Experiencing Jesus

We got back from the Tulsa Workshop on Sunday. We were there 4 days and it is both exciting and exhausting at the same time. But in a good way! :)

The singing was great! It was great to catch up with friends we haven't seen in a while! And it was great to hear some of the different speakers.

One of my favorite speakers this year was Bruce Marchiano. He played the role of Jesus in the movie Matthew. The movie was taken straight from the book of Matthew and the only words spoken were those that were actually spoken in the bible. We haven't seen the movie yet, but we bought the dvd. I'm excited to have the time to sit down and watch it. Bruce's story is one of the most amazing stories I have ever heard. The movie literally changed his life. Please forgive me as I tell some of it to you. I know I won't have all the details 100 % correct. It's so hard to remember everything exactly when you've been filled with so much. But I will try and do my best.

He talked about some of the specific things that happened while filming the movie. He said he wanted to be as accurate as possible in his portrayal of Jesus and he literally spent every day in constant prayer. He talked about how in one scene, he wanted to get a glimpse of what Jesus must have felt as he was about to speak to the crowd. He prayed and asked God to just give him a small glimpse of what he felt in those moments, what those people needed. He said for a fraction of a second, so much of a fraction that it wasn't even a second, he felt the most overwhelming sense of pain and sorrow. He was flooded with such deep and overwhelming emotion he literally collapsed on the ground and began weeping uncontrollably. The director thought he was literally going to have a breakdown. He said that he knew he only felt one billionth, billionth of what Jesus must have felt. And he said the sorrow was completely unbearable.

He talked about how they would film the scenes leading up to and of the cross. He had them literally beat him after instructing them to be sure and miss his vital organs, because he wanted it to look real. How he had to be strapped to the cross for about 8 to 10 hours a day while filming those scenes. He had a platform under his feet that would be moved out of the way while they filmed scenes and he would literally being hanging with his arms and feet strapped to the cross. How after hanging for so long, when they came to the scene where the nails were going to be nailed into his hands, how even though he knew it wasn't going to actually hit him, the wrenching pain and emotion that overcame him at the sound of the nail being hit was overwhelming. His story is something I will never forget.

Even though I know this was done for a movie and that it was only a minuscule glimpse of what Jesus must of went through. It will forever change me. Bruce says, he knows he only felt one billionth, billionth, of what Jesus must have felt. But his life is changed forever. I hope I'm there when Bruce gets to meet Jesus face to face one day. What a meeting that will be!

He is currently working on a movie about the book of John. I can't wait for that one also. Recordings of the workshop speakers are suppose to be available on podcast (mp3's) within the next couple of months on the workshop website. I encourage you to listen to his story. You will be blessed.

Please be in prayer for Rick Atchley. He was not able to speak at the workshop because his mother past away last Saturday.

I'll leave you with a quote I heard from Don McLaughlin... "Live in such a way that people want to join you on the way to God".

Blessings, Have a great week!

P.S. Next year's workshop is March 27-29, 2008. The theme is "Prayer ~ Our Declaration of Dependence". Mark you calendars now! :)

Idols

This weekend I was watching an Elvis special (yes, I still love Elvis!) that I had recorded earlier in the week. He was such a great entertainer. I often wonder what he would look like today and would he still have all of those moves :) As I was thinking about that, I thought about how destroyed I was at the time over the cause of his death. Elvis using drugs, no way... it just didn't seem possible. Yet it was. And at that moment, although I still "loved" Elvis, my perfect image of him was shattered.

Watching that show made me think about all the people and things we basically set up as idols today. People we expect to have perfect images, when we know there is only ONE who can fit that bill. There are so many movie stars we "love", shows we "love", things we "love". While those things aren't necessarily bad in and of themselves, how often are we really placing those people, shows or things above everything else in our lives? Are we setting them up as earthly idols all around us?

I have to admit I am sometimes guilty of placing those things to high up on my list of priorities. It makes we wonder, where am I putting God on my list of priorities when other things get placed too close to the top of the list. Do I "love" those people or things more than I LOVE God? Anything we place before God can become an idol. And in this day and age, I think we (myself included) have to be extremely careful about how we prioritize our daily lives. There are so many things clamoring for our attention every day. If we aren't careful, God can get pushed to the bottom very quickly. He wants to be at the top of our to do list, not at the bottom. And he wants our spending time with Him to be something we want to do, not just something to check off the list.

For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
1 Chronicles 16:25

Well, this Thursday begins the Tulsa Workshop. I am so excited to get there. This will be our 11th year to attend and it just gets better every year. I still love going to the workshop. I love getting to hear all the great speakers, enjoying the wonderful worship, finding new music and catching up with dear friends who have moved away. We will miss some of them this year who aren't able to go, but it's going to be a great weekend!

