A New Home

Before we even went to Peru, we knew it was going to be more than a tourist vacation or a visit to see a daughter. We knew it would be an eye opening, mission minded, spiritual growing experience. Seeing the world our daughter serves in and the sacrifices she makes was definitely all of that. However, we knew there was an outing she had planned for us that would be certain to pull at our heartstrings. It is a place where she started volunteering weeks ago and now wanted to share with her family. It was an orphanage in Lima. Just the thought of it conjured up many images. We were expecting the worse. We had seen some extreme poverty ridden areas and we anticipated a dirty, broken down, building with malnourished, unkempt children. We took a taxi to the orphanage. The closer we got, the more rundown the buildings became. We ended up in a community with dirt streets and no signs of prosperity. Brittne led the taxi to a wall with a large, green, solid metal gate. I’m not talking about a gate in a fence; I am talking about a gate that was at least an 8’ x14’ gate. Brittne pushed a buzzer, like a door bell. Soon a little window opened and closed and the door in the gate opened. I know we each took a deep breath preparing for what we thought we would see. We stepped in and our jaws must have dropped to the ground. I remember trying to figure out how I left reality and entered into this make believe world! The sound of children laughing and playing in a pool of water brought me out of my confusion and I started realizing that though this felt like we had just walked into Heaven itself, it was actually the orphanage. We had totally misjudged what we were going to see. What we did see was an amazing, beautiful play area with happy, clean, adorable children. Three modern buildings surrounded the playground with cement sidewalks paving the walkways from building to building, all lined with flower beds. Brittne had told us churches in the states support the orphanage and also send mission teams to help with different projects. God’s people did GREAT! Sometimes we as Christians do not give our best when it comes to helping others. There are times we do just enough to make us feel good about ourselves. I have seen people donate clothes that are torn and stained to the poor. I have seen people give furniture that is old and broken, expecting others to be grateful. A person can have an attitude that their trash should be good enough for the poor. The Christians that have supported this orphanage did not have that kind of attitude; they gave the best to these needy children. These children were in clean, new clothes. Their furniture was solid and in good shape. The teachers were loving and kind. (They even took the children in one by one to brush their teeth after lunch). There was a part of me that wanted to live there. I would feel blessed for the opportunity. I will never forget Roxana coming up to me and taking my hand to play. I will remember Judith who played with me on the grass and would teach me a Spanish word for an item and then I would teach her the English word. I will never forget feeding Liz, the adorable little girl that Brittne wants as her niece. Dwayne and Bryce will not forget the little boys throwing the balls to them just begging for some rough housing. One little boy would love on Dwayne and pat him on the head. These precious children had all been abused and now they live a life with love, security, joy, provision, learning, care, guidance, and healthy interaction. They learn about God and how Jesus loves them. Their eyes are not filled with sadness but with peace. Spending time here with the children and staff will always be considered one of my greatest blessings and a great life changing experience.
The pictures in my mind of Liz will always represent a spiritual picture of me. I once belonged to a father who goes by the name of Satan, Lucifer, and the Devil. He abused me, lied to me, and deceived me. His goal was to destroy me. However, there came a point in my life that I learned about my Heavenly Father who loved me and wanted to care for me, guide me, nurture me, and bless me. I chose to leave my life of sin and enter into my Heavenly Father’s care. Since then, He has surrounded me with His protection and healed my hurts. I abide with Him and it is a beautiful and amazing place to live! Hallelujah! What a Savior!

You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out "Papa! Father!" (Galatians 4:6 The Message)

Never Alone!

There was only one time during our trip that I had a sense of fear and panic from my environment. We purchased a tour of some islands with birds, penguins, and sea lions. Part of the tour cost covered the travel to and from the town where the tour began. The town was about an hour north of where we were so the salesmen of the tour had a great idea. Since we were planning on traveling back to Lima after the tour and we would be traveling five hours north, they would drop us off at the small town on the highway to catch our bus and save us two hours of travel time. Now we would not have to travel an hour back south just to turn around and travel back north through the same town where they could drop us off. This sounded like a great plan to us. So after the tour, the taxi driver drove us to the intersection of the highway back to Lima. The town we had expected was more like a few shacks and something like a truck stop. Since the bus we rode from Lima stopped at least every 30 minutes to pick people up along the highway, we knew this was nothing to panic about. However, since we were planning on purchasing bus tickets at a bus station where we could use a Visa card or an ATM to get out some cash to convert to soles, we now found ourselves with six soles between us and a twenty dollar bill. Tickets from Lima had cost us around 30 soles each and so we knew we were going to cut it close. Now we found our self standing on a highway in South America, with not enough money to catch a bus back to Lima! Not a position I was feeling good about. First, I had a momentary panic. Nobody in the world knew where we were, how could they. I remember my first thought was that if I looked at a map, I could find the spot we were standing. That brought some relief. However, I had a rush of peace come over me when I realized that God knew where we were. He didn't even have to have a map. As long as He knew where we were, He would take care of us and help us figure out what to do. Within minutes the bus came. Brittne started explaining to the ticket master on the bus our predicament and with great amazement Brittne told us that they agreed to let us ride to the next stop where Brittne could convert her dollars to soles and pay for our tickets! She did that and when we were back on the bus heading for Lima, the ticket master came to collect his money. Once again, we were in a predicament. We were 2 soles short. Again, God took care of us because the ticket master told Brittne not to worry about the 2 soles. All was well, and soon we were back at Brittne's apartment in Lima.

This situation happens to us many times through life. Sometimes, we panic that we feel deserted in an unknown place. We feel lost and forgotten about. We can not see any possible way to be delivered through our circumstances. It is at these times we need to remind our self that God knows exactly where we are. He will provide for us in ways we can not see or fathom. We must keep our self from panic and worry by standing firm in trust and faith in God and watch Him work!

Is there any place I can go to avoid your Spirit? to be out of your sight? If I climb to the sky, you're there! If I go underground, you're there! If I flew on morning's wing to the far western horizon, You'd find me in a minute--you're already there waiting!

Psalms 139:7-10 (The Message)

Who Is Leading You?

