Remember....

Is it cold enough for you out there?  This morning I drove John to work so that he wouldn't have to make the 15-minute walk from his parking spot to his building. [Up here in Wisconsin it is so cold that apparently frostbite will set in with only 15 minutes of exposure!  Now THAT is cold!] As we turned out of our neighborhood, I was STRUCK (like semi-truck struck) by an overwhelming WAVE of gratitude. It happened so fast it nearly knocked me over.  For your own protection, I will take you through the experience a little slower...

Two years ago today we had just completed a WHIRLWIND move from our gorgeous, spacious, dream home in the country to a tiny, postage stamp lot, residence in the city. There was no doubt that God's fingerprints were ALL over that move. Mortal hands could NEVER have arranged the way it went down. It was just 11 days from viewing the house to living in the house. We moved a family of seven 40 miles away over the Christmas holidays!  Nothing short of a miracle!

So we were in the city... where we needed to be.... and things were better, but they were still TOUGH! We had 1 vehicle and 1 driver, but we still had 4 kids, 3 jobs and an elderly person to take care of.  I was responsible for EVERY bit of driving in this house, but I didn't give up ANY of my other responsibilities.  I still homeschooled the kids, cared for my aunt, worked from home, coached cheer, and cared for a sick hubby.  When I look back sometimes, I literally have NO idea how I survived. I was literally and truly carried through that season of life by my loving God and my amazing family. 

Every day I rose (like today) and drove 30 to 45 minutes to get John to work and get back home, before starting the INSANITY of my day: work-homeschool-clean up after kids-clean up after an old person. Then I would have to take a break in the insanity of my day to drive another 30 to 45 minutes to retrieve John from work and then coach-work-school some more-make dinner-clean up after AM some more. Every single solitary errand that needed to be run, I was responsible for:  library to return books, get groceries, Walmart, pickup prescriptions, oops ran out of milk, get to practice, BAH need emergency first aid supplies.  EVERYTHING was on my shoulders. 

Fast forward to this morning, as my husband was turning out of our neighborhood, and I was BY CHOICE to keep him safe but NOT out of necessity, riding along to get him to work, and I was OVERWHELMED with the realization of all that God has done for us in the past 24 months [*two drivers *two vehicles *hubby FINALLY on the mend] and AWE-STRUCK by the blessings I've already come to take for granted [*having an extra hour and a half each day of NOT driving him *having a second vehicle (thanks to my AMAZING parents) *sharing the errands with John] and AMAZED that He would do all of that for a wretched creature like me... which all led me to REMEMBER His great love for me.

Yesterday at Life Church we started a  new series titled Re-. Aaron Cole kicked it off with an AWESOME sermon titled Review. He encouraged us to regularly Review our lives.... to remember the goodness of God.... as we drove to church I heard Brian Houston from Hillsong on KLove encouraging us, He's "never failed and He won't start now."  Then during worship we sang the song those lyrics are from.... God really wants me to REMEMBER..... and I plan to do that.  This morning I am remembering how BLESSED I am and how FAR He's brought us.... it is proof positive that

  He's NEVER failed, and He won't start now.

What do you need to remember today?  Take a few minutes and replay it all in your mind. Remember the goodness of your God, and be blessed everyone!

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember Your miracles of long ago.
Psalm 77:11

Sunday's Sermon: This is My Story

Three weeks ago, Pastor Aaron introduced a new series called This is My Story. Because he was taking a 30-day sabbatical, four different staff members would be preaching and telling their "stories" which were according to him POWERFUL and would minister to us greatly. I was skeptical that I would actually enjoy four weeks without Pastor Aaron's preaching, but then he gave a teaser to one of the stories. The story of a young girl halfway around the world on a mission trip to India when her mother passed away unexpectedly.... The story reminded me of my dear Christina, and I knew that come heck or high water I would NOT miss that story!

