My Machete

I bought myself a machete at Lowes last night after church. I forgot to tell you that the grass (actually I haven't identified the plant yet?) at the deer lease is 6 stink'n feet tall. When we tried to get out of the truck and I lost my children in the grass. I was so afraid that we would step on snakes. So with my trusty new machete I will blaze a trail for us to walk safely back and forth from vehicle to deer stand. Pray for me. We will be spending this 3 day weekend getting things set up for hunting.
Sorry, there is nothing of any spiritual value in the post...just want you to pray for our safety and that no one dies of snake bites or heat stroke! Oh yeah...and that the kids still think it's fun after 3 days of work! Thanks :)

Weary of Sowing???

Today has been an especially rough day. I found out that a young lady that I have been investing in has just been arrested AGAIN. Her life is so full of deceit. She is a GREAT liar. It always looks like she is ready making a break through with Christ when she shows up on my doorstep . For the last two and a half years, deceit has been her track record. At what point do I give up hope and say, "ENOUGH!!!" How do I keep my heart open to the needs of others when it seems that more often that not, the seed is being sown in what ends up being infertile soil?

As I cried out to the Lord out of frustration this afternoon He spoke very clearly to my heart, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." It was His voice clear as day. I stood there in my garden repeating the Lord's words to me over in my head. I just couldn't figure out how they exactly fit my situation with this girl and my weariness of sowing to infertile soil. I decided to come in the house and read the scripture in context...wow...what a delight to hear from God!

Galatians 6
1Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5for each one should carry his own load.
6Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.
7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

So, I will not fret about sowing to infertile soil. It is from God that I have every resource; time money, talents, gifts. These are not wasted, as it might appear, when they are sown in the Name of Christ. As long as I sow in the Spirit...and I will reap eternal life. Though I CAN be mocked, deceived and taken advantage of...God cannot. "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people...."

Deer Huntress

I went out to my husband's deer lease today. It was my first official trip and I guess one of many trips to be made by my family this year! It has been three years since my husband's first hunting trip. Since then, he has participated faithfully in this yearly ritual. Up until this year I have observed from afar and can only say that with what we have spent each year on deer hunting, I could have bought a brand new upright freezer EACH YEAR and filled it full with organic meat. But I'm sure I must be missing something, because it doesn't seem to be important to him and his hunting buddies if they actually bring meat home??? I'm missing something right???

It was darn hot today and because we slept in this morning, we didn't get out to the lease til almost noon. By then, all the other living things in God's creation had sought shelter from the heat ...but we were out there packing 40 lb. bags of corn to the deer feeder! I don't know how we ended up at the top of the food chain? Anyway...did I mention that it was hot?

Tonight before bed I heard our eldest daughter tell daddy "thank you" for taking her out to the deer lease and that she had a "great time". The other girls chimed in unanimously behind her. It was at that moment that I realized that I would carry 40 lb. bags of corn , in 102* heat everyday to hear my kids thank their daddy for a great day!!! So, I will cheerfully participate in our family hunting trips from now on and maybe I will be the one to sack that deer this year?!
Hey...then maybe Buddy will buy me an upright freezer?

Mike Huckabee responds to evolution question

Unfailing Love

The Word of God uses the phrase "unfailing love" thirty-two times, and not one of those times is it attributed to humans.
I fail...oh how I fail! Even tonight I am grieved over my failures.
I would love to be perfect as God is perfect. I know that I am not who I used to be, and that I will not remain who I am right now...but how I long for His perfection. I desire the day when I will cast off this flesh entirely, with its frailties, and be as He is!

Psalm 143:7-9
7 Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
9 Rescue me from my enemies, O LORD, for I hide myself in you.

Birthday Girl!

Today my youngest turns 7 years old...that means that she may only be here with me 11 more years...which is the age of my oldest...she just turned 11 three days ago. And they were all just born yesterday! And my 11 year old might only be here with me for another 7 years... which was the amount of time that has passed since my youngest was born ...which was just like yesterday! And it all feels like it just happened yesterday! Please won't the clock slow down a little! Sniff, sniff :(
P.s. I failed to mention my 8 year old who is turning 9 and might only be here with me for 10 more years...and she was just born yesterday!

Tribute to My Husband...who got his 3rd. ticket this summer..