One thing that Dwayne and I, along with Bryce and Kristen, kept saying over and over during our trip to Peru was, “We couldn’t do this without Brittne.” We could not really communicate with anyone. Though they knew some words, it was not enough to communicate. We could have asked where the bathroom was, or how much something cost, or for water; but we needed so much more. I don’t know how many times we asked Brittne how to say something or what someone said or what she said to someone. We had to have driven her crazy! Without her, we wouldn’t have known where to go and where not to go. We wouldn’t have known what to eat and what not to eat. We wouldn’t have known when we were getting ripped off from taxi drivers or market vendors. We couldn’t have ordered off a menu, at least not very well. We wouldn’t have known about some safety issues, like how you have to disinfect all fruits and vegetables to get rid of all the bacteria. We wouldn’t have known to stay as close as sardines in lines because cutting in line is part of their culture. We would have missed out on some great experiences like sand boarding and the park of fountains. We wouldn’t have had some life changing experiences like staying in a hostel, or attending a Peruvian church, or visiting the orphanage. She directed us through our visit to unknown places. She taught us the dos and don'ts of living there. She taught us through our circumstances. She showed us how to have fun. She communicated for us. She gave us a sense of security.
What Brittne was for us is a great example of what God's Holy Spirit is for us. Though she demonstrated so many of His characteristics to us, He is so much more! Sometimes this world we live in seems so unknown to us. Scripture tells us that we are aliens or visitors in this world. God gives us His Holy Spirit to help us during this journey of life in a land where we do not belong. The Holy Spirit teaches us and directs us. He gives us joy. He communicates on our behalf. He comforts us. He interprets life for us at times. He also gives us gifts and fills us with His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We can feel comforted to know that all we have to do to survive in this world is surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. He will help us in all things if we will just learn to follow! Are you going to figure this life out on our own, which is impossible? Are you going to go down the paths you want? Or are you going to trust Jesus to direct you and grow you by the Holy Spirit through this amazing life? Choose wisely!

But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified. Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea of our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications to every detail of our life.

Galatians 5:22-25 (The Message)

What Am I Portraying?

The mode of transportation in Peru was a new experience for me. It is mainly taxis and buses. I have ridden in both, but not quite like I did in Peru. I rode in taxis in New York City where yellow taxis line every street. Their fees are determined by a meter. It is a set fee, plus mileage and time all monitored by the meter. In Peru the taxi system is negotiated, one ride at a time. Since I couldn’t even say ‘buenas dias’, we left the negotiating to Brittne who took on the assignment with great passion. She was determined not to let a taxi driver rip us off; not even one Sole' (which equals 32 cents). Many times five of us would load into a small subcompact car almost the size of a Subaru outback station wagon. Dwayne would sit in the front; Bryce and I would sit in the back in the middle. Brittne would sit on the corner of the seat by me and Kristen would crawl on top of Bryce’s lap, keeping her head ducked because it would hit the ceiling. Sometimes we would splurge an extra 5 sole’s and get a second taxi! During our six day adventure, we ended up riding in 34 taxi’s and 2 buses. It was very frustrating to me not to be able to talk to the drivers and find out about their lives and be of some kind of encouragement to them. I even felt rude by not talking to them. However, each driver did tell me one thing about them self. They would have some kind of object by their mirror or on their dash showing where they put their faith, and trust me, if I drove like they did, I would be putting my faith in something other than me too. The problem was that the vast majority was trusting in something that couldn’t help them. Three taxi drivers had a little shoe on their dash boards. They were shoes of their children to bring them good luck. Twenty-nine drivers had a picture of a Saint or a rosary as a symbol of protection. One driver had nothing. It was very sad to see so many putting their trust in luck and mere humans, or nothing at all. However, three drivers had Bibles. These three were believers in Jesus Christ and was putting their trust in His Word. Besides their Bibles, they would have Christian music on the radio like Hillsong singing in Spanish. It was great! Just think of how many people would get in the Taxi each day and hear songs of praise to the One True God.

It made me wonder about the people that cross my path every day. The ones I don’t speak too but who watch me as I go about my activity. What do I show them about who I am putting my trust in? Do they see me rejoicing in the Lord? Or do they see me stressing over life? Do they see me upset with another person? Or do they see me as a person of love, compassion, and joy? When someone crosses my path, I want to portray the One I claim to serve! As I look back over my encounter with my 36 drivers, I wish I would have learned to say, “God Bless You” in Spanish. Each time I got out of the cab or walked off the bus, instead of butchering ‘buenas dias’, I should have said ‘dios te bendiga’. I let 36 opportunities go by to show who I trust in. I pray I become more aware of what I am portraying to those who travel with me through my daily journey through life.

You are the light of the world....Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.

Matthew 5 : 14a, 16 (Amplified)

(also, I had to include the Message because I love the wording!)

"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept....Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand--shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:14a, 16

Law or Grace

In case you didn’t know, Dwayne and I along with our son, Bryce and his wife Kristen, traveled to Lima, Peru to spend Christmas with our daughter Brittne. I am back in the states and back to a computer and internet. I had planned on continuing the devotions while I was in Peru but the place we stayed didn’t have internet and when we were at Brittne’s it was too busy and too noisy to concentrate. However, I am home and back on schedule now. Thank you for your patience.
The first challenge we had in getting to Peru was dealing with the luggage. We could check one bag per person and each had a weight limit of 50 pounds. I had our clothes and items in one suitcase and I packed a plastic tub full of stuff for Brittne. It contained her Christmas presents from us and others, food and stockings for Christmas day, and toiletries and food that Brittne had requested. After several attempts to get it all to fit, I weighed it and with frustration looked at the number on the scale that read 58 pounds. I unpacked it again, took out three Velveeta cheeses and a 3 pound box of Bisquick, which of course was on the bottom. Since I took out 9 pounds, I figured the weight would now be less than 50 pounds. I packed one Velveeta and the Bisquick into my suitcase and put the other Velveeta’s into Bryce and Kristen’s suitcase. Then I had to put Kristen’s Christmas present from Bryce in my suitcase. I weighed my suitcase and it said 46 pounds. I didn’t really believe the number because the suitcase was too big to be evenly distributed on the scale but I figured I had 4 pounds as a back- up. When we got to the airport we hauled in all the suitcases and carry-ons and stood in the check in line. After ten minutes, the dreaded time came to weigh in the suitcases. The tub squeaked through but Kristen’s suitcase was a few pounds over and mine was 8 pounds over! We laid out our suitcases open for the all the people behind us to see. We started pulling out things we could stuff in Bryce and Kristen’s carry-ons. Kristen got her bag to the acceptable weight quickly, and after 3 times I finally got my bag accepted because I wore the manager down and he gave me 1.5 pounds of grace. Since the weight limits have been put into place, you have to pay for the over limit weight. I think this process is one of the most stressful parts of traveling anymore. I wish we could go back to the days there was no weight limit. If you could get your suitcase to the airport, it would go.
This experience reminded me of law and grace. We know what sin is. We were given the 10 commandments and not one of us is able to keep those 10. We sure aren’t able to keep all those plus others. However, there are times we think we are doing okay. We look on the surface and we look like a good Christian and feel pretty good about ourselves. Can you imagine being put on a scale to have the weight of your sin measured? How confident would you be in falling below the limit? Oh, I forgot to tell you what the limit is! The limit is zero. Anything above zero is over the limit. How confident are you now? It is a limit that seems hopeless. However, there is an amazing thing that can happen. If you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, His name is now written across you. Now when you step up on the scale that measures your sin, it doesn’t matter anymore. No matter what your sin would have weighed, it weighs nothing now because Jesus Christ has already paid the price for all of your sin! All those that weigh in under the name of Jesus, by His grace, weigh zero! For the Christian, there is no more stress of hoping we can make the impossible sin limit!

