to reveal it. But I am trying to do my best to trust in His ways and His timing. I am trying to be thankful for the things I can do and focus on the positive. But I continue to find it a real effort to stay positive because from my point of view reality rather stinks. Thanks for letting me have a pity party. I'll be better tomorrow.

Hearing God's Call

I don't know about you but sometimes (or maybe a lot of times) I struggle with hearing what God wants me to do. More times than not, it just doesn't seem that clear. Steve and I are praying that God will show us where He wants us to go and what He wants us to do in this next leg of our journey together called post retirement. We say we are open to the call, but then we put certain limitations like please don't send us overseas or where there is a bunch of snow in the winter. What if that is exactly where God wants us to go? Anyway...I am reading a book about Mother Teresa called "Come Be My Light" and she seemed to know what her calling was at the age of 12. I probably knew my calling at that age as well as I always wanted to be in a helping profession with children. I remember saying I was going to have 12 children, one of each race, to prove to the world we could all live together and get along. Obviously not God's call since I have no children. The difference between me and Mother Teresa (not that there are not many differences) but this one is that she still knew her call till the end. I am now looking for another call because my accident altered the call that I had to be a Children's Minister.
But reading this book just gives you an incredible look into her heart and I thought I would post some of the quotes here.

"She considered herself a pencil in God's hand and was convinced that God uwas using her 'nothingness' to show His greatness." In regards to her work she said "I am only His instrument...why so much about me...when the work is all His? I hold no claim to it. It was given to me."Everthing was His...I had only to surrender myself to His plan..to His will..Today His work has grown because it is he not I that do it through me.""She longed to lead a most holy life and promised earnestly that she would refuse God nothing He should seem to ask of her, a resolution she endeavored to keep until death."
She would again insist "Don't look for big things, just do small things with great love...The smaller the thing the greater must be our love". She lived this principle in whatever she was doing throughout the day. Whether it was big or small mattered not to her; everything she did was an opportunity to love.
"Jesus wants me to tell you again...how much is the love He has for each one of you...beyond all what you can imagine...Not only He loves you, even more...He longs for you. He loves you always, even when you don't feel worthy...Until you know deep inside that Jesus thirsts for you...you can't begin to know who he wants to be for you. Or who you want to be for Him."

I can only hope that one day I will know the Lord that day and understand His call in a way that I can submit and fullfill it. In the days to come I will be giving you some more quotes from this amazing faithful servant.

Celebrating 19 years

Steve and I celebrated 19 years of marriage today. We both commented that we cannot believe we are only a year away from 20! It just seems the years have flown by. One of the things we have regretted over the years is not having a professional photographer at our wedding so we don't have a good picture but here we were 19 years ago and then our first anniversary picture.


Several years ago Steve and I went to a His Needs, Her Needs seminar and then later became facilitators. In that course you take an inventory in the recreation section to see what you enjoy doing. At that time we both had rated boating rather high, but had never done anything with it. Well today we went to Lake Ray Hubbard and rented a pontoon boat for 4 hours. We had so much fun!
The weather was just perfect, not too hot. I think the car said 86 degrees when we pulled up. About 5:00the water got rather choppy and one time the boat went up and kind of took my breath away, but most of the day it was pretty calm. We enjoyed watching an array of birds, and unfortunately I missed with the camera watching a majestic egret hover over the water. If you haven't ever been around Lake Hubbard (as we had not) then you also do not know that there are just a few amazing houses on the banks. I know we are not suppose to envy. But I did have a little envy for this one.


We finished the day by eating at the Fish Company at Bass Pro Shop. I had a really good Macademia Mahi Mahi. We enjoyed sitting across from the huge aquarium and watching the fish. God was just so awesome in giving us such beauty and diversity to marvel at.


I have to admit I enjoyed driving the boat and being on the lake as much as I thought I would. Steve, not being a swimmer, was not quite as confident as I, but I really saw the "need for speed" which in the pontoon boat the max was 50. So I am thinking next time I want a boat like this one :)



Thank you Father God for blessing me with the best husband in the world!!!!!

