What a blessing!

Yesterday afternoon the phone rang. What joy when I heard the thick Russian accent of our dear friend Igor on the other end of the line. Igor and his wife Olga are Russian missionaries. Igor pastors a church there and they both minister to many orphanages in their home country. They are missionaries through ICM (Intensive Care Ministries) whose purpose is to train up third world pastors to be able to teach inductive and expository Bible studies.

We met them through our church quite a few years ago now. There was just an instant connection between us. We truly love hanging out together. When they arrived at the door, kids ran from all different parts of our house to give them a big hug. What a blessing it is that my children have the opportunity to have friends to speak with who live in another country. What an added bonus that these precious friends of ours have made the choice to spread the gospel around the world and for a brief moment can share their lives with us.

I made the kids take a picture, they were in different stages of putting on their pj's. My older kids asked me to make this disclaimer.

We're Back!

Our promised land experience was quite the trip. We spied out the land and were thrilled to find a great school campus. We were impressed with the students and left inspired by the faculty. The only giant we found was in the form of the tuition amount at the financial planning meeting. Thankfully, the Lord had already encouraged us during our devotion time that morning.

Meg seemed to love it there. Though the proof will be in the pudding. If she takes it upon herself to seek out scholarships and commit herself to some form of community service in the future, we will know that her actions will match her desire to attend there.

It was hard for my husband and I to be around the students and not be caught up in the God driven possibility of their futures. Their joy and love of the Lord was contagious. It was so hard for me to not wish I was their age again, to live my life knowing what and who I know now.

You haven't lived until you have worshipped in a gymnasium of 1,000 young adults.

It brought me to tears.

Spying out the Promised Land?

I think I have a better understanding as to how Joshua and Caleb felt in the early hours of their mission to spy out the promised land.


I am just praying that the giants in the land don't scare us off.

I don't think it is just a fluke or even a coincidence, that both my husband and I have been reading about the promised land in our morning devotions lately. You see, we are leaving this morning with our oldest daughter Meghan, to drive six hours to a private Christian college that is impossible for us to afford right now. Since she is a junior in high school, she will be applying to colleges in the Fall. We need to spy out the land.

We promised our oldest daughter from a very young age that we would send her to whatever college she wanted to go to when she grew up. All she had to do was work hard in school and get good grades, we would do the rest. I have no idea why we would say something like this. My own husband attended junior college his first two years of his education. I was raised by parents who said that if we wanted to go to college, we would find a way to go ourselves. Why would we tell her she could go anywhere?!?

What in the world were we thinking?

Meghan made good on her end of the bargain...now it seems financially that we cannot.

So after much discussion and even more prayer, my husband and I have decided to take a trip that we pray will not only boost our faith, but teach Meghan something about our Lord. She knows that we are taking a "Promised land trip". She is about to find out that if it is truly His will for her, if this is truly something that the Lord has put on her heart, then He will make it happen.

For nothing (NO-THING) is impossible with God. Luke 1:37

A Question from a Son to His Father...

While cuddling with his father, our six year old son Samuel had a pressing question come to mind.

Samuel: Dad, if you could only pick one son and had to choose between me and God, who would you pick?

Dad: Why that's an easy one Samuel.

Samuel: It is? Who would you pick Dad?

Dad: I would pick you son.

Samuel: You would?!? You'd pick me over God?

Dad: Of course I would. It wouldn't be any fun having God as a son. He already knows everything. I couldn't teach him to throw a ball or teach him how to play baseball like I get to teach you. I would definitely pick you Samuel.

Samuel: (Toothless grin from ear to ear)

"A virtuous women, who can find?" Right below in this video!

After posting about my Proverbs 31 book this Tuesday. I thought it the perfect follow up, to show you a virtuous woman in action. This precious 92yr old woman's worth is far above rubies!

Blessed...Books-Tuesday

Have you ever read a book that stays with you forever? I know, I know, the Bible is that kind of book for you. But I am talking about a book written by earthly hands and heart? "Beautiful in God's Eyes" by Elizabeth George is that book for me. So encouraging was this book for me, that I created my email address to be Proverbs31wife@comcast.net. Now, this is not to proclaim to the world that I have achieved this goal. On the contrary, it is to remind me daily of what I aspire to be. Because to be quite honest with you all, some days I am only a Proverbs 4 1/2 wife!

