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My mom has joined the gratitude community, something another blogger started. You can go to her blog, then go to the other blog to find out more about it. http://elizabethfstewart.blogspot.com/
It is a list of 1000 things to be grateful for. What a nice idea. We have so much to be thankful for. Thankfulness gives you right perspective and brings you peace. It reminds us of His goodness and faithfulness.
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Phil 4:6-7
I have not joined the community officially, but I want to start on a list. Perhaps I will have my kids work on a list, too. I want them to understand how much they have to be thankful for.
1. The Cross. Forgiveness.
2. His mercies that are new every morning and last forever.
3. A husband who loves me and beleives in me and is my best friend.
4. God's grace, faithfulness and protection that watched over our kids as they became forever ours.
5. Melaney. Despite her brokeness she manage to make two right decisions that will change history.
6. Grace that preserved my husband. When circumstances say he should have grown up to be a broken mess, God said, "No, I have other plans."
7. A loving Dad for my babies.
8. A good job for my husband that provides for all our needs.
9. The provision to be able to stay home with my kids and teach them.
10. The grace to teach them, even when I want to pull my hair out and send them to their rooms until the Lord returns.
11. God's Word. I love His Word.
12. The ABUNDANCE of food we are blessed with.
13. Clean, running water.
14. A Godly heritage.
15. My mom and dad. Seriously, they are the best.
16. My sisters who are my best friends.
17. Erin, my faithful forever friend (what a rareity that is!)
18. Matt. A faithful, loyal friend to my husband.
19. A husband who will eat anything, including my cooking.
20. My son's sensative heart.
21. My daughter's joyful and creative spirit.
22. Coffee and Chocolate. God's smartest idea yet!
23. The internet, computers, technology. Thank you, Lord, for giving man wisdom to invent these wonderful things!
24. Books filled with the wisdom of believers, past and present.
25. Elliana, God's promise fulfilled.
26. Friday school
27. Answered prayers
28. The opportunity to be apart of a historical revival.
29. The opportunity to minister to the poor and broken.
30. My church family.
31. Quiet moments with Jesus.
32. Good health for me and my family.
This is it for now. My kids are getting roudy. We are going to go to the library. And I am thankful for that, too.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
World Changers in the Making
My hearts desire it that my children love and serve the Lord all the days of thier lives. My constant prayer is that they not go a single day out of relationship with Him. Nothing is more important. I want them to know Him personally, now and forever.
Growing up, I never saw Jesus or church as something my parents made me do. I have loved Jesus personally for as long as I can remember! I thank my mom and dad for that, and that is what I want for my kids.
I fall short in so many ways. I forget to pray. I skip Bible time. We miss family devotions. I lose my temper. I play on the computer instead of playing with them. I often feel like I am stumbling through this journey called motherhood, and if they turn out even halfway decent it will be a miracle! :-)
But then there are those moment when I see Jesus in my kids, and I know that dispite my nearly daily shortfalls, God's grace is suffecient, convering my mistakes. His love is penetrating their hearts.
A few days ago, my son said, "Mommy, wanna hear me sing a song?" I said sure, thinking he would make up something silly as he often does. Instead, he opened his mouth and out came a beautiful, spontanious love song to Jesus.
During church on Sundays I watch as my daughter worships with her whole heart in her own "big and fancy" way.
These moment remind me to keep on. Keep being real in front of them. Keep 'stumbling' through in front of them. Live determined in front of them. I know they are watching. I want them to see that I may make a dozen mistakes each day, but I turn to the One who forgives and ask Him for grace and mercy. I never stop turning to Jesus. I never stop wanting to know Him and wanting to be better in Him.
I am a great planner and organizer, but I am the worst at executing my own plans and organization. I am very easily distracted. I have a daily schedule, but I don't think I have followed it once. I have a daily, weekly, and monthly chore list, but have you seen my house lately? I have a detailed school outline and schedule, but this morning we just got through Enghlish.
However, this school year, I have been determined that if we accomplish nothing else, we will learn to daily spend time in His presence. All of my elaborate school plans have already gone to the wasteside, and we are once again 'playing it by ear'. But so far, we have done pretty good with this little discipline.
The first day of school, we made journals. They are nothing fancy. Just some construction paper with elementary writing paper on the inside, stapled together and decorated by the kids with stickers and markers.
We talked about what a journal is for, and I showed them mine. Then we turned on some music, got out our Bibles, and spent some time with Jesus. This has become their favorite time of the day.
