The Word

The girls and I are doing a devotional called "Speak Love" by Annie Downs. It's worth the buy. That and the book that goes with it by the same name. I say it all the time ... Speak Life. Speak Love. Speak Life. Speak Love. Speak Life. Bless and do not curse. (Romans 12:14). Today's devotional was about wielding your sword. What sword you ask? The Sword of the Spirit. (Eph. 6:17). It's the same way Jesus fought the enemy in the desert after He fasted 40 days ... with the Word. (Matt. 4:1-11) He didn't fight physically with the enemy of our souls and His, He fought with the Word of God. How will we live by the standard set in the Word if we aren't reading it? God's will for our lives is all right there. In the Bible. And, how does one fight with the Word, you ask? Read it. Memorize it. Post it on your mirror. Post it in your house. Read it some more. Memorize it. Get it inside you so it comes out of you exactly when you need it. Apply it to your life. Eat it. The Word changes every thing. Knowing the Word, it's a love affair with Jesus. Who better?

I Miss Them ...

... these Matriarch's that made everything okay. Great women of faith who love the Lord fiercely. Who walked in great wisdom. Who loved unconditionally and unselfishly. Who sacrificed much for me. Who loved me deeply and I love deeply back. One is in heaven and one is in Arlington. Neither close enough to touch. One whose hand I still get to hold, not nearly often enough. She still knows me. My Momma knew me like no other. Such pieces of my heart. Such a tapestry thread all through my life. Blessed, it's just not a large enough word.

And as a follow-up ...

Parenting advice. Friend advice. Marriage advice. Sibling advice. In-law advice.

People you don't know advice. Everyone advice. Life advice. Yep.

Hard Battles

I've heard it, too. "Be kind because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of a hard battle." I'm not sure I've really thought about that until I was the one fighting a really hard battle. I craved for people to be  kind to me. I was beat up. My family was, too. To be honest, however, when I was well past said battle and before another started, I forgot some times that every one else was fighting a battle. It takes a very present way of thinking to realize that every one you meet, especially the grumpy ones, or the checker at the grocery who never smiles, or the crazy, tattooed person in the church parking lot smoking who I forget loves Jesus like I do, or my husband who comes home grumpy with a head ache, or even my teenager and tween-ager who are going through the tough season of deciding just exactly who she is going to be, or I could go on and on, is fighting a battle. It might be physical. It might be emotional. It might be financial. It might be spiritual. Those seem hardest and they seem to accompany one of the others. I'm thinking we are all fighting spiritual battles since the Word says, "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8) 

 

Lord God, open my eyes and my heart to show tenderness and not be defensive and assume I am always right or that I even have to be right. You are. Open my eyes to the folks who are fighting hard battles, who are hurting, and use me to love on them like You would. You are gentle and understanding and loving and You show grace. Grace. Grace. Something I'm needing lots of myself. Amen and Amen.

Resident Artist :)

Our littlest has been observing her big sisters writing with dry erase markers on mirrors and the shower door. Mommy had to explain to the bigger girls that the wee one doesn't distinguish between dry erase and permanent markers and thinks because you are writing on the "wall," she can. Praising God the seriously awesome artwork below (which was on her bedroom wall) was just dry erase and was easily removed. :) You've got to love the smiley face!

Promises

This. This is where I am standing today. This is where I am reminding myself of promises come to fruition in the past and promises yet to come to fruition in the now. God is not a liar. God cannot lie. God is faithful. He is amazing. His promises are "yes and amen". This is truth. Satan is the liar. And so, we claim and we believe unwaveringly until the promises fall from the heavenly into the natural. Why? Because we don't doubt the wonder God's promises ... no matter what the natural looks or feels like. Declaring!

Post-It Notes and Gina!

If I was tech savvy enough, I'd make a few post-it notes for my friend, Gina, because it's her birthday today and I think she is ah-ma-zing! But, I can't. If I could, one would say, "Happy Birthday!" One would say, "I love you!" And, one would say, "So incredibly thankful that we get to do life together." I could go on. So in honor of Gina's birthday today, here are photo's of she and her clever crew's payback to us. Remember the fork incident from here? Well, can't fork someone in an RV (when we were living in it) and you have to be clever not to mark said RV and who else would think of using post-it notes. I love you Gina and your helpers, too!

The clue ... although, they were super crafty!

Summer Fun ... A bit late! :)

So tired of not having any family fun photo's to post. Ugh. Or, even more photo's of other stuff that I have personally taken. Although, many I have posted, I did take. :) Haven't had a chance to get my photo's downloaded to CD and I'm not tech-savvy enough to figure out how to do that directly to the computer. So, they'll have to wait. Maybe this weekend. In the meantime, here are a few photo's of the fun we had at Aunt Tracy's this summer. Enjoy! 

