Wednesday In The Word: Don't Let the Bats Get You Down

You may think that this illustration is a stretch but here goes, enjoy.

Two nights ago after spending a couple of hours trying to fall asleep, I finally reached laa laa land. However, in what seemed like two seconds I was abruptly awakened to the sounds of screams and loud footsteps. It was my daughter and her friend bolting into my room in total horror and panic. I sprang from my bed with heart racing and just waiting to hear the words that would make me aware of what drastic event had occurred!

JesseRuth screamed, “THERE IS A BAT IN MY ROOM!” She said, she and her friend were talking in her room and she saw something black out of the corner of her eye and then it swooped over her head. Then it swooped over her friends head. Shear panic is what ignited and I was right there with them. I tried to go close the door to the room the bat was in but when I did that , JesseRuth screamed, “mom, come back , there it is.” We quickly shut ourselves my room and decided to deal with it in the morning. At six the next morning I was call Animal Control and my son in law, my new hero, to help extract the thing from my house. Max caught it in a net and I will love him forever.

There is an important illustration here and it is: when surprising events and circumstances come into our life it is our first reaction to panic. You and I both know that we can’t stay in that state very long or we will self destruct. As believers in Jesus Christ we enjoy the benefit of coming before him with our panic, weariness, circumstances, children or whatever it is. We can close the door and focus on Him and ask Him to give us what we need to handle anything. I have talked to a lot of moms that are just plain tired and it is affecting how they look at everything. I just want to say as one that has been there, don’t be too hard on yourself and cling to Jesus.

Read this in Isaiah 41:10: “Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.”

From the rooftop:

We will have surprises in our lives, good and bad.

God is able to carry us through all of them.

Do not panic

God will give you strength

You will not fail or be destroyed

Trust Him alone

I am praying for all of us that we will not panic the next time something unexpected comes in our path or if we do that we quickly calm down and look to God. The girls did not have the presence of mind to be calm so as not to agitate the bat and I don’t think any of us would. When we all calmed down we were able to rationally think about what to do. God can help us think rationally if we ask Him.

I love you,
Glenda

How much is enough?

The current generation of moms are on the go, in the car, every day scheduled, maxed out and exhausted. Thoughts race through our minds wondering if we have managed to fit EVERY opportunity for our children into the week...? Have we provided social, academic, athletic, music and creative thinking time into the lives of our children. Of course we can't forget ourselves so we fit our personal schedules into the rest of our "free time"...working out, keeping up our beauty, networking in the neighborhood, making a little extra cash on the side, contributing to the social well being of our community, calling our local congressman to give our voice on the latest political topic, spiritual growth, emotional recovery over the first thirty years of life.... where does it STOP? Oh, and then there is that man that we married and call the father of our children... yeah he wants our time too!

Here is what God gave us when He created time (roughly):

24 hours a day
-8 hours of sleep a day
-16 hours a day awake
-8 hours for work

after sleep and work we have....
-8 hours a day "free time",
*BONUS...16 hours on Saturday AND Sunday is mandatory rest!

All the "Stuff" we jam in is more than the basic needs He created us with
1) food/water
2) shelter
3) love/relationship with Him and others

Is that ENOUGH TIME? God thought so when He created the heavens and the earth otherwise He would have made things different!

Matthew 6:25-34“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky: They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you more valuable than they are? And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life? Why do you worry about clothing? Think about how the flowers of the field grow; they do not work or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these! And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, won’t he clothe you even more, you people of little faith? So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has ENOUGH trouble of its own.

Application/Challenge:
This is hard for me to challenge you because now I am accountable too!
Each day I want you to track your time every day...awake and asleep. This is your week to do data collection. Then at the end of the week I want you to go through and cross through everything that was an "elective" in your daily living. I want us to all pray over the things that we think are important and test that against what God thinks is important. If you have put your trust in Christ the Holy Spirit who dwells in you will reveal the answer to your questions. We are each unique and so it is best to trust God for our individual schedules.

Learning to let God set my schedule,
Annie

Disclaimer: We are all unique and work schedules, baby schedules and other misc things may alter your time allotted in a day compared to the "generic" schedule I have written in the blog. Feel free to sketch out your own time allotment!

Uh Oh, It's Magic!

In case you haven't heard (I hadn't until just last month), let me tell you about this amazing product--Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Original. It is awesome!