Equal Opportunity Comments

Okay, so it is not just the women's beach volleyball players that need to wear more clothing, it is the men divers as well. Don't know what skimpy bathing suits have to do with diving?? Seems like the spandex like the swimmers wear would work just as well? Guess I'm just a prude. But after all as you can see below my brother Brent and I did swim and dive on a competitive team and we were modestly covered :) Yes I know this was in the 60's.



The little guy waiting in line for the board was my baby brother Brad and he was only three and would not only dive but jump off that high board too!

I do enjoy routing for our teams! Hope the men shock everyone tonight in gymnastics and do better than predicted.

Sunday Snippets

Yesterday I was on the CDM page and noticed they were mentioning how the Watermark church was partnering with them in a food drive. I went out and looked at their website and then asked Steve if we could visit there today. Other than the descriptions I read on their website the only thing I knew about this church was that Kerry Miller had visited there and had positive remarks.

Before I tell you the things that spoke to my heart from the worship and sermon. Let me just give you some first glance observations. When we arrived we weren't exactly sure how to finesse the parking lot of the big facilities on 635. They inhabit a big office tower which I could tell online was where classes meet but we couldn't find the sanctuary. We saw a guy on a golf cart who then "walkie-talkied" someone to look for our car that we were needing handicap parking. When Steve was dressing this morning and putting on a tie, I told him he probably didn't need one. Well the first sign that we are visitors? I did not see one other man there in a tie. Overall the men were dressed much more casual than the women. Even if women had on shorts they still had on dress shoes. Men? Shorts and flip flops. But about 50% of the women still were wearing dresses or skirts. The worship leader had is right arm from the elbow to the wrist covered in a tattoo of an "image" of Jesus. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans and sneakers. The guy that spoke today was not the minister but the "Director of Performing Arts". He wore a shirt with the tail out and sleeves rolled up with a wrinkled look. We noticed almost immediately the age demographics being under 40. When you walked into the foyer there was an obvious smell of coffee and when we sat down in the theater seating we noticed cup holders. We saw where there was going to be a band and somewhat dreaded what we assumed would be loud music (from past experience other places). While at times the music did drown out the voices of the 2,000+ people, it was not too bad.

In case this post gets too long and I lose you, let me just say this was just a visit for Steve and I, we would not want to go to a church where they don't observe communion. That is a critical part of worship for us. And as we are looking to get into a smaller community this would be too large for us. And while I don't believe that instrumental music is a salvation issue, I really enjoy listening to voices join together in worship. I enjoy background music as much as the next person, but I think in worship it should be background not the focus and when it drowns out the sound of 2,000 voices it is not background. Anyway...that being said let me tell you what I took from the sermon today.

We spent time in worship singing songs about centering our hearts on Jesus. Most I had never heard before and then a prayer was led but before he led the prayer he quoted the story from Matthew 17 where the disciples see the transfiguration and focuses on verse 8 where it says "When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus". He challenged all of us not to get caught up in the peripherals of worship but to only see the object of our worship...Jesus. I was touched by his prayer because he said "Jesus, you said you are "the bread of life, living water, the good shepherd, the ressurection, etc. May we know you as everything we need. Whatever we are longing for may we know your longing for us is even more". I could have left after his prayer and had been filled.

