evanglism

what have you been evangelistic about lately? a great book you had to tell everyone about?  your team that won or in my case lost this week? the best dessert in the world? JESUS?

we studied these verses today in Sunday School, John 1:29-46.....John sees Jesus and tells his friends...who tell there family....Jesus tells Philip who tells his friend Nathanael....and they followed all because someone TOLD

(side note: this verse made me laugh out loud...John 1:46  “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.  “Come and see,” said Philip.)

today i taught about telling about Jesus......
today i listened to a Godly man talk about his journey to tell others about Jesus.....

tomorrow God will put someone in my path that I need to tell....I hope I will.  Will you?

5 minute soapbox

i'm not one to be confrontational.  i will avoid an agreement at all cost.  so when i've seen these post on facebook or heard someone say something about God in schools i've keep my mouth shut.  there is the one about God looks at the dog locked out of the school and says i know they won't let me in, the one that says God, Why aren't you in my school? Child, I'm not allowed in schools. and so on and so forth....repost...

this is the point where i say...let me tell you...while bobbing my head and shaking my finger(which i have never done in my life)

GOD is in school!  GOD is in everything!  He is the great I am!  He is in every child and every teacher.  We are created in his image.  You can't tell GOD he can't be some where, he can't help being there.  I am a teacher, and believe me prayer is happening in school, I pray every day as much and as often as possible.  You can't keep GOD out!

......off soapbox.....

 

fingerprint friday

worship

the idea of worship has been on my heart and mind these days....

i don't always feel like i get my worship in.....

i want to worship like David did.....

Praise the LORD, O my soul;
   all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
 Praise the LORD, O my soul,
   and forget not all his benefits—
 who forgives all your sins
   and heals all your diseases,
 who redeems your life from the pit
   and crowns you with love and compassion,
 who satisfies your desires with good things
   so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.....Psalm 103:1:5

i want to shout it out

  Praise the LORD, you his angels,
   you mighty ones who do his bidding,
   who obey his word.
 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
   you his servants who do his will.
 Praise the LORD, all his works
   everywhere in his dominion.

   Praise the LORD, O my soul.....Psalm 103:20-22

at my family, my friends, my church.....AT MYSELF

where and how do you truly worship? in a church? at home? outside? do you sit? stand? sing?

addie and owen

confession.....i am really bad at baby books, scrap booking, photo albums, etc.

so.....in an attempt to remember these extra sweet times in my life...i thought i would use this space...

Addie had her two month doctors appointment this week (even though she's not quite 2 months).  She weighed 12 pounds 1 ounce and was 24 inches long.  She has to be moving all the time! She loves her mommy.  She is eating about every three hours, which makes for long nights and early mornings. 

Owen loves her so much.  If she cries, he says "help her mommy."  He is playing soccer now on Saturday mornings.  This week he scored three goals. 

Took this picture last weekend at my niece's birthday party.  He loves animals.

feeling fall

its a little chilly here today
the leaves are have lost their green
i watched one fall slowly to the ground today
and wondered  how this season of my life will play
it wasn't a great week for me in my personal life, i just...
can't get it quite right...the balance of work, wife, mother....
and all those other things i do. how to get it all done i'm not quite
sure.  i've always been a pleaser.  making sure everyone one is ok.
but i'm not sure i can and i haven't learned my lesson yet.  so i will
continue this fall and feeling this season of my life in the days ahead
hoping i will get better at this juggling act that is my everyday life and make a little time for me.

linking up with

fingerprint friday @ the rusted chain

 

fear not

not once, not twice, but three hundred sixty five times the bible says fear not

(i can hear God now.....and how many times do I have to tell you (in a big booming fatherly voice).....i'm not telling you again....because I say that frequently to my own children)

but he says it again and again, giving me chance after chance

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” Phillipians 4:6-7

did he know i was going to need this daily reminder.....(one for every day of the year).....yes