When we were at the beach, Kate ended up sitting on some crayons in our rental home's booster seat. Well, needless to say, said crayons left quite a few marks on the seat that I could not get out with the cleaning products we had on hand. Just when I thought we might lose part of our deposit (running joke all week) ... family members put my mind at ease with talk of this Mr. Clean Magic Eraser product. I was intrigued.

The family picked up a package of these magic erasers at a local store, and I soon went to work on the booster seat. And just like that ... *poof* ... the crayon markings were gone. It was like ... well ... magic!

Fast forward a few weeks. We are back at home. One morning, I think Kate is happily watching a video in her room. I am doing some things around the house, and she seems to be very content and very quiet. After all, she does love her Little People DVDs. Well ... she loves them all right ... but she also loves to wander. And wander is what she did on this particular day ... right into our room, the door to which I had mistakenly left open.

When I found her, she was on our bed, Sharpie in hand. SHARPIE IN HAND! That is not good, folks. A Sharpie and a toddler do not mix well. Kate loves to draw, and she went to town with that Sharpie ... on our sheets ... on our wall ... on my cedar chest. But the worst of it was on the counter top that is directly behind our headboard. It was bad. Real bad.

And it was with a Sharpie.

Whoo-boy. I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. I decided to laugh (it was partly my fault, after all) and immediately got out that Mr. Clean Magic Eraser package from the beach. I could not believe my very eyes when the Sharpie was starting to come off. Seriously, I couldn't believe it. I did have to scrub and use lots of elbow grease, but it worked! YAY!

I got pretty much all of the Sharpie markings off of the counter top--the sheets, the wall and the cedar chest are a different story. But at least those were minor compared to the artwork that was removable.

I highly recommend Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Original. Go ahead and pick up a package before you need it. You won't be sorry. This would make a nice gift for moms everywhere, too. Happy Cleaning!


A "BEFORE" shot. This photo shows just part of Kate's Sharpie artwork on the counter top that is directly behind our headboard.


And ... AFTER! Look how clean! To put the erasers to use, simply wet and squeeze out excess water. Then go to town. (This is just my opinion. Please use according to the manufacturer's directions. Thank you.) The more you scrub, the smaller and crumblier (for lack of a better word) the eraser will become. (See photo--the eraser piece on the right has obviously been used more than the one on the left.)


Mr. Clean is the man behind that shine!

I could not pass up showing you this picture of the sunset from the window of the plane I was on. We were right above fluffy white clouds with the sunsetting in the distance. There are not words to describe the beauty and majesty of that sunset. Of course, my first thought was of my son in heaven, Nathan. I said to my daughter seated beside me, Nathan sees that beauty and more every single day, every minute of the day. His favorite was sitting on a mountain to watch a sunset and it brought me great joy and peace to think that He is with the Creator of all this intricate beauty now and enjoys this and more all the time. WOW!

This real picture was a visual that confirms the meaning of this scripture:


"...the clouds are the dust of His feet." Nahum 1:3


God Himself is imprinted in the clouds above and the earth under our feet. The Bible makes it clear that if He cares enough to make all that is around with such great detail. Will He not also care for each one of us? I believe He will.


This verse in Nahum says that God is slow to anger and great in power, that He will not leave the guilty unpunished, that His way is in the whirlwind and the storm. Perhaps you are at a point in your life that you do not know where God is and you want so desparately to hear from Him or to see Him move in particular situations in your life. The other day some one asked me if I ever felt that God had failed me in any way. I would have to say that even though I have been through many seasons in my life, I know that God has never failed me. However, I am quite sure that I have failed Him many times because I am not perfect. It is comforting to me and I hope to you that God Himself is walking above me and watching over my life and yours. He IS present every minute, every day.


From the rooftop:


God's foot prints are visible to you every day, look at the clouds.


God is in control of every storm environmentally and emotionally


God is present even when you don't feel it


God wants us to often act on what we know and not what we feel


I am praying for all of us, in the middle of times that are uncertain in many ways, that we will exercise the faith built upon a God whose presence is visible to us every day even when think we can not hear Him. If your child painted a picture and brought it home for you to admire and all you did was say, "that's nice", never looking at the picture your child would be very discouraged and you would have missed a time to really connect with your child. I think that God's connection with us can often come in simple ways that are already evident. We just are not looking. May we have eyes to see God present with us every minute of every day.


