Just like Dad

"I want to be just like Daddy!" I'm kinda glad this kid has got a good one! Love this picture!

I Love You Lindsay!

Friends are wonderful! The fact that God is a relational God thrills my soul! And the fact that He made us women relational excites me and inspires me! I love relationships! Whether old or new...young or aged...near or far...relationships are the heartbeat of my life. People are my hobby! I love to talk and to listen. I love people's stories! You can always see God's design, just listening to people's joys and failures...their victories and blessings. God is good...and I love to discover His thread of goodness in the lives around me.

And today, as I was busy at home...doing school with the kids, baking cookies for Bible Study tonight, folding laundry, cleaning the house, organizing toys...I finally had a minute to sit and look at my blog. And one of my favorite things happened! I had someone who left a comment on things that I had written. See, I love to write...as if you couldn't tell! This whole "blogging" world is so much fun for me...b/c it gives a glimpse inside peoples inner-most parts of their lives. People blog about all sorts of stuff...and I love reading the stories...the recipes...seeing the pictures of their precious little people! It is a joy! And...I love to write about my life too...to have an outlet to release my thoughts and prayers. SO...When someone comments on my writing...it is like Christmas to my heart! Like unwrapping a present! Even if that person doesn't agree with what I have said, it is still fun to communicate! And today, one of my dearest, sweetest friends commented TWICE! It blessed my heart to no degree! I love you Lindsay! You encourage my heart so many days! Your blog is always God-honoring...your life is spent loving on the precious loved ones around you. I count it an honor to be called your friend. How many days have I spent praying for you, Rodney and Jeff. I just know that if I lived closer to you girl, we would be "bosom buddies". For your passionate desire for our Lord inspires me and draws me closer to our Creator! So, I just wanted to give a "shout out" to a very dear girl who gave me reason to smile and rejoice today! Thanks Lindsay Sublet!

Snow

It's late. THe world is asleep. All is quiet. Still. Peaceful. And as I look out my window, it's SNOWING! Perfect snow! Big, fluffy, snowflakes floating from the sky! I love the snow. There is little else that compares. The actual snowfall is unbeatable, HANDS DOWN! To stand in an open field, and look up at the big sky as the snow falls all around you...there is nothing like it in the world. That moment is perfect! It is serene. To stand in the falling snow...everything else disappears. The noise of everyday life is left for just a moment...the world is hushed. You can feel the pressence of the Lord as He enjoys His great creation. You can almost hear Him laughing in delight over the magnitude of the beauty He designed!

Tonight was the first snowfall of the year...well, the first TRUE snowfall. It just keeps falling...covering everything. I couldn't stand sitting inside. I know it is late, and the kids are sleeping, but I just had to be out in it! So, I bundled up and went and played in the snow! Yes, by myself...it was a moment my soul needed! And in that moment, I felt God's loving arms engulf me! He surrounded me with the most perfect, complete, and awe-inspiring hug I have ever been apart of! I felt Him! I heard Him. In the stillness of the night...I heard Him shout my name in the Whisper of my soul! He loves me! He created me! And he created this night...for me and Him! One of the most amazing moments of my life.

God is Light...and in Him there is no darkness at all!

What kind of stand are you willing to take? Do you stand upon the Word of God with passion and faith...willing to bend for no man? Do you stand firm? Or are you wobbling...fearing a fall at the next breath of disagreement? Truth is raw! It isn't watered down, smoothed over, or socially acceptable. It is what it is! God's truth is what will set us free from the snares of this world. His truth alone is what will bring us to glory!



Why this sudden definition of truth? Well, every year around this time, the discussion of "Halloween" becomes a topic of choice. People take all kinds of stands on this subject. Some hate it, others embrace it, some LOVE it, others ignore it...but few are willing to define it. Well, for the sanity of my own soul, I need to define it...and here is my outlet!



The origin of Halloween wasn't intended for evil. It orginated in Scottland and Ireland. The original purpose was innocent enough. But, that was LONG ago...and we are responsible to respond to what it has become today. We say it is all fun and games...a time to dress up and have a "good time". We, as parents, don't want our children to be the only ones on the block who don't get to participate in trick-or-treating. It is harmless right? Purely innocent. BUT...the reality is...it ISN'T. In our day and time, this "holiday" is intended for all kinds of evil. To convince yourself otherwise is foolish. 1Timothy states that..."Perfect love casts out all fear. And that God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of love and of power and of a sound mind." Halloween lives to create and instill fear into peoples hearts. All the way down to the decorations...it is intended for evil...NOT FOR GOOD! We can justify our sweet little children's costumes of Peter Pan and Cinderella...and say that we are not representing "evil"...but the fact is, participating in this day is teaching our children that it is okay to overlook the wicked all around us, instead of standing against it and living out our calling to "Be set apart from the world".



