Momlog 11

{ July 27, 2010 @ 5:49 am } · { Fostering, Parenting }
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Many of you have been waiting for the latest from “Momland”.  Well, we have been so very busy this summer.  From playdates at the “Jumpy Place” to speech therapy we have been on the run.

The good news is, our Nic-Nac is starting to talk.  Oh yes, in fact he’s become a noisy little person.  Now, I just need to get him to the point that other people understand him.  (You know, not just me walking around interpreting what he is trying to say.  Like  ”ease” means…”please”). 

We are working on potty now.  Turns out, if you leave a child on the potty for long enough, they will eventually “go potty”.  :D   Don’t worry, he isn’t being tortured.

Spending time with other moms helps with this whole “motherhood” thing. Turns out other moms have similar issues. 

For example, a child refused to eat something.  Well, I’m not a short order cook. I figure, when he gets hungry enough, he will eat.  I felt a little bad about serving him the eggs from breakfast for lunch…until I talked to a mom who served a reheated lunch to her son for three meals until he ate it (for breakfast). 

Another interesting “mom phenomenon”…this one baffles moms everywhere… maybe it should be called a “dad phenomenon” really.  How is it that when you leave a child with dad and you see them later in the day, they are dressed in something crazy.  I am talking, an 18 month old wearing a 3 to 6 month top.  I was talking to a couple of moms today (names have been withheld to protect the guilty).  I was telling them, I really need box up all the clothes Nic has outgrown because a few mornings ago, after leaving him with Dennis for “bedtime” I found him in some 12 month pajamas(he’s in a 24 month to 2t now)…the shirt is a little tight and the pant bottoms are way too short.  I asked my hubby, “Didn’t you notice these pants are really short?”  He said, “I thought they were shorts”.  Apparently, this phenomenon is completely normal.  One mom said, she had put a tiny t-shirt in the back of her daughters draw to hold on to as a “keepsake”.  She came home one day and her daughter was wearing it. Mom said, her question to her husband was, “How did you get that on her?”  Mom feared she would have to dislocate a shoulder to get it off her toddler.  The other mom said, he husband will find clothes she has stored in the top back of her son’s closet.  Non of us are sure how this happens…although I suspect (I suspect this because I know I store the fresh laundry on top) that they close their eyes and reach as deep or as far back into the bin, closet or drawer and whatever their hand touches they pull it out and put it on the child.     I know companies like Geranimals have tried to make clothes that all co-ordinate but somehow dads just seem to be able to find those two items in the closet that clash.  The moms suggested that I lay out the items of clothing I want the child to wear.  One mom says this works on her husband too….hmmm so that is why her husband always looks pulled together.

A mom’s work is never done.  Found out I will likely be having house guests next week.  Somehow in addition to all the other things we need to do, I have to find the time to clean (no, I mean CLEAN) this house. 

My husband told me today that I have all the time in the world to work on my writing.  Seriously?  So in between preparing meals for a toddler, bathing him, teaching him to talk, working on going to the potty, checking to see if he has peed or pooped, rewarding peeing or pooping, getting him ready for bed, changing diapers because he hasn’t really figured out how to go in the potty every time, taxiing the child to visits, preparing food for small groups and youth groups, doing almost all the laundry in this house, etc, etc, etc (should I go on???)…teaching youth, teaching Sunday School, ….I’m lucky if I get a shower every day….wow, just writing this is getting me fired up.  He thinks I just have all the time in the world.  I seriously considered kicking him in shin and I would have except I am so tired and I would have had to stand up.   I AM TIRED.  I have so much more to say but venting on a blog seems only to lead to hurt feelings.  Here is a little hint to all dads out there….all dads who have wives who stay home with kiddos…while you are working 8 hour days at your “job” you have a spouse who is working at very least 12 hours a day taking care of your kid(s) and your home.  They don’t get to “go home” after their shift and eat a dinner someone else has prepared.  This means every time someone had a body function (peed, pooped, sneezed, drooled, etc) she had to take care of it.  Every time someone needed something like food, medication, a band aid, clothing,  a hug, ANYTHING, she had to get it.  She had to meet every emotional and physical need of another human being today.  Don’t ask her what she does with all her time…when she gets an hour off or when you get home, she just wants to sit down and do something that doesn’t require her to say something over and over and over  until her head hurts (“eat your dinner”, “eat your dinner, son”,  “one more bite”….).  Go get your wife an aspirin ( or in my case a Tylenol) and for everyone’s sanity pick your clothes up off the floor and put away the chips on the kitchen table that you got out four days ago.  And unless you want to experience physical harm, do not tell your wife she has “all the time in the world” to do something.  (This doesn’t even include all the things your wife does for her friends, her community, her church, her extended family….so when you find your wife on Facebook just “vegging” ask yourself, “Could  she  be overwhelmed?” before you ask her what she’s doing with her time).

