Convictions

Have you ever wondered why your parents allowed certain things that you would never allow your own children to do? Or vice verse: why you would allow your children certain privileges that your parents would have never dreamed of allowing you to do. I am positive that my parents loved me as much as I love my own children. I am positive that my parents wanted to give me better than they had growing up, as I would like to do for my children. My sister and I have this conversation frequently. We have come to believe that the difference lies in convictions.

I grew up in a Christian home where we attended church all the time. I watched my parents attend prayer meetings, try to read their Bibles regularly, and try to raise us up "right". I believe for the most part they did a great job. But I know I never learned how to live a Spirit-filled life in Christ as a child. I think they tried hard, but I think there were some convictions missing in their lives,and subsequently, they were missing in my life. That is, until I chose to get my own convictions.

Convictions like:

• giving my children a godly education.
• courting versus dating.
• everything in my life has spiritual implications. (All things, good or bad, affect my spiritual walk, no matter how inconsequential they may seem.)

Shawn and I have chosen to home school our children. This decision was not one that was made overnight, nor was it one that everyone in our family agreed with. This was a conviction that we had from the Lord. I will never tell you that your family needs to home school. That is between you and God, not you and me.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 says, "These commands that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates."

How can we talk to our children about them when we were only spending about 4 hours a day with them and 3 of those hours were filled with homework and bath time? We did send our oldest daughter to school for a couple of years, but our conviction from the Lord was that she would be better off learning about Him from us. I found out quickly that my daughter was much more influenced by the school children than they were influenced by her. And I don't think anyone could argue that the public school district was going to teach my child about God's love and Jesus Christ's Deity!

The burden I have on my heart for each of my children to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and to have a vibrant, growing, love relationship with Him! Did you hear what I said? I have a burden. I don't just want them to, or think they need to. My heart is heavy with the weight of my responsibility to introduce them to Him. When they were in my womb I started praying for the salvation of their souls, and have not stopped. I am jealous for the opportunity to be the one to lead them to Christ. I try my best to teach them every day the Good News of the Gospel so they know that they sin, that Christ died for that sin and was raised back to life to conquer that sin.

Two of mine have accepted His gift of forgiveness. For them, my burden has changed to teach them how to love Jesus more today than they did yesterday. I strive to be an example to them of what a vibrant follower of Christ is. To show them how to rely on His strength when we are weak and how to find His Truth for the problems we face are daily goals. I do not live a passive faith in front of them. We constantly talk about self control over our actions and our words and our thoughts. I strive to teach them that sin can begin and end if we control our thoughts and make them obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

I pray you can see that this decision was not haphazardly made. A public school teacher or school mates will not teach my children how to do these things. It is my burden for a reason: God gave me a conviction. I'd love to hear your thoughts! I plan to write about the other points soon.

Learning...

What am I learning from the Lord right now?

I am learning that introspection doesn't have to be a bad thing. It can be helpful and releasing! I can actually look inside myself and see Him, not my version of my own self-worth.

I am learning that He loves me and forgives me completely. No sin is greater than He is able to forgive! All we have to do is ask.

I recently lost a baby and have been struggling to see myself as a creation of great worth to Him. Thinking that if I was a good mom, God would've let me have that child and the others that I've lost. God knows what He's doing though. You see, I began that pregnancy just as I started a Bible study on "Search for Significance" by Robert S. McGee. That was no accident. Abba knew that I'd need to know my worth in His eyes as He beholds me covered by the blood of Christ. I've been able to dig down deep and see what my Lord sees in me.

What does He see, you ask? He sees someone made in His image, "fearfully & wonderfully made," forgiven by His grace and glorified by His redemption!

I wonder, what have you been learning from the Lord?

Grace's Baptism

The joys of motherhood are many, but only birth can compare to the experience of leading a child to the Lord! I has this great opportunity on August 30th. Now, I give you the baptism!

This is my middle daughter, Grace, with my husband, Shawn in the baptismal waters. He had to help her swim to the red crate she's standing on! The water was up to her neck. We all got tickled, and I wish I had shot video instead of still photos.

Here she's coming back up out of the water. I am so proud of her! She is showing the world now that she is in Christ she has been raised from death to life to walk in His fullness!