This weekend.... ohhhhhh this weekend!  Friday night we had our Pampered Chef fundraiser and a few hours before while I was still in the HEAT of barking out orders to the kids to clean up, trying to make homemade salsa and guacamole, and had not yet taken a shower, I found Auntie Marge wandering down the hallway wearing nothing from the waist down but one sock. This was my final clue that she was indeed, as I had been suspecting for about a week, ill. The doctor wouldn't prescribe anything without seeing her, and I couldn't get her to the doctor that night so I planned to take her in the next morning. We were up late from the Pampered Chef party and didn't get to bed till nearly midnight. At about 2 a.m. Hannah woke me when she banged her puke bucket into my head, "I think I'm gonna throw up, Momma." I spent the next few hours listening to her bark this AWFUL cough that made her sound like a yippy dog before drifting off into a VERY light sleep next to her. At 7 a.m., I heard Auntie Marge calling me from the bathroom. She had an accident that required a shower and full cleaning of the toilet/bathroom. The weekend proceeded much like that.... went to the urgent care with BOTH Hannah and Auntie Marge. Hardly slept AT ALL Saturday night as well because of a headache and some insomnia over stress... Sunday morning dawned, and I did NOT feel like going to church. I was EXHAUSTED... But there was NO WAY Satan was keeping ME from THIS sermon!  John and I devised a plan that involved going to church in two shifts in order to keep our little Sickie Vickie from infecting other children. I threw down a cup of coffee and headed off to first service.

The worship was POWERFUL and amazing as always. This guy they have leading worship at our church lately is nothing short of FABULOUS!  He wrote the first song we sang.... It was the debut of the song in Sunday service, but had been sung in Youth Group already.... Jeremiah leaned over and said, "Mom, this is IT! My favorite song I was telling you about!"  I love when my children are excited about the things of God!

So then it was time.... I had my plan... pay attention closely for some good stuff to tell Christina... wisdom that she would TOTALLY be able to relate to.  She came out... This adorable young thing who wasn't even BORN when I graduated from high school!  I was sure she had something to share with Christina but me??? I'm an old foggie.... I've heard it all before..... WHATEVER!  She ROCKED MY WORLD!  I mean it ROCKED MY WORLD!

Her testimony of losing her mother made me BAWL.... that I expected. I am such an empathetic person that I felt her loss, as told through her story, VERY deeply. But then like a right hook out of nowhere, this girl started getting in MY kitchen. She talked about the choice when you suffer a loss... the choice to be bitter or to trust God.  She talked about the fact that EVEN Jesus wept... so WE can weep too in loss. But I think what gutted me the most was her bare-naked honesty.... I am SO glad this young lady had the courage to say what wouldn't make her look the best in some circles. She admitted that on the way home to the United States after her mother had passed away she questioned God... she thought, "Really God.... I'm here doing YOUR business and You couldn't just have her hang on a little longer so I could say goodbye?"  It GUTTED me!  See I have felt that!  I have thought that!  "Lord, I've given you my life!  I've served you UNWAVERINGLY since I was a little girl! You really couldn't just protect this one thing I held MOST dear???"

After the sermon, I went forward for prayer. That was a BIG step for me!  I have RESISTED God's prodding to do so many times before at this church... I don't know why... I think mostly because I don't like the unknown of how it is going to go down... But this time... I just walked up there... straight to the beautiful, young whippersnapper who had just WRECKED me with her sermon. And as she prayed for me I felt a WEIGHT I have been carrying for several years lifting off my shoulders.... a freedom that it is OKAY to hurt and feel and WEEP... and a release from some of the weight of my guilt at not being "godly enough" to weather my loss with a smile on my face and pep in my step.

See I have LONG believed that God isn't afraid of our honesty. I have LONG believed that I had permission to weep. But for some reason, on THIS day, from THIS girl, in THIS moment I had a WORD from God that GRIPPED my heart.... and I really BELIEVED that it was okay to weep because Jesus did it too!

Today my friends let me encourage you.... Whatever you are going through right now.... Whether it is a MAJOR loss or a minor setback, it is OKAY to weep, to feel, to be angry, to be HONEST... It is okay because that is the model Jesus set for us.... He was honest.... he even got angry.... he even questioned God in the Garden of Gethsemane.... he WEPT... so we can too.

