Christmas Stuff

I guess you can tell I'm a pretty busy girl. :) So forgive me if I combine several good post ideas into one.

Jada and her caroling friends at our neighborhood caroling night.

Waiting for the caroling wagon with Aunt Bekah, just in from Hawaii.

Too much Christmas fun and a late night with "Chronicles of Narnia"

The local Candy Cane Hunt with new friends.

Building gingerbread houses at the local Candy Cane Hunt. It was about 30 degrees that day with a stiff breeze making gingerbread house building a chilling event. :) Of course the Caroling night it was about 55....Thats the South for you. Up and down like a yoyo this time of year.

So...there's some of what we've been up to. The Christmas Program at church is tomorrow night and J is excited that her mommy, daddy, auntie Bekak and Papi will be present..I only get a slight nod along with her Granny. :)

Hope you're having fun along the way this holiday season too!

Stethoscope

The Amazing Scarf

I promised I'd let you know how the scarf adventures turned out so here it is....

After Thanksgiving stroll
Making holiday goodies

shopping on Black Friday

I kept the scarf for 10 days...which fell over Thanksgiving and Black Friday. The scarf accompanied me for our holiday celebrating, family time and afterward for shopping on Black Friday and Christmas cooking on the weekend. To my thinking, the entire time was just a little piece of Americana...things almost every American was doing in their on way at about the same time, individually, yet the same. This is the thing, maybe more than any other, that makes America great, the bonds of sameness that we all enjoy...or suffer for that matter...our commonality.

What a great picture of our lives in Christ...different and certainly individual, yet connected by the sameness that makes it all something deeper, powerful and infinitely worthwhile.

....Funny how something like a winter scarf could do something amazing....

The Scarf

I am a part of a sisterhood....
so big and so diverse that I cannot fully comprehend it. The faces and lives of my sisters reflect that of Christ to me if I will only stop to notice. Everyone of them different yet the same..in Him. I am so blessed to be a part of His great family in the earth and to share that in a micro way with 11 other beautiful sisters through the magic of the traveling scarf....it is a link to these eleven sisters scattered around the country even the world. Through the travels of our scarf we are connected, a picture of our true reality. Because though separated by miles and timezones, cultures and continents we actually stand outside of time and space, hand in hand together with our Lord. Our traveling scarf denotes this, a cord that binds us together. It is a tangible representation of what is true, the invisible made visible. Its a magical bond that reflects His binding of us together. I'm up for an adventure...with the scarf...with my sisters! I'll let you know how it turns out. :)

James

Tomorrow my wonderful son in law will leave on his deployment to Iraq. Please keep him and my daughter in your prayers. This will be a long separation for them and she will be alone in a strange place while he serves his country in a dangerous foreign land. Pray God's keeping and blessing on them both and may the time fly. He is truly a second son to us and we are so blessed to have him in our family! We love you James!

A couple of weeks ago we traveled to Jacksonville, FL to see them before his deployment. My son and his girlfriend and my daughter and granddaughter joined us for a great family time together. Here are some pics from the weekend.

James, Bek, Irene, and Jeff

Me and my daughters

Poppi and his Jada

My sweet girls

I Voted!

Hooray! I did it! I stood in line for one and one half hours in the cold (GA cold that is) and voted my conscience. The lines here in Atlanta are long and I believe that on Nov. 4th they will be extraordinarily so....I didn't want to miss out on this opportunity. It is SO important, especially this year and we see it here in our state clearly. Please pray...please vote.

Pour My Love On You (worship video w/ lyrics)

Just heard this song for the first time this morning in a worship service. Amazing chorus! I immediately thought of my husband whose entire life consists of pouring out himself on his Lord. Those of you who know him can agree I'm sure. He is continuing to do so even as our lives are so very different these days...he has always maintained that His Lord was, is, and always will be ENOUGH....and so He is proving Himself to be. God what a song! God, what a heart to be able to pour yourself out on HIm no matter what!

32 years

Tomorrow it will be 32 years since I walked down the aisle and pledged my self, my life, my love to this man.

Did I know what I was getting into? Absolutely not!

Have there been hardtimes? yes

Times I thought we wouldn't make it? yes, those too

Would I do it all over again? Absolutely, yes!

It has been the adventure of a lifetime and I would love doing it all again!

