Christmas is the Season for Giving...

I'm looking at the calendar and realizing that it is only 4 days away from Christmas! Is your Christmas tree twinkling, your stockings hung with care...What warm and fuzzy feelings does Christmas bring??! Does it make you think of the joy of seeing loved ones, does it tantalize your taste buds with holiday goodies, does it carry you back to Christmas's past? I love Christmas and all the things that go along with it! We are looking forward to soon making our annual gingerbread house with sweet smelling cinnamon, cloves and covered in  yummy sweets!

 As the saying goes, "Jesus is the reason for the season." As believer's in Christ, we know that God's most precious gift was giving us Jesus in a manager.  And, we want to believe it....we want to instill the truth of that message in our children...we long to see Christ in Christmas, don't we?

As I look amidst a house of clutter, a day full of our most treasured possessions being sold for pocket change...God has once again reminded me that HE IS the "Reason for the Season."  This Christmas I have gotten the best gift I could ever ask for...a chance to give Christ more of me. Gifts are costly...but worth it.

This Christmas my children are able to see Christmas not as getting gifts, but a time of giving of ourselves, our things, our desires. Giving ourselves to Him and trusting His will for our lives. We realize even more that if we believe that God is all He says He is, than no man, no place, no thing can thwart His purpose for us and that purpose is...that we would know Him more and He would be glorified!

What better gift could we possibly receive than MORE of JESUS and what better gift could we give than GLORY to HIM?

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows...that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created." (James 1:17,18)

I pray that your Christmas would be filled with joy, peace and a filling of the Holy Spirit as mine has. And that your life would be less of this world and be more of Him. Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas gift to us was a trip to 

Lego land during our time in the US!

Zombies!

Right now, as we live in the US for our STAS time, I have been overwhelmed at the popularity of zombies.  They seem to be everywhere. As my kids know, I am an anti-zombie mom and honestly, they just creep me out!! Yet, surprisingly, God could take even a zombie to teach me His truth and bring Him glory....

"Since you have been raised with Christ...YOU have died...you used to walk in these ways...and your life is now HIDDEN with Christ...you appear with Him in glory...Therefore, put to DEATH whatever belongs to your EARTHLY nature...and PUT ON the NEW self which is being renewed..."  

Colossians 3:1-17 (paraphrased and emphasized here, but take time to read it thru!)

 When we live in our flesh, according to the nature of our flesh, 

we walk around as zombies!! 

Dead.  Aimless.  Blinded.  Unaware and unable to fight.  We walk in rags, filthy clothes...we dwell among the dead.  Idolatry, impurity, lust and evil desires begin to eat away at our flesh.  And, yet we still walk...

Why? Why do we.

We have a choice...IF we have received His gift of salvation. 

BECAUSE Christ is all and we ARE God's chosen people, holy and DEARLY loved...We HAVE the ability to PUT ON the new self which continues to be renewed daily! And as my older kids have enlightened me to the zombies of Minecraft, they must be put to death!

We must first put to death the things of our flesh...constantly.  

Because zombies keeps popping up out of nowhere! 

And then, as I asked my kids, "What do you see when you destroy a Minecraft zombie? Nothing, that is right!"  You see nothing physical! You see no body, nothing outwardly...and in our lives as we walk in newness of life, those around us will see us clothed in HIS image, in the image of Christ. People around us will see the Spirit-filled us- in the beauty of His image!! We will be clothed with gentleness, patience, compassion and humility.  We WILL be able to forgive, to love and  be able to live in perfect unity. 

And the peace of Christ...

will diminish...

all  your fears.

Landing in Oz

              I sat on the plane thinking of the events previous...the packing, the preparations, the planning. There were moments of sadness in leaving our beloved pets behind and saying goodbye to close friends, but the anticipation of what lied beyond the ocean brought gladness and joy! The thoughts of all the things to come swirled round and round in our minds like a tornado building as we flew past...
                                                                 ...a stormy day.
               The events of preparing slowly, calmly breezed in, all working in a timely fashion-each clothing item neatly folded in the appropriate suitcase.  Emergency plasters and Tylenol stowed in my handbag. Everything was winding it's way into the eye of the actual "traveling day."  Our departure date began to turn into a twist of plans, like the sudden change in weather...just hours before our flight was to leave we were asking, was it 2 pieces of luggage or just one per person? How much should the carry-on luggage weigh? Frantic packing. Re-packing. Anxious kids. Washing sheets and household chores. Pets taken care of. Keys left behind.
                                                                ...The storm was at full force. 
Even though I had worked diligently to make sure that all the "prior to" details had been worked out, nonetheless the fierce unexpected comes out of nowhere and blows you down!

Then...just as quickly as the hectic storm moments had brewed, they dissipated into nothing...there I was sitting on a quiet flight through the clouds sensing the peace of being on our way, like the break of light through a puffy gray mist.  I turned to Canon and said, "we didn't pray."

     Would the storm have been any less? The moments of anxiety subdued? The tension softened? 

 Life does not offer us guarantees, but it does offer us a peace in the midst of whatever storm we fly through.  "Life" can drag us away at any moment...sometimes for a second, sometimes for a while and sometimes, if we let it...we can feel like Dorothy landing in Oz.

John 17:16 "They do not belong to the world just as I (Jesus) do not belong to the world."

Hearts Set Free

As I continue reading through the Bible this year, I continue to get new pieces of truth, new glimpses of Jesus and see life through His Word as it lives...breathes...fills us.  Here in Luke 23, Pilate calls a meeting and says, "You brought me this man...I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him.  Neither has Herod..." Yet, they still wanted Jesus crucified.  Again and again Pilate tries to reason with this group of people...that their ideas, that their thought processes...that what they think they want is not making sense. Releasing a murderer instead of a man who has healed people?? No, it doesn't make much sense.