Oh and one final thing.... I realized at the end of the message that I didn't even know what to tell Christina.... I had gone to church "for her" so I could share things that would minister to her, but two minutes in I completely forgot about her because I was in the midst of my own moment with God.... Don't worry... I sent her a link to the live feed of the second service so she wouldn't miss out completely... And I'm pretty sure she'll read this blog too...

Jesus wept.
John 11:35

Jesus is with you always....

Our pastor was on vaca yesterday, so our Executive Pastor, Ryan Coggins stepped up to bat. BOY did he KNOCK it out of the park with this one!

For me, I found myself in a place of reminiscing over all that Jesus has walked with me through.... but the whole sermon I could feel the Holy Spirit prodding me to post a link to this sermon... there is someone who either reads my blog or will stumble across my blog and they NEED TO HEAR THIS!  It is someone who feels as if Jesus has abandoned them.... It is someone who is struggling through DEEP and tumultuous waters.... Please if you are that someone God has put on my heart, listen to this sermon!!!!  I hope it ministers to your soul.

Jesus is With You Always - Ryan Coggins

Day 1.... Garden

Today I decided to just take a look at my vegetable garden. I had given up on it a few weeks ago. See when I was planting my tomato plants back in May, I dug up an ant hill. Ever since then I have been warring with the ants for control of that tiny little plot of land. A few weeks ago with anthills everywhere and plants which looked like they hadn't grown a millimeter I threw in the towel. However, today out of morbid curiosity I took a little jaunt over there to check out what had become of my little guys. What I saw shocked me! Several of my tomato plants were blossoming! I could NOT believe my eyes! I got to work fighting a new battle, this time against the weeds and grass which were threatening to overtake my tiny little garden. Three hours, one aching back and more blisters then I can count later I had reclaimed about seventy-five percent of my garden and come away with a great analogy.

See this soul cleansing John and I have embarked on is a REALLY good idea. However, I couldn't miss the lesson from my neglected garden. Ignoring a garden for weeks and then trying to reclaim it is MUCH more back breaking then simply caring for it daily. A thorough soul cleansing is good for us, BUT if it is all the "tending" we do for our spirit it will be back breaking and gut wrenching. A cleanse of our spirits will be much easier to weather if it is coupled with daily caring for our soul.

However, even with daily care, our souls can get gunked up with the ick of this world. That's why John and I are on this soul cleanse. And today was a GREAT day! We stuck to all of the things we have resolved to do (and not do) today. We had decided yesterday to share with the children what we were doing but not force them to do any of it. We wanted them to make their own decision on the matter. It has been QUITE a blessing to observe the cleansing of their souls. When I asked Hannah what she wanted God to do this week, she answered, "Heal my Daddy's owie." This morning Noah showed he had really been pondering this concept when he showed me what he had written in his journal, that God would "make me a better man."

Our "Interim Church" turned out to be pretty cool. We weren't taken aback by the fact that our little posse of seven was about one-fifth of the congregation today. It was SMALL! While I still really LOVE LifeChurch, I had the oddest sensation that we just kinda "fit" at Marshview Ministries. Only God knows what is in store for us there, but for now it is a great place for the Kastners to worship closer to home. Two random thoughts from the sermon that I REALLY liked:

1. Elephants in the Sahara desert have ears that are sensitive enough to hear rain falling from miles away. I want to be that sensitive to the voice of God.

2. We need to hunger and thirst for righteousness like we HAVE to eat or drink or we will die!

I did have a brief moment today where I nearly lost my resolve (and my marbles). I was trying to make lunch and EVERY SINGLE person who lives in this house besides John was talking to me at the same time. Noah and Elijah were begging to play Xbox. Auntie Marge was chiding me for not letting her buy McDonalds for lunch cuz "that would have solved your problem of what to make for lunch." Jeremiah was repeatedly asking to watch a show. I started to go postal on everyone's butts, but then I remembered what I was supposed to be doing this week. I dropped my mayonnaise-covered knife and went to John and asked him to pray for me. Then with my spirit calmed, I returned to making sandwiches and listening to everyone clamor my name at the exact same time.

