Only Remember

Be imitators of God (copy Him and follow His example), as well-beloved children (imitate their father). And walk in love, (esteeming and delighting in one another) as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a slain offering and sacrifice to God. ~ Ephesians 5:1-2 AMP

So what does one do the day after the biggest day of the year? There seems to be a lull around our house...don't get me wrong, we had a wonderful day yesterday, but all the joy, happiness and sheer ear to ear love that you felt yesterday deep down in your heart just may have all but faded away today. It's time to get back to reality. Work. Kids. Bills. More Bills. Maybe unemployment. Housework. Stress. More or less we are like deflated balloons. So what do you do starting December 26th? I think Ephesians 5:1-2 tell us clearly and I think I may have to post it on the fridge as our verse for 2010. We are supposed to be imitators of God; which for one means remembering what the 25th of December is all about and sharing that with the rest of the beaten down world all year long. Somehow, someway we need to find a real sense of what we felt during the day before and drag it with us throughout the new year instead of thinking, "Thank goodness that's over." If it wasn't for the birth of our Lord, there would never have been any real meaning to this life and we would never have been able to save ourselves from our sin ridden lives and ways. The joy and kindness you feel around December 25th needs to be felt around July 25th.....and March and April and October and all the rest of the crazy months. We need that love and we need that hope and just maybe we can be the catalyst to turn someones life around not only at Christmas time, but all year long if we would only remember. ~

Just There

Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. ~ 1 Peter 5:9

Have you ever given real thought to what the devil wants to do to you? While this whole nation is enveloped in a recession that looks to have lasting results with little relief we need to be on our guard more than ever to recognize and understand that the devil wants nothing but the absolute worse for us and our families as we try to wade our way through this sea of economical turmoil. These are desperate times for some and we need to help them resist Satan's worldly sin laced ways of getting through these times. When the news blares stories of women turning to "other ways" of income, or fathers robbing banks, or the many unnecessary suicide/homicides we have heard about all in the name of trying to make ends meet, or as a way to see a gleaming ray of hope it saddens my heart and it should grieve yours also. Let's reach out to the hurting and stand firm, persevere and continue to seek God's wisdom as we trudge through this fallen world. We need to repeat to ourselves constantly that there is a reason, even if we can not make any consorted sense out of what's going on, until we believe it in our bones and very being. Most of all, we need not be ashamed of what our past, present, future, or finances say about us...they DO NOT define us and they should not be given such position; we need to hang out some of our dirty laundry so that others can encourage us and so that we may be an encouragement to those who need to know they will get through this....but do not let it define you. Let's help one another resist, persevere and so remember that we are not alone...so reach out a helping hand even if it's just to be there. ~

Love Snow

The first big snow of the year has arrived and we have made sure to have fun in it by sledding down the outside stairs off the deck and into the yard. The stuff is sticky enough to make a huge snowman family with plenty to spare piling up in the road ruts. Today I am assuming things will be better, but yesterday I couldn't get my van up to my house as the tires just spun in the slush/mud mix and caked the traction my studded tires once held. My prince of a husband had to come a rescue me, but after last night's freeze and today's continued dumpage of the white stuff, I am sure to be able to make it up the frozen tundra that only 24 hours ago was slop. Cody is down at Shorty's looking at ways we can incorporate pizza ovens; one of his many passions. On nights like last night I'm sure they're would be plenty of people who would love to stop, get dinner and make their way home with a warm, already made dinner when holed up for the night. I love these kinds of days; I love being shut into my home cozy and warm while watching the lights of cars creep along 131 in a slow line. After having worked (2) 12 hour days - 1 Wednesday and 1 Thursday - and being exhausted, there was nothing more relaxing for me than waking up Friday morning to the fluffy flurry of snow in the air and not having to drive in it. Just to enjoy it. I love snow! ~

Pure Right

The character of even a child can be known by the way he acts - whether what he does is pure and right. ~ Proverbs 20:11

Have you ever watched a child in a grocery store throw a tantrum because they didn't get the gleaming candy bar in the check out aisle and wondered, What in the world? Why isn't that parent doing anything? At that moment we unfairly judge the character of that child, and the undoubtedly worn out mom when we simply don't even know the situation; don't worry, I've done it too. Here's the kicker; some of us adults act the same way; worse given some situations and we should know better. According to the scriptures, the character of even a small child can be revealed by the spoiled way he may act, by the screaming lungs, or maybe the quiet gentle spirit spurned on by giving and sharing. With that being said the question is, where do you think our children see the model of temper tantrums and greedy attitudes? If the acts of a child reveal what he does as pure and right, then don't you think all the more for adults. We need to check ourselves and purify our character so that we can be good models and exemplary examples of how someone with pure motives act. We need to love each other, treat our elders with respect, let others go first in line at the grocery store, remember our manners and bring back "please" and "thank you" and ditch the "give me" and "I deserve" attitudes. Above all else, treat others as you would want to be treated and let the character of God shine brightly through you - pure and right. ~

Admit Oneself

Jesus said, "I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you." ~ John 13:15

How often do we treat others as Jesus has treated us? How often do we show the same love to others as Jesus shows to us? I'll be real honest, I can tell you that right now I am so mad at my husband that I could care less how I treat him. I feel like I am his own personal secretary and employee that he feels like he can just call on whenever he needs to make sure HIS crap gets done. I do things for him that I absolutely loathe, but do I get appreciation for it - very little, or so that's how it feels. I don't have him helping me with my job, or him helping me with my dreams and I surely don't EXPECT him to do anything just off the fly. See....it's real easy to get caught up in all the things that make me mad about my husband, but if I am to show him the same love that Jesus showed me, than I should be more than willing to do those things expected of me even if they are through cringed teeth with a resounding, "Sure honey." Now I don't think that people should be walked all over, but when we focus on everything that we do for others, it's hard to see what they have done for us. It's hard for me to see that my husband has covered my butt when I wrote a check that wasn't going to clear without his help; how about the fact that he's the one who gets up in the middle of the night if one of the kids wake up so that I can get extra sleep; what about the fact that he does dishes for me a couple of times a week without me asking; he also LOVES hanging out with his kids and for a lot of my friends' husbands that's a huge struggle; every time he goes to the store he makes sure to call me to see if I need anything and I honestly can't remember the last time I put gas in the van because if he drives it he always tops it off for me...just to name a few. So I guess if I had to compare the two, he does much better at loving me and people in general (how sad to admit) the way Jesus would want us too. Guess I have my work cut out for me, but I know that Jesus understands that this admittance in itself is a huge step and loves me no matter what....thank God! ~

Called Us

When I was a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. ~ 1 Corinthinas 13:11

Can you remember a defining moment in your life when you knew it was time to start acting like an adult? Do remember the "ah ha"moment when you realized you had great responsibility now as you turned the corner into adult hood? For me it was when the doctor handed me my first born son. I thought Oh my gosh, what am I doing? I am responsible for this little guy and I pray I don't let him down. I am truly a grown up now. Unfortunately, we still have what I can a bunch of grown up toddlers running around who could actually learn a thing or two from the four year old that they are responsible for. There is a fine line between thinking like a child and acting like a child and far to often we adults tend to do the latter. We need to realize that we are called to take the higher road as adults and sometimes that means extending graces were they are not always appreciated. I am amazed at the lack of tolerance we have for each other and the complete tantrums we throw when we don't get our own way. Instead of putting our childish ways behind us, all a lot of us have done is sub press them until we feel the need to get our own way. We need to put the childish act of selfishness behind us, leave it there, and show the next generation the best act of love; unselfishness and sacrifice. We need to be the hero in our relationships and step up to the plate instead of waiting for the other one to do it; we need to be gracious when overlooked for a job advance; and we need to be watching and guarding our tongues from gossip (just to name a few areas). After all, the biggest act of love was modeled for us thousands of years ago and now it's our responsibility to walk the walk we want our children to follow. It is not okay to act 4 when you're really 34 (unless, of course, you are playing with your children)...so lets start walking in the maturity that God has called us too. ~

World Changes

Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. ~ Romans 12:2 (MSG)