God Bless You,

Glenda

Burn Baby Burn!

Ever wondered how many calories you burn during the day? Some of these are pretty random, but I thought it just might encourage you to know that even the most mundane tasks are calorie burners!!!

Getting Dressed - 88 calories/hour
Making Bed - 61 calories/hour
Washing car - 214 calories/hour
Showering - 183 calories/hour
Eating - 31 calories/hour
Driving - 58 calories/hour
Washing Dishes - 75 calories/hour
Laundry - 210 calories/hour
Jogging - 330 calories/half hour
Gardening - 150 calories/hour
Raking Leaves - 144 calories/hour
Climbing Stairs - 306 calories/hour
Light House Cleaning - 216 calories/hour
Fixing Dinner - 90 calories/hour
Play outside with kids - 180 calories/hour
Ironing - 79 calories/hour
Kissing - 180 calories/hour

Calories burned are based on 150 lbs. For more fun facts go to Fitday.com

I think I burn about a million calories when I vacuum. Here's why: My vacuum doesn't suck! Every time I end up picking up pieces of string or fuzz off my carpet, sometimes actually putting it up in the wind tunnel of the vacuum with my OWN fingers! I may as well just pick up all the fuzz on my own! If anyone has advice for a good vacuum at a decent price...DO TELL! I would be so grateful. Enjoy this demonstration!

Fear to Faith

As a child on the outside I appeared like a normal young girl, but on the inside I lived in fear. I feared my parents would divorce, I feared being alone, I feared someone would abduct me, I feared failure, I feared nothing was in my control. My fears paralyzed me and I struggled in the dark to find some form of warm light to rescue me from my internal nightmare.

At ten years old my mother surrendered her life to Christ, in doing so she surrendered her children to Him as well. Even when I did not know Him, He knew me. He was always by my side watching over me until the day I learned His name and asked Him to live in my heart. God is so good and faithful. He rescued me from a life that was doomed for destruction and gave me hope. He took away my fear and replaced it with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

Even though God is good and faithful, the flesh is not. I had ten years of my life controlled by fear that forced me into habits and patterns that were not from God. No one ever told me to "let go and let God." Instead I had to survive, to protect, to preserve myself. My struggle for control did not suddenly disappear when I accepted Christ as my savior. I had to learn how to yield my will to the Father; I had to learn what the Father's will was. I was given a heart transplant but my earthly body remained. While we live in the body on earth we are in the process of renewing our minds day by day. God sees us as saints, we are righteous before His throne but because of the nature of our earthly vessel we are still capable of sin and we often become victim to its temptations. No one is good, not one.

I am here to shout from the rooftop that there is hope for those who place their faith in Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross because we are no longer a slave to sin, no longer powerless to temptation, no longer alone in our battles.

Romans 5:3-5 we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; perseverance proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Our suffering is used to "bring about" that which was given to us the moment we received Christ. The Greek word for bring is katergazomai which means to bring out something that is already present. If you proclaim to be a Christ follower you have the power to overcome anything by the inner strength God has given you through the Holy Spirit.

Life Application: Take time to ask God to reveal what battle you are fighting that you need to hand over to the Father. Ask God to reveal where you are relying on your own strength, knowledge and power and turn it over to the sovereign Lord on high!

Marriage Application: same as above...focus on your marriage struggle, your thoughts, attitudes and actions towards your spouse.

Going deeper: 2 Chronicles 20 is an excellent narrative story which reveals God taking over the battle.

Free-for-all Friday~Divine Consign 09 (Fall)!

Do you love to dress your children in quality and customized clothing (you know...appliques, smocked, monogrammed, boutique brands) but not at the expense?!??! If the answer is yes, Divine Consign will be your best friend twice a year (Spring and Fall)! Not only can you make money by consigning your own child's quality and customized clothing but you can stock up on your child's wardrobe for the upcoming season. It's a one-stop shop!

If you are interested and live in the Cobb County (Atlanta area) or Raleigh, NC area, you are in luck because the registration to be a consignor begins TODAY!!!!! Go to their website now (www.dcskids.com), click on the show in your city and register. It's easy peasy! The only thing left to do is clean out those closets and get ready to make some moolah. :)

...and if you live near Charlotte, NC, Montgomery, AL, Corinth, MS or Williamsburg, VA, be sure to check their website for details because there will be a fall show in your area, too!

