On March 17th, 2008 I went back to work. And now on March 30th, 2009 I am finished. A year ago I blogged here about how I felt having to go back to work. I prayed that God would allow us to just breath. We were coming off of a crazy 2007 with my health and we were tired. Not knowing how or understanding why, we stepped out and I went back to work. Through many tear filled trips down the road the task at hand was completed.
Some might ask why it was so hard. It isn't like selling bibles is a tough job. It's not like the people I work with are mean. But I know without any doubt, that God called me to be at home with our children. It is what works for me, for our family. And I love it. Imagine if a brain surgeon was asked to be a taxi cab driver. Could he do it? Probably. Would he like it? Maybe for a time. But it his calling? Is is who call designed him to be? Nope. Square peg round hole.
My last year has been amazing. I can definitely see that God placed me in Lifeway for many reasons. Everyday is a new story. (My family is very tired of my everyday stories.) God has stretched my faith, patients, compassion, love for people, and much more.
I am so thankful for the past year. But I am far more thankful that TODAY has finally come.
Today was my last day as full-time (give or take some vacation time.) When I go back I will be a part-timer.
This past year I have constantly reflected on Max Lucado's statement: I choose joy... I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical... the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.
Thank you God for the past year. Thank you for all that it has taught me. And thank you for it being over. :-)
Monday, March 30, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Routine
How much of what we do is just routine? Instead of making a conscience choice to to it.
Like praying before a meal, our devotion times, worship. What would happen if those seemingly routine things that we do became a conscience choice.
Do we sit down at dinner time and just throw up our "Rub a Dub Dub Thanks for the Grub, YAAAAAAAAAAY God!" or "Dear Eight Pound, six ounce,newborn baby Jesus, don't even know a word yet, just so cuddly, but still omnipotent" kind of prayer? Or do we sit and take a moment to truly be thankful for all that God has provided?
When we sit down at church tomorrow. Will we sit in the same seat we've always sat in? Will we sing the same songs we've always sung? And we will pass the offering plate like we always have? OR... Will we embrace the life of a new friend that we meet? Will we open our hearts and sing from the depths of our soul, in prayer and thanksgiving to a God who saved us from the pits of hell? Will we give generously because #1 He commanded us to. #2 Because He gave generously to us.
When someone is having a hard time, we routinely say "I'm praying for you." But do we? Do we actually go home add them to our prayer lists and PRAY?
When we throw up these "Oh Thank you Lord" here and there anytime something good happens,or anytime something bad doesn't happen. Are we really praying a prayer of thanksgiving? Or is it a "religious"way of saying YEEHAW glad something bad didn't happen.
"Oh thank you Lord that lightening didn't strike me." (translation) Yeehaw! That one just missed me.
My point is: Routines are good sometime. They help us to stay in shape, eat healthy, hygiene, etc. And routine are great because sometimes God uses them to pull us along when our flesh is weak. But routine can cause us to mindlessly encounter our lives. Or better yet... Routine can cause us heartlessly (is that a word??) encounter our lives. Does God hate routine? I don't know. But I know that when routine runs everything, I routinely miss God.
God I pray that you will allow me to encounter you today. I pray that you will help not to be routine in my walk. Help me to be intentional. God help me to guard me tongue. Help the words of my mouth only point people to you. Thank you for giving us a mind that will use routine to keep us focused when things are chaotic. But God I pray that routine will never take the place of you.
Come, let's shout prises to God, raise the roof for the Rock who saved us! Let's march into His presence singing praises, lifting the rafters with our hymns! And why? Because God is the best, High King over all the gods.
Psalm 95:1-3 The Message
Like praying before a meal, our devotion times, worship. What would happen if those seemingly routine things that we do became a conscience choice.
Do we sit down at dinner time and just throw up our "Rub a Dub Dub Thanks for the Grub, YAAAAAAAAAAY God!" or "Dear Eight Pound, six ounce,newborn baby Jesus, don't even know a word yet, just so cuddly, but still omnipotent" kind of prayer? Or do we sit and take a moment to truly be thankful for all that God has provided?