Gary Stroope was the speaker and he spoke about Sabbath. He said he had four lessons to share about Rest (but I only got three points)
1. God Modeled Rest (Genesis 2:2)
God did not quit creating because he was tired. He doesn't get tired. But he rested to model for us rest. We have a hard time putting down our own efforts because enjoy getting kudos too much for what we do. Jesus also modeled rest by getting away from the crowds.(Mark 1:35) He knew the times of quiet were a preparation for his time on the cross. Our times of quiet are also a preparation for what is coming in our own reality.
2. Scripture models medititation.(Psalm 145:5)"I will think a long time about what you have done". Our meditation is like tea that needs to steep if we don't spend the time then we are not strong enough. Psalm 46:10 tells us to be still in order that we might know God. God wants to hang out with us. Poems and songs are written by people who have spent time with the Lord. If we don't spend time with the Lord then we don't care about what He cares about. Just because we believe doesn't mean that we will will do anything. Spending time with God allows Him to whisper mysteries in our ears and we become eternally focused.
3. Rest is a commandment-(Exodus 20:8)Sabbath is to remind us that we have a special relationship with our God. Observing Sabbath is one way that separates us from the world (Rom 12:2) Because we know that Christ in us is the hope of glory (Col 1:27) The world wants what they see in me. While vacation is good it is an addition to rest not a substitute. Only when we are rested can we give to others God's presence. They don't need us they need Him. Matthew 11:28-come to me all of you who are tired and weary and I will give you rest. God wants to give us that gift but will not enable us by chasing us. Isaiah 40:29-31-He promises us eagle wings when we are tired. It is only when I am weak that God can evidence Himself as strong.

One thing I appreciated about this speaker was his authenticity. He talked about an argument he had with his wife that lasted 4 hours but was provoked by his own tiredness. He talked about spending time with God but letting His Blackberry get in the way by putting God on hold to answer it. He admitted that he doesn't slow down enough to make a connection with people when they stop him.

He ended his sermon with saying "Go home, a patio is calling your name".

Perhaps I just needed this sermon as I am very rarely just quiet. I thought he was just a great speaker with lots of truth. He spoke about where rest is the place that truth and lies get separated and I thought to myself "I definitely need to spend more time in rest".

So how about you? Any Sunday Snippets to share today?

Beach Volleyball Question

Why can the men play in shorts and shirts but the women have to play in underwear????
Does it bother anyone else that the women play in such skimpy clothing? Surely if the men can play well in more clothes the women could too???

Mama Mia

Thanks to my sweet friends seen here I had a really fun birthday celebration at Mama Mia.

The Studio Movie Grill was the perfect place. I had never been there before. The seating is ultra comfortable, you have plenty of space between you and your neighbor which was really important when you need to dance and jive to "Dancing Queen". You could sing along and not bother anyone around you. While this movie did have some suggestive sex scenes that I found objectionable, it made us laugh and the music just made us want to move. Abba's music always has had that effect on me.
You have to love Youtube, don't know how they can get clips of the movie on before it is even released on DVD? But here someone spliced the movie with the real takes of an Abba concert. Enjoy!!


Shirley, Me and Terry

Deb, Cathy and Linda

Randy, Joyce and Tresia

Coconut Chicken is better than Popcorn?


Food, Movies and Friends. Just doesn't get much better than that!!

Olympics

I LOVE the Olympics. There is something about cheering for America and for our athletes that have given their lives to prepare for this event. I am already sad that both Paul and Morgan Hamm had to drop out of the men's gymnastics. I had so wanted Paul to prove himself from the last Olympics. It must be heart wrenching to spend your whole life preparing and then to get injured right before. I also think this Olympics will be interesting because there are several athletes that are "older" and still competing. I think I am most interested in Women's Beach Volleyball this year, I love watching Misty May and Kerri Walsh.

I am glad that you can view videos at NBC.com because it will be hard to catch it all on T.V., for instance tonight during the Opening Ceremony coverage there are already several events being competed in that will not make it on T.V. Don't forget that China is 13 hours ahead of us here. So tonight at 8:00 is 9:00 in the morning there. Thought I would just post this video in case you had not seen it. It is good for a few "oh my's".


Who are you routing for???