For while the Law was given through Moses, grace (unearned, undeserved favor and spiritual blessing) and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 1:17

Happy Birthday!

In the Spring of 1970, I was 10 years old. My uncle would drive a church bus around town and pick up children for church and he always came to my house first. One night he picked me up to attend a revival service. When I got to church, I went into the sanctuary and sat on the third row from the back and three seats in from the outside aisle. When the preaching began, I did not participate in the normal activity of writing notes and passing it to my friends, I listened intently through the entire message. When the invitational song was in process something started stirring inside of me. For the first time, I realized that even at 10 years old, I needed to commit to live my life as a follower of Christ, or I was going to live an eternity separated from God. I felt the Holy Spirit pick me up and walk me down the aisle. I visited with the preacher and surrendered my life to Jesus Christ as the words, ‘I come, I come’ were being sung. Though at 10 years old my life did not take a huge change in direction, it determined the direction I was going to walk for the remainder of my life. I might not have had to turn from drugs or alcohol but it kept me from it. I might not have had to leave a life of wild parties and self indulgence but it kept me from it. Oh, I still sinned but the grace of God kept me close and forgiven.
The salvation I experienced and hopefully you have experienced, would not have been possible without the most important person of the Christmas story which was Jesus. His love for us drove Him to leave His throne in Heaven where He was in His Father’s presence every moment, where angels were surrounding Him singing praises with every breath, and where sin wasn’t present. He was willing to leave all of this and be born a helpless baby, in a lowly manger. His needs would now be met by a mother and an earthly father. He had surrendered His heavenly position. He grew into a man and then offered His life, through physical abuse and crucifixion, to pay the sacrificial price for our sins and redeem us from the grip of evil. Because of this sacrifice we now can have hope, love, peace, endurance, and joy. We can have the assurance that we will live out our eternal life in the presence of God. All we have to do is accept Jesus as our Savior and be spiritually born again.
Today is the birthday of our Savior. Because of His birthday we can each have a spiritual birthday. Do you have a spiritual birthday? If not, there is no better time to get one!

Giving What You Have!

When we were moving from Montana to Oklahoma, Dwayne and I had to split up to cover different needs. I had a two day drive home with the kids. I decided that if we left as soon as I got home around 3:00 p.m., we could get about 5 hours of driving in which would help us out greatly the rest of the trip. There are three main routes I could choose from. I hated one, liked the other but my favorite route was always through South Dakota. According to my plan, I would arrive in Rapid City, SD around 9:00 p.m. When I had made the turn on my chosen route and traveled far to the point of no return, I realized that my choice was not good. I had forgotten that the annual national biker rally was being held. This is an event where over 750,000 bikers come together in the small town of Sturgis, SD. We are talking bikers of all kinds, from the hard core Hell’s Angels to the 'Wild Hogs'! When I stopped at the hotel in Rapid City (the first large city past Sturgis), I went in with my two children to ask for a room. I do not know how the front desk assistant kept from laughing at me. They must have felt sorry for this stupid mother, traveling through with her kids. I was informed there was no room available (reminds me of a Bible story!). She looked in their computer data base and informed me there was one room available, 500 miles away! I was already tired from lack of sleep the night before and working an 8 hour day. Five hundred miles meant over 7 hours of driving down a long, dark, secluded highway. Definitely something I didn’t want to do but I had no choice but to do. Bryce was 16 so I would let him drive a few times, long enough to get a little rest. I couldn’t sleep with my 16 year old driving but I could close my eyes for a little rest. We pulled into the hotel with the one room available at 5:00 a.m. I do not believe I have ever been so tired. I could not have driven another mile. I had determined that if the hotel had given the room away, I was going to ask them if I could rent three pillows and 3 blankets. I was going to take them and go to the police station and tell them we were going to sleep in the car for a few hours. It was not safe to sleep in parking lots at the hotel or a rest stop because we were still too close to Sturgis. I was so thankful and relieved that they had saved the room for us. I didn’t care what kind of room it was, I just needed a place to sleep.
There are many people in the Bible that I feel we do not treat fairly. One of these people is the innkeeper in Bethlehem. Many times we envision him slamming a door in the faces of Joseph and Mary, saying, “There is no room!” I don’t see him like that. They had obviously been to several Inn’s trying to find a place to stay. Mary was getting closer to delivery and it was becoming more and more critical to find a room. There were no phones to call ahead a have a room held, it was first come, first serve. However, when this innkeeper saw Mary and Joseph, I believe he had compassion on them. He didn't have a room for them, but maybe it was he who offered the stable. Many times they would use caves to keep the animals. Joseph and Mary was in such need, I think they were appreciative to have any place to get warm, lay down and deliver their precious child. Sure, it wasn’t what they thought they would have when they began their trip, but it is amazing how we are willing to give up some of our expectations when we are tired and in need.
Sometimes we think we know what God wants from us. We prepare to give him exactly that and nothing else. Whatever we are not as prepared to offer, we feel is not good enough for Him. It has not been cleaned up yet. The problem is, God wants access to all areas in our life. The nice, pretty, public parts as well as the dirty, crappy places we do not let others go. Are you willing to give Jesus access to every part of you? Do you offer Him all you have, even if you do not think it is good enough for Him? Or do you say, ‘no room’ to Him and send Him on His way?