Momlog 10

{ July 5, 2010 @ 6:21 pm } · { Fostering, Parenting }
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Well, I caught a cold.  We helped out with the children last Wednesday and by Friday I was running a fever.  I promise, every time I work with kids, I seem to catch something.  I am going to have to buy some Lysol for our church nursery to spray off the toys with….I think we should be doing anyway. 

It’s been tough.  Dennis has helped out but he had to work on Saturday.  Nicholas was so bored with out a playmate (I really do not want him to get sick).  He fell asleep during playtime in the middle of the floor.  He slept for like 3 hours. 

Today he woke me up at the crack of dawn yelling…he was just babbling but sooo loud.  I go in to check on him and he is sitting in his bed, with a blanket on his head having the best time.  I took the blanket off to his surprise and told him to lay down and be quiet.  I cannot believe he woke up so early, especially since he went to bed so late.  I didn’t hear a peep out of him for another hour. Which was better.

We took him to see Toy Story 3 which he seem to enjoy.  He was totally enthralled, sitting and watching the entire movie.  Today, he is playing with his Mr. Potato head.  I thought after watching Toy Story he would “get” what Mr. Potato head is…but he’s mostly using the arms to drum on the box.  Maybe it’s not an age appropriate toy.  Hmmm. 

I really, really want him to start telling me when he poops or when is going to poop.  It hasn’t happened yet.  The best I am getting right now is a mispronounced “yes” when I ask if he needs to be changed.  Of course the reason I want him to start telling me is so he can start using the potty because frankly,  I’m tired of wiping off poop.  That’s right, I said it.  His poop stinks and I’m tired of wiping it.   It’s a good thing he’s cute.

Momlog 8

{ June 16, 2010 @ 6:54 am } · { Fostering, Parenting }
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Once again it is the wee hours of the morning…one of the rare times of complete quiet in the house.  All the boys/men are in bed sleeping.  My house is full of stinky boys.  The little one wets and poops himself and the big one is sweaty and dirty.  I find myself asking, “Did you shower?”  (For those of you who didn’t know,  Dennis’ brother John is visiting…he’s 16 years old – great kid).  I know, he’s old enough to know to shower, it’s just the strong “male” smell in the house. 

Our baby is getting big.  He has gained another pound and I didn’t even realize it but he is out-growing his clothes.  My sister had to point it out to me this last weekend.  So today, I went and bought the little guy a couple of new shirts…size 24 months.  He will be 2 years old soon.  He’s so bright and charming. 

He is behind with his speech development.  He understands is delayed with communicating, especially verbalizing.  I taught him a new sign this week…”help”.   He has been catching on pretty quickly but sometimes when he goes to sleep he completely forgets what he learned yesterday.   Because of his delay, I am taking a speech class this summer.  This week, I learned I need to stop talking and wait for a response from him when I ask talk to him.  This seems to be working.   He is consistently saying “Mom” to get my attention and tonight when I was putting him to bed, I said, “Can you say ‘Good night’?”  and he looked at me and said, “Night, Night”.   His vocabulary is increasing daily. 

