Val's Walk of Faith

Mercy....

2012-02-08T16:33:00.000-05:00

This year as we're reading thru the Bible one picture that has been painted so perfectly - so beautifully to me once again is that of God's great mercy. The mercy He's shown to those in His Word and the mercy He's shown to me in my life!

So far this week we've been reading about Joseph. I love Joseph's story because it's a promise of the Providence of God. I had never truly understood God's Providence until several years ago when I studied Esther. I mean, I knew of it, I had even seen it in my own life, but once I truly dug into the Word - dug beyond the superficial-ness of Bible reading I saw God working ALL THINGS together for the good of His people. Joseph is another great story of God's Sovereignty.

God took what Joseph's brother's intended as harm and turned it into not only something for Joseph's good, but something for the good of all of Egypt! Now, God hasn't done anything so big as to save a nation thru me, but I can tell you some of the things He has done for me! Here's one example - before I was married I lived in Florida and I LOVED it - I mean LOVE, LOVE, LOVED it!! I was involved in a Christian singles group, living with a family who I adored and who had opened their hearts and their home to me. I had a nice job and was doing ok for myself. Then all of a sudden, God spoke to me and He told me it's time to get back to WV......I didn't want to! In fact, I told him no for a long time! But God persisted...he wouldn't relent....so off I went. With tears in my eyes, I packed my little grey Chevy Cavalier and drove north.

So I get back to WV, things are not so great between my parents and I, but I meet a good guy. We dated for almost a year, but deep down he was just a distraction because I knew he wasn't what the Lord had in store for my life. I broke up with him - which didn't go well (that's a whole other blog) - then a girl I worked with decides she needs to introduce me to a guy, a divorced guy with 2 kids. Yeah right. So I agree just to shut her up! Little did I know, the night she introduced us was God's Providence working in my life!

I met my husband that night!! I saw God's plan work. Now I can look back and see that His prodding when I lived in Florida was His design for me to meet my mate! PROVIDENCE! Love how He showed me mercy by sending me my man!!

He Changed MY Name.....

2012-02-06T15:08:00.000-05:00

So this past week was a bit crazy for me - lots going on and not feeling too great on top of that. The good thing about the past week's reading with Year of the Bible was thru the life of Jacob. One of my FAV stories from the Word. Jacob enters the world needy - clinging to his brother's heel - not wanting to be left alone! Oh how I can relate to that. Being the baby of 4 siblings, I've never really been alone. I mean, sure I've had down time or times when other siblings were gone, but it was short-lived. I knew there was always someone around to talk to, be with or just have around. Never really liked being alone because I just rarely ever was alone!

Then Jacob (a bit of a Momma's boy - favored child - sorry, can't relate to that one) exploits his brother's weakness to gain what he wanted. Hate to say this, to admit it, especially on the web where it's here forever, but I can relate to that one too. Ugh. His pattern of selfishness continues as he and his Momma scheme to trick Isaac into giving him the blessing which puts him in a heap of trouble with his big, brute of a brother who says he's gonna kill him for his deception. (Fortunately I'm out on that one as well! lol - the death threats anyway - the deception and selfishness...not so much)

This leads to my FAVORITE part of Jacob's story. He's been on the run - worked for his wives (oh and got a little taste of his own medicine with his Father-in-law) - has acquired great personal wealth and success and was about to come face to face with his brother. But prior to that he has a wrestling match that will forever change him. I've heard this story all my life - I've even done Bible studies based on his story but yesterday God gave me a fresh look - a new revelation about Jacob - and about myself.

"And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”" Gen 32: 24-26. I have heard many well intending preachers, teachers and even some Nationally acclaimed pastors preach about Jacob's cry "I will not let you go unless you bless me" as an example of not giving up on prayer - they are totally right in their point - but maybe a bit off base on this particular example. You see, Jacob's name had not yet been changed, his walk hadn't been changed, his life hadn't been changed. He wasn't suddenly having a big spiritual epiphany in the midst of this wrestling match - he was trying to exploit this man for his personal gain. A talent he had learned and had developed to an art! Jacob was still Jacob. However, God is still God!

God, was instead exposing Jacob TO Jacob. He was holding up this GIGANTIC mirror for Jacob to take a good, long, hard look at himself. He invited Jacob to recall his name - saying "“What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”" (vs 27) You see Jacob's name means supplanter or to take the place of (another), as through force, scheming, or strategy or the like (dictionary.com) - Jacob was born and given the name that would predict who he was - BUT GOD (two best words EVER) had other plans for Jacob. "Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”" (vs 28). God gave Jacob a new name. A name that means "God contended" and guess what contended means according to dictionary.com? Are you ready......"to struggle in opposition, to strive in rivalry, to assert or maintain earnestly"! Yes God struggled and prevailed over the struggler - the schemer! He broke Him and gave him a new name, gave him a new walk, gave him a new life!!

That's the best part of the Lord - He's in the business of taking the messed up and making them new! Creating in them a new heart! For HIS glory!! He did it to Jacob - and so many others in the Word - and He did it to me!! He changed me...He changed my walk...He gave me a new life...and He hasn't stopped changing me...He hasn't stopped making me more like His Son!! I will not let Him go - not for MY blessing but for HIS GLORY!!!.....

Perspective....

2012-01-30T22:32:00.002-05:00

Sometimes we need a little perspective - don't you think? Like we need to see things from a different angle, through someone else's eyes, etc. For instance, there was one of those crazy pictures on Facebook that had something in it that totally freaked everyone out but you had to kind of take a good long look to see it. Once you saw the thing though, your view of the picture was NEVER the same! It reminded me of how the Lord works.

Sometimes He gives us glimpses of situations or people just how He sees them. Sometimes though, He has to shove our faces up close to the thing to get our attention - at least He does with me. He only does it because He has something planned for me, something that will make me more like His Son. THAT is the truth.

Lately, my perspective has been a little foggy. The Lord has some areas in me that need some remodeling and the Great Designer has been busy moving things around, shaking them up, changing my perspective. He's done it with the gentle pressure of a Master Craftsman, but the work is being done for sure! The awesome thing about all this work is that my view....my attitude...my perspective will NEVER be the same!

One perspective the Lord has blessed me with recently is how fleeting the time with my kids is becoming. My oldest starts High school next year. HIGH SCHOOL!!! Ugh!! This hasn't been an exceptionally fun season - as I'm sure any parent of a teenager would agree - but the Lord reminded me to slow down, to lighten up a bit and to remember these babies that He has entrusted me with are not my own! They were bought with a price! They belong to Him! So I'm doing my best to change THAT perspective as well - look at that thing from a different angle - and asking the Lord to remind me that they will NEVER be this way again!! (ok a little sniff on that one!)

Why do I linger?....

2012-01-27T09:35:00.000-05:00

I am falling in love anew with the Word this year with our "Year of the Bible" at church. Whenever I'm with someone from church we immediately start saying "Man, did you read...." it's great! Last night my precious friends from One Voice came over to practice and as soon as we finish singing we immediately start talking about the Word of God. "Aren't you glad we're out of Job?....but don't you love the truths of God's faithfulness...what about Sarah and Abraham?....I never got that Sarai laughed when God told Abe she was gonna have a baby!..." these were some of the conversations! All I could think about was Jer 31:3 "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people." He is definitely writing His law on our hearts....LOVE it!!

So today I'm thinking about Lot. Something that jumped out at me - it's kinda been jumping out with several people thru the Word - the fact that we settle, we linger. Lot was in Sodom, God was coming to destroy it, Abraham had prayed for Lot's deliverance from the destruction, and the destruction was coming! Lot had already seen the miracle of the three men blinding the men of the city who were trying to "know them" and their prediction of God's wrath on the city and His protection of Lot and his family was coming to fruition and what did Lot do?....."As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” But he lingered." (Gen 19:15-16) The city is under attack for it's sin and yet Lot lingered. Don't you think he would want to run as fast as possible? Get his family out of there? And yet, he lingers, he waits around.

I can relate. How often do I feel the Lord calling me to something, something better, something bigger and yet I linger? How often do I hear him say, 'Get away from this place, this PERSON, now and don't look back!' and still I linger, I delay. Sometimes it's out of fear, or uncertainty, but sometimes it's because I LIKE where I am...who I'm with...what I'm doing. Sometimes it's FUN, or I'm getting some attention from it. But ultimately, if I don't go, destruction follows.

God is faithful...He is gentle...He is loving....and all too often, He needs to shake things up! He's got some destroying to do in my life. He's got some things in me that need to GO and I do not need to ever look at them again! THAT's what I love about Him. I heard this quote this year and it's the truth in my life right now...."God is the constant page-turner"....I'm anxious to see what page He turns in me!!

Consider it joy when you face trials.....REALLY?.....

2012-01-24T08:58:00.001-05:00

So this past week we've been in Job. Yeah, I know, right. Not exactly the most uplifting and encouraging way to start the year. I mean, it starts off well, but then again, if the Lord INVITES the enemy to take a look at one of His servants.....that certainly can't end well. As I talked with my Sunday school class this past week one of the things that they loved (and I did too) was the thought that the Lord would think enough of me to say to the enemy...."Have you considered my servant Valarie?"....To think that the Creator of the Universe would think so highly of me as to know that whatever the enemy tried to sling my way, I would continue to honor Him through it all. Wow.....

The thing that really got me as I sat listening to these, not even 18 year old, girls say this was, Lord how different would my life have been had I understood this concept at their age? How many choices would've been made differently? How many situations I got myself into would've turned out differently? I could spend ALOT of time beating myself up (because I'm certainly good at that) over the should have's...the could have's....but right in the middle of it all I felt the Lord gently say..."You're right where I want you girl, the past is just that - the past - I wrote it that way for a reason. You just keep doing what you're doing. I'll take care of all that - in fact, I already have."

He's ever so gentle with me, ever so patient. I certainly don't deserve that. I certainly have brought Him pain, disappointment, even shame. BUT GOD....my two favorite words ever....in His love and compassion and patience with me still welcomes me home, still takes me in His arms, still holds me up when I stumble and picks me up when I fall. That's His specialty. I love that about Him! So, when I feel the enemy shaking things around me, tugging at what I love and hold dear, trying to steal my joy, I will remember, he's only done so because my Abba Daddy has said "Have you considered Valarie? There's are some things in her I need to work on. You can't have her. You can't destroy her, but why don't you shake things up a bit. I've got some work to do to make her more like my Son." and I can rest, I can trust, I can face whatever he brings because my God - He's a big G God and HE has got this thing!!!

Whew....time flies when you're having fun.....

2012-01-22T21:37:00.000-05:00

At least that's the story I'm going with!

I can't believe another year has flown by. I remember when I was little my parents talking about how time seemed to just fly by and I would think, "Are you kidding me? This is the LONGEST school year ever!" Lol....little did I know how right they were. I watch my now 14 year old walk into the room and he's as tall as me (taller he would argue) and it seems like just last week I was rocking him in my arms. CRAZY!

Well, I've been on a bit of a wild ride since I last posted. Nothing too major, but just life, but through it all the Lord has continued to sustain, to provide, to bless and to take me places I didn't expect to be. Sometimes to places I didn't WANT to be but just like always, it's to place HE knows best! Fortunately after (ahem) years of walking with the Lord I've finally gotten it thru this thick head of mine that His ways are NOT my ways....and it's a good thing they're not!!!

We've started on a journey at church of reading chronologically thru the Bible in a year, as a body, so I hope to get back to blogging a bit more regularly....no promises for the 2 of you reading this...;-) but we shall see. My prayer for this year is that the Lord will continue to stretch me, to KICK me out of comfort zone and to take me on the WILDEST ride of my life.....I've got my seat belt locked and Lord, I'M READY!!!

Here we go...........

God has brought me from a Mighty Long Way...

2011-07-25T11:27:00.003-05:00

Boy will that title preach or what? Can't believe it's been a year since I've blogged, but in this instant world of Facebook, Twitter, and the like, blogging seems like a relic sometimes doesn't it? I started this process knowing only a few close friends - and hopefully one day my kids would be able to know my heart and I've fallen short on staying faithful to them this past year. For that I'm sorry. So much has gone on. Job change (or loss of said job), kids growing up, middle school started for my middle son, broken bones, broken relationships....broken.....so many changes....but like the lyrics of that Geron Davis song says "God has brought me from a mighty long way"!!! He's the ONE constant in my life, in this world!! For THAT, I am thankful.
So, today I'm coming off a whirlwind week. My boys went to Camp Paradise - first time for my middle child - and my baby girl went to hang out with Aunt Regina while I worked at the LifeWay You Lead conference and then had the honor of attending the Living Proof Live event with Beth Moore this weekend. Every time I've gone to one of her events the Lord has been faithful to give me a WORD and He did NOT disappoint again this weekend! Only this time, I got a BUNCH of them!! My intention is to try to blog about some of those this coming week and to continue to try to blog at least weekly. Again, knowing that only a few who care and hopefully one day my kids will likely be the only ones who read it. My hope is that someone will benefit from my words, not because they are MY words - as if I have anything to offer - but that the Word of the Lord will speak to them as He did to me! He is all I have to offer anyone! He is my life!!
So, this weekend one thing He clearly spoke to me about came from Deut 6:23. "But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers." The Lord brought me out....that He might bring me in....that was my Word from early Friday night! When I look back at what the Lord has brought me thru - make a timeline of my life -I can see His hand so clearly - so faithful. Sometimes He brought me out of BIG things, drugs, alcohol, etc...sometimes it was not so BIG things...but sin none the less. SIDENOTE: Isn't it just like our nature to "classify" sin as BIG sins and not so BIG sins. Sin is sin! Murder = gossip. Stealing = overeating. Rape = prayerlessness. He sees it as the same, only we put it in categories.
Ok, back on topic. God brought me out....to bring me in. He is constantly changing me. Constantly making me more like His Son. Constantly cleaning me up and cleaning me out so that He can use me. THAT's the bottom line! He'll continue this work til He takes me home and the older I'm getting the quicker this process is becoming. Not less painful, but thankfully I'm not quite as stubborn as I was...not quite...;-)
So I'll wrap this blog up with this line from Sheila West - speaker at You Lead. "God loves you too much to leave you where you are." Do it Lord.....

Wow......

2010-07-31T19:52:00.003-05:00

I'm sure no one will even be reading this blog, but hopefully one day my kids will pop on here and be able to find comfort in knowing that their Momma loved Jesus, loved their Daddy and ADORED them! So, for that reason, I will try to get back to bloggy world.

Let's see if I can sum up the last 5 months in a just a few sentences. Still working part time, though my boss was gracious enough to let me work from home!! YAY GOD and thanks Roy! We have moved and I'll make the story of our move another blog entry....WAY too amazing not to share it. God was so faithful and he TOTALLY showed off with our new home!! We have a pool for crying out loud!!!!! Hubby got a new work van that we are allowed to use for our family - again God showing off! Kids have been doing GREAT - though they're kinda 'bored' since Momma has to work M - Th. We are blessed. I mean, I can't even begin to explain to you how blessed we are!!! God has been so faithful to me and to my family - despite our shortcomings and He has just blown me away this summer!!!

So, it's getting late on this pre-Lord's day evening and I will get back to blogging soon but for now all I can tell you is that God is good!!! He provides, He sustains, He blesses, He loves!!! If you don't believe that.....well you're just looking at the wrong thing!!! "Seek first His kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Mth 6:33 Jesus' words, NOT mine! Just sayin.......

OH NO HE DI'INT!!