And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2:7

What is Your Heritage?

Families are interesting! Mine is no exception. There is a wide variety of people. In my extended family, I have rich, poor and everything in between. There are athletics and coaches, teachers and drop outs, blue collar workers and businessmen. I have family on wall-street, and in the back hills of Arkansas. I have famous people and no names. I have those that have been married for many years and those that have been married many times. I have those that stayed pure until marriage and those that were free prostitutes. I have homosexuals and heterosexuals. I have Christians and non Christians. I have those that get along with everyone and those that get along with nobody. I have those that have been victims of crime and those that have committed the crime. I have felons and murderers. I have those who have Cancer, Alzheimer’s, Aids, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Emphysema, and MS. The oldest is 88, the youngest is still in the womb. My blood is part Cherokee Indian, Dutch, and German. What is interesting is that I do not know anything about any ancestor older than my great grandparents. I know very little about them. I know many stories on my grandparents and their siblings and I know a lot about my parents and everything about my immediate family (Well, probably not everything but all I want to know). However, if you ask me my heritage, not my nationality, but my heritage, it would be hard for me to know how to answer. I know which people proclaimed to be Christian but I do not know one person’s spiritual journey through life. I do not know their core beliefs, their life passions, and their purpose. That is real heritage and that is what we are missing in our families today. I am hoping that these devotions will provide a way for my children to learn about their spiritual heritage. I want them to know the God of their parents, so they can pass it on to their children along with their stories of faith, and so on and so on.
I think it is interesting that Matthew begins his version of the Christmas story by sharing the genealogy of Jesus. His lineage wasn’t much different than my family. He has Kings and servants; He has great men and great women. He has prostitutes and great mothers. He had the rich and the poor. The one thing which was in Jesus' family was heritage. So many stories of great, faithful, God followers fill the generations of Jesus. Some of my favorites are: David (A man after God’s own heart), Abraham (The Father of Nations), Boaz (The great Kinsman Redeemer), Solomon (The king who built the temple), Joseph (Who saved God’s remnant), Rehab (Who hid God’s spies), Ruth (The widower who was faithful to her mother-in-law but was redeemed by Boaz), etc. His lineage doesn’t just go back four generation, it goes back over 42 generations. Every generation in the lineage of the Messiah is accounted for from Adam to Jesus. That in itself is amazing. His lineage shows us that though He had an overwhelming spiritual heritage, He truly is the Savior of all people and a wide variety of people had a place of honor in the lineage of Jesus!
Do you know your family’s spiritual heritage? If you have those who have walked with God for many years in your family, find out their stories. Pass them on to your children. If your family doesn’t have any spiritual heritage or you do not know it, then start building it now. Talk about the works of God to your family. Share the story of your salvation. Tell them what Jesus has done for you. Share how the baby in the manger whose birthday we celebrate is the Savior of all humanity, no matter where they fall in society or in our families. In the end, it doesn't matter what earthly family we belong to as long as we belong to His heavenly family.

Record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ

Luke 1

Ever Doubted God?

Have you ever laughed at God? I don’t mean the 'haha' kind of laugh, I mean the kind of laugh from thinking, “You have got to be kidding. There is no way that can happen. I must have heard you wrong”! I would like to say I have never had those thoughts, but there have been several times I have felt overwhelmed by what God was saying. Dwayne and I have had many times in our life where God called us to take steps of faith (usually felt like leaps to me) . Some of those steps of faith were:

• Walking away from the life we knew and being willing to follow God’s plan for us by serving Him in the ministry. (FYI- it has been a journey and a blessing beyond words)
• Selling our first home, packing up two children and moving to married housing for Dwayne to attend seminary. (FYI – The best of times, the worst of times, but what a preparation for the ministry and some amazing forever friends)
• Moving our family to a place we had never been, where we knew nobody, we had no place to live, and we were to create and grow a new church we later named South Hills, and built in Montana City, Montana. (FYI- It was seven years and was home to us for all seven years. It served as the core of our children’s childhood, the core of our ministry’s childhood, and a place that gave us a core of friends who walked with us down some amazing paths of God growing our faith that has bonded our hearts for eternity. South Hills is standing strong and is now over 15 years old and debt free)
• Standing beside my husband when he is faithful to be obedient to God and lead a church body to do what doesn’t make sense in the eyes of men. Like building a church when God says begin now, in the onset of a Montana winter, without the full balance of the projected cost in the bank, and no building groups scheduled which is supposed to be done a year in advance. (FYI- building was done by February, with help from plenty of building groups, and money and funding miraculously provided)
• Moving our family back to Oklahoma, to a hurting church which meant; leaving the church we loved and nurtured in Montana and watched grow into their first beautiful building, moving our children during their high school years, and not being able to sell our home in Montana (We grew in our new church and I saw God work in my women's Sunday School in a way that will never be able to be duplicated, He sold our home in His perfect timing, and both Bryce and Brittne has confirmed that looking back, it was a needed move for them, plus Bryce’s wife was waiting for him in Fort Gibson)
• Trusting that we and our children would survive their teenage years and they would claim for themselves their roots of faith. (FYI- we did and they have)
• Following God calling us to leave a church which had been good to us to plant another church and to do so in a new way to reach unchurched, young adults. God had us commit to His calling before we had a plan, a location, financial help, or people willing to come along side to work towards God's given vision. (FYI – Have a growing church that is a place where all feel welcomed, and lives are touched and changed)