See ya'll at the sale!

Hannah

Wednesday In The Word: God's Eyes

The past three weeks I have not been able to see! It has caused me to have to wear ugly glasses, get dizzy at times and a little nauseous at others. The reason is that the eye doctor ordered contacts that were the wrong strength. When I picked up my contacts I was on the way out of town and didn't realize the mistake until I put my contacts in the first morning, in a completely different city. Actually, it took me a couple of days to figure out it was my contacts and not me. I was out of town so I had to make it work, so each day I would put the weak contacts in my eyes and weak glasses on my face to make almost correct vision. It sounds complicated and it was and inconvenient and very unattractive. You do what you have to do, right.



This caused me to think about God's eyes moving to and fro throughout the earth. The Bible says that he never sleeps and His eyes are always on each one of us. My favorite scripture verse is:

For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. II Chronicles 16:9

From the rooftop:

God's vision is absolutely perfect

God is looking all over the earth for hearts that are completely His

God strengthens and supports you

God looking at you means you matter to him

God never overlooks anyone or anything

I am so glad that God's vision is never blurry and always clear. It makes being able to depend on Him for everything much easier. When I couldn't see no one could count on anything I read to them because most images were distorted. But God does not see any of us with anything but perfect vision. That means that His ways are also perfect because He has already looked down the roads that we will travel in this life and He waits and wants to support us as we walk those roads. Maybe, your days and life are a little blurry right know. I can say with confidence, commit your days to the Lord and He will see you through them perfectly because His vision is perfect and so is He.

How have you felt God strongly support you? In what ways have you been able to see more clearly when you have committed a specific situation to Him?

I am praying for you that you will see more clearly and feel strongly supported because you are absolutely committed to God alone.

I love You,
Glenda

Training Up Tuesday~Long summer days...

Moms,

As the summer gets hotter and the kids seem to be inside when you wish they could go out here is a great website I have found to occupy your 3-7 year old for an hour or so. Primarily designed for first grade, starfall is also useful for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and second grade. My oldest is five and he has been doing activities on here for about two years...check it out http://www.starfall.com/.

I would love to hear what websites you have found that have good activities for young kids!

Annie

Eyes Wide Open

(this is an email that was forwarded to me. author unknown)
Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007:

He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:
A 3 year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.

45 minutes:
The musician played. Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ....

How many other things are we missing?

Mark 10:13-16 Now people were bringing little children to him for him to touch, but the disciples scolded those who brought them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” After he took the children in his arms, he placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Stay at Home Saturday returns

Happy Saturday! We apologize for the brief Stay at Home Saturday sabbatical. What can we say? It's summa time in the South and we haven't been at home!!!!

Our faithful reader, Amy A., wanted to see to it that this Saturday sabbatical came to a screeching halt and has been generous to share a few tried n trues...a recipe and not one, not two but THREE tips ALL wrapped in one. How great is that?!?! Thank you, Ames! You da bomb dot com.

Without further ado...from the home of Amy A.!

I make this Paula Deen zucchini bread recipe all the time. It freezes well and is sooo good. I just made loaves for each of my son's VBS teachers and it was a hit. This makes 2 loaves so you could always halve the recipe. I do it all the time.

Ingredients
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in. Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes.

Tip #1 – When I first started making this, my bread never came out cleanly; the bottom always stuck to the pan. My mom told me to do what my grandmother always did and it works like a charm: Grease and flour your pan (for you non-Southerners, that means grab the Crisco and start smearing the entire pan with a thin layer. Then shake flour all over it to cover the shortening.) Then trace and cut wax paper for the bottom and grease and flour it too. Put it in the bottom and pour your batter on top of it. When you turn out your bread you’ll just have to peel the wax paper off of the bread!

Tip #2 – To make this healthier, I use the Sneaky Chef’s flour blend, which is equal parts all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and wheat germ (so if you need a cup of flour, you would use 1/3 c. all-purpose flour, 1/3 c. whole wheat flour and 1/3 c. wheat germ). It doesn’t rise quite as high as the original recipe, but I promise you can’t taste the difference. It is so good and much healthier!

Tip #3 – This bread makes great gifts. Wrap it up in plastic wrap and then foil. Tie a pretty bow on it and attach a personal gift tag. I just ordered some off of Vista Print, which Carolina Clipper told us about on Thursday. Imogene gave me the idea to order the free business cards and just put your family’s name on the front, blanking out the rest of the info. I’m going to start attaching the cards to food gifts, baby gifts, wedding gifts and more. Great idea, Imogene!