2010-02-23T15:12:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I've taken the time to sit down and blog, but after my morning I knew I was gonna share this story! I'm going to warn you that if you think I've got it together you are going to be sadly disappointed in me, but if you're willing to hear this as one who messes up like the rest of us then read on....just tryin' to keep it real!
Alot has changed since I was last on here. We're fixing to move....still don't know where, but we are...and I started a part-time job. The Lord was faithful to provide it for me - though it wasn't something I really WANTED, it was something I really NEEDED to do during this time for my family! He was gracious enough to give me a Christian office and not just one of those feel good Christian offices, but I know the owner and he's a real, talk it and walk it Christian...fruit EVERYWHERE if you know what I mean. The in God's loving generosity to me He gave me a job that allows me to take my kids to school every day and pick them up - basically I work while they're in school. They're home...I'm home! God is good!
So back to this morning. My #2 child's grade level left today for their DC trip and we were just not in a financial place to let him go. When I woke him this am he went straight to the clock, looked at it and goes "Well mom, they're loading the bus for DC right now!" He was then very quiet on the way to school and asked if we could go visit my stepson this summer who lives very close to DC. By the time we got to school I was about to explode into tears, but I waited until he was out of the car.
As I drove home to get ready for work I proceeded to have myself quite the little hissy fit with God. I told Him how tired I was of this and of that, how I understood why people walk away from Him when it feels like He's not doing anything to help us. (AS IF!..ugh) Just sat in that car and pitched myself a good one. No response. No special little song on the radio to cheer me up. No Scripture brought to my mind to remind me who I am...who He is. NOTHING. Until....
I leave the house with #1 to take him to school (he goes later than #2 and #3). We're driving by this sweet little church with one of those electronic signs out front and they always have the best verses or sayings on there so I was sure to look as we drove by. What was there....."In your anger do not sin" Ps 4:4!!! OH YES IT WAS!!! I immediately start cracking up and apologizing to God for my behavior. Doesn't He just kill you?! Then I got to work and started making my calls and don't you know that for well over an hour EVERY call that placed me on hold either had Christian music playing or even a Pastor teaching!!!! I just sat there cracking up at how patient He is, how kind and loving He is, and yet how gentle - even in correction - He is!!!
Anyway, it ended up being a great day and when I picked up #2 today he goes "Mom I had a blast at school today and guess what....NO HOMEWORK this week!" So even if he's still a little sad about missing this trip, he's just as happy here with us AND he doesn't have to miss his guitar lesson! That's right, my little man is seeing that glass half full! Makes my heart skip a beat!

Alive and active indeed......

2010-01-27T15:05:00.002-05:00

I love to study the Bible. I mean, to find the ins and outs of Scripture - there's nothing better. However, I did my first precept study last fall - and it wasn't even a REAL precept - it was BASED on precept. It was Kay Arthur's Covenant study and let me tell you that it CHANGED MY LIFE! Not Kay Arthur, not the study, but the Word of God changed me......AGAIN!!!

Here's a little background.....I had heard of Kay Arthur's precept studies and heard about the lists, and the coloring and the marking and I have to tell you just talking about it gave me a bit of a headache. I'm not really a detail kinda girl, more of a big picture person. So when I was asked to join the Covenant study by our women's director this people pleaser of course said yes - all the while kicking and screaming! Then the Lord started peeling back the veil - giving me glimpses of things I'd NEVER seen in His Word and when it came time to sign up for the full fledged Genesis precept, I was one of the first on the list!!!

So, 3 weeks ago I began this journey diving into Genesis and let me tell you friends - the pool is DEEP!! We have spent 3 weeks and haven't made it past Gen 2:4!!!!!!! Who knew?! (besides God of course) I have learned more about creation and the great lengths God went to to use His Word to prove His Word over and over then I have ever known. I have learned that I don't need ANYONE else to spoon feed me the Word. I have learned that even this ditsy blonde can GET IT!! God's Word has become alive and active to me like never before - and not just parts of it - ALL OF IT!!! The hard part now comes in making what's alive and active motivate me to clean up the junk in me that God can't use. That's where the work truly is. Not in the studying, but in the applying! I will tell you though, that I'm LOVING it! I mean, I can't say I won't ever do another kind of study cause you know I LOVE me some Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer and so many other anointed teachers, but I can say that I don't NEED them to teach me because "No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord', because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest." Heb 8:11

Wow.....

2010-01-19T09:47:00.002-05:00

I can't even believe how long it's been since I've blogged. So long in fact, that no one will likely notice that I HAVE blogged! Lol That's ok really because this is mainly for my kids anyway!! ;-)

2010......WOW! Where in the world did 2009 go? I mean really! I can vividly remember my parents talking about how time seemed to fly the older they were getting and I would think "Are you kidding me? I'm never gonna turn _____(fill in the blank! lol)!" Now I know just how right they were...about many things!

So today I just wanted to post about my hopes for the new year. It's starting with mixed blessings for my family. We're moving....again. Long story. But I'm really anxious to see how the Lord is gonna make this happen, because it's gonna be NOTHING short of His hand doing it! We're also starting with some big changes with Jimmy's job. Changes that are for the good, both for the position he's in and financially. Also BIG changes at our church!!! A pastor that I never thought would return is in fact coming home...Rev. Clint Pressley! AMAZING how the Lord did that work! I can't wait for this adventure!!

Changes with One Voice. One of our sweet members has decided to pull out because of her commitments at home (which I FULLY understand) but I will still miss her presence! We're also facing some exciting months ahead with several opportunities that the Lord has presented us with. Keep us humble Lord!!

So, all in all 2010 is off to a bumpy but thrilling start. I'm kinda seeing it like a roller coaster. Right now we're on the climb up the tallest hill of the ride, but I can see the crest and I can't wait til I can let go with both hands, throw my arms in the air and scream (like a girl of course) as we race down the other side in complete joy!!! All things joy!!! NO FEAR, NO WORRIES, just reckless, abandoned JOY!!!! That's my motto for 2010 and I know the enemy hears that and he's already starting to plot against me, but to him I say "You are DEFEATED by the power of Jesus and I WILL WIN because I am HIS!!!"

Today in my God Calling it talked about the anticipatory love of God and it compared that love to a Mother's love as she prepares a gift for her child for a birthday or for Christmas. Where do we, as Mom's learn that kind of joy? From our Father, of course!! Listen to these words from the book..."The Anticipatory Love of God is a thing mortals seldom realize. Dwell on this thought. Dismiss from your minds the thought of a grudging God, who had to petitioned with sighs and tears and much speaking before reluctantly He loosed the desired treasures. Man's thoughts of Me need revolutionizing." That's what I'm gonna do this year...revolutionize how I see God...how BIG He really is....how He's anticipating the revelation of His plans for me!!! Does that blow your mind like it does mine? God - the Creator - the Sustainer of the Universe - the Redeemer of the lost - is finding joy in revealing His plans for my life - to me!!!!! Somebody wants to say "There ain't no high like the Most High!!!" lol

So thanks for listening to my ramblings and I pray that 2010 bring revolution to how you see God as well!!!!

Storms.....

2009-08-06T08:20:00.002-05:00

I actually love storms...at least when I'm at home, when my man and my babies are all safely tucked in with me. I don't love the ones where we're glued to the skies because tornadoes have been seen or predicted - those I could do without - but a good rattling of the house and watching the yard light up at midnight from the lightning - love it! I think it's because when I was little my PawPaw used to sit me on his lap during the storms and tell me God was bowling. (yeah I know, not very theological, but it kept his little "brown eyed huzzy" - what he called me - from being scared) The thunder was him rolling the ball and the rain fell because He's so big and His bowling ball is so heavy the clouds couldn't hold the rain in. The lightning - you guessed it - a strike! LOL Funny thing is I've tried that with my kids and they just look at me and go "Yeah right Mom". Oh the power of the PawPaw!! LOL

So, I'm in a bit of a storm right now. Some people would look at my life, the pattern of the way things have happened in it, and think that I've always been attacked following a major spiritual event. They would be right. I went to hear our preacher's wife lead an amazing women's event - it was the final night in a series she'd been doing - and that night ended up in the hospital bleeding internally and losing a baby. I went to another women's event on a Saturday at our church and my Daddy went to be with Jesus on the following Tuesday. I had been on a retreat with my Sunday school class and my brother-in-law died the following week. So, after going to Deeper Still this weekend - well, I've learned to brace myself. Life did not disappoint. Fortunately it's not anything as tragic as a death or an illness, but it's a storm for my family. Long story short, our landlord has decided to sell his house and we've got to move. Right before school starts. Special. We've had this conversation with them before and they decided to wait but this time events in their life have lead them to this decision. I don't blame them.

When you read that last paragraph some people might say "Girl, I'd stop going to those things if I was you. Every time you do something bad happens." But I say "Look how faithful the Lord has been to fill me up so that when those storms have hit - I'm READY!" And He was faithful again. Last weekend Priscilla Shirer brought the thunder with her when she taught from Eph 3:20-21. Among the many nuggets God gave me thru her was this one: When you pray, be specific. Ask God specifically for things that you want. Ask Him to specifically meet this need or that one. But then say to Him "But God if you have something better in store for me....GIVE ME THAT!!!" So that's what I'm asking Him to do. I'm asking Him for something better! I have no idea what that something better will look like - and frankly I could care less - I just want HIS something better for my life! I want Him to go BEYOND the beyond that I could ask for or imagine! That's the truth of Eph 3:20-21. His Spirit is at work in me and that power, combined with my faith in Him, combined with the pattern of faithfulness I can see in my life bring me rest! As Jesus slept on a cushion in the boat during the squall on the sea in Mark 4, so I will crawl up in my Abba Daddy's lap and rest while this storm passes by. That doesn't mean I won't see the storm, hear it or even feel it's power trying to shake me, but I will rest. I'll rest because I know who holds tomorrow and He is Faithful!!

Forgiven...

2009-07-31T07:04:00.003-05:00

That's a hard word in this world. Forgiven. Lots of times we say we forgive people. Someone steps on your toe, "Oh, I'm sorry", "It's okay" we answer. Forgiven. Someone takes your seat at a party "Oh, I didn't know this was your seat", "Oh, that's all right" we offer up. Forgiven, but are they really? Someone talks about you behind your back, "You know I really didn't mean that" they say, "Oh, I understand" we say, but do we really? Are we willing to trust them with our secrets again? Forgiven. It's easier said than done - for most of us anyway. I know there have been people in my life that I've had a HARD time forgiving. They've done unspeakable things to me. Things that could've destroyed me - literally and figuratively.

This morning God had me in Exodus and the study I'm doing talked about "Israel's Golden Boy" and since we were in Exodus I thought - Moses. Surely we're gonna read about Moses, and of course we did, but he wasn't the 'golden boy' in this story. Today the focus was Aaron. In Ex 38 Moses is on the mountaintop quite busy with the Most High. Meanwhile, Aaron was left with "the people". They got bored, they got lonely, they got scared so they went to Aaron for help. What did the golden boy do? Gave them what they wanted. A god. A god made of gold in the shape of a calf. Strike 1. Then when baby brother returns with the "Word" what does Aaron do? Blames the people. Strike 2. They asked for his help and he gave them what they wanted. I think he could see on Moses' face that he wasn't buying it so then he tries to play it off as a miracle. "I put their gold in the fire and out popped this calf". (my paraphrase of course) Strike 3. You'd certainly think that God would be ready to move on from Aaron, don't you? I mean, maybe he'd get to herd the cattle, or maybe carry Moses' tent around for him, but no. Just a couple chapters over (40) we find God telling Moses to go get Aaron and anoint him as priest.

Say what?! Yes that's what I said. Aaron becomes priest! Not only that, but his sons, they do too! In fact "Their anointing will be to a priesthood that will continue for all generations to come." Ex 40:15b. Don't you just love that about God? Not only did He forgive Aaron, but He turned around and poured a blessing on his entire family line! Amazing!!

That my friends, is forgiveness. In my own life I can tell you that the Lord took a girl who was born into a family that served Him. A family that raised her to know, love and serve Him. However, that girl made some mistakes....just a few......THOUSAND! lol Yet He has turned my life around. He has blessed me beyond measure. He has given me a life that I surely didn't imagine I'd have. He has blessed me with a man that I adore (and adores me too, most of the time lol), with kids that couldn't be any more amazing if they even tried, with a family that I love and with friends that love on and support me every day. He has used me in the ministries He has blessed me with and that, in and of itself is a miracle!
He is faithful. He reminds me every day that I'm nothing without Him. He does it in a way that doesn't condemn me, but convinces me not to even try it on my own. He is good. He IS forgiveness!

Why.......

2009-07-20T07:45:00.002-05:00

Why is it that bad things have to happen? I know the whole sin in the world speech but I still sometimes wonder why.
Why is it that the ones we love hurt us most? Shouldn't they be the very ones that do their best to NEVER hurt us?
Why are family dynamics so difficult to deal with? Webster's defines family as a group of persons that come from the same ancestors. Shouldn't that mean something?
This post has become very depressing hasn't it? lol. I'm really not sad this morning just shaking my head in amazement at some of the relationships in my life. Sometimes I'm so overwhelmed at the things people do to one another - the things they say, the way they act - that cause pain that I just can't even imagine.
Don't get me wrong. I KNOW I've treated people I love badly. I've taken out anger on them, I've spoken hatefully to them, I've ignored them - but I can honestly say that I have been sorry for it! I can honestly say that MOST of the time it wasn't intentional. I didn't set out to hurt them. Then I have hurt after the fact.
It just amazes me how the Lord can turn a life around. I have seen in the last week, a change in some one's life that has been such a witness to those that they love! I have sat, shaking my head, at how the Lord has used their life to impact so many lives around them. Like tossing a rock into water and the ripples it makes, their life has been making ripples in the lives of the people around them that don't know the Lord. AMAZING!
Then the question that comes to my mind is....why don't they trust him too? Why don't they just turn their life over to him? Why do they continue to run, to hurt, to lose, to fight? Why? He's waiting to show them love. He's waiting to bring them peace. He's waiting to give them life. He's waiting to.......... Why don't they let Him?............
These questions were true in my own life at one time. Then finally I realized how very much I needed Him in my life. How I was never going to find the peace I was longing for apart from Him. He has changed my life. Sure, I still blow it.....daily, but He's there to pick me up, dust me off, and set me out to try it again - this time in His strength. He's there to love me. He shows it to me every day. He forgives. He is patient. He is kind. He never hurts me but corrects me when I need it - the way a Father should. He's there. Always. That makes me wonder why? Why would the Creator of the Universe, the God of Heaven, the King of all Kings do all this for me? For me?! Because He is faithful, He is loving, He is mercy, He is.........
Oh how he loves you and me.
Oh how he loves you and me.
He gave His life, what more could He give?
Oh how He loves you,
Oh how He loves me,
Oh how He loves you and me.

One Voice World Tour Stop 2!

2009-07-01T07:57:00.003-05:00

LOL. That's what my man called last nights event!. He's our road manager. One Voice (the ladies group I sing with) sang at a Missions Festival about a 3 weeks ago and last night we sang at the Charlotte Rescue Mission and today I just can't stop smiling. It was incredible!! When I began asking the Lord which songs to sing He gave them to me immediately and I have to admit that sometimes when that happens I get a little nervous. Not that I don't trust Him, but I know myself well enough that sometimes I get in his way. This time - as He does EVERY TIME - He was faithful!!
We sang "He Reigns with Awesome God" and some of the men knew that one and they sang along and clapped and hollered! It was great! Then we sang "Orphans of God" and I think for the first time - in a very long time - I could see the entire room on the edge of their seats listening to the message that "There are no strangers, there are no outcasts, there are no orphans of God. So many fallen, but hallelujah, there are no orphans of God." Could there have been a more encouraging song for that particular group of men.....I think not! God you are so good!!
Then we sang "Shackles" and this group of ethnically diverse men were on their feet!! We loved every minute of it!! But most importantly God was glorified!!
The message that followed was just amazing and I was reminded of the amazing teachers we are blessed with at my church. I mean, it was GREAT!!! God's Word never fails!!
Over the days leading up the event I was asking God over and over to give me the right words to say to these men and to guard my mouth so that I wouldn't get lost in nervous chatter. (I tend to do that when I'm in front of people - lol) But yesterday God led me to a verse that just blew my mind. Ps 119:50 "My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life." I know that in that room there were men suffering. Suffering from losses. Suffering from addictions. Suffering from disappointments. Suffering. All of us are suffering and that is what the Lord was reminding me. Sure, I have a home. I have food. But I'm not that far from where they are.....none of us are really. And as I walked in that place and saw all their faces I was just overcome with the weight of suffering. But then that second line in Psalms. "Your promise preserves my life." What promise? Well, the promise that He will never leave me. The promise that He will never walk away from me. The promise that I am engraved on the palm of His hand. The promise that He knows my name. The promise that I can do all things thru His Son. And I tell ya, I was then overcome with HIM!! I was a wreck! I didn't know if I could stand up there and sing to these men, much less speak to them because I was so emotional, but my girlfriends surrounded me and we went before the throne and I could feel the Father telling me, I brought you here for a reason and don't you worry girl, I'll get you thru! AND HE DID! Not only did He get me thru, He gave me words that hopefully touched someone and I know it made them smile.....what more could I ask?
So today, I'm so overwhelmed again. I'm overwhelmed that the Creator of the Universe, the Maker of the Stars, the God of heaven would use me. Me. I'm so grateful that He gave me this opportunity and I'm praying that He'll give me others. I'm praying that He'll use 'One Voice' to accomplish His mission of spreading His Message to this city. "You broke the chains now I can lift my hands, and I'm gonna praise You, I'm gonna praise You"!!!!

It's my BIRTHDAY!!