This beautiful book goes through Proverbs 31, verses ten through thirty-one. Explaining and defining the virtuous woman that we all long to be. I have met many women in my walk with the Lord who are intimidated by Proverbs 31. I can see them tense up when a teaching is going to be covered on these scriptures. I have never felt that way. Don't get me wrong, I do find it challenging, but I LOVE a good challenge. And obviously the Lord does too, if He has laid out this plan for godly womanhood.





Whether you are one of the women who stays away from Proverbs 31, or you are one that digs in with a voracious appetite. You will be blessed by this book, and most especially, so will your family.

He is risen!

"He is not here, for He has risen..." Matthew 28:6

The summer of 1998 was life changing for me. It was in August of this year that I gave my heart, and my life to my wonderful savior Jesus Christ. I grew up thinking that relatives who spoke of Jesus, who read their Bible faithfully, who encouraged me to attend church and seek God were the strangest people I knew. My body would immediately bristle when my father would give me a cassette tape of a Bible teaching or give me a scripture to read, or when he would tell me yet again another cool thing he had learned about Jesus.

I try very hard to live my life without regrets, but not seeking the truth about God earlier is one that I will have to live with. Thankfully He restores what the locusts have eaten.

On this glorious day I rejoice with all of you. Jesus is not dead. He is alive.

And because of this miraculous day, so am I.

GOOD FRIDAY

Good Friday is a day that I can never truly explain with words. The deepest parts of my soul feel something on this day. Since I was a little girl this day is one that my spirit is stirred within me. This day where we remember the culmination of good and evil of death and life.

Since I simply cannot convey with words my heart, I thought I would share a video that can.

Happy Birthday To The Love of My Life

If you had told me in 1995 that I would meet a man who would love me for me, a man who would make me laugh through the heartaches of life, a man who would stand by my side through the loss of our baby, the loss of my mother, the loss of his job...

If you had told me in 1995 that this man not only would care for me, but would go to school and work so I could be a stay at home mom, would adopt my two babies as his own and even with the education of a masters degree, would throw newspapers in the dark of night to keep a roof over my head...I probably would have never believed you.

This Friday is my husband Paul's birthday. I am so grateful to God for blessing me with this amazing man. God has given me the opportunity to be his helpmate, to be his confidant, to be his prayer partner and best friend. I am grateful to Paul's parents for raising up such a good man, a man of godly character and humble nature.

On your birthday Paul, you are the skip in my step and the twinkle in my eye. After ten years of marriage, I still look forward to cuddling with you on the couch, sharing a bowl of ice cream with you, or just holding your hand while we take a drive.

You are the love of my life cutie....Happy Birthday.

Now hurry up and bring the ice cream, I'm waiting for you on the couch!

Absolutely Incredible Kids!

Apparently "Absolutely Incredible Kids Day!" was yesterday. My friend Mari of "My Little Corner of the World" has created a link back to her place just for this purpose. I encourage you to play along. It's not too late!

Many of you gals who are already on board, well, I must say, after seeing a few of your kids, you have some real cutie pie's out there.

Here are four kids that I think are pretty incredible, if I do say so myself! No doubt the most amazing, wonderful, loving and precious kids on the planet...

(Ahem, my kids do read my blog from time to time!)

Blessed Books - Tuesday

My friend Dana recently attended a women's conference featuring author and speaker Kay Marshall Strom. Knowing my calling to write, Dana purchased a book for me and had it signed by Mrs. Strom. Dana blessed me with it only a couple of days ago and already I am at its last few pages. This book was simply amazing. I could not put it down.



"Daughters of Hope" was written by authors Kay Strom and Michelle Rickett. This is a collection of the stories of women who in the face of persecution, have been a witness for their faith. These authors have traveled the world to share with us the stories of Christian women in the persecuted church. Which I must add is pretty much every country outside of the western world. It was brought to my mind each time I opened this book, to pray for those being persecuted today, right now, even as I type these words.

Though we may not be able to take action in Indonesia, Pakistan, Iraq or China, our actions can be turned to prayer. The greatest defense and offense of all.

You do not walk away from reading this book feeling defeated. On the contrary, this book inspires you. What a great reminder that no matter how many are tortured or killed at the hands of their captors, Christianity still continues to grow. What a great reminder that our God is the one and only true and living God.

Our God can multiply by division!

Resurrection Eggs

The project in my Sunday school class today was to make resurrection eggs. For those of you who are not familiar, resurrection eggs are plastic eggs that each hold a small symbol of the story of Easter. We bought ours through "Focus on the Family" a few years back.


The kids took something from each of the bowls below and placed them in each egg.