He is my life, my love, and my salvation. He has shown me the world in ways I would never have known and shown me the Lord in ways I could never explain nor can hardly comprehend even now. Without him I would be one of the many lost sheep wandering in the wilderness not only of this life but of the spirit. With his gentle guidance I have found great joy in this earthly existence and incredible freedom and purpose in the kingdom of God. I thank my God daily for this man He has given me to walk with me, to be my friend and lover, and to show me the way home.

The journey thus far has been amazing...not stoppin now.

Happy anniversary, baby, I love you.

This moment

I have a friend who often speaks of living IN the moment....I look at the world of finance...of life as we, my generation, have known it and see clearly that what has always been will not necessarily always be and I am reminded to see...really see the moment I am in. Yes, there is eternity...but when does that actually begin?

This moment....that truly is what our lives should and must consist of isn't it...this moment in Him, this moment of turning to Him...the NOW...this is where eternity and time intersect, where spirit and body connect...this moment.

Progressive Party

My neighborhood association is planning a Progressive Dinner Party for the holidays. Won't that be fun?!?
...and in case you don't know what that is, here is a description I found on line.

"If you're looking for a way to socialize that requires little work or expense and that keeps the party moving all night, then a Progressive Dinner Party may hold the answer for you. At a Progressive Dinner a group of friends plan a meal together where each course is served at a different participant's home, so that the party literally moves from place to place throughout the evening.
This party style works especially well for friends who live close to one another either in a neighborhood, an apartment building or a condo complex. Then everyone can walk from home to home without worrying about organizing cars and designated drivers. It also facilitates digesting between courses!"

Count me in!

Reading....or trying to

I don't usually have a reading list one but just now I do have a few things lined up.

1. A.D. Chronicles #8 (I don't know the name yet but I know I have to read it)
2. Millionaire Women Next Door
3. Duct Tape Marketing
4. Book Yourself Solid
5. The Secret to the Christian Life (again)

Can you tell I'm trying to focus on business?

What's on your list?

What Big Bang?

Have you heard what's happening tomorrow..Wednesday, Sept. 10th our time ?
This is what's happening...scary isn't it? and the Grid that they are using is what is supposed to replace the internet in time...
I emailed this story to my children and here is the response I received back from my daughter, Bekah,the science girl...

"I've heard rumor and mention of some project to attempt to simulate the Big Bang. Scientists kind of baffle me with this one. If you think about it, there are very few laws in science. Lots of theory, little law. One is the Law of Conservation of Matter, another Conservation of Energy. Neither can be created nor destroyed. Matter can be reconfigured. Blocks can build new things, and large things can be broken down into pieces. Energy can be used or produced or converted. When you burn a log, the matter doesn't go away, it just changes form. Its energy changes from a measurable potential energy into heat that is dissipated in the air. Going with these 2 laws, how do you come up with a "big bang theory?" Where did this matter come from? Where did this unfathomable amount of energy to cause the combustion come from? Think about all the matter and energy, just on earth. Spontanaity doesn't explain it to me adequately. Faith and creationism allow me to accept and explains what science cannot. I don't think science and faith are competing schools of thought. I think the only way science makes any sense at all is through the prism of faith."

I'm So proud!

I agree with Mrs. Mac

My friend Mrs Mac says it nicely so let me just agree..."Way to go, Sarah!" ...."She makes McCain shine."

and now..a Jadaism

Jada (a new kindergardener): "We have a new girl in our class, she's blind and uses a white cane."

My Mom: "How can the teacher teach her anything since she can't see?"

Jada: "Well she doesn't have an ear infection."

Duh :)

LIF

Having a LIF moment(see this post for reference).....I'm liking the words to this song....

I can't remember the last time I heard a contemporary Christian song that spoke so much Truth. I hope Christians are listening..., anything else really is NOT us.



Identity
John Waller

You are love

So I am love

You are joy

And so I am, joy

You are peace

So I am peace

Lord everything you are

Now becomes me

The line between

Where you begin

And where I end

Is gone, now I'm in… YOU,



(Chorus)


I know who I am

You're my true, born identity

I'm not the one I used to be

For now there is no separating You…from who I am



You are strong

So I am strong

You are power

And so I am…powerful

You are mercy

So I am mercy

Cause everything you are

Has now become me



Anything less is not us

Anything less is not us

Anything else is not who we are

Islam vs Christianity

Wow...did you see this?

