Born to Die

Praising God for His son, who was born to die, to bring us life.

What Are You Waiting For?

Maybe this is a question some of you have been wondering since I started writing My Crazy Life posts in May.  More than likely, it has only been the question that has been brewing in me for so many reasons.  The question that has kept me silent and only skin deep on this blog.  The question that has kept me distant.  The question that I didn’t want to face.  The question that I knew how to answer, but didn’t know how to do.  Why can’t I share?

Even now as I type this up, my words are hard to formulate. And I just keep thinking that I’m rambling.  That this post is going to be so long that no one will actually finish reading it.  But maybe that’s the point.  To just bury this story among the black font, to keep it hidden. 

No, its not time to write my story.  It hasn’t been finished yet.  God definitely has been prodding me.  You know, with sermons,  people I don’t know, friends who didn’t even know they were writing a blog post specifically to me and songs.  The one I heard this weekend hit me hard.  I had never heard it before, but it is the song.    This is the lesson…the good that He worked out of My Crazy Life this pass May.  The lesson that I’m still trying to “perfect.” 

Right, now this is all I can give you.  And honestly, I can’t promise that I will ever be able to give you more.  But, maybe this is good enough.  Maybe some of you are stuck in a boat, but a different boat.  Not my boat.  Maybe you are afraid to step out.  Maybe God is asking you the same thing He asked me, “What are you waiting for?”

Walk on the water with me because even if we fall Jesus will catch us.  So, what are you waiting for?

Waiving the White Flag

I’m so excited to have Brooke from A Life in Need of Change guest posting today!  I hope after reading her post you’ll be joining me in her challenge.

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Are you the mother of boys who often finds herself ready to waive the white flag in defeat?

 

Do they drain you, overwhelm you, steal your heart, break your heart and cause you more anxiety than you ever dreamed possible? Maybe you only have one boy amongst a sea of estrogen and you just can’t figure out how to respond to him in a way that affirms all that is good about his masculinity.

You're not alone.

Last May, over 1300 women and a few dads in SEVEN different countries joined together to pray purposefully and passionately for the hearts of their sons in a challenge called 21 Days of Prayer for Sons. 21 Days is based on the best-selling eBook Warrior Prayers: Praying the Word for Boys in the Areas They Need it Most.

Even our best parenting efforts don't come with a guarantee. As much as we might wish we could change their hearts of stone to hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26), we can't. But we serve a God who can. Knowing this, it becomes quite clear that there is only one thing we can do…

Plead with God.

Pray.

“The fervent prayers of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:17.

It’s our hope. The next 21 Days of Prayer for Sons challenge starts September 6 and ends September 26, 2011. How can you participate? Easy!

1. Purchase your own copy of Warrior Prayers: Praying the Word for Boys in the Areas They Need it Most (just $5.97 as a PDF download or on Amazon Kindle!) You could, in theory, participate in the challenge without a personal copy, but your experience will be much deeper and richer with it.
2. Commit to praying for your son(s) or grandsons 10 times a day for 21 days straight. This is a huge commitment, so if you feel God leading you to participate, pray and ask Him to give you the strength and endurance you need.
3. Consider leading your own group on your blog or in your community!
4. Sign-up HERE!

Get inspired by recent participants!

“This challenge…has given me my joy back in mothering” ~LaToya “Thank you for giving me a tangible method for transformation in my family!!” ~Anne “Thanks, Brooke for your help. I’ve always known that God was listening; I just didn’t know what to say!” ~Laurel “So many heart changes are going on in our home and I’m just so thankful…” ~Ashley

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Brooke is a mom of two young boys who leave her desperate for God’s grace. Her pursuit of being a better mom has left her at the foot of the cross, knowing that if God doesn’t show up … nothing happens. This dependence upon God to turn hearts of stone to hearts of flesh leads her to her knees in prayer. She’s the author of the best-selling eBook Warrior Prayers: Praying the Word for Boys in the Areas They Need it Most, creator of the 21 Days of Prayer for Sons challenge and co-founder of the well-loved online community for mothers of boys, the M.O.B. Society. She offers hope for change to the hearts of women at her main blog, A Life in Need of Change.

A Title Won’t Do it Justice

Taking time this morning to remember what my Jesus did for me today. Proving that He loved me and you so much that he was willing to suffer and die. Words aren’t enough.

Light Up the Sky

Evidently the Lord wanted me to hear this song today. It was sung at my bible study and then I heard it several times on the radio. If I had heard it before today, I don't remember it. It a good song with a great reminder. Figured, I would share it.