When we sit down at church tomorrow. Will we sit in the same seat we've always sat in? Will we sing the same songs we've always sung? And we will pass the offering plate like we always have? OR... Will we embrace the life of a new friend that we meet? Will we open our hearts and sing from the depths of our soul, in prayer and thanksgiving to a God who saved us from the pits of hell? Will we give generously because #1 He commanded us to. #2 Because He gave generously to us.
When someone is having a hard time, we routinely say "I'm praying for you." But do we? Do we actually go home add them to our prayer lists and PRAY?
When we throw up these "Oh Thank you Lord" here and there anytime something good happens,or anytime something bad doesn't happen. Are we really praying a prayer of thanksgiving? Or is it a "religious"way of saying YEEHAW glad something bad didn't happen.
"Oh thank you Lord that lightening didn't strike me." (translation) Yeehaw! That one just missed me.
My point is: Routines are good sometime. They help us to stay in shape, eat healthy, hygiene, etc. And routine are great because sometimes God uses them to pull us along when our flesh is weak. But routine can cause us to mindlessly encounter our lives. Or better yet... Routine can cause us heartlessly (is that a word??) encounter our lives. Does God hate routine? I don't know. But I know that when routine runs everything, I routinely miss God.
God I pray that you will allow me to encounter you today. I pray that you will help not to be routine in my walk. Help me to be intentional. God help me to guard me tongue. Help the words of my mouth only point people to you. Thank you for giving us a mind that will use routine to keep us focused when things are chaotic. But God I pray that routine will never take the place of you.
Come, let's shout prises to God, raise the roof for the Rock who saved us! Let's march into His presence singing praises, lifting the rafters with our hymns! And why? Because God is the best, High King over all the gods.
Psalm 95:1-3 The Message
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Pride
Ouch! That is a term that stings no matter who it is pointed at and/or how is it said. You can't say, "you are prideful" without it having a pretty strong effect on someone. You can't look at someone (with a big sweet grin) and say "Aww honey, you look so prideful today" or "wow that Pride looks great on you". How about "Dang! You look HAWT in the pride!" Nope, no matter how you say it, it is not taken too kindly.
. But that is what God saying to me lately.
God has begun to shine a light on areas of my life that I saw as one thing, are actually just plain and simple PRIDE. :-(
Example 1: I love to sing, love it! But I wouldn't be caught dead singing in front of anyone.
Example 2: I love to talk. 1 on 1 I really enjoy private conversations. But in front of a group. Uh! Hello! I don't think so. It makes me want to puke. Or cry. Or puke and cry (which would be really bad).
As I examine things like this I see that it is fear that makes me feel this way. Fear of being laughed at, fear of not being accepted, fear of being laughed at, fear of not living up to whatever or (did I mention) fear of being laughed at.
As I have been reading in 1 Samuel it shows how time and time again Saul's pride got in the way of doing what God had called him to do. Not always the "look at me, I'm so great" kind of pride. But sometimes it was his low self-esteem. He focused so much on what people thought of him that is self-centeredness eventually cost him dearly, as self-focus always does.
Hmmm, self-focus.
I would say that all of my fears come from: what will people think of me, how will I be received, will I look stupid, etc. etc. SELF-FOCUS Instead of: how will this look to God, will He be pleased, etc. God-Focus
This is a HUGE work in progress. I am taking itty, bitty, teeny, tiny baby steps out of my comfort zone. Working very hard to not be easily embarrassed and to take things in stride. After all it is all for His glory. Right?? Right!!
I was going through my day. Taking my itty bitty steps and WHAM! God sent me a dooooozy. In the form of---Our Pastor asking if all the staff wives would do something on stage, in church together.