Wow! What makes you stand out in our self-absorbed, fearful, and way to harried, diverse and fancy free world? There are times when I can't answer that question and that scares me just a little; people should be able to see something totally different in us so called Christians. They definitely should be able to see more love than they see opposed to the handfuls of criticism and harsh judgement that seems to come with the title of "new believer". Whew! Did I just say that? I did, and I'm pointing my right index finger squarely in my frigid face as well as yours. We need to fix our attention on God and what He has rightfully required of his love bought children. We need to stand up for what He would stand up for and help the widows, the fatherless, the heartbroken, and the beaten down; yet still stand and feel the need for correct judgement in a fallen world. There are to many of us who sit in comfortable chairs, or wooden pews on a Sunday and say "AMEN!" to the sermon only to walk out and convene at a local diner and slam what so and so's doing instead of loving them. Now don't get me wrong, I don't believe we should be walked all over, but we need to be filling in huge gaps that are being left wide open in a world that is horrifically hurting. Yes, it's true, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Same is true with humans: We need to gently guide people to the living water and pray faithfully that they take that first drink (it's in God's hands than) instead of leaving them there when they don't meet our timeline. God never gave up on us; let's not give up on Him and his lost children. Grow to maturity and walk beside him and see how this world changes. ~

What Concept

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." ~ Matthew 18:3-4

Have you ever wondered what kind of purposeful life you could have if you just listened to Jesus all the time? I've often thought Janine, your life would be so much easier if you would remember Jesus' promises and if you would just listen. The above scripture is one of those for me. If I would only listen to the plain truth in this verse and remember it I think my life would be so much easier and simpler. After all, I have never known God, or His Sovereign Son to lie to me, but if there was any doubt, He reassures me by saying, "I tell you the truth...". Therefore, I am led to believe if I could just come to Him like my children come to me than I would be better for it. This is the only instance in our harried lives where we are charged to act like little children no matter our age, our status, our successes, or our many failures. To give ourselves humbly to God ~ there is freedom in that. I don't know about you, but I plan on spending my eternity in a place of happiness, joy and constant praise to a worthy and glorious God. I don't want to spend my eternity in a place of gnashing teeth and burning brimstone...so, according to this scripture, I had better learn to humble myself before my God. After all, contrary to belief, this world is not all about you, or me, it's all about the one who created it and we need to be humble before a (and hold on to your hats, this is a new one for some of you) JEALOUS God. To let go of the ego and let ourselves lose control in the only one who has real control. This is humility and total freedom. Just as our young children rely on us for most of the guidance, direction and control in their lives, we need to rely on God for the guidance, direction and control in our lives so that we can become humble humans. After all, don't you want to be great? I do....so I'm going to learn to let go and humbly let God. What a concept. ~

Amen That

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. ~ Philippians 2:1-2

Are you encouraged in your fellowship? Are you an encouragement? This verse hit me this morning in new ways that it never has before even though I've read it many times before. It amazes me how you can read the Scriptures over and over again and how various passages may jump out at you on any give day depending on what you need to hear. For me, this verse related to my marriage this morning. Your marriage? Yes, my marriage. You see I'm not always the encouraging spouse contrary to believe and I have an extremely hard time biting my tongue when my common sense doesn't jive with my husbands. I have been called to love my husband as Christ loves me and more than often I am the first one throwing the stones than trying to bless him with my words. We are one in Spirit and when it comes to the stress load of family, work and making it all come together I tend to be the one that wants to say "told you" instead of being united with him. I need to make Christ's joy complete not only in being like minded with other believers, but what about being like minded in love with my spouse? Don't misunderstand me, I don't have to agree with everything he does and when he asks me my opinion I need to give it even if it's not always what he wants to hear, but there is a tone in which I can express my opinion that can show love and there is a way to lovingly and compassionately disagree. We need to be on the same page with our spouses and if we can't be we need to pray that God would guide and direct us before we wound each other. The enemy loves that kind of destruction and we need to be guarded against the chaos he loves to create when we are not of the same like mindedness. No more! I will try my best to be an encouragement to my man! After all, there's enough in this world to knock him down and I don't need to be part of it. Amen to that! ~

Through Growth

Once you were less than nothing; now you are God's own. Once you knew very little of God's kindness; now your very lives have been changed by it. ~ 1 Peter 2:10

Our backyard is huge and right now it is luscious as it's been mowed just this afternoon, but give it a few days and out of what looks like nothingness you'll see many Aspen trees trying to pop up. We have a group of four or five big Aspen trees in the middle of our yard and these little baby trees called "quakes" throw themselves up out of the ground as they take life and roots from the middle of the yard. That's how it is with us. We were once nothing. Only by grace and an amazing love that we will never understand from God above do we pop up to breath and live. We become God's children and his word and ways start to take root into our lives and we are able to persevere through his kindness. When we were on our own in this self serving world we had no idea what we were missing and there was no way we could understand the changed lives of others. Once we let that root take hold in our hearts and accept that amazing love that flows from the one true eternal king, we become changed and want to show off that new found freedom in Him. Just like the baby Aspen trees popping up out of the ground from and through the fresh new root system, we too can pop up and show off the new root system we have found. We need to grow and be unashamed of the changes that have taken place within us through him. Grow on! ~

Change = Good

August has arrived; which means my family is getting geared up for mom to go to work and the boys are gearing up for school to start. What happened to the summer? This is the same question a lot of us are asking, but I really don't feel like I have had much of a vacation; well, maybe a working one. Cody and the boys went fishing this morning out at Stagecoach Reservoir and didn't catch a thing, but had a great time just being the boys and doing their thing (feeding crawdads). Now they are out in the garage doing some reorganization; which really just means moving things from one spot to another making things we don't use more accessible and appealing to the eye. It'll just be moved again in another couple of months to the other side of the garage, let's be real here. I enjoyed my time this morning alone trying to figure out how to unpack the rest of our stuff, catching up on some reading and doing some daily chores. Sometimes I feel a little lost when I'm left all alone; as if I'm not sure what to do when I don't have anything or anyone else to worry about. What a strange feeling. At lunch, Samuel let us know that he wished I didn't have to go to work Monday and all Isaac said to that was, "Well why not? That means school is starting soon!" Guess he's a little excited for his new upcoming adventure. Samuel can't wait for his little brother to be at school with him either...it'll be good and I know they will watch out for each other. The question is what will my husband do with all his time? For the first time in seven years he will also have a life changing experience when he realizes he has eight hours a day without anyone here with him. Wow! Somebody write this down on a calendar as I will never admit to it if you ask me if I said it, but I guess (and here it goes)............change is good. ~

Morph On

God is looking for those with changed hearts and minds. Whoever has that kind of change in his life will get his praise from God. ~ Romans 2:29

How has your heart and mind changed since you came to know Christ? If you haven't noticed much change you may need to check yourself spiritually to see if your commitment to Christ was real as there should have been a change made somewhere within your heart and mind. Contrary to what I have heard some say, I do believe there is a change no matter what your walk in life was; good, or bad. One doesn't have to be leading a life of sin for there to be change; that is not the only change that should take place. There was and still is tremendous change for me just in the act of learning how to let go of control among many other things. I dare say that there are Christians out there who believe that because they are not sinning there is no change needed. To them I would say to be wary of complacency. If you're stagnant than you're probably not moving forward either. Here's what I know from experience: even though I don't have a life of unbridled sin, I do still live here on this earth which requires me to keep in check everyday with my Heavenly Father. I've learned that I need to accept change, be more open to loving others, be more forgiving, more patient and I definitely need to be more trusting in the Lord. What I have learned is that my life may not need a change from blatant sin, but my change may be a need to continually morph into more characteristics of Christ - to be more Christlike. To become closer to what he wants me to be also comes with a whole lot of praise from the Almighty and that's the praise I'm after....so morph on! ~