Facing Choices

Every day we face choices of one sort or another. It's what we do with those choices that determine who we are, our character, who or what we serve, etc. I have been reminded about choices lately with the emails that shows up in my spam folder. Our email system automatically puts most things that have all of those weird topics in a spam folder. So all you have to do is click into the spam box and then select all and delete without ever seeing the emails. I love it.

Here lately even the subject matter or the sender information has just about blinded me with it's content. It's really disturbing. These are not things I have solicited, they just show up. Even though I choose not to speak the things I see, my eyes still have to see it to delete it. It has really gotten me to thinking about easily Satan can penetrate our lives and thoughts, even when we don't solicit it.

For me, those types of emails are no temptation whatsoever. But for others, I know they are. And you have to make a choice in that one split second when you see it to either click delete or open. How many other areas of our lives is Satan throwing things in our path. Maybe the shows we watch, the books we read, the movies we see, etc. Satan can throw little things in that you never see coming. Even things like knowing you are getting back to much change, but not giving it back. Someone treats us badly and how do we respond? Do we respond back badly or do we show them Jesus. Everything Satan throws at us is not going to always be obvious. Some of it is little things we don't really thing about, but suddenly we are make a choice.

We make choices every day in our lives. The big choices we usually think and pray more about. You feel like you have time to contemplate those choices. But what about the choices we have to make in a split second? Are we living our lives in such a way that those choices will be easy to make? I'm not saying that every choice will be easy or even that we will always make the right choice, but I believe that how we make the little choices says a lot more about who we are and who or what we serve than the big choices do. We have time to think about and pray about the big ones, but the little ones tell us where are heart really is.

The choices we make when no one is looking are the most important choices we make. Because those are the choices that say who we really are and who or what we really serve. It's all about making choices. What kind of choices are we making?

"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:14-15

Blessings.

Pruning Reveals New Life

I began a "little" spring yard work this past Saturday. I say little because there is still a long way to go. It turned out to be a little too cool to be in the yard all day even though the sun was shining bright. However, I did get the ferns and different greenery cut back and shaped. As I began cutting them back, I noticed that underneath some of them, they already had new leaves and branches beginning to grow up towards the top. I had to be careful not to cut away the new growth as well.

I started thinking about all the new growth that was waiting patiently to be exposed so that it could begin to really blossom and grow strong. It made me wonder... what do I have hidden under all of the old dead leaves and branches in myself. Do I already have new growth just sitting there, waiting patiently to be exposed so it can begin to flourish? It really makes me kind of sad to think that there are things waiting just under the surface. Waiting there for me to start cutting back and pruning myself and getting rid of the junk that has piled up over the last year.

So with the pruning of the greenery in my flowerbed, I'm going to begin a little personal pruning. Who knows what exciting things God has waiting for me just under the surface eager to be exposed and ready to grow into something wonderful. I hope to have new blooms showing up soon! Blessings!

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." John 15:1,2

A Very Special 17 Year Old

Our schedule has been so crazy lately I haven't had time to read blogs or blog myself. I'm going to try and catch up today. But I couldn't let another day go by without posting this special blog. Last Saturday, February 24th, was Jeremy's 17th birthday! I cannot believe he is already 17. It seems like just yesterday I was pregnant with him. I still remember the sonogram I had with him (they didn't do those when I was pregnant with Ashley unless they suspected twins or a problem). He was asleep and I remember exactly what his little face looked like on that sonogram. The great thing is, when I watch him sleep now, I can still see that face in the amazing 17 year old he has become.

I learned early on from a wonderful woman and teacher what and how important it is to give the blessing to our children. We started at a very early age telling Jeremy we knew that God was going to use him for great and special things in his life. We could tell at a very early age that he had a very special heart not only for God but for others and we knew that God would use him for amazing things. I know that ever parent probably feels that, so I hope I don't just sound like I'm bragging. I really feel God has called him to something more.

He has always been a leader of his youth group no matter where he was. We have been at Highland Oaks for a little over a year now and we still meet people who will say, "Oh, your Jeremy's parents. We just love him. He is such a remarkable young man." We try and always give God the glory for everything Jeremy is. We have made and continue to make great mistakes. And God continues to cover over those mistakes and makes wonderful things happen. He is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination so please don't hear me saying that. In fact, some days I tell him he may not make it to his next birthday! But there are definitely more good days than bad.

He has always had a heart for worship and that continues to grow. Within the first few weeks of us being at Highland Oaks he was asked to give a talk at the senior high retreat and he continues to be a leader there. He was just asked by the worship minister to be an apprentice and to work with him in a type of Worship Minister internship. God continues to bless him.