There are some disadvantages to this too.  We bought him this cheap “microphone” from Wal-mart.  You moms out there will know what I am talking about.  You speak into it and it kind of echos.  Anyway, he loves it and will babble into for very long periods of time.  We purchased it for him to encourage him to talk and the plan was successful.  The disadvantages?  Well, it seems every time I try to make a phone call, he decides to yell into the microphone.  Nice.  Now I am having to tell him to stop yelling while I am on the phone.   Another disadvantage…bedtime and nap time.  He will lay in his bed and talk to his bear for 45 minutes.  Seriously.  I have to go in and tell him to stop talking and close his eyes.  Of course, within minutes of closing his eyes, he falls asleep. 

We had small group tonight and now that he is faux talking, he is a little distracting at church and small group situations.   I put a video on for him in his room and told him to play and watch his video.  It is a fairly childproofed room but there are some things I do not like for him to get into.  When I went into check on him, he had quiet a party.  He pulled his dirty clothes out of the dirty clothes bin and they were scattered everywhere.  All the toys in the world and he wants to get into the dirty clothes.  I took him over to the bin and told him it wasn’t a toy.   He points at it and says, “No, no”.  (He has gotten into trouble for pulling the clothes out in the past).  Our boy is growing up.   (sniff, sniff).

Momlog 7

{ June 14, 2010 @ 5:03 pm } · { Fostering, Parenting }
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Momlog, stardate June 14th year, 2010 during a.m. blanket time (Play, mommy is busy right now)

So many people tell me they read my “Momlogs”.  Which does actually encourage me to write more.  So send in your comments.  I’d love to hear some of your stories too.

Moms do not really get vacations do they?  We have to pack bags, keep an eye on kids under different circumstances in which they continually explore their boundaries, still have to feed the little tikes, clean off their poop (G version)  and make sure they get some rest.  We went out-of-town for a few days…now I need a vacation from my vacation.  Seriously…guys, take your wife away for a few days WITHOUT the children….even if it is just a trip to a hotel (I am thinking riverwalk in San Antonio). 

We took a few days off to go to the lake….that was a couple of weeks ago…it has taken me two weeks to recover…now I am back. 

Oh, and to catch you up, we now have my 16 year old brother-in-law with us.  He is a great kid.  Kind of like a grown up version of our baby, very laid back and pretty easy to get along with…still, it always takes me a week or so to adjust.  We really, really, really need to get into a house.  We would LOVE to find a rent to own deal of some sort (feel free to comment).  We need more rooms with doors that shut.

Teenagers are a whole other Momlog…   :D   Of course, I wouldn’t want to embarrass him so I probably will not blog much about it at this time.  Although, we had one great incident last summer that now makes me laugh but at the time it wasn’t so funny.  I  may have to write that one up.

So what is on my mind today?  Paperwork.   There are tons of it when you have a kiddo you have tons of it.  When you foster you have even more and you have make a million phone calls just to get a little help.  To complicate matters, all of our baby’s info is in San Antonio and they have never even heard of Kyle or Hays County.  I’ve been on the phone all morning and now I need so send several faxes…sounds like a trip to HEB along with waiting in a line with a 2year old (woohoo…maybe I can go right before nap time!).

Many of my readers know that we have been trying to have a baby.  When I think about having a little one and a newborn, the idea is a  little daunting.  I’ve been absolutely dreading the day that we may lose our little guy.  Seriously, the thought breaks my heart.  He needs someone to fight for him and to teach him how to stand up for himself (that would be me! I am his greatest advocate right now).  I rarely say much about his mom, but I’ve seen her in action and rather than teach him how to stand up for himself, she just kind of redirects him or moves him.  (Another child pushed him).  Meanwhile, I turn into a mamma bear when a child picks him up by his neck and moves him…I’m practically yelling at a 4-year-old, “Where is your mother?”  What I wanted to say was a little rougher that what I am willing to write here and contains language that probably shouldn’t be heard by a 4-year-old.  Oh, it was a little girl…  She nearly choked him.  See, I am getting fired up about it right now.  I’ve taught him to say “No, No” to bigger kids bullying him…he is little, he forgets sometimes and just cries.

I was thinking earlier this week, if we have a baby, maybe it will not be so painful if he is taken from us but it isn’t true. 