What Relief

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. ~ 1 John 4:4

For the last few weeks someone, or some people, have been breaking into businesses (three, or four) here in Oak Creek and stealing mostly alcohol and leaving a wake of vandalism in their path without being caught. Ever since my husband and I decided to go ahead and apply for our wine/beer license I have been fearful that they would target our establishment next. Last night it was only our second night serving and sure enough, we got the call at about 1:30 a.m. from the Sheriff's Department and received a visit from a deputy at our house. Apparently the culprits where trying to break into Shorty's and were apprehended before they could even make a dent in the door they were trying to get into. THANK GOD! Not only was our little restaurant saved, but the suspects were caught and my little home town can go back to normal. At church this morning we were told, "Well, I know this sounds strange, but to bad they didn't try to break into your place first. God had your back." I do know that God had our back and I know they would have eventually got caught, but I do feel a sense of God's covering over our restaurant. They didn't even get close enough to the back door to do damage before they were caught, even though the Sheriff's Department is certain that was their target from their positioning. It's almost as if they hit a brick wall when they decided to mess with Shorty's at 2:00 a.m. and for that I am thankful. Now I just pray for the suspects and hope they have learned something from their run in with the law, but only time will tell. For now, I'm relieved and my fear is gone as I know that God's will for my family overcame the plan of the evil one. What relief! ~

Conquered Love

Jesus said, "I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world." ~ John 16:33

I'll be candid and completely honest here. Even though I am a follower of the only one true living God and have accepted his son as my Lord and Savior, most of the time I struggle with the whole trust issue with (and hang on to your hats) Jesus especially. If things aren't working out the way I want them too it's an even bigger struggle. However, in the last few years of my life I am beginning to understand this trust thing with Jesus a little better. Not that I have it down; it seems like it's a daily struggle with me, but I am learning that if I trust him instead of myself than no matter what the circumstances, I seem to come out the other end unscathed and okay. I have to be reminded daily that the bible is chalked full of promises to us, His children and that includes me no matter how unworthy I feel. However, sometimes I think that we forget that he never said, "Now that you are a follower of me your life will be easy." We just want to think that. For me, I know that trusting Jesus and God is sometimes hard because I don't always feel His presence. I have to remember that he is always with me no matter what's going on and He has my back no matter if I feel Him there, or not. I do know that his love for me is unshakable and unmovable at all times...so on that I can rest assured and conquer the world. ~

Only Temporary

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. ~
James 1:2-4

To consider challenges in life a gift is a little than I can stomach, but I have to admit that there is some truth to that kind of thinking. After all, I can look back at my life and think of several circumstances that were monumental in moving me, or my family closer to God and His will and they were almost all presented in some form of a challenge, or huge change. I don't know that I consider them gifts, but I do consider them as opportunities for God to reveal himself to me in drastic ways, or maybe it's an opportunity for me to be refined in character and Christ likeness. When there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel and you only have God to hang onto sometimes that's the best place to be. When we have to trust in Him and Him alone to make things work out that hang terrifyingly in the balance, we are usually right where He wants us to be. I've often thought that if spiritual warfare is thick in my life and my life seems to be in check with God's ways than I must be doing something right because the enemy is really trying to take me down. I must be on to something, if I can just hang on. Trials, tests and challenges are all part of God's plan sometimes whether we want to admit it or not. He did not promise a life of roses and butterflies at all times; in fact, He warned us that there would be trials....so take heart... maybe you're right where God wants you to be; I promise it really is only temporary. ~

Thank Jesus

I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need. ~ Philippians 4:13

We have just finished our second move in the last 7 months; yes, you read that right, we have moved twice since December! Granted the second move was only about two blocks away from the first, but if you don't already know this about me, I hate change! However, God blessed us with both moves...so after much thought and prayer we did it yet again. During this last upheaval I remember thinking to myself I really don't know how I'm doing this again; I can't believe I'm not withered with exhaustion. I mean really, here we are moving again in the midst of operating and really still getting a two month old restaurant off the ground (also proving to be a huge blessing), raising our boys and trying to keep ourselves grounded. What are we thinking! It occurred to me in the midst of my thought that maybe I'm not exhausted because I am in the midst of a bigger plan for my life and because I'm not fighting it (at this particular moment; believe me, I usually put up a good fight) God is supplying enormous amounts of strength. When I look back at the last two years of my life and especially the last seven months, I feel like it's been more like five years; we have been through a lot and we have made life altering changes that we felt were guided by God. So when I read this scripture this morning the truth of it rang clear to me; I have tremendous strength in Christ and I have never been more aware of that than now. His will; not mine, coupled with His strength; also not mine, is AMAZING! Thank you, Jesus! ~

Finished Victory

Despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. ~ Romans 8:37

Despite the monotony of daily chores such as doing the same dishes, washing the same laundry and playing the same action figures games over and over with your fiery five year old....victory is ours. Even despite the never ending bills, the broken down car, the faltering health or even failing health of our loved ones....victory is ours. How about through a broken economy, a broken marriage, a broken child, a lost job, or even the loss of a loved one....victory is ours. Scripture says that victory is not only ours through Christ, but OVERWHELMING victory is ours; OVERWHELMING. I know we won't truly know what that all entails, or even how that feels down here as that victory is reserved for those of us who cross the finish line, but I assure you it will be glorious and I can't wait. One of my little tricks for getting through difficulties is to remember that I win at the end and that if I could just see how God is using my circumstances to refine my sometimes rough exterior, or interior I would be glad for it. I think to myself that if I could zoom out and see the bigger picture for what it really is, how God sees it, I would understand everything. Sometimes I just have to understand that I'm NOT GOING TO understand everything. It's okay. One day I will and one day I will have complete victory over my life when I stand with Jesus Christ after having finished the race. Run on! Victory is yours! ~

Pure Love

I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ~ Jesus in John 17:20-21

Have you ever sat back and wondered how the "church body" would be if we got rid of doctrine and denominations and actually were acutely in tuned with each other based solely on the relationship we each have with Christ? My husband has often said that he believes God is up there shaking his head at all of us "Christians" as we debate and argue over things that have nothing to really do with our salvation instead of just focusing on loving each other as he has called us too. There is a place for doctrine and making sure that our fundamental belief system is intact as Christ would have it, but sometimes we forget how to just love people. Here is an example from my mind bank: I remember once hearing an argument straight from a Pastor's mouth that smokers are all going to hell because of their habitual addiction. I thought, Wow! What about God's grace to these people? What about his forgiveness? Furthermore, I hope no one actually believes him. Furthermore, at that moment I prayed that no newcomer, or unbeliever was in ear shot of him for fear that they may be ever turned off to this Christ person. It may be true that you'll smell like hell from smoking, but just because you smoke doesn't send you there. Last time I checked that particular issue had not forbearance on my salvation. My point is that we get so caught up in social, personal and sometimes doctrinal differences that the true message of salvation gets muddied. Let's watch ourselves, love each other and become the one church body that Christ longs for us to be. We need to get rid of the pettiness and get down to the heart issue of salvation and the basics of Christ's pure love. ~

Health Depends

What in God's name are we thinking? Why do we keep ourselves so busy? Don't we realize that is part of the stress? Here we are, on the edge of monumental decisions....AGAIN! Why can't we just have a normal life? When will things slow down? I know, I know, everyone is busy, but that doesn't make it right, or even slightly okay with me; I want simplicity! Excuse me if I want to be settled for a while (longer than 7 months, thank you) instead of following society's muddied idea to be extremely busy and always striving for more. Don't get me wrong, I believe everyone should strive for something better, but who says it has to be constant? Who says we have to go from one accomplishment to the other without stopping? DO NOT PASS GO AND DO NOT COLLECT $200! YOU MUST GO, GO, GO! I'm tired and I need a break. Now, with all that being said, my desire for a slower pace and OUR need for it as humans all came to a head last Friday when my husband was thrown into a forced night off when he was stricken with Transient Global Amnesia (TGA). He lost all memory of Friday and the week prior and was forced to stay in the hospital over night for observation. Yes, his memory has come back; all except for Friday, the day of the attack, but it just goes to show that we are still human and we all need to slow down. I'm thankful my man is okay, but I will be more conscious of this family's stress level and I will be looking for more opportunities to slow down. Our health depends on it. ~