I would like to leave you with some Psalms that Jeremy wrote. As I said before, he is not perfect by any stretch. And some of the words below show great struggles he is or has faced, but they are amazing to me. At the time he wrote them, he was 16. At 16 & 17 he has more of a heart for God than I had when I was 30. Here they are...

_____________________________________________

Hear my cry, oh Lord. I cry out to the heavens when I feel the war inside of me. Your consuming fire takes hold of my body and burns away all my impurities, it cleanses me fully. I thank you, my god, for cleansing me. Showing me my wrongs and allowing me to bring them to you, for you to take them. My heart cries out for the ones who are suffering. It pains me like a needle to my nail. Lord take us now! So the newborn ones won't have time to fall and we won't disappoint you anymore. Hear my cry, oh Lord. Hear my cry...

"by the power of Christ in me..."

*********************

I praise you with all of my being, you have taken me out of the pit that I dug for myself and filled it with your forgiving spirit and grace. All I have is yours and all I need is you. You are life, you are joy, you are everything. You have filled me with your spirit and I am an overflowing cup, pouring out myself for you. Thank you Jesus.

Amen.

*********************

Yahweh, Lord Jehovah, You are the only God and none other will come before you. The demons shriek when they hear your name. In a world of change, you are the one constant. I praise you, oh Lord, for being the Father, Spirit and Jesus. You, are inexhaustible and amazing!!

*********************

How many times will you forgive me, Oh Lord? How long until I am healed? You come into my heart like rushing waters. Flowing and filling every crack, every crevice. Covering every impurity with your healing rain. You are inexhaustible and my heart longs for more. I need your living water, your grace, your mercy. You paid such a high price Lord, for such a lowly sinner. Thank you, my God, my Lord, my Savior, my JESUS!

_____________________________________________

My prayer for you Jeremy as you continue to grow spiritually and in physical age, is that you will always allow God to continue to fill your spirit with such wonderful Psalms. God is not finished with you yet! He still has more amazing things to do through you as you continue to let Him flow through every crack and crevice. Always let Him guide your every path, your every step, your every word and action. You are an amazing son! I love you with all my heart. Happy 17th Birthday!!

Perfect Worship

I have been thinking a lot about worship lately and so have a lot of other bloggers. Worship just seems to be on everyone's mind. I think maybe, at least for me, it's in part due to always striving to be closer to God. There is nothing that makes feel closer to God than my worship and praise to Him. We have such a wonderful worship at Highland Oaks and we will miss that this week since we are visiting Ashley in Abilene. Maybe that's why it is on my mind more this morning. I have long discovered that no matter where I am, my worship is what I make it. But there is nothing like being at your home congregation when it is a place where people really love Jesus and want nothing more than worship and praise Him. I am very blessed and very thankful for what we have. I know that is not always true for some people.

I was reminded this morning about an excerpt that was taken from Disciple's Prayer Life by T.W. Hunt. It has been saved on my computer for years and I haven't read it in probably at least 2 years. So when I thought about it this morning out of the clear blue, I figured it must be something I am suppose to share today. So here it is...

___________________________________________

Walking in Fellowship with God Today

You will need a big imagination for this, so stretch your mind. Imagine that the angel Gabriel appeared to you, and said to you, "you have been chosen for perfect worship. God has commanded that I take you to Heaven this morning so that you can never again mistake the nature of worship in spirit and truth. You will never forget the worship you offer to God today." Then Gabriel transports you into a realm of perfect glory, light and beauty. But he explains, "before you can enter the presence of the Lord, you must be utterly clean, so we have a special bath for mortals about to enter His Holy Presence. You will take a shower with a most unusual cleanser to do its work on you until you are totally clean."

But the shower proves to be more shocking than you could have anticipated — you find yourself under a shower of blood! Yet you dare not disobey — so you allow the blood to soak you thoroughly over your entire body. To your amazement, everywhere the blood touches suddenly turns glisteningly clean, clean in a way you never understood cleanness before. As you emerge, you realize for the first time in your life what "unblemished and spotless" means. Gabriel explains to you that you have been cleansed with the blood of Christ Himself.

Then Gabriel, gesturing toward a magnificent temple, tells you, "Now you are fit for the presence of the Lord. We will dress you now in robes fitting for those who enter the throne room of God." As you wonder at the glory and beauty of robes unlike anything on earth, he explains that you are being dressed in the robes of the righteousness of Christ. Fully dressed, you hear the Lord; you sense His yearning for your company. You step into the glory of perfect love with a joy that you wish would last forever.

Now try to imagine what you would say to Him in these circumstances!

This is what you have as your present possession. When you pray, you come into the presence of formidable holiness, washed in the blood of Jesus, dressed in His righteousness. You approach a yearning love and fellowship with a Holy God. Your worship must be valid—in spirit— and it must be real — in truth.