Pink and Blue Chairs

Pink and blue camp chairs changed my life......

I know...very strange you say, well, if you've got a minute, here's the story...or at least part of it.

Some years ago, not too long after we had departed from the traditional church world, we stumbled upon a lovely group of people who amazingly enough, all wanted the same thing we did in our Christian experience...reality in Jesus Christ.
God led us to them and that is a story for another day...but today I will tell you a bit about how we achieved the impossible...we explored and experienced real church life, just as you imagine it to be from reading the book of Acts and we did it together with this group of people.

We did it from those pink and blue chairs...

The very first corporate thing we did together was to throw out the Sunday church service...we moved the meetings to Sat. and Tues nights...then we added different kinds of meetings...song meetings..picnic meetings...brothers meetings, sisters meetings...business meetings (yuck!)
We went along like this for a while and God said it was good.
Then one day we decided that this wasn't enough...we could hear our Lord calling us onward, we couldn't really get to know Him sitting in a pew...so what could we do next to make our relationships with Him and within the body more real?
We felt we should erase the line between clergy and laity and become simply brothers and sisters....so we decided to push back all the pews and sit on the floor...except that didn't go over so well for very long with the, shall I say, grownups in the group...that's when we decided to purchase the chairs. They would be low enough to the ground to keep the playing field leveled yet comfortable and portable for the variery of meetings we were enjoying.

And so the pink and blue camp chairs came into our lives...
and God said it was good!

And boy did they change things too!

Suddenly people spoke up in meetings, those who had never done so before started songs or prayed aloud. People asked questions and answered them, they laughed outloud in meetings, some took off their shoes while others told them to put them on again. The casualness of life invaded our church and we became family.
Everywhere we went as a church, those chairs went with us. To conferences and potlucks, to campouts and bible study, to backyard barbecues and baptisms, literally everywhere.
When the pushed back pew set up was no longer cutting it we discussed moving together into a neighborhood so we could spend more time together loving our Lord in daily life...eventually some moved...some didn't...but one weekend we planned an experiment...we held an entire weekend of meetings, meals and fun in the neighborhood some had moved to...and eveyone else was to come for the weekend, to stay and eat and sleep over. It was an experiment in community. How would this lifestyle work? could it work? Would we love it? or hate it? did we need it or could we live without it? That weekend everyone came...we all piled into the few homes already available in the neighborhood, kids, bibles, casseroles and all. Then we walked between the homes for every meal, meeting and event. Everywhere we traveled during the weekend...we brought our bibles, our song books and our chairs. We set up shop wherever we happend to be and church life sprang up among us. Then we knew it...this was no longer optional, we needed this kind of church and each other, daily, to see our Lord more fully. This became our lifestyle...brothers and sisters living and loving Him together and God said it was very good.
For the next several years we grew up there in the church and in the Lord and some of the dearest saints in this world sat next to me in those pink and blue camp chairs. ..

A few years ago, and many miles down the road, with our own two chairs in tatters, I was forced to make the very difficult decision to throw them out. It was in effect the end of an era, the end of innocence perhaps, the end of so much.
And though time marches on and I no longer have the luxury of seeing saints outside my door on a daily basis...I will never regret nor forget, nor recover and I do not wish to. In this environment our lives were turned upside down and melted together in ways beyond imagining, not just for this lifetime but for all eternity.

Who would have ever thought it could all begin with pink and blue camp chairs?

Life and Death

I read an interview this week with actor Kirk Cameron..you know the kid from the television show Growing Pains? Well he's all grown up and a serious Christian now with a new movie coming out by the same producers as Facing the Giants. Its called FireProof. While I know nothing about the movie I other than it will be glorifying to the Lord (that's what these people do) I was taken with something Kirk said in his interview...
He said " You wouldn't walk through an Aids hospital with the cure for Aids in your pocket and never get it out or mention it...well we have the cure for death."
Wow...I was really taken by that...we Do indeed have the cure for death...that cure is Life...Jesus Christ conquered Death...He IS the cure our world needs.
Have a Living, Breathing, Glorious Sunday.

More of our summer

Jada and her daddy..she was so excited to see him.