My son can't read yet, but he looks through his comic Bible very seriously and copies some of the words into his journal. Some pages have pictures of people or a cross. My daughter can read a little, but if you saw her you would think she was intensly absorbing every word from her little pink Bible. Perhaps she is. She writes things in her journal like, "Love Jesus. Don't Lie. Obey your Mom and Dad. I love you. Love, Jesus. Jesus and Me. I love you Jesus."
Proverbs 22:6 in the Amplified says "Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it."
This is my favorite version of this scripture because it says "in keeping with his individual gift or bent." I was raised that way, and I want to raise my kids that way. I want them to serve and know and love Jesus through their own individual personality and gifts. I don't really know how exatly to do this, but I know the One who does. I know how to intruduce them to the One. I also know that as I trust in and rely on the One who Created my babies and gave them their individual gifts and bend that He will give me the wisdom and know how to train them right.
Oh, what a good God we serve. Now, I am off to go play games with my kids and make some lunch.
Growing up, I never saw Jesus or church as something my parents made me do. I have loved Jesus personally for as long as I can remember! I thank my mom and dad for that, and that is what I want for my kids.
I fall short in so many ways. I forget to pray. I skip Bible time. We miss family devotions. I lose my temper. I play on the computer instead of playing with them. I often feel like I am stumbling through this journey called motherhood, and if they turn out even halfway decent it will be a miracle! :-)
But then there are those moment when I see Jesus in my kids, and I know that dispite my nearly daily shortfalls, God's grace is suffecient, convering my mistakes. His love is penetrating their hearts.
A few days ago, my son said, "Mommy, wanna hear me sing a song?" I said sure, thinking he would make up something silly as he often does. Instead, he opened his mouth and out came a beautiful, spontanious love song to Jesus.
During church on Sundays I watch as my daughter worships with her whole heart in her own "big and fancy" way.
These moment remind me to keep on. Keep being real in front of them. Keep 'stumbling' through in front of them. Live determined in front of them. I know they are watching. I want them to see that I may make a dozen mistakes each day, but I turn to the One who forgives and ask Him for grace and mercy. I never stop turning to Jesus. I never stop wanting to know Him and wanting to be better in Him.
I am a great planner and organizer, but I am the worst at executing my own plans and organization. I am very easily distracted. I have a daily schedule, but I don't think I have followed it once. I have a daily, weekly, and monthly chore list, but have you seen my house lately? I have a detailed school outline and schedule, but this morning we just got through Enghlish.
However, this school year, I have been determined that if we accomplish nothing else, we will learn to daily spend time in His presence. All of my elaborate school plans have already gone to the wasteside, and we are once again 'playing it by ear'. But so far, we have done pretty good with this little discipline.
The first day of school, we made journals. They are nothing fancy. Just some construction paper with elementary writing paper on the inside, stapled together and decorated by the kids with stickers and markers.
We talked about what a journal is for, and I showed them mine. Then we turned on some music, got out our Bibles, and spent some time with Jesus. This has become their favorite time of the day.
My son can't read yet, but he looks through his comic Bible very seriously and copies some of the words into his journal. Some pages have pictures of people or a cross. My daughter can read a little, but if you saw her you would think she was intensly absorbing every word from her little pink Bible. Perhaps she is. She writes things in her journal like, "Love Jesus. Don't Lie. Obey your Mom and Dad. I love you. Love, Jesus. Jesus and Me. I love you Jesus."
Proverbs 22:6 in the Amplified says "Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it."
This is my favorite version of this scripture because it says "in keeping with his individual gift or bent." I was raised that way, and I want to raise my kids that way. I want them to serve and know and love Jesus through their own individual personality and gifts. I don't really know how exatly to do this, but I know the One who does. I know how to intruduce them to the One. I also know that as I trust in and rely on the One who Created my babies and gave them their individual gifts and bend that He will give me the wisdom and know how to train them right.
Oh, what a good God we serve. Now, I am off to go play games with my kids and make some lunch.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
What's with the Name?
Why did I pick the Journey of a Wannabe World Changer?
My sister sent me a link to a blog. The lady's blog had these beautiful pictures, poetic words, and seriously creative ideas. Oh, the envy!
