GET BUSY!!

"Children, don't drag your feet in this! God has chosen you to take your place before him to serve in conducting and leading worship—this is your life work; make sure you do it and do it well." 2 Chron 29:11 (The Message)

LAND SAKES! What an awesome day of worship yesterday! THE WHOLE DAY was just one of those that made me go to bed with a smile on my face!! Dr. Rummage's sermon yesterday - whew! just about blew me away (I'll share more on that later) - my Sunday school class was great - we had breakfast! hahaha - the worship time was sweeter than it had been in a while - sometimes Christmas music gets a bit "old" after 4 or 5 weeks - and then last night we had a deacon ordination. I don't know what your theology is, but deacon and pastor ordinations are just about the sweetest thing ever. Last night there were 3 men from my Sunday school class ordained, one of which was my best friend Antonia's husband Steve. Antonia took the pics you saw of my family! They have been thru a LOT and let me just tell you that his ordination is a testimony to the fact that God is faithful to heal and restore the time of the locusts! It's just so sweet to see my pastor on his knees before these men praying for and encouraging them. Good stuff!

So anyway, during our choir practice, Dr. Doug, our music minister shares the above verse with us. Not exactly that version, but the verse. It hit me like a ton of bricks!! The first line "Children, don't drag your feet in this!" It's time to get busy! The Word just comes right out and tell us not to drag our feet! WHOA! I mean, how often are we asked to do something and say "Well, let me pray about it" which sometime means, I don't really want to do this, but maybe if I stall long enough they'll ask someone else. Come on, let's get real. You KNOW that's really what you've wanted to say but didn't have the courage - I know I have!! After the sermon yesterday and then this verse last night I know God was telling me to get busy! Now, I know I am busy, but I just wonder how effective I am with the time God gives me. Am I making an impact on eternity? How often do I take shortcuts, cut corners so I can have a few "down" moments? Now, don't go there, I KNOW there's a time to rest, but still....I think you know where I'm going here.

I want more than anything to be an effective servant. To do EXACTLY what the Lord wants me to do and there's no way to know EXACTLY what that is if I'm not busy on my face and in the Word seeking it! Which leads to Dr. Rummage's sermon yesterday. I won't share the WHOLE thing cause you can go to our site and listen for yourself, but it was about wisdom. What it is and how to get it. Here were 4 tips he shared on how to get wise.
1. Don't assume you know it all. (OUCH! Ok, that could've been the whole message for me!)
2. Listen to Godly instruction. (From people you KNOW are Godly, not just have the title of it.)
3. Choose wise people for your closest friends.
4. Pursue a relationship with Jesus. (How can you be like someone you don't know?)
To gain wisdom, to know where we are to serve, to know if we're supposed to take that job, to know if that guy we just met is the ONE, to know what to do with our aging parents, to know what to do with our kids who won't listen, to know what to do with our life it's time to get busy! It's time to stop dragging our feet and get with it!!

Since this post is getting a bit long I'm gonna spend a day or two more on this verse! LOVE it!!!!

Weekend Worship

Lord God, this is gonna be a long storm but I will praise you!!! You are good and You have a plan. This didn't take you one tiny bit by surprise!! I love you Father!!

Sometimes He calms the storm and other times...

He calms His child. Today the Creator of the Universe is cradling this child in His arms and calming me. He has to because He's all I have.

There's been some problems with my mom over the last year, things just haven't been right. She had a stroke the day my brother-in-law died and since then we've all noticed little things. Things forgotten. Social skills slipping. Mixed directions. Little things. A week before Christmas however, she was driving and ran up onto a curb and busted her tire. She wasn't hurt - thank God - but she was VERY confused after that and was hospitalized because her blood pressure was high. After a battery of tests - all of which were normal - we were told that given her decreased mental status from the stroke and the fact that her BP was so high, that was the cause of her problems and once her BP was under control, things should be fine. Boy, were they wrong.

Yesterday, after some very serious things came up with my mom, we were told that all her tests from the hospital were NOT normal. Her CT scan shows very clear dementia. She is now unable to live alone. She can't drive. She can't have access to her meds without supervision.

So as my sisters, my brother and I figure out how we're going to deal with this, my Abba Daddy sends me a little kiss this morning thru my "God Calling". Here's the title for today. "Do Not Plan". "All is well. Wonderful things are happening. Do not limit God at all. He cares and provides. Leave tomorrow's burden. Christ is the Great Burden-bearer. You cannot bear His load and He only expects you to carry a little day-share." Does that blow your mind, or what?! THEN, guess what my devotional verse was this morning. Ps 121:1-2 "I lift my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Somebody wants to say "there is a God in heaven"!!!!

Father God, Abba Daddy, thank you for loving me. Thank you for comforting me. Thank you for reminding me that you are the source of my strength. That you have a plan. That you are in control and I don't need to try to fix this!! Oh I how love you so!!! Thank you. I will lift my eyes to the hills and your praise shall continually be on my lips! I love you Lord!!!

