Last Night ...

“Speak, Lord, and let the romance begin.” Oswald Chambers

And, thus the quote that began the night! I was privileged to sit with a groovy group of women seeking to know God more. Becky Tirabassi spoke at our church and she is dynamic and on fire and contagious and I could have listened to God speak through her all night. God used one of Becky’s books, “The Burning Heart Contract,” to start me on a real, authentic journey with Him in January of 2006. Becky is dead-on serious about calling everyone to a focused, daily relationship with Christ through prayer and digging into His word. She doesn’t mince words and I like that. Tonight, God spoke to me through Becky, again. He used her to remind me that I am precious to Him and that He is jealous of our time together. I have come to a place, thank you Jesus, where I miss Him when I compromise any of the time I commit to Him every day. Becky challenged me to be very specific in my prayers, especially for my children. I confess I have been lax in that. But, not anymore! I plan to be BOLD. The Bible says to ask anything … more than you can imagine … believing. I have experienced that truth and I want more. The Bible also says the more I seek Him; the more I find Him, know His character. The more I sit at His feet, the more peace there is in my life and the more I will, prayerfully, shine His light in my life to others. Thank you Lord for women who encourage me with their words and their lives that there is no other way but YOU!

Freedom

As I was reading this morning in Leviticus … all the rules God laid out for atonement … I realized that someone had done all these things or God wouldn’t have laid out a plan for redeeming His people from them. Ugh! Some of these things they are atoning for are pretty yucky and quite frankly, really, would someone do them? Apparently so or the Lord wouldn’t have addressed them. No wonder the Israelites got discouraged ... and I am confident there had to be a lot of people with photographic memories there or they would’ve surely been doomed. And, if they had photographic memories, how is it they forgot God’s incredible miracles and grace and tenderness and mercy? Clearly, this is another reason why the Lord commanded the people to meditate on His word and His miracles and rehearse it daily, all the time … when we wake up, walk, eat, lay down, everywhere … to remember His love for them. See, those things in the Bible are not there to take away our fun, but to keep us safe, in His favor and free from those things that would bind us. What a mighty God we serve! And, thank you Lord, for sending your Son, Jesus, to die for our sins so we wouldn’t have to worry about remembering all the “rules,” but be able to focus on relationship … “Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and love your neighbor as yourself!” (Luke 10:27) Pretty simple, but it requires God’s grace to do it … submission, obedience, listening, making different choices and resting in Him. Lord, fill me with your Spirit that I might be who You are calling me to be and do what You are calling me to do and be a light to your people, starting with my family first. Amen.

Resolved!

I am resolved to do what God has been giving me to do and satan has been trying to steal. I am resolved to stop being frustrated and to keep moving forward, knowing that my Heavenly Daddy is going to move the obstacles and open the doors for me to do what He is calling me to do. I am resolved to write what He puts on my heart, exercise like He has instructed, get up, get moving and do ALL, not just part, of what He is instructing. I am resolved to memorize scripture so I can readily use it as a sword against satan and as encouragement when I get weary. I am resolved to stand in the fact that I am “equipped for every good thing” and that my thing is perfectly designed for me, so I will rejoice in it! And, I will rejoice with others in their thing. I am resolved to stop choosing lazy and lukewarm and be hot and on fire knowing that my God speaks to me and lives in me and I have a purpose and calling to fulfill. I will NOT be pulled back into the old, when I can live victoriously and with great blessing in the new. I am resolved …. I will not look back. “I can do all things (exercise, cook, teach school, raise children, be wife and whatever else He calls me to do) through Christ who gives me strength.” Now that is exciting!

"Mom"-In-Law

I know, because I have friends who don't feel this way, that I am tremendously blessed. I am blessed because I have a mother-in-law who I think is terrific. Not only is she a lot of fun, but she is a prayer warrior, loving, generous, thoughtful, has great taste and is a great cook! She genuinely loves me and our girls and, of course, her son. I think it is an incredible gift that God has surrounded my husband with Godly women (his mother, my mother, the girls and me) who pray for him daily and love him infinitely. How awesome is that? And, I am thankful that God gave me a mother-in-law that I am proud of, brag on and am pleased to call my friend. Thank you, Lord.

Girly girls and Grandma with marvelous manicures!

The t-shirt says it all ...

My mother-in-law went to Branson and all Brian got was this t-shirt … this awesome t-shirt! On the front: “This is the t-shirt someone doesn’t want you to read.” On the back ...

Job 34:4

This is one of my favorite things about home school ...

"Let us learn together what is good." Job 34:4

Home School P.E.

We start home school p.e. next week and we are really excited. The wait list is LONNNGGG to get in to this program because it is so awesome. Praise God one of the sweet things He did for us last year was that we got in a week after being on that long list. This year we’ll play kickball, tennis, t-ball, basketball hockey, karate, bowling, soccer, ultimate frisbee, work on endurance and finish up with field day. Phew! Now you see why the girls wanted a head start …

Geronimo ...

"Hai - yah!"