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” 1 Peter 5:6 -7

i think i need it every minute after all i was the kid whose grandma bought the worry wart at age 7

and this one it gets me every time 

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. ” Proverbs 3:5-8

wise in my own ways.....i'm sure it must be a funny site for God....to watch me worry away at the things (all things) He is already controlling

but i dwell, i roll them around in my pea brain, i make them big when they are small.....mostly about my children and their well being, but other things too...money, natural disasters, death, life....

but He says......FEAR NOT

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

"I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears." Psalm 34:4

what are you fearing this week? where do you find comfort?

on your heart tuesday

opening my eyes

sometimes i walk around pulling the blanket over my eyes

i don't see all the good stuff in the space around me

today i opened my eyes to the blessings

coffee on the porch in the brisk morning air
husband finishing farm work in time to go to sunday school

scripture speaking to me in 2 Timothy 3
brother in law playing amazing grace for 9/11 remembrance
my best friend and her fiance coming to sunday school
nursing my sweet baby girl
lunch with my mom and dad 
watching husband hold addie while owen played at his feet
a clean kitchen

my sister in law, so glad she married my brother
talking about what i learned at beth moore's simulcast with my mom
reading my get to know you letters my students wrote me about themselves
supper with my great grandma, grandma and grandpa, aunts and uncles, and cousins

God opening my eyes to my blessings

home

north carolina through my senses.....

if i could touch north carolina....i would feel the wind sweeping through the hills of which i live as i tried to catch the leaves it blows, the new born baby calf and a baby chicken, the hot sand 

beneath my toes on summer vacation

if i could smell north carolina....i would smell fresh cut hay, sweet, stinky manure, watermelon, apple cider and christmas trees

if i could hear north carolina.....i would hear the train blow its whistle every day around 11:30, the laughter of my moma, the sound of a diesel truck

if i could see north carolina.....i would see blue mountains that take your breath away, dirt roads, tractors, and chicken houses, God's handiwork in the sunrises and the sunsets

if i could taste north carolina.....i would taste fresh green beans and cucumbers, fried squash and cornbread, chicken and dumplings and sweet tea, and granny sue's chocolate pie

 goodness i love this place

linking up with 

fingerprint friday @ the rusted chain

labor day

Yesterday in children's church I asked the children what labor day means:

Grace - you can't wear white till spring

Mady - shopping

Savannah - the day off

just some fyi:

The first Labor Day parade was held in New York City
on September 5, 1882.

In the year 1894, Congress voted Labor Day a federal holiday.

What does labor day mean to you? What do you labor for?

Whatever you do, work at it with all of your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.
Colossians 3:23

In Honor of Labor Day 

(stolen from Kristen @ we are that family)

which i agree is the hardest work ever

Kid #1 - Owen, December 14, 2005, 9 lbs 2 oz, 21 1/2 inches long

Kid #2 - Addie, July 24, 2011, 9 lbs 8 oz, 21 1/2 inches long

How long were your labors?

Kid #1, 15 hours

Kid #2, 12 hours

How did you know you were in labor?

Kid #1, 2 weeks late, induced 

Kid #2, random contractions, induced

Where did you deliver?

the hospital with wonderful nurses

Drugs?

           Kid #1 - epidural 1 - didn't take, epidural 2 - only worked on half my body and I precedied to pull out while squirming on the the bed, epidural 2 - didn't take

          Kid #2  pain meds in the iv, no epidural

C-section?  

       nope

Who delivered?