2009-06-26T15:48:00.002-05:00

I'm not proud. I'll be glad to tell you it's my birthday!!! WOOOHOOOOOO!!!!

God is working.......

2009-06-25T08:18:00.003-05:00

He's still working, God is working even now. Tho' we often don't know just how, God is working, He's still working, God is working even now. LOVE me some Brooklyn Tab!!! It's so true. God is working. He's been working on me over these last weeks so much that I'm tired from it. ;-) That's the good thing tho, at least I know He cares.
There's been so many exciting things going on. We've got our annual Celebrate America program coming this weekend (it's so funny that going in this is my least favorite show but after it's over He always blesses me tremendously!), and getting ready for that with practice on SATURDAY....ugh.....We're just coming out of VBS which is always fun, but this year was a bit stressful because we had a mini "musical" in which my oldest had a part so it was studying lines, practice, etc. The ladies group I sing with, "One Voice" has been busy as well. We had the Breath of Heaven event in April, then a wedding in May (congrats Mandy!), then we sang at a Missions benefit in June and next week we're going to the Charlotte Rescue Mission to sing and we're singing at our Deacon's Wives meeting in August. whew....We're also working on a few other events (Jimmy has taken it upon himself to become our manager! lol) so if your church needs some music let me know!! We'll even travel as long as we can be fed! LOL
This is how I know God is working. I wasn't sure about the direction of this group and what we should be doing so I began praying for the Lord to either close the door for us or to swing it wide and well.....He is faithful!
Also, there are exciting things coming with STMM. The conference in Sept is starting to sell tickets, but we can always use more. If you wanna travel to - or if you live in - the Southern Ill area in Sept then check it out. Here's a link. It's gonna be great and we're praying the Lord will send people, the people of His choosing, to hear a Word!! BTW did I mention that Travis Cottrell will be leading worship. OH YES THAT'S WHAT I SAID!!!! ;-) If you can't come would you please be in prayer for this conference? We will most certainly appreciate it.
So, here it is summer, the months of slacking (as if), and we're slamming! I have to admit, I LOVE it!! Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!! and if you don't know what tomorrow is, then shame on you! lol JK! I don't know what my plans are, but who cares! I'm alive another year, I'm (relatively) healthy, I'm in love with the most amazing man God could've chosen for me, my kids are happy and healthy and I have a circle of friends who love me, challenge me and lift me up. What more could a girl ask for? Million dollars maybe?.....lol If I had a million you can slap guarantee I'd be getting 365 pairs of shoes - one for each day of the year! LOL Sad, I know.

For my brother......

2009-06-19T08:03:00.002-05:00

Jeff, it's quite possible that you won't see this post, but my prayer is that you will! I just wanted to say Happy Birthday and that I love you! I can't begin to imagine how hard it was growing up with 3 sisters but you have to know that you were/are our hero! You've protected us, loved us, made fun of us (Bubble 2 - lol), picked on us, fought for us, helped us and just been there for us and I know it wasn't always easy, or even what you WANTED to do, but you did it.
I hope your birthday is a great one and I hope that you don't start to fall apart now that you're 50!!!!!!!!lol

Love you!
BiKay

Our weekend!

2009-06-08T12:48:00.003-05:00

This weekend was a TOTAL blast for my family! First "One Voice" sang at the World Outback Missions Festival then we loaded up the Smith girls and headed to the pond to fish. Here's a few pics from the fun we had.

Maddie's first fish - not too close Jimmy! LOL

Here she is reeling in the "big catch"!
Josh caught a few as well.

Sheldon was certainly not to be outdone.

Here's all us girls singin'!

Note Beth left her mic to go cut the rug! LOL

Praisin' in a stable!

Yes, Liney was the only fan we had that day! LOL

It really was a great weekend and we had EXCELLENT weather. We called this the "One Voice Outback World Tour"! LOL Seriously though we were honored to be a part of the day and we got some praise on too! Hopefully those listening enjoyed it as well.

Don't try to tell me.......

2009-05-26T20:45:00.002-05:00

That God's not in the miracle business anymore!! I can tell you that He most certainly is! I got one today in fact!
In Jan. my oldest son went for an eye exam and was told he needed glasses. I noticed the Dr. was doing lots more tests than usual and at the end of the exam she rather nonchalantly goes "Yeah, I think he has glaucoma, but you don't need to worry." AS IF! He's 11 for Pete's sake, not 91. So I take him to my family Dr. who says he sees the same problem and then refers me on to a specialist. We had our first appt. back in April and the specialist does a TON of testing - I mean we were there for 1 hr and 45 min - but I was glad they were checking so many things.
After all was said and done he said he felt certain it was glaucoma - which is EXTREMELY rare in kids - but before he sentenced him to a lifetime of daily eye drops he wanted to recheck him in 2 weeks.
The 2 weeks came and a few days before the appt. they call me to reschedule. Today was the follow up. The didn't do all the tests from the first time, but according to the ones they did do - they were all NORMAL!!! Yes, no signs of glaucoma!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!! He did say that the inital "cupping" of the optic nerve (the thing they saw that started this whole ball rolling) was still there and it was something they needed to watch, but at this point my son is HEALED people!!! WOOOHOOOOOO!
For those of you who have prayed I say the most sincere heart felt thank you I can possibly offer! You'll never know this side of heaven what it meant! To those who offered words of advice or encouragement I say thank you so much! To my Abba Father, my Heavenly Father, my Jehovah Rapha there are no words........Thank you seems so inadequate. All I can say is PRAISE YOU, PRAISE YOU, PRAISE YOU!!! I will never cease to sing of your mercy and love for my family!!! THANK YOU my Father!!!

The Word is alive!

2009-05-18T12:23:00.003-05:00

Before I jump into my title today, I'll do a little debriefing from my weekend. My sweet nephew JR graduated from High school Saturday so the kids and I loaded up and went to WV. It was a super quick trip - left Friday, came back Saturday - but it was well worth it. Jay graduated from a small Christian school and they allowed each graduate to speak. (yeah, it was that small) My sweet nephew has been thru so much in his life - losing his dad a few years ago - and he has always been a very caring and compassionate person. His speech left the entire room in tears - even the Principal was seen wiping a few tears away. He's an amazing boy who is totally sold out to Jesus and I know the Lord is gonna do great things with him! I love you Jaybir and I'm so very proud to be your Aunt "Wal"! (think wow) lol
So this past week has been busy, busy for me. The STMM team has really been picking up and we're in the process of creating a prayer team - in fact it's about ready to roll! So we've been taking prayer requests and have been praying over them. Here's where things get good! I read the first request that came in and the Lord took me to Isaiah to share some Scripture with this sweet sister. I did. Then I read the second request. I began searching thru Scripture and asking the Lord for something to share, but the Lord sent me right back to the same verse! I just love that! I mean, here were 2 women with 2 very different requests and yet, the same verse was alive for both of them! I then poured thru all the requests that came that day and as I read each one I just sat there having me some church right at my computer desk! You guessed it, the same Scripture applied to each and every situation!!!! The Word is alive y'all! If you don't believe me, just dig in and see for yourself - I dare you!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

2009-05-10T20:04:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day! Mine was awesome!! I'm so blessed!

2009-05-08T21:13:00.003-05:00

These shots were taken by my friend Antonia and I made this little video so y'all could see what a GREAT day we had at Breath of Heaven. I must say that "One Voice" was honored to participate that day and had a BLAST doing it!!

Broken......

2009-05-08T08:26:00.003-05:00

The title sounds kinda depressing doesn't it? I think about breaking things - like the time I broke this amazing dish that belonged to my grandmother. AWFUL!! My maternal grandmother died 3 months before I was born so I never knew her, but I've always been told how much I look like her and act like her too. (scary) My paternal grandmother died when I was 5 so I've never had the joy of having that relationship in my life. Isn't it funny how the Lord works because all I ever knew was my maternal grandfather (paternal died when I was five - about 2 months before my grandma) and I LOVED my Pawpaw! I mean LOVED him! He would tell me all the time that I was his favorite. In fact, he would tell EVERYONE I was his favorite! LOL You know my siblings and cousins just LOVED that?! LOL Now my kids only have their grandmothers in their lives. Both of their grandfathers are in heaven. Hmmmm.
So anyway, (sorry for the rabbit hole there) I broke that dish that was my Mawmaw Millie's and I was torn up about it. I tried to glue all the pieces together, but it wasn't happenin! I still have all the broken pieces in a box - I just can't bring myself to throw them out. Sad, I know. So my theme today is broken. My foot is broken. Yes it is. I fell during our kids program Sunday night at church into a bucket of kazoos - yes I said kazoos - and landed on the outside of my foot breaking a bone. SPECIAL! It still kinda hurts, but I can walk and I have a very lovely big blue shoe to wear for Mother's Day. In fact, the UC Doc says "Happy Mother's day" as he puts this hideous thing on my foot Tuesday morning. (yes, I waited til Tuesday to go to the Dr)
Broken. UGH. So during this time of no computer that's kinda where the Lord has had me. Broken in such a way that He has had to heal and then fill me. I love that about Him! He's had me in His Word more than ever. He's put a new love for His Word in my heart like never before. I mean, every time something comes up I'm finding Scriptures to go with it. I even whipped some out on my kids when a note came home from school - and no it wasn't "Honor your father and mother so that your days may be long" (that's from the Valarie International Version by the way). It was Scripture about their particular behavior and how sin breaks the Lords' heart. He's making His Word come to LIFE in this house and I LOVE it!
So, while I've been broken, both literally and figuratively, I can truly say that the Lord makes beauty from ashes! So often the Lord breaks us because He knows there's things that need to be healed, cleaned and repaired in us. It's not fun. Breaking something never is. But oh, the finished product is worth it!! So, I can say that I've been thankful for this time away. I've missed checking in on friends and being able to keep up with things via email, etc. but I wouldn't trade the time with my Lord for ANYTHING!!! It's shown me what matters. What He wants. What He demands. What He deserves!
Next time let's just hope there's no kazoos involved!!! ;-)

GOOD TO BE BACK!

2009-05-06T07:03:00.003-05:00

Land sakes it stinks not having a computer! Mine died - I mean totally and completely died on April 19th and I've been without since. I can't begin to tell you how frustrating that has been. I mean, Beth Moore changed her blog and I didn't even know it! LOL!
Anyway, I'm back in computer land - thank you Jesus! - and as you can imagine I'm SOOO behind! I've got some catching up to do as well as a gigantic inbox to empty but I can't wait to tell you all how the Lord has been speaking to me during this time! I'm getting ready to go fill in for Donna F. and lead an "Esther" study (which I LOVE) but I've got so much to tell all 5 of you! LOL!
I'll be back later to fill you in. It also involves some broken bones! OUCH!.....

That's My King! I wonder...do YOU know Him?

2009-04-12T21:20:00.001-05:00

Holy Week

2009-04-06T22:22:00.002-05:00

I've always looked forward to Easter. I'm a Spring/Summer kinda girl so Easter was kinda the 'kick off' to Easter for me. I know, not exactly the 'church' answer for loving Easter, but I'm just keepin' it real here.
I have to say, however, that this year there's something new in me. God has done such a mighty work in me over the last few months that I'm just totally blown away by how excited I am for this holiday!! After doing the "Esther" study I have a whole new appreciation for this season and a whole new reason to celebrate! Of course the meaning of Easter is still the same, to commemorate the resurrection of my Lord, but for me this year is so much of a celebration that my "Easter dress" has a whole new meaning. I told my friend Melissa that I was ABSOLUTELY getting something new this year (even though I'm on Praise Team that day and have to wear a black skirt - ugh) and I kinda feel like I'm getting a prom dress. FOR REAL y'all!! Do you even understand why we have a reason to celebrate? I mean, there's the obvious power of the Resurrection, Jesus' defeat of sin and death, our sins covered once for all....AMAZING when you just think of that alone. But do you understand the freedom we have? I mean FREEDOM!!
Reading over Esther, pouring over the MANY celebrations, the feasts, the laws....it's exhausting. I have to admit that there's a part of me that finds the traditions of the Jews absolutely fascinating, but it just makes me sad at how bound they are. I say that in love, I mean it. They are just tied to those laws like nothing. I am so thankful that I am tied at the foot of the cross! I have freedom there! I have life there! I have power there! I have love there! I have forgiveness there!
Don't you think you need a prom dress too?! YAHOOOJAH!!
Thank you Jesus!!
Sorry for the yelling y'all but I'm free to yell all I want! ;-)

(PS - YAY Tarheels!)

Y'all gotta see what God did.......

2009-04-01T15:31:00.002-05:00

OH YES HE DID!!!!!

Y'all seriously have NO idea how badly my family needed this and God just totally took care of everything for us!! Jehovah Jireh showed up and showed off! Y'all I've never had a sunroof in a car in my life! Leather (heated) seats, power everything, stow-n-go seats, multi cd player and get this, just to really show off - IT HAS A DVD PLAYER!!!!!!! Oh yes I am one of those moms!! AND PROUD OF IT!!!! ;-)

So all I can say is PRAY when you need something. Pray without ceasing. Pray continually. PRAY people! I've been praying for this for over 2 years and not only did He answer it but just to top off this little sundae He lowered my payments by $100!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY GOD!!!!!!!
Sorry for the yelling, but.....actually no I'm not sorry for the yelling!!!!

HHAAALLLLEEEEELLLLLUUUUUUUUU-----JAH!!!!!!!!!!!

Waiting.......

2009-03-27T07:42:00.003-05:00

Here I am waiting, abide in me I pray.

Here I am longing for you.

Hide me in Your love.

Bring me to my knees.

May I know Jesus more and more.

Come live in me,

All my life take over.

Come live in me,

I will rise on eagles' wings

Love that song. Waiting....not so much. I'm waiting on some things today. BIG things! Things that have the potential to ROCK my world!! However, in the waiting.. I will rise! You see, I know who holds tomorrow. I know Him. I don't just know about Him. I mean I really, really know Him. We have a relationship. I talk, He listens. He talks, I listen (may not like it, but I listen!;-))

Doing this Esther study has changed me. Has changed how I approach things. Has changed how I see every detail of my life. I don't want to give things away for those who haven't done it, but my story is being rewritten! PRAISE THE LORD! The story that I scripted is, well...trash! It's junk. But the Father is writing a novel to be read one day.....okay I really don't wanna give that part away!!!

So here I am waiting. He's abiding in me. I'm longing for more of Him. Not just for the answers I want, but for Him!! I'm going to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride instead of pacing and worrying all day. Because "the Lord longs to be gracious to (me)you; he rises to show (me)you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!" Isa 30:18 (emp mine)

Y'all have a great weekend!

Already?

2009-03-24T07:01:00.002-05:00

I love the anticipation of beginning a new Bible study. I love picking up the book and looking thru at all the blanks and wondering how God will fill them in for me. I love reading ahead - just a little - to see what we'll start with. I love it! But where does the time go?
Tomorrow is the last day of our Esther study. Sniff. It's funny because I had been doing my homework a week ahead of the class, but decided as we were going thru it that I didn't like that so I was only about 1/2 a week ahead. (being the leader I decided I needed to be prepared! haha) But this last week was different. I didn't read ahead. I couldn't. This study is truly amazing! If you haven't done Beth Moore "Esther, It's Tough Being a Woman" PLEASE do! You think you know the Esther story already? I challenge you to think again. You think Esther has little to do with your life? Think again. You think how could you possibly relate to a Jewish girl who becomes Queen of Persia? THINK AGAIN Sister!!! You'll find yourself in EVERY character in the story. Yes, even in the evil Haman. Trust me.
So tomorrow we wind this study down, but here's the exciting thing. The ladies who have been SOOOOO faithful to come and y'all there's been about 15 - 16 ladies who have been FAITHFUL to a Wednesday morning Bible study, want to start another study! They're so hungry that they don't even want to take a week off! That makes me want to go out in my yard and do a cartwheel!!!! Of course, I'd likely either break my wrist or fall and break my leg so no cartwheels - they'll just have to be done in my heart!! I love it when the Lord sets a fire of passion in women for His Word! That's the ONLY reason I agreed to lead this study. I knew I had NOTHING to offer these women, but my love for the Word, my passion for breaking it open and diving in! There's nothing like it! You think you know a verse - you think you've heard it all before - you think it's a nice story.........THINK AGAIN! It's alive! It's active! It's breath! It's life!!! WOOHOOOOOOOOO! I'm 'bout to run a lap for the Word girls! LOL!
So as we close the book on Esther, I find myself on the edge of my seat in anticipation. I can't wait to see where He leads next! I can't wait to go pick up my Sword and see where He leads!!Don't you wanna come along?.....

Let it go.....