On a lighter note, Abigail, our younger daughter, asked, "Grace, why come you were up there holdin' your nose and when you come up, your hair was all wet?" Grace replied, "Because I went under the water. That's what happens when you get baptized. One day you'll get baptized too, Sweetheart." And then they hugged! How precious is that!?!?!?!

God is soooo Good!...All the Time!

Accountability

I am currently doing a Bible study by Chuck Lawless titled "Putting on the Full Armor of God". I have been a believer for 23 years and I haven't done a whole lot of studying on the armor. I've always known it was there, but I never gave it much thought, other than simply praying that the Lord would help me to wear it and use it.

I would liken my experience to a soldier signing up for the Army, filling out all the paperwork and skipping Basic Training to go straight into battle. I believe that most of the Christian population could agree and sympathize with my view on this! When were you trained to be a believer? I "got saved", "got baptized", and went to church my whole childhood. I guess they thought that attendance counted as discipleship.

Please don't misunderstand me. These things are very, very important! I would be so far from where I am if I had not been actively involved in the life of my local church during my growing-up years. I gained lots of enrichment from the teachers and pastors I've studied under.

But I also know how much heart-ache I could have saved myself and Abba if someone had come along beside me and taught me the importance of accountability. I haven't sought out proper accountability in my life. This is something I am working on doing and something I am trying to teach my children as they grow up in the Lord. Right now, I am their main accountability source, but as they get older, we will seek out peers or older believers that, with the Lord's guidance, will be mentors/accountability partners.

I plan to share more about this study I'm working on, but for now, I'll just ask: Who is your accountability partner? Do you think it's important to have one? What character qualities do you think are important in an accountability partner? I'd love to see your thoughts.

Salvation in No Other Name!

It must be every Christian mother's prayer that their child come to know the grace of Christ and accept His gift of salvation. I have been so blessed in my life to be able to lead my oldest daughter to salvation in Christ. I've always said that I am jealous of that experience with my children. In fact, last spring when I saw that Grace, my second child, was getting close to understanding about accepting Christ, I went and talked to her teachers at church. I asked that if she started the process and I was anywhere in the building for them to please find me because I wanted to be there. I'll be honest and tell you that I prefer to be the one leading them, but if I couldn't do that, I wanted to at least be in the room!

Some people ask me, "Isn't the important thing that they get saved? It shouldn't matter who leads them." Well, that may be easy for some people to say. They haven't invested all the time into teaching my children that I have. From the time they were born it's been me who tells them about Jesus and their sin and the need for Him to be their Savior. My children did not learn these concepts at church, but in the back seat of my car, and at the grocery store, and on our living room floor, and around our kitchen table! My child's Sunday school teacher hasn't been the one to answer 1,001 questions about the topic. It's been me and my husband! So no, in the grand scheme of things, maybe it doesn't matter WHO leads them, as long as they gain salvation, but I covet the experience! And I don't feel convicted of being sinful over this. I want me or Shawn to be the one to lead them, because we've been the ones to teach them.

So you can only imagine how ecstatic I was when we were reviewing AWANA verses on Sunday afternoon, August 30, 2009. Grace is six years old and in the SPARKS club. Each letter of the word SPARKS has a word and verse they have to learn. The acrostic goes like this:

S IS FOR SAVIOR 1 John 4:14
P IS FOR POWER Psalm 147:5
A IS FOR ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURE 1 Corinthians 15:3
R IS FOR ROSE AGAIN 1 Corinthians 15:4
K IS FOR KEEP James 2:10
S IS FOR SAVED Acts 16:31

After quoting each letter, what it stands for, and verse, I would ask Grace to tell me what the verse meant. We had gone through S, P, A, & R. We were on K when I asked what the verse meant and she said, "I have no idea!" James 2:10 states, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point; He is guilty of all."

I started explaining about the law, and what it meant to "keep the whole law". We talked about the Ten Commandments and how the verse says if you break one of them, you've broken all of them. I explained that in Old Testament times that a person who did not keep the whole law had to offer a sacrifice for payment of their sins. We discussed how in today's times, we don't offer sacrifices because Jesus , who kept the whole law, offered himself as the sacrifice. All we have to do is choose to accept the gift of His sacrifice for our sin.

I asked Grace if all this was making sense to her when she hung her head and remained silent. I asked what was wrong when she said with tears, "I know I'm not going to heaven because I've lied!" At this point, we went to her bedroom to talk, and the rest is history!