So Day 1 is nearly over.... I'm feeling pretty good about this thing we've embarked on. I'm also feeling this odd sneaking suspicion that God has already freed me from two of the things I am asking Him to bring me healing in. However, I don't want to jump the gun on proclaiming victory so I think I will simmer on it a little while. All I can say is I just feel DIFFERENT in my thoughts/fears/worries/even actions towards these two specific topics and if that is ALL I get from this week it will be so much more then enough.

Please pray for us after you read this. Tomorrow will be the true test if we can really clean our icky souls out... Taking a soul cleanse into the work week... I'll let you know how it goes!

Put on love...

Did you know that a state trooper without much to do on a Sunday morning can pull you over because your front license plate is only attached by one of the two bolts? We know that now.

Serious as a heart attack, this morning lead-foot hubby is driving WELL within the speed limit because now that he is driving on an occupational license from too many points for speeding he knows hasn't-had-a-ticket-in-6-years wifey may KILL him for exceeding the speed limit by even one mile. We drive past about four cops pulling people over (boy that crowd headed to church on Sunday morning must be more dangerous than the bar crowd letting out at 2 am). Speed demon hubby (again INCHING along at the posted limit) is exiting freeway while wifey says, "Boy are they out in force this morning!" Sure enough... flashing lights in the rearview mirror.

I am actually starting to believe my husband's paranoid assertion that the man with the badge is out to get him. We got a warning for violating a traffic regulation. There was no fine associated with the warning. It comes with no points. I asked the police officer, and we don't even have to take the citation in and prove we fixed the problem. Pretty much that whole pull over was just to make sure that we nearly missed church. We deposited the children at their respective Sunday school areas and scooted into service just in time to catch the very last song of the worship set. (Which was lucky cuz at our church, you cannot reenter the sanctuary during the preaching of the word.)

Pastor Aaron was ON FIRE again today, and coincidentally enough (although I, just like Leroy Jethro Gibbs, do not believe in coincidences) his sermon included EXACTLY what I had planned to blog about today. The second thing that God has been teaching me through this incredibly stressful, testing time: And over all these virtues put on love, (Colossians 3:14a)

See through all the things I spewed about yesterday: caring for two elderly (and not always very agreeable) relatives, having no wash machine, crabby husband plagued by tight neck muscles, still not quite able to pay the bills, and a SERIOUS desire to assault a law enforcement officer this morning.... besides praying without ceasing, God has been telling me to put on love. When I am at the end of my patience.... when I have nothing left to give.... when I have cleaned up one too many poop accidents... when I am frustrated with lead foot hubby... when I want to deck a cop who had nothing better to do with his time then make us late for church because of a stupid license plate.... put on love....

You can NEVER go wrong with this strategy. You are NOT going to EVER stand before God and hear: Gosh you just loved too often. I really wish you had been cranky more. or You were too kindhearted. You shoulda been a bit more selfish.

And over all these virtues put on love.... It has been seeping slowing into the recesses of my mind. I am not getting the application of it very well, because with the heat turned up pretty high on me, I am having a hard time donning the coat of love.... I'd prefer to blow up when the kids are whining about doing their lessons. I'd prefer to be snarky when Gma is fighting me about watching her sugar intake. I'd prefer to offer some CHOICE words to sore, stiff-necked hubby. And I REALLY would have preferred to punch that State Trooper in the face.

Instead, I am trying very hard to remind myself that love is NEVER a bad option. It should be my "go-to" strategy ESPECIALLY when things get hot. So today (THANKFULLY because it kept us out of jail) instead of punching that officer, I pleasantly said, "Have a nice day." As John slowly pulled away.

Here's to putting on love! It is a wonderful strategy.

He is!