___________________________________________

As I was rereading that this morning, the word picture I got from this story is incredible. To literally be standing in a shower be washed with the blood of Jesus. To literally be pure and holy in the sight of Christ. We are so far removed from the actual day that Christ was crucified I think we sometimes forget the blood He shed for us. I want to think more about His blood and the way that it covers me. Because even though we may not have that literal shower, His blood continually covers us every moment of every day. I want to be more mindful of the sacrifice He made. As I worship, I want to be more mindful of His blood that covers me. If I am, my worship will never be the same.

Imagine...

I was listening to the radio in the car the other day and the lyrics to one of the songs I heard has been bugging me ever since. We listen to the Mesquite Schools radio station KEOM most of the time since Jeremy is on the radio in the mornings. They play music from the 70's, which is usually always fun to listen to and to reminisce about. But that day, the song that came on really bugged me. The song was John Lennon's song, Imagine.

I have never been much of a John Lennon fan so I've never paid attention to the lyrics in his songs. Now I know why. The very first sentence in that song is "Imagine there's no Heaven, it's easy if you try". I couldn't believe what I had just heard. I then continued to listen to the rest of the lyrics. Pretty incredible... and not in a good way!

I understand that a lot of people think he was great and all about peace. While I'm for peace, his song is, in the words of my son, ridiculous. First of all, it is not easy in my mind to imagine there is no Heaven. To say there is no Heaven, is to say there is no God. If you just look up toward Heaven, to the sky, the sun, the moon, the stars, the clouds, the rain falling, the (sometimes here in Texas) snow falling, the beauty of the sunrise and the sunset, the brilliant colors of the rainbow or the pink, purple, bluish color the sky gets when the sun is going down... how can you look at all of those marvelous things and say it's easy to imagine there is no Heaven, no God. Not to mention the birds, the trees, the flowers, the mountains, the oceans, the beautiful landscapes that surround the countryside at every turn and the breeze that blows so gently on a cool summer's day.

I don't know about you, but I cannot look at all these things and imagine there is no God. I look at these things and all I can imagine, is how great, awesome and magnificent God truly is. To live in John Lennon's world you are called to merely exist. No interaction with God's wonderful creation, no conflict ever - of any kind, just merely existing.

I don't want to just merely exist. I want to enjoy everything God has placed on this earth for us to enjoy. I don't mean the physical things, although those things are nice too, but I'm talking about the things of this world He created. The beautiful landscaping, the wondrous skies, the sunrises and sunsets, the wonderful animals, the oceans and all the wondrous creatures who live there and the way the breeze feels blowing in through your windows during Fall and early Spring. With all the amazing things He has done for us on Earth, I can't even imagine how magnificent Heaven will one day be. So... easy to imagine there is no heaven? Not for me! I can't wait to someday see Heaven in all it's glory and be able to enjoy it while sitting at the feet of Jesus. Now that's something to Imagine!

Missed Opportunities

I was reading a friend's blog today and was made painfully aware of a missed opportunity yesterday. He was writing about how your bike makes for great conversation among strangers who are watching you. (He is a biker too! Although he prefers much faster bikes... we prefer to just cruise :)

His closing remarks were "If more people knew how great motorcycling really is, there would simply be more riders and fewer people who wished they were. If more people knew how great life in Jesus Christ really is, maybe there would be more followers and fewer who have no idea what they are missing!" As I was posting a comment to his blog, I began to realize I was blogging on his comment page, so I decided I would just post my thoughts.

I am almost embarrassed to even admit to this after my last post. I want so much to be "growing" on the vine, but I seem to continue missing opportunities God puts before me.

We were on our way to lunch yesterday after morning services, we came upon a homeless man at the stop light. I don't usually give anything to them and don't always even acknowledge them. I try not to be that way, but you hear all the stories about how so many of them are a scam. I have tried to just let God take care of all that and not judge their motives. That being said, I still don't stop that often. But there was something about this man's eyes that made me dig in my purse and give him the few dollars I had in there. He was very grateful, said thank you and God Bless You. I said your welcome and drove on through the light as it had just changed.

As I drove around the corner, I looked at Chris and said "why did I NOT just say God Bless You to that man?" He said, "I don't know, I don't do it either". I wanted to turn around and drive past him again just to say God Bless You, but there wasn't an easy way to get back to where we had come from. We began a discussion about why we don't say those words more often. Why is it so hard to say God Bless You to someone when it should be the most natural thing in the world to say. Especially from a Christian. Why does it make us (or at least me) feel so awkward when those words come out of my mouth.

It is so natural and easy for us to talk about the things we are passionate about. Does that me my passion for Christ is sorely lacking? It's a thought that literally scares me to death. If I feel so awkward to say God Bless You to someone, especially someone who seems to be in such need of God's blessings, what does that say about my faith?

