The Tree

Today, the day before Thanksgiving we went on the hunt for the perfect Christmas tree.  We went with our dear friends, Michael and Marty Short and their children to the family farm. 

The kids got a ride up the hill.

MOO!  They were not happy that we made them move out of the way.

An old dried up spring.

Our motley crew.

 

A very cool tree we found.  It is a thorn tree. 

Before decorations

 I am now sitting here looking at our cedar tree (before decorations) that we found this morning. It's kinda thin, a bit straggly in places and definitely not a prefect full tree you can buy at many Christmas tree lots. It reminds me of how I was before I found Christ. A bit of a mess, straggly and definitely not perfect! In a while we will decorate it, add lights and this straggly tree will become beautiful and perfect to us. You see that is what God does with us. He takes our messes, our straggly lives and transforms them into what He wants for us when we yield to His plans and trust in His guidance. Am I perfect...far from it, but I am fully of joy, I have hope and I am blessed beyond measure. It may not make sense to the world for I do not base my life or my blessings on material things and ya know what that is ok with me. I know where I place my trust and hope and I pray you, my friends, find that hope if you haven't already.

Our straggly tree has transformed into a beautiful little tree.

Simple Reminder

I hit a wall.  I knew it was coming.  So the last few days I have drastically changed my eating habits.  Tonight I had Chinese..yea I know, "WHAT was I thinking!"  Ha!  I was thinking I want Chinese food.  Got beef and broccoli and did not eat all the rice.   I will be back to the grind tomorrow and through the week till Thanksgiving.  Giving myself that day to just enjoy what the Lord has blessed us with...with in reason naturally!  It's just our family so I only make what we like...turkey, broccoli, green beans, mash taters and my husband wants stuffing.  Oh and don't forget the cranberry sauce.  For dessert, pumpkin pie and apple pie.  I will not be eating the carbs but will save a place for a piece of pie.
 Anyway with our dinner naturally we get the fortune cookie. This is what mine said...

   I think this is appropriate!  What do you think!  God sure does have a funny way of reminding us to stay focused!  Never give up!  Never give in!

Stagnant Pools

A week ago I was sharing with a friend that sometimes people get stuck in stagnant pools and forget that all they have to do is walk into the river to be refreshed. Well that has stuck with me and I haven’t been able to shake it. So I have been doing some research on stagnant pools and stagnant water.
Water stagnation occurs when water stops flowing or is trapped in an area where nothing can move. Stagnant water can be a major environmental hazard, generally it breeds bacteria and gets a foul smell. I am quite sure many people have experienced the nasty smell of stagnate water. In some cases its enough to make a person lose their lunch so to speak.
So what does this have to do with our walk with God. A LOT! First and foremost scripture tells us repeatedly that He is ALIVE! Jesus even calls himself the living bread, living water (John 4:14). God is a living moving God. He NEVER changes but is always moving. He doesn’t want us to get stale. He doesn’t want us to dry up or become stagnate. When we get stuck in a rut so to speak we because like a pool of stagnant water. We begin to stink, our attitudes stink, our thoughts stinks and we begin to believe the lies satan feeds us, such as you too old to be used by God, you’re not a preacher, you’re not smart enough or rich enough or talented enough. God can and will use any person that is willing to be used!

God is a living moving being. Jesus tell us in John 7:38 - “Have faith in Me, and you will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you, just as the Scriptures say.”

Life-giving water flowing…no where in these words does it say dryness or stagnant water. Jesus says having faith in Him gives us life giving water flowing deep inside us. Often times we forget who it is that give us the abilities to do what He has call us to do for Him. If we hold fast to this promise then all we set our hands to will have life as long as it’s for His glory and not our own.
Why not jump in the river! A flowing living river and we start by confessing our sins and our faith in Him to forgive us. Are you stuck in a stagnant pool…come to the river and wash your self in God’s love and forgiveness. Letting go of all the yuck and stink that has caused you to be sick spiritually. Maybe you already have a relationship with Him but are still stuck. Sometimes the stagnation in our lives is caused from stinking thinking. Throw down those thoughts of unworthiness and grab hold of the promises of God’s word. He can and will use you if you are truly willing to be used by him. Sometimes that means throwing down our pride and sometimes that means throwing down our own wants and desires and relying on His plan and not our own.
Get in the river and let Him use you!!