Grace trusted Jesus Christ as the sacrifice for her sin. She has a home in heaven now. She understands that her sin is paid in full, and now she needs to try to live for Jesus. The highlight of any mother's life!!!! Being able to lead her children to faith in our Lord!

Two down, Two to go! I'd love to hear your comments!

Stickin' With Ya

Every so often, I try to sit with my oldest daughter and ask how things are going with her spiritually. For instance, before she left for church camp, I encouraged her to be sensitive to God's leadership and convictions. Last night, I was able to visit with her a little bit.

My goal with this posting is not to tell you our conversation because I wouldn't want to break her confidence. But the concepts of it, I believe, will be beneficial for parents with young Christian children. (Not that I've got a corner on that market or anything!)

Statistics show that children form their worldviews by the time they reach 13 years of age. If the habits and attitudes that are prevalent by that age are good, they will likely have the same ones into adulthood. But the same goes for bad attitudes and habits! If I do not cultivate selfLESSness, my children will bend toward selfISHness. But if, as the mother of a Christian youngster, I impress upon that child that decisions he/she makes when at the age of nine will affect the person he/she is at age eleven. And decisions at age eleven are likely to stick around through teenage years, etc. on into adulthood. Thus, who that person decides to be at age 13 will not likely differ too much from what the person is at age 23. It sticks with ya!

You may say, "I didn't really decide who I was going to be at age 13. I just am who I am." I will say to you, "We all choose how to respond to situations, whether we respond well or not. My eleven-year-old can choose her words and reactions just like I do. She just may not have been taught how to choose the better responses yet."

What about your family? Do you encourage your young ones to choose responses and attitudes based on God's Word, or do you just encourage them to be who they are and express themselves with no guidance or restraint? I'm not talking about discipline or punishment; putting them in time-out for a bad attitude or smart mouth. I'm talking about teaching them to put on the whole armor of God so they can stand against the worldviews that are trying to destroy believers today. That way maybe the child can learn to curb his/her tongue before the words spew and pursue godliness in speech/attitude/actions/etc.

Eye of My Hurricane

Ahhhhh. Cara's home. I feel better now, don't you? We successfully got our nieces where they belong, and got our oldest home. Now it is back to life as normal. At least for a week. Shawn leaves on Sunday for Austin, Texas.

On my quest to get healthy I have begun week five and phase 2. I have lost 5.5 pounds and 5.5 inches!!! Wooooohooooo! Praise You, Jesus! I couldn't have done this without Your strength. In phase 2 I step up my exercise routine by adding 20 minutes of strength training twice a week. I also get to choose one area of eating to change my habits and no liquid calories for 30 days. I chose meal portions. Only putting enough on my plate, and not eating all the left-overs on the kids plates while I clean up dishes. Upon self-examination, I discovered that I don't like to throw food away. So I end up eating the food left on the children's plates instead of throwing it out, and that ends up making me overweight! I have to admit I'm proud of my 5.5 pounds and 5.5 inches.


Do you ever feel like you are stuck in the eye of a hurricane? Life is zooming past you and you are in the center standing still. It's calm where you are, but you feel like you need to be in the activity. You feel like you need to do something, but there doesn't seem to be anything to do.


I feel like I've almost been at a place of inactivity with the Lord. Not that He's been inactive! He is always at work. But I'm used to being "at work" with Him. I've had a long spell here where I feel like He's telling me to draw near and be still. Draw near and be still. In case you haven't caught on to my tendencies through all these posts, I don't do "be still" very well. I want to be needed and I want to be "doing" something for my Abba. Not that He needs my help, just that I want to give it.


I'm standing in the center of my hurricane and my children are growing up before my eyes, my husband is struggling through the ministry God has given him, my sister and her husband seem to be booming in their ministry, etc. And here, I stand. Not doing anything. Not working in ministry. Not actively helping my husband. Just standing. Am I the only one?


I want to draw near and listen. I want to be still and know that He is God. I want to be satisfied to be in His presence. I want to be all the things I'm so good at teaching my children about, but struggle to live out daily!