Each time, it seemed God was telling us something beyond our comprehension. Yet each time God worked beyond my fear and doubt and blessed me when my faith didn’t merit it. Yesterday, I told you how Zachariah and Elizabeth had wanted a child their whole life and when they were old and pass childbearing years, God answered their prayers and they gave birth to a child God named John. We know him as John the Baptist. I did skip a part in the middle of the story though. When Zachariah entered the Holy of Holies, and the angel appeared to him, he froze in fear. The angel told him not to fear and that God had heard their prayers and Elizabeth would have a child, a son. The angel said they were to name him John and he would achieve great stature with God. The angel said John would turn many Israelites back to God! Zachariah questions the angel and said, “Do you expect me to believe this? We are too old to have a baby!" The angel was Gabriel and he proceeded to tell Zachariah that because he wouldn’t believe God, he would not be able to speak until the baby was born. Zachariah did not speak from then until the birth of John. Yet God worked beyond his fear and doubt and blessed Zachariah even when his faith didn’t merit it. He became the father of the greatest born among men. The Holy Spirit filled Zachariah and he prophesied of God and his newly born son.
I am so thankful that God pours grace on us and He blesses us even when it is not merited due to our fear, our doubt, and lack of faith. God is sovereign and His plan and character cannot be changed by what we do or not do. God is not diminished by our weaknesses. We are the ones that experience the consequences. We rob our self of the blessing of peace which comes from complete trust and faith in the words and plans of God. We can experience peace throughout the fulfillment of His plan by standing firm with unwavering trust. Or, we can live with fear, worry, and doubt. But when God fulfills His plan and we see the blessing of that fulfillment, we will regret all the time we wasted and the lack of peace we experienced because we didn’t trust Him! The next time God tells you to do something that seems beyond your comprehension, remember the God you proclaim to trust is in the business of doing the incomprehensible. The birth of Jesus is incomprehensible yet God did the incomprehensible and He still does the incomprehensible in the lives of His children.

And the angel replied to him. I am Gabriel, I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to talk to you and to bring you this good news. Now behold, you will be silent and will continue to be silent and not able to speak until the day when these things take place, because you have not believed what I told you; but my words are of a kind which will be fulfilled in the appointed and proper time.
Luke 1: 20 and 21

Taking the Love of Jesus Around the World

When my children were in Junior High and High School, I wasn't for sure what choices they would make when they left home. What role would God play in their life? Would they serve Him or ignore Him? I have to be honest and say that my daughter Brittne worried me the most. It was probably because she was more vocal. Every Sunday morning I would hear her standard speech about how when she is on her own she is not going to church every Sunday. It was always followed by, "And I am not going to make my kids go to church either!" I was pleasantly surprised when she found a church to attend her freshman year in college and helped to start a campus ministry. By her junior year she had decided that she wanted to go to a Christian university and enrolled at Southwest Baptist University in Boliver, Missouri. She declared missions as her minor and went on three mission trips to Mexico and one to Egypt before she graduated. Then she surrendered to missions her senior year and she felt God was calling her to the journeyman program with the Southern Baptist Convention. The following September God confirmed to her that she was to serve Him in Lima, Peru. She has been away from home for 15 months now. She has become fluent in Spanish and has traveled by bus, chicken bus, and foot to the uttermost parts of the Andres mountains and to minister to the villages and share the love of Jesus. She has gone 10 days without a shower and has been too cold to sleep. I am so proud of her. I am blessed that God has called her to serve Him in such a special way and that she is willing to be obedient no matter what the cost. However, there is another thing I am amazingly proud of her for. During her senior year in college, she adopted a little 10 year old boy, in Bolivia. She has faithfully sent $38 a month for his care. No matter what her income has been she has never complained about sending that money for him. She writes him and he writes her. She is making a difference in his life. For me, $38 is a casual meal out, or a new sweater. To her friend Omar, it gives him a school to attend and clothes to wear, and a friend to show him the love of Jesus. Since Brittne has been in Peru, I have had to type out the letters she receives from him and send it to her by email. He writes it in Spanish and draws her a picture, and the Compassion organization translates it to English for her. Now she would rather read it in Spanish but I do not type Spanish very well so she gets it in English. His letters have moved me on more than one occassion. In one letter, Omar writes:

Dear Brittne Thompson,
Hello! I send you greetings. First I thank you for the letter you sent me, Congratulations!! You are talented to learn spanish. In answer to your questions, I am fine. Bolivia is doing regular and it is turning cold, sometimes it rains and others we got up and down with ice. My family is fine. I like to cook rice with meat. It makes me happy to know your brother’s wedding was nice. What is the name of the town where you work? It is sad to know you left your friends in Guatemala but you can make new friends in your job, I will keep being your friend. My favorite biblical story is Noah’s. How do you cook “Enrollado de canela” I don’t know it. I want to tell you something. Please come to Bolivia, maybe it is too hard. I’d like to meet you. Thanks because I have a friend who is always thinking of me, who always works as to the Lord, I love you so much and I hope to have your news soon with love.
Omar

What a blessing she is to him and what a blessing he is to her. Brittne has plans to see him before she leaves South America. One of Brittne's gifts from me this Christmas is something she has asked me for more than once over the last two years. I am adopting a child to honor her and to do my part in taking the love of Jesus to the ends of the world.
We might not be able or be called to move around the world and serve God in the foreign mission field, but we can reach out to one child. What are you doing to take the love of Jesus to your community, to your state, to your country, and to your world?

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Acts 1:8

If you would be interested in sponsoring a child, visit http:www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child.

Celebrating through the Hurt

Christmas is a special time and often it is referred to as a magical time. It generates warm feelings of goodwill and generosity to others. It stirs up hallmark moments and events. If ever there is a time we try to live a picturesque life, it is during Christmas. It is as if we try to build a wall around the Holidays and believe it should keep out all the tribulations of life. The problem is that life still happens even during the Christmas Season. We still have family conflicts, divorces, diseases, illness, death, accidents, financial disasters, theifs, fires, loneliness and job losses. We pay extra attention to the hurts of life when it happens during these days and we always add the phrase, “how horrible, and during Christmas time too!”. Many people have a hard time balancing the celebration and honoring of Christ and the emotional pain from a hurt or a loss. It is hard to be sad when everything and everyone around you seem to radiate happiness. How do we do it?
Horatio Spafford was a man who had to figure out the answer to that question. Life brought Horatio many traumatic events. The first was the death of his only son in 1871.Then after being a successful lawyer, he experienced financial ruin following the great Chicago fire. In 1873, he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on a what we call a cruise ship. He ended up being delayede on business so he sent his family ahead. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sailing ship and all four of Horatio’s daughters died. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, "Saved alone." The Spaffords later had three more children, one of whom (a son) died in infancy. If anyone had to learn how to worship God in the midst of extraordinary hurt, he did. How did he do it? He focused on Jesus and the sovereignty of God. How do we know that? Because shortly after the ship sank, as Horatio traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write some words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died. Those words were set to music and we know it as the song, ‘It is Well With My Soul.’ Those words, though not in modern language, are:
When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul

I do not mean to devalue the hurt you may be dealing with this Christmas. However, I do know that Christ is the only one that can comfort and give you peace. He is bigger than your hurt. Isn’t that reason enough to celebrate His birth? Take a break from focusing on your trials and hurts and instead focus on Jesus and the season of love and joy. It is healing!