 

Anticipation

Every few months I find it hard to sleep.  I toss and turn through the night, checking the clock to see if it is time yet.  I’m anxious with anticipation.  Why all the excitement you ask? Well, I’m looking forward to taking my temperature.  Yep, it is exciting stuff. 

You see for the past 2 years we have struggled with secondary infertility. Secondary infertility is the inability to conceive or maintain a pregnancy after having successfully done so before.  So, every few months I find it hard to sleep because I want to see if my temperature stays up past my luteal phase, an early sign of pregnancy.  As the day gets closer, the harder it is for me to sleep.  The more I look forward to waking up to discover if this is our time.  Wondering, “Will this be the month that we are blessed with another baby?”

But this post isn’t about infertility, it is about a conviction.  My conviction. While in church, my mind began to wonder and something said brought me to my mornings.  It made my heart sink.  I began hearing questions in my head from a familiar voice. 

“You don’t toss and turn because of Me.  You’re not anxious with anticipation to be with Me in the morning.  You don’t look forward to getting into My word. In fact, you dread waking up other days of the month.  You rather just sleep in.”

Ouch.

His words hurt because they were true.  All of them.  And it leads me to the ask the question, “Why?”

• Why am I not so anxious to be with my Savior, who gave His life to be with me for eternity, that it wakes me up in the morning with anticipation?
• Why am I not looking forward to waking up to listen and see what He wants to share with me?  (Because when I do, I’m always amazed by what He is teaching me.)
• Why am I not full of  excitement to wake up and greet the One who never gave up on me, who stood by my side, who meticulously planted seeds in my life, so that I would one day know His great love?
• Why?

God has sure left me with a lot to think about and to improve upon.  But I am so gracious that my inconsistencies and selfishness doesn’t keep my God from loving me.

What things tempt you from getting in the word daily?

Wishing You A Very…

Here is a little video I found to help keep things in focus this holiday.

 

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This Christmas card was a compliment of:

Merry Christmas Script Christmas 5x7 folded card Make a statement with custom Christmas cards at Shutterfly. View the entire collection of cards.

Must See- Don't Stop Believing

This video is definitely a MUST SEE in my book.  Listen closely to the words…as it shares the message of a savior’s birth!

Wasn’t it awesome?  I loved it!

Shower Connections

Preface:  I am not eloquent in words.  I get flustered in thought and my fingers often stumble.  I re-think and re-word the thoughts and ramblings in my mind.  I’m not a story creator, even though I long to be entertaining.  I’m plain, straight to the point and sometimes blunt. 

With all this said, I’ve learned something a few weeks ago, but since I didn’t have a story or a way to present it, I’ve yet to share it.  But, I’m not going to wait any longer.  I’m just going to be blunt to spit the words from my mouth and let God do the rest because He is the one who brought it to my attention.  So, here it goes…

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I was enjoying my quiet time, in the only place I can get it…the shower.  I was catching the water in my hand.  As I carried the water up closer to my face, I noticed how much louder the water got.  I was immediately given a visual. 

A waterfall.  Have you ever had the pleasure of standing near the bottom of a waterfall?  It is quite loud! 

Well as I made that realization, I made another connection. 

God is like a waterfall. 

You see, the closer you are to a waterfall the louder and clearer it becomes.  And the further you get from it the harder it is to hear.  The waterfall never moves, it is always there.  It is always loud. 

The same is true with God, as I have learned throughout my life.  The closer I am to God, the more I can hear and understand Him.  And in those moments when I cannot hear Him, it is me not God who has moved away.  For God is always there.

I find it so wonderful…being able to see God and to know Him.  He is declared all around us.

Psalm 19:1-4 (NIV) The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

Check out what others have been learning at:

Live Deeply

A couple of weeks ago was the official start to my women’s bible study for the Fall.  I have to confess that I was really excited!  I took the summer off and I was counting down the days when the Fall session would start.  In this session we are using the book Live Deeply to help us focus in on the Parables.

The first parable we discussed was the Parable of the Sower.    (Follow the link to read its entirety for yourself.)

It's always fun for me to look back at something I’ve read many times before and discover something new.  I never realized how easily I can relate to each seed in this story.  In fact, my “new discovery” was that at one point or another in my life I have been each and every one of those seeds. 

I have been the seed that was sown along the path.  I heard the message, but I didn’t get it.

I was the seed that fell on the rocky places.  I heard the word and it filled me with excitement for a short time, but I quickly lost faith and was easily swayed in my beliefs because I had no root. 

I was and sometimes I still am the seed that fell among the thorns. Life’s distractions and worries can often cause me to focus on me, instead of doing what I am called to do.  To share the good news.  Many times the thorns prevent me from reaching out to the ones I love the most, for fear of rejection.  I worry that if I share my Hope, I will lose them.  My heart aches for them.  I love them so.

