Foot in thy mouth - MY mouth. Ugh.

Wow! It is 10:20 at night; my oldest just shared her day with me . . . why do people act this way? How her feelings were hurt; how she misses Ms Val (her 5th/6th grade SS teacher) and just share her life with me . . . thank You Jesus! Wow! And, I was just irritated with her when she came home this afternoon and spoke so ugly to her . . . God, forgive me and wipe that out of her memory. I love that dear child & she is such a gift to me - thank You, thank You, thank You!

So, I am sitting her after an evening with some girl.friends (old & new) and cherishing my sweet precious girls. God, I just want to "state for the record" I.AM.BLESSED. Not because of what i have, but dear Father because of the love that has been given to me. God, I pray always for protection over my babies . . . my girls . . . these young women . . . these moms.to.be . . . these always.children.of.mine. I thank You for them. I want Your best for them. Help me to guide them in such a way to show them Your heart and Your ways and that a satisfying life is found in You God. Truly. Only. You God.

So, the big picture is: do not let irritation proceed communication. Love first. Love--active verb-first. React second. Measure twice, speak once. Aha - measure your words and let them come forth without obtrusion in the way (aka "foot in thy mouth" syndrome).


So, did Passport2Purity with Erin Marie. AWESOME!!! Okay - songs were hokey; like really bad. Had to go buy $20.00 cd player at Target because the only one i have is in the car (hot, sunny days are not conducive to that type of listening) and we had an excellent time. Erin talked to me the whole weekend. She reflected, she thought, she considered, she grew . . . she is growing and I (we) are so grateful. It was an awesome time for me as a mom to be able to be with this sweet one . . . I love her so!

For her "fun" activity, she chose to get her hair done and have Miss Paige Wedel do her makeup! Gorgeous and so fun! Erin is just naturally bent that way, so I am praying for wisdom to raise her in a way where she honors God with those talents & desires!

Dear Jesus, give my girls wisdom to be pure in all things. Help them to trust You; to walk by Faith; to love You with all their hearts and to make You First Place in everything. Dear Jesus, help me do the same.

In Your Great name, LORD, I pray!
Amen~
makdaddy

Throwback Thursday

Just a little sad today . . . listening to some music that was popular when I was in highschool/college/young adult and it just takes me back . . .

So, to encourage my girls and those who are coming of age and those who will be making life decisions soon . . . you will never regret working hard and giving your all. Never say never. Love Always. Cherish life. Seek Him. Grace others and forgive yourself. Work hard. Pursue your dream. Travel. Drink good coffee. Experience life, but don't cheapen yourself or sell yourself short. As Paul reminds us, "We know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that He has chosen you".
You are chosen. You are loved. God has great things planned for you. Walk with Him and trust Him . . . He will not fail you. nope, not ever.

To remind those who are half way there . . . 40's, 50's, 60's . . . do not look back with regret and do not look forward with worry. Time is of the essence. Keep on keeping on. Use your past and your present to help another; to grow, to learn, to remember, to pass on the good. Know that you were meant to be victorious. Forget comparisons and remember to love. Reach back for those still behind, but look forward towards the prize. Train hard, you're on the downhill stretch. But don't coast - it's never a coast - it's a race worth running so keep running it strong & with life & well.

And, to those close to a new beginning. . . thank you for your service, for your kindness, for your love. Enjoy! Cherish! Pray! Seek God while He is still to be found and prepare! We are grateful and we love you! Hooray for you . . . your race is almost finished. May you hear His praise, Well done - good & faithful. well done . . .

And, to my sis, i miss you. i am sad today because i wish you were here too. i miss you, but. i know, i will see you again on the other side. i can't wait for you to meet my girls! you will adore them!!!

thank You Jesus for that gift - of a love that never ends and a hope eternal. It sustains. yep, always.

This I know . . .

Dear David Crowder,
Thank you for this song . . . it speaks to my heart such Truth and Love with every beat.

Up on the mountain
Where Your love captured me
Where finally I'm free
This I know
Up on the mountain
Where You taught my soul to sing
Amazing grace the sweetest thing
This I know

And then the storm rushing in
And here I am again
This I know

Take me up to where I was
When I never wanted more than You
Lift me up to feel your touch
It wouldn't be that much for You
This I know
This I know
This I know
This I know

Up on the mountain
Where You took me by the hand
Taught me to dance again
This I know
Up on the mountain
Where You took this heart of stone
Put life back in these bones
This I know

Take me up to where I was
When I never wanted more than You
Lift me up to feel your touch
It wouldn't be that much for You.