I have wrestled with what actions I should take.  Should I pray that we can keep him?  I’ve prayed for his mom…her situation seems sad to me in some ways but mostly I think of the baby and how I wouldn’t want to send my child back into her mess.  He is so stable here.  He has love, food, shelter, structure…  I am afraid for what situations he may be put into if he goes back.  In fact, I’ve been considering giving him a cell phone for his second birthday and teaching him how to dial 9-1-1 just in case.  In general he isn’t allowed to play with phones and he doesn’t know his numbers yet so I’m not sure it will work.  On the other hand, he is very smart.  My decision is to pray for God’s Will to happen , period.  God is bigger than the boogie man (sorry, we’ve been listening to and watching a lot of Veggie Tales).  God is bigger than this situation and I may think I am our baby’s biggest advocate, however, his biggest advocate is actually God. 

God wants me to fight for him.  God wants me to fight for him like I would fight for my own flesh and blood.  God created me to be a fighter and God sent us this child because he needs someone to fight for him.  Fight I will.  I will fight in the heavenlies.  Whether he stays with us or it taken away, God’s hand is on his life. 

Parents need to fight for their children.  In this day and age, I cannot imagine sending your child out into the world without praying for them.  It is amazing to me that they have so many experiences that we as parents do not know about.  We simply cannot be by their side 24 hours a day seven days a week.  It is impossible. 

Reminds me of something Esther Whitmore told me when I was pregnant…she said, “You have to give your children back to God…sooner or later.”  I am giving him to God every day. 

Okay, blanket time has almost run it’s course.  I was able to write a whole blog.  I hear him telling Mr. Potato head, “No, no”.  :D   Now on to picking up all those little pieces.

New Things

{ June 14, 2010 @ 6:58 am } · { Prayer, Uncategorized }
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  Do not remember the former things,
      Nor consider the things of old. 
        Behold, I will do a new thing,
      Now it shall spring forth;
      Shall you not know it?
      I will even make a road in the wilderness
      And rivers in the desert.  Isaiah 43:18-19

We all do it….remember the “good ole days”.    In Christian circles, we remember times in our lives when “God was moving”.  We forget that God is seasonal…old things die (winter), new things come (spring), things grow (summer) and then we have a great harvest (fall) and then it starts all over again.   

Once again we are looking back to the things God once did; how the Holy Spirit was moving at one time in our lives, in our church, in our community.  In our own human nature we try to regenerate that old thing.  We cannot go back to that place.  God has a new thing…we must pursue the new thing.  The old thing is something to build on but it isn’t “it”. 

I attend Promiseland during an incredible time…the Awakening.  The cool thing about Promiseland is they jumped on that wave and rode it.  From the time of the “Awakening” until now, they took new territory (established new, independent churches), they expanded many ministries inside their walls, they resources many other churches, etc.   They got it.  The thing is, we prayed that wave in and as that wave passed by, they prayed in another wave, and another…the key is KEEP ON PRAYING.

The Holy Spirit isn’t a state.  God doesn’t stop in one place and just stay there.  Oh, you may feel the residue of the last big wave, but in general the Spirit isn’t going to just setup shop anywhere.  If that seems to be the case, I would bet money there are some intercessors who are praying in wave, after wave.  His Spirit; The Holy Spirit is a movement.  When the Spirit comes it is for a purpose.  It doesn’t come so we can “feel good” (although that is a nice “side effect”).  It doesn’t show up to make us (our church/ministry/or even individuals) “look good”.  His Spirit isn’t wasted.  When God shows up, He has a purpose in mind. 

God’s Spirit comes to bring alignment to His Kingdom.  God’s Spirit comes to establish God’s Kingdom.  Spirit comes to expand His Kingdom.  His Spirit brings order; Kingdom order; order in the lives of individuals, families, churches and communities.  God’s Kingdom is order; the Kingdom is the Holy Spirit released to flow.

