Matthew 7:1-2 Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. (ESV)
John 8:7-9 And as they continued to ask Him, He stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." And once more He bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before Him. (ESV)
John 15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. (ESV)
Lord, please help me not to judge others. Help me to consider my own actions and stack them against Your Word. Search me, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. Find all the faults in my life and lead me back to You. Give me a discerning heart toward others, but let me see everyone as a creation of You with a soul that will never die. Help me to give the gavel back to You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Inspired by revival resources from Life Action Ministries
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Put Off Lack of Love; Put on Love
1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (ESV)
1 John 4:20 If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. (ESV)
John 15:12 "This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you." (ESV)
Lord, show me areas in my life where I don't love others like I should. Help me to be patient, kind, humble, and prefer others better than myself. Identify ways that I can show love to those who are difficult to love. I realize I can't do this on my own, but only through the love that You have shown to me in Jesus and Him giving his life for me. In Jesus' name, Amen.
1 John 4:20 If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. (ESV)
John 15:12
Lord, show me areas in my life where I don't love others like I should. Help me to be patient, kind, humble, and prefer others better than myself. Identify ways that I can show love to those who are difficult to love. I realize I can't do this on my own, but only through the love that You have shown to me in Jesus and Him giving his life for me. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Happy New Year
I know, it's a little late. My goodness, the Super Bowl has already been played and we're heading into Valentine's Day. I'm curious as to how many resolutions have already been broken. Now that the hype from the "I'm going to do things differently in 2011" has settled, I'm adding a new dimension to my quiet time. I have some friends who are also interested, so I thought maybe this long dormant blog would be a good place. I have some friends who use Facebook, some only e-mail. This would work for both. And of course after I learn how to upload pictures from my MacBook (for some reason it wont), I'm also going through old pictures and archiving them on my hard drive so I hope to sprinkle those on here too. Pray I persevere. It's all about forming new habits.
Anyway, this will come from a publication from Life Action Ministries. We have been blessed to attend two of their revivals while living in Nashville. I put their materials out from time to time when I need a tune up. This is one of those times. It lists a sin that you "put off" and a virtue that you "put on." I'll add the given scriptures and some thoughts of my own.
Anyway, this will come from a publication from Life Action Ministries. We have been blessed to attend two of their revivals while living in Nashville. I put their materials out from time to time when I need a tune up. This is one of those times. It lists a sin that you "put off" and a virtue that you "put on." I'll add the given scriptures and some thoughts of my own.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Fall Fun!
A couple months ago some friends of ours invited us to go to a corn maze with them. So on the chilly morning of October 23 Jessie, Bernice, Nick, Jessica, and "Grandma" Susie show up bright and early. It was a beautiful day to take in the scenery during the hour long ride. Our first stop was Cracker Barrel. There aren't any close by where we live, so that was a real treat. Mom always loved that place. I "had" to eat a pancake for her. By the time we arrived the temperatures were rising and it was the perfect day for outdoors. They had a rope ladder there that Hunter has always wanted to do at Six Flags or a carnival. We never let him do it at $5 a try, but here it was included in his admission price. It took him several tries, but he finally made it. The corn maze was actually lame, but we went through it none the less. The teenagers beat the adults, but not by much. A hayride around the property followed. Probably the most fun was rolling in the pipe. Two would get in and the others would roll them around. It was then time to come home, as Hunter was scheduled to bag groceries at the commissary for a Boy Scout fundraiser.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Back at Last
Well, here it goes . . . after 10 months of silence, I logged back on. There are several reasons I haven't posted in a while. Quite honestly this move was harder on us than I thought it would be. My attitude hasn't always been the best, and I really didn't want to spread around a sour heart. But God's grace continues to be sufficient - actually more than sufficient. He has sustained us through the rough road we have been down. He is continuing to guide us into an unknown future and we trust Him. It would be nearly impossible to completely update you on what all has transpired so far in 2010. I'll do my best to go back and highlight the big things, but no guarantee on how quickly. I hope to focus on the here and now, getting this site up to date when I can.
Today is the 2 year anniversary of Jerri's home going. How happy we are for her, how sad we are for us. Sometimes it doesn't seem like time heals. These last 2 years have been rough on our family with the loss of Jerri, Papa, and recently my Mom. Again, God's grace is sufficient. He has given us Christ-colored glasses to see the big picture, reminding us that we're only here for a short time. We will spend eternity together in the presence of our Lord. Awesome!
