He is here

He is here. How could he not be? When I look at this picture that my daughter took I think to myself, I hope my children get it that God is all around us each and every day. I hope they think about Him all the time. I hope each day they reflect about His wondrous love that He has for us and all things created. I'm sure my parents are wondering if I "get it" as they are at a different age than myself and they may experience God's grace at a deeper level. Sometimes experience sets the stage for learning and developing a relationship with God. We see and build upon our own experiences, nourishment from Him which generates our spirituality and characteristics of our person hood and friendship with God. I hope they "get it". I hope I am a good parent to them as they grow and develop into beautiful beings.


When I write or blog, my children read my writings. I used to be very private about what I wrote, for thine eyes only. I realized that just maybe God wanted to use my writings in their life by showing how God can be in every situation if we let Him. I try to see God's goodness in all situations and now I share with my children my thoughts with God. Sometimes by doing this they learn scripture, as well. I pray constantly while writing. Just now my husband came up behind me and I jumped out of my seat because I had my eyes closed, I was praying. My writings are not superior by means of being a literary genius, just a simple day to day experience with God. We have to teach them scripture. 2 Timothy 3:16 "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work."


As parents we have many responsibilities. The task of parenthood is daunting. Somehow, someway we have to teach them so they will understand these Bible writings from some 2000 years ago to their world. We have to relate it, express it, refer the teaching of God to them so not only do they get it, but they use it to share with others. Our role as parents is to collectively and inclusively teach and promote their intellectual, social, emotional, physical development from intimacy to adulthood. I think it even goes further than that as I rely on my parents now for all of the above, if nothing else just someone to listen to me rattle each day about my nothings. AND, most importantly, we must nourish their spiritual growth with our Lord as this is the most important! The great commandment; Deuteronomy 6:4-9 "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorpost of our houses and on your gates."



We went out to dinner last night. At the dinner table in the restaurant we prayed. My children used to be uncomfortable with doing this when they were at certain ages, now they don't think twice about it. We prayed and we ate and we read a blog of a family whose child had a tragic accident and in their writings they wrote about their love for the Lord as he has been at their side during this time in their life. This family has not lost hope for the life of their son, nor do they doubt God's will for them and their son. Their writings reflected severe pain, joy, hope, faith, and love for God in this tragedy. My children listened, learned and cried as we joined in their pain and understanding that God has a plan for all of us. I pray that I do not fail my children from knowing God.



Children, listen up, lesson number one, he is here, never left, never will, he loves us.

Bananas

It's not always as it seems. My daughter and I went to the movies tonight. I said I wanted to laugh. Our movie we were going to see tonight was sold out so, we opted to see another. It was funny, but it was scary too. Not scary in the horror way, but scary in the way that the anticipation of what happens next keeps you holding your breath. I sure was not holding my breath while laughing, in so much as I was holding it with fear...

When we came home my daughter asked me what I was going to do since it was getting late and I really didn't have any clue except I was tired and really wanted to retire. She told me to go blog. I asked her what she thought I should blog about (I really do not discern what I am going to blog about, prior to my writing) but I wanted to know what she had on her mind. She told me to write about bananas. Other than the fact that I really don't have anything to write about in regards to bananas, my other daughter did try to spell bananas yesterday and we were having quite the game with it by singing the letters and trying to remember how many letter A's and N's there were in the word. So, my response to her invitation to write about bananas was "I think I will let God tonight guide my mind and my heart as I go into prayer."

Do you ever have anyone ask you to pray for them or for a friend or relative? People ask me all the time and of course, I ask them as well. I don't say yes and then walk away and forget about it nor do I just pray once and stop. If someone asks me to pray for them I take it very serious. My prayer doesn't cease. I have a little book with people's names in it and I pray for people that have requested prayers. After all, all things are possible with prayer.

This week I encountered many prayer requests. I'll call my prayer requests the three "J's". Oh, you ask, 'what are the three "J's". Well, last week my very good friend ask me to pray for her husband "J"ames, my friend here in town ask me to pray for her son "J"onathan (a friend of my son's), and another good friend asked me to pray for an acquaintance of ours and friend of my son's named "J"oseph. James, Jonathan and Joseph. Biblical names.

