Flock

Proverbs 27:23

Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, 

give careful attention to your herds;

Reading this verse today seems to be hitting a special place in my heart. While I know that the reference to flocks and herds is often referring to teaching and leaders, followers and students, today it seems to mean family. 

Things have seemed so busy lately. Lots of commitments. We are getting ready for our daughters track season. Ted is traveling more for work. We will be taking our first big camp trip. Softball season for Ted and I has started. I just finished up my first women's retreat. I know, I know....we all have a list of the things we just do, we are doing or we are planning to do.

Recently, Ted and I have implemented family night. We have always felt like we have made a good commitment to eating dinner together, being together doing family things. Still, we have been feeling a little disconnected from our oldest 9 yr old. She seems to be growing faster than we can keep up. Each day, she changes and right before our eyes she is becoming a little lady. Our new family night is unplugged: no computer, no TV, no cell phones (except in emergency). It is amazing what happens to us when we pour into our kids beyond the in-between this thing and that. 

This verse means so much because I feel we are paying more attention. Listening better to our girls tell their silly stories. Laughing more and rushing less. Ted and I are also taking time to acknowledge who she is becoming and moving within those changes. 

It is easy to get caught up in the everything that is on our schedules. I challenge you to count the blessings in your home, in your family and check in on their well being. Unplug, unschedule and see your family for what it really is. Then, make some changes if things really aren't going the way you want to lead them. 

Thank you for your prayers for Dale C this week. I am late posting this usual Friday post. If you are in need of any prayer requests or would like to share a praise, please continue to pass that along and I will share it. Thank you so much for being you. 

Near or Far

Proverbs 27:10
Your own friend and your father’s friend, forsake them not; neither go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near [in spirit] than a brother who is far off [in heart].

This verse has a very real and important message. I hope you hear it. Family is the tie that binds us but in life family isn't always the best place to look for support. I want to use a very real example for you. To my family that I love dearly please know that this is not meant to offend but show a very real picture of how going to family for advice or comfort in our times of need isn't always the best option.

I got married at 19. Maybe not the best idea and although my marriage is an absolute blessing things aren't always easy. Early in our marriage things were tough. We both didn't know how to be married, how to share our lives, how to communicate. This list could continue. Ted and I found out early on that the worst place for help and advice was our families.

If I went to my mom and needed advice, it became me against him. Mom always sided with my part of the argument. She would allow me to sulk in my misery and frustration and blame it all on my husband. While it can feel good to have someone in your corner throwing punches with you, it isn't the best advice. It also isn't the way to keep a marriage together. If Ted would go to his family, I became the bad guy and wasn't good enough for their baby boy.

Ted and I wanted more than this for us. While at the beginning of our marriage we didn't follow a life honoring God we knew we wanted more than the divorces and frustration that had plagued both of our families. It wasn't easy and we had to search out and find people to mentor us and guide us. We had to find people who would give us godly advice, even if we didn't realize that is what we were searching for at the time.

This year, Ted and I will be celebrating 15 years of marriage. We are blessed and strong. I thank God daily for the people that we are and were able to go to in our greatest struggles. And in this life that brings a roller coaster ride of up and downs we have learned the value of finding godly counsel in our lives. We now, intentionally search out those who are close "in spirit" and know that when we are in need it will be met with godly, discerning counsel.

I challenge you in your life, your marriage and all that comes to you when the times are tough and you can search out the one who will just agree or you can search out the one who will challenge and provide growth, choose the challenge. Choose to stand tall on the counsel of those who live in the Spirit.

Please continue to pray for Denise P this week.

Thanksgiving, Day 1

Thanksgiving, Day 1

A thankful heart

Thanksgiving week around my house this year will be different from any other. This is our first Thanksgiving at our house. In the past we have traveled to my husbands grandparents house for a short visit. Grandma Ada will be remembered but not present this year and Grandpa Dale moved to be closer to his family. We then go to my grandmothers house for the rest of the day, sometimes overnight. This year, she is in Tennessee, visiting Angela and her family. The same trip we took a year ago. This year we will open up our home to Dale's parents, my mom and sister and to a friend of mine, Donna and her daughter, Hannah. The dynamics have changed.

One thing stays the same, the age old question, "What are you thankful for this year". We used to write down what we were thankful for and put it in a shoebox and read all the responses from the previous years. That question usually doesn't cause any need for reflection, it's not hard to find things to be thankful for. This year things have changed. You don't have to look very hard to find people who are struggling. Even in our immediate family we are facing the unknown. Turn on the TV or the radio and you hear about the economy, politics and death. Friends and family members are being laid off or loosing their jobs, businesses are closing, loosing revenue. Vehicles are breaking down, marriages are breaking up, and there is still poverty among us. So what do we do, how do we find joy in the midst of all this? Is there really anything to be thankful for? I believe that we must seek God and be thankful for all the blessings we have in our lives. The fact that we had the money to invest in the first place, a home, a car, clothes, marriages, relationships, jobs. A few weeks ago our pastor said that if everything were how we wanted it to be then we would not be able to bear fruit. We would have never been given the opportunity to learn patience, gentleness, self control, generosity, peace, joy, the list goes on. All of the things that come from living through a storm. So, looking at our responses to the poll we took on what we are thankful for, it makes sense that we would vote Salvation, Grace, and family as the most important. Though our families may change in numbers, those who are in our family hold a place in our hearts and memories, either good or bad. But beyond that, we are all a family, those who believe in God. Because of who we are in Christ, there will be an overflow in our lives, there will always be something to be thankful for. I am sure we all have our own lists, but it is not surprising that we would find these three words among the lists. Grace alone brings us into thanksgiving. I encourage you to bring the overflow with you as you go this week, wherever it is that you will visit. It is with this spirit of thanksgiving that we will find this week more bearable, where we can see beyond our current situations and circumstances. What a blessing that is.