Want That

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17

It's an amazing gift. Someone makes an unbearable sacrifice and we all benefit from it. I once heard our pastor say, "God bankrupted heaven for you and I"; what a thought, but oh so true. All you have to do is accept Jesus Christ for who he is as the son of God and that he died for you and accept that gift from the cross and you are a new creation. Something supernatural happens. My mind puts it into terms of a caterpillar turning into a beautiful butterfly; it's a transformation that is so complete that there is no remnants of the caterpillar attributes any longer; you only see the beauty in the new creation. Some of us need to shout, "THANK GOD!" to the fact that the old has gone; it's not a person we may even want to, or need to recognize. The dirty is washed and made completely clean; it's Clorox bleach on turbo strength and it's glorious. We now belong to a new world filled with hope, peace and joy that can replace the doubt, turmoil and fear that we once lived in. As a new creation we are born into a spirit world that goes to battle for us throughout this temporary life here on planet earth. We are now part of a bigger plan, a bigger purpose and we are called a child of the Almighty God our Father. Who doesn't want that? Hallelujah! ~

Promise You

Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. ~ Malachi 2:15

Have you ever heard, "Well, we were young and stupid and really didn't know what we were doing...so we split. We are better off for it." ? There is no doubt that in some situations you may have made a hasty choice in getting married, but the bible is clear that you should not leave the wife of your youth. Not to mention that the fact remains that you must have loved each other enough at one point in your life to get married...so what changed? You just failed to work on it, or one of you failed to work on it and chose the easy way out; after all, nobody ever promised that marriage would be easy, it's a daily choice. I am a very proud daughter of two individuals who got married young (mom was 16 and dad was 18) and even though it was terribly hard at times and they may have had second thoughts, they persevered and took their covenant with each other and God seriously. Now let me say that if there is abuse in your relationship I believe you must, I repeat MUST get out, but for all of you who are toying with the idea of divorce because you don't think you are in love with that person anymore, I say, "WORK ON IT!" God has made married couples one, one flesh, one body, that's one of the reasons sex is prohibited outside of marriage ~ it is a total experience for not just your body, but your mind, spirit and soul become connected forever. It's a very spiritual act that Americans distorted to new levels and in ways that is only pleasing to the devil. He totally wants you to give yourself up to everyone at all times so that he can destroy you piece by piece as you literally give yourself away. Let's revive America by sticking it out with our spouses and giving all we can to our marriages. We deserve it and so do our children! So to my friend....stick it out and I promise you'll be glad you did. I love you. ~

Journey Out

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." ~ John 16:33

Do you ever feel like you are constantly bombarded with tremendous trials and troubles? Especially in this financial crisis that America is wading thickly through there seems to be mountains of trouble. The basic meaning of trouble in Greek is pressure; which we all know comes in many different forms and many dysfunctional shapes. There is the pressure to perform well on the job, on a test, in school, the pressure to be a good mom, a better mom, a good dad, a better dad, the pressure to live up to expectations of other and those of our own and even the pressure to live the lifestyle our neighbor has even if we can't really afford it. PRESSURE! All of these pressures if internalized and dwelt on long enough, can become monstrous trouble if we are not focused on the creator of this wonderful world. The pressure builds up and the trouble starts and sometimes our lives start to slide down a slippery path that thwarts our very existence. May I also suggest that just living in this world and being a part of it can be troublesome enough for those of us living for Christ; our troubles, or at least for me, sometimes feel magnified ten times over just because of the spiritual warfare that I know goes on around me. However, Jesus has triumphed over this world! AMEN! We need to take courage; we need to stand up strong as we share in that triumphant victory over this world and it's sometimes sickening ways. Jesus has won and as a follower of the Almighty, I have too! Thank you Jesus that we know who wins in the end and that this is a journey not to take to seriously. This is not my home and I will be triumphant! Take that peace with you and journey out my friend, journey out! ~

Always Steadfast

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
~ Psalm 51:10

One of my prayers for my children is that they would have a pure heart, pure motives and minds and hearts transformed and conformed by God. To be honest, this type of prayer never entered my mind for my children until they became school aged and were no longer under my constant care. I became terrified when I realized that Samuel was no longer going to be with me and my direction every minute of the day. I became insanely anxious when I realized others where going to be able to speak into him and at him all day without me being there to filter things, or guide him through all the white noise like talking that would swirl around him on a daily basis....so I started praying. Lord, please let my son know when it's you and when it's not; help him to keep a clean heart, spirit and mind in a world that is often composed of hidden agendas and unclear motives. One day while I was praying for my children in regards to the specific request of purity, it came to my mind that I should also keep praying for that for my husband and I. I was taken by surprise, but than I thought about it. In a world of selfish ambition, we adults also need to make sure we have pure hearts and motives. I feel like I do a good job at this already and I don't see anything glaring at me in the horizon that is impure, but it never hurts to be on guard, especially if I want to teach my children about purity. Impurity doesn't just come in sexual form, or uncleanliness either for that matter, but it can come in the form of lust, greed and even popularity. I need to make sure that I am making the right moral choices for me and my family even if it's unpopular; which is just another way of keeping our home pure. Lord, I pray that you would cleanse whatever you desire and make my home a pure one for you. Always and steadfast. ~

Very Alone

Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always; to the very end of the age. ~ Matthew 28:19-20

These are the last two verses of the book of Matthew given to us straight from Jesus' mouth and even though the whole of the two equals a part of the Great Commission, what really speaks to me is the very last sentence....'and surely I am with you always; to the very end of the age.' Therefore, you and I have nothing to fear not only as we walk this earth trying to make disciples of all the nations but also when we are doing our daily, sometimes mundane chores; or getting persecuted for following what we feel like we've been called to do; we are never alone even through horrific circumstances and situations. I have come to realize this in my own journey. I have come to know that I don't and won't understand everything, but we humans are able to endure the unimaginable when we are accompanied by friends, family and especially when we realize Jesus is with us even though we don't understand. Why? Because we were never meant to be, designed to be, or intended to be....alone. In fact, we never are. You may feel it, but you never are. NEVER. We have what some would say their conscious (I call it the Holy Spirit) and we have a father who loves us unconditionally if we would only let him....he's just waiting for you and I to turn to him. He waits patiently. He will not force a relationship with anyone; that's part of his love, you have to initiate that, but he will always be waiting for you to take that step. My personal spiritual journey has been rather intense in a good way these last two years and I am so thankful that I am never alone. There are circumstances and situations that I felt COMPLETELY alone without direction and in total confusion. We all have them. It's how you chose to REACT to them that can really affect your life. I have learned that without those sometimes dark and deafening silent times I would not have the relationship I have with Jesus now. May I suggest that sometimes he leaves us alone and backs off a little just so he can show himself again to us when we are at the end of our rope and finally turn to him again. He uses us in our weakness to show himself strong and when I don't think I can go on anymore he always shows me that I'm never alone......to the very end of the age. ~

Some Improving

Rejoice with those who rejoice....Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty....never be conceited. Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all. ~ Romans 12:15-18

Whew! This scripture is loaded with what seems like impossible rules. I mean who can follow these all the time? No one. We are imperfect human beings, but we can try to live up to these measures everyday with brand new mercies from above. We are to be joyful and rejoice with those who have reason to rejoice; no matter how we feel. We are to rejoice with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ when they have something to rejoice about. We are to live in harmony with one another and sometimes that means learning how to control our tongues, at least for me, and learning when to keep my big mouth shut. We are not to be haughty; we are not to be full of ourselves; which goes against the grain of this narcissistic/selfish society we live in today. God did not design us to be by ourselves, but we are to fellowship with each other and love each other without judgement in part by leaving our selfishness at the door. It's not all about me. God forgive me those times when I have inflated myself with conceit and a self induced ego; only in my humbleness can I show the true character of God with servant hood and not expectation. And who in the world knows how to live with everyone peaceably all the time? May I suggest that no one has been able to do that; even Jesus stirred controversy, but we are to try our hardest to live in peace. When someone rubs us wrong, or wrongs us, we need to be quick to take the high road and give them the benefit of the doubt instead of playing the victim role all the time, or seeking revenge. After all, once again, it's not all about me and if I continuously play the victim card I am also playing the "about me" card constantly. So everyday I need to pray that God would make me more Christlike and less worldly so that I may live according to his word. Without him and his mercies I will never come close to becoming what he wants me to become. Thank him that we can go to him and ask him to help us to become more like him; after all, he knows you - ask him to help you and watch your world grow. I know I could use some improving. ~