2009-03-19T07:51:00.002-05:00

Easier said than done, isn't it? Letting things go. Sometimes I have said I let it go in my head, but in my heart it's been a different story. UGH. HATE it when that happens. The Lord has really been showing me areas in my life where I've held on to things that should have LONG ago been let go of. Been laid down. I'm so thankful the Father hasn't given up on me. Where would I be? SCARY!
So I have to tell you what happened in our Bible study yesterday. One of my sweet girlfriends came to study with her 2 yr old niece in tow. It was unexpected for her and she wasn't able to send her to childcare so she stayed in the lesson with us. I know what you're thinking - bet that was fun? Actually it was amazing! That precious little thing hardly made a peep for 2 HOURS! I think I heard her sweet voice twice the whole time. Mine would've been crawling under the tables or twirling in the middle of the group. Scary, I tell ya! ;-)
There's a story behind this sweet little girl. Her momma doesn't know Jesus and neither does her daddy. Her Auntie is the only Jesus this baby girl ever sees. (And boy does she see Jesus in her life!!!) When her momma found out she was pregnant with the princess she wasn't quite ready for the "commitment" motherhood would bring and decided to abort. My sweet friend intervened and convinced her to change her mind!! YOU GO GIRL!! To the great glory of God, the sweetest little angel was born and thus graced our study with her presence yesterday.
As we ended the Esther session, Beth Moore was talking about letting things go, giving our giant-size weights of life to the Only One who can truly carry them so she had us lifting our hands as she prayed. Everyone raised their hands during this time of surrender. As we opened our eyes this little miracle girl had gotten down into the floor and was standing with her precious little hands lifted to Jesus. Imagine the weight that baby carries every day in a home where Jesus isn't. Amazing! Needless to say, all of us just fell out! It was one of the most precious experiences I've ever been a part of.
It's so hard to let things go, but oh girls when we do...the freedom! We can truly dance in the glory of God! We can truly sing, smile, shine for Jesus. Yes the hard times come. Yes difficulties arise, but trust can turn that thing around! Trust that God will sustain you regardless of the outcome. Trust, let go and live.....

"I know Baby"

2009-03-16T12:22:00.002-05:00

This weekend my baby girl got a boo-boo. No, there won't be any pictures posted of this one! LOL. After it happened I just sat rocking her and kept saying to her - in some attempt at comfort - "I know Baby, I know". Not really sure it helped all that much, but it was all I had to give her. It's hard when our kids hurt. It's hard when we can't do a thing to stop it or make it better for them, or for ourselves for that matter.
Lately I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed. There's a LOT going on in my life - a choir concert in 2 weeks, the end of my Esther study (sniff), Easter, Spring Break, a women's conference, children's choir spring concert. Just a LOT of stuff. I think because it's all relatively close I'm just feeling the stress of it. So God, in His loving kindness sent me to some Scriptures for comfort. He's so good that way. He's inviting me to crawl up on His lap and just rest a bit and let Him gently rock me with the Peace of His Word. I hope you'll gain some comfort from them in your day as well. Some of these are just portions of the verse, but they still speak VOLUMES! Enjoy!

"The Mighty One, God the Lord! He knows!" Josh 22:22
"for the Lord is a God who knows" 1 Sam 2:3
"he (the Lord) knows the way I take" Job 23:10
"the Lord laughs at the wicked for he knows their day is coming" Ps 37:13
"he (God) knows the secrets of the heart" Ps 44:21
"The Lord knows the thoughts of man" Ps 94:11
"for he (the Lord) knows how we are formed" Ps 103:14
"the proud he (the Lord) knows from afar" Ps 138:6 OUCH!
"he (God) knows what lies in darkness" Dan 2:22
"Your Father knows what you need before you ask him" Matt 6:8
"Your Father knows that you need" Matt 6:32
"God knows your hearts" Luke 16:15
"The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile" 1 Cor 3:20
"but God knows" 2 Cor 12:3 (do we even need anything else?!)
"The Lord knows those who are his" 2 Tim 2:19
"the Lord knows how to rescue" 2 Pet 2:9
"and he (God) knows everything" 1 John 3:20
AND THAT'S THAT! Now I want you to find someone in your house (even if it's your pet), look at them and say "THE LORD KNOWS"!!! ;-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENAN - a day late!

2009-03-12T19:54:00.003-05:00

Oh my word sweet boy! I can't believe you've been here a year already!!! I'm so thankful that your Momma has shared you with me. I love her - and I guess your daddy too! ;-) Your big sister brings fun everywhere she goes and so do you!! I love you Kenan and I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for your life. I know it's going to be big because of all the prayers that have been lifted on your behalf!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY sweetie pie!!

Auntie V

Week of some CRAZY TV!

2009-03-05T13:08:00.002-05:00

Was anyone looking for "After the Final Rose Part 3" last night? I know I sure was. In fact, I was hoping it would be a live show from somewhere around Dallas with Melissa telling everyone what a horrible kisser Jason was and how vertically challenged men can NOT be trusted!! LOL - just kiddin' shorties! ;-) (for a girl who's 5'9" there's always an abundance of men shorter than me!)
Then AI. Ugh. What's the deal with bringing back the losers? I mean, I'm all about second chances, but they had auditions, they went to Vegas - or wherever they were - they had their "big shot" on TV and STILL didn't choose the 'right song'?! COME ON! Someone, somewhere shoulda told them - "Uh, have you really decided on THAT one?" For real!
Last night was the kickoff for season 195 of "America's Next Top Model" and is it just me or have you EVER seen one of those winners on a magazine cover? Enough said.
So this week has just been some weird TV and I'm hoping tonight will be better. It's Thursday - it's MY tv night. Grey's, CSI, ER, Private Practice and one other show that only Melissa knows I watch on Thursdays (and I'm hoping she won't tell! haha). So much TV - so little time. Thank goodness for DVR. Yes, I don't think it appropriate to thank God for DVR! ;-)
Anyway, I'm dome with my rambling for today and since there's this 6 degrees or separation thing - if anyone who reads this knows someone, who knows someone, who knows poor little Melissa from the Bachelor, tell her she got off lucky. She needs a taller man! ;-)

Oh yes, I must mention that I FINALLY made it to the IKEA!! LAND SAKES people. Land sakes I tell ya!!! It's my new fav place to go. I walked in with sweet Melissa and we both just kept going on and on about how pretty everything was and we had only made it to the cafeteria!! Even the people were pretty - which Melissa said affirms that WE were in fact pretty too! LOL! Anyway, I'm going again....soon! Anyone wanna come along?! LOVE it!!! WOOHOOOOOO!!!!

One Voice

2009-03-02T17:20:00.001-05:00

This is my group singing at church. Not bad for practicing once! ;-)

Renewed, Refreshed, Restored....

2009-03-02T11:19:00.004-05:00

Had an AWESOME weekend! We've had snow here today so I can't take the time to blog all about it, but the Lord's Presence was felt in a mighty way in the mountains and I had a GREAT time with my man and a few of our friends. Here's a few pics.

Dr. Rummage and Michelle bringin' a word... ;-)

and cheesin' by the fireplace!

Todd and Lisa Smith givin' us the CHEESE!
Steve and Antonia reliving the prom! ;-)

The girl can SING y'all!Some of the gang.....

Weldon and MaryAnn Ogles - so sweet!

David and Trudi Milsaps

and last but certainly not least...
Me and my man!!!

Ain't we so cute?!

Retreatin....

2009-02-27T10:38:00.002-05:00

I'm SOOOO excited! My man and I are fixin' to head to a marriage retreat hosted by our church! I can't wait!! My sweet sister Regina is coming down to keep my kids. Pray for our safe travel and pray the Lord will continue the work He's been doing in Jimmy and me as well as our entire church!!
Have a great weekend!!
I know I will!!

Empowered Church!!

2009-02-25T07:55:00.002-05:00

LAND SAKES! I just don't know where to start this morning. We've just had one of the MOST powerful conferences at our church that I have EVER been to!! I mean, POWERFUL!!! The Holy Spirit not only showed up but He SHOWED OFF!!! (sorry for the yelling but I'm excited people!) It started first thing Sunday morning in the 8am service and my prayer is that it won't end! I don't even know how to put it all into words.
Sunday morning our counseling rooms were so full that they were sitting out in the halls with people. There were little boys and girls, teens, moms, dads, even a few grandparents!! It was AMAZING! Our pastoral staff were pulling people from the pews to come and counsel people because we didn't have enough decision counselors. Then Monday night the entire church came to the altar to pray together as a body. I mean there was hardly a person left in their seats and those who didn't come up knelt in their pews. The last night the Holy Spirit sparked a fire and people were on their feet shouting - yes I said SHOUTING at the Grove!!! WOOHOOOOOOOOO! lol
There's been a lot of 'talk' about our church and while I will admit that there are issues and we are not a perfect church I will also tell you this, I've been in church "all my life and 9 months before that" (to quote Dr. Roc Collins) and my dad was on staff in several of those churches. I've been in big churches. I've been in little churches. I've been in churches that were on FIRE and I've been in churches that you would've sworn you were the only one with a pulse. The bottom line is this. As long as we are on this earth, there will NEVER be a perfect church. Anywhere. You won't find it. The minute you think you've found the perfect church you'd better look out 'cause the enemy is on to you and he'll get busy! You won't find a perfect church because PEOPLE are in it and besides Christ Himself there's no perfect people. I say all that to say this. I love my church. I'm grateful for the blessings we have there and I'm grateful to be serving the Lord there and I'm grateful that He has answered my prayers for His Hand to move.
I'm claiming Hosea 6:1-3 for my church.
"Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us; that we may live in his presence. Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth." (emp mine) Y'all our conference was THREE DAYS long and I'll tell you I feel restored as a body of Christ! I believe He will. I believe He's begun already.
BTW - Remember how I said the Lord has been faithful to give me little 'hugs' to know that I'm doin' ok with teaching my Sunday school class? Well He sent me a hug, a kiss and a bouquet of roses Sunday morning!!! One of my girls went forward to rededicate her life and to be baptized!!!! WOOOOHOOOOOOOO Thank you Jesus for Ashley and her Momma!! I love you Lord! I thank you for this time of restoration and I pray that you will continue to appear. Continue to come to us. Continue to bind up our wounds. Continue to use the Grove as a place of healing for the hurting and continue to bring lost souls in!! Thank you Lord! Thank you!!!

Jesus - The Suffering Servant

2009-02-21T21:08:00.003-05:00

This is the title of my Sunday school lesson tomorrow. We're doing a study called "They Call Him Jesus" and so far it's been really good. Here's the thing though. 9th grade girls are hard. I mean, they really wanna know about Jesus and they really do know a lot more about Him than I thought, but they really want whatever I'm teaching them to apply TO THEM! That's where this study is....shall we say....lacking. The application part of the lesson doesn't go as deep as I/they would like. This is where my inexperience/insecurity/fear comes in. This is where the enemy likes to get me every Sat. evening as I'm finalizing things.

He likes to whisper in my ear that they're going to be giving me that face of "will you please just shut it". That face of "I see her mouth moving, but I don't understand a word coming out of it". Do you know that face? If you have a teenager I'm thinking you do. (lol) I've done what I can to prepare for these girls and just when I think I've wasted their time and mine, the Father is faithful to give me a little reassurance. Like a couple of weeks ago the pastor from our North Campus came down and preached and he was talking about carrying things and had a heavy backpack on his back. He dropped it dramatically on the floor to represent laying things down at Jesus feet and several of my girls turned and looked at me. I had done a similar illustration with a bag of rocks a few weeks earlier and they REMEMBERED! YAY God!

So tomorrow as we talk about how the world does it's best to tell us that we need to look a certain way, have certain things and do certain things to be loved and accepted but Jesus showed us in His life that to serve others was the way to greatness in His Kingdom I pray that something will stick with them. I pray that the Lord will honor His promise that His Word will not return void as I share it with these girls.

Father God, I know that you've promised me that I can do all things in Your strength so I pray now that You'll give me the right words as I lead class tomorrow. I ask You to start - even now tonight - to soften their hearts and open their minds to what it is You have to say to them. You are faithful Father, and I thank you for the joy of sharing with these amazing girls. Show yourself strong tomorrow and every day in their lives. In the precious name of the Ultimate Servant Your Son Jesus I ask it. Amen.

Blogging Funk

2009-02-18T18:06:00.002-05:00

It seems that I've been in a bit of a blogging funk lately. I've just been really busy and then when I sit to catch up on a few of my fav bloggers any free time I had is gone! So, today I'm going to turn this train around. Time to shake the funk and get back at it.

I'm leading the Esther study at church and we're 1/2 way thru. Let me just say that it has been AMAZING! The Lord has spoken to me over and over and over. Not just thru His Word but thru the incredible women who are participating with me. We have a great group and a variety of ages are represented and I just love how the Lord uses the older ladies to encourage me and I hope I'm doing the same for them. We've prayed together, laughed and of course, cried - we are girls after all - but God has spoken!! Who knew that sweet little Hadassah - a Jewish orphan girl who would become Queen of Persia would have so much in common with a stay-at-home mom of 3! Who knew?! The Word is alive and active I tell ya!!

Today we watched a video session on fear. When I told my friend Lisa that I was leading a study on fear today she just started cracking up! You see, I'm a chicken! Total Queen of Chickendom (maybe that's what I have in common with Esther - we're both Queens! haha). In fact, I have seen it start to manifest into my kids too. My daughter is scared to death of bikes. My middle son the dark. My oldest of heights. Fear. Ugh. I know it's sad.

Here's a few of things I've been afraid of in my life. The dark, close quarters, locked doors, bugs, the woods, being alone. Do I really need to go on? I think you get the point. I mean, my man always knew that if we went somewhere and I went to the restroom and wasn't back within 5 minutes he was to come looking for me because I was likely locked in the stall. For real! The list could go on and on. Finally the Lord said "Girl, when are you gonna start trusting me?". He put a friend in my life who pointed out how irrational my fears were and not to mention how utter disobedient I was being. Then He put my feet into the fire and took away the one person in my life who I knew would ALWAYS keep me safe - my Daddy - so that I would be left with no choice but to find my security in Him. So today as we watched that video on fear I truly did have a testimony. Sure, there's time when the enemy does his best to get my mind going. Like, when the bus is 5 minutes late or my man hasn't called me all day, but thank you Jesus this is one lesson I can say that I've learned. Mark 5:36 "Don't be afraid, just believe." I believe God loves me. I believe His plans are for my good and not my harm. I believe He wants me to live life to the full. I believe. I believe that when something dreadful happens...and I've lived thru enough to know that it will...He will be faithful! He will sustain! He will be with me thru it!

What's the worst that can happen to me? I die? Then I unzip this cloak of flesh and step into my heavenly body (which will be a size 2 by the way) and be in the Presence of the Very One who will wipe away all my fears, all my tears and be at peace. I say, BRING IT!

FIRSTS......

2009-02-13T08:11:00.002-05:00

Today is a day of firsts. My oldest has his first "dance" at school. (let me qualify by saying this means that the 5th grade class will walk "single file" from their class to the gym where all us mom's will be waiting with not one single slow dance in the mix! haha) My boy-man got up, picked out one of his best "church" shirts, got dressed, and then much to his Momma's delight brushed his teeth - TWICE! LOL!! Then came in and asked if I had any mints!! Do you love that? He won't be within 2 feet of this girl, but he's worried about his breath!!! LOL!!!

Anyway, I've got to get myself ready for this big day and I'm sure there'll be pictures to post later. I'm trying not to cry as my baby is growing up. sniff

Check this out!!!

2009-02-08T20:03:00.001-05:00

Hey y'all! My friend Traci is FINALLY blogging! Cut her a little slack since she's been adjusting to a new baby boy in her house over the last year. Can NOT believe it's almost been a year since that precious gift rolled down the walkway at the airport!!! OH MY WORD!!! Anyway, go visit her!

AND THE WINNER IS........

2009-02-07T13:55:00.003-05:00

Ok, first I have to say sorry for not having the drawing last night, but things got a little crazy around here so I did it this morning and congratulations to............
CYNDI ABERLY!!!!
Cyndi, go to the STMM site, pick the purse you want and let me know then we'll get it shipped to you!!!
Thanks to everyone who visited our site and please spread the word about STMM!!

CUTESY BAGS!

2009-01-29T10:01:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to mention that when you visit the STMM site you can choose any bag from the site if you're the winner. Forgot to mention that in my original post. Good luck and leave those comments!

GIVEAWAY!!!

2009-01-28T13:12:00.003-05:00

Don't you love free stuff - especially girly stuff? Well, this can be yours.....

