A Time For Every Season....

Drew set up a tea party for his little sister. He is such a special big brother who loves to dress up his sissy and drink tea! For those who know Drew, is isn't shocking for me to say that he is my "thinker." I came home from the  Mom Heart conference with a renewed  vigor to model for my kids the joy and awesomeness of the Lord. We've been singing great hymns and songs about God and today we began a book about the great sacrifices Christian's have given for their faith. Sally encouraged us to give our children hero's - hero's who were passionate about God and who served Him with sacrifice. Hero's for my children to emulate. My sweet Drew is so close to having a saving relationship with Jesus, I say "saving" because he has a relationship with Jesus, he just isn't quite to the point where he grasps the sacrifice and commitment that the Lord offers & requires. Having a personal relationship with Jesus isn't just a prayer and t...

Again, I drove to Dallas, exhausted, weary, & broken. I needed to drink from the biblical wisdom of a woman who has gone before me, who has raised up a generation of leaders who have convictions and depth. I attended my 4th Mom Heart Conference and drank from the well of living water. What an impact Sally Clarkson has had on my life. She reminds me and encourages me of the truths laid out in scripture. She convicts my heart and brings up my pride as gently as anyone I know, then gentle moves me from that shame and covers me with a reminder of God's abundant grace. I stood in awe and sang with a chorus of 800 women all walking through the same battle - captivating the hearts of our children. I  stood trembling as Sally shared a dream the Lord gave her many years ago when she too was weary of ministering. The dream showed a  newborn baby, laying alone on a white blanket screaming and flailing his fists. His lungs were screaming out and his face blue. Sally and the Lord wer...

Am I really parenting my children as Christ has called me to? That is the question Elise Fitzpatrick and her daughter Jessica Thompson pose in the first chapter of her book, Give Them Grace . I've read books on grace before, like Tim Kimmel's book, Grace Based Parenting, which dives into the same question, As a Christian parent, how do I help my children fall in love with Jesus?  I must express that I picked up this book because I really am struggling with what my role is in parenting my children, how does the day to day squabbled and life's messiness lead them to the Cross of Jesus? Should I ask my son if he wants to accept Christ - I know he would say "yes!" but is saying yes, praying a prayer and being baptized all there is to it? I don't think so! I see far too many luk- warm Jesus proclaimers who go to church and maybe even join a church, but Jesus has no place in their Monday through Saturday lives. Jesus isn't a Sunday event, as our pastor remi...

From 1/31/2011 - a great reminder for me today! "A thankful heart is constantly extending grace  because it has received grace. Love and Grace are uneven." "Grace Begets Grace." Paul Miller, A Praying Life Page 152 Grace ~ a word I thought I knew much about. From a young age I learned in church that grace was "unmerited favor."   Now, ask me to define that in my own words and I would have said something like, "I am unworthy of anything and God has shown fit to bless me with a relationship with Him."  Over the last few months the  Lord has been speaking to my heart about living a grace- filled life. It  began last August with a Kay Arthur bible study on Spiritual gifts. I studied the word "Charis" (5485), it is Greek for grace and in the context I was reading meant "grace gifts or gifts of grace." I was slightly intrigued by this concept of spiritual gifts being gifts of grace. I never thought of spiritu...

I was reading through Genesis this week and just felt such frustration towards these men of great faith - like Abraham  and Noah and Isaac & Jacob. I see their stories unfold and all the trouble and sin they get themselves into. I then go to Hebrews and read about their great faith and how they are  beloved by God. I stop,  look around at my children's hearts, their sin nature -- my own sin nature. I look at some bad choices they have made this last week and Satan subtly sneaks in and says "...they are broken, you are broken, God will never use you, your just a mess up sinner that will always make mistakes...." Somehow I read these crazy bad choices of God fearing men and women and am encouraged. I am encouraged because God dealt directly with their sin and then moved on. He never brought up their failings and bad choices again. God dealt with the sin, he didn't overlook it, then pushed them on towards a mission. These crazy characters of old inspired me thi...

 Our little girly is in love with her big  brothers. She looks up to them and copies them and adores them. This week Drew had the best time dressing up his sister, he was  making her "beautiful" by doing her hair and dressing her up. He ingeniously used the ladder from his castle to make  a beautiful crown for her head, then took every bow he could find and decorated  her hair, Drew topped the hair off with two tutu's and her favorite pair of ladybug boots. Isn't she cute! Oh yes, and Drew lost his first tooth (other than the two we had to pull that is). I just love my kids!