Abba, hear my plea! I want to be right where You want me! I want to do exactly as You would have me to do! I want to know that I am pleasing You. Oh that my soul would be satisfied with Your presence as with the richest of foods. That Your Word would be my daily bread and the light to my path! I want to draw nearer to You, to hear Your words of encouragement and be satisfied to sit at Your feet in worship. Renew my mind. Be my strength. Let me be pleasing to You.

Sweat Drops of Blood

In the garden of Gethsemane, Scripture reports that Jesus had sweat-drops of blood. We know his horrific death, but a preacher recently revealed that Jesus wasn’t scared of death. He had known that crucifixion would be his destiny since the beginning of time. If this is so, why so much anguish? Because He knew in that moment He would have to become sin.


Remember what He left. Remember the glory He shared with the Father in heaven before coming to earth. God cannot be in the presence of sin. If Jesus was to become sin for us, it meant the first ever separation between the Father and Son and Spirit of God in the history of eternity, not just the history of time. Remember that the Triune God exists eternally. He was before time. He IS in this time and will be for eternity future.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus had sweat-drops of blood because for the first time ever, he would be completely human. He would know what it is like to be separated from God. We know this separation because we are born into it, but Jesus was God-Man. He was not born into sin. He lived a perfect life and had never, even in his humanity, been completely separated from the presence of his Father and The Holy Spirit.


As Jesus hung on the cross, he became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) that we might become righteous. We cannot be righteous apart from Him. In that moment, as he hung on the cross and cried out “Father, Father, why have you forsaken me?” he became sin. My sin, your sin, he became sin. It wasn’t for his own sin that he hung there, but for ours. He had never known that kind of separation.

So apart from the cruel way he had to die, he chose to pay the ultimate price. That price was separation from his Father so that we might have a bridge to cross in order to get to Him (the Father). Jesus is our way, our only way to God.Am I grieved over my sin? Obviously I am not as grieved as Jesus was. I don’t walk around with sweat-drops of blood coming from my face. I’m not even sure I cry over my sin like I should. My sin not only separates me from God, but it was the very thing that caused Christ’s death. Shouldn't that shake me up enough not to continue in sin?

I am now undertaking the memorization of Romans 6 so that I can learn how to combat the sin problems in my life. I don’t want to grieve the Lord any more. I want to grieve myself and change it. No, I’m not saying I can be perfect, but I am saying I can be better than I am. How about you?

Lay Off

Monday of this week, my husband received a nasty little letter from human resources at the company he works for. It said, "You are laid off effective July 2, 2009." He called me and I was very proud of myself for not just bursting out wailing in tears on the phone. I was calm, cool, collected and in shock.

His job is good for him. He likes what he does, learning new things and being trained to take on bigger things. God has used him to minister to his co-workers and he enjoys the people he works with. To make things worse, we found out that his lay-off was a mistake, but they couldn't correct it now because the paperwork had never been finished when he was transferred to his new project. Why would God allow something like this to happen?

Because..."you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:3-4) I will confess to you that Shawn and I have not been the best money managers since we married nearly 12 years ago. We have failed to honor God with our finances so many times. Just when I think we've got it under control, something else happens and we choose to not trust God to supply our needs. I know that it takes time, but I was so scared of what would happen to us if he lost his job.

When someone asked me what we were going to do, the only thing I knew to say was, "Well, we're going to keep trusting the Lord to provide for our needs. That will probably take a re-evaluation of what is a need vs. a want, but God will be faithful."

God was already at work though! Shawn's supervisors and fellow employees went to bat for him and found him another position in the company. Boy, does He provide! Was He on time or what? Today, I am singing the praises of my Savior! He is the Savior of my soul, and my life, but also the Savior of my finances and well-being.

Abba, I stand in awe of Your love for me today. I stand in awe of who You are! I am so blessed to be a recipient of Your grace and mercy. I will praise Your name because You are Great! I will sing of Your never-ending love for me! You are God alone, and I praise you.

How has God shown His faithfulness to you lately? I'd love to hear about it!

By the way, I'm on day two of my goal to work-out for 30 minutes a day, five days a week, four weeks in a row. Can I just say I AM SO SORE!!! I didn't even attempt to jog today. I thought sure they'd have to scrape me off the asphalt if I did. Simple sitting and getting up has become an issue today. It's going to be bad again tomorrow, but day four should be easier! Please pray for me!

Pounding

I just have to say that I love blogging! I read and follow so many good, wonderful, godly people in blog world! :) I never new all this fun existed. I also never knew how powerfully God could use computers to pound His message into my brain!