Joseph, 11th son of Jacob, a gentle and forgiving boy sold by his brothers due to hatred, he holds a fast enduring love for God. (Genesis)

James, son of Zebedee, fisherman and trusted follower of Christ. (Matthew 4:22)

Johnathan, an wavering sense of loyalty whose convictions about morality and friendship never ceased (I Samuel 19)

These three men, maintained forgiveness, trust and love in God.

These three men and their families that I am praying for tonight have trust, forgiveness and gentleness and love for the Lord, as well.

Coincidence? Maybe, but I do believe that God in my prayer tonight made me think of these three men in the Bible and the goodness that has carried to these men today.

I ask for healing for the 3 "J's".

When I pray, I type, I swim, I sing, I dance. Tonight I read about Joseph, James and Jonathan. Tonight I prayed for healing for these men of today and thank God for the men of yesterday.

These three J's were like the letter, a fisherman's hook, fishers of men. They were always trying to do the right thing. They were trying to hook people to understand goodness. It may seem simple, but it was very difficult then as it is difficult now. Evil creeps in the way and tempts us to be persuaded otherwise.

We must never be persuaded otherwise. We must trust, love and be vigilant in our convictions about our Lord and our prayers must be relentless. Simple enough? I wish I could put the whole Bible in my writings tonight to include the struggles that these men endured or the many men and women of the Bible that encountered evil, succummend to evil and those that were courageous to have an extradorinary amounts of faith.

I'm not into bananas tonight. I'm not monkeying around. I'm serious. Let's get down to business and pray.

Go Ahead, make my day!

Most of you who are movie goers have heard the catchphrase "Go Ahead, make my day". An actor by the name of Clint Eastwood played a role in which he used this catchphrase in the movie. The movie was a far cry from a comedy, but it held the attention of many Americans who went to see it. The catchphrase took hold and people have been using it since its' release.



I generally do not like movies that don't make me laugh, but after seeing the movie myself I too sometimes use the phrase in humor.


Taken out of context, the phrase "...make my day" explains how these two cups make my day. There once was a time when I lived in a small town and there was a small gasoline station that sold Icees. Twice a week I would treat myself to an Icee and I was usually accompanied by my children. I became a regular at this station and I knew exactly when the Icees would be most pleasurable. The gasoline station sat right by the high school and and if you got there 45 minutes before the school day was dismissed and enough time before the parents came to pick up their kids, the Icees would be almost frozen solid. Sometimes the Icee machine would sputter and spit the flavored drink out because it was so frozen. Some patrons didn't like this, but I loved it! I would say to myself, "Go Ahead, make my day!!!!" and the Icee would sputter and spit into my cup and literally "make my day."


I moved three years ago away from that town that had the perfect Icee machine and Icees and I have been in search of that perfect Icee ever since. Haven't found the perfect Icee and I don't know if I will again, sometimes I have resolved myself into thinking so, but I really haven't given up hope just yet. Just yesterday my daughter and myself went to get gas and we looked at each other with hopes that they would posses our favored drink. We found to our surprise that it was probably the best Icee since the move, but a far cry from the best.


I enjoyed the Icee all year round. I didn't care if it was hotter than 100 degrees or colder than Zero, this little cup of pleasure was my treat. Once I moved to our new town I became restless, trying to find my niche in almost everything that crossed my path. I always compared my old town to what I previously had or thought I needed. Nothing was the same, of course, new town equates new experiences. I just wanted something constant in my life. Something the same and maybe the Icee would have given me that feeling of being home. Maybe not. I think the real issue that I was contending with was what was God's purpose for me here. Just when you think you know what you are suppose to be doing he switches gears on you, puts a twist in the days of your life and changes things up, so to speak. I thought I was on the upswing, moving right along, comfortable, life was calm. I am learning about Him all over again and growing with Him in a different way. Maybe He thought I was to comfortable, stagnant and He needed to spice my life up a bit.


I am always searching to find ways to be closer to God and sometimes in that search I miss the very God that I am looking for by not accepting what is present. My Icee that I searched for, slurped and shared with my daughter was not necessarily the same Icee I had in the past, but what God did give me that day was a new place and time shared with my daughter. In striving to have it all we miss the very gift that He gives, which is time.



Searching....we are all always searching. Searching to attain something greater than thou, maybe perfection. Some resort to search for it in our jobs, our children, our spouses, church, relationships, or our hobbies or even in our homes. What happens when we think we reach perfection or we attain a given goal, do we continue to look for more and start setting our standards higher? Is enough ever good enough? We strive to fulfill an emptiness in our hearts. My emptiness was the loss of day to day friendships and family, my church home and the casual day to day routines. The constancy in my day gave me time with God. The change now has me thinking too much about other things and trying to find that constancy and in doing so I loose out on the relationships and events that God presents to me as I encounter my new day.