Things Your Waiter Won't Tell You

On our recent trip we went to a buffet for lunch. There were 18 in our party. The cashier told us they would charge us 17% gratuity to sit us all together. Certain members of our party resisted and said "no" so we just found an area and sat at adjacent tables. I asked why they were making such a big deal out it since you usually leave a 15% tip anyway. They stated "not at a buffet, they don't do anything but refill your drinks". I stayed quiet but inside I said and isn't that about all the wait staff does anyway? Well then, I watched as the little woman waited on our 5 tables was in constant motion refilling our drinks and clearing plates (as we all got up multiple times) Steve left her what would have been a 30% tip for us. Which isn't unusual for Steve, if you give us good service he is a good tipper. Anyway...I could not help but think of this again today when I read this in our Reader's Digest.

Your Waiter Won't Tell You
-Splitting entrees is okay, but don't ask for water, lemon, and sugar so you can make your own lemonade. What's next, grapes so you can press your own wine?
-If you find a waiter you like, always ask to be seated in his or her section. Tell all your friends so they'll start asking for that server as well. You've just made that waiter look indispensable to the owner. The server will be grateful and take good care of you.
-If you can't afford to leave a tip, you can't afford to eat in the restaurant. Servers could be giving 20 to 40 percent to the busboys, bartenders, maitre d', or hostess.
-Always examine the check. Sometimes large parties are unaware that a gratuity has been added to the bill, so they tip on top of it. Waiters "facilitate" this error. It's dishonest, it's wrong--and I did it all the time.
-If you want to hang out, that's fine. but increase the top to make up for money the server would have made if she or he had another seating at that table.
-Never, ever come in 15 minutes before closing time. The cooks are tired and will Cook your dinner right away. So wile your chitchatting over salads, your entrees will be languishing under the heat lamp while the dishwasher is spraying industrial strength carcinogenic cleaning solvents in the immediate vicinity.
There were a couple of more items in this article I did not quote because they would "ook" us all out and we would not want to eat out. I think the best advice was this
-treat others as you would want to be treated.

Our Roadmap

The story is told that when Dr. David Livingstone was working in Africa, a group of friends sent a letter saying, "We would like to send other men to you. Have you found a good road into your area yet?" Apparently, Dr. Livingstone sent this message in reply: "If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all."

I think God is like this with us sometimes, he calls us to obedience without showing us the path we will travel, or the end result. We then have to decide whether we are going to follow without a map or not. It is a trust issue. There are days when this is easier than other days. I personally find it hard to be faithful to that call everyday.

I have been struggling with some depression for several days. On these kind of days I find myself not reading the Word, not praying, not seeking God. I tend to fill my space and time with things of this world (i.e. t.v or computer games) and then I wonder why I am not feeling better. You would think I would learn my lessons better? It isn't like I haven't walked this direction before. I know that it is a dead end street. I know that as soon as I return to the right path and do what I know to do that things get clearer and the fog lifts. So why am I so resistent?

Usually because God is asking me to look at something I don't want to look at. This time it is self acceptance. I am much better at self pity. I am much better at wanting my needs to be met than looking to the needs of others. I know that Phillipians 2:3 tells me to consider others better than myself. So just like when we are on a trip and have to continually look at the map to find our way home. I have to keep quoting God's truths to myself to get me back on the right path.

This time I know the right road, I just need to get on it. We have a GPS and when we make the wrong turn it says "recalculating". Perhaps that is what the Holy Spirit does for us as well. I just need to take the correct path sooner than later. The more times I do that then it won't be so hard the times that God asks me to go where I have not been before. He is the way, the truth and the life.

Addictive Behavior

Every now and then I get obsessed with online games. I just keep playing and playing hoping to beat my old score. Sometimes that can take hours. So right now I don't have time to blog because I am trying to beat Kelly Thomas on Word Challenge on Facebook. I was only 50 points away but have played an hour now and haven't even got close. I wonder how much longer I will try before I give up?

Well I gave up at midnight and never did beat Kelly :(
But I was able to beat Carol Smith at Scramble, so now I can go to bed.

So let me say "My name is Lynn and I am a Facebook game addict"

Fun Times with Brad

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BROTHER BRAD!