The message? "Quit excusing your bad eating habits and surrender ALL to me!"

The response? "Yes, Lord, I hear you. Please, forgive my blatant ignoring of your call in my life. I surrender. I'm going to need you moment by moment on this journey. Thank you that your mercies are new each morning. I love you, my Savior, my God."

Is He asking you to surrender anything? I could use all the help I can get knowing I'm not in it alone! Let me hear from you!

Lots of Children!

I've been trying to prepare my house and mind for lots of children. For those of you who don't know me personally, I have four children: (three girls) the oldest is 11, one turning 6 Monday, a precious 3 year old, and my baby boy is 20 months. Some may think that is lots of children, but I believe it's just what I need, if not more.

This evening I will be inheriting two more for almost a week. My nieces will be staying with me while my sister Beth and her family go on a mission trip. The oldest, Trista, is five and the younger one, Carli, is 19 months. My oldest sister, Lisa, and I were pregnant together twice. So Grace (my almost 6 year old) is to-the-day three months older than Trista. They are the best of friends and cousins who love to play together! Most of the time they get along fabulously, but they have their moments like all children. The second time Lisa and I were pregnant together, I had Hazin 7 weeks before she had Carli. They aren't old enough to know it yet, but they are the best of friends too. When they see one another, they just hug like they won't ever let go. It is the sweetest thing. Anyway, Lisa's children stay with Beth, and she (Beth) is taking the three oldest children in her home with her, and leaving the younger two with me for part of the time.

I try to be creative when I have this many to take care of. When you allow children to play without direction for too long, they argue and fuss more. So far I have playing in the water sprinkler and a trip to the park if it isn't raining. That should take up about 1/2 a day. Ummmm I'll take any suggestions you can offer. Just remember that everything has to be planned around the babies' naps! Cannot forget about nap time! Please leave me a comment with any suggestions!

When I woke up this morning I had a really hard time pulling myself together. I wondered why me? I just did not want to get up. Then I remembered that I am supposed to be jumping up and being excited to spend time with my Lord today (and every day). My heart said, "My soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You as in a dry and weary land." Then my mind said, "That's not true Tracey. You're not longing today. You are be slothful and wanting to stay in bed." The Truth is that we all long for God, but sometimes we choose other things. Abiding is a hard thing. To be able to stay in one place, focused on one thing, is a prayer of mine and a struggle. There are so many distractions pulling us in many different ways. Along with your suggestions on kids' activities, feel free to share any tips on abiding...staying connected...being content without being complacent...loving and living like you mean it.

I know that I can't spend all day everyday with a Bible on my lap and never move from "praying position". That's not what I'm talking about. Even when I work, I work to the Lord. Even when I discipline my children, I do so as unto the Lord. Even when I cook supper, cook to the Lord. That's the kind of living I want to do...whatever my hand finds to do, do it as unto the Lord that He might be glorified in me. All I know to say is "Yes, Lord, yes."

Jesus, apart from you, I can do NOTHING. Help me to abide in the True Vine. I love you today.

Growing Up

Why do our children have to grow up? I know that it is God's plan or He wouldn't have made them that way. Sometimes it's just hard to watch! Then again other times and situations you just might welcome it! I have a daughter who threatened me if I blogged about her newest accomplishment in growing up. So I won't mention any names.

What is it that makes kids stink? I never really noticed it until recently, but sometimes kids just smell bad! Beth always warned me that I would say that if I ever had a boy, but Hazin isn't quite old enough yet. He still has baby smells. He doesn't smell like a dirty little boy yet. But I'm finding that girls stink too! I mean down right body funk!

On our way home from Tulsa, one of our girls whose name I cannot use, lifted her arms and we about killed over! We wanted to roll down the windows to escape the smell. We decided on that 5 hour trip that it may be time to start allowing this child to shave her unnamed under-pits. (Grace coined that word at our house. It's a combination of under-arms and arm-pits: under-pits.)

Oh, the dread over my babies growing up. Yes, the growing pains are there, but I believe in this case, they will be worth it. As everyone knows, the less hair you have under your arms, the less stench they give off. Yes, we have taught the necessity of deodorant and antiperspirant, but for some reason only God himself can explain, it just wasn't working. Now maybe we will have relief!