UH, HELLO! God. What in the world are you doing? I am trying to take these steps out of my pride. I am working on it. Slow and steady wins the race. Right? And now you want me to WHAT????? (Deep breath, don't have a panic attack, deep breath in, out, in, out. Oh I think my Crohn's is hurting (you know stress will do that, right?) I think I am gonna puke and cry at the same time.)
This will be me on stage. Can't you see me now. HHHHHHHHHI. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMy NNNNNNNNNNNNaaamme iiiiiiiissssssssssssssssssssss Li Li Li Lin (PUKE)
___
Like I said, God's working on me.
(I'll let you know how this all turns out.And if I throw up on anyone.)
A neat statement I read in my devotion was,"Genuinely humble people have enormous confidence because it rests in a great God!"
I believe that. I know that I serve a GREAT God. One who is bigger than my fears. Bigger than my worries. (and yes, Bigger than the boogie man.)
God help me to be genuinely humble and to have a confidence that can only be explained because of you. Help me to only point people to you. Help me to learn from the mistakes of Saul and to only live for your approval. Thank you God for giving me a life and a an opportunity to worship and praise you. I pray that it please you.
. But that is what God saying to me lately.
God has begun to shine a light on areas of my life that I saw as one thing, are actually just plain and simple PRIDE. :-(
Example 1: I love to sing, love it! But I wouldn't be caught dead singing in front of anyone.
Example 2: I love to talk. 1 on 1 I really enjoy private conversations. But in front of a group. Uh! Hello! I don't think so. It makes me want to puke. Or cry. Or puke and cry (which would be really bad).
As I examine things like this I see that it is fear that makes me feel this way. Fear of being laughed at, fear of not being accepted, fear of being laughed at, fear of not living up to whatever or (did I mention) fear of being laughed at.
As I have been reading in 1 Samuel it shows how time and time again Saul's pride got in the way of doing what God had called him to do. Not always the "look at me, I'm so great" kind of pride. But sometimes it was his low self-esteem. He focused so much on what people thought of him that is self-centeredness eventually cost him dearly, as self-focus always does.
Hmmm, self-focus.
I would say that all of my fears come from: what will people think of me, how will I be received, will I look stupid, etc. etc. SELF-FOCUS Instead of: how will this look to God, will He be pleased, etc. God-Focus
This is a HUGE work in progress. I am taking itty, bitty, teeny, tiny baby steps out of my comfort zone. Working very hard to not be easily embarrassed and to take things in stride. After all it is all for His glory. Right?? Right!!
I was going through my day. Taking my itty bitty steps and WHAM! God sent me a dooooozy. In the form of---Our Pastor asking if all the staff wives would do something on stage, in church together.
UH, HELLO! God. What in the world are you doing? I am trying to take these steps out of my pride. I am working on it. Slow and steady wins the race. Right? And now you want me to WHAT????? (Deep breath, don't have a panic attack, deep breath in, out, in, out. Oh I think my Crohn's is hurting (you know stress will do that, right?) I think I am gonna puke and cry at the same time.)
This will be me on stage. Can't you see me now. HHHHHHHHHI. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMy NNNNNNNNNNNNaaamme iiiiiiiissssssssssssssssssssss Li Li Li Lin (PUKE)
___
Like I said, God's working on me.
(I'll let you know how this all turns out.And if I throw up on anyone.)
A neat statement I read in my devotion was,"Genuinely humble people have enormous confidence because it rests in a great God!"
I believe that. I know that I serve a GREAT God. One who is bigger than my fears. Bigger than my worries. (and yes, Bigger than the boogie man.)
God help me to be genuinely humble and to have a confidence that can only be explained because of you. Help me to only point people to you. Help me to learn from the mistakes of Saul and to only live for your approval. Thank you God for giving me a life and a an opportunity to worship and praise you. I pray that it please you.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Lost in Fredericksburg
There are some CRAZY talented people at LC. It is amazing to get to be a part of it all. (Even if it is a small part. :-)
Easter here we come!