4th of July in the Georgia mountains

My most favorite picture of all time I think

My kids who are headed off to Hawaii to serve our country... on the beach of course

They did help me paint before they left...what do you think of my red wall? We're not done yet.....:) What are you up to?

Tony Snow

I'm shedding tears this morning for Tony Snow. America has lost a friend.

Summer so far...

Here are some of the things we have been up to this summer so far:

The Renaissance Fair
Jada's Pre-K graduatioin
Going to the park
Enjoying cousins ....
Watching them hit home runs and hanging with the family.

It takes a champion to give himself a chance when nothing's going his way.

Did you see this? Wow!

Why do I need the Church?

Now take this in context...if you know me you know I DO NOT mean "why do I Go to church?" Going to church and living the Church are completely different things to me....:)
I can think of a zillion reasons why I need the church but I recently heard a beautiful prioritizing of why I need the Church. Here are the top 5 reasons that were given, I even like the order.

1. The Church helps me focus on Christ = Worship
2. The Church helps me face life = Fellowship
3. The Church helps my faith to develop = Maturity
4. The Church helps me find my purpose = Purpose in His house
5. The Church helps me fulfil life's mission = Purpose in the earth

Oh my goodness, it actually...

Oh my goodness, it actually works. The voice you hear when you click on listen is me is that cool or what. listen

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Hey, hope you are having...

Hey, hope you are having a great night. I am just checking out my new Jott Program. Give it a trial. listen

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LIF

I heard this song today for the first time. I don't know if its new or old.

It touched me....I love these words for they express where I am just now.

"Come and fill my soul with who you are
In my silence, You still hear me"

Wow. Thank you, Lord that you hear even when I don't/can't speak, when I am at a loss for words.

You DO fill me up with WHO you are.

- A Loss For Words -

Charles Billingsley
I've prayed in the silence

And felt your presence near

I've walked in the garden

And found you waiting there

I have stood with the masses

To lift my hands in praise

I've knelt there all alone and called your name

Yet today I'm just not sure

Of what I should say

I am empty, You are holy

Come and fill my soul with who you are

In my silence, You still hear me

CHORUS

You are holy, you are worthy

The blessed Son of God, the morning star

You are glorious, you are marvelous

But there's so much more, to who you really are

To who you really

Absolutely Beautiful

I'm so distant from His "breath", His "ways" my true "habitation" these days that this is almost over my head. But I still hear enough of His voice to recognize Life when I hear it. Oh my goodness!! Doesn't it just take your breath away??

Birthday Girl!

What an exciting weekend I have just lived through! As long as 6 months ago my hubby began getting things, including me, ready...In Feb. he insisted we get tanning packages (remember Valentines Day??), he encouraged me to get my highlights done...we mapped out our vacations for the year( I complained they were all biking trips!)but he trudged ahead anyway...he arranged all our lodgings and even when our vacation dates changed from Memorial Day weekend to the weekend before my birthday(his sister was supposedly going to be out of town on the holiday) I wasn't too suspicious...though of course I figured he'd do something for me, he's not the type to forget and after all.... I was turning 50!

Come the weekend we loaded up and traveled to our hometown in Alabama to just chill out, lie in the sun and visit relatives. Sounds exciting, right?? He asked me to bring a nice outfit for Saturday night cause he was taking me out to a new restaurant for my birthday. Okay...so I was a little bummed that he wasn't doing much...but then I figured I'd get a great present instead. :) Friday we basically lazed around, meeting in-laws for a T-ball game and dinner out. (Little did I know that my sisters and friends were eating out just across the highway and hubby was on the phone periodically to amke sure our paths didn't cross! Had we run in to any one of them I would have caught on right away). On Saturday we dropped Jada off at the cousins and then spent the day across the river in a neighboring town just tooling around eating lunch and ice cream and just hanging out. Hubby wanted us to get home and get ready for our dinner out at a rather early time I thought but hey, if we were driving any distance I could understand that. So we headed home to get dressed about 3pm with plans to leave the house around 4:30..on the way his mom called and asked if we could run her out to a local restaurant where she was supposed to meet her Sunday School class for dinner. I was just a tiny bit irritated that now we would have to be on a schedule..her schedule and I did inquire as to who would have taken her out there if we hadn't been in town...since we're never in town....but he pointed out that he never gets to do things for her and it was right on our way...How could I argue??