Don't forget to add one more person to your list of guests. God will be with you in the midst of all the chaos and differences you may find at your thanksgiving table this year. He will give you the grace you need to get through it all, who knows, maybe you will bear more fruit where you weren't before.

2 Corinthians 4:15
All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 9:11
You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

I call the above verse my 911 emergency plan. On every occasion, even those that are not my favorite, I can be generous, I can share the overflow of thanksgiving.

1 Timothy 4:4
For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,

Dear Lord, I invite you into my thoughts and my home this week. Through the activities and the gatherings, the relationships and the family time, I ask that you be here in the midst of our plans, of our gathering. That I will glorify you in all that I do and that you will feel welcome. Lord, I ask that you be with each of those who read this, that they will feel your presence. Lord, we give you praise in thanksgiving for all the blessings in our lives. You are amazing, Amen.

Power, Day 1

Matthew 18:19-20 "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.
"For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."

Power defined (I picked and chose a few relevant definitions from dictionary.com)

1. ability to do or act; capability of doing or accomplishing something.

3.great or marked ability to do or act; strength; might; force.

7.delegated authority; authority granted to a person or persons in a particular office or capacity

9.a person or thing that possesses or exercises authority or influence.

18.energy, force, or momentum

23.to inspire; spur; sustain

25.to drive or push by applying power

I was thinking about our Friday list of Prayer requests and Praise reports. Wow, what an amazing list. We are truly blessed to have a place to share our needs and our thanksgiving. There is so much to be said for a group of people that will take the time to pray for the needs of others. I hope all of you find power in our Friday devotionals. I know it can seem long and impersonal, but all of us have something amazing to call on when people in our family are in need. We have the power that comes in the name of Jesus.

Heavenly Father~ Your power is the strength I need everyday. I have such an overwhelming need to express the power of your family coming together in Your name. Praise you that you give your grace freely, that we all may choose to live in your guidance and plan. Thank you, Lord, that we may come together and freely worship Your greatness in our lives. Thank you Lord that when we come to you in our times of need that you meet us and find favor in us. Remind us all Lord of you amazing Power not only in our lives as individuals but as a group of believers that proclaim your name above all names.~Amen

Please pray for our ministry, Women of Worship this week.

Love, Day 3

There are so many forms and yet one simple word.

After having my first child, I think I started to understand what it truly meant to love. Up to that point every form of love that I had was not unconditional. From the moment I saw Madi's face, I loved her. Actually, if you want to be technical, it was from the moment I new we were pregnant. The responsibility of loving another was overwhelming. Understanding that she required everything from me. She could not do it on her own.

I think that is a small taste of how God loves us. "Papa." He loves you with all of the responsibility and understanding that comes from parenting.

Madi turns 9 this week. She has grown so fast. She still needs me but sometimes doesn't say it. Even at 9 she is finding her independence separate from me. My heart hurts when she hurts, even though I want to hold her close I now have to wait for her to ask. How many times has God waited for me to ask for His comfort?

There is a part of God's love that is hard for me to give to people I love. The unconditional kind. Even with Madi there are boundaries. I probably shouldn't admit this, but I am human and will trust that I am not the only one that struggles with this. I talk to my children about grace all of the time, but give very little. I can be a very, well, "get your stuff done and then you can have my time and attention" kind of parent. Don't get it done and you will get an earful and a cold shoulder. I do my best to lighten up a bit but I have a very "get it done" attitude. Sometimes I can't see beyond the to-do's to the things that need real nurturing in our lives. Yes, laundry needs to be done but at what sacrifice to relationship?

I am so thankful that our God is more merciful then that. Asking me to abide (rest) in Him so that I may know His love. No to-do's first. Just resting. When I come home (in prayer), I rest, then respond to that Love by serving. His focus is on reward, not punishment.

1 John 4:13-19
By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
We love, because He first loved us.

Heavenly Father~ WOW!! Lord, you are so amazing. I am overcome with thoughts of how you love me. Lord, I need to know how to love. I want to Love my children first. Be my guide, Father. Show me the ways to love my family. I desire to be a vessel for your Love. I want to put my requirements and my judgements aside so that I can Love as you Love. ~In Your Precious Name.