Mind Blowing

"The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." ~ Zephaniah 3:17

I love the thought that someone exults over me with loud singing all the time; do you realize that the Lord rejoices over you? Whew! Sometimes I feel so unworthy of that, actually, most of the time I feel unworthy of that; after all, I am just me, but not to God; I am special to him. The one who created this universe, this world, and every little detail of it actually exults over...me! Spring time is a special time of the year for many reasons ~ it's a fresh start, the days get longer, new growth is seen outside, but when I really think about it and let my mind wonder about how everything comes back to life and lives fresh again, I am in awe of how that all works. This is not science and it didn't happen in a BIG bang, it happened by divine creation and when I think about the inter workings of how plants, animals and the world works, I get overwhelmed to think that the one who made all of this is more concerned with me and with the human race than with any other thing. Talk about having a full plate...he's got one! And yet, he still makes time for me...he rejoices over me with gladness when he has a ton of other things I'm sure he could be doing. I am the lover of the one and true God who not only holds all things in his hands, but still fights for me, loves me, rejoices over me and sings over me. Boy, than I must be pretty special...and so are you! Rejoice in that this spring. Rejoice in that this Mother's Day. God has given us this beautiful world to enjoy and you are his crowning creation. Mind blowing! ~

Will Continue

SHORTY'S IS OPEN! FRIDAY - TUESDAY 4:00 - 9:00 P.M.! WHAT A RIDE! My husband got his restaurant open and people are flocking in; what a wonderful thing it is to witness your spouses dream come true! There are, of course, kinks that need to be worked out, but I believe that is with any new venture and especially any new venture that has to do with customer service. There are no words to exactly tell him how proud I am of him, but I have tried; part of the amazement comes from the fact that I would be lying if I said I thought this was all going to come together. I had my doubts and I had to eat crow in the end, but, in this case, crow that I am more than happy to dine on. Our life has been a whirl wind of events in the last six months; one day we are thinking about moving back home and then two weeks later, BANG, God gives us the wisdom to know it's time....so we move, we start a restaurant, I get a full time job in the school district that I left eight years prior, and we start getting together with the other churches in this area to help out the youth here; WHEW! When we first moved home I missed Denver and my home there terribly; felt like I went into a bit of a funk, but in the last two months, I can now look at pictures of our life down there with happiness and thankfulness for that chapter in our lives instead of regretting the move. After all, Denver was home. It was our boys' home. It was the place Cody and I started our family new. Denver was good to us. However, God has been great here also and I believe he will continue to be. ~

Acceptance Action

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. ~ Romans 15:7

Have you ever felt like an outsider? Has it been hard for you to accept others for who they are? One of my many weaknesses is that sometimes it's hard for me to accept how other people think, or how they view things; which let's face it, is a form of superiority on my part; SHAME ON ME! This is a characteristic of mine that I am learning to trust into God's hands and change because the truth of the matter is that I have felt VERY inferior when I hang out with certain people and I absolutely loathe that feeling...I don't want to make anyone else feel that way and it saddens me that I may. We are to accept each other, always. Is that a hard pill for you to swallow? The way you can gauge how you are with acceptance is to take evaluation of your friendships...have you had a few, a couple, or maybe even a handful go by the wayside? Even though I am tremendously blessed with many good friends, I can look back and see a few friendships that have slipped away that I thought would last forever? Why? If I'm honest, it wasn't all them, I probably was not as accepting as I could have been....whew, that was hard and sad to admit. Over the weekend we got to hang out with some dear friends of ours from Broomfield and over dinner on Saturday night we got into the conversation of relationships. My dear friend said, "We don't have the right to write people off. We just don't. That's not ours. We need to learn to get over our pettiness sometimes. Only God would have that right and he never has done that to any of us. Who do we think we are?" WOW! She's right. Only God would have that right and he never has. It struck a cord with me. Acceptance is dearly needed in our families, among siblings, among children, among parents, among friends, among coworkers, among spouses, in every relationship. Then I ran across this scripture this morning and I once again thought of my dear friends; she has every right in my mind to write certain people off in her life and she never did either. Incredible. Let me just tell all my friends and family, I'm not perfect and never will be, and neither will you, but I will love you always and continue my quest of complete acceptance. Remind me if you need to! Nothing should separate good friends. Nothing....because here's the revelation I had, if we are unwilling to accept someone, or if we are willing to write someone off for their wrongs, then how good are we at forgiveness? In effect, you are unforgiving if you write someone off because the reason you most likely wrote them off was because they hurt you. Maybe they didn't think like you and you couldn't accept that. How petty! Not at all like the Jesus we supposedly than honor and follow and call our Lord. Oh! Ouch! That revelation hurts me. I am so sorry. I don't want to be that way. Let's start with acceptance and love each other the way Christ loves us. Christ could have written me off time and time again, but he never has....who am I to say that I can then? Acceptance! What a statement of faith we could be to this world with that one word and action. ~

There Waiting

The father of the prodigal son said, "Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." So they began to celebrate. ~ Luke 15:23-24

Do you know that God celebrates you? You know that God celebrates when people come to him and find his salvation, but can you fathom that he does that no matter where you've been, or what you've done? It's true. I once heard a friend of mine say, "You can not do anything bad enough for God not to love you." Blew me away! I have always had the head knowledge that God loves me, but to hear it like that, "there's nothing I can do bad enough for God to quit loving me" hit my heart. He made us in his image, he will always love his crown creation. Think of the biggest violation against you, or your family....do you know that if the person who did that to you comes to know God, he is forgiven? Hard to imagine, uh? Do you know that God even loves them? That's not to say that we have a "get out of jail free" card, but it's to say, "Hey, we all make mistakes. Some bigger than others, but I will ALWAYS love you." Everyone has been a prodigal son or daughter in their own way; whether it be huge, or in a small turn of the back, we all have. No matter where we've been, or what we do, when we come back to God there is a huge celebration in heaven and the angels rejoice with him in the loudest concert you can even imagine. You see, there is complete hope when someone either comes back, or just starts out their journey; there is light at the end of the dark worldly tunnel at that very moment. It's a time to celebrate! Think of a promotion you've gotten at work, an accomplishment you received at school, think of a loved one coming home from serving overseas...now times that celebration by thousands! Can you see his face beaming? He loves you, he wants to celebrate your return. God wants to give everything to us and as long as we come back he will always be there waiting....for you. ~

Give Best

Encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. ~
1 Thessalonians 5:11

How often do you feel encouraged? How often do you encourage others? I know I myself need help in the area of giving encouragement; especially to those closest to me; I'm not always the builder. Encourage, according to Webster, means to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope. Unfortunately, my mouth runs amok sometimes and spills out every kind of discouragement. One of my goals this year is to become a more supportive and encouraging wife in not only my actions, but also in my words. There are times I am far from inspiring and if I'm not inspiring then I must be expiring. Expire, according to Webster, means to emit the breath of. How sad is that?! Courage is a huge part of encouragement and according to Webster, the definition of courage is mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. If I'm not encouraging people to be strong with courage then I am discouraging and supplying no strength, or support system for those who may really need it. Lastly, to be encouraging means to give hope and according to Webster, hope is to expect with confidence. If I take that hope away, or never give that hope than I am giving hopelessness, which also according to Webster is having no expectation of good or success; another word for despair. So...if I'm not encouraging I am expiring, discouraging, and despairing to those around me and am a life sucking, unsupportive and complete doubter of all good. Is that you? I know I personally steer clear of those people because, and hang on to your seats, they are all to often selfish takers from me than givers. It's always about them. However, that's me somedays....OH how I want to be an encourager! I want to breath life into peoples situations! I want to help them persevere and strengthen them! I want to expect only good for them and I want them to expect only good for themselves! What a different world we would live in if we would all make a conscious effort to build up instead of tear down. Our marriages, our children, our other family relationships, our friendships, our work places, our very beings would be transformed! Oh how I want that for me and mine. I want to leave that to my children. In the movie Bambi, Thumper's mother had good advice, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." I say if you can't be encouraging, than don't say anything at all. Now if I could only live by my own words....I'm going to give it my best. ~

Parent Wants

For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. ~ James 3:16

"What happened?" I ask my four year old as I run out into the yard to find my six year old crying and Isaac standing over him with somewhat of a sly look on his face.
"Well, I wanted to see Sam's new Spiderman bat and he wouldn't let me...so I hit him," Isaac answers nonchalantly.
"Isaac, if Sam had it first, you can't take it out of his hand. Plus, you should not have hit your brother. You needed to wait until he was done playing with it instead of ripping it out of his hand." I reach for Samuel and rub the top of his head where there is sure to be a small welt.

