Testing mobile blogging

Birthday Party 1_0003.wmv

This is a film that my 11 year old created. They have been talking about and watching stop motion videos in class. She got a digital camera and some Squinkies for Christmas, so she decided to film a birthday party. Enjoy! There are more to come I am sure!

Making a change

I have mixed feelings today.  We visited a new church today.  We love our old church and all of the people there, but we were feeling stagnant and our daughter was not getting what she needed from her Sunday School class.  She came out of her Sunday school class very excited and on fire.  What a blessing!  She didn't complain at all.  My husband actually got up before I did and went to church with us!  He hasn't been going lately and this was a HUGE blessing today!

We feel that we are following God's direction to move on to somewhere that we can grow and draw closer to Him.  I'm sad and very excited at the same time.  Have you ever had to make this type of decision in your Christian life?  Please share your comments.

Serving God's People

On Sunday, my daughter and I went with our Girl Scout troop to work in a local church Soup Kitchen in our inner city.  My co-leader and I decided that the girls needed to learn to serve others and what a wonderful way to do it!  The experience was truly a blessing for us.  We served 297 people a hot lunch complete with bread, dessert and some pantry items to take with them.  It was a great learning experience for all of us and we will definitely be doing it again!  I've had a burden to do that for quite awhile and never "had the time" as none of us do.  So we just buckled down and went for it.  What a JOY!  Many of the folks were homeless and many thanked us for being there.  That's not why we were there, but it was nice that we were able to provide a smile and a little comfort for them.  God is so good and it is awesome when you let yourself be used by Him.  I am so proud of the girls, especially mine.  She has such a servant's heart that she just jumped right in there and helped where help was needed.  From carrying trays, to getting drinks, to wrapping silverware, to drying dishes to folding up chairs, she was there ready and willing to work.  What a blessing she is to me!

If you can, please find a local soup kitchen or food pantry that you can volunteer in.  It is a truly enriching experience and your presence will bless a lot of people!

He is using me...

You know, sometimes we pray, God please use me to do your will. I know I pray that a lot and then I am surprised when He does. It's just amazing to me that He would use l'il ole me to do His great work. It's just mind boggling.

This morning, a family lost their home to a fire (http://www.indystar.com/article/20100330/NEWS02/3300373/3-children-critically-hurt-in-house-blaze).  They are the neighbors of a co-worker.  She said it was very disconcerting to wake up to a bunch of emergency equipment in the street in front of her home (the neighbors live across the street).

I was being nosey and listening to a conversation between her and my boss, whose office is right across the hall from me.  She was asking him about submitting a request to our company's charity that provides relief for natural and man-made disasters.  I popped my head out and asked her to come talk to me about it.  I am the chairperson for our local committee for the charity, so I told her that if she could get me something that talks about the fire, we could turn in a relief request today.  Well, our local paper had ran a story on it this morning (see above) so wham-o, I had my documentation.  I filled out the form, printed out the form and the story, scanned them and emailed them to the national committee for consideration.  I asked them to expedite the request since they are displaced and 2 of the 3 children are in the hospital in critical condition.  I just got an email a little while ago that it was already being put before the board and that I would have an answer no later than tomorrow.  GOD IS GOOD!  I am so excited and honnored to be His "tool" to help this family so much.  I'm not sure how much they will give them, but I know that it will bless them immensely since they have lost everything.

My co-worker keeps telling me how wonderful I am, but you know, it's not me.  It's God.  It has His name written all over it.  I guess the reason I am posting all this is the importance of making yourself available to Him.  You will be blessed.  Maybe not in money, fame or anything like that, but you will feel great that you helped someone who was in such need.  What an awesome feeling that is.  I am on cloud 9 right now.  I can't wait to see what else He will have me do. 

More on Christ's Love

I did my study today in John 15. What an awesome book. I thought I would share some of my thought processes with you. It's funny, our Pastor did a message in John last night, so this had me in the book of John quite a bit today. If you want to learn about the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the book to do it in! All of my studies are in the King James Version bible.

1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it my bring forth more fruit.
Meaning, we are the branch and if we do not serve as He would like for us to serve, we are not going to be receiving the blessings that He has in store for us.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
The blood is offered to clean us of the sin that plagues our lives. If you are saved you are white as snow. Glory to God!
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Well, that's pretty clear. We have to look to Him for assistance in all aspects of our lives. If we try to take care of it ourselves, we will mess it up good.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Isn't that the truth! AMEN!!
6 If a man abide not in me,he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
What an analogy. Here's what I believe that means: if you aren't saved, you will not go to heaven, but you will spend eternity in hell (the fire). That sure isn't where I want to be when the Lord returns!
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
As His disciples we are called to share His word and show others how to be saved. If you want to know how to be saved go here or just leave me a comment. I would be happy to show you.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you; continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
In short, He (Jesus) laid down His life for us that day at Calvary. ♫Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe...Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.♫
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
I am so proud to have Jesus as my friend!
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
Here is the commandment to share His word again. You know, you don't have to seek Him out, He will find out. Maybe He has found you through my blog...hmmm
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
What greater love is there for your fellow man but to share His word with them.
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
As Christians, we are going to be scorned, ridiculed, misunderstood, hated, and reviled. Be prepared for it!
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
In this verse, the world is Satan. Satan can't stand it when a sinner is saved and covered by the blood. It just infuriates him, thus the world will take it out on you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
21 But all these things they will do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.
Cloak = the blood of Jesus Christ
23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Jesus and the Father are of each other. They are the same.
24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
They (the Jewish people) condemned Him to die instead of a murderer.
26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.
27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
Here again we are commanded to share His word. He wants us to save as many as we can before He comes back. Who knows when that will be, so you better get busy!!