As we arrived at her destination...a cool little country barbecue type place with a logcabin feel and red checkered table cloths...she mentioned that my hubby's aunt and uncle would be there and we should come in and see them for a minute. I truly never thought a thing about it. It was so completely something she/we would do that I never gave it a thought, of course we would run in and say hi. Upon on entering the restaurant we headed upstairs to the loft which is an area you can reserve for groups with my mother-in-law leading the way and my husband in the rear. When we reached the top of the stairs my mother in law stepped aside and 50+ guests, who had all been squatting so as not to be seen from the first floor, jumped up and shouted surprise! I about fell over! I was completely in shock! At first I wasn't registering what was happening,,,,then I saw my son (who lives in Orlando),then my daughter and her hubby(who live in Jacksonville)...then my cousin whom I haven't seen in at least 10 years! then an old old friend and another and another...it began to dawn on me! They were all here for me! To see me! I couldn't decide whether to laugh or to cry so I did some of each! I hugged every single person and exclaimed over them and how they had managed to get there or to keep the secret. Unbeknownest to me, my sisters and cousins had spent the two days before hanging out and scrapbooking a memory book for me. I think they had as much fun doing that as they did surprising me. :) My kids had jumped through numerous hoops to make it happen and to get themselves there without me knowing, wisely keeping Jada out of the loop, :) and several people had come from afar. It was wonderful seeing them all again and so much fun having everyone there at the same time!

Its really kind of weird being on the receiving end when you are the one who usually does the planning for such events but it was done very well and I had a wonderful time!

The food was good, I blew out all the candles and opened lots of gifts. I also got to sing (not happy birthday either) with my extended family for the first time in probably 30 years. It was so awesome!...and we still sound pretty good together too!

With so many cameras on hand, I felt like a victim of the paparazzi the entire night. I'm looking forward to getting all those pictures back...but here are a few I already have....

Here they are lying in wait for me...

The look on my face!

Here's my gang, minus Jada but then she was busy with her cousins running wild. :)

My lovely sisters!

Happy Birthday to ME! Loved it!

Check this out!

What a blast I had this past weekend! My hubby, along with some helpers pulled off a surprise, 6 months in the planning...and I was truly clueless! Go here to read about it!

Yard Sales and such

I've lived in the same neighborhood for 3 yrs. In that time no one has befriended me...no one has welcomed me, no one has hardly even spoken to me. I find that appalling, don't you? Neighbors should be...well... neighborly.

A few months ago some things began to change. A new president was elected to the homeowners association...new committees were formed by newer more enthusiastic neighbors. Before I knew it I was on a committee...before I knew it I was head of one....now things are different...much different. We have had meetings and made plans...we have officially welcomed 4 new families to our "hood". People greet one another on the street and stop their vehicles to say hello to neighbors working in their yards. They meet for barbecue at the pool or offer assistance in times of need.

This weekend we had our first big "neighborhood" event. We had a HUGE community yard sale...and it was a huge success! 24 families participating! Loads of fun and loads of customers! Tomorrow we will compile all our leftover stuff and sell it on the cheap down by the entrance, with proceeds going to the association, all the while hanging out together...tonight we had an impromptu neighborhood party. It was well attended and a blast! People feel like they are a part of something, people feel welcome...people like our neighborhood...I like our neighborhood.

In a few weeks we'll be having a movie night, an ice cream social, a 4th of July Parade...all kinds of things planned and who knows what unplanned....yeah...its nice to have good neighbors...its nice to have fun neighbors...its nice to have neighbors who know your name.

Quote of the day...maybe the month

"You never know where Wonderful may come from...."
Zalaine

Graduation

Jadabear is graduating...from Pre-K. Apparently its a big deal...who knew?? lol

I'll be hosting lunch with family coming in especially for the occasion. I'm sure there will be cake and balloons...and probably gifts and cards....surely not...Oh my goodness!

Well it is a special day...at least school's out for the summer afterward...and we get a 3 day weekend! :) Gotta love America!

Congratulations to all you graduates out there...whatever the level! :)

Whose fault is it anyway?

How do you handle problems, difficulties, barriers? Ignore them? Work harder? Separate yourself from the instigators? Blame someone? Persevere?