The only hinderance to God’s Spirit is us.  WE are God’s limiting factor.  Do we choose to flow in the Spirit?  Do we choose to follow the Holy Spirit?  Do we open the door to the Spirit or close it?  Do we attempt to take away from or add to the Spirit?  (Hey, you know there are some of you out there who just have to add “one more thing” – now I’m going to preach.  Guess what? When the Holy Spirit shows up and you add “one more thing”….no one hear or remembers your “one more thing”, in fact, people who are really tuning into the Spirit are thinking “I wish he would stop talking”.)

I ask you…

Are our lives God’s Kingdom released on the earth as in heaven?  Have you released God’s Kingdom in your life today? 

Reading (AGAIN for the 14th time), Cindy Jacob’s book, Possessing the Gates of the Enemy (if you are at all serious about prayer it is a MUST READ).  She says (her and Reese Howells, I think) that one of the primary purposes of an intercessor is to release God’s Kingdom on earth as in heaven. 

Matthew 16:19
And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

It is time to loose and release God’s Kingdom..into our lives; into our families, into our circumstances, into our jobs, into our finances, INTO OUR CHURCHES, into our communities, INTO OUR NATION, and into the world. 

We should BE God’s Kingdom…God’s walking, talking Kingdom!

Momlog 6

{ May 22, 2010 @ 7:20 am } · { Fostering, Parenting, Uncategorized }
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We had fun tonight hanging out at a gift certificate shower for our friends the Branham’s.  They just started fostering and some great kiddos have blown into their lives (that is a great description of fostering…children blow in and blow out of your life).  Friends gathered around them to eat some veggies and ranch dip (and a great cheese ring -not to be confused with a cheese wheel which is what Dennis called it-that I made).   

You have to love a gift certificate shower…the only thing you have to decide is which store to get the gift card from.  I choose Target because you can buy food or diapers or clothes there….you never know what you are going to need.

Today was a bit of a rough day.  Nicholas decided he wasn’t going to communicate with me pretty much at all.  That’s right, he wouldn’t sign to me or anything (although, he did give me a kiss at bedtime…he has been giving kisses on a regular basis now but I don’t want to make a big deal about it but is a big deal because he doesn’t give his kisses away to anyone really…okay, it’s huge but I’m keeping it to myself and you of course).  Who can know what is going on in that little brain?  I am paranoid enough to believe he is trying to make me crazy.

Dr. Lehman (I am quoting this guy left and right if only I could implement all his brilliant ideas) says it’s not if your kid embarrasses you in public but when.  He also says we cannot let them win.  If they win at two then you will have a teenager who is argumentative and throws fits.  Tonight, Nick was working on embarrassing us.  He is usually pretty well-behaved at home…well, he doesn’t usually get into things he isn’t allowed to get into (at least not with me – he does with Dennis but I think Dennis doesn’t watch him as closely as I do).   Tonight, he tried to put his finger in an electric socket, threw a bit of a fit because Dennis wouldn’t hold him and feed him, and refused to play with any of the other children.  It was just a bad attitude in general.  Bedtime could not come soon enough. 

The great thing about parenthood is we can all sleep on it and then wake up and hopefully have a much better day tomorrow.  Do over.

I love that baby.  I am working on speaking positive things into his life.  Today I told him he was being very ugly to me and I didn’t like it.  It may seem wierd to tell that to a kid but sometimes expressing how you feel works. 

When I was 17, I would sometimes babysit for the choir practice at my church.  There was one family who had a little boy, Joel.  Everyone dreaded this child.  He was difficult….a fit thrower; always throwing a huge fit.  His poor mamma was this really pretty lady who was so “together” before she had him….by the time he was 9 months old she was frazzled.  To be honest, I couldn’t stand this kid. This child was only three and I didn’t like him.   I was so frustrated with him one evening I told him (my tone probably bordered on harsh), “Joel, no one likes you when you act like this”.  He stopped crying and from then on out, he was good for me.  Seriously, he was a changed child.

