Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Just Us

We took a group picture the other night at church with all the kids. There were 12 children and one adult in the picture. As we were snapping the pix, my dear friend noticed that they were ALL our kids-hers and mine. A couple of hers were missing too. I remember a few years ago when we had a visitor for Vacation Bible School at our church...There were a handful of us pregnant at the same time....He asked if that was the pastor's church growth plan. The answer was, "Yes, it is slow, but effective." How true. Those just happened to be the kiddos at this assembly. We have more than that attend our church. It was quite a "Kodak" moment.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

I was so proud


We went for a walk the other day. I even remembered to bring the camera. Our oldest girl patiently helped her two sisters ride her big girl bike home. Here is the picture I snapped of the three girls while they were unsuspecting. Sometimes when they are bickering and fighting I despair, but at times like these I know that they are on the road to true friendship.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Nothin' Like It

I am sure that there is nothing like getting a welcome phone call with good news, no-GREAT NEWS! I am sure we have all experienced those late night phone calls that bring a big sinking feeling to our stomaches. We are glad that we can be the ones folks can count on to call us when in need at those hours... On the other hand it is so much better to get a call announcing something wonderful. To be a person that some one will share their joy with. I got one of those phone calls this morning and I feel so good, great, wonderful. I am sure nothing in comparison to my dear friend that called. I think she feels pretty euphoric!

This dear, sweet friend has been through some heart-rending things. She was due 9 days ago. Yes, I know that feeling. It is no fun. I felt for her. I had been praying for her. I pray for her and her family every day. Last night, though, I was genuinely worried about her and her baby. Maybe it was the Holy Spirit. My sweet, sweet oldest daughter prayed, we prayed as a family and I prayed every time I got up last night. I wondered why my kids all seemed to have problems. I was up several times dealing with nightmares, potty accidents....I prayed every time. I get up earlier than the kids so I can have some time with the Lord in the mornings. I prayed...

Then this morning as I was fixing breakfast I got the wonderful call! That precious BIG baby finally arrived this morning. Everyone is doing well. I am excited. Excited that my friend has a beautiful (I haven't seen him yet, but I know he is) healthy baby. Excited that she is on the other side of labor and doing well. Excited that my children and I got to see God's immediate answer to prayer. Excited that getting up with my children not only spoke to them about God's love for them and His comfort, but was a fruitful time of prayer. I usually can be grumbley (is that a word?) after too many ups in the middle of the night. I am learning to pray when ever I have the opportunity.

What a wonderful, exciting way to start the day. Now I get to call some folks and pass on the blessing:)

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Waiting

Patience has never been one of my strong points. I am being constantly amazed, though, at the wisdom of God. I am getting older. It is apparent in the hair on my head and the state of my waistline. I am learning to be less anxious and I think that is a telling sign of age as well. I remember waiting FOREVER for so many things. Now those things have passed and they seem to be FOREVER ago.

Our pastor seems to be stuck in the idea of "all we have is today." It is a good way to live, a good place to be stuck. The Bible tells us that we should be taught to number our days. I am learning more that all I have is now. Do I really want to waste in on busyness with no purpose (yes, that is busy-ness, not business:) ? The idea is not, live life to the hilt fore tomorrow we die. It is to appreciate every season, every moment God has us in. I only have this moment to savor. Everything changes. Yet when we stop and savor we hear the echoes of the future. The future when we will hear the whole compostion instead of just catching strains of it throught the veil.

Monday, March 09, 2009

Dedicated

This song is really wonderful. I want to dedicate it this morning to my husband first of all. I know you love this part of the movie. Stay fighting the good fight, you are doing it. Remember when you fall off the horse get back on!

It is also for my lovely sisters that are waiting in the Lord through some tough stuff. For Bucca and for Sharon. Remember that you are loved and prayed for constantly.

Monday, March 02, 2009

The Bigness of God


I used to wonder about the Bible telling us to magnify God. It seemed strange to be told to magnify something that is huge. I listened to John Piper on this subject and he shed some light on it. We are not to magnify God as in a microscope looking at something small. The concept is like a telescope magnifying something in space or in essence bringing something huge and seemingly distant close. Many seem to think that God is distant and out there somewhere. Not accessible. The Bible is clear that God is all around us, just outside the physical.

God uses the created realm to whisper the truths of the spiritual. Many have worshiped the sun as a god. It is not a god, yet its existance points to the real God. God may appear to be small and distant. The truth about the sun is that it is perfectly positioned for life on this planet. The sun is huge. Something like a million earths could fit inside of the sun. The heat from the sun would incinerate us if we got too close. The same way God is huge. His holiness would leave our sinful selves writhing in agony if we got too close.

He has positioned himself close enough to us in the physical for us to draw comfort from Him. Like a cat curling up in the warm comfort of a sunbeam we can seek His comforting warmth. He gives us life and sustains us exactly as we need. He hands us a telescope of prayer. So often I use the telescope to examine my tiny little problems. They seem huge and overwhelming. The telescope is meant to magnify God. When I focus on Him and see how huge He is my problems seems very small. The thing I am learning is to recognize the sunbeams and to warm myself in them. I am learning to trust. There may be droughts and crop failures, but the sun has never failed to rise. How much more so the Creator that made such things to point to Him?

This concept is something that I need to practice. It is, by nature, foreign to me. I am a first-born people pleaser with a tendency towards perfectionism. Not only that I am a born sinner. God, however, is bigger than those odds. It is probably why he had me get married and have seven children. They are doing much to peal away those things that are truly not worth wasting my time on. I am reminded that as my husband and I age, we have to savor the time together as it is getting shorter. My children are enthralled with sunbeams and other miracles of creation that I take for granted. My husband and children in and of themselves are miracles. God is at work. We just need to look.