You know...there is a lot of mess in this world...a lot of very, very difficult stuff. Mountains we can't seem to get over...ever...and you know...when there is someone to blame it all seems easier...ah yes, I can deal with such problems so much better if someone is to blame. Whether its someone else's fault we have this trouble we are in...or whether its our own fault...and we deal with it...we have the capacity to deal with it. Actually we love it when its someone's fault...blame is easy...and when we ourselves are responsible...well we can either easily forgive or we can beat ourselves down and promise to try harder...either one works. Somehow we work through or around these kinds of situations.

In the face of obstacles and problems we are taught all our lives to hang in, work harder, to persevere.

But what about when all our blame or hard work or perseverance does nothing...makes not one little dent....what about when the problem we are experiencing, the difficulty we find ourselves in, the situation that won't budge...what about when its God's fault? What then?

I have found myself in just such a scenario. I have found myself in a place I don't want to be, in a situation I am ill equipped to handle. I have found that all my begging and pleading is to no avail...all my hard work has been in vain...

for God will be God and He will have exactly what He wants and He will have me exactly where He wants me to be. Wriggle and struggle though I may...He has placed me in just this spot and there is no escape...no answer that I can see...no way out...and no end in sight....except He create a door out of thin air...which of course He could...but somehow i don't think He is going to ...not for a while anyway...I think this is of His making...its not my fault...not anyone elses fault...only His. Remember when He shut up the womb of Hannah, Samuel's mother...for years...God did it...it was His fault and Hannah had no recourse, no explanation. He is God..He doesn't owe us an explanation after all.

I was thinking about this recently and in the eyes of my spirit I saw a small stream trickling over rocks in my being, flowing downward from a mountain...this is common for me, as i sense His spirit in me, I often sense water...what was uncommon was this...my spirits eye followed the stream backwards uphill to a large dam built away up the mountain...and behind the dam...a huge reservoir....I have a reservoir within me..I know it...I smell it...I saw it....but He has built a dam, a big white dam to block all that water from flowing out... He is in control of all that I am, all that I have inside...of where I am and who I am...and right now...there is only a trickle of water flowing down.....its His fault.

Sometimes being exactly where God wants you...isn't where or what you thought it was going to be.

Out of the mouth of babes...

Gigi: hully, hully, J, we're gonna be late!

Jada: what does that mean, hully?

Gigi: Its just "hurry" with an accent, like someone with a different language would say it...Gigi's just being silly.

Jada: God made lots of different languages in the world, didn't He?

Gigi: yes, He did.

Jada:....and He speaks all of them, doesn't He?

What R U up 2?

I'm practicing my text messaging...cause I want one of these...
for business purposes, of course. :)

Latest reading material...In Her Shoes....pretty good actually though not my usual style.

Checking this out...the original is right in my neighborhood...

Planting a few of these.....I luv, luv these longer days!

*************************************
Update...I was just informed that I am getting my toes done tonight...courtesy of my loving daughter...I adore pedicures!

Barb's shoppe

Please check out my friend. Barb's new online gift shop A Chelsea Morning's Little Shoppe. She makes fabulous stuff and she's a real sweetheart too!

Sound asleep...and its night, mind you...

Tell me a Story, please.

I was reminded today of one of the believers greatest treasures...one of our greatest weapons against depression, apathy, discouragement, and unbelief. One of the strongest tools for building up ourselves, or brothers and sisters and the entire church.

That secret weapon..that incredible tool is simply this...

The power of the word of our testimony.

How many times in scripture did the Lord admonish the children of Israel to remember...remember aloud...to each other and to their children, to rehearse what God had done, to tell and re tell the story...to paint His words and works on the door posts of their houses so that they might be reminded in their comings and in their goings, to build alters of remembrance. How many traditions do the Israelies have, even today that stem from the telling of God at work in their midst.

This is one of God's simplest yet greatest lessons that the church today gives very little attention to yet if practiced can build up not only ourselves but the body of Christ. I've seen this practice at work and boy does it work.

Think back to when you've had a mighty work of God in your life... what made it more real? ...the telling of it...

What about when you began to hear of the possibility that God might be bigger than you thought...might work the impossible? had done so for someone you knew or knew of?....