Here is what we had for each egg...

1) Three silver coins (nickels) to represent the betrayal of Jesus by Judas.

2) A piece of rope (twine) to represent the arrest of Jesus.

3) A feather to represent Peter's denial of Christ three times.

4) Leather whip to represent the beating of Jesus.

5) A thorn (taken from my rose bush) to represent the crown of thorns Jesus wore.

6) Three nails to represent the nails in His hands and feet.

7) A tiny spear (food skewer dipped in red food coloring) to represent the soldier who put the spear in Jesus' side.

8) Torn purple satin material to represent the veil of the temple torn in half.

9) Strip of muslin to represent Jesus' burial clothes.

10) Cinnamon to represent the women who prepared Jesus' body with spices.

11) A rock to represent the rock that sealed His tomb.

12) The last egg you leave empty to represent the empty tomb!





Inside each egg carton we taped the printed out scripture references for each egg. This way the chidlren could find it in their Bibles when sharing the story with their families.

My prayer is that this will start a tradition in their own families or at least place a special memory in their hearts of just how special Jesus really is.

Horton Hears A Who

Do you have any plans for the weekend? If you don't, take my suggestion and bring the kids to see 'Horton Hears A Who'. What a great family movie! Our youngest two are out of school this week, so Paul and I surprised them by taking them this morning to the matinee.

We are giving it eight thumbs up!

Forgive me for reaching a bit, but I couldn't help but think that it had a wonderful pro-life message for everyone.

"A person's a person, no matter how small."

...and yes, I cried.

Blessed...

When our children are leaving us to spend time with friends or family, after reminding them to behave, we always whisper to them, "Remember who you are and whose you are."

When you have given your heart and life to God, you are one of His children. With that comes not only a new life and new found responsibilities, but an abundance of promises He has made to each one of us. We are His beloved, His blessed ones.

My blog title, 'Blessed...' is inspired by exactly that. His promise of divine favor in our lives. Mercy, grace, joy, peace, love, forgiveness...the list is long and one that cannot be exhuasted no matter what the situation we face each day.

Today my heart is to remind the body of Christ that although we do suffer through trials, no matter what comes our way, we must remember who we are and whose we are.

I am a child of God, the thought out creation of the one true and living God. Blue blood runs through my veins.

I am the daughter of a King.

Blessed Books - Tuesday

'Believing God' by women's Bible study teacher and author Beth Moore is about exactly what the title proclaims...believing God. My girlfriend Celia had gone through the Bible study and read the book quite a few years ago. She loved this book so much that she bought it for me. I loved it too. My husband also has read this book and we are now doing the Bible study together...again another gift to us from my dear friend Celia.



The word believe is a verb, an action. Is your life bearing the fruit of a true believer? Are you just talking the talk? When you truly believe God for who He says He is, who He says you are, you won't just be talking the talk anymore, you will be walking the walk as well.

"When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth..." Matt. 27:59

For our Sunday school activity this morning, after reading chapters 27 and 28 in the gospel of Matthew, I brought in a large piece of linen cloth. I told the children, that while they listened to the story of Jesus' death and resurrection, they were to pick out some things that touched their hearts. The piece of cloth would represent the shroud that Jesus was buried in. Those things that spoke to their hearts, would be what they would write or color on the Lord's burial cloth.





The children used felt tip pens and even some fabric pens that I had brought in from home.



In the picture below you will see that they worked very hard. Some children wrote the words 'Jesus Lives', other children drew pictures of the stone being rolled away and the angel of the Lord sitting on top. One young lady drew a picture of the women coming to the tomb with the spices, while another young man drew a picture of the three crosses on Gilgal and still another drew hearts to express the love of Jesus towards us. I was so impressed by each one of my kids.



I told my Sunday school class that I was so proud of their beautiful work, that I would post it on my blog for all to see.



Thomas Kincade better just watch out!

Friends

Friend: 1.One who is attached to another by affection; one who entertains for another sentiments of esteem, respect and affection which lead him to desire his company, and to seek to promote his happiness and prosperity.

This picture was taken last Fall when five of us moms took our teenage daughters to the Revolve Tour. This is in the hotel room, after the sugar high had set in.


My hearts desire with this post is to share a bit about friends. Not the precious ones you see with me above, but 'blog friends'....