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds (curing their pains and their sorrows).

Psalm 147:3

Does Santa Claus have a Place in a Christian's Christmas?

I was raised watching my parents give to people in need. Not just at Christmas, but especially at Christmas. They would always adopt children from a local children's home for Christmas. One year stands out because a friend, who had just signed withthe Pittsburg Steelers took the football we purchased for our adopted boy and had his teammates sign it. There are some amazing signatures on that football, including Terry Bradshaw. Dwayne and I have carried on that Christmas tradition and we make sure to buy for a family or children who are in need. However, I have to confess, that giving money or buying gifts, though it can be difficult financially, is not the most sacrificial giving. Giving what you have and use is much harder than giving from your abundance. Let me explain. When I was a child my mother decided I had too many toys and my cousin had none. She made me go through my toys and give away a third. All of a sudden every toy was my favorite. It was a very hard thing to do and one that I still remember. Then as an adult, I had a friend who needed some work clothes. I had recently cleaned out my closet of unwanted items and had given them away. God convicted me to give my friends some of my favorite clothes, you know everything hanging in my closet. I went to my closet and pulled out some favorite outfits and gave them to her. That was the most sacrificial giving I have ever done.
Christmas is a time for giving. We hear that every year. Christ gave everything to us and in honor of Him, we give to others. There is another symbol of giving we include in our Christmases, it is Santa Clause. Every Christian battles the question of how much Santa Claus do we allow in our Christmas. It can be a real dilemma. However, when you know the real story of Santa Claus, it can become a meaningful part of your Christmas celebration. I was blessed to know the real story of Santa when the kids were young and we incorporated it into our festivities. Last year, a local radio station put the following story of Santa Claus on their web site and I want to pass it on to you.

The Real Story of St. Nicholas
Maybe we give old St. Nick too much static for the over-commercialization of Christmas. This thought comes to me after reading what Bruce Thielman, Chaplain at Grove City College in Pennsylvania had to say on the subject."At Christmas, when calling us to be manger people, perhaps Jesus might say: Consider, if you will my servant, Nicholas. He lost his parents early in his life in an epidemic, but not before he was old enough for them to help him discover the gift of faith. After that, little Nicholas went to Myra and lived a life full of self offering and giving of himself. His life was full of sacrifice and love in the spirit of Jesus. Nicholas lived such a Christ-like life, that when the town needed a bishop, he was immediately elected. Later he was imprisoned for his Christian faith, but was later released by the Emperor Constantine. Thereafter, many stories of his generosity were collected and spread like wildfire from mouth to mouth. It was told how he begged food for the poor, and how he would somehow get money for girls to use as a dowry so that they could have husbands. The story most often repeated was about how he would put on a disguise and go out and give gifts to poor children. In fact, Nicholas gave away everything he had, plus everything he could get from others. Good Nicholas died in 314 A.D. Later his body was moved to Italy, where his remains are reported to be today. The story of Nicholas has spread around the world. Today, there are more European churches named after St. Nicholas than any other person in the history of the church... aside from Biblical characters. People have done many things to St. Nick. Clement More, the poet, gave him a red nose and eight tiny reindeer. Artist Thomas Nast gave Nicholas a round belly and a red, fur trimmed suit. But, that is not important! What is vital, is that he lived in the mind-set and lifestyle of Christ. Because he lived that way, the life of Nicholas touched the whole world. Now, here is the kicker: that same Christ-like mind-set and lifestyle is supposed to be in and lived by us all."
That is a story we can tell our children. That is an example we can follow. If we made giving a part of our life, how would that touch the lives of others? The thing we need to not do is make St. Nicholas the focus. I don't think he would want that. We can't make ourselves the focus when we give either. We must make Jesus the focus of all giving, for everything comes from Him.

We all live off His generous bounty, gift after gift..

John 1:16 (Message)

P.S. There is a children's book I used with my children called, "Santa, Are You Real". There are also a variety of books that teach about the real St. Nicholas at Barnes and Noble.

Christmas Is What You Make It

One of the best, most unique Christmas presents I ever received as a child was from my grandparents. They owned an old fashion store in a small town in Arkansas. For Christmas, they walked the ailes with a box and threw everything they thought I would like into it. I got candy, toothbrushes, toys, gum, Cracker Jacks, and enough other stuff (my mother said, junk) to fill a large box. I loved it! It was also the last Christmas present I received from them. For religious reasons they stopped celebrating Christmas. After all, they claimed, it really wasn't Christ birthday, it was just a date that man picked.
They were right, it isn't the actual date that Christ was born. Scholars have said that Jesus would have been born in the Spring. It is also true that man has made Christmas very commercial with trees, lights, gifts, parties, food, etc. However, I believe wholeheartedly that Christmas is what you make it. Satan is really good about taking spiritual things and making it into something worldly. So, let's take all the commercialism and turn it into something that teaches our children about Jesus. Let all the 'gifts mania' be a reminder to us of the greatest gift of Jesus, Who was willing to leave all His glory and come to earth to be born a mere man and sacrifice His life in order to offer us eternal life with Him. It may not be his actual birthday but what is wrong with sitting aside a time to remember God's gift of His only Son to us. Scripture is constantly telling us to remember the acts of God. God established many feast and festivals with the Jewish people to help them remember those very things. We should let Christmas, that we set aside to remember an act of God, remind us of God's greatest gift to humanity and also who Jesus is. For example:

• We put up an evergreen in our home and call it our Christmas tree - Jesus is the everlasting Savior who wants to make his home with us.
• We put up lights - Jesus is the Light of the world, a Light in the darkness.
• We hang ornaments on the tree - Jesus gives us His Spirit and gifts and talents that takes our ordinary lives and makes us special, and beautiful.
• We give gifts- Jesus was God's Gift to the world.
• We spend time with family and friends- Because of the sacrifice of Jesus we belong to the family of God.
• We celebrate the birth of Jesus - The angels celebrated the birth of Jesus and proclaimed His glory!
• Santa Clause brings gifts - Teach the story of St. Nicolas (if you do not know it, I will share it tomorrow)

Christmas can be what you make it. If we let everything we do point to Jesus, then we are glorifying Him. Look for ways to teach others about Jesus. Hearts are open this time of year to the Good News. Don't just go through the motions of Christmas which doesn't set us apart from the world. Let the joy of Jesus radiate from you and bless all those around you. Look for every opportunity to focus on and celebrate Jesus. Let it be a season of remembrance. Teach your children and your grandchildren the wonder of Christmas. If Christians don't celebrate the birth of Jesus, who will? The angels sure celebrated the birth of Jesus!

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2:11-14

Live Like It Is Your Last Christmas!

During the long Thanksgiving Holiday, we hooked up the old VCR player and my sister and I watched old home movies. We watched previous Christmas mornings when my children were babies. We watched the Christmas when Bryce got his Nintendo and first games; Mario and Duck Hunt. It was amazing to see and hear my little children. I had forgotten what they sounded like. However, it seems like only yesterday my grown adult children, were running to mama to fix whatever was wrong. It has always amazed me how time feels like it is crawling as you are living it but when you look back, it goes in a flash. I can not believe it has been 25 years since I held my first baby! My sister and brother are the same age as my children. Their mother died when they were 14 and 16 years old. Our father died when they were 18 and 20 years old. When we were watching the tapes, it dawned on me that their mother was filming the tapes to record their childhood. Yet, in reality, we were watching the tapes to remember and see their parents. At one point, in the tape viewing, we realized their mother had only 10 more years with her children. She didn't see her children drive, graduate, go off to college, start their careers, She won't see them get married or have children. She was a great mother, but what would she had done differently if she knew she would only have 16 years as a mother.
Today, I have several friends that could be experiencing their last Christmas. It makes me ponder how I would look at this Christmas if it was my last. Actually, it could be! I do not know what tomorrow holds for me or any of those I love and care about. The only thing I know for sure is that one day I will live for eternity with my God and my Savior.
Why then do we live like we are guaranteed to live to be a hundred? How would we live this Christmas if we knew it would be our last? Would we stress less? Would we enjoy our family and friends more? Would we talk more about Jesus? Would we truly focus on the true meaning of Christmas? What gift would we give as our last gift to someone? What kind of impact would we have on people if we lived like there was not tomorrow?

Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

James 4 :13-14

Christmas, A Season for Praise

Today we are officially in the Christmas season. Thanksgiving is now over and we are now in a full blown preparation mode for Christmas. I do love Christmas but I love the Thanksgiving season too. I hate to see it come to an end. Thanksgiving is a time I reflect on God's lessons and provisions for our family over the last year. It has definetly been a year of changes for me. I have changed jobs twice, my daughter left for Guatemala and then Peru for her two year job as a Journeyman missionary in the Andres mountains, my son got married, Fusion renovated and moved into a new building, we lost a pet and got two new puppies, I was officially labeled pre-menapausal and started taking hormones, I gave up processed food, and I started writing these devotions. These events have brought an array of emotions. One commonality is the feeling of loss. However, God has been faithful. He has held my hand and strengthened me. I have so much to be thankful for and I praise Him for all He is in my life.

As I was studying the scriptures on thankfulness, I saw a well known verse in a new light. I have sung it many times. "I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter His courts with praise." This is the formula for intimacy with God. We enter into His presence by giving Him thanks for all He does for us and we enter into His courts or a closer relationship by praising Him for who is is.

The new revelation was seeing how it relates to the holidays. It dawned on me that we enter the holidays focusing on giving thanks to God for all He has done for us. We then proceed to Christmas where we praise God for His willingness to send His Son to be born among men and be our Savior. We entered into His gates as we celebrated Thanksgiving and offering Him our thankfulness and we will now proceed into an even closer fellowship with Him as we enter into His courts with praise. What have you praised God for recently? May we focus on offering our praise this Christmas season!

Enter His gates with thanksgiving, enter His courts with praise.

Psalms 100:4

Thankful for His Provision of Food

We are two days from Thanksgiving and I will bet that in some way you have had to think about food. We automatically think about two things during this holiday. One is giving thanks, the other is food! It seems that food is a part of every advertisement during November, whether TV or magazine. You probably have been planning on what you are going to cook, where and when you are going to eat it. Not only do you have Thanksgiving Day to prepare for, you probably have a potluck dinner at church, work, or with other groups of friends and family. I have had a potluck at church, I have a potluck today at work and I am cooking for 10 on Thursday. Well, actually I am cooking for around 30 but there is only 10 of us that is going to eat it! It is ridiculous that I can not serve a ‘one meat, one salad, one vegetable, one potato, rolls, one dessert, dinner. Most of us will experience an abundance of food on this day of giving thanks. I have to admit, I do not know how I feel about this. In scripture we see both feast and famine. Is there anything wrong with abundance when we know there are people who are wanting? Would skimping on the food help or make a difference? How did we get to the point where we show our thankfulness for God’s provision by pigging out on food until we are stuffed and miserable? What about all the food we end up throwing away because it gets wrapped up as leftovers, put in the fridge to mold, and then thrown away without any guilt because we are now throwing away rotted food. I wonder how many people we could feed with the food thrown away on Thanksgiving Day? I do not ever remember missing a meal because I did not have any food! I am very thankful for that and for the fact that God has provided me with food that provides nutrition and strength to my body. To be a good steward of God's provision to me, I am going to enjoy all the food but I am not going to eat so much that I am miserable. I am going to make sure that I do not throw out any food, I will eat it until it is gone or I will freeze it, or I will give it away. What do you need to do to show your thankfulness and being a good steward of God’s provision of food?