This whole story reminds me of when I was a child. Our family was traveling together and my oldest sister, Lisa, took her shoes off and they smelled so badly Daddy wanted to put them in the back end of the pickup. I don't remember if he actually pulled over and did so, but I remember the drama surrounding the smell.

Which brings me to a point. Am I ignoring areas in my life that are causing a stench in my Abba's nose? What areas do I need to have washed and cleansed with the blood from Calvary? I know we all have areas. You know I'm not talking about your armpits! How about in that closet of personal space you refuse to let the Lord deal with? What are you ignoring that God has asked you to clean up? I've got mine...more than one. Right now, I'm working on anxiety and fear among other things. No, it's not easy, but I want my life to be a fragrant offering to the Lord. (The good kind of fragrance!) I pray when He leans close to tell me He loves me that He doesn't hold his breath because of something I refuse to hand over to Him that is rotting in my soul causing a stench to His nose!

Abba, I know this is a place that I need to work on more. I know You can see my heart and the desire there to be pure before You with no unrighteous thing between us. If I am overlooking areas where I need to clean up or allow You to clean up for me, please bring them to my attention. Like a hightliter marks a page, mark my life and show me how to be holy before You.

Greetings from Tulsa

Good morning. We will be heading back home in a little bit and I wanted to let everyone know we are doing fine. The funeral service yesterday was beautiful. It is a blessing when you can be assured you will see a loved one again in heaven. I cannot fathom the depth of loss felt when a believer in Christ loses a loved one that doesn't believe. That kind of loss is too much. That kind of loss is too great and painful. I've never experienced it, and I surely don't want to. I hope you don't ever have to experience it either.

Does that spur you on to share your faith? Does it make you wonder if those you love are secure in salvation through faith in Jesus Christ? It does me! I pray that I will be a better witness of God's love and blessings through salvation in my life.

On a lighter note, let me tell you what Cara did. Grandpa and Grandma have a swing hanging from a pear tree in the back yard. It is just a small one, mind you, and Cara's bottom is almost too big for the seat anyway. But she was swinging on it with her eyes closed talking to me and she kept getting higher and higher. The next think I know she hollers "ow!" I asked what was wrong and she said she hit her head on a pear. It was funny to us, and maybe you had to be there to think it was funny. Cara asked me today if I had written anything about her on my blog yet. I jokingly told her that she hadn't done anything cute lately. Of course, she gasped like she was shocked. Then she said, "I'm your child. Isn't that enough?"

The answer is, "yes! That is more than enough!" I love you Cara and of all the Cara Leiann's in the whole wide world, you are my favorite! Thank you for all your help and your boldness in Christ. I pray that you will always live for the Lord and honor Him with your life. I love you.

Esther

I'm fixing to jet out the door to head for north Arkansas and northeast Oklahoma. Hope you all have a great weekend. Just wanted to drop you a quick line.

I finished my Bible study on Beth Moore's "Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman". I encourage anyone interested in Scripture to study this! Especially if you are a woman who loves the Lord! I enjoyed it so much. I learned things about myself that I didn't know, I learned things about God I didn't know, and I learned things about Esther I didn't know. And I thought I was pretty smart.

The main thing I learned is that God can turn any situation around. And the way to taking a different direction is trusting enough to take the first step.

I just needed to know that. God can turn it around even when I cannot. All I have to do is trust him. And oh, He is so worthy of my trust! The Only One who has never let me down!

Love ya! Thanks for stopping by!

Random Life

Hope you had a great Memorial Day. I hope you found a moment to remember in prayer the families of those great men and women who have sacrificed their lives for freedom's sake. Or if you know a family personally, say, "Thank you."

Our Memorial Day weekend was a hoot! Friday night, Shawn was in the rodeo in Idabel, OK. Saturday, we had a lazy day of family time. It was great just being together with the six of us. Sunday morning we awoke to Abi's first words being, "Daddy, I just need to puke." Boy, if that won't start your day, nothing will! Shawn moves quickly when vomit is involved. Me, on the other hand, I am relatively calm in emergency situations. So Abigail was sick all day Sunday. Shawn left Sunday afternoon for the Warner bulldogging jackpot and Ft. Smith rodeo.