I am so very not creative. I like to write, but it never sound eloquent, and my English and grammar are horrible! My house does not look like a magazine cover. Nothing matches, and would rather go read a book or play Sims than to decorate it---I am excited just to keep it clean for more than a day. I home school my kids, but struggle to just get through the material. Our arts and crafts consist of markers, stickers, glue and free reign to do whatever because mommy doesn't have a clue. For their spiritual education we read the Bible and pray. Nothing creative there either.
But, oh, how I would love to be a creative person like the one in the blog. I wish I had inspiring and creative ideas for teaching my kids to connect with Jesus. I wish we could do crafts together and they turn out good enough to sell. I would love if people walked into my house and went WOW.
But, I am not. So, it got me to thinking, who am I then? What is my claim to fame? I am a world changer....or at least I want to be. I wanna travel the world and tell people about Jesus. I wanna go into tribes that have never heard about Jesus and tell them. I wanna translate the Bible into languages that have yet to be discovered. I wanna be a 'Reinhard Bonnke' or 'Jim Elliot' or 'John G Lake'. As the old song goes, "I wanna be a history maker"!! That is what I desire, and I believe that is who God created me to be.
This doesn't mean I will someday be known for preaching to tens of thousands, or for dying in a village as one of the first missionaries to go there, or for healing thousands. It would be really awesome if I were, but I don't have to to be a world changer.
To be a world changer, I need to be obedient. I must seek Him and know Him, and then go and do when he says. Being a world changer isn't about changing the world that we see, but about changing the unseen, the everlasting.
I know that God has blessed me with the opportunity to change the world for two amazing little kids, and if that is all I accomplish in this life, I would be satisfied. I fail at this task miserably some times, but I get up, ask for forgiveness and grace, and try again. I know that were it not for the Grace of God and our obedience that their lives would be a story of darkness, devastation and brokenness rather than a story of life, hope, and promise.
It is my hope that as I strive to be a world changer for Jesus that I will teach them how to be one, too.
My sister sent me a link to a blog. The lady's blog had these beautiful pictures, poetic words, and seriously creative ideas. Oh, the envy!
I am so very not creative. I like to write, but it never sound eloquent, and my English and grammar are horrible! My house does not look like a magazine cover. Nothing matches, and would rather go read a book or play Sims than to decorate it---I am excited just to keep it clean for more than a day. I home school my kids, but struggle to just get through the material. Our arts and crafts consist of markers, stickers, glue and free reign to do whatever because mommy doesn't have a clue. For their spiritual education we read the Bible and pray. Nothing creative there either.
But, oh, how I would love to be a creative person like the one in the blog. I wish I had inspiring and creative ideas for teaching my kids to connect with Jesus. I wish we could do crafts together and they turn out good enough to sell. I would love if people walked into my house and went WOW.
But, I am not. So, it got me to thinking, who am I then? What is my claim to fame? I am a world changer....or at least I want to be. I wanna travel the world and tell people about Jesus. I wanna go into tribes that have never heard about Jesus and tell them. I wanna translate the Bible into languages that have yet to be discovered. I wanna be a 'Reinhard Bonnke' or 'Jim Elliot' or 'John G Lake'. As the old song goes, "I wanna be a history maker"!! That is what I desire, and I believe that is who God created me to be.
This doesn't mean I will someday be known for preaching to tens of thousands, or for dying in a village as one of the first missionaries to go there, or for healing thousands. It would be really awesome if I were, but I don't have to to be a world changer.
To be a world changer, I need to be obedient. I must seek Him and know Him, and then go and do when he says. Being a world changer isn't about changing the world that we see, but about changing the unseen, the everlasting.
I know that God has blessed me with the opportunity to change the world for two amazing little kids, and if that is all I accomplish in this life, I would be satisfied. I fail at this task miserably some times, but I get up, ask for forgiveness and grace, and try again. I know that were it not for the Grace of God and our obedience that their lives would be a story of darkness, devastation and brokenness rather than a story of life, hope, and promise.
It is my hope that as I strive to be a world changer for Jesus that I will teach them how to be one, too.
My Blog
So, I have decided to start a personal blog. I have a blog for AFN, which has got a whole whopping 140 hits in over a year. WOW. I am amazing! :-)
So, knowing that I am so unpopular, why start another? Well, AFN is really just to communicate stuff with our supporters, especially when we're in Africa. I try to keep it to missions related stuff, so it is not exactly exciting now that we are back in the US.
I decided to do a personal blog because I LOVE to write! I find the process of writing very theraputic. Whenever I was in trouble as a kid, or had to tell my parents something too hard to say to their face, I would right these seriously long letters. I am a journaler. Not a daily one, but if there is something on my mind, I write about it to God.