I have had moments and hope to one day remain the seed that fell on good soil.  I understand the message, I know what it says. I know the truth.  I know my future.  What I don’t know, is how much fruit am I bearing.  Not much yet, but there is still time. 

I pray that I am a seed that produces a crop that yields a hundred times what was sown.  I pray that I don’t just see and hear, but that I understand and I perceive always.

Check out what others have been learning at:

Just for Fun- Rhyme Time

Came across this video on The Price Family blog. She speaks fast, so you are going to have to listen and focus, but it is well worth it.

All About Me

I know that I don’t go into a lot of details about my life on this blog…you know the deep stuff.  There are lots of reason…fear of identify theft, crazy stockers, you know who wouldn’t want to be me or want me.  Just kiddin’  And then I’m not.  You see, my identity was taken from me, but it wasn’t stolen it was replaced.  Then I did have a stocker, but he wasn’t hiding from me, I was running from him.  His name was Jesus.  I could go into a lot more details about how I could refer to Him in those terms, but I am going to save those stories for another day.  This video pretty much sums up my life in 4 minutes, so I thought I would share it. So, you could get to know me a little better.

This animation is built on 1 John 3:1, and a song by Sovereign Grace Music entitled Prodigal (http://www.sovereigngracemusic.org/).

Lately…

Lately I have been slacking.
Lately I have been a lost for words.
Lately I have felt dull and unexciting.
Lately can turn into tomorrow.
Lately could be my future.

But lately, I don’t want to be lately anymore.

Today I will be diligent.
Today I will sing praises from my tongue.
Today I will be filled with joy and dancing.
Today will be my tomorrow,

Thanks to my one and only audience of One.

A Goal of this Housewife

I love these pictures.   I mean seriously, aren’t they just perfect.  They completely depict everything….I am NOT! 

I hate these pictures.  (Ok, hate may be a little strong, but you get my point.)  What’s with the little smirk on her face? Doesn’t she realize that she is going to be doing the same thing tomorrow.  Seriously, who smiles about having to constantly do dishes and laundry…every single day?  Surely, not this housewife. 

And yet, I am strongly convicted to change my attitude. To understand, where her joy comes from.  To plug into that same power source that energizes her and gives her the desire to complete these mundane tasks. 

I need to start pulling out those “weeds” I have in my life that prevent me from being the best possible blessing I can be to my husband, child and others.   I know that I can’t change myself, but I know God CAN.  Praying for a transformation.

Good Morning Girls

I am so thankful for my Good Morning Girls group.  It is a group of women who use email to keep each other accountable for their quiet times.  Good Morning Girls was created by Courtney from Women Living Well.  To learn more about it or to start a group of your own, check out Courtney's blog.

We started our group last fall and most of us committed to doing it again during the winter.  We actually just started on Monday.  It is so nice to be back into this rhythm.  I learn so much from them as they share what they have learned.  It is even more amazing on days like today, when we all seem to have learned the same thing, but in different ways.  If it wasn't for these ladies holding me accountable I know I wouldn't be getting my quiet time with the Lord on a daily basis.  So, I am truly thankful for them and their encouragement.  I thank God that He place us in each others lives.

MORE of HIM, less of me

Happy New Year! Don't you just love new beginnings.  I always feel more energize and excited about the possibilities.  Plans and resolutions are made in hopes to make this year better than before, to make yourself into a better you.  It is a new year with a new slate, as I always told me kiddos the first day of school.  What happened last year, doesn't have to be what defines you this year.  But then the months pass and the newness wears off and it seems that those things you didn't like about yourself last year are rearing their ugly heads.  And as much as you try to wrangle them in, it gets tiring and then before you know it you've slipped up.  Unfortunately, sooner or later, you just give up all together because it just seems to hard.  You just decided to settle...this is who I am and there is nothing I can do about it.  And you're right.

So, this year, I am not making any resolutions because the truth is, I always fail.  I want to be a better wife and mother, but no matter how hard I try to improve myself I fall short.  No, this year I am not making a resolution, this year I am going to make a REVOLUTION.  I know I can't change myself, but there is ONE greater than me.  HE CAN CHANGE ME from the inside out.  So this year, I want MORE of HIM and less of me.  After all, JESUS is my number 1 Must Have.

If you have time, check out this sermon which inspired my blog post.

Friendly Encouragement

A friend of mine recently posted a note on her Facebook account that was inspirational to me, not only because I was once a previous teacher, but also because of where I am in life now and what God is calling me to do today as a Christian, wife, and mother.  So, since I know many of you, my readers, are currently living in my shoes, if you will, I thought I would pass it along.  So, enjoy Amber's post, Day 29. (I bolded the parts that spoke to me.)

