"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV84)
Stand firm!! Don't let this world and all it's philosophies sway you!! Don't let your difficult circumstances cause you to question God! Don't give in to the least bit of temptation! Forgive & move on!
Henry Blackaby gives a great explanation of God's work. He explains that God is working all around you; you must join Him in his work. You know He is working when lives are being changed! Don't sit in your "Christian bubble" and expect to be used by God! Plant and water seeds of faith simply by seeing every conversation, question about God, opportunity to serve, request for prayer, and solicited opinions as a chance to do God's work - He's working all around you! Join Him! It WILL NOT be in vain!!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Love IS (based on 1 Cor 13:5)
"It is not rude, it is not self‑seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. (1 Corinthians 13:5 NIV84)"
Changing the definition to what love IS based on this passage...
Love is courteous in behavior & speech, selfless, generous, and devoted to the welfare of others.
Love is self-controlled and calm in all situations, and it is forgiving and willing to move gracefully into the future for God's glory.
Since "God is love" (1John 4:8), when you act out in love, you take on his character & being!!
Changing the definition to what love IS based on this passage...
Love is courteous in behavior & speech, selfless, generous, and devoted to the welfare of others.
Love is self-controlled and calm in all situations, and it is forgiving and willing to move gracefully into the future for God's glory.
Since "God is love" (1John 4:8), when you act out in love, you take on his character & being!!
Friday, January 6, 2012
Face God Or Face the Fire
"Better to be confronted by the Master now than to face a fiery confrontation later. (1 Corinthians 11:32 MSG)"
The Lord disciplines those he loves, so if you feel as though God has you up against a wall, several things could be happening:
1) He's calling you to Him for the first time
2) He's giving you an opportunity to completely surrender your life
3) You are suffering consequences of your own sin
4) God is teaching and growing you so you can ultimately bring more glory to Him.
The Lord confronts because he is a loving Father that knows what's best for you - don't run from Him!! Face Him or face the fire!!
The Lord disciplines those he loves, so if you feel as though God has you up against a wall, several things could be happening:
1) He's calling you to Him for the first time
2) He's giving you an opportunity to completely surrender your life
3) You are suffering consequences of your own sin
4) God is teaching and growing you so you can ultimately bring more glory to Him.
The Lord confronts because he is a loving Father that knows what's best for you - don't run from Him!! Face Him or face the fire!!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Knowing God is Knowledge Enough
"but sometimes our humble hearts can help us more than our proud minds. We never really know enough until we recognize that God alone knows it all. (1 Corinthians 8:2, 3 MSG)"
Pride says, "I don't need anyone's help; I've got it all under control."
Humility says, "I need help...I was wrong...I'm no better than anyone else"
God says, "I am all you need and need to know; leave the rest up to me"
Pride says, "I don't need anyone's help; I've got it all under control."
Humility says, "I need help...I was wrong...I'm no better than anyone else"
God says, "I am all you need and need to know; leave the rest up to me"
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Update from Virginia!
Greetings from the "State for Lovers"! (When asked why they call it that, the lady working at the Welcome Center said, "It was a tourist campaign that stuck since there was so much to do here!")
It's almost been 6 weeks since our arrival in VA and we have had our fair share of challenges and blessings...
In the last 6 weeks, we have:
The kids are adjusting well. They miss their friends but they have been so resilient and accepting of our new home town. Hope does yoga on Wednesday nights. Tanner, Tristan, and Hope do a kid's conditioning class while Hannah and I hit the treadmills and machines at the gym on Wednesdays. All of the kids have made at least one friend either at church, the gym, or a co-op that we visited.
Antoinette landed a job almost immediately at the Woodlake Child Development Center just down the road. She was hired on the spot and works with babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. She is attended her first "Young Adult" night with a church we are visiting as I type this.
Crissy found a job at Michael and Son plumbing, electrical, and HVAC company. They hired her as a receptionist but is doing all office managing duties and phone sales. She is currently part-time and is starting school on April 4th. She attends an Experiencing God bible study on Tuesday night and is quickly getting addicted to being tortured at the spin classes (stationary bikes). Ryan just celebrated his 4th birthday with us. His is becoming more articulate and gaining weight!!
It's almost been 6 weeks since our arrival in VA and we have had our fair share of challenges and blessings...
In the last 6 weeks, we have:
- Made 4 trips to the doctor
- Began a journey with couponing and shopping grocery store ads
- Visited 3 churches
- Visited our local Children's Museum
- Joined our community Fitness/Aquatic Center (they let all 9 of us join as a family). The kids have a place to swim for the summer and we are all getting into shape.
