Stains

I've been getting some of my kids' things together to sell at a consignment sale.  I usually like to give my things away but I thought I'd try consigning this time.  I read the rules and they said there could be no stains on the clothing.  Of course, that makes sense.  It almost seems silly they'd have to put that.  I've bought clothes at a consignment sale before though and when I took them home I realized they had a stain on it, often hidden behind the price tag or something else.  I was always bummed and frustrated someone would sell their clothes like that. 

So I've been examining my clothes carefully to be sure there were no stains.  The closer I looked the more I realized I tolerate more stains on my kids' clothes then I realized.  Not that my kids are wearing clothes that aren't clean but often it would be a little stain that was light.  Or in a place that isn't easily seen.  They are kids after all and have a tendency to spill or use their shirt as a napkin or even worse a tissue (eeww!)  At home it's not a big deal to have little stains but now that I knew it would be looked at carefully it put a new standard on it. 

So I carried the stained clothing to the laundry room.  I turned on a lamp, that acts more like a spotlight, to see where the stains are and sprayed stain remover on them.  Then it dawned on me this is just like when we become a Christian we are cleaned by Christ's work on the cross.  However, the process of sanctification or living a life set apart for Christ is just that…a process.  We have to make sure that we don't have stains on us continuously because the old sins and things that tripped us up in our past are crouched and ready to consume us any given chance.  It may not seem like a big deal, some of the things we let in our life, but when we put them under God's spotlight more stains appear.  Some we didn't even realize were there.  We scratch our heads and wonder, "How did I miss that?"

I've recently been fasting.  There's nothing like a fast to shine a spotlight on undesirable or down right wrong attitudes or actions that slipped in our life.  Or sometimes we have something we didn't completely surrender to Christ when we accepted Him as Lord of our life.  We need to break free from the "sin that so easily entangles".   (Hebrews 12:1)  My Pastor painted such a good picture of the portion of scripture last Sunday.  When we accept Christ the work of salvation is done in an instant because of what Christ did for us on the cross but sanctification or learning to walk a holy life that God desires for us is a process. The sins that bound us before we were saved are hungry to consume us once again. You can't leave room for any piece because sin is like a parasite, it grows and always tries to kill it's host. Pastor had one of the other pastors go on stage and demonstrated the effects of sin hanging on a Christian by giving weights to the other pastor. There were small weights but they added up as he continued to give them to him. Some he even hooked on his belt, then he had and extention cord and drapped it on the man to show how sin entangles. He asked Pastor Micah to walk around. It was not easy for him to do. We also can not walk around with sin weighing us down and tripping us up. There is no way we can walk the Christian walk in all that Christ has given us if we allow sin, even a little bit, in our life.

He told a story about a crooked man who sold his house. The crooked seller told the buyer he wanted only to keep the nail above the door. One nail, that's all he had rights to. The rest was the purchasers. The buyer agreed and signed a paper stating their deal. Years went by and one day the crooked man went back to the house and told the buyer that he wanted to buy his house back. The man living there said, "No. It's my house.  You sold it to me." The crooked man said, "You better sell it back to me or I'll make your life miserable." The man said, "No there's nothing you can do. The house is mine." So the crooked man found a dead dog and nailed it up with his nail, right above the door to the house. The purchaser of the house saw the dog and removed it. So the crooked man got an officer and showed him the agreement both men had signed. The officer told the man living in the house he couldn't do anything to that nail because the crooked man had legal right to it. So the crooked man hung the dog back up and it stank and decayed and attracted maggots. Finally the man living in the home was driven from his home. Lesson of the story; Don't give the devil EVEN ONE little bit in your life. It only takes one little bit for him to have rights on you. Jesus paid for you in full with His blood. Don't give the devil a foothold by allowing sin in your life. Do not be tolerant or grow numb to sin in your own life. 