This place called Lifechurch is really just watering my dry and weary soul. It has been a long hard road for me this past year, and I am so grateful God has placed us in this church to get a little restoration. This week Eva was back leading worship! Gosh I LOVE that girl! Her love for Jesus OOZES out of every pore. She beckons me to come worship Him. THAT is what I want from a worship leader. I guess I want someone who can hit a few right notes, and it doesn't hurt that she dresses pretty cute too, but show me how to WORSHIP! LEAD me to WORSHIP! That's what I need!

And Pastor Aaron.... Oh Pastor Aaron... I do NOT know how he does it EVERY week, but I've yet to hear him preach a sermon that's a flop. I'm really enjoying his series, Prisoner's Blog. Today's entry: He is... I thought I'd just ramble a bit and give excerpts from this sermon with my thoughts on it. How it hit me. How God impressed it upon my heart. How He spoke to me through it.

"Whatever issue you are facing today, He IS." It doesn't matter what you're going through. It doesn't matter what is in front of you, He IS. He IS big enough to conquer it. He IS powerful enough to defeat it. He IS rich enough to pay it. He IS loving enough to heal it. He IS. "He IS whatever you need." If you need healing today, He IS. If you need provision today, He IS. If your marriage is in trouble, He IS. If your bills are overdue, He IS. If your children are walking in rebellion, He IS. If your alcoholism is out of control, He IS. If your heart is breaking, your world is crumbling, and you are ready to throw in the towel, He IS.

"God wants to be first or nothing at all." How many times do we give God sloppy-seconds? How often do we put Him on the back burner? How often do we push our Bible aside and pick up the newspaper instead? He wants to be FIRST place. He wants to be what we rush too. You know when you wake up in the morning, and you have that morning dry mouth feeling? You are PARCHED! All you can think about is getting a drink of water to rehydrate your sleep dried mouth. You rush for that glass and fill it up quick! Then relief, as that water rushes down your throat, refreshing you. That's how God wants us to feel about Him. He wants us to have an urgency to meet with Him. He wants us to rush to His Word like that first morning glass of water. He wants us to let His promises, His instruction, His encouragement, rush down our soul and refresh us. When we are in trouble, He wants us to run to Him FIRST. When we are excited, He wants us to run to Him FIRST. When we need guidance, He wants us to run to Him FIRST.

"It rains on the righteous and the evil." "God is the Sustainer." When your life is falling apart, when your marriage is falling apart, when there is chaos all around you, He will sustain you. I thought back to last fall. I remember how terrified we were to walk through the trial of brain surgery. I remember the fear of losing my husband. I remember the fear of not being able to feed my family. But when I look back on that time, what stands out the most is NOT negative feelings. I praise God continually for that time. We had SO much family time. We LOVED having John home. That extended period of Forced Family Fun saved this family from the rocks of destruction. I also remember how AWE-inspiring and FAITH-affirming it was to see God provide for our physical and financial needs over and over and over again. From sources unknown and through people we had NO idea were even following our saga. It was one of the most incredible things we have EVER been through. He truly was our Sustainer in the midst of those troubled times.

Finally, I just HAVE to close with a few funny things Pastor Aaron says that I just LOVE! I absolutely love it when he says, "I'm in someone's kitchen now!" when he is starting to preach something that's hitting close to home. I also loved his Granny's saying from a few weeks ago, "If if's and but's were candy & nuts, my what a Merry Christmas we'd have." I love it when he says, "Tell the truth and shame the devil." This week he said, "Opinion's are like armpits. You've got a couple and some of the time they stink." But this was my ALL TIME FAVORITE so far! "Going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than going to Taco Bell makes you a Grande Buritto." Marinate on that for a moment!

It was a GREAT Sunday to be in the House of the Lord! This girl got her worship on, was blessed by the preaching of the Word and even ran into a few old friends. Hope your Sunday was good too.

Pastor Aaron for President????

Wowzer! Aaron Cole you KNOCKED my socks off yesterday! I seriously do not think I have heard Pastor Aaron preach ONE sermon that has not socked me right in the gut. But yesterday was REALLY good. I loved it! It challenged me. It affirmed me. It was AMAZING!