Everywhere you look in this world today people are trying to get what they want when they want it. I know the story of my boys is small and maybe even trite, but the point is that envy and selfishness start at an early age. I've said it before, this world is full of narcissistic people who care more about themselves and what they want than anything else. There's the Ponzi scheme, the murdered spouse for money, the thief, the man who covets his neighbors wife, and even me...who sometimes envies her friends' possessions when mine are more than enough. I wish I could spend my tax return on a big screen flat panel t.v., but no, we have to owe instead. We wonder why the world is so messed up sometimes and I suggest that it's partly because of the envy and selfish ambitions of a fallen world. After all, if we didn't have envy we would all be content with what we have and there would be no room for jealousy. For some, if we didn't envy we would not have the evil thoughts that then invade our minds and cause the turmoil in our lives. Our lives would not be polluted with thoughts of how to keep up with, or even beat the Jones' and we'd have more time and space for selfless acts and thoughts. If we were not selfish, we would put others first most of the time and we would not be in constant pursuit of our own happiness. Don't get me wrong, we need to be in pursuit of our dreams and desires, but sometimes we get our own dreams and desires confused with the ones God has placed in our hearts. Without envy and selfishness we would be more concerned with what GOD wants us to do and not with what WE want to do. In turn, peace and love would prevail and disorder and evil would dissipate.

Later that night Sam did get a small welt, but his little brother asked him to forgive him and they went on their happy way. It starts young, but if we could teach our children how God would want them to deal with envy and selfishness we would be giving our children and their future a healthy start and I know that's what every parent wants. ~

Beautiful Park

Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. ~ Colossians 3:21

"Remember? We are not to exasperate our children, honey." This has become one of my many sayings lately as I watch my two sons and their father wrestle sometimes to the brink of someone getting upset. They all wrestle frequently and most of the time it is innocent, out of love and they are just having a good time. I've learned to back off, but sometimes one of them (usually one of the boys; not my knight) will get upset and the other two have a slight tendency to push them a little, or "egg" them on. Anytime it's one brother to another I say, "Quit it!" but if it's my husband, my newest moto comes flying out of my mouth. Then it happened. The day I was told the same thing by my heavenly groom...."I didn't mean that only for fathers, Janine." What? My son had been bouncing off of the walls all morning long and had come to me with strange requests all morning long also. "Can I fill dad's rubber gloves up with water to see how much they can hold?" NO! "Can we make cookies this morning?" NO! "Can I give my stuffed animals a bath?" NO! Then here he came again and, of course, while I was busy! Inevitably he always asks me things when I'm in the middle of doing something that I think is important. "Can we go to the park?" N - wait a minute, I'm getting something "YOU'RE DISCOURAGING YOUR SON!" What happened? In just a few seconds my perspective changed and I heard it, "It's not just for fathers, Janine. You are embittering and discouraging your son also when you don't take the opportunity to play with him; which is part of serving me." You see, I had always read that scripture to mean that we are not to make our children unnecessarily angered. Well, yeah! HELLO! That's exactly what I was doing. That's exactly what I do a lot of the time. I make them UNNECESSARILY angered because I don't feel like I have the time for their requests. At that moment I realized that needed to change in me and I prayed that it would. One of my New Years goals is to be more of a spontaneous mother and here I was saying no to everything when really, what does it hurt to stop and bake cookies with my four year old? What's the difference between frustrating my children with my Noes when they could be Yeses as opposed to frustrating them any other way? Let's face it, sometimes I'm going to discourage them because there are indisputable NO answers, but if it can be a YES, then why not? So, moms, let's be a little more spontaneous and stop discouraging our children by not giving them the attention they deserve. Granted, it's not always going to be possible, or easy, but it can be so rewarding! When we can we need to be more encouraging instead of discouraging to our children. By the way, it was a beautiful day at the park! ~

Move Forward

Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God." ~
Luke 9:23-27

In order to completely accept Jesus and everything He did for us on the cross, we are also commanded to follow Him daily. This is the harder part; to everyday sacrifice our humanly and worldly wants so that we can become more Christ like. Everyday we make choices to either live selfishly, or for Him in sometimes a sacrificial way; giving up something we want to further His kingdom. The truth of the matter is that whatever choice we make also helps shape where we will spend eternity. You can not proclaim to follow Christ and have the narcissistic mentality that much of this world holds today. It is not ALL about YOU....in fact, very little of it is about you. To continually seek out worldly happiness and pleasures will only lead you to hurt and hard feelings. The true source of joy comes from resting in Him and in His truths, promises and complete will for our lives. He is in control. The sooner we come to realize that we are not in as much control as we think we are and as soon as we learn to be content where we are and with what we have the sooner joy will enter our hearts and souls....our very beings. It's like being pulled behind a boat on a tube, or water skis - if we stay in the wake of the boat we have much smoother water. On the other hand, if you venture outside of the wake you start to get into choppy territory; water that only experienced water skiers can navigate. The same is true with Christ. If you stay behind His lead and take up your cross daily the smoother life seems to be no matter what is going on around you, but as soon as you leave his lead you enter into areas that are harder to navigate and you are more likely to falter. All I know for sure is that I don't want Him to be ashamed of me when I meet him face to face as the scriptures indicate will happen to some...so I'll pick up my cross and move forward. ~

Long Hallelujah

From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother's womb. I will ever praise you. I have become a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge. My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long. ~ Psalm 71:6-8

Have you ever heard the song There will be a day by Jeremy Camp? If you haven't I suggest you find a copy and listen....NOW! Literally....GO! This song brings me to my knees every time and I am absolutely in love with it; my heart is filled with thanksgiving and gladness and complete joy every time I hear it. I have to stop what I'm doing and crank it; sometimes I have to stop what I'm doing all together and fall to my knees. This song has an amazing affect on me no matter how many times I hear it; God gave Jeremy Camp that song for me. This song brings complete praise from my heart to my lips and before I know whats happening my sight becomes blurry with those tears of praise. There is a reason Jeremy Camp has become one of my favorite artists, his music touches me to praise my God like no other....so when I read this verse this morning for my daily quiet time and that song then came across the SIRIUS Christian station moments later, I was, of course, moved. God has truly been with us through everything and every moment since our birth and even before that when he fashioned us into his image in our mother's womb. Sometimes the sting, pain and suffering of life is more than we will ever understand, but He is my refuge, has been with me all the time, He understands and there will be a day when there will be no more tears. I will praise Him until that day and forever more! Declaring His splendor all day long! Hallelujah! ~

Like Duh

My husband is yapping on the phone, Isaac is watching a movie for his rest time and I'm supposed to be cracking down on the income taxes, but here I am blogging instead. Cody has scheduled the fire suppression system to be installed on April 20th...so the restaurant is getting close to opening and I am getting nervous/excited. We sat down and put together our menu over the weekend, the walls in the restaurant are painted a nice light brown now and staff is getting prepared...oh boy! Samuel wasn't feeling well over the weekend, but still insisted on taking part in the Easter program at church on Sunday that he's been practicing for two months...so we let him participate and only had to take him off the stage once during the program to go to the bathroom. Diarrhea waits for no one, but at least he didn't blow chunks like I was a little worried he would do, but nothing ever came up...thank God. Isaac and I made flashcards this afternoon for the alphabet and his numbers; don't know why, he seems to have his letters and his numbers up to 20 nailed down. Maybe I should start teaching him to read a little; I think he already knows how a little; I don't know how many times I have asked him, "How did you know what it says?" To which he states, "Cause I can read it mom!" Like duh! ~

Refine Away

The desire of the righteous ends only in good, but the hope of the wicked only in wrath. ~ Proverbs 11:23