I obviously have a lot more "growing" on the vine to do. I am ashamed of the simple opportunity I missed. If God can't trust me with something so simple, how will he ever trust me with greater opportunities in His kingdom.

I am thankful that God opened my eyes through a friend's blog to see what I missed that He had put before me. I pray that as I continue to work on my "growing" on the vine process, my eyes will be more focused on Jesus and His work around me.

Living Connected to the Vine

We began a new topic a couple of weeks ago in our Wednesday night class called "Growing on the Vine". I liked the title but hadn't really pondered the title itself. This Wednesday night, the leader of the class asked each one of us why we had chosen this class. A lot of people said, "they liked the topic".

As I heard people say that, I started reading the topic over and over in my head and I started asking myself "What is growing on the vine?" While I know what it means to grow in Christ, I realized I had never really thought about actually growing on the vine. I have always thought about "clinging" to the vine, but not really about "growing" on the vine. While I do feel like I am always changing and growing in my spiritual walk, I had just not ever thought about "growing on the vine".

I love the word clinging because it gives me the mental picture of clinging onto Christ with everything I have. To me clinging means getting as close to something as you possibly can. I want to cling to Him and be as close to Him as possible. But the word growing has really caused me to constantly think about our topic over the last couple of days. As I began going over our handout from the night, I began to feel like I've been missing out by just "clinging" and possibly not "growing" as much as I can and missing out some of the blessings God has waiting for me.

While I still want to cling to Jesus as tightly as possible, I want to be more active about my growth spiritually in Christ. If all I am doing is clinging, I know I'm missing out on some growing opportunities. To grow means to flourish, to stand stall, to illuminate. I want to open myself up and while still clinging to Christ, I want to give Him the freedom to mold and shape me and to allow Him to "grow" me (pardon the grammar) into what and who He wants me to be. I want to illuminate Christ with everything I have and everything I do.

In order to continue to grow in Christ, to grow more spiritually and more intimately with Him, to look and smell more and more like Him, I need to cling to Him with a grip that allows me to actually grow to be more like Him. So while I still intend to cling, I want to give Christ the freedom to grow me into who He wants me to be. So that I will not only be connected to the vine, I will be growing WITH the vine.

As I was picking up some things in our office this morning, I found a piece a paper that I had written a quote on from someone. I don't remember now who I heard it from. I haven't seen it in years. It must haven fallen out of a book or something that had gotten moved. It fits perfectly with the direction I want my spiritual walk to take. I love it when God does that!! The quote says, "When the pupil is ready, the master will appear". I guess that pretty much sums up everything. I am ready! I can't wait to see what He is ready to show me!

A Most Exciting Week!!!

The past 7 - 10 days have been some of the most exciting days ever around the Moore household! After a canceled show on Saturday night for an ice storm that never came... grrrr.... They finally got to finish the last night of Beauty and the Beast on Tuesday night. The musical was AMAZING!! Jeremy's portrayal of the Beast was of course in our humble opinion, even more amazing :) He was on cloud 9 and so were we. I didn't know that I could be even more proud of him than I already was, but he was truly amazing. He went from growling around like the Beast to singing in a Beast voice and then singing in his normal voice... I really don't know how he did it! It was great! The last night all of his friends (mostly girls) from his youth group were there so he really played it up. I think Saturday night was everyone's best night. We really hated to see it end. Although I won't miss the late night rehearsals.

Here are a "few" pictures from the musical. We took over 300 pictures!! Not all of him... we took pictures of the whole cast. But of course the biggest part were of him :)

This last picture is of Jeremy and his theater teacher/director for the musical.
She was just as proud of him as we were :)

I am sure there are more pictures here than anyone cares to see! But it was really hard narrowing down over 300 pictures :) If I can figure out how, I'm going to try and see if I can upload a very small clip of the musical later. We'll see.

For now our life can get back to some semblance of normal... at least for a while! It has truly been a blast and a blessing! I can't wait to see what they do next year!

Opening Night!!!!

All I can say about opening night of "Beauty and the Beast" , is it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! This is one pretty proud family right now. We only got about 4 hours of sleep last night. Two of Jeremy's best friends from the cast spent the night and once everyone was home, we watched the entire musical again! (We recorded it :) It was so cool to watch them reacting to how the crowd reacted to them!

I will have more thoughts to post after the weekend is over. We have shows again tonight and tomorrow night. I will hate to see it all it end! Once it's over, I'll post some pictures. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who might be coming. We are taking pictures every night. We took 130 last night!! So I'm sure I'll have plenty to choose from :)

I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!! We sure are!!!!

