Seek the Lord Sunday

Zechariah 1:11 "So they answered the Angel of the Lord, who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, "We have walked to and fro throughout the earth, and behold, all the earth is resting quietly."

Just as I am

My favorite all time hymn is Just as I am. It is the song I gave my heart to at a young age at a small Baptist church. I can never hear it without thinking about that life changing moment. Although many artists have done it many ways, I like this video and I hope it touches you and reminds you that God will always accept
you, Just as you are! God bless you!

Friday Night Lights ... revisited

There he goes ... he's off to his first Friday night football game! Does a mother ever get used to the visual of her child's car disappearing? Although his father and I would see him in a couple of

hours, I already missed him!

This is silly, I told myself. He has been training hard. He is ready. He is excited...be excited for him! And then the car disappears and I have a lump in my throat...why can't I go with him? Surely, I'm a cool mom. All his friends love me. It wouldn't be that big of an embarrassment, right? Then I think back to my high school days and Friday Night Lights....oh my...I better

re-think this!

I attended a small high school in a small town in Texas. High school was extremely fun for me. I was a cheerleader and I loved the sport of football. So Friday nights were a lot of fun. I can honestly say my Mom never went to a single game but I really wouldn't have wanted her to. Such different family dynamics!

When we got to the game, I have to tell you, we were so excited. When the varsity team walked out on the field (it was an away game) all of the parents stood up and cheered them...you could spot Josh a mile away (he is the tallest kid on the team) and I felt as if my heart would burst!

They were practicing on the sidelines for a while and then they took the field. While they were doing there warm up a group of girls came up and sat behind my husband and I. "This is so fun" one said. "I'm looking for #85 another said. To which my ears perked up. I turned around and said...How do you know #85? "He's my friend" she said.

OK, this girl is way too cute....I'm thinking....OH MY GOSH... how did I not know about this girl? Well, it turns out she knows #85 from the opposing team...haha.!! Then they needed to know what "downs" were and so I explained to them that it was an attempt to gain yardage...."ohhhhh....ok,....so, what's yardage?"....tee hee

"honey, just look for our guys to make it to that end....and those guys to make it to that end and when everyone yells....yell!" I think Jay got onto me for taking too many pictures of the cheerleaders but they were awesome...can I just say we never did those things when I was a cheerleader! It really is a sport now!

I wish I could report the game was wonderful. The game ended with the most bizarre thing I have ever seen in sports. There was a time out called and our coach walked out on the field with the other coach. There was a heated exchange of words and then one thing led to another and then there was fighting. Yes, fighting. The coaches started going at it.

You can see the scenario right....these are arch rival teams. The other coaches are trying to break it up ... some of the team players are rushing on the field to rescue their coaches and I am praying praying praying that Josh stays put. And if I see him move, I tell Jay...you will go grab him! So many parents were scared. The atmosphere got out of control pretty quickly and it was a shame.

The game was called. We were ahead and they say we won but it was no victory. I did not want to leave my son on that field but the sheriff's department arrived and made everyone else leave. The boys were on bended knees on both sides when we left. I called my mom and sister while in the parking lot and told them what happened .... ok, my sister was calm but my mother insisted I go back and get my son and he needed to take up "bowling"....ahahahaha!!!! She hates that he is playing football!

It took us an hour to get out of the parking lot and there were sheriff's called in from all the way from Leesburg. We just kept lifting up all the kids and coaches and kept asking the Lord to keep everyone calm (I think Jay was really asking for me...I was shaking). It honestly was a scary situation. High school is so different now, at least to these old eyes.

When Josh's car rounded the corner home, I finally could breathe again. We had ordered him pizza and sat and talked with him at length about what happened. He said both coaches came over to the other teams and asked for forgiveness! Praise the Lord. He said they are actually friends and both admitted that they let their emotions get the best of them and behaved wrong.

They humbled themselves and asked for forgiveness. He also said his coach spoke to them all individually and told them he had let them down and asked for forgiveness. So while Josh was a bit startled, he was glad for the overall outcome!

Never thought I would say this, but how long is football season? Whew!

Narrow is the way ....

My son Joshua and I just a few hours ago after our devotional time together. He also has on his game day jersey...today is his first football game and the game is hours away but he is already wearing his jersey...too cute!