Billy Graham was returning to Charlotte after a speaking engagement and when his plane arrived, there was a limousine there to transport him to his home. As he prepared to get into the limo, he stopped and spoke to the driver. "You know" he said, "I am 87 years old and I have never driven a limousine. Would you mind if I drove it for a while?"The driver said, "No problem. Have at it." Billy gets into the driver's seat and they head off down the highway. A short distance away sat a rookie State Trooper operating his first speed trap. The long black limo went by him doing 70 in a 55 mph zone. The trooper pulled out and easily caught the limo and he got out of his patrol car to begin the procedure.The young trooper walked up to the driver's door and when the glass was rolled down, he was surprised to see who was driving. He immediately excused himself and went back to his car and called his supervisor. He told the supervisor, "I know we are supposed to enforce the law... But I also know that important people are given certain courtesies. I need to know what I should do because I have stopped a very important person."The supervisor asked, "Is it the Governor?" The young trooper said, "No, he's more important than that."The supervisor said, "Oh, so it's the President?" The young trooper said, "No, he's even more important than that." The supervisor finally asked, "Well then, who is it?" The young trooper said, "I think it's Jesus, because he's got Billy Graham for a chauffeur."

I don't think that Billy Graham really got pulled over for driving 70 in a 55...but if he did shame on him too! And if he were chauffeuring Jesus I'm sure he would obey the laws of the land. LOL.

I'm praying for all of my friends who commute to Dallas everyday...Slow down. Your wives love you and want you to come home in one piece! I love you Honey!!!

It's Messy!

I love the story of the Velveteen Rabbit...my favorite part of the story is when the Skin Horse is describing to the rabbit what it is like to become Real.

"The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.
"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.
"The Boy's Uncle made me Real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."
The Rabbit sighed. He thought it would be a long time before this magic called Real happened to him. He longed to become Real, to know what it felt like; and yet the idea of growing shabby and losing his eyes and whiskers was rather sad. He wished that he could become it without these uncomfortable things happening to him. "

I am watching people become Real. It is messy, stressful, painful, and beautiful all at the same time. Why does our becoming what God created us to be have to be so messy, stressful and painful? It seems so much more appealing to be like one of those special kept dolls, you know the ones you put under glass. Unfortunately, it seems that this is not what God has intended for those He calls His. We are definitely called to become Real...with Him and with each other.

Here is to having your hair loved off, your eyes drop out, becoming loose in the joints and shabby...in Jesus Name!

Summer Count Down

This is a sad time of year for me. The end of summer means that I have to wait a whole 9 months for summer to roll back around!
I hated school when I was growing up...so summertime has always been my favorite time of year!!! I still experience residual anxiety from my youth as we watch August fly by. Even this evening I was noticing how it is getting darker just a little earlier..."boo-hoo, sniff, sniff". "Bye-bye summer."

" I'd give all wealth that years have piled,
The slow result of Life's decay,
To be once more a little child
For one bright summer-day. "
Lewis Carrol

ARGH

We are the Pirates who don't do anything...
We just stay at home and lie around. If you ask us to do anything. We'll just tell you...we don't do anything!

These pirates have stolen my heart!!!

Unexpected Bends in the River

Having grown up in Northern California, canoeing was a big part of my family's life. I cannot remember a time when my parents did not own a canoe and make time in their busy schedules to get out on the Russian River. Even now my father competes in races with his friends who are all in their sixties and seventies. I guess for now, some things haven't changed.

I've been pondering the unanticipated changes that we face from time to time in our lives. This last month has brought many unforeseen changes in the lives of several of my good friends. When this happens it causes me to cry out to God and ask that He wrap His arms around them and help them to know that He is present.

As a young person I struggled with suicidal thoughts almost constantly. It seemed to me that dying would be the only escape from whatever stressful situation I found myself in at that time. One day when I found myself especially depressed, my mother shared with me that life is like a river and as times we find ourselves in really turbulent spots. We feel like we will capsize at any moment...but if we hang on and press forward... right around the corner will be another calm.
I can't tell you how many times I have comforted myself with that idea. I have experienced many rough patches, times in my life when I was ready to throw in the oars and let the river swallow me. But I have seen the truth in my mother's encouraging picture of the river. Through enduring (with the help of Christ), I have come out on the other side into a calm place of rest. What I really mean is...that each time that I endure...there is a place of rest and blessing ...just around the bend.

One of my favorite quotes, "There are no surprises in Heaven."- Corrie Ten Boom

Philippians 4:6-8

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Thirsty?

There seems to be a common thread amongst my friends. Many of us are feeling plum worn out! I think that God is calling us all to drink deeply of Him. I remember a talk we use to give to new missionaries. We would hold a Styrofoam cup and talk about how God wants to fill our lives like the cup...and that as ministers sometimes we pull our cup out from under God's fountain of refreshment and start to quench the thirst of other. At last, what was once in our cups is gone and WE are left empty and dry. Our cups must stay under the Fountain that is Christ...our ministry to others must come from that which overflows from our lives being full to the brim and pouring over... We all need to stay under the fountain of God's Word and in His presence. Ministry can never be a substitute for truly being found in Him!

Psalms 36
5 Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
O LORD, you preserve both man and beast.
7 How priceless is your unfailing love!
Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
10 Continue your love to those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.