His new series is Prisoner's Blog. It is a series on Colossians. Before I get into the spiritual ramifications of this sermon, let me just address the aesthetics. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the current"ness" of Lifechurch. They continually use media, lighting, and atmosphere to create a contemporary environment that just SPEAKS to me! I love the creativity of this series title. I love the use of audio visual presentations to introduce it. But strip that all away... were it just Aaron Cole standing in his grubbies in the middle of an empty warehouse with wooden crates for seats, yesterday's sermon STILL would have rocked my world!

Lord Jesus Christ - I always find it funny that I have been a Christian since I was 10 years old and have been ACTIVELY pursuing a relationship with God at least all of my adult life, and yet STILL portions of scripture or Biblical concepts can rock my world like I've never heard them. It happened last week when I was working on AWANA lessons with the kids. We read the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, and I thought, "I SERIOUSLY do not EVER remember hearing this story!" I mean I have read through the entire Bible cover-to-cover at least once and the New Testament SEVERAL times and this story JUMPED at me like I had never heard it before. When Pastor Aaron explained the significance of the usage of the name Lord Jesus Christ all together, it did the same thing. He said that when Paul used all three terms together it wasn't random. It wasn't just what he felt like calling Jesus at that moment. When Paul refers to Jesus as the "Lord Jesus Christ," he is doing so deliberately to call attention to Jesus being Lord (the only way), Jesus (humanity), and Christ (divinity). Wow! Paul was preaching a sermon in just three little words! Amazing!

Power in the name of Jesus - There is POWER in His name. I learned that VERY intimately this summer. I battled some pretty tough attacks from Satan, and the ONLY way I got any victory was through over and over and over again calling the name of Jesus. His name is the only one that saves. His name is the only one that defeats Satan. His name is the ONLY one. When we pray "in Jesus' name," we are praying something powerful. When we use the name of Jesus in ANY way, there is POWER!

LOVE will change the world - LOVE! Not judgment. LOVE! Not lectures. LOVE! Not picketing. This part of the sermon really, really, really ministered to me. I loved how Pastor Aaron went on about how loving someone is NOT condoning their actions. There is NO WAY we are EVER going to shame someone into the kingdom. Oh and one more thing... the Bible doesn't say God is shame... it says God is LOVE.

That's between you and the Lord - It's our job as Christians to lead people to the Lord. It is the Holy Spirit's job to bring conviction about sin in their lives. I guess I just don't get why so often we (Christians) think it is our job to tell other people how they should live their lives. I wrote it down and underlined it twice when Pastor Aaron said, "That's between you and the Lord." We have two things to worry about: 1. spreading the gospel and 2. getting the plank out of our eye. We don't have to worry about the speck in someone else's eye.

Again I've yet to find a sermon Pastor Aaron has preached that wasn't earth shattering for me. I cry almost EVERY time I hear him preach. I would be hard pressed to order his sermons from best to least best because they are all SO good, but this one is at the top of the list right now simply because it is freshest in my mind. And maybe Pastor Aaron for President is taking it a little far, but I will tell you this... That man was PREACHING yesterday!

My heart for missions....

Sunday at church the message was called Give3 - Part 2 in a series entitled Give & Go. It was about missions, about three different ways we should give: financially, spiritually, and physically. While the sermon was delivered about foreign missions, the application of the Word to my heart was slightly different. I'm not saying that starving children in Ethiopia don't tug at my heart strings. I will admit tears streamed down my face over the story of the Indian orphan being put to bed on a mattress-less bed of wooden slats. Yet my heart for missions is a bit closer to home. My heart breaks over the mission field I see right in my backyard: hungry families in my community, broken children right here whose families are torn apart, confused teenagers at my local high school who are trying to navigate the stormy waters of this thing called adolescence. They need Jesus. They need food. They clothes to wear to school. They need their broken hearts soothed and their murky minds made clear. While the suffering of ALL people lies heavily on my heart, the people right in my backyard are those who are indelibly imprinted on "my heart for missions." I don't know what people group is most heavy on your heart, but it doesn't really matter. The need to give of ourselves financially, spiritually, and physically applies to every part of the mission field.