Although I found God in all of these people and events in my life in my previous home town, I did come here spiritually hungry. The change and the hustle and bustle of the move gave me a sense of emptiness that I just couldn't fill by myself. As I reflect on life and my relationship with Him then I still today continue to search or look for the same intimacy with God in the same places with out trying to find him in the new ones. Make sense. I don't know if I really understand it.




Each path towards intimacy with God is different with each person. I believe my path is changing with God daily. Our path towards God is not black and white, but very much in the gray as we come to know ourselves through Him. I am outgrowing some of the notions and motions I used to grow through day in and day out, some by choice and others not so much. I think I am entering a new season with God with new explorations of our love for each other. Each day is new if we accept the invitation. Embracing Him in all that He is and He embracing me for all that I'm not as I search to be holy for Him.



The Lord promises to be with His people. In Exodus 33:14 The Lord said "I will go with you,....."



Come on God, lets go get an Icee. Slurp, Slurp!

Splish Splash no school at last!

In this neck of the woods, school officially ended two days ago. Parties galore, movies, picnics and games all ensued this last day. Parents were invited to join in on the fun. How could one pass up the invitation of hundreds of screaming, excited, sugar induced children and mass chaos? Why not join in on the fun? This would be ample opportunity to let go and just have fun with these little people in their uninhibited way. I accepted the invitation.

The end of year school activities began at 8:45 sharp. All the students lined up and walked a short distance to the park from the school. There were rain clouds above and the weather man insured us that there would be rain, not the sprinkle, get your hair misted kind of rain, but a torrential down pour by noon. The party was to end at 12:30, we had time. I arrived at my child's school at 10:00. I figured two and a half hours would be plenty of time to bond with my child and all the children at the park. I knew there would be many mothers and plenty teachers to share in the fun. The children were all playing in organized groups led by various volunteers at the teachers stood on the sideline trying to maintain whatever sanity they had left. I saw a spot on the sideline by my child's teacher and decided it would be an ample opportunity to share with her my appreciation of her efforts and kindness in educating my daughter. It was a good visit.

I didn't dress for the day's events in rugged t-shirts and shorts so my true intention as truth be told was to just be a presence for my daughter. Once I arrived on the field with the children it was very visible that the children were throwing water balloons and colored slushies. I steered cleared, found my spot and stayed put very close to the teachers where the children didn't dare go. I had decided previously that I would take my daughter out to lunch and to a movie after I checked her out at 1pm so, with that in mind, I put on my semi good shorts and adorned my outfit with jewelry to match. I wore my two beautiful bracelets that my children and husband had afforded me several years back and currently add to it as it is a charm bracelet. I value it as one of my most favored gifts. They select charms on Mother's Day, Valentines, Christmas and my birthday to the bracelet. Each of the children gets together and decides the charm that they will add on that specific and special day.

My anniversary just arrived and past and my husband and children bought me the most beautiful charms to add to my bracelet. I felt so special and I wore both bracelets with pride this day.

The weather man had declared rain at noon and at 11:30 it started pouring. The children started moving back to the school shortly after the first sprinkle arrived and made it back to their classroom before the buckets of rain hit the ground. I stayed behind to help clean up the park. I looked down to pick up the trash and noticed one of my bracelets missing. My heart flew into full force panic. I ran to the spot on the field where I had been standing and searched frantically, but to my demise there was no bracelet. The rain was getting harder and my small child size umbrella was not giving me much cover and the ground was saturated and filled with puddles. I opted to close the umbrella and take the end of it to search for the bracelet by poking it into the ground through the puddles all the while getting soaked. Several teachers encouraged me to come inside and wait, but I insisted that I had to find it now. Yep, you got it; they thought I had lost my marbles. They thought I was crazy. One woman said "can't you buy another one?" That comment put me into full force crying mode. I left and went back to the school and got my daughter.

Once I had gathered her and her belongings we headed back to the park and searched in the rain together. She told me she was sorry I was so sad and maybe we should pray about it together. I held her hand and we stood in the rain and ask God to forgive us for thinking that this material item was so important. We told Him it wasn't the item that we cared so much about as the loving memories that it brought to my attention when worn. We asked Him if he could guide us to the bracelet. My daughter was very comforting and wise that day. She immediately brought my attention off the bracelet and onto God. I had not yet prayed. I had not asked for forgiveness yet. I had not even prayed that morning; I was busy getting my children off to their last day of school I put God on the sideline.