Relationships between Men and Women

Typically my DH and I ride together to work since we both work at the same company, but last week and this week we have been driving separate since there isn't as much work in his department as there is in mine. I have been listening to my favorite radio station K-LOVE and they have been talking about the book, The Love Dare. They have been talking about the relationships between men and women. It would really apply to all of our relationships, family, friends, co-workers, customers. As Christians we are called to love one another as Jesus loves us (John 15:12). With Valentine's fast approaching and everyone thinking about their loved ones. I thought it would be a good time to study why men and women behave the way they do to one another. It is a bit of a power struggle at times. Especially for married couples (please note that this is just my opinion).

Let's look at Genesis 3:

Adam and Eve have allowed the serpent (Satan) to beguile them and thus disobey God by eating the fruit of the Tree of Life. (Genesis 3:1-13)

This displeased God greatly. (Genesis 3:14) So much so that God put a curse on the man and the woman. Genesis 3:15 "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise they head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." There will always be conflict between men and women, no matter how much we love each other. Genesis 3:16 "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and they desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." God made it so that the man would have responsibility over the woman, wherein she would have to be answerable to the man for her actions. Genesis 3:17 "17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded the, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life, 18 Thorns also, and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field:" I took this also to mean that there would be struggle in his marriage as the "field" of the bearing of his seed. There will always be conflicts between men and women. That's not to say that we can't overcome them. Through Christ's grace we are forgiven of the original sins of Adam and Eve. We are still human and we still bear those original curses, but the Lord wants a relationship with us so he has offered us a chance to overcome those curses. He gave us instructions in the bible that tell us exactly how to overcome these obstacles. (What??? I have to read my bible?? YEPPERS!!) We just have to be willing to work to live in the image of Christ and treat each other as he would have treated us. Not to be cliche, but we need to always be asking ourselves "What Would Jesus Do?" That's such a great phrase. It is so hard not to use it over and over because it makes a very good point. The way we live and behave should be an absolute reflection of the light of Christ. People should know we follow Christ by our actions and behaviors.

We can apply all this to our marriages and other relationships in our lives. Let's look at marriages for the purpose of my bible study. Going back to the Love Dare. It is a challenge that lasts 40 days (and hopefully much longer after you learn to redirect your behavior toward your spouse). Each day you have a new challenge in how you deal with the trials and temptations in your relationship. The book stems from the movie Fireproof where a couple dares themselves to save their dying marriage. I have not purchased the book yet, but the idea of it intrigues me greatly. Now getting my DH to participate may be another matter, but it would be really good for both of us and our children. We're not sinking by any means, but we do need to center our marriage more around Christ and how He would handle situations and not our human sides.

Let's talk about patience. Has your spouse ever said something to you and lightning quick....you respond with a retort of your own equal to or even more biting than the one that your spouse dealt. You thought, "Ha! That'll get him/her!" Then later you totally regret what you said and you have to go back, apologize and try to repair the damage that was caused by those words. Sometimes it can be repaired, but depending on what was said, sometimes it cannot be repaired. Then you have a problem. I know that I have this problem and I really have to fight to not say something back that I know will hurt deep. Real deep. In that instance, a deep breath, walking away, redirecting yourself is the best way to avoid making that possibly fatal mistake of saying those words you will regret later. If you can keep it from getting to the explosion level, you are better off. You won't have to do "damage control" and you both will be better for it. Now, this takes commitment from both parties. The other party has to be willing to not jab and poke and push buttons. That goes both ways. We all have started an argument at one time or another.

This all goes back to John 15:12-13 "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." In Genesis 2: 24 it says "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Whoa!!! What?? That means that when I am jabbing at my husband that I am jabbing at myself! Think about it this way too. Ephesians 5:22-25 says "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the had of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." Whoa??!! What!! That means when I jab at my husband, I am also jabbing at Christ! Dude...that's not good! God doesn't mean that wives should submit themselves as doormats, but that they should defer to the husband as the husband has to defer to Christ. Yes, wives also have to defer to Christ, but if a wife is defering to her husband and he makes a bad decision, he is ultimately responsible for that decision with Christ. Wow. We are held accountable for our own actions, yes, however, if we make our own decisions with Christ in mind and as He would have us choose, we will reap the rewards for it. Having respect for each other and not provoking each other is definitely how Christ would want us to behave. I hope I have been able to bring some light.