Brad is my baby brother and is nine years younger than I. He lives in Olympia Washington with his two girls Aly and Alyssa. When Brad was nine I left for college, so didn't get to spend a lot of his teens with him, but I moved home for graduate school and got to be with him his last couple years of high school. Since my parents were living in Idaho at the time we got to have some fun times camping and fishing together. One of my favorite memories is one day he asked me to iron a shirt for him. I told him he needed to do it himself and he said he did not know how. I suggested he learn and he said "why? I am going to get married". Wrong answer. He learned to iron, cook and much more. He is a great father and has provided for his girls well. He still loves to hunt and fish. Here are some fun pictures of him from when he was younger.

I dressed him up in my walking doll clothes :)

He has always been good at sports.

Don't you love the hair??


If you look at my July 31st post you will see a current day picture of him. He is on my right.

Sunday Snippets

I haven't felt real well for a couple of days and this morning I woke up with a hefty headache so I told Steve I just didn't feel like going to worship. I slept away most of the morning. So when I got up I turned on the T.V. trying to see if there was any teaching I could listen to. Fortunately, there was a rebroadcast of Charles Stanley at noon (I usually listen to him at 7:00 a.m.) and his sermon was on the Influence Of A Godly Parent. He spent the morning sharing several things his mother had taught him. So I thought I would list a few of the things my parents have taught me.

For those of you who don't know I was not blessed to grow up with a Godly father, what I know about God comes from my mother's faithfulness to Him. I was blessed at the age of 15 to receive the blessing of a Godly stepfather who has also taught me what a faithful walk with God looks like. I am sure I cannot do their influence justice but here is a try.
1. My mother taught me what it means to put God first. It would have been easier to pack the picnic basket and take us all on the boat but instead by herself she would faithfully take us three kids to worship.
2. My mother taught me that God will give you strength in the hard times. Without laying out the details there came a time when my mom had to make the decision to protect us from abuse, she packed up three kids left Alabama and took us back to El Paso where her family was. You have to understand that my mother had never worked since I was born (and that was a month before her 18th birthday. She stepped out in faith out of love for her children and God did provide.
3. My mother taught me you can do anything you put your mind to. She went from being a Head Start Aid to being the church secretary. She learned on the job all the skills that were necessary. In the 1980's she ended up working for the town newspaper as a layout artist for the ads. Where did she learn that skill??
4. My mother has taught me how to forgive. There are so many instances that I could tell you about but won't because it would invade her privacy but she has forgiven over and over. But the number one person she has forgiven is me. Unfortunately, there have been several times that I have hurt her with my words or actions but she has loved me unconditionally.
5. My mother has taught me hospitality. She enjoyed having company and putting on a great meal. If you were invited to our home she had everything ready the minute you walked in the door. She showed joy in being a servant.
6. My mom taught me the importance of listening. She has always had a listening ear. You can tell her anything and know that she will give you honest feedback. She doesn't necessarily tell you what you want to hear but what you need to hear.

I could probably go on and on, but let me go to some things my Dad has taught me.
1. My dad has taught me that you don't have to be blood to be a father. From the get go he never treated me as anything other than his daughter. He never withheld love from me because I was not his own.
2. My dad has taught me what gentleness looks like. He is a kind and gentle man. He is even tempered and did not raise his voice to correct us.
3. My dad showed me what a love for God's Word looked like. When I was a sophomore in college he left 25 years of sheet metal work to go to Sunset School of Preaching to become a minister. He had only been a Christian for about six years. He has had a love for studying and sharing God's Word. School wasn't easy for him since he was in his 50's, but he was determined. He is now 85 and cannot preach anymore but his Bible is never far from his side and you can still find him preparing a sermon from a thought he has.
4. My dad is showing me day after day what patience looks like. He has not been in good health for over two years. He does not have the energy to do much more than sit in a chair. It is not the life he wants. He patiently waits for God to call Him home. It is where He wants to be and is eagerly awaiting His call.