Pastor gave a list of the most common things that so easily entangle us. Unforgiveness, fear and anxiety, sexual immorality, occult involvement (even the seeming innocence of a ouija board or palm reading), rejection and toxic grief, addiction, and dishonesty and pride.  If you knowingly have one of these in your life and the Holy Spirit is tugging on your heart, here is your chance to break free.  I broke free and it's a wonderful thing.  God created us for so much more!  Walk in the freedom of Christ!

              

     

My Spice Rack Project

This isn't the kind of posts I usually put on my blog but I had some fun with this project and really liked how it turned out so I thought I'd share it with you.

I got an old cassette tape holder and turned it on it's side.

 Then I (or should I say my husband) took out the dividers. He repositioned the shelves that were left to fit my spices. The top row we left a smaller space for the smaller spices. Hubby glued the shelves secure then painted it black.

Now I have a spice rack for the wall right next to my oven. It will look even better when we get the kitchen painted black and yellow.

Skin deep

Today my eyes are being opened to how much I really judge on appearances. I'm talking about judging myself on my appearance and assuming others are doing the same. I seem to think if I look thin and beautiful to others I will have some sort of worth. This thinking is so wrong. That is backwards from what God's truth shows. Yet somehow this has been programed into me, probably at a very young age. In this culture and time women/girls especially get bombarded with this message that beauty = worth. SO UNTRUE!! Proverbs 31:30 says, “Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” That is completely opposite of what the world thinks but we need to reteach ourselves to think the way the Lord does. I thought I had but the Lord showed me I still need to work on this area.

I especially judge myself so harshly. I suppose most women do but I think it didn't help that at one time I was really wanting to do modeling and/or acting. I was with a modeling/talent agency in Omaha for awhile and did some modeling jobs (nothing print, which is what I was really hoping for) and took a few different acting and modeling classes. Through all of that the you-must-be-a-beautiful-skinny-minnie was imprinted even more on my brain...and my heart.

But the bible teaches that our worth is who we are in Christ which is why it is so important to know who you are in Christ. We are dearly loved by the Lord. Read Song of Solomon and remember that this is also a picture of how much the Lord loves us. We are the bride in this story. We are SO loved by Him. (That's a whole post in itself!)

“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance but God looks at the heart.” I Samuel 16:7b

God knows there is so much more going on on the inside of a person then you can ever see by just looking at someone's appearance. There is so much more depth on the inside. I know that yet I was still looking at myself (and sometimes others) and judging worth by appearance. The Lord showed it to me this way: You buy an apple for the juicy, crunchy, sweet, delicious fruit inside. What if you went to the store and bought a beautiful looking apple then when you got home and cut into that apple you found there was nothing inside. Just nothing, it was only skin. The apple has now lost it's appeal. What you want isn't there. The nutrients and purpose for the apple are non-existent. Your left flat and hollow. 

God wants what's inside of us to be full of nutrients and sweetness. To be able to share with others what is in your heart and they leave healthier and fuller because of it. If Christ and the Word of God are inside you that is what the people whose lives you touch will receive. A glass on it's own is empty. It's when you fill it that it becomes beneficial.

Judging my self worth by what the scale, mirror or my dress size says is SO wrong! I don't do it intentionally and I know better yet I still do it and have to watch myself to remember who I am in Christ.

 

Open the door

Today I was at a luncheon at church with my husband and kids.  We were in a large room divided by a partitioned wall.  After the kids were done eating they were able to go to the other side of the wall and play.  We were sitting right next to the playroom.  My three year old daughter came out from playing to get a drink.  She started to go back to the playroom but the door was shut.  The door had a funny looking flat door knob on it.  My daughter stopped and looked at the door, then put her hands on her hips as she studied the door in frustration.  My husband and I had watched the wheels turning in her head and we chuckled seeing her put her hands on her hips.  Her daddy stood up and opened the door for her. 