Easter here we come!
Friday, March 20, 2009
WOW!
After doing my daily blog hopping, I read this amazing blog today. I am always interested in what anyone has to say about teen pregnancy. It is interesting to hear what some people think about a topic that most can't understand. But after reading this article I am discovering that alot more people understand it than I thought. It seems that based on statistics, teen pregnancy or unwed parents, is something that has or will touch each of our lives in some way.
This stat left me dumb founded:
A record 39.7 percent of babies in 2007 were born to unmarried women, including 71.6 percent of black babies and 51.3 percent of Hispanic babies, the report found.
What in the world is going on? What in the world are we allowing to go on?
This stat left me dumb founded:
A record 39.7 percent of babies in 2007 were born to unmarried women, including 71.6 percent of black babies and 51.3 percent of Hispanic babies, the report found.
What in the world is going on? What in the world are we allowing to go on?
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Cool Video
Caught this video on one of my favorite blogs that I read. Vicki Cortney. It is a little bit of a tear jerker, but worth it.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Vacation
This week I have been on vacation. It has been wonderful. I started my vacation week by getting to spend a few days with some of our best friends in the world. Daryl and Jenny came with their 2 kids and one on the way. We had such a great time. It was a great coincidence that our scheduled "Family Night" just happened to fall on the Saturday they were here. It was very cool to include them in our night. I decided to change up my theme from AFRICA to Birthday Night. Since it is rare that we get to see the Hunter's and we never get to celebrate birthday's with them, I thought we would just have a night to celebrate everyone's birthday.
Tuesday the Hunters took 1/3 of the Lathams to Washington DC. It was a great surprise for the big girls. After many hours of Guitar Hero, laughing at the stupidest things, and watching all of our kids play...the Hunters finally had to leave. (It would have been fine with me for them to stay forever :-) But they had to get back to Kentucky to do some baby birthin'.
Someone once said,"if you can count your true friends on one hand, then you are blessed."
Well.....nuff said.
Daryl and Jenny we love you guys.
The rest of my vacation is being spent resting. My darling hubby was gone for a couple of days to Unleash. I wish desperately that I could have gone. But I got the next best thing... I watch live online while in my PJ's. (Gotta luv techmology.) Heard some incredible statements. I can only imagine how great they were to hear them in person.
You can go to the site and watch the main sessions (it is worth the time)
Well I am off to enjoy the remaining days of my vacation.
Tuesday the Hunters took 1/3 of the Lathams to Washington DC. It was a great surprise for the big girls. After many hours of Guitar Hero, laughing at the stupidest things, and watching all of our kids play...the Hunters finally had to leave. (It would have been fine with me for them to stay forever :-) But they had to get back to Kentucky to do some baby birthin'.
Someone once said,"if you can count your true friends on one hand, then you are blessed."
Well.....nuff said.
Daryl and Jenny we love you guys.
The rest of my vacation is being spent resting. My darling hubby was gone for a couple of days to Unleash. I wish desperately that I could have gone. But I got the next best thing... I watch live online while in my PJ's. (Gotta luv techmology.) Heard some incredible statements. I can only imagine how great they were to hear them in person.
You can go to the site and watch the main sessions (it is worth the time)
Well I am off to enjoy the remaining days of my vacation.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
BIG SNOW
Here are more pictures from all of our fun! It has been a blast....BUT.....I am ready for SPRING!
Hope you enjoy the pictures.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
March Snow
So I have been saying, "if it is going to snow PLEASE let it dump!" And it looks like I may get my wish. Here are some fun night pictures of the snow. I know that I will have tons more tomorrow, because it is way to beautiful to keep the kids out of it.
So I just thought I would drop some pictures in so that you could see a small glimpse of what we see. Until tomorrow..... Good night.
So I just thought I would drop some pictures in so that you could see a small glimpse of what we see. Until tomorrow..... Good night.
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