Thrifty Thursday ~ Vista Print

I love personalized items! I think they are the best gifts to give (and receive) so I was so excited to learn that VistaPrint offers FREE personalized items. There is no catch...you just pay shipping. The promotions vary and after you place your first order they will e-mail you weekly updates for all the FREE items. I made my first order two weeks ago. Below are my items.

Note: I chose the 21 day shipping and it came the following week. The same thing happened for a friend of mine so don't waste money on faster shipping! Also, I bought Sharpie Markers in coordinating colors to write personal messages on each item.

10 Notecards- Folded

10 Notecards- Flat

1 Sticky Note Pad

I'm using these for lunch notes for my son.

250 Blog Business Cards

I paid extra to download my logo on the premium business card.

100 Standard Postcards

I paid extra to get envelopes with these postcards so I can use them as gift enclosures. I left the back blank so I can write a personal message. My first draft had the present design but "Thank You" instead of "Congratulations". I think either works because the image is so versatile. Get creative!

1 Notepad

I put my phone number and e-mail address at the bottom but cut it off in the picture for privacy.

My grand total for the above items was $21.07. Had I not upgraded the business cards and ordered the extra envelopes for the postcards I would have paid just $10 shipping!

Click here and then shop the "free products".

Wednesday In The Word

I am on vacation this week but I want to share with you briefly something that means so much to me when I am on vacation. Now, you may think it will be the ocean, walks on the beach, bike rides, eating seafood or reading. Those things are all wonderful but I especially love the extra time that I am able to spend with my favorite thing, God's Word. I hope that doesn't sound super "spiritual." It's just that times when I can just read my Bible without all the distractions of day to day responsibilty are like drinking fresh water when I am parched and thirsty. I think one reason is that early in my walk with the Lord, God's Word is what provided direction to this aimless soul.

Today I just want to share some of my favorite things that the Bible says about God's Word:

As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. Psalm 18:30

For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. Psalm 33:4

My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.Psalm 119:27

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth Psalm 119:103

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ Romans 10:17

From the Rooftop:

God's Word stands on it's own.

God's Word has power like nothing else.

God's Word refreshes a weary.

God's Word provides counsel.

God's Word provides direction.

God's Word provides life and light.

YOU finish this list...

I could go on and on but I am going to just sit back and enjoy reading. I hope you will, too. As you begin, pray that God, through His Holy Spirit, will speak to your heart and into your life. I look forward to hearing what happens.

Happy Summer.

Love,
Glenda

Family Rules!

While at a friend's house a few months ago, I noticed her "Family Rules List" in her home. I LOVED it! Better yet, I loved how I saw it in action in her home. Well, she was sweet enough to give me one. The same exact one, and I want to share it with you! It's changed the way my boys talk to me and my husband and they are learning the scripture verses - so they know WHY they have to do these things.

Our Family Rules

LOVE GOD

Deuteronomy 6:4-6 - You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.

Pray and talk to God.

Give thanks!

OBEY MOMMY AND DADDY

(Right away, all the way, with a happy heart!)

Colossians 3:20 - Children, obey your parents in all things for this is well pleasing to the Lord.

Come when your name is called and say "YES mommy."

Mind your teachers.

LOVE OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

Mark 12:29-31 - You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Hugs and kisses.

Encourage each other.

BE KIND AND RESPECTFUL TO OTHERS

Titus 3:2 - Be courteous to all men.

Proverbs 15:1 - A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Be helpful without being asked.

Use sweet words and actions.

Put others first.

TELL THE TRUTH

Proverbs 12:22 - Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight.

Be honest even when you've done wrong.

Rewards for honesty.

TAKE CARE OF OUR HOME AND STUFF

Ecclesiastes 5:19 - God has empowered him to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor: this is the gift of God.

Keep home and nature clean and organized.

Cleanup toys and trash.

DO OUR BEST WITH A HAPPY HEART!

Proverbs 20:11 - Even a child is known by his deeds, whether what he does is pure and right.

Philippians 1:10a - Approve that which is excellent.

Do the right thing even when it's hard.

Good, better, best.

Christmas in July: Operation Christmas Child & Packing Shoe Boxes on a Shoestring

Here's my daughter Kate with our 2007 OCC shoe boxes.