It made me think how many of us come to a closed door in our lives and stand there and study the door trying to figure out how to open it.  We can come up with so many possible solutions on our own but that still might not be the way to open the door.  We may even put our hands on our hips in frustration or get angry but the one thing we ought to do is look to our daddy to open the door for us.  Our heavenly Father is the only one who really knows if that's a door we should walk through or not and we certainly want His blessing and direction before we go anywhere.  Even if it's a door you were already went through.  Sometimes God closes doors for us for awhile and then reopens them.  It all needs to be on His timing.  Don't be in such a hurry in life that you forget to ask your daddy to open the door.              

Thankfulness

Normally you would see a post on thankfulness in November but I am a firm believer that thankfulness should be a way of life, all year long. Lately I've found myself being very thankful about things so I thought I'd do a post on it.

I am thankful for my life. I'm thankful for every breath I breathe. To awake every morning as the sun lights the day, in a warm bed, next to a wonderful man. To put my feet on the floor and get out of bed with a healthy body. There are so many who don't have that luxury. After looking at the list of possibilities running through the doctors mind on what I could have, it made me appreciate life all the more. Seeing cancer on that list scared the daylights out of me. I think it's only natural for your mind to race down the road of what if's. Thankfully a road I don't actually have to walk down. It also tested my character. What was I going to do with my fear and concerns? I did the only thing I knew to do, cry out to God for help and strength. Our God is faithful. He came through and helped me and gave me strength. He reminded me to know who I am in Christ and always cling to the truths that are found in His Word. I am truly thankful for each new day.

I am thankful to be a mom of four beautiful children. To be able to stay home with all of them. To raise them and teach them in the ways of the Lord. Being a mom (or parent) is a hard job. Homeschooling is also a hard calling. But they are wonderful!!! I love that God called me to this. Of course I'm a real person (as you saw on my mothering reality post) and life has moments of frustration with the kids but at the end of the day, I'm glad God has me right where I am. I'm thankful He sees me through every step of the way. Guiding me on how to guide my children.

I heed the words of the women in the seasons of life beyond mine who say, “I wish my kids could be little again.” “Enjoy them being little while you can. They grow so fast.” It seems to be a universal theme among all women with older or grown children. Sometimes I take “snapshots” in my mind of the kids being cute. A few weeks ago my family and I had just finished our grocery shopping at Walmart and we were at the check outs by the little arcade. My kids always want to go in there but I rarely let them. My 3yr old daughter was pleading with me to go but I wouldn't let her. I was helping her get bundled up and she was saying, “ I AM big” over and over. I looked at her adorable big blue eyes under her knitted hat with a big flower on the side. Her cheeks still have the adorable little girl chubbiness to them and her little lips kept saying “I AM big”. Those are the type of little moments I try to cherish in my whirlwind of daily life with my kids.

I am thankful for this home of my own God gave my husband and I. Truly a blessing and a miracle. I'm thankful for the job God has provided for my husband. It has been a good fit for him. Marc getting that job was also a miracle that maybe I'll share with you someday.

I am thankful for the food I eat every day. Even more so now that I've learned about the gluten free diet. I have only been on this diet for 24 hours now and I already feel better. This morning I had gluten free pancakes. Normally I gobble down pancakes ( I do enjoy them so...) and then my stomach usually feels like it has a brick in it. The pancakes sludge through my digestive track, hurting every bit of the way. Then my energy bombs out on me after only an hour. Not this morning though! No sir! I had my pancakes, which were pretty good. They tasted a little like rice but I liked them. Then … no brick, no dive of energy, no sludging through my body and NO PAIN! I'm gonna say it again... NO PAIN! I am totally excited about that. In fact, I had no pain in my intestines and digestive track today! Did you know I've lived with that pain in my body for over 20 years now. No joke! You can see why I'm SO excited. The extra money it takes to buy the special food and extra time to research it all is SOOOO worth it to me.