Today is the 2 year anniversary of Jerri's home going. How happy we are for her, how sad we are for us. Sometimes it doesn't seem like time heals. These last 2 years have been rough on our family with the loss of Jerri, Papa, and recently my Mom. Again, God's grace is sufficient. He has given us Christ-colored glasses to see the big picture, reminding us that we're only here for a short time. We will spend eternity together in the presence of our Lord. Awesome!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Childbirth and Moving
As I’ve talked to a couple of my pregnant friends over the last couple of days, I’ve contemplated about how similar childbirth is to moving. While it’s been 8 years since I’ve had the opportunity to experience the birth of one of our children, some things just do not leave your mind too easily.
Labor usually begins with stronger, regular contractions. The pain level is moderate, but there are breaks in between. For us, this began when Tim left back in June to begin his new job. Being without a husband, daddy, or in his case, the family can bring emotional pain. Thankfully there were times of rest as he was able to come home quite often and we were able to go and visit him.
Just recently we have entered the time of transition. In labor, this is a most intense time where focus on the task at hand is crucial and the pain can be extreme. Sometimes a woman can come to a point where she thinks she just can’t take it any more. In terms of our transition, moving my mom to Ohio after Christmas was the beginning of transition. After living with us for over 8 years, I confess to it being difficult handing her care over to my cousin. Not much later we begin having to tell people that we won’t see them again for a while. We think of leaving a house we love, friends we so deeply care about. The pain is at a 10. At some point in this transition, the water has broken. Tears are flowing freely. We’ve had our days of wanting to bail out.
Finally after hard work, a beautiful baby emerges and a new life held in the arms of his mother is the reward of the pain. I’m not sure how the end will turn out in our allegory. I know we still have several more difficult days or possibly weeks or months before it’s all said and done. I would hope to say that the obedience of this move will bring new life in Christ for someone living in Virginia. While we don’t know what our future holds, we do know Who holds the future.
Labor usually begins with stronger, regular contractions. The pain level is moderate, but there are breaks in between. For us, this began when Tim left back in June to begin his new job. Being without a husband, daddy, or in his case, the family can bring emotional pain. Thankfully there were times of rest as he was able to come home quite often and we were able to go and visit him.
Just recently we have entered the time of transition. In labor, this is a most intense time where focus on the task at hand is crucial and the pain can be extreme. Sometimes a woman can come to a point where she thinks she just can’t take it any more. In terms of our transition, moving my mom to Ohio after Christmas was the beginning of transition. After living with us for over 8 years, I confess to it being difficult handing her care over to my cousin. Not much later we begin having to tell people that we won’t see them again for a while. We think of leaving a house we love, friends we so deeply care about. The pain is at a 10. At some point in this transition, the water has broken. Tears are flowing freely. We’ve had our days of wanting to bail out.
Finally after hard work, a beautiful baby emerges and a new life held in the arms of his mother is the reward of the pain. I’m not sure how the end will turn out in our allegory. I know we still have several more difficult days or possibly weeks or months before it’s all said and done. I would hope to say that the obedience of this move will bring new life in Christ for someone living in Virginia. While we don’t know what our future holds, we do know Who holds the future.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Christmas Is Coming!
Just the other day I wrote our Christmas letter and printed off a copy (before the printer decided it was hungry and ate all my paper) for Tim to proofread. He then commented that I didn't include Papa's passing. I went on to share that I wanted to keep the letter positive and focus on the "happy" things of 2009. He agreed, but then I continued to think about that. Maybe I do need to address the hard things.
Those who know me well know that fall is my favorite time of year. There's nothing like a cozy sweatshirt, a football game, and a bowl of chili, all with the love of my life that I met in the autumn. It seems though that fall is now starting to be characterized by death. In 1994 my dear Grandmother passed away in the month of October. Last year in October we lost our beloved Jerri. For some reason in 2009 news of death has occurred quite frequently. From pop stars like Michael Jackson, to football prodigies like Steve McNair and Chris Henry. We brushed death's door for a while with my mom's cancer diagnosis, and lost our precious "Papa." It seems like this fall was heavily laden with those dying. In just four weeks time our dance teacher's grandpa passed away, our pastor's wife suddenly lost her dad, and my cousin and her husband both lost their dads! While people pass all year long, those that went in the fall remind me that God is making His harvest. Some are profitable grain, others are chaff.