... wait for it ...

... and he's in! :) It's always more fun to swim with Paw-Paw!

"No, I do not swim. I am the guard dog. I guard."

Couldn't resist this summer tan. That's what happens when your work involves golf courses. :) Perfect.

Friday Funny :)

This happens in my house.

And, these days, it's not always the kids who are saying it. :)

Not a Mess

 

This just made me giggle. Seriously. If you could see the floor in my bedroom. Or, perhaps in the living room. It's what happens when you are home-schooling, still organizing, and have a 3, almost 4-year old who you are NOT going to sit in front of the very bad, no good (if you can possibly avoid it) t.v. babysitter. :)

The Best Choice

I'll be honest, my first thought when I saw this was of my husband. I love that man. I love all of him. I love him with my whole heart for my whole life. This is truth. I will fight to the dirt for our marriage, our children and our life together. Don't doubt it. It's a fact. The other thing I thought of today, after a night of wrestling like Jacob with the Lord (Genesis 32:24-30), was this is exactly how I feel about Jesus. He has my whole heart for my whole life. Doesn't matter if things aren't going my way. Doesn't matter if I am steaming mad and I don't understand. Doesn't matter. It's the only choice that makes any sense. Jesus. He makes it right. He loves me. Pursues me. Sees the whole picture. Knows the whole plan and while it is an act of my will at times to completely surrender to His love for me, He has my whole heart for my whole life. The end.

Giggling

"Whaaaat?  ... I'm uuuup ..."

 

This made me laugh and laugh because this (sadly) happens in our house

 more than once a week ... and I ain't going to lie, it's not just the kids.

Working on it. Don't judge. :)

In Control

 

"Our God Is In Control"

This is not how it should be
This is not how it could be
This is how it is
And our God is in control

This is not how it will be
When we finally will see
We'll see with our own eyes
He was always in control

And we'll sing holy, holy, holy is our God
And we will finally really understand what it means
So we'll sing holy, holy, holy is our God
While we're waiting for that day

This is not where we planned to be
When we started this journey
But this is where we are
And our God is in control

Though this first taste is bitter
There will be sweetness forever
When we finally taste and see
That our God is in control

And we'll sing holy, holy, holy is our God
And we will finally really understand what it means
So we'll sing holy, holy, holy is our God
While we're waiting for that day

We're waiting for that day
We'll keep on waiting for that day
And we will rise
Our God is in control

 Holy, Holy, Holy

 

*

* Music and lyrics by Steven Curtis Chapman.

If you haven't heard this song, it is beautiful. It has brought me great peace and joy in this past week.

 And, how utterly and completely amazing is it that Our God really is in control.

Happy Birthday to Me!

So, how do you have your birthday without your beautiful Mother?

You let the Best Daddy, the Only Daddy, the Heavenly Daddy,

the Maker of Heaven and Earth, the One Who made you, hold you.

God Knew. He Always Knows.

A precious thing happened to me after church yesterday. A sweet, beautiful woman came up from sitting behind me and said, "God told me to come and pray with you." She explained she understood English, but she didn't speak it well. She took my hand in hers and began to pray. We didn't discuss what to pray about. We didn't talk much at all. And, the most beautiful thing happened. She prayed over me in Spanish. The only word I understood was "corazon," which in Spanish means heart. This beautiful woman prayed Jesus heart for me. She hugged me after. Told me her name and went back to her family. All I could do was weep.

 

I loved being prayed over. I love praying with people. I love praying, although lately I don't always seem to have the words. What I especially loved about this prayer, outside of this sweet woman's obedience and how it blessed me, is it was such a beautiful picture of heaven. You see, in heaven, there is every tongue and every language. I'm certain I don't think of that often. My sweet Momma knows this personally. And Jesus, He died for every.single.one.of.us.

 

"... you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation." Rev. 5:9b (NIV)

This is Love ...

Lips Sealed

I'm thinking I might need this poster-size all over my house or at least on an index card on my bathroom mirror and perhaps one stuck on the dash in my car. Seriously. There are times I think I, and those precious souls around me, might benefit from my wearing a very large roll of tape on my arm as a bracelet, to tape my lips shut. God knew. He knew when He created us, we who are dust, that we would walk through times that try our spirits and the only and best way to walk through it was to walk WITH Him. Hand in hand. There are great things happening in our lives as this season begins. There are challenges and mountains, too. But, God is faithful. Always faithful. And, I am seeking Him, before I open my big mouth (most times, just being honest). Thankful in the moments when I am having a "anger flash," He is there to help me over the hump, increase my humility and truthfulness with myself and others, help me to have wisdom and insight to confess, forgive me and help me back up. God rocks!

