Amazed

Sometimes I just have to sit back and be amazed. I'm in awe of how big God is. He is big enough to create the entire universe! He created the Sun! He created the stars and the amazing amount of galaxies we have yet to even understand. Yet he cares about each of us individually. He cares enough about us to listen to our needs. Who am I that He should listen to my piddly concerns? Yet I have seen him answer so many of my prayers in the last few months! Sometimes we pray and pray and seek the Lord for years on certain things...and we don't get an answer. But in the past few months I have seen him answer time and time again! He cares about what I care about. I don't know why. But He does. That is so comforting to know that this big big God cares about little 'ol me!

When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place—that are mere mortals that you should think about them,

human beings that you should care for them?" Psalm 8:3-4

Baby Birds

Don't you love how the natural world is symbolic of the spiritual world? Before a new plant grows..the seed has to die first. John 3:30 "He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less." John 12:24 "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives."

The rain comes. Sometimes it's a downpour and sometimes just a sprinkle. But it's always needed to replenish the earth. That's how things become green and alive is with a little storm! Without the storm things would dry up and die.

There are so many more examples of spiritual things in the natural world. God chose to give me one right outside my window! There were 3 baby birds that were born in the bush right where I walk by every day to get to my car! Larry was the one that noticed them first. Three little blue eggs in a nest. I started to get excited every time I went to my car to see how the little guys were!

Then we went out one day and one had hatched! Then 2! Then they were all just tiny, ugly things in the nest waiting for mama bird to come feed them.

Before I knew it they were getting bigger and bigger! Then we noticed one had fallen out of the nest. Then we couldn't find him! Hopefully the mama had moved him somewhere! I hope the cat didn't come by that day!

Then a few days later we went to peek on the babies. I looked in and the 2 babies flew out! Oh my! Scared me! Then we checked on them again that evening and no more babies. The nest was empty.

Wow! God was speaking to me so loudly through this visual! Empty nest! 3 babies! Interesting...

So keep your spiritual eyes open to the things going on around you. You never know how the Lord will use this physical world to communicate spiritual truths to you.

Happy Secession Day!

What are people celebrating this 4th of July? We used to call it Independence Day. But now it's just a number and a month. Do people really know what they are celebrating? When you say the word "Secession" to people ..most people just give you a blank stare. But that is what we are celebrating. It's our secession from England in the 1700s. Why do we celebrate this? It's because we won! If the colonists hadn't succeeded then they wouldn't have seceded. We'd be singing "God Save the Queen"!

Nationalism as described at dictionary.com is the "devotion and loyalty to one's own nation". Nationalism is rampant in the church today. Most of us sat through services today where there were American flags waving. Patriotic songs sung. Allegiances recited. Is this a form of idolatry in the church?

I'm not saying it's wrong to celebrate our country. Most of us celebrate our birthdays without going over a list of our own sins. But when does a celebration become an obsession? When does nationalism slip into idolatry. When do we put our allegiances to country and flag over our allegiances to the Lord?

The Bible has much to say on this subject.

Isaiah 40:15 No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket.They are nothing more than dust on the scales.He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand.

Psalm 72:11 All kings will bow before him, and all nations will serve him.

Psalm 87:6 "When the Lord registers the nations, he will say,“They have all become citizens of Jerusalem."

Isaiah 40:17 The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing— mere emptiness and froth.

When we get to Heaven there will be people there from every tribe and tongue and nation! Revelation 7:9-10 "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”"

My allegiance is only the the Maker of Heaven and Earth, the Creator of the Universe, the one that gave His only Son for the redemption of my soul! Nations come and go. Our country is relatively young in the scheme of the world. The only thing that is eternal is the Lord God Almighty.

So as we have our barbecues, watch fireworks and celebrate this weekend..let us not forget where our true allegiance lies. Who is the true King of our Hearts? What do we proclaim as the center of our lives? Whose flag is higher in our lives? Our nations'? or our Lord's?

Hebrews 13:14-15 "For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. "

Learning to love where I am

The Last few months in our new place we've been busy...

Biking. Hiking. Exploring. Meeting. Seeing. Sitting. Reading. Talking. Waiting. Growing. Learning. Helping. Loving. Watching. Going. Doing. Resting. Sleeping. Crying. Laughing. Kayaking. Swimming. Eating. Fighting. Watching. Slowing. Growing. Worrying. Trusting. Playing. Volunteering. Cooking. Missing.

Nothing ever stays the same

Everything changes. Sometimes for good. Sometimes not. But just when you get cozy with the way life is...it changes. I guess that's a good thing. It helps us grow. It helps us change. Would we change or grow if life didn't change around us? I'm not sure I would. I might get too comfortable with the way things are. But change can be a good thing. It's a time to start anew. It's a time to clean out. It's a time to change attitudes. It's a time to meet new people. It's a time to rely on the Lord. Things are about to change big time in the life of me and my family. I am praying more. Reading God's Word more. Cleaning out so much junk.. physically and spiritually. I don't like change too much. But God knows me best and I'm glad He doesn't let me stay the same.