A Week of Anxiety

Well, the week is finally here. The production of Beauty & the Beast begins on Thursday night for three nights. We are soooo ready!! In more ways than one :) We are obviously anxious to see Jeremy in his role of the Beast. He has worked so hard and we are so proud of him. No one gives more than he does when he is involved in something. He always goes above and beyond. And to that end, he has become somewhat of Beast around the house the last week :) He won't tell us anything about the show. He never rehearses in front of us or anything. He always says, "you have to wait until the show!" So I know he's very proud of the work he is doing. But he is also stressing, big time.

They had rehearsal last night until almost 10:00 p.m. and with the 1st show beginning on Thursday night, they will be probably be rehearsing until at least 11:00 p.m. every night this week. He is exhausted, getting anxious and excited all rolled into one! So you can just imagine his stress level. He is the type that not only worries about his performance, but he is concerned about the whole show. He's as bad as the director in wanting to make sure the entire show is good.

It's kind of ironic that I have been praying for God to help me relinquish control in my life and now I am watching my son and feeling horrible that I have passed on that control tendency to him. He is really a lot like me in more ways than I like to admit. Because I sometimes see in him the things I know I need to change in my own life. God really does have a sense of humor. We are always trying to work on our kids and get them to be the best they can be and live the life God has called them to live and then God uses our own kids sometimes to open our eyes to ourselves. And what's not so funny, is when you don't like what you are seeing in them and realize that's what they are seeing in you. It's scary!!

We prayed with Jeremy last night and ask God to give him peace and comfort about the week ahead. I know with each day that grows closer to opening night, it's going to be harder and harder for him to continue to give up that control and leave it with God. As we continue to pray for peace for him this week, I covet your prayers for peace for him this week as well.

Blessings to everyone. I'll hopefully get some pictures posted at the end of the week.

And So It Begins...A New Year

It's time to begin another new year. I cannot believe the year is now 2007! Wow!! Where does the time go? I have no idea, I just know it goes faster and faster every year. I still remember all the fear and panic of the world at the end of 1999 and what would Y2K bring as midnight hit and the year turned into 2000. That now seems like a lifetime ago as we begin 2007.

I have been thinking about the new year for the last couple of weeks and thinking about changes in the new year, resolutions, the things we all think about this time of year. About a week ago I came to a conclusion about how I wanted my new year to be or maybe not to be. And after hearing Tim's sermon yesterday, it just confirmed in my heart it was what I needed to do.

I have been thinking about all of the typical resolution type things, I need to eat healthier, I need to exercise more, I need to manage my time somehow in a better way. Basically the same types of things I think about each year. I began to think if I'm thinking about the same types of things each year, then obviously I'm not doing much to try and change these things in my life. These are really things I think about all through the year, so why do I think that because now it's January 1st, things are suddenly going to be different.

Everything in our lives basically boils down to our relationship with God, how He is working in our lives and more importantly the control we are willing to let go of to allow Him to work in our lives. So I have decided in my life to take a different approach to the new year. I'm sure I will still continue to try and eat healthier, exercise and all those type of things. But this year, my new year's resolution is to work on giving up control in every aspect of my life. Yes, I said every aspect, and even as I type the words it scares me to death. Being in control is my specialty, it's what I do best. At least that's what I like to tell myself. If it's what I did best, there would be no need to be typing these thoughts.

So, I'm working on giving up All control. I want this year to be different in that I allow God to do whatever it takes in me, to make me into more of the person He wants me to be. To actually allow Him to be the potter and for me to remain only the clay. To allow Him to shape and mold me after His will. It scares me to death, but I know it's what must take place if this new year is really going to be any different from the others.

I know that giving up the control is going to be harder than any other resolution I could make. But I also know that if I truly rely on Him to change and mold me and allow Him the freedom to do so, it will be the beginning of the Best of the rest of my life. And all of these other things will also fall into place as well.

Tim gave an awesome word picture in his sermon yesterday. He reminded us of how when we are children, we stand on the feet of our daddy's when we want to dance. We put our feet on theirs and then let them lead us around the room. That is the way I need to give up control of my life and give it over to God. I need to dance with God. To put my feet upon His feet and let Him lead. I may not know where I'm going, but He does. And if I continue to dance with God and keep my feet firmly resting upon His, He will lead me where He wants me to go.

So, I'm ready to dance! Have a very Joyous & Blessed New Year!!!

In the Blink of an Eye...

Another Christmas has now come and gone. There is so much anticipation and excitement that builds up to that one special day and before you know it, it is over in the blink of an eye.

We had a great Christmas... Lots of family and great food!!! We go to my mom's house on Christmas Eve, so with that being on Sunday this year, I made all of my pies the day before. That turned out to be a great "new tradition" to start. Usually I am frantic the whole morning of Christmas Eve trying to prepare everything. I am the dessert maker, so I usually make 4 or 5 pies from scratch and it can be very time consuming. This year, doing it a day early was just the blessing I needed. With everything finished, we got up and went to church with all the stress of baking completely behind me. It made my worship so much sweeter and it was the greatest blessing of the day. With all the baking behind me, once we were home I got to relax the rest of the afternoon. It was great!! So from now on, it's the day before for me for baking... way less stress!!