It's never to early to be thinking about Operation Christmas Child, the awesome shoe box ministry of Samaritan's Purse. The outreach is a wonderful, hands-on project in which kids can easily take part. It not only reaches children around the world with the Gospel message, but also it helps children here learn the importance of giving and sharing the Good News of Jesus with others.

Panama, 2004

Participating in Operation Christmas Child doesn't have to break the bank. I wanted to share some ideas for filling OCC shoe boxes on a budget. I like to get as much for my money as possible. Who doesn't, right? So when it comes to buying stuff for my Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes, I want my proverbial dollar to stretch as far as it can. As previously mentioned ... more shoe-box stuff equals more filled shoe boxes equals more children reached with a shoe-box gift and the Gospel message.

Look at all those boxes!
Kate and I visiting the Atlanta-area OCC processing center.

Let's talk strategies for acquiring shoe-box items on the cheap--not cheap shoe-box items, mind you, as we want goooooooood stuff for the kids. ;o) Here are a few of my tips for OCC shoe-box shopping:

• Collect items all year long. I shop sales and clearance racks all the time. I'm instinctively drawn to them. (Don't pretend you don't know a good Target end-cap when you see one!) I typically start my shoe-box shopping with the after-Christmas sales. No, I am not kidding. Christmas clearance is one of the best times of the year to score some major bargains. If you wait until later on in January, you can even catch stuff at 90 percent off! No joke! Anyway, shopping 12 months of the year allows you to wait for the true bargains and to stock up on good shoe-box items when you find them. (I do have a challenge when it comes to storage, but that's another story.)
  
• Speaking of Target, don't forget the Dollar Spot. You can find great shoe-box stuff there. Every six weeks or so, that stuff changes out. You can actually find Web sites that will post when the stuff is getting clearanced. But if you pay attention, you'll figure out the cycles. So the stuff will first get marked down to 50 percent off ... and then 75 percent off! But it does not last long--you've got to know exactly when to hit it. And each Target is different--get to know your Target and whether stuff will be around for the 75 percent markdown. If not, I'd go ahead and buy at 50 percent. But there is a Target close to me that usually still has a ton of good stuff at 75. I've been known to be there on a Thursday morning to load up a shopping cart with 25-cent items for shoe boxes. What a deal! Do I get some looks? Of course. But usually when I tell people what it's for, they understand. (Not that I really care what they think, but it doesn't hurt to spread the word ...)
• Three words: BACK TO SCHOOL! Now is the time to hit those back-to-school sales for all the school and art supplies that are perfect for shoe boxes. You can get Crayola crayons for 20 cents a box (for a 24-count!)--not to mention composition books (have to be careful on size here, depending on the size of your shoe box), pencils, pens, pencil sharpeners, notepads, etc., etc., for a few cents each! There are some AWESOME deals this time of year, and I like to really stock up for shoe box season. Also ... don't forget those BTS tax-free weekends!
• I kind of touched on this with the mention of Christmas clearance ... but be sure to shop the holiday markdowns after the holidays. Valentine's Day and Easter clearance sections usually have some stuff perfect for OCC. I've seen this stuff go for 75 and 90 percent off. Again, you have to be there on the right day, but it is easily found at 50 percent off the day after the holiday. Oh yeah--after-Halloween clearance is a fantastic time to buy your hard candy, too!
• When you find an awesome clearance section (as in 75 and 90 percent off of stuff that's perfect for shoe boxes), make an offer. Ask a manager if he or she would be willing to make a deal if you'll buy all of it or a large quantity. Be sure to explain what you are buying it for, too.
• Garage sales, consignment sales and thrift stores. Yes, these are places you'll find mostly used items (only new items for OCC boxes, please). But occasionally you can find brand-new, still-in-the-package shoe-box goodies for pennies on the dollar.
• Kids' Meals. If you have kids--or even if you don't--save the toys that come in kids' meals. They're great filler for your boxes. I've been known to order children's meals for myself (sometimes it's just the right amount)--and I am sure to get the toy so I can put it in a shoe box. I have a nice collection for this year's boxes already.
  
• Cereal boxes. It doesn't seem like cereal boxes have as many cool treasures in them as they used to, but sometimes you can find a gem in the bottom of one that is a great OCC item.
  