Dear Jesus, this I know: I am Your child saved by grace, created by God, loved by You forever and ever.
A place so near and dear to us is the Rocky Mountains in Colorado . . . "up on the mountain, where Your love captured me."
Oh, how we are witnesses again and again of Your vast world, Your mighty hand, Your great works . . . they are too much for us; to comprehend how Majestic You are. Thank you for giving us glimpses of Heaven here and now; for Faith; for Hope; for Love.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, our thanks.

My dad (who is not Dietrich, but Don) was recovering from his 2nd hip replacement a few weeks ago . . . in fact, he is still recovering, but not laid up at home anymore - thank You Jesus! All has gone extremely well. Anyway, while he was at home he spent some of his time reading "Radical Integrity" the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I am so much like my dad (probably much to my mother's dismay) in the fact that I am type A, I believe cars should be in garages (it keeps them nicer), I turn lights off when I leave the room, I like to argue a point and have a good discussion, I love history, and we are both equally fascinated and appalled by World War II and the atrocities of the Holocaust. My dad majored in History and has shared this interest with me for which I am very grateful. In fact, a dream of mine (God.willing and God.abling) would be to travel with my dad to Europe and visit Auschwitz, Buchenhauffer (?) and some of the other notable places involved in WWII.

Okay - so, after my dad read this book, he passed it on to me and before I forget what I want to remember (ha!) I thought I'd best write it down! Here goes . . .

"Being religious did not make someone a Christian, although a religious person was likely to believe he was a Christian . . ." hmmm.

On being a pacifist in a time of complete & utter intolerance for human life, he writes about his decision to become involved in WWII (as part of the Abwehr, a group who tried to assassinate Adolf Hitler) it states:
"For Dietrich, the other options carried an even greater weight of guilt. For him, failure to act was simply irresponsible He who refused to get involved place his "innocence" above the needs of the people. Dietrich declared that the Church had too long been only interested in maintaining a righteousness like that of the Pharisees. For too long it had been concerned only with keeping its hands clean, even to the point of failing to face facts. Dietrich thought that such an "otherworldly" Christianity was a denial of the Incarnation, and that God Himself had entered the world in order to save it."

I am not sure I understand completely what I am going to quote, but I love the last sentence . . . it reads,
"The message of the gospel, when taken in conjunction with the Old Testament, was that Christ had come in flesh to reveal the life of God in all its aspects. The Incarnation showed God's respect for human life and His own physical creation It was not merely a redemption myth; it was a vision of reality. Christ was the man who had not only died for others, but who LIVED for them as well."

Ahhh, good food for thought! What an amazing man and an amazing life he lived. After he was declared "guilty" of treason, he was sentenced to be executed as soon as possible. Here is how he died:

"At dawn the next morning, Dietrich was taken from his cell and ordered to strip. Before he was taken to the gallows, he was allowed to kneel and pray on the cold concrete floor Then he was taken outside. A camp doctor (Flossenburg camp) was standing by to confirm Dietrich's death. Later he reported, 'In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.' A few weeks later, World War II ended in Europe."

Amazing . . . thank you Herr Bonhoeffer for your testimony and your faithfulness and for your courage. Many crowns you must have received.

Be Kind.

There are times when you know what to do and you really want to do what you know to do.
There are times when you know what to do and you absolutely do not want to do what you know to do.

Dear Girls,
We are told in Galations 5:22, the fruits of the spirit - that when we have accepted Christ, we are given the Holy Spirit to be our helper; thus, we have the power of the Spirit and the fruits of the spirit - there are 9 listed and one is self.control (which I desperately need); love & joy & peace & patience (another big one I need), & kindness & goodness & gentleness & faithfulness and SELF.CONTROL.

Dear girls, when your friends drive you crazy and you want to be rude or ignore, practice self.control & patience and BE KIND.

Sweet ones, when you are tempted to gossip or listen or comment negatively; pause and don't and BE KIND.

Girls, when you want to be mean because the day isn't going well, or you are not feeling well, or you are disappointed, let.down, ignored and excluded . . . trust Jesus and try to love and BE KIND even though every part of your being says just the opposite!

I guess, dear ones, if I could do things differently, one thing I would change is my focus or perspective! I would try to pause and not immediately react and then when i did, I would make every effort to BE KIND.

There is something about being kind that is not easily replaced or forgotten. A kind word speaks a love language heard not only by the ears, but felt in the warmth of our bones. A kind gesture is not only felt by the sweet touch, but the heart feels the kindness bestowed.

There is no substitute for kindness.

You will have the opportunity to show kindness when you want too AND you will have opportunity to show kindness when you least want too.
God sets before you "life" and "death". Choose life.

Choose to be kind.
Choose kind words.
Choose kind actions.

Choose to be kind. Choose life.