I love Christmas morning and the excitement and anticipation of my kids getting their gifts. It truly is more blessed to give than receive. I love seeing the excitement on their faces. Even though my kids are now 16 and 20, they still get excited. Jeremy set his alarm for 7:00 a.m. so he could be sure to get up early. Ashley and I tried to convince him that 8:00 was early enough, but at 7:00 a.m. he was in her room practically carrying her to our room and telling us all to get up!! We all laid in our bed for about 30 minutes, but that was all he could stand. It was time for everyone to get up! The gift of the year was Ipods. I almost had Jeremy convinced everyone was sold out and I couldn't find them, so the wait to actually find out was killing him :)

The one thing I don't like about Christmas is how fast it is all over. There is so much joy and happiness at this time of year and within an hour, all the gifts are opened and another Christmas has come and gone.

I pray that though the season of Christmas is now past for another year, the spirit in which we live during this time will continue on. Not the stressful part that sometimes comes with it, but the joy and happiness, the love for our fellowman and the discussion everywhere of the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. As I said in an earlier post, Jesus is the reason for Every season. I pray that we and people everywhere will continue to celebrate Him each and every day.

Blessings to all!

God Knows...

It always amazes me how God knows just what we need and when. He always does, I don't know why it continues to amaze me, but it does. I had just been thinking the last couple of days about how busy everything is trying to get ready for Christmas. I have been baking like crazy, wrapping like crazy and have now started thinking about the salsa and 4 or 5 pies I will be making on Saturday. I go to bed exhausted and I know that I am not giving God my best. In fact, I made a personal commitment tonight to quit letting the holiday activities consume me and give God more of my focus. As much as I love the holidays and Christmas time, I should not get so consumed that God gets my leftovers. Because to be honest, if I'm not careful, I don't even have leftovers to give Him.

As I said before, God always knows just what we need and when. As I have been thinking about how much I need to refocus, I received the following poem through an email ministry tonight and it really opened my eyes as to how out of focus I have become lately.

__________________________________

Quiet My Heart, Lord

Quiet my heart, Lord,
and show me a Christmas
as peaceful and calm as
an old cattle shed...

Slow down my pace, Lord,
and help me seek Jesus,
the Son of Your Love,
in a humble straw bed...

Steady my spirit, Lord,
call me from chaos
in simple surrender
to pray and rejoice...

Breakthrough the busy,
too-bright celebration,
and whisper your message.
"Be still...hear my voice..."

Be still and know that I am God..."
Psalm 46:10

--Author Unknown

__________________________________

Even though I love Christmas and all the excitement it brings, this poem spoke volumes to me about the need for me to be still. I need to seek the Lord in the middle of the chaos, slow down and listen to Him whispering my name.

As the busyness and fun of Christmas creeps in upon us, let's remember to Be Still and listen for God's voice. After all, He does know just what we need.

I hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!

Tis the Season

Christmas is one of my favorite times of year. I love the decorations, the music, the hustle and bustle and the joyous feeling that seems to be everywhere. I especially love the family traditions we have established with our family. My family is so important to me and I love the closeness our family shares.

But this time of year can also be very hectic. We have been so busy lately with choir concerts, school activities, my preschoolers program and Jeremy's daily rehearsals for the upcoming Beauty and the Beast musical. The busyness has caused me to think about a couple of things.

Most of the world celebrates the birth of Jesus at Christmas. If your like me though, the C of C world has not celebrated His birth at Christmas because no one really knows the exact day He was born. And we have sometimes done that to the extreme. At this stage of my life and hopefully much more mature stage of my life, the precise day of Jesus' birth is not my main concern. The fact that He Was born is! I am more concerned, actually very thankful, that at least at Christmas, the rest of the world is acknowledging Christ and talking about His birth. The "day" we celebrate His birth is not as important as making sure we "Are" celebrating His birth and more importantly, His resurrection.

We have sometimes been so concerned with not celebrating His birth on Christmas, that we don't celebrate it at all. We don't celebrate Jesus' birth on Christmas, but are we celebrating it at any other time? I have grown to believe that Christmas is an opportunity. People are more open to Christ at Christmas than perhaps at any other time of the year. We should be celebrating that opportunity. The fact that Jesus was born is reason to celebrate! What day we choose to do it is really irrelevant.

We get so busy with the Christmas rush, that I'm afraid those of us who are Christians may sometimes put Jesus on the back burner while the rest of the world is celebrating His birth. We should take Him off the back burner and get on fire with the rest of the world.