Do you ever feel like the desires of your heart are being squashed? That what you want and hope for is never going to happen? I've felt like that. In fact, I felt like that just last week when the job I really thought I had in the bag was taken from me and given to someone else. What? That is supposed to be mine! You're making a mistake! However, just like God says that all things work out for those who believe in Him, I also have to remember that the desire of my heart to go back to work full-time will only end up working out too...just maybe not the way I've imagined, or in the timing I've imagined. (NOTE: Did you hear yourself Janine, not your timing either!) Here it is a week later and I can honestly say that it's probably a good thing for me and my family that I didn't get that job, but I really wanted it. The fact of the matter is that I would rather work closer to home and my children's school and I my husband...so maybe it's not that bad after all. I also know that the desire to go back to work is a responsible and good decision coming from a heart that only wants to do what's in God's will...so I have to trust that He has a plan that I just don't see in this puzzle I call my life. It's not a wicked heart that is asking, for according to scripture, that would be disastrous, but it's with a right heart and so I have to know that my desire will only end in good if I can just trust and hold on. Once again, perseverance, trust and love in my Lord are all characteristics that are being refined in my spiritual walk; Hallelujah! Refine away, Lord, refine away! ~

Silver Lining

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:11

Have you ever seen an adult throw a tantrum? I mean a three year old tantrum? What did you think? Unfortunately, a lot of us we get caught throwing tantrums merely out of pure selfishness. We live in a country that beckons us to a sense of entitlement and when we don't get it we throw ourselves into a frenzy. My son loves to have what I call a "foot stomping" tantrum; you know the kind, when he doesn't get his way he jumps up and down and throws himself onto the floor. How many of us do that? Maybe not in that way, but have you ever thought Why does it always work out for them and not for me? Boo hoo hoo. Doesn't that sound like a child? Oh please, I know you have been there - you're human, and I will admit that I've been there more than once. How about the "it's not fair" syndrome? Have any of that going on? In these economic times I think a lot of people are probably saying that, and you know what, to some degree it's not fair. Don't get me wrong, there have been people beyond our control who have helped put us in this financial crisis - no doubt, but is it really ALL their fault? Or where you trying to keep up with "The Jones" because after all, and hear me out....we deserve it? So, we try to live beyond our means because apperance is everything and pride gets in our way, or maybe because we simply don't like to tell ourselves NO. Well, who ever said we deserved everything? Who ever promised us that? OURSELVES! If we deserved everything than we have to take the bad with the good too, but no one wants to do that. There is a silver lining to this recession, and let me just fill you in on what it is: we are learning the value of what is really important and it doesn't have everything to do with money. We are "growing up" more in character and learning to leave a different kind of legacy for our children. A legacy that doesn't revolve around the almighty dollar that then doesn't cause us to throw fits when we don't get what we want and one that in royal return helps us to leave behind the ungodly childish behavior. Praise God! There is hope in this recession silver lining! ~

My Ambition

It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. ~ Romans 15:20 Have you ever longed to be a missionary? When I was in junior high I thought I would be a missionary to a foreign country; it was always a dream of mine to live in another country and to preach the gospel to others. My dream of living in another country passed when I started really studying other cultures in an ethics class in college, I mean REALLY studying them and not just reading about them. Not that they don't fascinate me, but I have no desire to LIVE somewhere other then the USA and I applaud those foreign missionaries who have made other countries their home....it's just not for me. However, I have learned that the gospel doesn't only need to be preached on foreign soil, but it's much needed right here in the wealthiest country of all; especially now. I have realized that for me personally, my soul is much happier when it's involved in some sort of ministry and I don't have to go thousands of miles away to do it. As Christians, God has called us to be lights in the culture and society for which we live in; we are where we are supposed to be. Sometimes I think I would have fit right in with the '50's era; I could have easily accepted being a stay at home wife with a dress and apron fastened around my child bearing waist while I cooked and cleaned for my family. However, God facilitated my life around this century and there is a reason for that...so that I could help Him here and now and I intend to do the best I can where I'm at. ~

Our Being

For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' ~ Acts 17:28

Do you know what you're living for? Do you know that you're royal children? There are many people out there searching for their purpose and reason for living and coming up short time and time again when they try to fill that purpose with something worldly, materialistic, or even, dare I say it, church based because they concentrate on the works they do for others, or their own ambition instead of looking to Christ. They forget about their relationship with Jesus and worry about their works for Jesus instead. There have been numerous times when I have gone before our Father and pleaded with Him to show me my purpose in life until I finally realized that I am here to be His daughter and to give him tremendous glory and unbridled respect; I am not here for myself and neither are you, but we are here to rest in our Father and spread His wonderful news that He has made a way for us to be free (and what a freedom it is)! FOR IN HIM I can rest and realize that everything happens for a reason and everything that doesn't happen that we thought should have, also has a reason and so we need to live in him and embrace the freedom that he gives us; the freedom to realize that He is our heavenly Father and he wants to triumphant over our worries, fears, anxieties, present, past and future if we would just let Him. Rest in Him. Just be. Be his daughter. Come to Him as our children come to us and let Him have the burden of taking care of us. Just be. Be worry free. For it is in Him and the rest that he provides that we have our being. ~

Housework Time

March 30, 2009. Cody is down at the restaurant slathering a second coat of paint called "Spring Fawn" on the walls (May 1st is opening day, fingers crossed). If only it looked like spring outside; it's a swirling, blowing, snowy mess out, but as you all know, I LOVE IT (the whole shaken snow globe cozy feeling thing). Samuel's spring break is over and now back to school, but he was more than ready and he only has a couple of more weeks before it's his birthday. It's hard to believe that he'll be seven on April 9th; I know everyone says it, but it's true "WHERE DID THE TIME GO!?" Isaac throw up at about 1:30 a.m. this morning all over his bed and floor; nothing like a sick child in the middle of the night. Trying to strip a bed, clean a child, dress a child and all the while keeping your closed eyes open so you don't step in the slimy stomach bile - YUCK! Here it is almost thirteen hours later and he hasn't lost it again...so I'm assuming he's okay now, but he's still taking it a little easy. I need to work on our taxes; I know, I should have that way done by now, but I got a late start on it this year. Actually, if the truth be known, this will be the first year in three that we haven't filed an extension...so I'm feeling pretty good about myself. Over the weekend my husband figured out what's wrong with our Nintendo Gamecube; it kept shutting down because one of our controllers had a short in it that in turn shut the whole system down. Needless to say, the boys have been having a great time catching up on all their Lego's Star Wars and I've been enjoying some quality housework time (yeah, right!). Guess I should get back to that now....taxes nor laundry do themselves. ~

Actively Loud

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. ~
1 Thessalonians 4:11 & 12

What? Lead a quiet life? Who does that these days? Surely not me! I've also got a load of friends and family who aren't quiet either (you know who you are and I love each one of you)! We're supposed to make it our ambition to lead a quiet life and for most Christians that's really hard to do. Sometimes I really have a hard time and I mean a REALLY HARD TIME biting my tongue; I need help with that area almost everyday of my life! You know what I mean. It's just hard to mind my own business sometimes; I want to be involved in everything somehow, please! My father in law is one of the best examples I can think of when it comes to minding his own business and working with his hands. He will be quiet for HOURS while his whole house is abuzz with kids, their spouses, grand kids and all kinds of issues being poured onto the floor. You don't even think he's listening and sometimes he even dozes off, but just when you least expect it, or when you ask him his advice, behold! There it is! A straight forward, thought provoking answer that was provided not because he shouted out his opinion when he should have kept his mouth shut (my tendency), but because he was ASKED for his advice and it's always been something profound. Simple, yet profound. Needless to say, I could learn a lot from him, and of course from this scripture. Sometimes we think we are doing the right thing by being peacemakers, problem solvers and great help mates when we spew our thoughts (sorry honey for those times) when really we need to ask ourselves Does this hurt, or hinder the kingdom of God? Does this person really need to know this? And even when the answer is not made clear to us, that's probably another time when we need to bite our tongue. Let's not only eat with our mouths closed, let us talk with our mouths closed too! Let's live actively instead of loudly! ~

To Obey

But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children - with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. ~ Psalm 103:17 & 18