Shortly after Halloween, a holiday focused on death, you see Christmas things in the stores! There's lights, gifts, and baking supplies. There's something joyful to look forward to! There's more to the story than the depressing thoughts of death. That's what makes the Christmas story so special. God sent His son Jesus so that there may be life instead of death. He is the Light of the world, the most precious Gift, and there's no sweeter name than the name of Jesus. Those thoughts are are happy thoughts. Those thoughts give us hope of seeing our loved ones once again, and most importantly being with our Creator for eternity.
Holly especially is excited about the presents that are under our tree. Our gifts to her aren't even there yet. If all of us are truly honest with ourselves, we get excited about gifts too. Some gifts we just absolutely love. Others get laid aside not to be played with or used a month down the road. If you're reading this, you've been given the best Gift of all. Some have opened it and cherish it deeply. That Gift is used on a daily basis. Others have opened it. They claim to like it, but it sits in a closet collecting dust. Still more have a wrapped Gift sitting there waiting for them. I'm not sure why they don't receive it. Maybe they feel like the tag doesn't say it's for them. Maybe they're worried there's strings attached.
I guess the reason I can focus on the joyful things in a Christmas letter is because thankfully I have the joy that is found in the gift of Jesus and can look at life with an eternal perspective. Our prayer for you this Christmas is that you have that prized Gift with your name on it. If you can't find it, we'll be glad to help. It's not hard to find, have to fight a mall crowd to get, nor is it too late (yet) for special delivery. For those that have lost loved ones, know that we are praying for you by name. Hang on to the hope of Christmas. We know what it's like to especially go through that year of "firsts" and we love you all so much.
Those who know me well know that fall is my favorite time of year. There's nothing like a cozy sweatshirt, a football game, and a bowl of chili, all with the love of my life that I met in the autumn. It seems though that fall is now starting to be characterized by death. In 1994 my dear Grandmother passed away in the month of October. Last year in October we lost our beloved Jerri. For some reason in 2009 news of death has occurred quite frequently. From pop stars like Michael Jackson, to football prodigies like Steve McNair and Chris Henry. We brushed death's door for a while with my mom's cancer diagnosis, and lost our precious "Papa." It seems like this fall was heavily laden with those dying. In just four weeks time our dance teacher's grandpa passed away, our pastor's wife suddenly lost her dad, and my cousin and her husband both lost their dads! While people pass all year long, those that went in the fall remind me that God is making His harvest. Some are profitable grain, others are chaff.
Shortly after Halloween, a holiday focused on death, you see Christmas things in the stores! There's lights, gifts, and baking supplies. There's something joyful to look forward to! There's more to the story than the depressing thoughts of death. That's what makes the Christmas story so special. God sent His son Jesus so that there may be life instead of death. He is the Light of the world, the most precious Gift, and there's no sweeter name than the name of Jesus. Those thoughts are are happy thoughts. Those thoughts give us hope of seeing our loved ones once again, and most importantly being with our Creator for eternity.
Holly especially is excited about the presents that are under our tree. Our gifts to her aren't even there yet. If all of us are truly honest with ourselves, we get excited about gifts too. Some gifts we just absolutely love. Others get laid aside not to be played with or used a month down the road. If you're reading this, you've been given the best Gift of all. Some have opened it and cherish it deeply. That Gift is used on a daily basis. Others have opened it. They claim to like it, but it sits in a closet collecting dust. Still more have a wrapped Gift sitting there waiting for them. I'm not sure why they don't receive it. Maybe they feel like the tag doesn't say it's for them. Maybe they're worried there's strings attached.
I guess the reason I can focus on the joyful things in a Christmas letter is because thankfully I have the joy that is found in the gift of Jesus and can look at life with an eternal perspective. Our prayer for you this Christmas is that you have that prized Gift with your name on it. If you can't find it, we'll be glad to help. It's not hard to find, have to fight a mall crowd to get, nor is it too late (yet) for special delivery. For those that have lost loved ones, know that we are praying for you by name. Hang on to the hope of Christmas. We know what it's like to especially go through that year of "firsts" and we love you all so much.
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