How often do we have thoughts in our heads...believe things....things that are not always true.  About ourselves, about others, about God.  We want things that we "think" we want... despite the cry of the Lord, saying ~"No, no...you don't want THAT, I assure you, you don't.  I have the best for you."  

We choose the things that rob us of our joy, of our true freedom, of our peace.  And then, reluctantly, GOD...in His all-surpassing goodness, gives in to our stubborn wishes and often lets us have that which we call out for..."crucify Him." And, "So Pilate decided to grant their demand...and surrendered Jesus to their will."  

Are the thoughts about who we are, about the people around us...in line with His Word or in line with the world? Do you desire to be given over to your own wants or instead...give over your own wants to God, that His desires may be filled in you?  Set your heart free and chose to believe that which IS true.

"I have chosen the way of TRUTH; I have set my heart on your laws...for YOU have set my heart free." Psalm 119:30-32

August Birthdays!

Another milestone occurs as Canon turns 15 and Scotland turns 9! They celebrated with a mystery party and lots of amazing friends dressed in everything from a Limo Driver, police officer, window washer...to a robot, millionaire and DNA specialist!

The Possiblities of God

Matthew 26:7-13 "...a woman came to Him with  an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume...When the disciples saw this, they were indignant.  "Why this waste?" Aware of this, Jesus said to them...She has done a beautiful thing to Me." (paraphrased)

Sometimes the practicality of life shades the possibilities of God.  We often think of what is practical and logical...what makes sense in ministry. But God has far greater abilities, greater resources than we do and His ways are beyond what our little minds can comprehend.  He can take the efforts of our hearts that are truly seeking Him and call them to do great and amazing things that seem totally impossible!  

Have you ever been in love?  How impractical it seems when that young man buys those beautiful flowers with his last bit of paycheck to show his reckless abandonment for that girl he loves....it doesn't matter to him that just days later those flowers will wilt away and be tossed aside.  Impractical?  Maybe, but...it is an uninhibited show of love. In a similar way, if our hearts desire to show a love for our Savior, our actions will bear fruit that will not be without purpose.  


So~ I thank you for allowing your hearts to be drawn to the possibilities of what God can do through your giving.  When you give, you open the door of availability and resources that allow so many to serve overseas out of: love,  reckless abandonment, and obedience for our Lord.   
When you give to Lottie Moon, no matter how much you give, God can multiply it.  It's not impractical.  As you give monthly to the Cooperative Program through your church, you can know that your gift IS making a difference.  Whether you know how...or where...or with whom~you are unleashing the possibilities of God in and through you!

Jon and I have split up...

After hesitating to attend a Bon Jovi concert with friends, I am happy to say that I am so glad I did (Thank you to my friends and my sweet husband for my priceless Mother's Day present)!!! The weather was nice, the stadium packed with over 60,000 die-heart fans, the music was all I remembered from my teenage years and Jon, well...he was older, but didn't act like it! 

What I appreciated most from being there was the way God taught me more about Himself through a secular scene that many down-home-traditional-Bible-belt believing people may say would be impossible.  Oh, but yes, God is anxious to show Himself to us in whatever way He sees fit to get our attention! And, there at the Bon Jovi Concert as I laughed, yelled and sang...He got my attention. Later, two thoughts came into my mind..

• ”If you are acting and doing like the world, how is it you can ask the world to act and do differently.” 

•  "...with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self...and be made new in the attitude of your minds;  put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."  (Eph.4:22,23)

You see for me, Bon Jovi was a teenage heart throb and his music was tied up into an era of time in my life when I was completely separated from a relationship with God.  I had no idea of the joy that life could have through a relationship with a Savior...I only knew then that I needed one.  As I began growing, in Him and in understanding His love for me, it was then that I realized those things (for ME) were part of my old self.  I now have a beautiful picture of living according to my former way of life and now, seeking to be made new in the attitudes of my mind.  So, for that reason, yes, Jon and I have broken ties, praise the Lord! And just, if you ever see him, please be sure to tell him, "Really, it's nothing personal!" 

Hope Continues ON

HOPE...for a nation.  The thoughts that continue to overwhelm me as I live in a culture of poverty, joblessness and destitution...Is there HOPE for this nation. And, yes, there is.  My prayer is that I never fail to see the needs, never lack in feeling the heartache, never cease to be moved by the faces of many...but never forget that Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God;  trust also in Me (Jesus)."

After disturbing news concerning the coming death of Jesus, the disciples were confused.  Their Master was leaving.  What then were they to do, what hope did they have?  Are you in a place of hopelessness. Maybe just a bit of confusion? Or perhaps a bit of apathetic living? Jesus responded to his disciples with, "In my Father's house are many rooms;  if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you." So, believe Him when He says, "I am in the Father and the Father is in me;  or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves." (from John 14)

So, our hope does not lie in finding that perfect job, being able to afford that new car, or hope in this world as it is...but, it is a Greater HOPE still. It is the HOPE in eternity, where many rooms are prepared for you, where there will be peace, life...it is a HOPE that can only come through believing that Jesus is the Savior.  It is a hope that believes that the Word of God is the very Word from God. It is true.

As I read through the Bible this year and see the evidence of how the New Testament and Old Testaments tie together, it is even more clearly seen that the God of our nations has HOPE. He is God and His Word testifies of that Truth...believe it.