What happened in you when you began to hear of God's workings? Didn't faith rise up inside of you? Didn't you think to yourself...Yes, Amen!...I knew He was like that!...somewhere inside you really already knew He was greater than you had imagined..you only needed to hear the testimony of it to be encouraged and reminded.

There was a time when our church wanted to reach out to our neighborhood (we met in a house church setting)..to let them know that we weren't nuts, nor were we dangeous...:) we were just really serious about the Lord and having the church in our city. We invited people from all the churches we knew who were like us and we all met up in our neighborhood one Sat. morning. We had planned a weekend of meetings at the local highschool and had already invited the neighborhood through flyers, radio ads, etc. Now we took it to the streets. We prayed in the front yard of one of the saints then with banners and poster signs in hand we began marching down the streets of our neighborhood toward the highschool for our first meeting. There were probably about 100 of us and we sang as we went. It was a bright fall day with crispy air and the strength of numbers gives you courage so we sang loud and strong. Many of our neighbors waived as we passed by. It was a beautiful thing...right up until we got almost to the school...suddenly the police arrived...one of our neighbors had called them...and some of them came out on the street to yell at us and shout obscentities at us...but guess what? We had permits and had done everything rightly so the police proceeded to protect us rather than remove us...:) They escorted us into the highschool and advised our unruly neighbors to depart.

Later that day and on through the weekend different neighbors tentatively came into our meetings. They were able to see for themselves that we posed no threat to the neighborhood and actually served the same God many of them did.

Was anyone saved that weekend, you ask? Well not unless you count the brothers and sisters in the church there. The messages preached that weekend became the ground work for a deep move of God in that church. For years afterward the saints there and those who had joined us that day referred back to those meetings as a beginning reference point for an entire eyeopening journey in Christ. (the Lion and His Lioness)..and we had the added benefit of now being "public" in the community...no longer hidden but a light set on a hill. Personlly I will never forget the experience nor what God did that weekend in me, in my children, in my church family. It was deep, powerful, and lasting...and as long as those of us who were there tell the story...well ...you see my point?

This is just one testimony of God's amazing greatness...and I am encourged myself just hearing it again.

So I'm issuing a challenge to you...think back to some times that God has been faithful in your life...to some times when he has moved in you or your family or your situation...remember how good He was then or how miraculously He intervened. Now tell me about it. I don't want to hear about lepers in Africa being healed...I want to hear about something first hand. You can write it here or you can do a post of your own and drop me a line to let me know..but I'd love to see this practice reinstated in the church...the practice of His saints reminding themselves of Who God is, what He has done and just How faithful He really is.

Let us remember... Let us declare our Lord!

...and then let us tell it to our children's children and write it on the doorposts of our hearts!

In the News

I don't know about you but I am very disturbed by the situation happening over in Texas with the 400+ children being taken into protective custody. I know and agree that we as a society must protect the innocent among us and we cannot tolerate physical or sexual abuse of children, that goes without saying. However removing over 400 children from the only life they have ever known as well as their mothers with no evidence of abuse other than the testimony of a 16 yr old who cannot be found and the perception that these people are weird...well this is very distrubing to me. It is a very strange situation but there has to be a better way to handle it. If homeschooling is wrong then many of my friends could be in danger of losing their kids, if wanting to isolate your children from this world is wrong, then many a movie star should be scrutinized for keeping their kids behind walls and bars and having nannies and governesses to shelter their kids from the world. Just because these people are different, are isolated, are naive to our modern world, doesn't make them child abusers. These kids are isolated and naive to our culture, they don't know TV or video games or even dolls and crayons! Their very culture may define abuse but no one knows yet if these things they are accused of are true...and in the mean time hundreds of kids have to be being traumatized by the very government trying to protect them! There has to be a better way!
I heard today that the men of the compound have offered to leave if the government will allow the mothers and children to return to the compound with social workers and guards to watch over them there. This seems like a reasonable idea to me, comfortable familiar surroundings...safe and secure in the only world they have ever known. I realize that no matter what your beliefs, if they transgress the laws of the land, you are subject to those laws and we cannot allow even religious beliefs to cross certain lines... so this must be sorted out... but it is a very difficult situation for everyone involved - parents, children and government officials as well.
There really does have to be a better way! I'm praying someone finds it, I'm praying for everyone involved.