Kid #1- the wonderful Dr. Horton who had just started here in my area

Kid #2- the wonderful Dr. Polindoro - who also saved my life when i had an ectopic pregnancy

meltdown

A nuclear meltdown is an informal term for a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating.  Have you ever had a meltdown?  My son had a meltdown this morning and I'm not sure what caused it....it could have been getting up so early, or not being able to find the shirt he wanted to wear, or mommy having a new baby in her lap, or not being able to pack his lunch, or not being able to play the wii before school....all of these things i could have prevented....i could have let him sleep late and be late for school, i could have laid out his clothes for him and made him wear what i wanted him to wear, i could have packed his lunch for him even though i told him yesterday if he wanted hotdogs at school or packed lunch "hotdog" was his reply, i could have chosen not to have another child and robbed him of being a big brother, and i could have let me played the wii and not get ready....would this have caused him not to have meltdown?  did he suffer major core damage? or did he learn from experience as he went crying out the door?  i'm guessing there will be more meltdowns in his life.  i've certainly had my share.  i had one yesterday as i held my baby girl and thought of returning to work next week.  and i said "Lord...." and I stopped....and said thank you for the blessings of a beautiful daughter and son and a beautiful mother is willing and able to keep her for me.  i have had major meltdowns which lead to core damage and Godly reconstruction.

when was your last meltdown?  

"But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you.."

2 Thessalonians 3:3 

linking up with fingerprint friday @ the rusted chain

pray and wait

almost six years ago, i felt God push.  i ignored, he pushed harder.  i went to my pastor and said i feel like i need to start a sunday school class for people my age.  (statistics say only about 25% of 18 - 25 year olds attend church) my pastor - i'm not so sure, i've never had a new mother volunteer for anything (translation your crazy) but if you want to try it, i will support you (he confronts my mother to make sure i'm not crazy and to make sure she will help me).  so i, a single mother of a 1 month old, a first year teacher of 7th graders in the local public schools, and a never before been a sunday school teacher start a class....we had four the first sunday.  some sundays we had more most sundays we had less that first year.  i continue to study, i continue to pray.....2 members move away.  i sit alone in a tiny room in the back corner of the church and pray.  why should i go this morning Lord...no one will come, God pushes.  He sends people my way, ask them to church.  i think they won't come, but i ask and i ask and i ask. Easter 2009 - 20 people in attendance. last year we had 17 people enrolled in our sunday school class.  last night we gathered for an eat out (pot luck dinner outside) with over 40 people (parents, children, friends, family) coming.  patience. God answers prayers, in His time.  five years later, we are still growing, we are still praying, people are still coming....GOD IS STILL WORKING.

³ For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
   it speaks of the end
   and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
   it will certainly come
   and will not delay. 

Habakkuk 2:3

i should write

i stopped

at 40 post on my blog i stopped

when i had just started to create a community and build blogships i stopped

i became obsessed - more comments - more followers - more link ups.........more!

i stopped

i have so much i want to write

the Lord churns at my heart and mind with ideas to share

He gave me a sweet baby girl

He gave me strength to start a new day

He continues to bless me through my trials

i will write 

not for others 

not for comments or number of clicks

but to share His love, His grace, and to spread His glory

i will write.

perfect

As I sat with Owen tonight and colored, I see his character traits becoming more evident.  He refused to color because "I keep messing up, I keep getting out of the lines, I can't do it right, --- you do it."  He expects perfection from his 5 year old hands.  And I say -- I think its beautiful, I think your doing great -- it's perfect!  But to him it is less than perfect.  And if mommy can do it better, I will let her do it.

my mind turns - how can i fix this, what can i say, what if he's like this forever, how will he ever get through school........

perfect only comes from God

then I feel that turn in the back of my mind that makes me shiver

I do this too.  I do not always work for God's kingdom, I don't always witness when I should, I don't always give my testimony when I need to, I don't pray like I should -- I am less than perfect.  And so and so from down the road is so much better at witnessing,  I should tell them to talk to this person.  I should let other people who are better at God's work do the work because "I keep messing up, I keep getting out of the lines, I can't do it right, --- you do it."


"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." Luke 13:24

"As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work."  John 9:4

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.  

Matthew 5:48

not defeated

 

Life is sometimes hard.  We do not always live on top of the mountain spiritual.  We don't always feel that God is at work around us.  But despite he is there.  He will not let us fall where he can't catch us.   Let us not give up on what God can do for us.