- Gotten lost on foot in our own community - we used Jeff's GPS on his phone to get home. It was all of us plus 2 big dogs!
- Bought our first car with cash - a 2000 VW Passat (reducing Jeff's weekly feul bill by $60)
- Taken advantage of the social opportunities at the DMV
- Skyped with the Alarids, O'Dells, Faith Boggus, Kayla Coats and Face-timed the Satterwhites
- Had our first visitors - Nanny and Papa, Jeff's parents
- Visited the State Capitol and sat in the same room as our founding fathers
- Taken our family to Inflation Nation (An indoor play center with inflatables)- we need to open one in Harrison!
The kids are adjusting well. They miss their friends but they have been so resilient and accepting of our new home town. Hope does yoga on Wednesday nights. Tanner, Tristan, and Hope do a kid's conditioning class while Hannah and I hit the treadmills and machines at the gym on Wednesdays. All of the kids have made at least one friend either at church, the gym, or a co-op that we visited.
Antoinette landed a job almost immediately at the Woodlake Child Development Center just down the road. She was hired on the spot and works with babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. She is attended her first "Young Adult" night with a church we are visiting as I type this.
Crissy found a job at Michael and Son plumbing, electrical, and HVAC company. They hired her as a receptionist but is doing all office managing duties and phone sales. She is currently part-time and is starting school on April 4th. She attends an Experiencing God bible study on Tuesday night and is quickly getting addicted to being tortured at the spin classes (stationary bikes). Ryan just celebrated his 4th birthday with us. His is becoming more articulate and gaining weight!!
As for Jeff and I, we are spending many nights up late talking about what God is showing us daily as we journey through this difficult time. We are seeing God's faithfulness and provision being poured out on us!! Every person in our home has grow in the short amount of time we've been here. God (through Joyce Meyer) told me last night to keep my mind on the Promised Land and not to keep trying to run back to Egypt. I need to stop complaining about wanting my old life back in Harrison and instead press in on God's promises for my future. The only way out of the wilderness is to walk through it - easier said than done. Can you believe it took the Israelites 40 years to make an 11 day journey and only 2 of the original group actually made it - Joshua and Caleb? I need to offer up and release my fear, doubt, and sadness and give it to God as a seed so that it will be sowed to reap a harvest. I prayed many years to be used in a great capacity by God.... He has answered my prayers!!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
A Roman's 8:28 Move
Ok.... so our trip to Virginia did not come without it's challenges. It is truly a long, exhausting, and hard-to-follow story that I do not want to relive through this blog but I will say this... God works for the good of those who love him and who have been called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28).
When I find myself going through an extremely difficult time, I try very hard to focus on the truth which gives me great comfort and joy even when circumstances seam unbearable. I have seen the light at the end of the tunnel which are glimpses of hope that God is working out the details.
Making this long story extremely condensed, we had an awful time getting communication from the moving company. They didn't return phone calls, couldn't tell us where our truck was, didn't show up, tried to charge us over $2000 in added fees, damaged some furniture, couldn't get the billing correct, charged our credit card before services were rendered, and created an extremely frustrating experience for all of us when the customer service team couldn't help us. It was a complete and utter mess of a move but it was all part of the adventure!!
My husband, who is very professional and diplomatic, documented everything and mailed the president and CEO of the company to share everything with him. After speaking to him on several occasions and for extended periods of time found out that this moving company is a start-up company that he is trying to grow and was completely unaware of what was happening behind the scenes. He had just installed a call recording system and listened to the calls to match up Jeff's facts. We found out that 2 of the employees were planning to pocket the overage fees they were charging us. They have both been fired. One employee had traveled to Las Vegas without notifying the company, thus, the reason for unreturned calls. In the end, Jeff was asked what he thought a fair price was for the move (he was quoted $4600 and it was quickly approaching $7000) and he said $3800 considering the time wasted, unfair overages, and the damage done to furniture. He agreed and the money is soon to be reimbursed as long as we do not report them to the Better Business Bureau.
As an added bonus, the CEO spoke to Jeff on both professional and personal levels about ideas that would make his company better based on our experience. He is already putting into practice changes based on Jeff's feedback. Lastly, the guy needed Accounts Receivable solutions so Jeff is calling him this week to share how Gallium (Jeff's company) can help.