I am thankful for the Godly influence my parents have provided. I am thankful that their love for the Lord has spilled over on me. I am thankful to know that we will spend eternity together. So how about taking a minute and telling me one important thing your parent or parents taught you?

Humorous Sightings

A couple of things I found humorous on our trip.
When we stopped in Salina Ks this house was really rundown, but they had money for a satellite T.V.?

Then in Denver we came out from dinner and this car was parked next too ours. I thought it was clever advertising.


But the funniest is this one I found on the Internet. Someone was doing some clever posing.


Everyone have a great weekend!

Ruidoso Flood

We arrived in Ruidoso on July 26th, it had started raining on us between Santa Fe and there, but was not raining much when we arrived. We all went out to dinner and then went to the family cabin to check in on relatives. While there it began to rain and we left about 10:00 p.m. while it was still drizzling. When we went to bed I knew it was still raining and opened the windows thinking it will be "fun" to fall asleep to the falling rain. I remember waking up a couple of times and thinking "it is raining really hard". We were unaware that we were under a flash flood warning. The next morning Steve and I got up and were going to worship. We noticed several people were standing at the main bridge in town looking over the rails, as we passed by I said to Steve "oh my that is the highest I have ever seen the river", as we went on down the street it became obvious that the river had overrun it's banks. Near the church there was a campground with RV's and there was water rushing through the campground and I said to Steve "wouldn't that be horrible to be stranded in your trailer", still oblivious to what was really going on.
We got to the church and there were about a dozen people there dressed like they had been camping (i.e. in sweats, shorts, etc) My dad had previously told me that the Gateway church of Christ was a disaster relief facility. Still we didn't think much about anything. Then we thought that worship began at 9:30 and we arrived about 9:25 and people were leaving? We went into the sanctuary and sat down where there 4 people talking in the aisle. No one said a word to us. 9:30 came and went and no other people entered and still no one spoke to us, so we got up and left. We overheard one of the men say "We will have a devotional and communion at 10:30." We will give this church the benefit of the doubt that it was busy helping those affected by the flood and not too concerned with two misplaced visitors looking for the worship that was advertised on their phone and building as starting at 9:30.

It wasn't until we began trying to find another place to worship that we began to realize the magnitude of the flood because so many streets were roped off.
The river had washed out most of the major bridges.
Then by mid afternoon you heard numerous helicopters flying low. Some were news helicopters, others were black hawks. As the day transpired we found out that the helicopters were having to rescue people.

There is a place called the Upper Canyon in Ruidoso that there is only one way in and out, so when the bridge washed out, people were stranded. Numerous rental cabins are up the canyon as well as some campgrounds. I was downtown on Tuesday and heard a man telling someone how they were rescued out of the canyon by the use of ladders and stretchers. I found a picture on the internet that showed exactly that.

Can you imagine if this was your child??

Fortunately, we were never in any danger where we were, nor was the family cabin that has been there since 1933. We were all in awe at how the river had subsided on Monday and that on Tuesday we went on a picnic where the land was actually already dry! That RV park that was under water on Sunday? Well, Wednesday when we left it was dry there as well. Truly amazing. All in all 200+ people had damaged homes and one person lost his life. I am surprised not more people fell in because there were so many onlookers standing way too close taking pictures with their cameras, phones, etc. having no clue that the ground could have given way at any moment. The business across from the family cabin lost 30 feet of property as it just collapsed into the river. Good thing no one was standing there when that happened! When the river receded they were able to start putting in temporary access by dumping lots of gravel to cross the river.

I could not help but think about the many times I have been online trying to find Steve and I a cabin to stay at on a river somewhere. I have never once considered what it would be like to be vacationing and the river to flood. As much as we will remember the flood, it won't compare to those who actually got stranded on their vacation or even worse lived there and lost their home.
There are several videos on YouTube, but I chose this one because it is the RV park I referenced in the beginning of this post.