2 Corinthians 4:7-12 - ⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹ For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. ¹² So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

 

 

 

 The spirit has been whispering to me for some time to speak at church, and this Sunday I am speaking for Women's Sunday.  I plan to give my testimony and share some verses.  Please pray this week that my words will be God's words and that others may find hope.

lately

Lately...........

the warm sunshine has put a smile on my face and  I have enjoyed walking to my car in the morning

my students have made me laugh a lot

my husband has helped out around the house, which i am very thankful for


i have watched my son grow up before my eyes....he wrote all his valentines by himself...and i have wished he wouldn't grow so fast

i have wished for summer and fun times like above :)


i have wished i could smell the ocean


nothing has seemed to taste very good but it hasn't stopped me from eatting it


i have had a strong desire to read more of the bible 

i've have enjoyed sitting silently and doing nothing

my "sister" made me feel loved....Blog about me

the baby has started to show me he/she is there through movement :)

i have found lots of things online i wanted to buy, but didn't

 

things have been pretty good - smiles, laughter, family, God's fingerprints every where I look

 

fingerprint friday

Sunshine Comes

do you ever just feel like the rug is coming unraveled?

the bottom is slowly falling out?

I'm not sure if it is the hormonal casserole (Callie Torres, Grey's Anatomy) that I am lately (due to pregnancy), but the last week or so I have felt the anxiety rise and when this happens I tend to see things towards the half empty glass instead of the optimist person I usually am.  I let things get to me that I shouldn't.  How should I take that comment from my friend?  I wonder why no one has texted me today?  I'm sure no one appreciates the things I do. Wonder what would happen if I stopped doing the laundry?  and the list goes on....  I can't go to sleep and I want to cry sometimes....yes I know the symptoms.   But then it comes....exactly what you need....maybe not to get you over the disappoint but at least to get you through the day.

"So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9

So, on a Sunday full of sunshine I see a little light that will last through Monday, maybe even longer. 

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

 ^{February the month of love.  We started a new study in Sunday School yesterday, a study on the outrageous love God has for us.  It amazing to me how often we put restraints on God's love, like oh God wouldn't that.  So, I began I posed the question whats the craziest thing you ever did for love?  This makes me laugh, I have done some crazy things for love - stayed up all night knowing I have work the next day,  driven many miles for only a few hours together, this list could go on for a while.  And then we read our first verses.....}

^{Hosea 1}

  ² When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD.” ³ So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 

 and they looked at me the teacher and I looked at them and said "Yes, God said "Hosea go marry a whore."  Now, it takes a while to get over this shock.  And we question God and our mind does circles.  Sexual acts, sins, talk in general - there not ok - people in church don't have sex....right. 

  But once you get over that and in to this part - "this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord".  And I studied these verses last week, it wasn't until later in my study that I realized that I was not Hosea the God like prophet, but instead Gomer the promiscuous women.  And you sink lower and lower in your chair, when you realize you have CHEATED on God!  Money, family, work, sleep, food....the list goes on....become more important and you put God to the side.  

But there is more to the story, thankful.  Hosea faces humiliation, embarrassment, loss, pain, and sadness when he has to go and buy his wife back as she has fallen in to slavery.  

Hosea 3: 1  The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”  ² So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. 

Just as we had to be bought by Jesus.......     

(And we think the Bible is out of touch with today's society.   As I told my class, God knows how much we like drama.)

linking up with some great ladies:

Sprite and Sweet-tarts

I know I need to blog more, I need to pray more, I need to read my bible more, I need to spend more time with my husband, I need to do more laundry, I need to visit more people......the list goes on.

But all I can think about is the life inside me. I felt so pregnant today: hunger, tired, irritable, tender breasts, itchy belly, lots of trips to the bathroom just to pee a little bit. I can't get enough to drink and enough fruity things - today Sweet-Tarts. One of my students last week posed the following question "I didn't know you could harbor a child and be a teacher?" So, the joke of the hallway now is that I'm harboring a child, I'm here to tell you this ship is enjoying the trip.  Pregnancy is such an experience, you can't help but feel God at work.