Have you ever been through a time in your life when you thought for sure that the Lord had forgotten you? That He must have not heard your prayers, petitions and pleas because if he did and he truly loved you than things would work out the way you have asked? I'm in the midst of that kind of questioning as I write this and while I know that He has a purpose, will and plan for my life, I just don't understand it, or see it for that matter. However, according to scripture his love is with me from everlasting to everlasting; which includes these times of doubt. I know in my heart of hearts there is a divine purpose and will for the slight devastation I feel, but that still does not always ease the pain...so I press forward. He holds me in his hands and I know He loves me...so I'm going to assume and even be as so bold as to expect bigger and better plans for me than I could ever have imagined. For it's also scriptural that He makes "beauty out of ashes" and even though I feel like I've been smashed and let down, I know that I am not in control and that I have to trust in Him to lift me up. Sometimes I wish I could see some of the "unseen" that God sees so that maybe I would have a better understanding of his workings. Maybe He is protecting me from something, someone, or maybe this is just my human desire right now that He knows is not the best for me. Whatever the reason; I will be okay and I will get through this slump with His everlasting love surrounding me and I will continue to obey. ~

He's Pleased

So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. ~ 1 Corinthians 5:9

Do you ever wonder how pleasing you are to God? Do you think you have to be doing something extraordinary to please God? I remember very distinctly one day a couple of years ago loading the dishwasher for the second time that day while Oprah was on the television in the background, there were clean clothes dumped all over the love seat that needed folded and the kids were screaming for their afternoon snack. Oprah was talking about her work in Africa and I thought What am I doing with my life? Look at all the wonderful things she does for people. I wish I could do that. Lord, what grand plan do you have for my life and am I following it? To my surprise, I heard this: You are doing what I want you to do at this point in your life. You need to raise your family and this is where you belong. Don't worry, you are doing my grand plan for you. I was floored. I know that God has spoken to me throughout my life through prayer, confirmation from people, and that still small voice people call our conscious (but I call it the Holy Spirit), but this is only the second time that God had spoken to me so clearly that if someone would have been standing next to me I would have asked them, "Did you hear that?" I came to realize that day that raising our kids is a HUGE part of God's plan; they need our guidance and God designed family to be close knit and our number one priority. After all, God loaned us our kids here on earth to cultivate them and build them up to become sons and daughters of his kingdom and to bring him glory...what a huge job! It's a great responsibility...so no longer feel like you are not doing God's work, for you are building people up for Him and he is pleased. ~

Keep Adding

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; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. ~ 2 Peter 1:5-8

WOW! Does this sound a little overwhelming? Let's see...I do pretty good until I get to the self-control part; wish I had more of that when it comes to the third helping of dinner. Brotherly kindness; well I think everyone could improve in that area if we were honest with ourselves; I know I have said no to a few opportunities to show brotherly kindness out of pure laziness. I don't want to make an extra meal for a sick friend. I just did one last week! or I don't have the extra money to donate to the church's Easter Reach out program (well, maybe if I didn't do McDonald's this week, but oh well). While I don't have them all figured out 100% of the time (nobody does, we're not perfect), I try to keep these virtues added into my daily life. After all, these are virtues that Peter reminds us are important to be fruitful and victorious in our spiritual life. I need to make sure that I am active in trying to keep these virtues in the forefront of my mind and my heart. We need to keep adding to our spiritual lives these ingredients that will then cultivate in us the love that God wants us to have for others. Remember in Algebra all the formulas and learning them step by step for the total outcome? The result was always the desired outcome and we felt so good for accomplishing the task at hand. I feel like this is a lot the same; another equation to life that I am figuring out step by step and knowing that the end result will be desired and I will be better for the accomplishment....so keep adding! ~

Signs & Symbols

Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion. ~ Isaiah 8:18 Do you still believe in miracles, or do you think they were just stories in the Bible? Just look at your own family and you'll see miracles in your children's eyes and maybe even in your spouses arms. There are days when I am overwhelmed just by the human body and how something so delicate and complex was ever created. Maybe I'm feeling a little sentimental as just today we went to the hospital to see Codys' niece and her brand new baby who wasn't even 24 hours old yet. Our children are one of the biggest, if not the largest, miracle of all and they should be a huge sign to us of our Lord God Almighty. Think about this for a minute; women all over the world are housing little babies (not embryos!) that are themselves housing tiny hearts, vessels, and organs. Pregnant women have a heart beating, blood flowing and other cells forming inside a small, innocent body while their own bodies sustain that precious life along with it's own. Does that boggle anyone else like it does me? If that's not a miracle, I don't know what is. Make no mistake my friend, YOU ARE A MIRACLE! And may I dare to say that you are especially a miracle in this day in age if you were born our of "inconvenience" for the mother. Kudos to her and you! Be proud to be you! Shout it out, I AM A SIGN AND SYMBOL OF THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY! ~

Of Them

The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against the Anointed One. ~ Psalm 2:2

Does this sound like America? I pray that I never stand up and take my stand against the Lord Almighty, or Jesus Christ as I surely don't want that kind of judgement on my head. With a world full of narcissistic people, sexual sin, sin against ourselves and others without a second thought, selfishness and blatant disregard for what is right and wrong I think our culture has taken a pretty strong stand. Sometimes it seems downright impossible and completely overwhelming. How are we supposed to ever help turn things around? If I allow myself to think of everything that grieves my God in this world I am downright depressed and heartbroken that his children would act as such. We need to start taking a stand! We need to stand up for what is right and wrong! We need to start in our communities, our schools, and I dare say it, even our churches! If the our society can stand up for every kind of perversion and self indulgence that there is, than why can't we, the children of God, stand up for Him! If they can have their freedom of speech, than why can't we have ours? Who do we have to fear? God himself has said that if he is for us than who can be against us? I don't want to be mean spirited, we need to do it in love, but why are we acting ashamed and embarrased about who our Father is? Let's stand up and fight for what is right! We can no longer wait for someone else to do it; for if we don't do it than whose side are we on anyway? Love them, but don't be one of them. ~

Trust Me

Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. ~ I Corinthians 1:9

How many trials and tribulations have you gone through that you were sure you were not going to make it through? Everyone goes through at least valley in their life were they think: How am I going to get through this? I don't think I can make it. I don't think I can hold on. I know for me there has been a few times when I have thought: I know God that you said you wouldn't give me more than I can handle, but you are really working my last nerve here! Perseverance has always been an attribute that intrigues me and that I aspire to thrive in (maybe one day, ha ha) because I know in my heart it's a characteristic that God wants to cultivate in his people. No matter what I have been through, or how many times I have been through the same trials, God never ceases to bless me for my perseverance. We need to trust God that he is doing a good thing in us and for us even when we don't see it; he's always working behind the scenes. Sometimes he's refining us to remind us that we need to rely on him, on a God who can do whatever he wants whenever he wants as such the case with raising the dead (Lazarus had been dead for four days and was buried before Jesus raised him up). God brings us to and through trials for reasons that we may never understand, but I do know that if I persevere and remind myself that he still has my best interests at heart (easier said than done), than I will either be delivered from, or brought through each trial and I will be the better for it. Refined yet again. God is saying: Trust me. Even when you don't understand, or can't comprehend, trust me! ~

Let God

In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. ~ Isaiah 30:15

How many times have you heard, "I'm a good person and I believe in God...so I'm pretty sure I would go to heaven, right?" Oh how that particular question breaks my heart; they have not only missed that they need Jesus for their salvation, but it doesn't matter if your necessarily a good person (although you should want to be), we are all sinners and we need to repent. I wonder how often God thinks to himself If you foolish people would just repent instead of living in your pride how much easier our relationship would be. People, even the devil and his demons believe in God, they've seen him, but believe me, they are not in heaven! It's not just a matter of believing in him and being good; it's a complete and total issue of the heart in regards of repentance and accepting Jesus for who he was, is and what he did for you. If we don't accept this truth, than we will be standing all alone at the end of this world wondering how we got there and if we can turn back, only than it will be to late. I am here to tell you that God loves you deeply and he does not want anyone to be left standing alone...get things right now. When I trust and believe in all the promises my Lord has given me through, and only through his salvation, than I am strengthened beyond imagination. I can sore on eagles wings in peace and trust; it's a great feeling to be "out of control" if you will only believe, and let God. ~