• Look for stuff in unlikely places. Always be on the lookout for shoe-box stuff. Some of the best bargains I've come across for OCC have been at Office Depot (when you hit at the right time, the deals can be amazing!), Michael's, CVS, LifeWay Christian Stores, and even Gymboree! Take Gymboree, for example. The hair accessories, hats, and socks--and even stuffed animals from the layette line--will sometimes be marked down to 99 cents (during the Red Balloon sale). And if you happen to have a coupon for 20 percent off, you can get this stuff for 80 cents. This is a great bargain--and on nice items, too.
• Save your soap. This is one for those of you who travel a lot, like I used to. When you stay in a hotel, keep your unused hotel soap. Don't be shy--ask for a few extra from the front desk. One time, when my sister and I were working on filling a bunch of boxes, I went to a few hotels and told them what we were doing. One gave be a whole bag full of little soaps.
• Let people know. Spread the word about OCC. Let your family and friends know you're collecting stuff and plan on filling shoe boxes. They can save stuff for you and be on the lookout for deals as well. It seems almost every time I visit my homeland (Tennessee), my sister or Mom or someone is giving me a bag of stuff for shoe boxes.

Panama, OCC shoe box distribution, January 2004

I'm sure there are more ideas for filling shoe boxes on a shoestring, but this is a good start. Remember--the more stuff you have, the more boxes you can fill. And every box represents a child who will be exposed to the Gospel. And every child represents a family ... and so on and so forth ... To God be the glory!

What are your tips? Please share!

Suffering alongside your mate

There are two types of suffering...

1) Suffering as a consequence to sin

2) Suffering as a testing of our faith

The first one is obvious, cause and effect. We see this daily with our children. You disobey, you suffer the consequence. The second one is more puzzling. The best example of this is in the book of Job. A man who was blameless and upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. If you read through Job 1:6-12 you can see the conversation that takes place between God and Job. God initiates the topic of Job and gives permission to Satan to attack his life. WHAT! Why did the Lord chose to test Job? God is sovereign and He knew the results. Here is what Job says at the end of his trial BEFORE the blessing and restoration of the second half of his life (Job 42:12-17).

Job 42:5 "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,but now my eye has seen you."

Job learned the lesson and was proven faithful to His God but along the way the people around him were less than encouraging to him. As I look at the life of Job I am often brought back to the second chapter where his wife had the following conversation with him:

Then his wife said to him, “Are you still holding firmly to your integrity? Curse God, and die!” But he replied, “You’re talking like one of the godless women would do! Should we receive what is good from God, and not also receive what is evil?” In all this Job did not sin by what he said.Job 2:9-10

Ladies...since we are one flesh with our husbands we SHARE in his suffering. Not only do we experience trials of our own but we are called to support our husband in his. We are not called to carry the burden but to support the one who is struggling. Wives, we can support through prayer, words of encouragement, a welcoming home and physical affection. You know your husband better than anyone. Ask God to show you how to support him as God has uniquely designed him.

My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything. But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a double-minded individual, unstable in all his ways. James 1:2-8

If you are looking to dig deeper I would recommend a study by Kay Arthur called Living Victoriously in Difficult Times

Wednesday In The Word: God's Greatness

The majesty of the ocean is always inspiring! I looked at it today and was so reminded of God's creativity and perfection. The tides come in and out consistently. It's sound is soothing. The water is deeper and wider than any man could dig or manufacture.

In a world that strives for greatness and perfection, it is wonderful to sit and see the real deal. God, Himself has given us greatness and perfection that we so often take for granted or ignore. The ocean is straight from His hand and no man can even begin to replicate it.

The scripture says so much about the ocean but I like this verse from Psalm 89:8-9

O LORD God Almighty, who is like you?
You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you.

You rule over the surging sea;
when its waves mount up, you still them.

From the rooftop:

There is no one like God.

What He has created is perfect.

What He has created is inspiring.

He rules over the sea and everything He has created.

He is the One the causes the waves to rise and fall, you can put your trust in Him.

You may be at a point in your life that you are feeling like there is no greatness or perfection in your life, but there is! His name is God and His Son Jesus Christ. The very One that causes the waves to rise and fall has the power to bring order and fullness to your life when you feel it is impossible. He just wants you to ask Him.

I am praying for you that you will be able to comprehend the greatness of God in creation and personally in your heart and life. The same God that is in control of the sea is in control of your life if you call on Him.