Let's go.......MOUNTAINEERS!!!!!

Busy morning and day today but I had to stop and give a big ole' shout out to coach Stewart and the West Virginia MOUNTAINEERS!!!!! WWWAAAHHHOOOOOO!!!!!

The game was AWESOME and the 'EERS did us proud!!! So glad the school did the right thing and hired Coach Stewart! Ya'll have a good one and celebrate our victory with me! BTW who is Rich Rodriguez anyway!!! hahahaha

2nd post - here's a few more pics of the family!

What a day!!

Well I can't believe how late it is and I'm just now sitting down. After waking, spending some time with my Abba Daddy and getting everyone up and back at the routine I had a TON to do today. Got all my Christmas decorations down and it's weird because last night I was SOOOO ready to bid them farewell for a while and now that it's done I'm actually kinda sad. This Christmas was just an AWESOME time! The last few haven't been all that great since my dad died in Nov of '02 and my brother-in-law in Sept of '04. It was nice to stay home and just be together and to be happy.

Anyway, the job is done and it's time to get busy. Since my only trip outside was to the Target to get some medicine for Josh and a few other essentials I wasn't sure how I could show someone some extra 'love' today. But God (oh how I love those 2 words) put my old neighbor in the video game section and of course my 2 boys HAD to just look around so we "bumped" into each other. Now, I LOVE her dearly and her girls are just about the sweetest things EVER but my heart is just so sad for them. They are practicing Jehovah's Witnesses. So, I told her how much we miss their family and asked them if we could get together soon. I pray that when we get our kids together they may see something in our lives that is missing in their own. So I left there knowing I hadn't done anything special to show "love" to her but God reminded me that the battle is His. I can't save ANYONE! I can't force ANYONE to believe anything. All I can do is be His spokesperson and love them.

So, I pick up my God Calling this evening and it was great!!! I'll share again! If you're tired of hearing about this book, well, go buy your own! hahaha "Never let one day pass when you have not reached out an arm of Love to someone outside your home - a note, a letter, a visit, help in some way." CAN YOU STINKIN' BELIEVE THAT?! I promise that's what it said!! God just cracks me up!!! Also at the end it says "How many burdens can you lighten this year? How many hearts can you cheer? How many souls can you help? And in giving you gain: 'Good measure, pressed down and running over.' I your Lord have said it." DO YOU LOVE THAT? That's going on my list for the year!! Show some love today, cheer a heart!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I can't believe how fast 2007 went. It seems to have been a total blur! So many changes in 2007. Most of which occurred inside but some were outside too. Some I was happy to see change - like my new do - but some, not so much - like my weight. YUK! I can tell you that the changes on the inside have been amazing to see though! So much to be thankful for.

Last night I rang in the new year in a place, that to those who have known me for a long time, would be QUITE a shocker!! It was a very low-key new year starting with a LONG bath around 5:00pm - which was nice little treat - while my little ones took a mandatory nap! They went kicking and screaming but were all snoring sweetly in minutes. (Is snoring sweetly an oxymoron?) haha Anyway, after dinner we got the kids in their PJ's and went over to my friend Lisa's. We joined 3 other couples - all decked in our PJ's as well - and we watched movies until about 11:00. Then the adults all loaded up, drove down to our church and rang in the new year on our faces in the prayer room!! We began praying by about 11:30pm and finally wound things down at 1:20am!!! It was an AMAZING time! None of us stopped to kiss our spouse as Midnight came, none of us stopped to wish the others a happy new year, we all just stayed on our faces praising God, praying for our marriages, our families, our church, our city, our nation, our leaders and whatever else the Lord laid on our hearts. It was the most amazing new year I think I've ever had!!

I talked yesterday about not making resolutions that I know I won't keep in the coming weeks and I intend to hold to that, however, there are a few things I'd like to actively work at changing. First, is loving God more! Falling deeper and deeper into His Word and crawling up in His lap every morning! Spending more and more time on my knees. Second, loving my man more and showing him more respect EVERY day! Third, loving my kids more and releasing MY expectations for their future and remembering that God has the ultimate plan for their lives - not me! (Don't think that means I'm not gonna give them a beat down when they need it though! haha JK!) Fourth is loving my family and friends more and releasing them from meeting needs in me that they can't possibly meet. (That goes for Jimmy and my kids too!) Last, I am gonna lose weight! Not because I want to look great or feel better about myself, but because my body is the temple of God and I have not been treating it with the respect it deserves. Overeating is sin. Laziness is sin. I will watch what I eat and I will exercise!! SIMPLE!!

So, as we face the coming weeks I pray to share more with you about how God is working in me and showing me how to love Him more, how to serve Him more and how to love those around me more! I MIGHT keep you posted on the weight thing too! hahaha Love and blessings to each of you in the coming year and I pray that each of you will dive deep into the well of the Word, the bread of Life, the hope and promise of the future!! I pray that you'll spend time with Him everyday and communicate with Him OFTEN during your day!! I know I'm certainly going to!