If the price is right.....sorry couldn't resist. Seriously though, if you'll go visit THIS site and then leave me a comment on what you think of the Ministry, I'll put your name in a drawing and if you're the lucky one it's yours! I'll be holding the drawing on Fri Feb 6th so get busy! LOVE free stuff!!!

Good luck!

Ch, Ch, Ch, Changes.....

2009-01-11T19:22:00.002-05:00

Yep. Changed my layout. Like it? I think it's cute. Anyway, gotta fix all my gadgets and widgets and all that other lingo that I have no idea what it really means! haha

I'm doing a little project for my upcoming Bible study and I'd really LOVE your participation if you don't mind. (Don't worry the names and identities will be changed to protect the innocent! teehee)

Finish this sentence:
"It's tough being a woman......" (when you've got to change the filter for the furnace. When you have to take care of sick kids. Because of all the stuff we need to do to be presentable - just a few examples!)
Leave me a comment and I'll greatly appreciate it and I'll pray over whatever you feel is tough.
Thanks!

Torn.....

2009-01-10T21:05:00.003-05:00

Have you ever been torn between two decisions? Ever felt like the Lord could be calling you in either direction but you need some CLEAR guidance - like a burning bush?! I've kinda been feeling that lately. Not major, life-altering decisions (well one is) but decisions still the same. The funny thing is, I see it happening with a TON of my friends as well. I've had at least 4 conversations with 4 different people this week who have all said the EXACT same thing.
One of my sweet friends told me "Every calling is a good calling, but not every calling is YOURS". So true. I'm one of these spoon in every pot kinda girls and I realize that isn't where God wants me, but it's my personality and it's sometimes hard for me to let go of things. Can anyone else relate? UGH.
I think it's no small coincidence that God has me in Esther. That I'm leading a study called "It's Tough Being a Woman". Can I get an amen on that one? So as I've been having these emotions and feeling a bit torn about where EXACTLY I'm to be serving the Lord sends me a big ole' hug thru my Sweet Honey Butter Roll Donna! She reminded me from Eph 6 that not only am I to put on the full armor, but what do I do once I'm armored up and ready for battle? I'm to STAND and pray. Not fight. Not charge ahead full steam. Not go in like gang busters and change things but STAND.... Oh does anyone else have a hard time with that one?
I love how the Lord works. That's what He does. He works. If we'll get out of His way, He'll work. I love that. Anyway, that's my thought for this day. Tune in tomorrow 'cause I'm sure it'll be something TOTALLY different like, "Why am I serving in this ministry? That's it! I quit!" hahaha

Here we go......

2009-01-03T10:51:00.002-05:00

**Update - as I read this post I realized there were a lot of "wow"'s in it. Sorry about that! haha

Is anyone else finding it hard to comprehend that we're kicking off a new year? Wow. I remember as a kid hearing my parents talk about how the time just seemed to be flying by and thinking how dumb that sounded to me. (sorry but I'm just being honest) Now I realize that I was the dumb one! haha The time is flying.
As I'm preparing for the new year, the many changes that I know are inevitable, I find myself anxious. Not anxious as in worried but anxious as in Christmas Eve! More anticipating, I guess. I've jumped into the pool of teaching High School Sunday school and it has been AMAZING! Each week I look into the faces of these beautiful girls and think of the possibilities and pray for their hearts to be just WILD about Jesus and for the most part I believe He's given me a group of girls who are. But in reality, I'm the one who walks away learning more and more from them. The things they face. Their battles. WOW. That's all I can say. Come quickly Lord Jesus.
But I'm also anticipating leading a Bible study in a few weeks for our Women's Ministry. It's Beth Moore's Esther study and as I've been previewing it, all I can say is HOLD ON TIGHT! WOW!! If you are able to come on Wed mornings from 9:30 to 11:30am (childcare is provided) PLEASE come. Not at all because of me, but because the Lord has something for you and I'd love to be standing there when you receive it!
Also, the Lord is preparing me for a mission trip this year. I thought for a long time it was going to be Chile - and it still may be - but all I know is, I'm ready. He's calling and I'm ready to go. Not quite packed yet, but ready. teehee Who knows, it may be that I don't go anywhere, but just that He wants me to be ready. Either way is fine with me.
Another big change is my oldest starts Middle School in the fall and that makes me just about need to barf! I had someone (a kid) say to me "Don't worry Ms. Val, the threat of guns doesn't really start til about 8th grade." WHAT?! Are you kidding me?! So, I don't have any idea what the Lord will do in THIS area of my life and though it scares the bajeebers (spellcheck loves that one! haha) out of me to say this, I'm willing to do whatever He asks. (oh land sakes!) All I know is that I trust God more than I trust myself or anyone else with the care of my kids and I know that His plans for them are for their benefit, I just don't want to get in His way so I'll do what He asks. UGH.
So here we go. 2009. What will it bring? What will change? What blessings will it hold and what disappointments? Are you as excited as I am? WOOOHOOOOOOO! Here we go........

Elswick Family Holiday Highlights

2009-01-01T14:13:00.007-05:00

Here's a look at some of the highlights of our Holiday season!! ENJOY.....

Happy New Year's!!!!

My man and I at the WV/UNC Bowl game. GO MOUNTAINEERS!!!

"Mom this is a Wii game and we don't have a Wii."

WE DO NOW!!!!!!

Trolley Ride with our HS girls and some friends!

Look at this face as we're seeing lights at McAdenville....

Yes that's Kenan!

The Trolley Princesses. ..

You better hold on Jorden!

Party with the Nutcrackers! ;-)

Happy Holidays from the Elswick's!

Can't believe I'm about to say this but......

2008-12-31T19:08:00.002-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

May God continue to pour blessings on you and yours in the coming year!!

When Love Came Down at Christmastime!

2008-12-24T19:10:00.003-05:00

Just a quick shout out to say "Merry Christmas" to all of you!! Christmas is about the ONLY time you'll find my kids like this.......

tee hee... aren't they sweet?

May the Lord bless you and yours this Holiday season!! Merry Christmas from the Elswick Crew!!!!

His name is Jesus.......

2008-12-16T14:11:00.002-05:00

Well the weekend was a whirlwind but it was GREAT! We had our program at church "Savior Christ the King" and it went well. A few bobbles here and there but I'm sure no one really noticed. All in all, the name of Jesus was lifted high and souls were saved.....mission accomplished!!
It was funny because during the program our baby "Jesus" - which was a live baby, not a doll - had a little problem. The bright lights and the heat was a little much for the baby - I think. Anyway, all I could do was pray for the Mom and Dad because I can only imagine how they felt hearing the little one wailing and not being able to do a thing about it. (Both were involved in the program as well) But the crying really had a profound impact on me. After all, Jesus was as much a man (baby) as He is Deity so I'm sure He did cry. I'm sure as He made His arrival on the planet He was overcome with emotion as He learned to deal with His new found limitations in this tiny body. In fact, the Bible confirms my theory as just before His death He prayed for the cup to be removed. He did, however, surrender to the Father's plan and follow thru. So the crying baby in our performances brought tears to my eyes and not just because I felt bad for him and the parents, but because I thought of what Jesus gave up....for me....for you.
As you're celebrating this season I pray that you'll find something new and fresh in the story of our Saviour's birth. I pray the Father will speak anew to you as He did me. I pray that you'll stop to praise the name.......Jesus!

Predictions.....

2008-12-11T09:46:00.003-05:00

Have you ever had someone tell you something would happen and then it does? Like, one time I had a dream about a co-workers Father being trapped inside a burning house (awful I know) and he died a week later. (I didn't share the dream with her by the way!) Also, 3 days before my brother-in-law died I was riding in the car with Jimmy and said "I don't know what it is babe, but I just feel like there's something BIG around the corner for us?" There's been other things that have happened. Some good, some bad. Has that ever happened to you? If so, tell me about them....I love that kinda stuff.
I don't believe in psychics. I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe that the Lord gives us those dreams or those feelings to prepare us for something. Not sure how theologically correct it is, I just know it's happened to me A LOT!!!!!
The Bible is FULL of predictions. FULL I tell ya. There's one that I came across this season that is familiar to us all, but for some reason just really got my attention.
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isa 9:6
One thing that hits me. Isaiah says "a child IS born" and hello.....this was written YEARS before Jesus was born. Don't ya love that? Isaiah was already anticipating it as if it had happened. LOVE it!
I know that in the day and time we live Jesus is not called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace". In fact, a lot of people throw His Precious Name around as a word to use in frustration or excitement. But know this, there's another prediction that gives me great joy in this season and in this time we live...."Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him" Rev 1:7a (emp mine) Even so, come Lord Jesus!!!!

Oh my WORD, people PRAY!!!

2008-12-06T20:02:00.002-05:00

Well we're getting ready for our children's Christmas program tomorrow night at church and I've been over there every day since Wed. UGH. 2 of our cast members have come down with colds, 1 hurt her knee, and so many other things have gone on/gone wrong so the Lord must have something HUGE He's wanting to do in this program so please pray that He'll show up and SHOW OFF thru these kids!!!! (Especially my oldest Chase. This is his last Christmas performance as he'll move to MS next year and he has one of the lead roles.) I'll be sure to post pics when I can. For now......PRAY!!!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.....

2008-12-02T07:41:00.003-05:00

Well I certainly hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving. Mine was GREAT!

I'm slammed the next two weeks with our children's Christmas program this weekend - which I'm the "stage manager" and my oldest has the lead and my other 2 babies are in so it's a busy week getting ready for that! THEN next week is the adult program on Sat and Sun so it's pure-T madness in the Elswick plantation. PLUS Chase has a trip to DC coming up in Feb and they've picked THIS weekend to have a big fundraiser for the event. Now, y'all know we are po - can't even afford the or - so we're trying to participate in that as well. WHEW!

Anyway, not much blogging this week but did wanna share this........

Yes that's my baby girl getting baptized and my Josh waiting his turn! God is good!!!!

Pray for my sanity this week and for my kids to stay well! Thanks.

Thankful week comes to an end.....

2008-11-29T22:06:00.002-05:00

Well as you can see I didn't get to make a list each day so I'll wind up this Thanksgiving week with a few more things I'm thankful for.

1. A God who gives second, third and 347,000th chances!!!

2. A Love that would send His Son to a cross.

3. A Plan to get my sorry self to heaven!

4. An opportunity to tell anyone who will listen about how good God REALLY is.

5. Laughter. I think it IS the BEST medicine!!!

6. Safe travels on snowy, wet roads! Thank you Jesus!

7. New opportunities in a hectic schedule. Show Yourself STRONG Jesus!

8. People willing to help others that they don't know.

9. Socks. Yes, I'm thankful for socks.

10. My family. Even the ones who got on my nerves this week - and you know who you are! hahahaha

Hope you had a great week being thankful!

Today's list.....

2008-11-25T09:53:00.002-05:00

Today I'm thankful for....
1. My man who doesn't mind runnin' the sweeper and cleanin' up the kitchen for his wife. Acts of service baby - speak away!!! ;-)

2. A car that runs! Thank you Jesus for providing for us so we could get it fixed.

3. Turkeys. Oh yeah. They taste SOOOOO yummy!

4. Pigs. They are equally as yummy! (Sorry to any vegans out there who just gagged!)

5. My mom's freezer box pies. OH LAND SAKES!

6. Naps. Especially the post-turkey ones!

7. Gameboy. 3 kids + 5 hours in the car - you get the picture.

8. Earphones. To go with #7.

9. Long talks in the car. On a rare occasion it happens.

10. The ability to embarrass my kids. Did it this morning when I went to school dressed as the guy in "Oh the Places You'll Go"! Oh yeah! Mission accomplished as a mom!!!

Y'all have a good one and sorry my list isn't very spiritual today, but it is truth! teehee

Week of Thankfulness

2008-11-24T13:33:00.002-05:00

I'm going to be traveling this week, but I'd like to challenge anyone reading this to come up with a list of 10 things they are thankful for every day this week. Your 10 things can't be repeated either. Here's mine.....

Today I'm thankful for......
1. My man. We had a rough weekend with my van breaking down, but he took care of things, like he always does. He's the BEST thing on this earth to happen to me. I love you Jimmy!

2. My kids. They make me laugh, make me cry, they challenge me in SOOO many ways. They are the biggest blessing in my life.

3. My church. So many people sit back and find everything wrong they can find with their church - and believe me there's things I'd like to see change - but I'm so thankful to be a member of the Grove and love the family I've made there.

4. My Sunday school class. Oh y'all. Yesterday was just an amazing day. The girls are really opening up and bearing their hearts to us. It's an awesome responsibility and I'm so thankful the Lord has entrusted me with it!

5. My health. Y'all. My body HURTS this time of year - especially when it's really cold, but I'm so thankful that the Lord protects me and strengthens me. He is my Jehovah-Rapha.

6. My friends. I started to name the names of those I'm thankful for but the list just kept growing and growing because the Lord has TRULY blessed me with amazing women (and their hubbies too!) who challenge me, love on me, help me and just listen. I love you guys!

7. My sisters. Today, I have to say that I just can't hardly wait to get to WV and get my arms around their necks! They are truly my best friends! I love them both so much and miss them like CRAZY!! We're gonna have SO MUCH FUN this week! I love you T and Moe!

8. My brother. Guess I better be thankful for him too, huh? haha JK!! I love you Jeff and I want to thank you for steppin up and filling in for Daddy! He would be so proud of you!! I am too!

9. Derrick and Amy. Thanks you guys for letting us rent your home! We are so grateful to you both and love living here.

10. My salvation. I can't imagine my life without it. Jesus, thank you for forgiving me of my sins and for making me Yours!

So, there's a start of the things I'm thankful for. I'm gonna try to get on each day til Thursday and share more that I'm thankful for. Even if you can't blog about it, make a list and tell the ones you love that you're thankful for them! Y'all have a good week!

Weekend Worship

2008-11-22T20:12:00.001-05:00

LOVE this song! Sing along!!

Need your help again.....

2008-11-18T19:41:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone. I've got a rather sensitive topic that I need some help with in teaching my 9th grade girls. I'd really rather not discuss it on the blog so if you're willing to give me some input please leave a comment and if I don't already have your email address (or if I haven't emailed you directly) then I'll let you know what I'm looking for and we'll communicate via email. Thanks for your help!!
V

My how the time flies......

2008-11-15T08:38:00.003-05:00

The baby girl is growing WAYYYY too fast! We've had some loose teeth but she's been too scared to pull them out until.......

she finally let Daddy slide them out last night! She lost 2 at the same time. Her new teeth have already broken thru and you can kinda see them. Anyway, I just can't believe how my baby is growing up! Makes me sad!

Still praisin........

2008-11-14T08:36:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to pop on today to give a big ole' shout out to Jesus!! I'm still floating since my babies asked Him in their hearts and I tell you, it's been DIFFERENT in my house this week. Don't get me wrong, their still 11, 9 and 6 but the battles are shorter and not nearly as vicious. There were times before where I could just see pure-T evil on their faces during a fight and now, I don't know, it's changed! THANK YOU JESUS! Amazing!

I also wanted to ask you to be in prayer for my family and I. There are some big things that my even BIGGER God is doing in us, things that are gonna shove me right out of my comfort zone, and I know the enemy is already sniffin' around to see how he can mess things up so just pray that we'll remain faithful and stay the course! Thanks!!! Y'all have a fantabulous weekend! I'm going to!!!

Thanks.....

2008-11-11T11:41:00.004-05:00

Today is Veteran's day and I just wanted to pop on quickly to say that I'm so grateful to all those who have and who are serving our country!! It has always blown me away to think that men (some still boys) would put their lives on the line for MY sake. Growing up in church and hearing about how Jesus gave up His life for me has always been such a difficult thing to wrap my mind around but almost as equally has been the fact that men and women are willing to put themselves in harms way for strangers...for me...for you. So, this day I say THANK YOU! As though that were enough, but for now, it's the best I can do besides praying for your continued safety!

I also want to personally thank God for my PawPaw Woody who served on the USS Ommaney Bay in WWII which sunk after taking on enemy fire and my Grandfather floated in the Pacific for 3 days before being rescued. AMAZING! Thank you Father for protecting him so that I could know and love him!! Here's a pic of my PawPaw on my wedding day! Ain't he so cute?! teeheeI also want to thank my brother Jeff for his service during Desert Storm. My uncle Bob for the many years he dedicated to the Air Force and then worked as a civilian with the armed forces after retiring. My uncle Paul for serving in the Army during the Vietnam war. My nephew Derrick for serving in the Marine Corp and for doing a tour in Afghanistan. Father God, thank you for a family who is proud of this country and willing to put themselves in the way of harm for the sake of others. Thank you for protecting these amazing men in my life and I pray that you will bless them this day!! I love them all and thank you for putting me in their family!!