The world offers the saying, "Jesus is the reason for the season". Jesus is the reason for Every Season! So I say, Let's Celebrate!! And Merry Christmas to All!!

When Your Child Hurts

There is really nothing worse than when your child is hurt or is struggling with something. It is such a helpless feeling. Your heart aches and breaks as you try and give advice and as you pray over them. Even though it may be nothing big, your heart aches as you watch them struggle and hopefully prevail victoriously.

I have made a lot of sacrifices for my children over the years, but I have never had to give the life of one of my children for the sake others. As my heart breaks over my own children's struggles, how much more must God's heart break when He watches us struggle. And how much more so when He sees us make the wrong choices. He gave up His Son for us, my sacrifices do not compare to that.

I think about how I would feel if I gave up my son or daughter for everyone else in the world and then watched them squander that gift as we so often do. I honestly don't know how God puts up with some of the "stuff" we do. He has given us so much more than we for sure deserve. I am so thankful that God's heart is not like mine would be if it were my child that had been given for others.

God's grace is so amazing and incomprehensible. When I think about how my heart aches as my children struggle, how much more must God's heart ache as He watches us struggle. I am so thankful for the grace of God and that His grace is more than I can imagine in this feeble mind. As God watches me struggle, I hope I make him proud with choices I make. And for the times I know I don't, I thank you God for the never ending grace and compassion you have for your children. I can hear you cheering me on in the same way I am cheering on my own children. Thank you!

Weekend Humor....Provided by Mike Cope and Randy Harris

I was looking at Mike Cope's blog yesterday and found this. For those who saw it at Tulsa last year, it's a hilarious reminder. For those who haven't seen it yet, enjoy!!! Have a great weekend!!

Forced Silence

This past week has been interesting. I had laryngitis for 3 days! I usually get it about once a year after a long cold or something, but this one came up out of the blue. One day around 5:00 I just suddenly had no voice. It stayed gone for 3 days. Ashley called me that night after I had lost my voice and said who is this when I answered the phone. I said this is your momma! And then she busted out laughing! She could hardly talk to me she was laughing so hard!

Although not having a voice for 3 days can be very hard, I feel like it was a good thing, because it caused me to reflect a little on myself. I began to ask myself after the 2nd day if maybe God was trying to tell me something. I began to realize that I don't always listen as much as I should. I need to listen more and talk less. After being forced to do that, I realized it was something I already knew, but now had no choice but to work on. So the forced silence was good.

It was also very interesting trying to teach ten 4 year olds with no voice on the day of their Thanksgiving Feast when they are already excited. After they realized I really couldn't talk above a forced whisper, it was one of the best days of school I've had! They were so quiet all day because they knew they had to listen extra hard to hear me. I even had one teacher stick her head in the door to see if we were in there. She said it was so quiet she didn't think we were in the room!

One other nice thing while I had no voice was that Jeremy had to actually stop and look me in the face when I was talking to him no matter how big of hurry he was in :) It frustrated him a little, but it was nice to have his undivided attention!

I have my voice back now. Well, I have A voice back. Not really my own yet. I have more of a man voice right now. I think I could have sang bass at church on Wednesday night. I was already singing an entire octave lower than every one else!

Being without a voice can be a major pain. But all in all, I really count it as a blessing. God opened my eyes to some things in myself I need to change. And for me that's always a good thing.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

The Rabbi's Dust

Last night in our Wednesday night class we watched a video called "Dust" by Rob Bell at nooma.com . We were finishing up our series on "More of What I Need to Be..." It was the second time I have seen it. It's pretty amazing if you've never seen it.

In the video, he talks about what it means to be a disciple. He goes on to explain how in some cultures children begin preparing at age 5 to follow a particular Rabbi and learn from him. They go through intense training for years to become the best of the best. At one point he talked about being covered in the dust of your Rabbi. I must have missed that comment the first time I saw it, because I have not been able to stop thinking about that statement.

To be covered in the dust of our Rabbi. Wow!! That would mean we are so close to Him that even the particles of dust that fall off of Him cling to us. That is an amazing word picture for me. It reminds me of Psalm 63:8, "My soul clings to you, your right hand upholds me. " We are to get as close to Him as possible. So close, we are covered in His dust.

Being His disciple means being His disciple in even the smallest every day decisions we make. Probably even more so in those decisions. Because sometimes it's in those every day decisions that we fall away. The simple decisions that we sometimes make without thinking. Those every day decisions where even the smallest decision can affect or impact the lives of others.

I will continue to think about that statement. I want to be covered in the dust of my Rabbi, so that even when I make those small every day decisions I will make them to the Glory of God. To be covered in the dust of my Rabbi..... hmmm.... something to think about.