A blessing at the end of the week:

Owen received the CITIZEN of the Month award for his class! So proud :)

What A Friend

What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

 This week started with a phone call early on a Monday morning about two ladies that are very near and dear to my heart.  One had fallen and was in the hospital needing shoulder surgery and one was not expected to live through the day.  It has been filled with heartaches since, depressing/heartbreaking news about students, the passing of my dear friend.

But it has not all been bad news.  I am attending a new bible study at a different church lead by a friend and teacher I work with.  Owen constantly keeping me on my toes.  Yesterday, he came in with dirty, dirty hands and wanted to play the Wii.  I said not till you wash your hands.  He goes and washes his hands and doesn't dry them.  He comes in the living room and I said you can't play the Wii with wet hands, you can't get the remote wet.  He looked at me with those eyes that let me know he getting ready to enlighten me and says momma you mean its not waterproof.  ugh...it is only going to get worse and he is only five.  I got to see some of my best friends on Monday night at a friends house.  And we got out early yesterday for rain/snow/sleet.  

We just have to remember through the good and the bad to take our needs/thoughts/concerns/thanksgiving/burdens to the Lord in prayer!

school of suffering

Have you ever suffered?  Been through a hard time?  I heard a minister say one time if you aren't going though a storm or just came out of a storm - you better hang on because one is on its way.  No one knew suffering like Jesus.

Isaiah 53:3-5

3 He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.

Like one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he took up our infirmities

and carried our sorrows,

yet we considered him stricken by God,

smitten by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,

and by his wounds we are healed.

A lot of times it feels like we are going to the school of suffering.  We have acquired many degrees - loss, pain, sorrow, emptiness, anger, disappointment...and the list goes on.  Sometimes it seems that once we are finally ready to graduate from the school of suffering, we are sent back for another degree.  

We must remember, even through our suffering, that God is Always GOOD.  

Psalm 34:8

8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him

And everything he does, he does with you in mind.

James 1:2-4

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

linking up with lovely ladies @

Fingerprints

THE FINGERPRINTS OF GOD

Steven Curtis Chapman

I can see the tears filling your eyes
And I know where they're coming from
They're coming from a heart that's broken in two
By what you don't see
The person in the mirror
Doesn't look like a magazine
Oh but when I look at you
It's clear to me

Truth:  Pregnancy makes you cry a lot.  I cry going down the road, in the shower, at church, watching tv...just any good reason to cry.  Not because things are so bad so much, but because things are so good.

That I can see the fingerprints of God
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of God
And I know it's true
You're a masterpiece that all creation
Quietly applauds
And you're covered with

The fingerprints of God

I am twelve weeks now and I read today that the baby now has fingerprints.  FINGERPRINTS!! Amazing!  The uniqueness God has in plan for this little person already in place.  His hand at work.

Never has there been and never again
Will there be another you
Fashioned by God's hand and perfectly planned
To be just who you are
And what He's been creating
Since the first beat of your heart
Is a living, breathing
Priceless work of art

We could all stand to hear these words at least once a day.  We should tell our children. And praise the Lord that you are the only you there will every be.  I often wonder what the baby will look like, if its a Girl or a Boy.  If she/he will look like me or Matthew?  What will she/he like and not like?

And I can see the fingerprints of God
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of God
And I know it's true
You're a masterpiece that all creation
Quietly applauds
And you're covered with
The fingerprints of God

Just look at you
You're a wonder in the making
And God's not through
In fact, He's just getting started! 

Whether 12 weeks old in the tummy, 27 years old, 51 years old, or 79 years old....God is still working us....but we can see His fingerprints every where we go, in everything we do, in every mirror that catches our eye.  We are covered in the fingerprints of God.

;