I found it a 'God-incidence' that the scripture on my sidebar tonight, while I was adding all of my blog buddies to my redecorated site was "Iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." Proverbs 27:17

This scripture means exactly what it says. The influence of a godly friend can improve your life for the better. My Walvoord and Zuck commentary explains the scripture above this way, "When iron is rubbed against another piece of iron it shapes and sharpens it. Similarly people can help each other improve by their discussions, criticisms, suggestions, and ideas."

I just love that!

What a wonderful definition of what you blog gals do for me. My blog originally started out as an exercise just to work on my writing. A daily writers' sit-up if you will. What I discovered instead was an example.. yet again, of our Father's exceeding and abundant blessing on my life.

In my un-blog world, I have so many dear friends and even one bestest girlfriend. I never knew how your lives would touch mine. I wish I had enough time to post about how special each one of you have been. (Gotta wrap this up, hubby has already hit the sack!)

Instead, I am just going to point everyone who comes to my blog this weekend to take a peek at the column to the right of this post, titled 'Blessed Blogs'. There they will find a beautiful myriad of godly women who desire not only to draw near to Jesus, but to encourage one another to be the sharpest piece of iron in their friends' lives and their savior's hands.

I am so Blessed...

How to get your kids to eat their veggies...

Our two oldest kids eat veggies all the time. Our two youngest, not-a-so-much. I am not sure whether I just became less pushy with our younger children, or became more tired. So now I try and trick my little angels into eating their veggies. I put grated carrots into meatloaf to disguise their presence and have also served them raw with dip. Instead of going to the fuss of making a salad, often I will cut up raw veggies and serve them with Ranch dressing. Today I felt like making my favorite homemade 'Bleu Cheese Dressing' recipe.




I still remember where I was almost twenty years ago when I tasted it for the first time. It was a baby shower for one of my friends and I just had to get the recipe from her grandmother. She was eager to share..thankfully! So I have included it below for all of you. I made it in a low-fat kind of way, but if you can afford all the fat and calories (I can't), then make it that way. Delicious!



These are the ingredients I used in the picture below.



Joanne's Famous Bleu Cheese Dressing/Dip

2 Cups Mayo (I used reduced fat)
16oz Sour Cream (I used fat free)
2 Cloves Garlic
1Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1/4 Cup Red Wine Vinegar (we didn't have any so I used white wine vinegar)
8oz Bleu Cheese

Mix well. The longer it sits in the fridge, the better!




Bon Apetit!

My precious little pack rat.

I was recently at 'A Mom's Life' and Beth the hostess of that blog was asking her readers for some advice about children and chores. I left a lengthy post giving wonderful advice, expounding on my soap box of perfect mothering do's and don'ts, sharing things that have worked for us in our home.

With that comment forever stamped in the blogosphere, I remembered a picture I had taken of my daughter's mess in her bedroom.

Open mouth, insert foot.

Always wanting to be transparent, I have to share a bit of a reality check.

My daughter Grace recently had a sleepover with her adorable friend Abigail. Before they could get all tucked into her bed like a bug in a rug....

........this was just some of the contraband that I removed from her top bunk first.




It never ends Beth...it never ends!

My blog facelift unveiled!

Welcome to my new home away from home! My remodel is finally complete. It is still going to take a few days to put back up a few pictures and decorations on these freshly painted walls around here...but it is finished. Praise God!


Thank you so much Elisa for being so patient with my schizophrenia. It is still strange to open up my blog and have such beautiful colors staring back at me. I was so used to my sterile white environment.

If any of you out there are looking for not only creative design ideas, but also a woman with the sweet patience of Job....you need to send a quick email to Elisa today!

Wordless Wednesday

'Blessed' Books - Tuesday

For those of you wordsmiths out there, (you know who you are)... you are the gals who enjoy playing Scrabble, Upwords or just looking up the definitions of words while working on your Bible studies.

Have I got the book for you!



Being in the same 'word' camp as many of you ladies, I am always curious about what the true meaning of words are. I have found that especially while studying God's word, I am blown away by what some of the simplest words mean. Often words that I thought I knew already, after looking up their meanings, have so surprised me. It has enriched my women's studies and while teaching Bible studies to women, I have used it as a wonderful tool to convey just what God may be trying to show us through the words He has placed in the scriptures.

The American Dictionary of the English language is based upon God's written word, for Noah Webster used the Bible as the foundation for his definitions. This is what separates this dictionary from any other dictionary in existence today. Webster's dictionary, the uncut version, at 1800 pages, uses scripture reference quite regularly.

What a wonderful blessing it is to look up a word and not only receive an in-depth definition but to receive also the scripture reference and where you can go to find this word in the Bible.