Celebrations (#3 in series)

Every day we went fishing I witnessed my kids celebrate every fish caught, whether they caught it or someone else did. There would be yelling, such as :"Yay Jaron, Eli, Sara or Kris, You did it, you caught a fish...that's awesome!" It didn't matter if the fish was 2 inches or 6 inches long, they supported each other. Yes occasionally there were a few times when someone would be mad that they hadn't caught a fish yet but someone would encourage them to keep trying. We saw that a lot when it took Kris a few days before he caught his first fish!
Honestly this was the first time I have seen this happen in our family. You know how kids are, if someone gets something they all want it. The fact that they were all supporting each other and were not demonstrating the constant jealously attitude was great!

Celebration! We need to praise the Lord through all things and in everything give Him praise. The Word of God tells us that if we do not praise Him the rocks will. It also tells us, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord (Ps 150:6)!" In our church on of the oldest members just recently became a grandma again to a precious baby boy. We celebrated with her! What a blessing, God is increasing her family! When friend bought a new house we celebrated with her! When one of the kids in our church worked hard in school and made the honor roll, I watched the other kids celebrate with him! When our power was restored we celebrated...even Kris yelled, " Thank you Jesus!"

We were created for fellowship with Christ, we also were created to praise Him. Praise is an attitude of the heart! Last week we had reason to flip out and get mad, we lost our power which caused us to lose all the food in our fridge and freezer. On Friday our tire was punctured and it had to be replace and then Sean realized that the other back tire needs to be replaced. On Sat. our dryer died and with a large family a dryer is an essential tool that is used daily. On Sunday morning I CHOSE to stand and give God praise no matter what comes our way! We really could have been upset about the food issue but God provided our daily needs and we gave HIM praise for that. Thank you Jesus! Now here's something to shout about...we were just given $125 specifically to cover part of the food that we lost! Isn't God great! Had we chose to blame God for the storm and the ultimate loss of our food we may not have been blessed. We totally believe that it was because of our sacrificial praise that God has supplied.

You see we have to chose to praise Him! Last week was tough and we could have been grumpy and yet because we chose to see God's goodness and praise Him for who He is and what He has done we were blessed. Choosing to praise the Lord even for the small things is a conscious decision. You have to choose to celebrate or be grumpy. In the body of Christ we all need to celebrate with each other's accomplishments, great and small. We all need that support, sometimes it comes from family and friends, other times it comes from the knowledge that Jesus Christ is sitting next to His Father praying for you! We all need to be anchored to something and my hope is YOU are anchored to the cross!

Today I choose to celebrate all that He has given me, great and small! Do You?

Lord I thank you for all things! I give You praise no matter what! I will not let the rocks cry out for me today, I will not let the trials and dissapointments steal my joy. Today Lord I choose to honor You in all I do and it starts with giving You praise for the flowers You have created, for the home You have provided and for the family You have blessed me with! Thank you Lord!

Things I am Thankful For:

*My loving and merciful Lord and Savior, who provides all we need, at all times!

*My loving supportive husband.

*My 4 wonderful kids; Jaron a fantastic big brother who although is just like me in looks and personality (which is great for him but we butt heads a lot) is just one of my little heart beats. Kristofer, my special little kid who struggles through every day events but is a lion full of courage and a kitten who is tender hearted. Eli our youngest son who is super tenderhearted, is a protector of his sister (when they aren’t fighting) and a constant buddy to his brothers who he adores. Sara, my only little princess who is all girl and all tomboy. She is one of the best surprises and blessings!
Last but not least, for my little angel boy, SeanPatrick who would be 11 and is celebrating this thanksgiving at the feet of Jesus with my grandparents, Mamaw and my Uncle Bob.

*For my parents, who help us so much more than I could ever repay, for my brothers and sister and their families.

*For Sean’s Mom and brother’s and sister’s who our kids adore!

*For my friends throughout the US and in other countries such as Dominican Republic, S. Africa, Germany, China, Japan serving our Lord and winning souls for Christ.

*Good heath and healing knees.

*The ability to walk without crutches or a cane.

*A warm house and a running vehicle.

*Our funny kittens- CC (fostering), Sugar and Mr. Jingles, our dog Izzy and our wonderful ferrets- Woody & Uno.

*A wonderful church.

*A beautiful sunny crisp day to take my children to the park while the turkey cooks and Sean sleeps after working all night.

*Thankful that although Sean has to work 32 hours from last night till Sat. he has a job in this economy and is making extra money through overtime while helping a coworker who’s husband is battling leukemia.

*This computer and the ability to talk to friends across the miles through the internet…thank goodness for the internet!

*For Facebook.com of which I have reconnected with old friends from high school and college and can keep in contact with close friends in Florida.

*For Myspace.com of which I am able to keep in contact with cousins, aunts, sibs and friends who are not on Face book (come on gang Facebook is better!)