So, why not keep my writings to my journal? I dunno. Guess I like an audience. :-) No, truth is, maybe as I help my self and write out my thoughts, perhaps someone else will come along and read it, and they, too, will be helped in someway.
So, knowing that I am so unpopular, why start another? Well, AFN is really just to communicate stuff with our supporters, especially when we're in Africa. I try to keep it to missions related stuff, so it is not exactly exciting now that we are back in the US.
I decided to do a personal blog because I LOVE to write! I find the process of writing very theraputic. Whenever I was in trouble as a kid, or had to tell my parents something too hard to say to their face, I would right these seriously long letters. I am a journaler. Not a daily one, but if there is something on my mind, I write about it to God.
So, why not keep my writings to my journal? I dunno. Guess I like an audience. :-) No, truth is, maybe as I help my self and write out my thoughts, perhaps someone else will come along and read it, and they, too, will be helped in someway.
Condending for this generation
Our church, which has a new name, Truelife Church, is 9 days in to a 21 day fast. Each Sunday for the next 8 weeks we are condending and praying for diffrent areas. This last week we Contended for this Generation.
Pastor Brian preached. It was an awesome service and message. It was heart breaking and eye opening to see the pain and brokeness that this whole generation is expereincing.
I know my heart was changed about how I see this generation and how I really need to pray!!
Take a listen or download the prayer sheets. Click here.
Pastor Brian preached. It was an awesome service and message. It was heart breaking and eye opening to see the pain and brokeness that this whole generation is expereincing.
I know my heart was changed about how I see this generation and how I really need to pray!!
Take a listen or download the prayer sheets. Click here.
Friday, September 11, 2009
True Joy
My Pastor/Brother in Law posted a video about Africa on his FB this week. It was about true Joy not being defined by circumstances. The theme: "I need Africa more than Africa needs me."
I have experienced what this video talks about first hand. In parts of Africa where dispair should be prevelent, you will find joy. They are not sad be cause of what they do not have or because of thier circusmances, instead, they are happy, and understand that things and circumstances are not the source of true joy.
The point is that we can learn from this--we need to learn from this. We base our joy and happiness too much on stuff and circumstance rather than the true source of Joy.
The only true source of pure joy is the Lord. The Joy of the Lord is our strength. That Joy comes from knowing that I have Jesus, no matter what comes my way, I know that He is my strength, my peace, my portion, my deliverer. Knowing that, I move forward. I press on towards the goal.
Click here to see the video.
I have experienced what this video talks about first hand. In parts of Africa where dispair should be prevelent, you will find joy. They are not sad be cause of what they do not have or because of thier circusmances, instead, they are happy, and understand that things and circumstances are not the source of true joy.
The point is that we can learn from this--we need to learn from this. We base our joy and happiness too much on stuff and circumstance rather than the true source of Joy.
The only true source of pure joy is the Lord. The Joy of the Lord is our strength. That Joy comes from knowing that I have Jesus, no matter what comes my way, I know that He is my strength, my peace, my portion, my deliverer. Knowing that, I move forward. I press on towards the goal.
Click here to see the video.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Please pray for this very special family.
http://rebekahspage.blogspot.com/2009/08/rebekahs-scans-are-stable-mommy-not-so.html
This link is to a blog that I read regularly. It is a family that I know, in fact, the Dad is our adoption attorney that handled both our adoptions.
Several years ago, his daughter (who is Maudilee's age) was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsey, six months later, she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. She has gone through treatment, and is currently cancer free.
Two years ago, their house burned down, on Rebekah's birthday (that's the daughter).
A few weeks ago the Mom was diagnosed with ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease. The prognosis is not good.
My heart breaks for this family. They have been through a lot. They are believers, and are praying for a miracle. I am praying with with them, and ask you to pray, too.
This link is to a blog that I read regularly. It is a family that I know, in fact, the Dad is our adoption attorney that handled both our adoptions.
Several years ago, his daughter (who is Maudilee's age) was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsey, six months later, she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. She has gone through treatment, and is currently cancer free.
Two years ago, their house burned down, on Rebekah's birthday (that's the daughter).
A few weeks ago the Mom was diagnosed with ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease. The prognosis is not good.
My heart breaks for this family. They have been through a lot. They are believers, and are praying for a miracle. I am praying with with them, and ask you to pray, too.
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