Thursday, April 30, 2009

He's Alive

This is dedicated to the Ole Daddy Rabbit. Love you!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A Tidbit for Bucca

I learned a new word today. I love new words! I know Bucca likes new words too so here it is....

Cerebration: (noun) brain action, conscious or unconscious; cerebrating; thinking.

Preparing for......

SUN!!!!!!



Many are familiar with the story told in Facing the Giants about preparing for rain. Here in the Pacific Northwest we are always prepared for rain. The sunshine is iffy. So here we are....

We have a work party we have planned at my mom's house. Hosting it and providing the food is our gift to her for her birthday that was in April (back when it was still SNOWING regularly). The weekend looked promising with the weather. Now we have put out the invitation, folks are planning on helping, plants are purchased and food is planned. The weather is predicting sunny for Friday and partly cloudy for Saturday. We are praying for sun. My faith is kind of shakey at this point. I find myself in that situation again of thinking that God wanted me to do something and now I hear the question: Did God REALLY say?....And my answer is I DON'T KNOW!

On another front I am looking at the reality of camping with our family this summer. Due to past issues (read bad attitudes on the part of many) I am seriously torn. I remember camping as a child. It was one of those rare and happy memories for me. I also remember the "camp conditions" of my mission teams and the happy comraderie that those times forged in us. I know there have been many changes for the good in everyone in our house. There are just some fronts that I am not willing to give up on. And I just don't know if those are hills to die on or my sinful selfishness taking over and they need need to die....I JUST DON'T KNOW. We need to get some more things for camping. We have some basics, but we need some more decent sleeping bags and cots/mattresses/soft things for kiddos to sleep in. We have one air mattress and 4 real sleeping bags. That is real as compared to the $14.00 ones we purchased a few years ago not at CABELA'S. The supposed down is now in horrible clumps in non-warming areas of the bag. They make great tents in the living room though. We do have friends that are "serious as a heart-attack" to help us get going camping since our kids absolutely love it.

I am trying to prepare for the sun. I just don't WANNA. So if you WANNA...be praying for sun.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

A Deliberate Family


I was reading an article written by a very gracious lady. She talked about becoming a "deliberate family." That struck my husband and me. The dictionary defines deliberate in three ways; Planned or intended, careful and slow, or (as a verb) to consider something carefully. In this day and age family is under attack more and more.

I don't think it matters if you come from a "traditional," home or a "fractured" one, or some where in between. We all feel the tug to be selfish. We are reminded daily, in our culture, that it is all about YOU. The wise pastor that did our premarital counseling said that he believed 95% of divorce and marital problems stemmed from selfishness. (You might ask what the 5% was...good question...I don't remember.) He also said that if marriage didn't bring your selfishness to the surface, children would! How true!

Gary Ezzo said, "In our home, family ties were never optional for our children. They were a mandate based on God's genius...Each member knows the team is counting on all the others to stay committed to the code of ethics that represents the family."

It is amazing how much a family is like a military unit. The hard part is changing our mind set from civilian to military thinking. Do you remember that children's song? I may never march in the infantry, ride in the calvary, shoot the artillery. I may never fly over the enemy, but I'm in the Lord's army-yes, SIR! There is some great doctrine in some of those oldies (Jesus Loves Me is another example).

The captain of the Heath family is deliberately leading us to be a deliberate family. The funny thing is...I don't really remember what it was like to be a civilian.

May God bless us with wisdom to be a deliberate family. It makes me question; Where am I being selfish? How am I not deliberately following where the Lord would have me go? Unfortunately, the answers are very obvious. Maybe it is a blessing that they are obvious. It means He is working. What is God asking you to deliberate on doing deliberately?

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Some Men Are Their Jobs


My husband has many interests from theology to mountains, but may we never forget that he works at a STUD mill! We are thankful that he does still have a job. I am thankful to be married to this wonderful man. We have much to be thankful for.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

A Few LIttle Tidbits


-It was finally warm enough for some water sporting at our house. The second son washed Oma's car and the girls found a hole in the hose. They all put on their bathing suits and danced and ran through the water, even the smallest fry. Here is a picture of our bathing beauties.
-Number 2 son has decided to study Greek. He has me making worksheets for him and he has been wandering around singing the Greek alphabet song. He is a funny duck, but very fun.
-Our pastor was making a point Sunday. The point was being sold out completely to God and not "trying God" like He was some kind of a shoe to try on. The pastor remarked that he was going to get arrested at Walmart one day because he had a razor blade and he was going to take those "Try God" bumper stickers off of folks' cars. He said he would leave all the other stickers there. Now most of us knew he was not serious, but our oldest boy obviously didn't. He offered to go with him when he did it. Now I am not too sure if we should be proud that our son is on board enough to back his pastor's play or if we have some talking to be doing:)
We Heaths may be strange, but we have never been accused of being boring.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Random

Here is just a random post. Short, sweet and to the point. The sun is shining, my house is relatively clean and we are actively working together. So there it is. Praise God for today for it is a new day full of promise with no mistakes in it.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Maundy Thursday

My children used to wonder what Monday/Thursday was...
So we did some research...
It comes from the Latin word "Mandatem." We get our English word mandate from it. The term was coined in the early church to refer to the last supper when the Lord modeled communion for us. He gave us an old/new thing to observe. A new mandate, if you will. It was old in that it was from the traditional Passover meal that he drew from to institute communion. It was new because it represents the new covenant in His blood and body.
Our church celebrates communion every Sunday after not celebrating it at all for so long. There was a fear that familiarity might breed contempt or apathy. There is always that factor to consider when we do something often. It has become such a vital part of our church. I saw that the one Sunday our pastor took a much needed rest. We didn't have communion prepared. It was so vital to those there that we all jumped into getting done.
As I raced home to mix up some communion bread I was overwhelmed with the thought of Passover. That is why the Israelites didn't use leaven! It took me 30 minutes from racing home, mixing ingredients and a finished product. If it was "normal" bread it is a 1 and 1/2 to 2 hour process. They were to get ready. They were to eat and go. They were not to leave anything, even burning the leftover meat. They were to use the blood to paint their doorposts so the Angel of Death would PASS OVER them.
Now every communion preperation is not that dramatic. I see the symbolism in marriage though. We are intimate with our spouse on a regular basis. If we aren't we need to address the reasons why. It usually means something is wrong or there are bitter feelings on one or both sides. The same way-we have communion-it is an intimacy with our Bridegroom as well as an intimacy enjoyed with other members of the Bride.
We are coming up on a BIG celebration: RESURRECTION SUNDAY. This Easter we will go to church and enjoy communion as well as a potluck put on by the menfolk (they even have a theme-I am afraid, very afraid:). Just like in our married life we often times make a big deal out of our anniversaries. Just like in our married life we consummate our marriage again. Let us have these temporal things point towards heaven as we taste again the bittersweet beauty of our Lord's death and resurrection on Sunday. We should celebrate it every day, every moment, and every time we get a chance to celebrate our love. It is extra special this Sunday as we remember what Christ did for us. We also may celebrate that this is just the beginning. One day we will feast forever. This is just a foretaste. Let us enjoy every moment of it. I, for one, am looking forward to Sunday with eager anticipation.