We need to open our eyes...look around us. What this "holiday" promotes has NOTHING God honoring about it. The movies, the decorations, the costumes...and that is just the commercialized part. Let's not overlook the truly disturbing aspects...the pure evil and satanic realm that is so easily ignored...but VERY much carried out. Satan has a field day with this "holiday" b/c we have chosen to close our eyes to what is represented and even take part!



The Bible doesn't come straight out and say..."Halloween is a sin." But it does say that "witchcraft" is...any kind of "sorcery" is a sin. Our fight is not against flesh and blood...but of a spiritual realm that we can not see with our eyes...at least not all the time. But it is there...at war always.



When I was 7yrs old, we lived in Texas. A small town. My dad was a pastor of a church right off the highway. My brother and I played out front everyday. Until one day. The police came to our front door and warned my mother that, just down the road, a practicing cult had plans to kidnap and sacrifice my 5yr old, blond hair, blue eyed little brother for Halloween. They did something like this every year...on October 31st. And this year they had targeted my brother. PRAISE God we were warned. But we lived in fear for a time...not allowed to go outside...fear. And even though God kept my little brother safe that year, another child was killed in honor of this grand "holiday". Fear paraded it's ugly self in fine array that year. How is that God honoring?



I had a second cousin who seemed to have it all together. She was a beautiful girl...full of life. Until one day, on October 31st, she drew a pistol to her head and fired the trigger. She had dedicated herself to Satan. She had gone through a ceremony...a satanic ritual... to become his bride. She killed herself so that her soul could go on to live with him forever. She had been blinded by the darkness that seeks so earnestly someone to consume...to devour.



Many things take place this night...many things that we choose to ignore and pretend doesn't exsist. But the "face" of this holiday says enough...it defines itself.



Evil. It is out there...all around us. We must stand and claim our victory.



I am passionate about this...but I am not trying to "push" it on you. This is where I stand. This is how I want to raise my children. To love the truth. To dance in the LIGHT. To stand firm against Satan and all his ploys...to resist him and know that he will flee. It feels good to be different...to have purpose. It is lonley sometimes...not many agree. But it is okay. Walk in the LIGHT. Leave the darkness behind...all forms and all it represents. Because..."GOD IS LIGHT! And in Him there is no darkness at all!"

Judging Others

Judge. We all do. Some of us more than others. Some of us louder than others. But we all take part in something that NONE of us ever should! God is the ultimate Judge...the only rightful ONE. He is the only One who has the accurate ability and reason to do so. He is the only One who looks into our heart. 99% of assumptions are wrong! We judge NEVER knowing everything involved. Oh, we might have a pretty good perception of the situation, but we can't see motives, or hearts, or souls. Yet, we throw our opinions around like they actually matter...and they do matter...but mostly only to us. And we say hurtful things b/c it makes us "feel better" or makes us think of ourselves a little better than someone else...at least for the moment! We enjoy the judgement...just so long as it isn't cast our way. Funny though, the ones who judge.

...there is always someone out there ready to cast blame, dish out judgement, throw their stones, or see the speck in their brother's eye. But, my thought for the day is why don't we stop. Why don't we start spending all that time we USED to spend thinking of what others are doing wrong, and use that time to reevaluate our own lives. Spend that time praising Jesus that He is not just the Judge, but our LOVER and MASTER as well. I think that our lives would be holier if we did that. B/c judging someone else takes the spotlight off of me...and as long as we can keep the light on someone else, we don't have to look inside our own hearts and see what God is telling us to change, to correct, to repent of, or to celebrate in! I judge...I do. But I am trying to change that...to love others and when tempted to cast judgement, to pray for them and ask God to reveal to them what He sees fit! Awww...life gets alot sweeter with that perspective! I promise!

MORE

We are more than the choices that we make. We are more than the successes that line our memory wall. We are more than the failures that people seem to always remember. We are more. We are more than the reflection staring us back in the mirror. We are more than the status people label us. We are more than the relationships that define our days, our moments, our years. We are more. We are VICTORIOUS! We are CHILDREN OF A KING. A KING who rules the heavens and is coming back for this earth! We are rescued, saved, chosen! We are more than the sin that entered the world with our first cry! We are a royal preisthood, a chosen generation. We are a people who the God of this universe created with His very own breath! We are worth HIS Son dying to bring us life! We are covered in the blood of a perfect, sacrificial LAMB! We are HIS!

So, let nothing else define you. Let nothing else steal the miracle that you were set aside to represent! B/c friend, you are HIS! I am HIS! And b/c of that, I am more!

Colorful Smiles

Lately I have been sick! Just plain, awful, yucky sick! And depressed! Depressed b/c I have been sick and felt horrible. But just when I think I can't take another step...just when I think life is gonna get the best of me...just when I am ready to throw in the towel, the rain stops pouring. The sun breaks through the ugly gray clouds. And God smiles the most amazingly colorful smile known to man!

1 Corinthians 10:13 "There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you can handle, but will with the temptation make a way for you to escape that you may be able to handle it." Thank You Lord for Your Word. Thank You for Your truth. I love you Jesus.