April 18th update:
The state is apparently bringing testimony that several minor girls under the Tx marrying age of 16 either are pregnant or they have given birth before the legal age. From what I am hearing there was/is more concrete evidence of the practice of marrying underaged girls off to older men or men in general with or without the girls' consent other than the sixteen year girl's testimony. This is, of course, unacceptable. Children need protection and either their mothers are unable or unwilling to provide that protection so I would think the state has no choice. So sad.

Guess what?

My youngest daughter started school today! Hooray! She is enrolled in a Dental Assisting program and can go on into Dental Hygiene if she wants..and she wants..it is what she has been interested in for a long time. So glad she's finding a path!
...And to celebrate...
she and I are going here

How cool is that?!?

Proud Mama

He did it !!

Now to get him to shave that beard...:)

In the Motherhood

if you haven't seen this hysterical web show called
In the Motherhood...you have to!
Taken from real life stories from real life moms, each webisode is about 7 minutes long and they are So funny.

Dinner Conversation...

Jada (to her mom) " That Gigi is a special lady....

cause her window goes all the way down"

Gigi (overhearing) "Well that certainly makes me dang special!"

Jada - "and beavers build dams"

Poppi - "That's great cause Gigi being a special lady and beavers building dams goes together. What makes you so funny?"

Jada - "I learned it on Curious George"

The Jersey Boys

If you haven't heard...they've taken the story and songs of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and created a huge Broadway hit. If you get a chance to pick up this CD or see the show...

DO IT!

Its absolutely fabulous!

Jesus' Day

"Jesus' Day"..as Jada says....perhaps more than any other day today is Jesus' Day...yes Christmas is important...He had to be born...yes, Good Friday is important, He had to die...but Hallelujah for Resurrection day!!!!..without it all that prefaced it would have been useless.

Hallelujah!!!

He is alive...without the resurrection...our faith is in vain...

Thank you, Lord for living ..for living in heaven, for living in your Father....for living in the earth through your church...for living in me!

Hallelujah you LIVE!

Taxes

They are done and boy am I glad! I get back all those business losses...:)
I have no time for deep thoughts these days...sorry...

Barlow Girl- Enough

LIF
Lyrics I feel....

All of you, is more than enough for, all of me,

For every thirst and every need,

You satisfy me, with your love,

And all I have of you is more than enough.

You’re my supply, my breath of life,

still more awesome than I know,

You’re my reward, worth living for,

still more awesome than I know.

Love these lines from the Chris Tomlin song

"Enough" I keep hearing them over and over in my head

"still more awesome than i know"

Amen to that!

I have friends who are published!!

Does everyone know that AmyDeanne over at 160 Acre Woods has just published her new book? Way to go AmyDeanne!! I'm thrilled just to know her...and the book is really cool too!

Check it out!

Some stuff going on...

Got a few things going on around here...

Hubby is exploring creative opportunities...lets just leave it at that...

(Jada saw this pic and said "there's Poppi and his little Penelope...that's me!") :)

Daughter got promoted and we are all adjusting to an immediate schedule change requiring lots of nites with Jbear.

Jadabear has learned how to play games on the computer via PBSkids.org .

Gran has been away for several weeks...she's coming home this weekend...for a couple weeks anyway...hooray!

Bekaboo is bringing her!! Hooray! and maybe her hubby too!!

Firstborn is leaving the Toasters...on his last few gigs with them now...he's finishing his MBA and looking to use it.

Me...well I'm still plugging away at this business thang....I'm not too terribly motivated just now so its kinda slow going...but I'm still at it....I try to devote at least 10 minutes per day to thinking on it..usually while I'm in the tanning bed...:)

Planning a winter getaway with hubby in a couple of weeks...to south Florida...yeah...now we're talkin...then I can lie on the beach and think on this business thang....

I think we've decided...

I think we'll be exchanging this

for V day...reminds me of the last time I did this....

:)





Wed update:
Oh yes, I forgot to mention that we'll be going here as well...:)...and you thought we weren't being very romantic...(smiling to myself...)

Ideas please...

V Day is coming up soon...any sweet, preferably a bit unique, ideas I can use?..for my hubby that is...:)

I don't do valentines for the kids...:) they have to get their own...:)