One thing that did happen tonight, was right before we were going to leave, our host offered to show Dennis his music room.  They have a nice size house so we followed him upstairs (the music room is pretty awesome).  As we were walking away, I called out to Nick to “come on”.  Since he was being stubborn, he just looked at me so I walked away.  He was “uncompliant” all day today.  When he realized I was walking out of his line of vision, he decided to follow but one of our friends was in the floor with her baby and was blocking his path.  She didn’t realized he was trying to follow.  He wondered off looking for us and couldn’t find us.  He tried to play it casual a minute later when I walked back into the room (when he didn’t follow, I didn’t dally but went back into the room where he was) but he seemed relieved to see me. 

We had a nice prayer tonight before Nick went to sleep.  We asked Jesus to give us a better day tomorrow and to forgive both of us for being so hardheaded and rebellious.  It’s good to ask God to forgive you with your child…we all need God’s grace.  Now I just have to forgive him…that’s right.  Even when you love them, sometimes it is hard to forgive and forget yesterday.  If not, you will approach tomorrow expecting the worst rather than believing for something better. 

So in the immortal words of Scarlett O’Hara, “I shan’t think about it now…after all tomorrow is another day”. (at least that’s how I remember it).

Momblog 5

{ May 21, 2010 @ 6:27 am } · { Fostering, Parenting, Uncategorized }
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Stardate…. okay, I can’t even remember what the date is…it is however, almost 1am.  This is the best time to write.  Everyone else is asleep and I don’t have to keep saying, “Momma can’t play right now.  Go play”.

Turns out that HEB wipes are pretty shoddy; not wet and not thick.  I didn’t actually purchase the wipes, they had one of those by $6.99 in diapers and get the wipes for free coupons.  I’m going to have to head to Walmart.   Interestingly (or maybe this doesn’t interest you), I ran out of the great big bag of Huggies wipes when there was a bout of diarhea…my gag reflex was fully functional, so much so that I suspected I was pregnant (yep, I checked it out – I’m not).   The diarhea passed (Thank GOD!!!).  The buger-face is beginning to clear again. 

Judy advised me that her daughter has hoof and mouth disease…wait a minute that isn’t right…she has hand, mouth and food disease.  All we can figure is she’s a little runny-nosed, poop eater.  Okay, she had had a runny nose and broke out in a little spotted rash including sores in the mouth.  The only thing you can do is hydrate the child (due to the fever) and wait it out.  Our little one was around her little one but he hasn’t had the rash.  As my sister said, little Ellie doesn’t know she is sick.  That sounds about right…the diarhea didn’t seem to slow him down.

The boy is not talking.  At times he refuses to communicate.  He has been referred for some early childhood development services so we are working on it.  The thing is, we know he can hear and we hear him talking all the time.  He knows many words but will not use them to communicate.  He is simply refusing to communicate.  Our service provider suspects he is being stubborn because it is the one thing he can control in his life.  With everything else out of control, he can decide if he tells us what he wants or not. 

We have been working on learning the sign for “Thank You”.  I refuse to have an ungrateful child (I suspect many of the problems in American can be linked back to people who were never taught to be thankful…hmmm, maybe I should be come an anthropologist.  Wonder how many years of school that would take…).  I remember Bishop Phillips speaking about his praying mother.  He said she refused to have an unsaved child…and you should see her legacy.  The sign for “Thank you” is really easy.  He knows some more difficult signs.  He’s just being a stubborn. 

We were told, to tell him to ask for what he wants (a drink for example) and do not give him what he wants until he communicates it (eventually he will be thirsty enough to sign for it).  So I am putting this little plan into action today and the his latest reaction is to smile and try to charm his way into getting his way (this doesn’t work on me – I’m tough – well, that is what I keep telling myself).  It is cute but I just smile and tell him he has to sign “Thank  you”. 

I have been reading “First Time Mommy” by Dr. Lehman.  He says that children will totally run the show if we do not teach them from the start that they are NOT the center of the universe.  (Again, maybe what is wrong with American today…a generation that was taught they were the center of the universe and now meltdown when things do not go their way…adult meltdowns are so unattractive).

Turns out this parenting this is a little more complicated than I initially thought. 

Pray, pray, pray….