THANK YOU TO ALL THE VETS OUT THERE!! YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN!!!

B I G N E W S!!!!!!!!!!

2008-11-10T11:06:00.002-05:00

Ok wow, I'm so overwhelmed with gratitude right now I can hardly speak! (or type - haha) This weekend was very busy and isn't over just yet. Friday and Saturday we had the National Apologetics Conf. at our church and my man had to play (and I had to be the groupie! haha). We were blessed to get to hear men like Chuck Colson, Josh McDowell, Lee Stroebel and James Dobson - to name a few. Then last night and again this morning Josh McDowell did his "Face to Face" and "True Love Waits" seminar for our church - GOOD stuff! Wow - does anyone have a chastity belt? Surely we can get them online? teeheee

So, like I said, busy. Then in a few hours my man and I are getting on a church bus - yes I said bus - and going to Greensboro to sing/play at the NC Southern Baptist Conv. this evening. UGH. Actually, I'm looking forward to it - not the ride - but the singing part. So, are you wondering what this has to do with BIG NEWS? Well, I'm getting to that.

Josh McDowell did his "Face to Face" message at our church last night (I have to tell you that I every time I type church it turns out chruch and I have to keep going back and fixing it - LOL) and since it's not a message appropriate for kids they had a little "children's church" down in the gym. Now to hear it told, it was GREAT fun. Music, dancing, ventriloquist/magician, FUN! Well, the ventriloquist ends up presenting the gospel and over 30 - yes I said 30 - kids prayed to receive Christ last night. These were 1st - 5th graders!!! YAY!!!! Big news, right? Well, it gets even better!! 2 of those kids were MINE!!!!!!!!!! YAY GOD!!!!! Josh and Kayley both accepted Christ!!! They both have been right on the border - especially Josh - asking all the right questions, etc but last night was their night! The cool thing for me was that they weren't together either so it's not like she was just following big brother!! YAY!!! Be still my Momma heart!!!
So, I gotta run, but just wanted to give a big ole' shout out to my Jesus for whispering to my babies and calling them home!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!! Y'all have a good one. Gotta go get ready for the bus! hahaha Love to ya!

PS Had to pop on and tell you my spellchecker is lit up like a Christmas tree with all these YAY's!!!! LOL!!! Made me laugh!!!

Weekend Worship

2008-11-07T11:57:00.001-05:00

I've missed posting some awesome praise music over the last few months so here ya go.....LOVE this song!! Hope you enjoy it and can realize anew how the Lord loves you and be AMAZED......

God is.......

2008-11-05T07:41:00.002-05:00

Funny that I had several titles initially. God is still on the Throne. God is still in control. But each time I kept coming back to "God is' and it's enough! He is enough! My hope is not in ANY candidate. My hope is in God ALONE! He is....

I'm dreading turning on the TV this morning. In fact, I've only had it on long enough to get the temperature and back off it went. I think it'll stay off today and I'll just have some praise music on.

I got a phone call from my man asking me to pray for him today because he's got some VERY strong personalities at his new job who are quite vocal about their stance during this election and this morning it was at a fever pitch. Almost becoming aggressive. One guy even said something about Christians being nothing more than stupid people who are brainwashed by our parents. Funny thing is, Jimmy doesn't share his parent's beliefs so this guy couldn't be more wrong! Anyway, THIS is what makes me dread the news. No matter who would've won, THIS is the position we are in as a country. We're really not all that free. If Jimmy takes a stand and speaks his mind in his workplace he will not only be verbally (maybe even physically) abused by co-workers, but his employer has come into the room during such conversations and told them to drop it - thus silencing our right to free speech. OK, I really need to just stop it! I'm just prayin' for my man to make it thru THIS day, then I'll pray for tomorrow and the days to follow. (all this happened before 7:30 people!)

So then I come home, open my "God Calling" and immediately called Jimmy back. I had told him when we were talking earlier that this may be the PERFECT opportunity for him to really be a witness to this guy who obviously has had some serious problems with someone claiming to be a Christian in his life. Jimmy knew this, but then God sent a "follow-up" confirmation. Listen to this...."If each lived for Me, by Me, in Me, allowing Me to live in him, to use him to express the Divine through him, as I expressed it when on earth, then long ago the world would have been drawn to Me, and I should have come to claim My own. So seek, My children, to live, knowing no other desire but to express Me, and to show My Love to your world." WOW! This is my prayer, not just for Jimmy and for myself, but for each of us as the coming days are going to be filled with potential moments to shine for Jesus!!!

GO SHINE!!!

A Big Day....

2008-11-04T09:15:00.002-05:00

Jennifer got me thinking today so I thought I'd post some encouragement from the Word for today as well!

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield it's harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him."
Ps 67

Just when you think they're not listening.....

2008-11-03T08:35:00.002-05:00

Have you ever had one of those moments when you're just certain that your kids are not paying one TINY bit of attention to ANYTHING that's happening at church? I mean, their actions are a bit more like a pack of wild dogs than humans, much less church-goin' humans! I mean, for real!
Well, I was having one of those days last week. My kids were being - well, we'll just say a challenge - and I, in frustration, said "God, I know they are in the same church as me, hearing what I'm hearing but I guess they have you TOTALLY tuned out". And in His loving-kindness He gave me a little hug of reassurance at dinner. We sat down to eat and I was so frustrated I lifted my fork for the first bite without a blessing being said. My 6 yr old goes "Uh, excuse me mom" (little side note here, that was not said in a sweet mannerly voice, but a tad with the teenage attitudy one) "You're getting ready to eat before the blessing". I go, "Fine, you say it". So she bows her head, lifts a sweet little prayer of thanksgiving for her family and friends, her home, her dog, and finally her food and then closes the prayer with "And church if you agree with this prayer say Amen"!!!!!!!! I about fell off my chair!!!!! In fact, I'm crackin up again just tellin' you! Doesn't God just make you smile?! LOVE it!

Pray and vote and pray some more!!

2008-10-30T07:10:00.003-05:00

5 days people. I tell ya, I just can't wait for it to be over. Not because I'm looking forward to a new administration, but because I'm so tired of all the ads and all the banners by the roadside and the media. UGH. The media. Fair, hardly! (that's for another post though) The biggest thing I'm anxious for is that it will be over by Thanksgiving. You see, I'll be with me entire family for Thanksgiving and my brother - who is the only male among 3 girls, and knows everything there is to know about any subject on the planet (in his own mind, that is) - will be there as well. It gets very tense when we talk about politics in my family. Living in WV there were alot of unions. One of my grandfathers was a carpenter - part of a union - the other a coal miner - MAJOR union member!! My dad was a self-employed painter/paper hanger - again, part of a union. Now, I don't have anything against unions, but that just gives you an idea of how I was raised. Since leaving home and since deepening my relationship with God I have become quite convicted about voting from my wallet, thus changing my political stand. THIS makes no sense to my brother making for sometimes quite heated discussions on politics. Unfortunately my brother doesn't have a day to day relationship with Jesus (pray for him by the way) so of course the big topics for him are mostly economic.

All of that to say, it's that time! Election day is right around the corner. Here's the amazing thing to me. At our sleepover last week with my high school girls, this election was one of things they listed as their 'fears'. 9th grade girls stressed over this election. WOW. I don't even know who was President when I was in 9th grade because I was too busy being a majorette and dance team member to worry about something so silly as politics. HAHAHA!! Here's a little peek......

I know, isn't that hilarious?!!! Sorry for the crack in the glass. OLD picture! haha

So anyway, at the sleepover after my 3 hours of sleep, I woke up and hit the Word asking God for SOMETHING to give these girls regarding the election. He was faithful...as always. Rom 13:1(b) "for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." Could there be anything more perfect? This election WILL NOT take God by surprise. In fact, He's sitting on the other side of it waiting for us to catch up. So, here's what I told the girls "Don't be afraid of this election. Pray about it. Encourage your parents to go vote and pray about it more." That's my advice to anyone who is 'stressin' about it. Pray, vote and keep on praying!!!

Good for the soul!!!

2008-10-25T20:37:00.003-05:00

Oh y'all. I had the most amazing day! My man came home from work Friday and said "Babe, let's get outta here!" So, we pack up and head to the mountains! Y'all, my man doesn't do that....ever! Especially with all the financial stuff we've battled lately, but sometimes you just gotta suck it up and breathe some fresh air and that's just what we did. It's late and I'm gettin ready to prepare for worship tomorrow, but I'll just share this sweet little image with ya......

I KNOW! Are they the cutest or what? We had such a great day and details will follow, but for now, good night!!

Thank you Jesus for such an amazing weekend! Thank you for the beauty of your creation! Thank you for your protection over our travels! Thank you for my man!! Thank you Jesus for it all!!!!

Broken bones, broken hearts....

2008-10-21T14:14:00.002-05:00

Well it's been a LONG couple of days. I haven't gotten much sleep because the princess has had a rough couple of nights. Bless the baby girl's heart! She has, for the most part, been an amazingly strong little girl, but the pain creeps up on her and bam! there's my 6 year old again!

I have to share a bit about our ER experience. Several staff members at the ER didn't believe her arm was broken because Kayley had been so strong and brave. In fact, the x-ray tech was even a bit rough with her. (have I mentioned I wanted to hit her with my flip-flop? haha) But on our way back to the room, after she had shown me the fracture, we passed the ER doc and the tech told him yes there was one. Well once we got settled back in the room the nurses came in and began splinting the 'fracture' and the Dr came and told me about the 'fracture'. It really never dawned on me to stop and make sure that Kayley understood what was happening, but because they were all calling it a fracture I didn't even think to make sure she knew what that meant. Anyway, after we were alone and waiting for our discharge orders I looked down at my baby girl and said "I'm so sorry your arm is broken and I would take it away right now if I could." To which I see shock and horror cross the baby's face. "WHAT? My arm is broken?!" She didn't get it. She began to cry and so did I. I apologized and made sure she understood at that point, but the hurt was done.

That night it really hit me how the Lord grieves over our pain. How often we fall down and get hurt, things get broken - relationships, marriages, kids, jobs - and we don't understand it. We get confused and disoriented in our pain. We get lost in all the 'busyness' going on around us and no one can explain what's happening. Then our Abba Father, in His infinite love and compassion for us, stops, cradles us in His arms of Love and whispers "It's okay, my princess. I understand. I took your pain already. Let me have it so I can make it all better." Don't you just love that about Him? He's willing to heal our boo-boo's, even when it's on the inside!

My weekend saga.....

2008-10-19T08:50:00.004-05:00

Well the sleep-over was a blast! We laughed, we cried (because we were laughing so hard), we ate, we watched movies, played games, ate, laughed and just had fun getting to know each other. The Lord has blessed me with an amazing group of girls who really are doing their best to live for Jesus - to be a light in this dark world. They told us about their concern for lost friends, about being a witness 24/7, about other Christian friends walking away from Christ, it was amazing. Believe me that we did our best to make them comfortable enough to not give the "Sunday school" answers and I think it worked because these girls blew my mind. I was nowhere near their spiritual maturity level at their age. AMAZING. Thanks for your prayers.

I spent most of my day recuperating from Friday night (was up from 6am Fri to 4am Sat - UGH!) and then had to run a few errands Sat afternoon. I was in the car with my choir Christmas CD blaring and didn't hear my 4 calls from Jimmy or my text msg saying "911 - CALL ME!!!" So as I pull in the driveway my man comes running out asking where I've been and why my phone was off - OOPS! I walk in to find my baby girl hysterically crying on the couch and one trip to ER later we have this.......

Yes friends, 11 years with 2 boys and not a single broken bone and who ends up being the first? My baby girl!! Fell off the swing at my neighbors. Her shoe came off while she was swinging and she was afraid that if she got off the swing someone would take it so she bent over to try to get the shoe and BAM! down she went. She was so brave at the ER that the x-ray tech gave her that colorful monkey in her hand. The tech didn't think it was broken because Kay was being so strong! I love that about her!! Anyway, be in prayer for her. She's an angel!

PRAY!

2008-10-16T18:33:00.002-05:00

Well I'm officially plunging head first into the world of high school girls! AGAIN! haha Tomorrow night we're having our first class sleepover and I'm SO anxious for it! I guess a better word would be excited!! We're checking cell phones at the door, but I'm praying that the Lord will move in such a way that they won't WANT to do anything other than what we have planned for them.

If you think of us, pray for Lisa and I as we try to make an impact on these girls for the Kingdom of God! We want them to fall so in love with Jesus that they'll be blinded by His light and beauty to the junk this world is hurling on them! Thanks for praying and I'll keep ya posted on how things go.....

How do you see your self?

2008-10-14T08:37:00.002-05:00

That's a loaded question isn't it? I wonder how many - if we were COMPLETELY honest - would answer that question with something positive? I know I sure wouldn't. I wouldn't call myself 'Beloved' or 'Chosen' or 'Precious Gift'. It would go something like fat, ugly, selfish. What about you? Why is it we go mostly to the physical when we're asked that question? UGH. Let's see what Brennan Manning says about this topic.

In "Abba's Child" he writes "One of the most shocking contradictions in the American church is the intense dislike many disciples of Jesus have for themselves. They are more displeased with their own short-comings than they would ever dream of being with someone else's. They are sick of their own mediocrity and disgusted by their own inconsistency." Wow. Can anyone relate? He goes further to quote David Seamands with "Many Christians...find themselves defeated by the most psychological weapon that Satan uses against them. This weapon has the effectiveness of a deadly missile. It's name? Low self-esteem." Can I get a witness? OUCH! "This feeling shackles many Christians, in spite of wonderful spiritual experiences and knowledge of God's Word. Although they understand their position as sons and daughters of God, they are tied up in knots, bound by a terrible feeling of inferiority, and chained to a deep sense of worthlessness." Well that pretty much sums up a LOT of my life!

Like Manning - who then tells the story of his traumatic childhood and how he detached his heart from his head in order to 'perform' in the ministry - I have spent a lot of my life beating myself up. Sure, I knew I had done some pretty good things in my life, I knew that I was a child of God, I knew that I had a home in heaven, but I truly believed it was gonna be a little shack in the woods not a mansion on streets of gold. Worthlessness was my middle name. I couldn't let go of my past and accept that God truly had cast my sins as far as the east from the west. I just knew He was just waiting for the perfect time to bring them up again. Little did I know I had those roles reversed. It was Satan who was waiting for the perfect time to remind me. The Father had no idea what sins I was talking about because they had been covered by the blood of Jesus and He couldn't see them.

Also like Manning I finally had a breakdown. I was able to accept Jesus' love and forgiveness COMPLETELY. I knew that I had, like he talks about, projected onto God my feelings about myself. I only felt safe with Him when I had performed perfectly, when I had been noble or generous or loving, not scared, tired, angry or scarred up. Finally though, not too long ago I was able to come out of hiding. I was able to see myself the way God sees me. Like the prodigal, I too limped home, battered and bruised and found the Father running to meet me with open arms. Please don't think that means my life has been a bed of roses since, oh no, quite the contrary. Since then, the enemy has found an even more clever disguise to attack me with. But I'll tell you this as I read this book - and am still reading it - I found myself in the pages.

As Manning writes his story - though it's different in that I've never been a pastor - it was my story. I think it's a lot of our stories. Different circumstances yes, but still the same theme. This is one of my favorite lines in the book. Manning is quoting one of the "most sought-after spiritual guides of our time" Thomas Merton in beating our self-esteem issues "Quit keeping score altogether and surrender yourself with all your sinfulness to God who sees neither the score nor the scorekeeper but only his child redeemed by Christ." Liberty will follow. It's yours/mine for the taking. Grab that mirror and take a good long look. You'll see it too!!!!

More of the book....

2008-10-09T07:14:00.002-05:00

I hope y'all don't get tired of me sharing this amazing book. I certainly hope even more that you'll go and get your own copy. I'm telling you that it's truly transforming me. The Lord is using it to speak to me with almost every line. It's almost like I feel Him reading it to me, speaking my name. I don't usually gush over books like this - well y'all know I'm a bit on the dramatic side, but still - but this really is an incredible book. Go get you one!

So today we're talking more about our self-hatred and how it affects God.
"The sorrow of God lies in our fear of Him, our fear of life, and our fear of ourselves. He anguishes over our self-absorption and self-sufficiency." OUCH!! Do you get that? I mean Elohim, Jehovah, the El Elyon - in anguish over ME? Wow. "He aches over our distance and preoccupation. He mourns that we do not draw near to him. He grieves that we have forgotten him. He weeps over our obsession with muchness and manyness. He longs for our presence." Does that sound like someone who can't accept you as you are? Like someone who couldn't possibly love you/me because..........(fill in whatever you like there)? Like someone who wouldn't do ANYTHING in your best interest? Like someone who doesn't understand you? I think not!

