Father's Day

Matthew 6:9

King James Version (KJV)

 ⁹After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

So I grew up knowing my father, but not very well. My Mother divorced him when I was two. He was in the military and traveled a lot. We did get to see him a month every summer until I was eleven. Even then, it was more like going to see a familiar family friend. The connection was not really there. When I was eleven my grandmother died. This began the first of many disappearances by my Dad. I did not see him or speak to him again until I was fifteen. He up and called and asked me and my sister to come stay with him for the summer. I did, we argued. I guess I had grown up and he had not. My sister decided she wanted to stay with him and moved in. After two months circumstances led her back to me and Mom. This precipitated another disappearance. This one lasted for seven years. By this time I had gotten married(my grandfather walked me down the aisle), had two children and become a responsible adult. Out of the blue my Dad calls me. I won't lie, feelings of anger, resentment, and betrayal filled me, but another change had occurred in my life in the interval. I had met Christ. This meeting had given me a Heavenly Father who had forgiven my sins and who was I to withhold forgiveness to my earthly father? I won't lie, it has been hard. My father rarely calls(once in the last five years), but I will continue to try and develop a relationship with him. I will continue to love and honor him, not because of anything he has done, but because of everything my Heavenly Father has done for me. So when everyone celebrates Father's Day, it holds a special significance to me. I may not have a close relationship with my earthly father, but I have a relationship with my Heavenly Father that is out of this world! And  with faith in Him, I can hope for a similar relationship with my earthly father!

Faithful and True

Deuteronomy 7:9
King James Version (KJV)
9Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

Sometimes I stray. Not from my husband, but from my Heavenly Father. I get complacent, or maybe even selfish. I want to do the things I should not, like gossip and complain. I get lazy. I don't want to do my daily Bible reading. I don't want to go to Church. Then I hear that still small voice saying, "I love you!" "Draw nearer to me."    My life begins to unravel, and the peace that I have had gets disrupted. I look around and see the distance I have created between my Savior and me. It is then I have to fall on my knees and beg for forgiveness. I have to humble myself and guess what! When I do that, He is right there waiting!! He opens His arms and draws me close. He lets me know how much He missed me and longs for me when I stray! There is no feeling greater than being in the Arms of my Savior!!

 ²³O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
 ²⁴Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD. (Psalm 31:23-24, King James Version)

Sometimes life does not make sense.That is just how it is. Sometime you can do all the "right" things and everything still turns out wrong. It's like when you work hard to help someone, and they turn around and talk about you behind your back, or you spend your life teaching your children the right way to go and they still take the wrong path.Or like what is going on right now in my life. I know God is leading me back to school, but sitting here looking at what is going to cost, and nothing in the bank to cover it, and no resources to turn to, I am in a bit of quandary. I just can't see how it is going to work, but I know God can do it.  It is during times like this I have to keep the faith. None of this takes God by surprise. He is still in control. He is also keeping all the things I have done in faith in Him. He may let the trials of this life come to me, but He will get me though them. He also has something much better waiting on the other side. So when all seems to be going south. Look to the Lord and seek His face. What He brings you to He will bring you through.

Home Alone!

 ⁵Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Hebrews 13:5, King James Version)

So right now, I am sitting in a quiet lonely house trying to keep my mind and heart occupied. This is not a normal state of being for me. With three kids and a husband, my house is usually hustling and bustling. There is usually someone talking to me, whether I want it or not. And always lots of love flowing. Not today, I sent my husband and my two oldest children on a mission trip to southwest Texas. I know they are doing God's work working on a local church and helping to lead a back yard Bible study. That being said, they are there and I am here, alone. I am not solitary by nature. I LIKE my house full of children and their friends. It may get hectic at time, but I LIKE it that way. So now I have to figure out how to be alone for a couple of days. Did I mention that this will be the longest I have been apart from my husband since we got married seventeen years ago? Also, I have never had this much of my family gone at the same time! Really, I am at a loss for how to handle this situation. So I am going to do what I do when I don't know what to do. I turn to God. Specifically I spend more time in prayer and reading His Word. Doing this gives me comfort and joy, because it reinforces the fact that with God I am never really alone. He is with me where ever I go. Now, I still like to have a full house, but this will be bearable, because God is with me!

The Calm After The Storm.

 ²³And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.
 ²⁴And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.
 ²⁵And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
 ²⁶And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
 ²⁷But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! (Matthew 8:23-27, King James Version)

The past couple of weeks have been very distressing though out the mid-west and south. Storms on top of storms, with destruction and heart ache following. It is during this time we must cling to the the Lord. He is with us in the storms and he will bring us safely through. Sometimes the safety is here on earth, but sometimes that safety is in Heaven with Him. This also goes with the emotional storms of life.
Last month was a series of tempests in my life: college finals required me to miss more work than usual leading to financial hardship, I lost a childhood friend to a motorcycle wreck, a friend's son, who had numerous medical problems, died at the age of twelve, and a child close to me went through a difficult time requiring time in a mental facility. These things seemed to come back to back, like the storms of the past week. It felt like all the stability I had crumbled underneath me. It was during this time I had to cry out to Jesus. I did not understand the storms. I was hurt and confused. It was then that my Lord stepped in and said,"Peace, be still" He did not calm the storms around me, but he did calm the storms in me. He gave me peace and hope that, "this too shall pass." and carried me through to the other side. No storm is pleasant when we are going through them, but the peace that comes with a relationship with Christ is the thing that makes them bearable. I am now in a time of refreshing, but when the next series of storms come through, I know that Christ will be there seeing me through!