He Is…

{ May 17, 2010 @ 5:08 pm } · { Favorite Quotes, Quiet Time, Uncategorized }
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A couple of weeks ago at our Women’s Bible Study, Priscilla Shirer quoted the lyrics to this song, one of my all time favorites.  Quiet a few years ago, Randy Phillips and John Ragsdale sang this at Promiseland in Austin.  They are my favorite version of it, but Aaron Jeoffreys does a good job with it too. 

He is everything you need.  He is everything.  These lyrics represent only a few of the descriptions the Bible reveals about who God is. 

Enjoy!

A \ Aaron Jeoffrey \ He Is

In Genesis, He’s the breath of life
In Exodus, the Passover Lamb
In Leviticus, He’s our High Priest
Numbers, The fire by night
Deuteronomy, He’s Moses’ voice
In Joshua, He is salvation’s choice
Judges, law giver
In Ruth, the kinsmen-redeemer
First and second Samuel, our trusted prophet
In Kings and Chronicles, He’s sovereign

Ezra, true and faithful scribe
Nehemiah, He’s the rebuilder of broken walls and lives
In Esther, He’s Mordecai’s courage
In Job, the timeless redeemer
In Psalms, He is our morning song

In Proverbs, wisdom’s cry
Ecclesiastes, the time and season
In the Song of Solomon, He is the lover’s dream

He is, He is, HE IS!

In Isaiah, He’s Prince of Peace
Jeremiah, the weeping prophet
In Lamentations, the cry for Israel
Ezekiel, He’s the call from sin
In Daniel, the stranger in the fire

In Hosea, He is forever faithful
In Joel, He’s the Spirits power
In Amos, the arms that carry us
In Obadiah, He’s the Lord our Savior
In Jonah, He’s the great missionary

In Micah, the promise of peace
In Nahum, He is our strength and our shield
In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, He’s pleading for revival
In Haggai, He restores a lost heritage
In Zechariah, our fountain

In Malachi, He is the son of righteousness rising with healing in His wings

He is, He is, HE IS!

In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, He is God, Man, Messiah
In the book of Acts, He is fire from heaven
In Romans, He’s the grace of God
In Corinthians, the power of love
In Galatians, He is freedom from the curse of sin

Ephesians, our glorious treasure
Philippians, the servants heart
In Colossians, He’s the Godhead Trinity
Thessalonians, our coming King
In Timothy, Titus, Philemon He’s our mediator and our faithful Pastor

In Hebrews, the everlasting covenant
In James, the one who heals the sick.
In First and Second Peter, he is our Shepherd
In John and in Jude, He is the lover coming for His bride
In the Revelation, He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords

He is, He is, HE IS!

The prince of peace
The Son of man
The Lamb of God
The great I AM

He’s the alpha and omega
Our God and our Savior
He is Jesus Christ the Lord
and when time is no more
He is, HE IS!

Amazing Love

{ May 13, 2010 @ 6:52 pm } · { Quiet Time, Uncategorized }
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It’s amazing, people would rather read about a “mean mom” than about gossip or getting real.  That’s okay.  I’ll keep writing.

At my Bible study the other day our small group had a conversation about seeking God’s will for our lives verses moving forward and asking God to bless our plans.  Who doesn’t need that reminder?

One of the ladies shared that she had, had a miscarriage around the same time we did.  She felt that she miscarried because she had not prayed about getting pregnant.  As I recently experienced the same loss, I was outraged (contained outrage) by this pattern of thinking.  What she was saying was, “God punished me for not consulting Him in the matter of having another child.”  It kind of broke my heart that she believes that God would do that to her as a punishment.  Losing a baby has to the harshest punishment God could mete out…in fact, it would be more like torture than punishment really and not anything close to discipline.

My outlook is God does not like death.  He is LIFE.  He is LOVE.  He is AMAZING.  We are living in a dispensation of grace.  As a child of God, He disciplines us, however, punishment is reserved for the wicked.  Death is a result of sin in the world.  As a result of sin, we all experience death at times.  God has a way of turning all of ashes into beauty.  He has a way of turning tears into joy…He just does, He is that GOOD.