Manning quotes Thomas Merton here with, "Whether you understand it or not, God loves you, is present in you, lives in you, dwells in you, calls you, saves you and offers you an understanding and compassion which are like nothing you have ever found in a book or heard in a sermon." Manning adds, "God calls us to stop hiding and come openly to Him. God is the father who ran to His prodigal son when he came limping home. (But) God loves who we really are - whether we like it or not. God calls us, as He did Adam, to come out of hiding. No amount of spiritual makeup can render us more presentable to Him." LAND SAKES! Someone wants to say "There is no God like Jehovah!"

Y'all I certainly hope that you read these words and realize that God loves you/me with an everlasting, unconditional, all sufficient love. He longs to show it. He longs to give it. He aches when we see ourselves as unworthy when He allowed His Son to die to make us worthy of it. Stay strong! You're worth it!!

"Abba's Child"

2008-10-07T08:24:00.002-05:00

It's my new addiction, this book! The Lord has been using it to speak VOLUMES to me y'all. I mean VOLUMES! I'm only on the 3rd chapter because I keep going back and rereading things over and over and over. Plus, trying to decide what I wanna share with y'all too. Some of it's not too pretty, so no sharing. (though I've surely shared enough of my ugliness haven't I? UGH)

So here's a few lines from Chpt 2 that I thought I'd pass along. Smacked me right upside my head when I read these. The book begins with a reference to Flannery O'Connor's short story "The Turkey" and the principal character named Ruller. Ruller is an unusual boy who likes to kinda be alone, he spots a wounded turkey, kills it and takes it home for his family to eat. He's strutting thru town showing it off to everyone and as he spots some people who are a bit worse off than he and his family he starts to feel bad for them. However, instead of giving them the turkey he gives them a dime. He then runs into some older, bigger boys and they steal his turkey. Ruller, frozen in fear, finally turns and runs for home. Manning then says, "In Ruller many of us Christians stand revealed, naked, exposed. Our God, it seems, is One who benevolently gives turkeys and capriciously takes them away. When He gives them, it signals His interest in and pleasure with us. We feel close to God and are spurred to generosity. When He takes them away, it signals His displeasure and rejection. We feel cast off by God." He goes on to say "So we unwittingly project onto God our own attitudes and feelings toward ourselves. If we feel hateful toward ourselves, we assume that God feels hateful toward us. But we cannot assume that He feels about us the way we feel about ourselves - unless we love ourselves compassionately, intensely and freely. In human form Jesus revealed to us what God is like. It takes a profound conversion to accept that God is relentlessly tender and compassionate toward us just as we are - not in spite of our sins and faults (that would not be total acceptance), but with them. Though God does not condone or sanction evil, He does not withhold His love because there is evil in us." Whew.

So, how this all spoke to me was that for years I sat just waiting for the day God was going to zap me with a lightning bolt for the times I've blown it. I truly had a "Chicken Little" attitude with God. The sky was falling on me little by little every day. Then praise His precious name I had my "profound conversion"! I finally realized that God is relentlessly trying to love me, trying to show me compassion, trying to heal my wounds, but I was so busy waiting for His Hand of Justice to fall that I wouldn't allow Him to be my Abba Daddy. But like I said, He was relentless...praise His name! I don't know where you are in your walk or in your life, but I will tell you this. The Father is waiting to love you. He's waiting to free you. He's waiting to accept you...as you are...scars and all...wounds and all. He wants to heal them. He can't allow you to continue in sin, but after He heals your heart, trust me sisters, you won't WANT to continue in them.

See why I'm lovin' this book?! I'll be sharing more of it as we go along. Hope you liked it.

15 years ago today......

2008-10-02T15:48:00.003-05:00

I did something that I believed I wasn't going to ever do......married the man of my dreams!!! That's right, we've defied the odds and have stayed together longer than anyone gave us credit for. Jimmy and I have always loved being underdogs. Of course, what "they" never knew was that something bigger than Jimmy, myself or anything/anyone else was at work!! God the Father had plans.....plans to prosper us, plans to give us hope and a future! That's exactly what He's done and I thank Him for it EVERY day!!!

Jimmy, I love you more today than I ever thought possible. You are my heartbeat, my soul mate, my lover, my BFF and so much more!! You never cease to amaze me, to make me laugh, to challenge me and to lead me! I love you for that! You are still my hot drummer boy and always will be!!! Keep on rockin' for Jesus babe!!! Happy Anniversary!! I love you so very much!!
Forever Yours -
Me

Lovin' my new book....

2008-09-30T15:01:00.002-05:00

Oh my word. Got a new book and wanted to tell y'all about it. If you've read it, PLEASE leave me a comment to tell me what you thought of it.

It's called "Abba's Child" by Brennan Manning. Land sakes! I knew it was gonna be awesome when I spent over 2 hours re-reading the preface alone! It's about our identity in Christ. The subtitle says "The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging" LOVE that.

This blessing was in the preface written by a spiritual advisor for the author and it's become the prayer I'm praying for the ones I love. "May all your expectations be frustrated, may all your plans be thwarted, may all your desires be withered into nothingness, that you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child and sing and dance in the love of God who is Father, Son and Spirit. Today on planet earth, may you experience the wonder and beauty of yourself as Abba's Child and temple of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Lord." AMAZING!

Let me know if you've read this and I'm sure I'll be blogging LOTS as I read this awesome book!

Don't make me bow up! haha

2008-09-29T08:26:00.005-05:00

**edited** I don't wanna take back this post, but I do hope that the attitude you might hear from me in this post is purely in jest. I'm serious about the content, but joking in my attitude. I reread this post and realized for those people who don't know me personally it may sound like I'm being ugly, but hopefully as you read some of my other posts you'll realize I love to horse around! Just wanted to clarify that. Thanks...

Feeling a bit random today. I had a busy weekend but it was fun. Church yesterday was simply amazing! God was moving. People were coming forward to receive Christ like crazy! We even ran out of decision counselors at one of our services and a vocal team member had to leave the platform to go counsel someone who had come up!! THAT is AMAZING! God is so faithful to our church. Ya know sometimes people say things about your church that are hurtful. For instance, a couple of ladies came to my door last week to invite me to a Bible study being held at their church. Now, I'm not going to get into a debate here, I'm just tellin' ya what happened so don't anyone get their feelings hurt. Okay? Okay.

They told me they were not Mormon's or Jehovah Witnesses but that they were having a study from the Holy Bible - the Word of God - the "true Word, the King James Version" (their words not mine). That sent a BIG red flag up for me. (not gonna go there in this post, but just tellin' ya how I feel) So they went on and on about when the study was happening and where but I could feel the Lord whispering to me "hold on girl". Then one of the ladies asked if I went to church and I told her yes and where - she didn't know of my church and y'all I'm not bragging here, but if you drive down one of the biggest 'connector' roads in Charlotte and miss my church, well you better get your eyes checked. It's a big physical place.

She started telling me that she had grown up Southern Baptist but had finally learned the 'truth' once she started going to her church. My husband was raised in the denomination which she attends so I told her that and she gets this sympathetic look on her face and says "Oh, did he fall away?" To which I reply "Uh, no, he's faithfully serving at church with me and walking stronger with the Lord than ever before in his life" (I didn't want to offend her but don't be talkin' about my man! haha) I told her that, in fact, he was serving today by playing for a Billy Graham special. Using a talent given to him by the Lord to serve Him. She goes "Is Billy Graham still alive? I thought he died already" I nearly passed out!

So then she starts telling me how we Southern Baptists have it all wrong. We're wrong by not having communion every Sunday - didn't we know that's what the KJV says? (I didn't bother asking her where 'cause I sure don't remember that one) We're wrong by paying our pastor. Didn't we know that the KJV says that Jesus never got paid for preaching so why should anyone else and what about caring for the sick and shut in's? (Again, not sure where that verse in the KJV is either) I could feel myself getting defensive so I began praying that the Lord would give me the words to say, but after getting beat on I opened up and told her that's one thing I like about my church. My pastor preaches and that's it. Sure he'll do an occasional wedding or funeral and visit someone sick he knows personally, but his MAIN job is to preach the Word of God. We have other pastors on staff who care for the sick and the shut in's and the children of our church and the seniors and so on. I told her my church is a big church so we're able to do that. She goes "Well let me ask you this. Have you ever had your pastor over for dinner? Has he ever invited you to his house?" Ok, she wanted a fight. haha I said that I had not, but she had to understand that our church has 14,000 members and 2 campuses so even if our pastor had someone over every night for a year I still would only get an invite about every 3 years or so. haha

So anyway, I thanked her for the invitation to the study and told her that I was actively involved in a few studies at my church but again thanked her for her time. She walked away a bit red in the face, but I stayed calm and tried to just show her as much love as I could. I was going to invite them in and really talk, but once she started dissin' my church - well I knew myself well enough not to go there. There's a few things I'll let you diss in my presence but my Jesus, my man, my kids and my church AIN'T one of 'em! haha

So that was my excitement last week - part of it anyway. Have you ever had a situation like that? It's hard to know the right way to handle that kind of thing. It's best to slow down and ask the Holy Spirit to intervene and then don't get in His way. But it's hard to fight your emotions when someone starts 'attacking' the things you love. I don't believe for a second that Jesus expects us sit and take it, but I do believe that no matter how mean or ugly they get He expects us to show HIM to them. Hard to do when you feel backed into a corner but if we get it right I believe God does a little jig in heaven just for us! Yes, God does the jig!! haha

Anyway, with that thought in mind, I'm going to head out to hunt for some gas. Hope I can show Jesus as I'm sitting in line!!! teehee

Weekend Worship

2008-09-26T21:12:00.001-05:00

LOVE this song! Enjoy and have some quiet time with Jesus this weekend!

God is so COOL!!!

2008-09-25T09:19:00.002-05:00

Remember the name Melinda Doolittle? American Idol contestant who got robbed?! Well, this week my man was over at the Belk Theater playin drums in a video shoot for a Billy Graham special and guess who was one of the guest artists? Oh yeah! Melinda. Micheal W. Smith was there too - not that I'm not a fan of his (his music not his voice - sorry) - also Jason Crabb from the Crabb family. He also sang "I'm Amazed" with the Brooklyn Tab singers. (Yeah he's the "Hallelujah" guy at the end of the song! haha)

So anyway, Melinda was there and she is standing near my man and they have a break between takes so she asks if she could please sit on his drum stool. Her feet were killing her! IS THAT COOL OR WHAT?! So he gives her his seat and tells her what a big fan I am of hers and how I voted like crazy for her so she gives him this.....

Yes, she spelled my name right!!! teehee And how about that verse by her name. Eph 3:20 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" Do you love that?! She signed my man's music for "His Eye is on the Sparrow" which is what she's singing on the special. LOVE IT!! Anyway, just thought I'd share with the 2 of you who are reading this blog! hahaha
WOOOHOOOOO! Don't you love the way God can bring his children together? I mean, I never dreamed I'd see her in person, much less get her autograph. Although I didn't see her, my man did and he gave her his seat. THAT ROCKS!!

God-stops

2008-09-23T11:45:00.002-05:00

Well my schedule is whacked out lately so I just wanted to pop on and share a God stop with you. If you've never heard of God stop you need to do a Beth Moore study! hahaha Anyway, it's a moment in time when you realize God is specifically speaking to you, He's answering a specific prayer or just sending you a hug.

So, for the next few weeks I'm gonna make it a point to give God some glory with this blog and share some of my God stops with you! For instance, I sent the call out for you to email me some changes and you were faithful! Thanks so much for the great responses. I have to tell you that I read that at different times during the week as I was preparing my lesson but it wasn't until Saturday that the Lord spoke right to me thru your responses. He completely changed the direction I was heading with the lesson and He showed me how He wanted me to use your testimonies. I had 4 points to get across (like a good little Southern Baptist - haha) and don't you know that every one of the testimonies I received fit EXACTLY with the points! I mean, I know it was God's Hand because they were PERFECT! Like if you were reading a novel and they went right with the plot! Isn't that just like God?! Using our lives to tell His-tory!! LOVE IT!! That was one of my God stops from the past week.

What about you? Any you'd like to share? Let me know. He's speaking. Are you watching and waiting?

Ch, Ch, Ch, Ch, Changes....

2008-09-17T13:16:00.002-05:00

Well. Change. There it is. The word we all love to hate. haha Mark Twain once said something like the only ones who like change are wet babies. I believe it's the truth. I know it can be scary, stressful, annoying and so many other adjectives, but one thing is for sure...it WILL come.

I know that each of us could write a novel about the changes we've been thru so I need your help. I'm teaching this Sunday and the lesson is on change. We're studying some of the changes Joseph faced in Gen 39-41. LOTS of changes for the brother. Whew. So, tell me how some of the changes in your life have increased your faith. You don't have to be specific, unless you feel led to, but just explain how circumstances in your life changed -whether at your hand or not - and how you dealt with those changes and how - looking back now - you can see the Lord worked them for your good. (Rom 8:28)

So, get your thinking caps on and leave me some good stuff! Thanks.

What a difference....

2008-09-15T14:22:00.002-05:00

What a difference a day makes.
What a difference an hour makes.
What a difference one phone call makes.
What a difference.

Yesterday as I'm leaving the platform after leading praise and worship I pick up my stuff to go and immediately feel my purse vibrating. Knowing that means my phone is ringing I start to dig for it. When someone is calling me during church time I just knew something wasn't right. Sure enough, it was my sister Regina calling to tell me that her mother-in-law had just passed away. Dewayne's mom went to be with Jesus sometime in the early morning hours Sunday morning and this just 2 years after him losing his 37 year old sister to a heart attack. So I'm in WV right now (long story but I had to bring his other sister up from Charlotte) and arrangements are being made.

There is good news in all this. The good news is the REAL difference. The difference in Dewayne.
What a difference the LORD makes!!!
Since Dewayne accepted Christ, he is facing death completely differently. That's the difference the Lord makes. He gives us hope. Hope in knowing that we will be reunited with the ones who serve Him. Hope in knowing that they may be gone from us, but are present with the Lord. Hope that because we are His we CAN go on. HOPE. It's all the difference!!!

Conversations....

2008-09-13T10:25:00.002-05:00

Melissa got me thinking with her post so I thought I'd share some of our conversations too.

Jimmy, the kids and I are coming home from church the other night. The music is on (as usual) so Jimmy and I start having a discussion that should've waited til we were home. Not an argument, just a disagreement. I don't really even remember what it was about - probably if we left the porch light on or not - haha - but Jimmy says something.
I respond.
He responds.
Then in true Valarie fashion I get the last word.
Silence then follows and Josh goes "Dramatic pause"!
Much laughter then ensues!!
Yes those were the words spoken by my 9 year old! Don't ya just love kids!! TOOOOO funny!!!

What are we all so angry about?

2008-09-12T12:15:00.002-05:00

I've been a tad under the weather which has allowed for WAY too much time in front of the TV today. UGH. I just have a question. What are we all so angry about? I don't watch too much junk, but between a couple of talk shows, a few news channels and even the weather channel for goodness sake, people are angry.

They're angry about politics. They're angry about politicians. They're angry about the English language and how it's used. They're angry about religion. They're angry about the stinkin' weather. Whew. I've been there, ya know. I am there at times. I know that when you get your 15 seconds on TV you're gonna tend to be the most passionate during that time, and I like to think that when they get home and see the tape they're going "Man, I really should've stayed calm" - at least that's what I'm telling myself. teehee It really has bothered me today though.

I've been praying for peace. I don't mean that to sound like a beauty pageant contestant (no offense if you've ever been one), but I mean praying for peace not just in our country, or our world, but in the hearts of individuals. The kind of peace that only comes from a one on one relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't get it from a church. You can't get it from a preacher. You can't even get it from your spouse or kids or family. It only comes thru the one who gave His life that You may face the troubles in this world with peace and assurance and hope and a future.

This is a kinda random post - likely an affect of all the channel-flipping I've been doing - but I just wanted to put my thoughts out there to you 5 people reading - (there I go with the numbers again - haha) and see what you think. Tell me what you think about why people are driven to shouting at people they've only met 5 seconds prior to going on air - or have never met at all. Why do you think we get so passionate about a person running for public office yet sit in church and won't even lift our hands in praise to God? OUCH. Just wanna get you thinking today. I know I have been. I've turned off the tv, turned on some praise music and I'm gonna spend some more time with my Abba Daddy before my kids get home. I SURE don't want to face them after my morning! haha

God is Speaking!