Gratitude

Dear God, I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you for all the crazy amazing ways You have blessed us. Thank you for our refrigerator, that's big and super cold, cold enough to keep ice cream really solid versus soft serve and big enough that I can plan better meals and not go to the grocery store every other day. It rocks! Thank you for the water and ice in the door. Just an extra special touch You added. Thank you for the garbage disposal and dishwasher, things that make daily life just a wee easier. And, thank you we are not eating on paper plates anymore. Thank you for the kitchen in general. It is one of my favorite places in the whole house. :) Thank you for the washer and dryer that You provided us. They rock, may I now say. I love sitting on my bed folding and I love being able to do the laundry at my own pace. Thank you for all the space we are walking around in and just how amazing that is. Thank you for all the things on my "future house" list that You checked off. Thank you that the girls all love their bedrooms and having their own bed again. Thank you for the empty boxes that are being turned into a playhouse. What fun! And, thank you for the girls creativity and imagination. Oh, and thank you for all those awesome books we just unpacked. I love reading to the girls and I love that our smallest hasn't even read 1/2 of them. Thank you the girls were so excited they sat and read and laughed for an hour and for the precious moments I heard the marvelous middle reading out loud to our baby. Thank you for the trees and the shade they provide us. Thank you for the cool weather that's coming and a deck where we can sit outside and enjoy it. Thank you for the creative ideas for storing things. And, thank you for the ideas for projects that  are to come. Thank you for a home for my giant pumpkin that I've had for years and never taken out of the box. It looks awesome in the yard. You know how much I love Fall. Such a gift! Thank you for the lawn tools/mower you provided the money for by providing a buyer for the riding lawn mower. Thank you for your provision for the cost of last weekend's trip and fixing the extra refrigerator to sell by providing a buyer for that work-out unit. And, the crazy thing is, it's another example of Your perfect timing since we've tried for years to sell both of those things. You knew we'd need them now. Thank you in advance for all the ways you will provide for the other things we need and even some of the things we want. Thank you for the ways you will move mountains blocking our way and for the joy it gives me to watch. Thank you in the times it's not easy to wait, you help us with our ridiculous unbelief, like there has ever been a reason to doubt your goodness. Your promises are "yes and amen." Thank you that you are here in the good, the bad and sometimes ugly. Thank you that when we call on You, You are always there. Thank you that You make beautiful things out of dust. Crazy beautiful. It's amazing to me how much You love us. And Lord, in all honesty, even if we were still in the RV, it would still be amazing to me how much You love us. Thank you, again, God. Debra

James 1:27b

This morning, as I was reading in James, chapter 1, the ending of verse 27 struck me "... keep oneself from being polluted by the world." (NIV) "... keeping yourself free from the world's evil influence." (NCV) "... refusing to let the world corrupt you." (NLT) " Don't know why, but I've read over that. Maybe because my first reaction is to want to hide inside from all the ugly in the world. Protect my kids from it. Not be touched by it. But, Jesus didn't do that. Jesus was smack in the middle of the ugly, the evil, the diseased, the sinful, the corrupt, the broken. That's me without Him, by the way. And, here is the amazing thing, He was never influenced by it. Never. He was not changed by it. He didn't pick up ugly habits. He didn't go for the common. He didn't take the easy route. He didn't look like the world. He didn't act like the world either. He loved. He loves now. He was free of the world's evil influence. He was not, never polluted. How? How did He do that? He walked in the Spirit. He walked hand in hand with the Father. He never compromised. He loved. No trying to escape the ugly. The ugly is where He was needed, is needed. Never influenced by, but influencing. It's mind-boggling. It's wisdom and character and life that comes from the Source. The only Source.

 

Lord, make us more like you. Empower us by your Holy Spirit to love like You do. Help us to refuse the lie that is our culture, the world, and stand steadfast in truth. Keeping our eyes on You alone. Give us wisdom, discernment and protection from the evil and the demonic. Give us courage, boldness. Make us strong in our conviction and, Lord, help us to love the "ugly-beautiful." The ones right in front of our faces. The one's who need You, like we do. Help us to bring them to Your feet. To the Life that is to the full and real and only in You.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Simply breath-taking

"It is not fancy hair, gold jewelry, or fine clothes

that should make you beautiful.

No, your beauty should come from within you -

the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit

that will never be destroyed and is very precious to God." 

1 Peter 3:3-4 (NCV)

 

Wise Words

 

 

"The danger with us is that we want to water down the things
 that Jesus says and make them mean something in accordance with
common sense; if it were only common sense,
it was not worth while for Him to say it."

 

--Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest

"Jesus was not a man who became the Word, but the eternal Word

who became a man. His very core nature is the Word of God.

And to reject or ignore what He says

 is to reject or ignore who He is."

--Francis Frangipane, "In Christ's Image Training"