Isn't that just how God works? He always works it out!! Through it all, I kept saying that we would look back on this and laugh... well we are not quite there yet, but will be soon I hope. :)
When I find myself going through an extremely difficult time, I try very hard to focus on the truth which gives me great comfort and joy even when circumstances seam unbearable. I have seen the light at the end of the tunnel which are glimpses of hope that God is working out the details.
Making this long story extremely condensed, we had an awful time getting communication from the moving company. They didn't return phone calls, couldn't tell us where our truck was, didn't show up, tried to charge us over $2000 in added fees, damaged some furniture, couldn't get the billing correct, charged our credit card before services were rendered, and created an extremely frustrating experience for all of us when the customer service team couldn't help us. It was a complete and utter mess of a move but it was all part of the adventure!!
My husband, who is very professional and diplomatic, documented everything and mailed the president and CEO of the company to share everything with him. After speaking to him on several occasions and for extended periods of time found out that this moving company is a start-up company that he is trying to grow and was completely unaware of what was happening behind the scenes. He had just installed a call recording system and listened to the calls to match up Jeff's facts. We found out that 2 of the employees were planning to pocket the overage fees they were charging us. They have both been fired. One employee had traveled to Las Vegas without notifying the company, thus, the reason for unreturned calls. In the end, Jeff was asked what he thought a fair price was for the move (he was quoted $4600 and it was quickly approaching $7000) and he said $3800 considering the time wasted, unfair overages, and the damage done to furniture. He agreed and the money is soon to be reimbursed as long as we do not report them to the Better Business Bureau.
As an added bonus, the CEO spoke to Jeff on both professional and personal levels about ideas that would make his company better based on our experience. He is already putting into practice changes based on Jeff's feedback. Lastly, the guy needed Accounts Receivable solutions so Jeff is calling him this week to share how Gallium (Jeff's company) can help.
Isn't that just how God works? He always works it out!! Through it all, I kept saying that we would look back on this and laugh... well we are not quite there yet, but will be soon I hope. :)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
The Best of.... Arkansas
If someone would have told me 6 years ago that I would be living in Harrison, AR, home schooling our children and attending a Baptist church, I would have said they were Craaaaaaaazy! These last 4 years have been such an adventure to say the least. This "Best Of" list is a celebration of my time here.
Favorite memories of our first trip to AR to find a house:
Hudson's cow sign and selling frog legs, riding in Marty Burlesworth's MG because his wife was hurt and had to use the big car, driving 30 minutes to go to a restaurant (ate at the Candlestick Inn), finding out that some white-collar workers do also own farms.
Favorite Home school adventure:
Our visits to Bruce's chicken farm: I'll never forget the first time when he snapped the neck and sliced up several chickens on the back of his 4-wheeler while carrying on a conversation (my kids have finally healed). The second time Kerri and I went to pick up our new family members : several adorable baby chicks!! We raised chickens on the golf course (sorry... I didn't know the law) until they were beheaded by a ravenous predator. We had company that weekend when we found the dead bodies.
Favorite Restaurant in Harrison: Overall... Neighbors Mill then Jasmine as a close second.
Most Frequented Restaurant in Branson: Fuddruckers... favorite dining... Bleu Olive
Favorite Anniversary Celebration: Staying in a cabin at Mt. Nebo State Park near Russelville.
Least Favorite House Pest: Brown Recluse Spiders (in Florida, it was cockroaches)
Favorite Redneck Activity: Satellite dish sledding behind a Teryx.
Favorite Girltime Adventure: Christmas shopping trips with the ladies
Most Interesting Person I've Met: Bruce Medley - is there anything he can't do?
Favorite Saying First Heard in AR: "What have you" pronounced "wa hayee"
Favorite Church Memories: The dances and ASL: Captivated, I Surrender, the stomp, None But Jesus, Revelation Song. Shannon and his object lessons especially the one when he was preaching about filling up and being poured out and water came out of the pitcher so he proceeded to continue pouring out water on the stage - I don't know if that was planned but I got the lesson for sure!! Girltalk, Romance Uncensored (all of them), Zain Roland dressing up like the Easter Bunny.
Most Memorable Kidz Praise Memories: Berry Blast Theme Park with Jeff and Gerald in blue Dickies shorts and bowties, Jeff repelling from the high platform during a caving theme, Black and White night with Tammy and me in our fake eye lashes and afro wigs, Olympic synchronized swimming in kiddie pools with Tammy for BNK's Got Talent night, Kam and Bruce dressed as Wynona and Naomi Judd - a little disturbing but highly memorable nonetheless!!