During our devotional time today, Joshua spoke to me about the Holy Spirit guiding him and some of his friends about the 'narrow path' in his Christian walk. When I asked him what that meant for him he told me that it entailed the following:

**he would not be so concerned with the pool of popularity...he would be looking for opportunities to witness to those who looked like they needed a friend, in particularly the downtrodden

**he would be looking for the 'narrow path' and seeking it out instead of hoping to run into it. he would not be concerned with video games or things that took up a lot of his time...he wanted that time to be allotted to finding what Jesus needed him to do (gulp)

**he wanted to approach the Lord with finding out what he could do for Him instead of always seeking how the Lord could do things for Josh (double gulp)

**he also wants to try to arrange with his youth group an outreach for the kids that lost their stuffed animals in the flood waters over on the east coast (he said he saw something about this on the news)

He then proceeded to tell me that he opted out of a few of the team parties because he did not feel like that is where God would want him to be. (I did not even know there were team parties)

And he told me that this new kid, his name is Ernest, needed a friend, and Josh wanted to spend some time with him. (He had already brought Ernest over to our home the day before).

Our time together talking about the 'narrow way' was a great time of growth for me. What a beautiful reminder for us all ....

are we hanging out at the pool of popularity or are we seeking the downtrodden to befriend?

are we spending our time wisely or are we seeking the Lord to be glorifying Him?

are we saying Lord, here I am... or Lord, where are You?

Matthew 7:13, 14 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it"

My husband Rocks

My husband, Jason, asked me to marry him one week after we met! Don't worry...I held him off for a year! But seriously, I kept telling him he could not be serious and I would give him a task to do to prove he was serious...now before you judge me too harshly, he was/is younger than me so I thought it was his youth talking and I thought he would tire of the tasks eventually and "whala" my point would have been made.

He never tired of them. Every single obstacle that I said needed to be overcome, he would find a way. A year later, no obstacles in the way, I was so out of things to say no about. I was crazy for him but my brain was telling me this would never work, my heart was telling me "go for it, you love the guy and he obviously loves you".

I came up with the greatest obstacle. He did not make a lot of money and I knew he could not afford an engagement ring (I write this and I know it sounds mean but I honestly was not walking with the Lord and neither was he and I just knew things were not going to work out) so I told him if he was serious about marriage, he would buy me a ring. A week later (I don't want to tell you how he did it...he still won't tell me, although I think he sold some of his drum parts)...I had a ring.

All out of excuses, I said yes. That was nineteen years ago! We have definitely had some difficult times in our journey as man and wife. However, my husband is a man after God's own heart. And he is still making grand gestures for me. He insists on cooking on the weekends. He insists on having a date night when Josh is at youth group. He opens the car door for me and he is constantly telling Josh to watch out for me when he is away.

He calls me at least 5 times a day to tell me he is thinking about me. He reminds me of his devotional time with the Lord and tells me constantly how much God loves me. He rallies his family at night to pray over us and teach us what God has in mind for the direction of our family.

He loves Jesus. He loves me. He loves our children. He has a compassionate heart for the lost.

He rocks, he definitely rocks! And I praise God for him.

Ephesians 5:25,26 "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word"

Thankful Thursday

**Today I am thankful for the loving kisses that awoke me

**Today I am thankful for the "good morning mama...do you know how much I love you" from my precious son

**Today I am thankful that my Mom begins her day less burdensome, perhaps even with a smile

**Today I am thankful that my husband has a job, my daughter has a job and my son has a job

**Today I am thankful for our church family

**Today I am thankful for the word 'sincerity'

**Today I am again thankful for Jesus and His willingness to yield...love always yields

Exodus 6:7 "I will take you as My people, and I will by your God"

Faithful Wounds

I woke up this morning to a beautiful love note on my bathroom mirror. My husband was thanking me for being his bride and telling me his thoughts about me as he watched me sleeping. He then proceeded to rebuke me for some of my thoughts concerning my own self and reminded me to watch today's proverb very carefully.

We read a proverb a day in our home in order to try and memorize them. We just go by the dates of the month...today is the 27th, so todays proverb is the 27th proverb. Yes, we are simple people! haha

As I was reading my proverb I came across a note concerning verses 5 and 6 and it goes something like this..."A person who is really your friend will tell you what you need to hear, even though it may be painful. The wounds that come from a friend should be like the wounds of a surgeon; they should be designed to heal."

Imagine a doctor doing a biopsy on you and finding cancer, he knows it will hurt you to learn you have cancer. If surgery is required, he knows it will be painful, as well. But what kind of doctor would allow you to continue to walk around with a disease that would kill you because he wants to spare you the pain of dealing with the sickness?

There are many things in our lives that if they are left unheeded will destroy us. They call for radical surgery; and a true friend will point this out to you, even though they know they are risking hurting you in the process.

The note goes on to say that the Word of God is like a two-edged sword...it cuts us, but it is always cutting to heal rather than destroy...yes "open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed".

May the Lord grant us all wisdom in knowing those things that have been spoken to us that have been designed to help us see truths in our lives and recognize them as such. May we be brought to the cross and surrender past hurts and yield to being truly healed by the One who formed and fashioned us and who cares so much for us that He sent us Jesus. Praise Him!


Proverbs 27:5,6 "Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But kisses of an enemy are deceitful"