On Monday, the kids and I headed to Magnolia to spend time with Paula, Kaylie, and Jonathan Sweet. It was unknown to me that her air conditioner is out!!!! No air at work, no air at Paula's... Maybe God is trying to get through to me about these hot and uncomfortable situations. We had a fun, full day of visiting, moving furniture around and trying to locate an affordable window air conditioning unit! We drove home Monday evening and I put the kiddos straight to bed. Fifteen minutes later, Abigail was coughing her head off, gagging and crying...kept me up all night! She was better Tuesday morning. God is so good! None of the other children got sick or have felt bad. In a family of six, that's no easy task! Thank you, Abba.

I received the joy of leading a young man in his twenties to salvation. Jesus is so good to us. He creates us, loves us, died for us, and saves us. This man knew where he was spiritually. He knew the destiny of his soul. He stated very plainly that he knew he had said words in the past, but he didn't mean them. He knew if he died at that moment, he would spend eternity in hell.

I was so eager to share with him the plan of salvation, I kind of didn't even give Shawn much of a chance to talk. Looking back, I think maybe I should have, but when God puts a burning in your soul you HAVE to share! It reminded me of Jeremiah when he said he tried to not share the prophecy God had given him. Jeremiah 20:9 says, "But if I say, 'I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,' his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot." You understand, I just HAD to.

We spoke of sin and the need of a Savior. We spoke of the way to that Savior and that there was no other way to get there. We spoke of salvation not being a deed that gets done, but a relationship that needs fostering care and love and time to grow. I loved that as we were reading through the Scriptures he was actively searching the verses himself like it was the first time he'd ever heard them. (It may have been.) We read Romans 10:9-10 that states, "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." I explained that it was that simple. Know you need a Savior, know that Jesus is the only way, say with your mouth "Jesus is Lord", and you will be saved. I couldn't even finish explaining it and he was proclaiming confidently that Jesus is Lord! I loved it. It was the high-light of my week.

Do you remember when it happened for you? Maybe you've heard it a thousand times. Maybe you read this and it's the first you've ever heard it. I remember like it was yesterday! But I'm so glad it didn't end there. It is still going on today. Jesus is still saving me and making me holy. (I know, I know, it's hopeless, but one day He's gonna glorify me and you'll be thinking, "Wow! Look what Jesus did with her!") Feel free to leave me a comment and tell me what God's done for you. Or if you don't think He's ever done that and you'd like to know more, contact me by email at: too_i@hotmail.com

I pray you have a blessed day! Jesus, thank you for using me as your vessel. I love what you've done for me! I love the fact you did it for everyone. No one's past is beyond your grace, praise You, Abba!

Are you hot yet?

Good day to all my fellow blogger! I pray today finds you in good spirits and good company as well! Down here in the south, it is warming up into summer quite quickly. Maybe it just seems so because the air conditioner where I sit at work is out. Needless to say, in a room with no windows to open we are HOT!

Somewhere above the noise of the fans blowing and oscillating I'm sure that business as usual is going on. My question today is: Are you hot yet?

Are you in a place where you are being tested? Maybe God has turned up the heat on a certain situation, or has pointed out an area of blatant sin that needs dealing with. I cannot say what your situation may be. For me, sitting where I am uncomfortable isn't luxury.

Whether it is an area of sin and I know I need to repent, but just as blatantly as I am committing the sin, I am rebelling about giving it up or if it a situation that is what it is, and sin is not the issue, I can rest assured that business is going on! God is up to something all the time.

Maybe today, you need to stop and take inventory about your discomfort. Is there something you need to confess to the Lord and wipe the slate clean? His mercies are new every morning, hallelujah! He stands ready to accept any apology from a repenting heart. Thank you, Lord that you love us as much as you do! You truly are a great solace for us! Beyond His mercy where we do not get the punishment we deserve, he offers His grace. He offers freely what we do not deserve!

Or are you in a situation you have no control over and you just feel helpless to do anything about it? Let me assure you that God is not about to leave you stranded. Just because you cannot see into the heavenly realms to know what is going does NOT mean nothing is going on! He works everything to the good of those who "love him and are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28) Even when we can't see or feel it, He is working for our good! Even when we choose destructiveness over godliness, He is working for our good.