Those who sow in tears
         Shall reap in joy.
 He who continually goes forth weeping,
         Bearing seed for sowing,
         Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
         Bringing his sheaves with him.  -Psalm 126:5-6

Someone said God allows these things to happen so we will draw close to Him.  I think God wants us to draw close to Him in the bad times and in the good times.  I firmly believe that when our heart breaks, God’s heart breaks.  His desire for us is to prosper us, to give us a future and a hope.

My other response is, God knit that child in my womb; in your womb.  He made that child.  Conception was His idea.  It is a miracle.  Every child conceived is a miracle.  Why would God rip the miracle from your womb?  What kind of God would we serve if that was His MO?

As I thought more about the conversation, my other though was…  throughout scripture, God commanded His people to be fruitful and multiply.  That means that babies are God’s will.  It would be like asking God if it is His will for us to be loving.  His Word says, “love one another”.  We wouldn’t pray about whether or not to be loving.  We may pray that God would help us to be loving.  Just as I pray God will enable my body to carry a child or children to term one day (hopefully soon).

God’s love is Amazing.  He has the best in mind for us….

Religious Talk

{ May 12, 2010 @ 11:26 pm } · { Quiet Time, Uncategorized }
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for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified   – Romans 2:13

 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;  for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.  But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 
If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.  Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.  -James 1:21-27

While living in Mobile, Alabama, I attended Dayspring Baptist Church.  The Dayspringers like to consider themselves “Baptacostal” because they enjoyed contemporary worship rather than traditional worship.  My impression was they really, really wanted to know the Holy Spirit in powerful way but weren’t quiet sure how to do that but they knew that the Pentecostals seemed to be onto something yet, they really didn’t want to do anything as radical as embracing the full gifts of the Spirit.  I am not in any way saying that to be ugly.  It was a good church and I attended there until my friends Charlie and Brooke Granade moved on to attend seminary.  Charlie was the single’s pastor (very large single’s group) and he was very open to the giftings and movings of the Holy Spirit.

Charlie and the leadership team organized some great activities during that time and one event that stands out was a single’s retreat.  It took place in Alabama, not far from the coast, on a creek (although, we Texans would consider it a river).  Alabama is a beautiful state if you can overlook the rusting out cars and appliance on the side of the road.  It was a lovely retreat center tucked away in the green foliage of lower Alabama.  That isn’t what I remember about it.  Sure I remember canoeing with Brooke and Alice Burch  and also that Charlie put me in charge of checking people in because he wanted someone who would be willing make everyone pay up.  The real thing that stands out was the speaker.  He was a pastor from Mobile, Terry Bryant.  One of thing I remember Terry Bryant saying was, “What you believe is what you do, everything else is just religious talk”.

There are so many times in our lives when we talk and talk but our words do not align with our actions. 

What do you really believe?  If you want to know what you believe, look at your life.  What do you do? 

Do not think for a minute your “religious activities” mean you truly believe certain things.  We all do it in some ways.  Our prayer meeting is more talk than prayer.  We send out Facebook updates with scriptures that we took off our “Daily Bread Calendar” rather than from our daily scripture reading (actually our calendar has become daily scripture reading).  Or we send out updates with quotes from books that we only read the cover of (Some of us only read the cover of our Bibles or the “devotionals” that are included in our “Leadership Bible” or “Women’s Study Bible”.  – That will preach).  James said (go back to the top of this post and read the scriptures!  Seriously, you skimmed over that part?  Read the scriptures, skim the post!!), undefiled religion is to visit the orphans and widows (and as southern hospitality would dictate, don’t arrive empty handed…).

It is time for all of us to start identifying the religious talk in our lives and eliminating it.  Stop talking “prayer” and start praying.  Stop talking “consistency” and start being consistent.  Stop talking about “healing” and get healed.  Stop talking about “helping people” and start doing it.

I would like for someone out there who reads this blog (I know almost 100 people a day read this blog – I track it.  I know, some of you like to lurk but this time, seriously comment!) to honestly list something you would like to stop talking about and do.  Inspire me.  Inspire someone!  Do something!

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