We need to give financially out of our assets. I always find it interesting to observe the discomfort whenever a message is delivered which includes a commission to give financially. People are so uncomfortable with this! From the person delivering the message to the those hearing it, discomfort abounds. Why?!?!?! Why do we cling so tightly to our stupid STUFF?!?!?! That amazes me. From the perspective of someone who has no money and very few tangible assets available, I can tell you that money is NOT important. I can also tell you that God doesn't need your money to move. He doesn't need you to tithe and give in order to do something miraculous. You wanna know why? HE ALREADY OWNS IT ALL! Your money, your house, your cars, your toys.... they are ALL His. The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; (Psalm 24:1) You know why God needs you to give of your tangible assets? It is NOT for His benefit. It is for YOURS. When you give your assets, YOU ARE BLESSED! That's why God wants you to give! He doesn't need your stuff! He wants you to be blessed.

We also need to give spiritually. It made me think, "What am I doing to give of myself spiritually?" There are so many ways to give of yourself spiritually!

1. Pray! John and I have this habit. When we tell someone we will pray for them, we try very hard to STOP and pray right then. I think sometimes people are a little taken aback by this, but our rationale is if we don't pray right that moment, we might not remember to pray at all. If you are not comfortable praying out loud for someone, then right away after hearing of a need stop and pray silently for it. But PRAY! It is the BEST way to give of yourself spiritually.

2. Share! You can give of yourself spiritually just by sharing what God is doing in your life. When God blesses you with an answered prayed, tell the WHOLE world about it! When God reveals something to you through your reading of the Word, share it with someone. When you hear something amazing in church, tell someone. When I was a little girl, we had this Christian songbook, and my FAVORITE song in that book was Pass it On. The lyrics went: it only takes a spark to get a fire going.... and soon all those around can warm up in its glowing.... that's how it is with God's love... once you experience it.... you want to sing... it's fresh like spring... you want to pass it on.... That's all we're talking about here... pass it on! Pass the love of God on to others by sharing what He says to you.

The final encouragement is to give physically. Basically to get up and DO SOMETHING! Make a meal for a family in need. Invite that new person in your neighborhood over for dinner. Offer to clean the house of the woman at church who just had a new baby. For me I heard this as a poke in the fanny to get back to FAITHFULLY blogging. I have been SO remiss about writing lately. So many tell me that the words God gives me to blog minister to them, yet I have let the busyness of life crowd in and I have NOT been blogging very much. Blogging is a way I can physically DO something to spread God's word. As scary as it is because I am terrified the second I type it I will fail, I am committing right here, with my blog readers as witnesses, to blog at least every other day! Yikes! I'm not sure how I'll keep up with that standard, but I am going to give it the old college try.

I hope this blog made you thing about giving of yourself. Whether your heart is drawn to starving children in Ethiopia, to hungry families in Hartford, or to confused college students on campus, give of yourself materially, spiritually, and physically to that cause.

Eyes on Heaven; feet on the ground

On Sunday in church, our pastor showed a great video clip about the rapture. All week long it has been on my mind. The troubles and stress of this earth make me long so desperately for Heaven. I see illness, suffering and hardship all around me. It seems like every day I hear of a new person battling cancer, someone else who lost a loved one, or another job which fell victim to this terrible economy. Then there’s the stress…oh the stress. Each morning I wake and immediately begin my frenzied pace. I start the coffee and the laundry; get John up and off to work. I pray, read my Bible and blog. Then I take a quick break to run down and switch the loads. I hurry to get my work calls in before too many children awake. After working, I direct the kids to start their morning chores and lessons. Then there’s more laundry to be done, a load of dishes for the dishwasher, and a bit more work before feeding them lunch and putting Hannah down for a nap. Then it is afternoon work for me and lessons for the kids followed by more chores for the kids, more loads of laundry for me, and a quickly thrown together dinner. I rarely have time to exercise, and only occasionally do I get a few moments of downtime. Some nights we have soccer practice or Bible club or youth group kids coming over. AHHHHH! Most nights I find myself dropping into bed somewhere around 10 p.m. thinking of all the things I did not get finished and before I know it the alarm sounds and I am off to the races again.