Most Cherished Family Getaways: Camping with the Harrison family from Florida and staying at the "cabin" with the Satterwhites, Thanksgiving at the cabin.
Arkansas Firsts as a Family: canoeing, hiking, satellite dish sledding and regular sledding, deer hunting, caving, chicken farms, blueberry and raspberry picking, apple orchard, frozen custard, horseback riding, shooting guns, buiding a snowman, the Dirty Water 5K, Crawdad Days
Cherished Visitors to AR: Jeff's parents, The Harrison Family, Sarah Nance, Kayla Braddock Coats, Mikey Wallace, Sharon Wallace, Kristen Branson Langley, Debbie Phelan and sons, Lisa and Tony Garcia, Antoinette Garcia.
Everyone knows how much we have enjoyed living in Harrison and how sad we are to leave but God has something for us in VA and I am excited to find out what that is!! Please pray for us during this journey because it will be extremely difficult to part with our beloved friends and family!! Thank you to all those in Lakeland who helped us through our transition to AR - it gives me great comfort knowing that the relationships we had there have since been strengthened - isn't that just how God works?
Until next time....:)
Favorite memories of our first trip to AR to find a house:
Hudson's cow sign and selling frog legs, riding in Marty Burlesworth's MG because his wife was hurt and had to use the big car, driving 30 minutes to go to a restaurant (ate at the Candlestick Inn), finding out that some white-collar workers do also own farms.
Favorite Home school adventure:
Our visits to Bruce's chicken farm: I'll never forget the first time when he snapped the neck and sliced up several chickens on the back of his 4-wheeler while carrying on a conversation (my kids have finally healed). The second time Kerri and I went to pick up our new family members : several adorable baby chicks!! We raised chickens on the golf course (sorry... I didn't know the law) until they were beheaded by a ravenous predator. We had company that weekend when we found the dead bodies.
Favorite Restaurant in Harrison: Overall... Neighbors Mill then Jasmine as a close second.
Most Frequented Restaurant in Branson: Fuddruckers... favorite dining... Bleu Olive
Favorite Anniversary Celebration: Staying in a cabin at Mt. Nebo State Park near Russelville.
Least Favorite House Pest: Brown Recluse Spiders (in Florida, it was cockroaches)
Favorite Redneck Activity: Satellite dish sledding behind a Teryx.
Favorite Girltime Adventure: Christmas shopping trips with the ladies
Most Interesting Person I've Met: Bruce Medley - is there anything he can't do?
Favorite Saying First Heard in AR: "What have you" pronounced "wa hayee"
Favorite Church Memories: The dances and ASL: Captivated, I Surrender, the stomp, None But Jesus, Revelation Song. Shannon and his object lessons especially the one when he was preaching about filling up and being poured out and water came out of the pitcher so he proceeded to continue pouring out water on the stage - I don't know if that was planned but I got the lesson for sure!! Girltalk, Romance Uncensored (all of them), Zain Roland dressing up like the Easter Bunny.
Most Memorable Kidz Praise Memories: Berry Blast Theme Park with Jeff and Gerald in blue Dickies shorts and bowties, Jeff repelling from the high platform during a caving theme, Black and White night with Tammy and me in our fake eye lashes and afro wigs, Olympic synchronized swimming in kiddie pools with Tammy for BNK's Got Talent night, Kam and Bruce dressed as Wynona and Naomi Judd - a little disturbing but highly memorable nonetheless!!
Most Cherished Family Getaways: Camping with the Harrison family from Florida and staying at the "cabin" with the Satterwhites, Thanksgiving at the cabin.
Arkansas Firsts as a Family: canoeing, hiking, satellite dish sledding and regular sledding, deer hunting, caving, chicken farms, blueberry and raspberry picking, apple orchard, frozen custard, horseback riding, shooting guns, buiding a snowman, the Dirty Water 5K, Crawdad Days
Cherished Visitors to AR: Jeff's parents, The Harrison Family, Sarah Nance, Kayla Braddock Coats, Mikey Wallace, Sharon Wallace, Kristen Branson Langley, Debbie Phelan and sons, Lisa and Tony Garcia, Antoinette Garcia.
Everyone knows how much we have enjoyed living in Harrison and how sad we are to leave but God has something for us in VA and I am excited to find out what that is!! Please pray for us during this journey because it will be extremely difficult to part with our beloved friends and family!! Thank you to all those in Lakeland who helped us through our transition to AR - it gives me great comfort knowing that the relationships we had there have since been strengthened - isn't that just how God works?
Until next time....:)
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