One of the most special gifts to me that I am so thankful for, other then my salvation, is my husband. He is such a gift. I'm so glad I have him to walk with on this journey of our lives. He's a great protector and has many times spoken up for me when I was silent. He helps me with the kids and the housework. Our troubles are divided and our joys are truly doubled. I love his integrity, his walk with God and his ways that are so “outside of the box”. I love support he shows me. I love him and adore him. Thank you God for the precious gift of my husband and our marriage.

The Lord has shown me that He wants us to enjoy the lives we live. We are His children and He loves us. What parent wouldn't want to give their children good gifts to enjoy? So as one of the things I wanted to work on this year, I want to enjoy my life more. To the fullest. Breathe in the moment and take a mental picture of the beauty that is there. Even if it's not a picture perfect moment. To not let life race past me and miss half of it but to learn to be still at times and very active at others, learn to laugh loudly and learn to play.

I want to pass on this heart of gratitude to my children whenever a chance presents itself. I saw a pin on pinterest that is a great idea for Valentines day. It's a Valentines tree of gratitude. You put some branches in a vase and sit down with your kids and write on hearts things you are thankful for. Then you put the hearts on the tree for the season. I love the visual reminder of this.

May we always remember to thank God for everything!

Thank you for your prayers: health update

Many of my friends and family members having been praying for me with regards to my health. Thank you all who have been praying. I appreciate it. It's been a couple of months since I made my original post asking for prayer so I thought I'd update you on what's been going on. I have to say I've seen God working in so many ways even to small details. I'm not sure how many of those details I'll be able to post but I want to be sure to acknowledge God's fingerprints all over this.

I've been to several Dr.'s now and had several different tests done. We know many things of what it's not but the Dr. still doesn't know exactly what it is. I've been cleared of anemia, thyroid problems, lung cancer, colon cancer, uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, (yes, cancer was a real possibility), crohn's disease (that one was mentioned to me several times), diverticulitis and kidney problems. Those are the ones I can remember off the top of my head. I'm praising God for every good test result. Praising God I have none of the things in that list.

One Dr. spent a couple hours with me and was a great help. She believes I have nothing life threatening and that it's related to my intestines being inflamed. I did a colonoscopy and my large intestines look great. We are quite certain my problem is in my small intestine. I have had problems there before so this piece of the puzzle makes sense.

She also told me to count my calories. I counted calories for several days and discovered I wasn't taking in enough because it hurts to eat. With this in mind I began to be more intentional about eating but not just anything. I'm trying to make the healthiest choices with each calorie. That certainly can be challenging though. Between the busyness of keeping up with kids and having a sweet tooth that likes to call my name, it's not always easy to make great food choices. I'm working on it though. I'm happy to say that I have not lost any weight for a month now but have stabilized within a decent range. Praise God for that!

The issue of my abdominal pain has had me puzzled. This pain isn’t new. I've been dealing with it for years but just started to look into it when I realized unintentional weight loss can be a sign of a problem. My Dr.'s are ready to chalk it up to Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It's almost like that's what they say when they've ruled out life-threatening problems but don't know what else to say. Personally it's a bit frustrating. I just want to know what to do to take care of myself. I'd really love for all this Dr. stuff to be done. I would also LOVE to go though a week (or even a day) without my stomach hurting.

I had a couple of people recently mention something that made me start doing some research and I think I've found something that so far has made more sense then anything else. I've been told about how some people have problems with gluten (a substance present in grains, especially wheat). Some people are gluten sensitive, others have Celiac disease. Both groups can treat their problem by going to a gluten free diet. So I've decided to put my family and I on a gluten free diet. At first it looked overwhelming difficult but there is more out there you can eat then what you might think. Food companies are understanding people have this and are producing foods that can be eaten on a gluten free diet.

I don't know for sure that this is my issue but it makes more sense with the pieces of the puzzle I have then anything else has. I figured it couldn't hurt to try it. If you would like to know more about this disease or sensitivity there are some great resources on the internet.