All of it just makes me LONG to be in Heaven. I want to be walking the streets of gold. I want to just sit at my Savior’s feet basking in His glory. I want to praise Him without interruption or distraction. I want to be done with pain and sorrow and tears. I want stress to be a thing of the past and hanging with my Savior to be the only thing on my to do list.

Alas however here I am still on the earth….what to do? what to do? At the end of each day whether I have a completely checked off to do list or a ton of items still pending, whether cancer has won or been defeated, whether all is well or not well, I have to keep my eyes on Heaven and my feet on the ground. I just have to keep gazing forward to the day when I am standing before Him while working hard on all the things God is calling me to complete this day. It is hard because my spirit groans inside of me. I long for what is to come. Yet that is not what God has called me to this day.

So join with me please. Turn your head up and get your eyes on Heaven. Can you see those streets of gold? Can you hear the angels praising Him? Can you feel that longing to be with Him? But be careful! Keep your feet planted here on earth, because there is oh so much to do here before He returns.

Press through... Press through... Press through....

I love to worship. It is something I do when I am folding laundry, driving down the street, even taking a shower too. It is my favorite part of going to church. I love to sing praises to my Savior. Lately I have been having a VERY hard time worshiping during church. The reasons why are many and varied, but yesterday the root cause started coming together in my head: Satan does not want me to offer praise to my God.

Now I am not one to see a boogey man around every corner (okay maybe I am a little bit), but I believe strongly that the devil is a real presence and that his one goal is to destroy me. This belief is proven by scripture: Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (I Peter 5:8) Yesterday as all the distractions assaulted me, I realized this is Satan attacking me. As I let that thought roll around in my brain, I realized that Satan’s attacks to my worship begins LONG before I even walk through the doors of our church.

I know you’ve noticed it. Haven’t you? Sunday mornings can be SO stressful: a lost shoe, alarm that didn’t go off, misplaced Bible. One time I even got a speeding ticket on the way to church! Before you know it, you are arguing with your spouse, shouting at your child and not at all in the right frame of mind to go worship your Creator. We have noticed this phenomenom. In order combat it, the second we get in the car to drive to church we start to pray. We pray for our hearts to be softened and for our spirits to be drawn to the things of God. We also pray for other families on their way to church that peace might reign in their homes, their cars, and their hearts. This has really helped to calm the discord, but Satan doesn’t give up that easily.

If somehow I make it to church and into the sanctuary with my desire to praise still intact, Satan seems to step up the attack in order to get my eyes off of God. Sometimes the distractions come from wrong notes being sung, improperly advancing slides, or other technical difficulties. But yesterday, my biggest source of distraction was my beautiful children. I was standing there trying so hard to press through the distractions all around me, and my kids were hanging on me, hugging me, even racing about the sanctuary. This is the moment at which I realized what a sneaky, snake the devil is. Here he was using my favorite thing on this earth, my babies, to distract me from worshipping my God. I calmly directed my children to praise or sit quietly still returned to lifting my hands and praising my Lord. I could hear one though echoing through my brain, “Press through…. Press through… Press through….”

Sometimes it is not easy to praise God, follow God, hear from God, but we have to press through. We have to press through the distractions of children interrupting our worship, dirty dishes calling us to step away from our study of the Bible, and sinful tendencies calling us to turn away from our God. We have to press through!

No matter how big the distraction, I hope today you’ll hear this thought echoing through your brain, “Press through… Press through…. Press through…” And next week Sunday when you wake up, before you even put your feet on the ground, remember: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12). Then purpose in your heart to say, "Get thee behind me Satan!" every time a distraction comes your way. So that in the end you can stand, focused on your Savior, and singing the praises He is due.