In a world where everyone looks out for themselves, isn't nice to know that God is looking out for you? He wants the very best for you and me! The very best is Him and His goodness. Lord, I ask that you show me today where my "hot spots" are. Please show me whether or not I need to do something about them or trust in your timing and grace to work them together for my good. Thank you for your everlasting love. Thank you that you do not change and I can rely on you today and tomorrow just as much or more than yesterday! Thank you for the invitation to come into your throne room and, with prayer and thanksgiving, to present my requests to you. May you be glorified in my life today, Abba!

Praise to the One True God!
Tracey

Girlfriend, let me tell you!

Girlfriend, let me tell you! Yesterday when I got home from work, Shawn had stopped by the store. For my birthday, he grilled ribeye steaks (my fave!), fried squash, mac-n-cheese. On top of all that was a mushy birthday card with a Dr. Pepper and a huge Hershey's bar. Does my man know what I like or what? Jesus, thank you for sending him to me and not someone else!

I could have whined because I didn't get the jewelry I like, or the big Fry-Daddy thingy I want, but just to know that my husband knows me like that was worth it! No other present could have spoken to me the way those things did. It told me that he pays attention to me. He knows me well enough to know my likes and dislikes.

If that wasn't enough, he even told the kids to stay out of my Dr. Pepper and chocolate! Wow, a treat just for Mom. That doesn't happen very often! Have you had something special lately? Just for you? Just for the record, I plan on sharing my Hershey bar with my children today at lunch. All four of those chololate-loving kids will get some of it. We all know my hips need no more help! (Shhh...don't tell Shawn I shared!)

All I know to say is, "Thank you!" Everyone wished me a Happy Birthday and I loved it. I had a great day. I am so thankful to my Lord for giving me the gift of "life to the fullest" (John 10:10). He is the giver of all good things. Good things like: eternal life, salvation, a good man, children, peace, monetary blessings, groceries, friends, sisters... I could go on, but I think you understand where I'm coming from. My heart is overflowing with thankfulness.

How about you? Use the comment button below and tell me what you are thankful for!

Do You Believeth?

We started having a time of Scripture reading/discussion at night before bed-time. Last night during our "flamily time" (Abi's word for it) Grace asked a question. Y'all, that baby is close to making a decision to trust Christ as her Savior. She is very sensitive about Christ dying and sin right now. She asks hard questions and expects real answers! She doesn't want you to tell her, "You'll understand when you get older." She is seeking the answers to the questions that all of our souls long for, but not all of us are brave enough to ask.

The question was, "How come people believeth in God when they don't even love him?" She learned John 3:16 (King James Version) "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Ever since then, she says believeth.

How come people believeth in God when they don't even love him? Do you hear that? How do you tell a five-almost-six year old the truth in terms she can understand? How do you tell her that you can know the truth and choose not to love? How do you tell her that just because something is right doesn't mean it comes without cost? Shawn patiently tried to answer her in words she could understand. She sat there with this confused look on her face. I was really beginning to be concerned that she would have the wrong perception of believing and loving. I wanted to tell her the truth without scaring her or worrying her. She's been so prone to tears about these kinds of topics lately.

I thought of how I would want someone to explain it to me. Quickly the Lord sent James 2:19 to my mind: "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that -- and shutter." I thought to myself, there is no way that the demons love God. They've made it clear that their purpose is to try to destroy God's kingdom. Here was our answer.

I decided to let God answer for himself. I told Grace what the verse said. She was surprised that the Devil would even believe in God. I explained that Satan wants to be God, but he can't be and that's why he doesn't love God.

I wonder how many of us do that..."believeth" in Him, but not "loveth" Him? I explained to Grace that just because you know about God and Jesus and you know all the stories from the Bible, it doesn't mean that you are a Christian. It doesn't make you love God just to know about Him. Without the relationship there is no purpose in all the knowledge.

How 'bout you today? Do you know about God and the stories from the Scriptures? Do you know that He loves you and died in your place so you could experience eternal life? All it takes is turning that knowledge to trust. Nothing but perfection can be in heaven. Admit you cannot be good enough to go to heaven on your own. "Believeth" that Jesus is the answer to the problem. Confess to Him that He is Lord. Trust Him to be enough for you. Enough for today. For tomorrow. For eternity.

He is, you know. He is enough. Thank you, Jesus, for being willing. I don't know why you love me enough to want a relationship with me, but I thank you that you do! I'd be lost without your love.