God guided us to the bracelet. It was not on the filed at the park, it was not in the car, but in our home on the floor as it fell off when I had reached down to put on my shoes. We celebrated and danced that day and sang praises to God for answering our prayers. Thank you God!

My little girl took my attention off my bracelet for a moment at the park and put it onto God. Her sweet little innocent voice and loving manner calmed my nerves and made me realize that the memory of that bracelet with or without it was standing right in front of me. I reached down and hugged her and told her thank you for being there for me.

EPHESIANS 1:3-4

Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! For in our union with Christ he has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world. Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before him.

LK 7:7 Ask, and you will receive...................

To focus

I'm going to tell you a secret....it won't be a secret anymore...but sometimes when I blog, okay, I mean all the time when I blog, I sit down and eat a mint. The truth be told, I eat tons of mints. I never used to eat them until about 6 months ago. I keep them at my desk and those mints along with a little bit of music, I begin to blog. My mints are refreshing and they get me going, my fingers start moving on the keyboard and the praying begins. These mints help me maintain my focus. I reward myself every little bit and eat one or two. I've haven't blogged much lately and I have been missing my mints. These little tasty round balls of sugar are delightful once they hit my taste buds. They quickly melt in my mouth leaving a refreshing taste. I'm not sure how many calories they have and I am not going to look now, but by the end of my blogging session I usually down a handful of them, or more.

My son is focused without mints. He gets up everyday at 4:30 and leaves the house by 5:00 to go swim for 2 1/2 hours, goes to school all day and then returns back to the pool and swims again for 2 hours. Just because I am an adult doesn't mean I know all or know more than him. Sure, life experience counts, but I was never as focused as a young individual as he is now. He knows something that I don't and that is how to focus and maintain the focus to achieve your goals.

I think he sees the big picture down the road with his hard work and dedication. He just got back from a training program, all expenses paid, the first step of three in a process of grooming a talented individual for the Olympics. Now don't get excited, he's not going to the Olympics yet because he still has some growing and more hard work ahead of him, but the 'big dogs" have taken notice of him and sent him away to train him at their cost. They tell him to start thinking about being on "TEAM USA". They tell him it is all mental at this point because he has the skill and talent, now he has to focus on the goal. Sound simple, no way. It's as hard as heck and he doesn't even eat mints.

I try to think back about what I was doing at that time in my life and all I can remember was thinking about trying to figure out a way to pass a test without studying, how I could pass on my chores to my brother and sister and watching after school programs on T.V. (which at my age, there weren't many). I try to place myself in his situation and I know I would fail miserably because it takes a very talented individual and someone who is focused enough to utilize the God given talent in a Godly way. He is very humble by the way, his mother is not so much. She is just proud of his accomplishments and his character and is happy for him.

Most people that know my son care very much about him. He is a friend of everyone. I also have never heard a foul comment come out of his mouth about anyone. If there is fault with a person, he excused them and moves on. Forgiven. Done!

I have learned a lot from my son. God has blessed me greatly!

One day while picking my son's brain I asked him what he thinks about when he gets ready to perform. He said he thanks God for letting him be there and to just help him do his best. I know I was not as mature at his age as he is now because I would have probably prayed asking God to help me win. Maybe that's why I wasn't where he is now. My thoughts were selfish, his are not. He gives glory back to God and thanks Him.

My son is still a young teen and doesn't always pick up his dirty laundry, feed the dogs and so on...however, one thing that I know is that he knows his talent that God gave him was given to him as a gift and can be taken away and he is grateful and gives his talent back to others through his smile, encouragement to others and love for his family by thanking us constantly.

Matthew 25:29 (PLEASE GET YOUR BIBLE AND READ THIS PARABLE IN ITS' ENTIRETY) "For to every person who has something, even more will be given, and he will have more than enough; but the person who has nothing even the little that he has will be taken away from him." In translation, I believe for everything that God gives us we must utilize it in His name and if we do we will have abundance and for those who are unfaithful, even what little they have this too will be taken away due to their fear and lack of trust in the Lord. We must remember to be focused on God in everything we do!

3 Mints equals 60 calories