I was only eight days removed from graduation when I stood in front of my class for the first time. I remember trying all kinds of techniques to get my kids interested in learning. Many of my tactics involved some form of educational bribery. I would stop by the store early most mornings and load up on candy and supplies for the class. All of this came out of my own pocket mind you, but it was worth it to have an engaged classroom.

I taught 6th, 7th, and 8th grade English at St. Rita, and the 6th graders were without a doubt in a league of their own. Too old to be kids and too young to be teens they were quite literally in the middle of middle school. I grew to love my little 6th graders, and so I invented a type of educational bribery just for them.

The program was a way to brag on them to my older students and reward them for their hard work. I wrote the following sentence on the top of my board: “My 6th graders have done their homework for ___ days in a row!!!” Now, every day we would fill in the appropriate day. I made a big deal of it. For every day that all of my students did their homework we would write the number on the board. If we made it to 15 days in a row they got a treat. 20 days and they got another one. The Big Kahuna though was 30 days; if we made it to 30 days then they would get a party. Whoo hoo. Like all good bribes though, there was a catch. If anyone in the class forgot their homework, on any day, the entire class went right back down to zero days and we had to start all over again. It didn’t even matter if we were on day 29, if one person forgot, we all paid the price. Now, I wasn’t a complete Nazi. Each student had one “pass” they could use for forgotten homework and we wouldn’t go down to zero days. In addition each week had a built in free day. You see I didn’t assign homework on Fridays but I counted each weekend as a day they “did” their homework.

Things were going really well with my 6th graders. Admittingly, several kids needed to use a “pass” but all of them did their work on a consistent basis. I knew who the kids were to watch, and I watched them, but they did their work and we kept racking up the days. We hit 15, and then the deal was on. Once they got their first treat (which were Krispy Kreme doughnuts) they were baited. That party was within reach. Then came day 18. It was weekly spelling word time and I told them to get out their work and I would come and check it. I made it all the way around the room to Molly. Now Molly was not one of the kids I had to watch. She was a cute girl who always wore her long hair in two low pigtails. She had glasses, but they complemented her, and she was one of the first ones to raise her hand when I asked a question. She was a good kid. When I got to her I knew what was wrong. She looked up at me, those pigtails framing her tear streaked cheeks and said “I don’t have it…I can’t find it.”

My heart sank. “Wait,” I offered, “you still have your pass!” I looked at my grade book while she simultaneously shook her head. “No, I used it on the very first day because I was absent and didn’t want to make it up.” The grade book confirmed it. I gave her a sympathetic smile, and she cried some more. That walk over to the chalk board was the longest of my teaching career. My 6th graders waited with baited breath as I raised my marker and erased day 18, only to replace it with a zero.

I think about that day often. It wasn’t until then that I understood that whole “this hurts me more than it hurts you” adage. I truly ached for that class, and especially poor little Molly. You see, it didn’t matter what that party was going to cost me, I knew how much they wanted it, and that made me want to give it to them that much more. I knew they were working for it, and that made giving it that much sweeter. It was only recently, as I thought of this story yet again, that I thought of it as a perspective on my life as a Christian. As God’s adopted sons and daughters through the blood of Christ, we aren’t much different than that room full of 6th graders. I wanted to bless my class, and God wants to bless us. Now God has given us the ultimate blessing through Christ’s death on the cross, it’s like our pass, but being a Christian is so much more than simply knowing you’re going to Heaven. We are meant to live in that promise each day. He wants to reward our faithfulness, and He wants us to work hard to bring to completion the good works He has begun in us. Why does it surprise so many of us then when we get something we’ve wanted, worked, and prayed for? Why does it surprise us when we seek Him and, are rewarded for it? Isn’t it in the nature of a loving God to bless those who love Him? Even more so, don’t we know that He aches when we are living in obedience, and then stumble either out of habit, stupidity, or complete disregard for His will? True, He could go on and reward us anyway, bless us in spite of ourselves, but then what good is the blessing? What further blessings would we miss by not facing the consequences of our own disobedience? 

I could have given Molly a pass that day, especially since I knew she was trying, and especially since she was a good kid, but that wasn’t the deal we had made. It was all or nothing. There was no in-between. The same is true for our walk with Christ. We are in an all or nothing deal here. When we give it our all, we receive His all, and His blessing far outweighs our sacrifice. Today I encourage you to be obedient to what you are being called to. No matter how difficult, your faithfulness will produce blessing. After all, wouldn’t you hate to go all the way back down to zero when you may be on day 29?