2008-09-11T21:16:00.002-05:00

Well, Jimmy still doesn't have a job, but let me just tell you that God is clearly speaking to my family! Things are going ok and we have all we need! Isn't that just like Him?!

We're busy with school and my work and God has slid some things in our path to see if He will find us faithful, I believe, so we're just gonna do our best to consider it all joy and hang on!! Y'all please continue to pray. I can't wait to jump and tell all 5 of you reading this how faithful God has been in answering your prayers!!! teehee (that was just a joke - I'm not at all about numbers!)

Anyway, I'll keep on praisin' Him for the work He's doing in us. Refining us. Proving us. Molding us. LOVE it! Thanks for your continued love and support!

Shakin' things up....

2008-09-08T07:35:00.004-05:00

My oh my. My heart is in a whirlwind today. Such an awesome day at church yesterday. The Word of God was opened and spoken and did not return void. At least not in my heart (and obviously in others too as they came forward). I had done the work to be prepared and God was faithful in doing His Work in me! LOVE IT!!!

Anyway, as I taught my little group of girls yesterday I must say that in the middle of my lesson I glanced around the room and every single girl had her eyes on me. They were listening y'all. They were engaged. It nearly took my breath away. In fact, a huge lump formed in my throat and I had to stop and get a drink to keep from crying right there. We so often think of teens as this lost, attitude carryin', smelly (well they are that) group of misfits who are just trying to think up ways to make our lives miserable. Well, I have to tell you that my attitude, my heart has been changed! In 3 short weeks the Lord has shown me pain that I don't think I could've withstood at their age, courage to go against the grain, excitement over the "little" things and joy that makes my cup run over! These girls got it goin' on. They're bright, they're beautiful, they're funny, they're truly amazing. I'm gonna talk to them about sharing some of their testimonies with some of you - of course COMPLETELY respecting their privacy and changing their names - but just telling you some of the stuff they're dealing with. AMAZING! I didn't really think that I would be able to teach them a thing - and really I don't have anything but Jesus to offer them - but last night on my way to the car one of my girls shouted across the parking lot - LIFE ISN'T FAIR SOMETIMES MS. VAL! (that was our topic) Can you imagine? I mean, here we were nearly 8 hours past our lesson and she still remembered!! PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!

So last night, Dr. Rummage issued another challenge. Oh boy, y'all better get ready. It was PAINFUL! More to come this week.....

Every single Christian should watch this video.......

2008-09-06T13:00:00.001-05:00

This video blew me away! I found myself watching it over and over. This was the 2nd time this week I've heard a clear warning to be careful that when you think you're standing, you may just be sinking.

Father, forgive me for ever trying to stand in my own power. Empower me with Your Right Hand and keep the words of my mouth, the sounds in my ears, the path of my feet solely focused on You Alone. To You alone be all glory, and honor and wisdom and power!! Thank you Lord!!!

Words we never wanna hear....

2008-09-03T13:50:00.002-05:00

Before I start let me just say thanks to everyone for your encouraging words with my SS class. I sat down to really dig into Joseph last night and the Lord was giving me things over and over. I can't wait! He's so good!

So, things we don't want to hear. I'm angry at you. I'm disappointed in you. You hurt me. I can't. I won't. I don't. Not fun things. Sunday night at church Dr. Rummage was continuing in the saga of David. We're in 2 Sam 11 - not one of David's shining moments. You know, the whole Bathsheba/Uriah incident. Ugh. I have to admit that I get such encouragement from David. I mean, here's a guy who started with nothing - a little guy with some pretty strapping, studly big brothers who is stuck tending to sheep. His storyline moves and changes pretty dramatically and by the time we get to 2 Sam 11 he's a king for cryin' out loud.

I know that you're all familiar with the story but Sunday night something hit me HARD. It's 2 Sam 11:27b "But the thing David had done displeased the Lord." In fact, it says "the LORD" meaning Yahweh was displeased. Ouch. I kinda zoned out after Dr. Rummage read that verse because I just started thinking about all the times that verse has said "But the thing Valarie had done displeased Yahweh". I began asking the Lord to reveal things that I hadn't repented of or things in me that were displeasing to Him and He was faithful to oblige. We did some work sittin' right there in the pew. God is so good y'all. I mean, really good.

So often I lose my focus. I allow my stuff to distract me from His plans for me. I get in His way SOOOO many times. I have displeased Him on more than one occasion, I'm sure. But God is so loving, so kind and so gentle to just say "Hey girl, I really want to help you or work with you on this thing, but there's some cleanin' we need to do first. I can't work with what you're giving me." So then we start again. He's new every morning or in my case, hour by hour.

Lord, thank you for cleanin' my clock again and again. I want my life to honor and glorify You alone. I want to be your servant Lord. Thank you for making a way for me. Thank you for using me.

Tough Crowd

2008-09-01T09:33:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was an AWESOME day of worship! Land sakes. I was filling in on vocal team and yes that can be stressful at times, and amazing at others but it really wasn't the best part of my day yesterday. It was my 2nd Sunday teaching - actually assisting - and it has surpassed any of my expectations so far. These girls BLOW my mind, y'all. I don't really know what I expected but I thought they would just sit there with their typical teenage facial expression of "these are just about the stupidest people I have ever seen" but it wasn't that way at all. Ok, well maybe a little at times - haha - but it has been incredible.

I'm telling you that these kids are hungry. Starving actually. For love and affection, for attention and I don't mean just to be noticed, but to be heard. They're so smart and for the most part have it much more together than I did at their age. Or at least that's the way it seems. Anyway, next week is my turn to teach - UGH. Scary. It's gonna be fine because I can do ALL things thru Christ. Even make 12 9th grade girls learn something about God! Not in my own power but thru the power of Christ!! I CAN!!!

We've got a busy day planned today so I gotta get with it, but just wanted to ask you to pray for me as I prepare this week. Pray the Lord will give me something totally fresh for these girls. Also, continue to pray for Jimmy as he's still on the hunt for a job. God is faithful. That's all I can say about that! Thanks for praying.

OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD!!

2008-08-29T12:32:00.002-05:00

WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

After I got home this morning, turns out we were able to get up and running again!!!!! God is good y'all!!! I'm kinda slammed right now, but I'll catch up with everyone over the weekend!!!

YEAH GOD!!!!!!!!!!

In the Waiting

2008-08-29T08:39:00.002-05:00

Hey. We're still in the waiting. Waiting for a job for Jimmy. Waiting to see the Lord move. Waiting..... God is faithful!

Just a quick update to let you know that if you've tried to email me it will likely bounce back. Had to choose between paying the bill and buying groceries and food always wins, so in the meantime, no Internet. IT STINKS!!! I feel disconnected from everything but more connected to the Lord than ever. Amazing how that works. I'm at a friends blogging right now and not sure when I'll be able to again as I'm limiting my trips around town due to gas prices as well. TOUGH times for all, I know. Your prayers are being heard. Thanks for lifting us up. Pray for my family and the Lord to continue to meet our needs.

Love to all and I sure do miss you guys!!!
Val

ONE WEEK AND COUNTING!!!

2008-08-18T16:00:00.002-05:00

Y'all think I mean school don't ya?! Well, there is that, but honestly I'm talking about one week til I take possibly the biggest, scariest leap of faith I've ever taken in my life. I'm going to start teaching 9th grade girls Sunday school next Sunday!!! YIKES!!! It was kinda funny yesterday as I visited the "basement" because everyone kept sayin' "You don't have a child down here yet, do you?" and of course I don't, but I will sooner than I care to think about. I've tried several times to teach the same age as my kids and I find myself kicking into "mom" gear and that's NOT what I want to do when I teach so that's why I'm going where the Lord has called me.

When my brother-in-law died a few years ago and I got to spend so much time with my niece (who was in 9th grade at the time) and her friends I was OVERWHELMED at what these girls have to face each day. I mean, I know that every generation of women have said that about the one that's coming up - but come on, let's be honest - did YOU ever have to worry about being hit on in the girls bathroom, and I don't mean hit with a fist, but asked on a date? LAND SAKES! I mean, I remember the girls bathroom being the place at school to hide from the boys and their hormones NOT the place where I'd walk in and see two girls makin' out! UGH! Sorry for the graphic content there, but it's reality y'all!!! I think it's time my generation got our heads out of the sand - or the clouds - and realized we've got to do something for these kids.

Stepping off my soapbox now - sorry about that!!! Anyway, it was actually kinda neat because several of the kids down there remembered me from their days in Elementary music - which I've been doing FARRRR too long - so at least it wasn't complete unknown territory! I'm still scared half to death. The enemy is still consistently, persistently and doggedly reminding me of what a failure I'm gonna be but I have some news for him ---- I can do all things - do you hear that ALL things - I mean to tell you ALL THINGS, yes even teach 9th grade girls - thru Christ who give me strength!!! Look at somebody and say ALL THINGS!!!!!! hahaha Had a little Beth Moore moment there - sorry!

So, I have a JAM PACKED week of praying, getting my babies ready for school - thank you Lord for your provision once again! - working, praying, studying, praying and then praying just a bit more!! To say I'm nervous would be an understatement, but God.......really, need I say more?! Y'all have a great week!

Oh yeah, quick update. Jimmy's gone to an interview right now and has 2 other VERY promising prospects this week so keep on prayin'! We're resting in the promises y'all!!!

Catch of the day......

2008-08-16T16:12:00.001-05:00

Oh yeah! My baby caught his first large mouth today! Makes a momma proud!!!! 2lbs 15"!!

Ok y'all........

2008-08-16T09:41:00.002-05:00

THIS IS WEIRD. I popped on here this morning to add some things back to my sidebar and the "Amazing" post below has been moved. Not by me. This post was originally done after I came back from WV and now it's here. At least for now it is. WEIRD.....

Anyway, maybe it's the Lord reminding me to pray for Pat again, so I'm gonna do just that. Will you do the same? Thanks. Have a great weekend.

Oh yeah, finished "No Other Gods" this week and let me just say OH MY WORD!!!! If you didn't get to do the study over the summer, please take some time to do it. I guarantee that even if you think you don't have any 'gods' in your life - ESPECIALLY if you think that - the Father will show you a thing or two. The first week in my journal I wrote - "Thank you Lord for reminding me that I DO NOT have this thing figured out!" Love it!!!

Amazing.....

2008-08-15T21:34:00.001-05:00

Ok. I know that Faith posted this song too, but if you didn't see it, please watch! I have an amazing story to tell about this song.
When we were in WV we sat around with my in-laws having some praise and worship time. My nephew Cody is the worship leader at his church so he gets out the guitar and starts to sing. He LOVES Hillsong and goes "Val, you gotta hear this one" and sings "Healer".
Well, Jimmy's cousin Pat has been dealing with some health problems and the Dr's really have no answers so when he played this song, I felt the Lord's tug to pray - as a family not only by human blood but family by Christ's blood - for Pat. My man and I, my brother-in-law and Pat's wife Peg all gathered around him and prayed!! I mean PRAYED!!! It was just such an amazing time that I will not soon forget - and neither will the rest of the family. It was the first time I had ever done anything like that around them but I really didn't much care at that time.
Please pray for Pat.
Jehovah-Rapha, You are the Healer. I believe!! Thank you for your love for us, that you long to heal all our diseases and that we have ULTIMATE healing in You!! I love you Lord!!

Olympic Fun

2008-08-14T08:53:00.002-05:00

I don't know about you but I LOVE the Olympics. ESPECIALLY the Summer games. Don't know why. I'm not exceptionally athletic - kinda more of an artsy type - though I can play a mean game of volleyball and can DESTROY badminton! hahaha Just a joke. You really have to ask my man about my throwing skills however...SCARY. Every time I throw a ball to my boys he just shakes his head, laughs and goes "Babe, you throw like a girl." To which I reply "Thank you very much!" See when you grow up being a head taller than most of the girls around you and "develop" sooner than any kid in class anything that makes you feel like a girl is a good thing!!! ;-)

Anyway, this week has been busy with work and mountains of laundry that seem to crawl from the woodwork. Seriously, where does it all come from? Then to top it all off I've gotten a little shoulder injury I'm dealing with. It's an old volleyball injury. I think watching all these athletes made my body remember because I don't recall doing anything to it recently. Can you have pain by association? I mean, I know we hurt when our kids hurt, but for real, can I be having sympathy pain for all the losers. hahaha That sounds really bad and I'm sitting here laughing at how silly that sounds myself!

The Lord has been so faithful y'all. I mean, 1/4 tank of gas has lasted us all week - though I've gone out a few times. Our food has lasted all week. Our sanity has lasted all week. God is good!!! For REAL!! I'm living the fishes and loaves because our baskets just don't seem to be getting empty! I know it's in part due to those of you praying. God is hearing and answering. He's molding, He's refining, He's providing. I can't thank you all enough, but I can't have to give God all the glory y'all! He is more real to me right now than I think He ever has been in my life. I can feel His breath on my face. I can feel His arms around me when I think I can't take it anymore. I can feel His hands moving as I have such a peace about what He's doing. I'd be dishonest if I said I've licked the worry thing, but each time the thought creeps in I think to look up for a bird and then give it back to Him!!

We've got some good prospects for Jimmy coming up next week and I'm praying - EXPECTING God to answer so I'll be sure to let y'all know what happens!

My oh my....

2008-08-08T15:58:00.002-05:00

It's been a bit of a crazy week around here. Not in the sense that there's a lot physically going on, but there's been an emotional hurricane just blowin' like crazy. First, last Friday, without any warning or really any reasons the company that hired my man called him in and decided it wasn't "working". So, he's unemployed...again. Just pray. Enough said.

I just had to get on here and tell you about how funny God is. Ok, I think I've mentioned before that God and I have this thing with birds. It started with ducks - really - but since then has moved into all winged creatures alike. Often times I've had encounters - DEEP spiritual encounters with the Lord - where birds have been involved. He's spoken to me OFTEN thru things I've seen birds do - too numerous to tell all at once really. Maybe I should do a series on my bird stories.

So, anyway, back to this week. Wednesday night I met with my little singing "group" to rehearse for Sunday's offertory. We're doing something we've done before because our schedules have been so crazy, but it's been a couple of years since we done it in church - we sang it during a Christmas concert but not IN church. After we finished practicing, I started. I mean, I hadn't been around anyone other than my man and my kids all week and they were the first (victims) friends to catch it. I started about how upset with Jimmy I was, how worried I was for our family when it didn't appear to me that he was as worried as I was (as if there's a prize for who worries most). Just basically unloading on them. Being the sweet, loving, gracious friends they are, they just sat and listened, offered no judgement, offered no advice, they just stopped and prayed right then and there.

So, as we're walking out of the church I began to feel the Holy Spirit saying to me "Was all that really necessary? I mean, don't you think they have enough of their own stuff? After all, shouldn't I be the one dealing with that?" So I began to justify "Well I'm only human, ya know. I'm doing my best to get thru this. I'm trying my best to support my man." And right in the midst of all the justification for my sin the Lord sent me a message LOUD AND CLEAR. One of those precious little birds that He so often has used to speak to my heart flew over my head and UNLOADED ON ME!!!!! Oh yes! The Lord clearly said "This is what I think of your justification young lady!!" Never in my life have I had a bird poo right on top of my head, but you better believe it happened after I had unloaded. Go ahead and laugh, I'll wait........

Ok, ya done? So needless to say, I had some repenting to do first to my Father, then to my man, then to my friends. UGH!! Will I ever learn?!! So, in the midst of my little tantrum the Lord used my own mouth to reveal the core of the issue. I'm not believing God. I'm not believing that He will provide. I'm worried about what we'll eat. I'm worried about clothes for school and supplies for school. I'm worried about Jimmy finding a job. All in COMPLETE disobedience to the Word. You might be saying "Well that's normal, girl, go easy on yourself" but you better make sure there's no birds over your head when you say that because that's not what the Lord says. In fact, He clearly says "Be anxious for NOTHING." NOTHING. PERIOD. Not, well it's ok to be anxious for that, after all who wouldn't. But He's asking me, asking all of us really, "Are you gonna trust me with _______" fill in the blank.

So here I am. Trusting. Believing. Hoping. Waiting. Watching for birds too!! hahaha

New Look!!

2008-08-06T10:13:00.001-05:00

Ok so the MOST techno-challenged girl in the world found a new look and I think I love it. Still have to tweek my sidebar a bit but it's taken me forever just to get this (I know it's not very custom, but still LOVE that tree) and I gotta get busy so I'll have to finish it later!

Enjoy and hope you have a great day!