This is the Celiac Disease Foundation: http://www.celiac.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6&Itemid=12

And this one is The Celiac Diva, a blog I found very helpful:

http://www.theceliacdiva.com/celiac-disease-vs-gluten-intolerance/

Thanks again for all your prayers and support.

                            

Uprooted

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

Until just a few weeks ago I never noticed "a time to uproot" in that part of scripture. Uproot sounds painful and not good. Yet really what is uprooting? When I looked at the phrase before, "a time to plant" I realized uprooting is harvesting. Fields get planted in one season and uprooted or harvested in another season.

I'm not big on veggies but I love cooked carrots. I love them in soup and casseroles. When a carrot is in the garden all you see is a green plant. All the good stuff is underground. Until you uproot that carrot you can't benefit from the goodness of it. You can't enjoy it's bright color or taste or nutrients til you pull it up out of the ground. When I looked at uprooting in this light I realized it is often a good thing.

This is true for us as well. In life uprooting would be a big change of some type. A moving from one place to another. The Webster's Dictionary defines uproot as: "to detach completely from". There could be a move in where you live, a job change, a church change, relationships that you are removed from whether voluntarily or not. Uprooting can be truly stressful! It can also be very good.

I've recently had a change, an "uprooting". My husband and I have changed churches. A word of caution before I go on. You should be careful not to leave a church because you're angry about something. Do all you can to try and work things out. I understand this doesn't always take care of things and sometimes people leave angry but do all within your power to keep peace between brothers. This is biblical. "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." Ephesians 4:3 You'll know you are doing this when you keep your focus on God and what direction He wants you to go in. "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts you." Isaiah 26:3 Also be sure you find a community of believers to worship, learn and grow in Christ with. We need other believers in the body of Christ to love on us, encourage us and keep us in check. If you've been hurt remember it's not God who hurt you but it will be God who heals you.

In my situation my husband and I have been feeling a change of direction for a few months now. I would ask the Lord if it was time to go and several times He said no. A few months ago He (the Lord) told me to prepare for the move but didn't tell me when a change would happen. I did prepare and I'm so glad I did. When it happened it was kind of fast so I'm glad I had most everything in order ahead of time. It was really hard. There's so many people we love there. People who have known me since I was a child and others who are just dear to us.

Plus, it wasn't the tidy picture perfect leaving I had imagined when I knew there was a change coming. Being the perfectionist type this was mental block I had to overcome. My human nature said if it's not a picture perfection situation God must not be in this. This couldn't be further from the truth.

I was reading the bible and came across some things in Paul's life that were certainly not "picture perfect", all pretty and tidy with a nice bow at the top. Yet, God was in the middle of what Paul was doing. Definitely Paul was a man who followed God's orders and took his feet down the path God set out for him.

My mind began jogging around the bible to many different men and women of God who's situations seemed far less then perfect, yet God was completely in the middle of their situation and not just allowed their situation but actually told them to go that direction. The one that tops them all is Jesus. Our precious Lord and Savior. I imagine things were pretty tense for a while before the chief priests and teachers of the law found a way to "get rid of Jesus"(Luke 22:2) Jesus was doing AMAZING things and you know He did nothing out of the will of God. Yet He was handed over to the hands of men to suffer and be sacrificed. This was not just something God allowed but it is God's redemption plan. His plan!!! And you better believe He was in the middle of all this. Just like He's in the middle of situations we face.

The main thing at any time of our life is to keep our eyes fixed on Christ and be obedient to what God is calling us to do. Then when turmoil comes and the wind and waves crash on us we can have peace knowing and trusting God led you there. He will not leave you. He's got you right where you are for a reason so bigger then you can comprehend.

No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love him.

I Corinthians 2:9

I love he lyrics to the song Whatever You're Doing by Sanctus Real. They sum up what I've been saying well.

Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something heavenly