I wish I would have so much more!!! I love you~

Happy Valentine's Day

This Valentine's Day in the year of 2014 (sounds like the Declaration of Independence or something . . .), seriously, this year V.Day was on a Friday where my little sweethearts only had a 1/2 day of school. The week was full of basketball - Ellen's jr high girls team played the Saturday before (beat Inman); played Monday night (beat Berean), church Wednesday and played Thursday night for the championship and beat Sedgwick in the finals!!! The boys also won all 3 games and beat Marion to win. It was A.W.E.S.O.M.E.! It was so much fun!!!
I have told people it was extremely exciting as we were down by 8 in the top of the 4th quarter and came back to win by 1. It was fun, because we did win.

Emily and Avery and Elly Emerson were dressed in their cheer uniforms and went out at timeouts and led us in cheers - just precious! Ellen looked at me one time after a timeout and had the sweetest smile on her face - a smile that said, "that's Emily" and secretly said "i am so proud of her, little cutie!".

This same day I was responsible for Emily's valentine party at school, so I had that all organized, but then I had to run to Newton for a mammogram & sonogram - my breasts have been so tender like I am major hormonal:-( I have a lymph node or something on the left side that is just sore. Anyway, it was just a stressful week . . . the mammo/sono looked okay. I have a follow up on 8 weeks for her to do an exam, so we will see what God does before! It's all in His hands and I am trusting Him and praying to Him to resolve all!!!

Okay, so Friday night we are all home as a family and we make tacos - yum! We sit down together - yea! We just share with one another. We share one thing about each other we "love" about them. It really is a special time to hear one another affirm, esteem and be honest. The last thing was a gift from Emily, it was a pink envelope with red curly ribbon attached and read "Dear Family". When you opened it up it read "Dear Family, For valentines day I want you to pick somewhere to go under $50! love emily, love is in the air:-)

Dear God, thank You for an innocent, precious heart of a little girl who is willing to give her christmas money for her family to enjoy.

Dear God, thank You for the valentine You give every day, all day to everyone. We are so loved and adored by You . . . help us to share that love with others today and pass along Your valentine! We love You Jesus! Amen~

Dear Ellen

Dear Ellen,

You are 13 years old and I am so happy for you! I remember, like it was yesterday, when you were born . . . I can close my eyes and tell you about being in the downstairs of the hospital . . . walking around that basement, stopping ever so often at the vending machine just because it was something to look at. Then, after we toured that for 15 - 20 minutes we would climb the stairs and go to the far end of the OB hall where "my room" was. I remember Dr. Marla coming and checking on me - you were my 1st and long awaited - baby!!! Your dad and I didn't tell either set of parents - we were so excited to surprise them like you were to surprise us!

I think right up until the moment you were born, we called you "junior" and I fully expected to have a little boy (while I secretly hoped you would be a little girl) . . . how God must have smiled when He my saw my heart overflowing with joy at you!

I remember the visitors, grandpa Don's classic line was "wow! she has really good color!". So, don't ever doubt your "color" - tanned or tanless, Papa Don knew from the beginning it was beautiful! Grandpa Nelson just sat and held you early in the morning and grandma Shari swaddled you like she has down countless times since. Grandma Bonnie gave you your take home outfit from the hospital - a beautiful pink little outfit with hat and shoes! She loved you from the moment she met you and both her and grandpa Don were honored with your name . . .
Sweet Miss Ellen Janelle.

Dear Ellen, your name was chosen with great care and much love. It means "Light" and Janelle is of course after your aunt, my sister. It reminds me of her and how I love her so dearly and I hope that it will remind you of the love of sisters too which God has given you Two! You are special girls and I pray you can cherish each other like I cherish my sister. Ellen, our prayer is that your life is one that "goes out and spreads beauty and light" in this world. In this dark world. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it . . . and it only takes one flame to dispel the darkness . . . but that flame has to not be afraid to shine and shine brightly!!! In fact, the brighter the flame, the less of the dark . . . courage, bravery, love, Jesus . . . and the darkness goes away. Always.

Ellen, I have tried to be honest with you about being a teenager. In case I haven't been clear, let me reiterate: IT IS HARD. Period.
Notice what I did not say: I didn't say it was impossible (most people grow into their twenties) and I didn't say it was boring or gross or not fun . . . it just takes perseverance--determination. It takes focus on setting your mind to the things that matter and DON'T lose sight of them. You are a beautiful, talented girl fastly evolving into a young woman . . . you amaze me! Your optimism, your talents, your honesty . . . i am so blessed to be your mom, kid! I love you ALWAYS & FOREVER.

I pray God's blessing on you Ellen; I adore You and I love you!