Study Study Study!

We fail in our duty to study God's Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy.
-R.C. Sproul


Sproul was SO right! I can sit with a book of my choice, usually fiction, and read without stopping all day! I love to read. I have read voraciously since I was a small child. I love falling into a book and disappearing. I get caught up in the lives of the characters. So, if I love to read so much, why do I have to force myself to study God's Word? It is because I have to work at it. God is not spoon feeding me. He wants me to put effort into our relationship. He wants me to show Him how much I love Him by digging into the Bible, not with the thought of spending my five minutes reading the Bible, so I can say Sunday, "I did my daily Bible reading." He wants me to STUDY the Bible so I can know Him better. He wants me to read the Bible so He can communicate His desires for my life, and to keep me from making further mistakes. With that in mind, I realize that it may be work, but it is work well worth it. So time to dig in again and see what my Lord has to tell me!

Homeschooling

⁶And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

 ⁷And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

 ⁸And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

Deuteronomy 6:6-8

As I watch the news, I am struck again by the great disparity between the values I hold dear and the ones being forced upon children in the public school system. Now, I know that not all public school systems are the same and some are less liberal.That being said,  I have decided after much prayer to return to homeschooling. I had homeschooled my children for several years, but had allowed them to go to public school two years ago for several reasons. The first was my then nine year old daughter desired to attend the class of a close family friend. This lady I knew to be a Godly woman who shared Christ with her students daily and upheld a moral ethic I agreed with. My then fifteen year old son was going into high school and I felt that he would benefit from the variety of subjects being taught. On the first point I was correct. My daughter loved being in my friend's class. She made a lot of new friends and her education was wonderful. My son's experience was not so superb. His grades have faltered due to the constant distraction of outside influences that are abundantly present in any school. This school year for my daughter has been a nightmare. There have been frequent fights in her class, one in which a teacher was sent to the hospital. This is in the fifth grade! Then a variety of further misadventures, with my children repeating over and again how much they missed homeschooling. All this time feeling the Lord leading me to an understanding that I had disobeyed His desires for my family. So, after finishing this school year out, we are excitedly looking forward to being the homeschool family again. My daughter is taking a couple of months hiatus from school this summer to decompress from the stress of the past year. My son is planning to start his schooling back as soon as he gets back from his mission trip at the end of the month. I am breathing a sigh of relief knowing that I am back on track for God's will for my family. I know that He wants me to bring my children up in the love and admonition of the Lord. He wants me to teach them His Word and make it an integral part of their education, not a side note. I am looking forward to introducing my youngest daughter to preschool concepts and seeing all of them growing and learning. It is an exciting adventure that we are  embarking on. The journey is the best part!

Memories, how they linger!

Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. 

Philippians 2:14-16

Spending time with my Mom and my Sister is always an adventure. We tend to talk about old times and old friends. So today was no different. We were heading to the hospital to visit my Grandfather, who is dealing with chronic lung disease. On the way there we got to talking about my Grandmother, who passed on about 10 years ago. My Grandmother was a strong personality. Everyone who met her came away changed, not always for the better! :) She was very opinionated and always told you what she thought, no matter if you asked her or not. If you asked anyone who knew her, they would have some tale to tell about Betty, as she was affectionately known. The thing that always came up was, no matter how sick she was and she was very sick for a long time, she always laughed. She always had a joke to tell, that would have everyone in the room rolling with laughter. As we talked about Grandmother, I got to thinking, how will people remember me? Will I be known by my laughter and happiness? Will I be known as a grumpy woman, too serious for her own good? Or will I be known at all? I hope I am known as someone who shows Christ no matter the circumstances. I hope that my legacy is a family that serves the Lord with all their hearts. I hope that the people who come in contact with me will come away knowing that Christ resides in me. That is my hope.

Stumbles, Fumbles, and Recoveries

 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. Psalm 37:23-24

As this is my first blog post(newbie alert!) I will give you a little insight into me. I will readily admit that I am not perfect. I come with a whole slew of shortcomings. I tend to be outspoken, but ,really, I am working on that!. I can be very headstrong. I am a terrible romantic. These are just the nice problems! Everyday that I wake up is a day that I learn how far short of perfect I am. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not suffering from low self-esteem. On the contrary, I have been blessed with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the greatest Gift I received from my Savior, Jesus Christ, when He found me lost and undone. In all of this, though, God is working and using me. He is taking these imperfections and creating a person who is a useful vessel. He has a lot more work to do. It has not always been fun or easy. He will work on getting me where He wants me, only to have me slip right back into the same old routines. I am a major work in progress, but I am so thankful that He is still working on me! I think that is what is wrong with the way popular thinking has corrupted the way we think. There are so many people out there that want to tell me that I am perfect just the way I am. There is no need to change. I can just be who I am. These things tend to slip into my life. It is so easy to just say, I am normal, I am just doing what every one else is. That is not what Christ wants for me. He want as willing spirit. Someone ready to be poured out and filled with the Holy Spirit. He wants to change me into something much better. He want to use me to change someone's life by introducing them to Him! So that is my walk right now. I stumble, I fumble, and then God helps me recover! And I am so thankful that he does!