A life in tune

Here's something you may not know about me... I used to play the violin. For about 4 years back a long long time ago. Like 25 years ago! It's something I wish I would have continued. (Note to all you kids out there whose parents make you practice an instrument--keep it up! It's something you will always have with you! and music is beautiful!) Anyway, I had a thought the other day and got a wild hair. I thought I should get a cheapie violin and try to play again! Thank goodness for ebay!

Well, in my mind I knew I couldn't just pick it up and play it again. I knew it would take a lot of practice. But one thing I didn't think about. Tuning the thing! When it came in the mail it came untuned of course. I bought a tuner and began to mess with it. Up..down..sharp..flat..wrong note..too high..too low.. UGHH! I had to go out a buy a tuner to help me get the pitch right. It has a needle that points if the note is too high or too low, and it has a big letter that flashes what the note is. Also..you have to understand how a violin works. It's got big pegs on the neck where you can adjust the strings. This is for changing the note drastically. But it also has small tuners down at the base for fine tuning. When you just need to tweak the string a little bit up or down.

Well I kept messing with each string. And just when I'd get to the last string ..I'd go back and listen to the first one..and it was out of tune! How'd that happen? I just fixed it! So I'd start all over again and tune each string. Then I noticed that the pegs were slipping. Every time I got the string tuned..the peg turned and it was out of whack again! So I had to buy some peg compound to give the pegs more grip so they wouldn't slip.

As I was in the middle of this very frustrating process..I thought.. hey..there is a spiritual lesson in here. A few actually..

• You can't tune your instrument without a tuner. My life is my instrument. The tuner is the Lord.
• Sometimes my life is so out of whack I can't tell what the tune is supposed to be. I need to tune with the pegs. Make some big changes. Tune things in my life up or down in a big way to make a noticeable sound to others.
• Sometimes the string sounds pretty good to others. But there's some fine tuning that needs to be done. My life may look good to others. It may sound ok. But it would sound better if I did a little fine tuning. Just tweaked stuff a bit.
• You can't not play for 25 years and pick it up and sound wonderful. You need practice. If I had been practicing all these years imagine the songs I could play now! My life needs to be in continual practice to Jesus. I can't take a break for a while and come back to Him later. My life would sound terrible. I need daily practice. Practice in reading His word. Practice in praying. Practice in serving others. Practice in good thoughts and actions. The more I practice the more my life will sound better.
• Just when I think I've gotten all tuned up..I need to start over and retune. Each time I pick up my instrument to play I need to check and see if it's in tune. My life will slip in and out. I'll never be perfect. But I need to constantly check the tuner (the Lord) and see if my life sounds good.

This new year I hope to learn to play my violin again. Maybe I'll start practicing Christmas songs now so I'll be able to play some at the end of the year!

But I want to work more on my relationship with the Lord. Lord, show me where I need to tune my life with the pegs. Put the peg compound on so I won't keep slipping out of tune. Lord, show me where my instrument needs to be fine tuned. Help me in my thoughts, speech, actions toward others. Help me be a beautiful instrument for you!

2010 is over already??!

Wow! It is true..the older you get the faster time speeds up. I don't know if it's a law of physics or not..but it sure seems to be true. Remember when you were a kid in school and time went sooooo slowwwww. Summer break was about to start and you sat in class looking at the clock..just waiting for summer to begin. Tick, tick, tick.. it. just. seemed. to. go. so. slow. But now that I'm older I feel like I just blink and time passes so quickly! How are my kids so big now? How am I almost 40?? How have Larry and I been married 21 years?? Timejustgoessofastnow.

Well.. the end of the year is a good time to review and reflect. Here's some highlights of our year:

• Larry spent the first half of the year working in Pennsylvania. It was sad but we were thankful for the job!
• Scott started Community College in January and took classes through the summer. He learned alot..mostly that he doesn't like college.
• Renee quit her job at Sonic and started a new job at the mall. It's a much better atmosphere and she loves it!
• Sam spent part of the summer up in Pennsylvania with Larry.
• The whole family got to go on a Cruise to Mexico! Lots of fun!
• Val continues to work at Arlington Resale! She loves it!
• Renee turned 18!!
• Scott went to Youth with a Mission classes for 5 months!
• Sam lost his ipod and then worked and earned enough money to buy another one!
• We had a deck built out in the backyard. It's so nice to sit out there now!
• Renee & I took a short trip down to Surfside beach.
• Val memorized Romans 12!

The Lord is good. His mercies are new every morning! Thankfully! I have seen many answered prayers this year. He continues to bless. If I keep my eyes on Him I can see more clearly. I don't know how people do life without the Lord! He is amazing!

I read the entire Bible through this year. It is always such a blessing. I want to again next year.

That's what life is all about!

I pray next year will be a blessing as we continue to make Him widely known!

Luke 2:17 "Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. ^"