He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. He also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he give thanks to God…

Romans 14:6a

Thankful for His Servants

If I had to make a list of every person that has touched my life since the day I was born, it would be massive. I have so many friends and family that have poured love over me. I have had people teach me the lessons of life, some I was grateful to learn and some I wish I did not have to endure. I have had people to pray with me, encourage me, cry with me, struggle with me, forgive me, listen to me, let go of me, accept me, work alongside me, befriend me, help me, mentor me, and purely care for me. How blessed and how thankful I am for all of you. Each of you have a special page in my memory book. I would not be the person I am today without each of you. Today is the funeral of one of my Aunts, she was one of these special people in my life. She was my quirky Aunt, everyone has to have one. She loved gaudy! She gave life to everything. The older I got the more I appreciated her uniqueness. The contagious smile that she wore will forever be etched in my memory, and just thinking about her will make me smile in her memory. I am thankful to have been her niece. This is just one of the thousands of stories I could tell on each person in my life. I bet some of you are glad I am not spilling anything interesting on you!
As we officially begin this Thanksgiving week, let me proclaim my thankfulness for God’s children who serve Him obediently to minister to others. Spend some time today thinking of the massive list of people who have touched your life. How would your life be different without them? Let me encourage you to thank as many people as you possibly can today for what they have contributed to your life. You never know if you will have another chance.

I thank God in all my remembrances of you.
Philippians1:3

Thankful for His Promises!

One thing that is hard for me to imagine living life without is hope. Yet so many do. This world has drained any ounce of hope from them. They find themselves with no hope for their marriages, no hope in the good in people, no hope for their finances, no hope for their dreams, no hope for peace in life, and no hope for their soul in death. When they do not live for Christ, they have removed themselves from the source of hope, there is nothing in them to produce hope.
1 Thess 1:3 tells us that hope is "an anchor of the soul," a staying amidst the storms of this life. Without the anchor you are tossed to and fro, with desperation not hope. How can anybody have hope aside from Christ and how can anybody with Christ live without hope. They go hand in hand.

Hope is defined by the world as a feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. A Biblical definition is a 'favorable and confident expectation'

God is the author, not the subject of hope. In Romans 15:13 God is spoken of as "the God of Hope".

We can have hope because we can stand on God's promises. God's promises teach us what we can expect, what we can hope in. Are you letting the cares of this world weigh you down or are you putting your hope alone in Jesus Christ and His promises? What promises are you holding on to? What is your favorite promise?

My favorite promise is from Hebrews 13:5-6

I will not in any way fail you , nor give you up, or leave you without support. I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless, nor forsake, not let you down. Relax my hold on you, assuredly not!!!

One of my favorite thing about this promise is the fact that God has a hold on me. So many times I see myself as grasping on to God for dear life, but I don't have to do that. I can rest in the fact that He has a hold on me and He will not relax it!

I am thankful for the God of hope, the God of promises, and the God that holds on tight to me!

Thankful for His Attributes

Have you ever thought about who knows you the best? Think about all the different roles and titles you have. Who knows you in most of these roles? In Montana, I had a friend who was a southerner like me. I was friends with her ex-sister in law and we ended up working in the same three positions at the Department of Revenue. We were both mothers of young teenagers and members of the same church. We never ran out of things to talk about. Home, work, church, the south, we could cover it all! I have had many great friends but I have never had a friend that we shared so many aspects of life.
Each of us can come up with a list of titles, roles and attributes that would describe us. My list would be: daughter, wife, mother, mother in-law, sister, cousin, aunt, sister-in-law, granddaughter, niece, friend, co-worker, classmate of the Owasso class of 1979, NSU alumni, HR, Wellness, Disease Management, Health conscious, health coach, teacher, Christian, pastor’s wife, Fusion member, Okie, shopper, golfer, pre-menopausal, cruise lover, American, decorator, dog owner, home owner, driver, blogger, OU fan, reader, cook, homemaker, ex gardener (lol), etc. This list allows you to know me better. It teaches you about my relationships, interest, skills, passions, and choices.
One thing I am thankful for is that Jesus provided us a list of names, titles and metaphors for Himself which allows us to know Him personally and intimately. We do not follow a one dimensional Savior, we follow a multi-faceted Lord. Part of the list that Scripture gives us about Jesus is; Desired of All the Nations, Everlasting Father, Faithful and True Witness, First Born Among Many Brothers, First Born From the Dead, Firstborn Over All Creation, Forerunner, Foundation, Fountain, Friend, Gate, Gift of God, Glory of Israel, Good Shepherd, Head of the Church, Heir of All Things, High Priest, Holy One of God, Hope of Glory, Horn of Salvation, I Am, Immanuel, Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, Judge, King of Kings, Lamb of God, Life, Light of the Gentiles, Light of the World, Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Living Stone, Lord and Savior, Lord of Glory, Lord of Lords, Lord of the Dead and Living, Lord of the Sabbath, Master, Mediator, Messiah, Mighty God, One and Only, Our Holiness, Our Passover, Our Redemption, Our Righteousness, Physician, Prince of Life, Prince of Peace, Rabbi, Redeemer, Righteous Branch, Righteous Servant, Rising Sun, Rock, Root and Offspring of David, Ruler of God’s Creation, Savior, Servant, Shepherd, Son, Son of Abraham, Son of God, Son of Man, Stone, Sure Foundation, Teacher, The Almighty, The Beginning, The Last Adam, The Morning Star, The Prophet, True God, True Light, True Vine, Truth, Way, Wisdom, Wonderful Counselor, Word of God, etc.
What an amazing Savior we have and how amazing it is that He wants an intimate relationship with us!

Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name and those attributes which that name denotes.

1 Chronicles 29:13

Thankful for His Answered Prayer

Well, today the saga continued with the healing of my allergic reaction to the Virgina Creeper. I hope you aren't getting tired of the lessons God is teaching me through this experience, cause I have to admit, I am getting tired of living through the experience. Monday, I finally got an appointment with the dermatologist who put be back on a mega dose of steroids and changed my antihistamine because the Benadryl quit working. I made sure to call my internist to confirm that the hormones I am taking would not cause a reaction to the new medicines. My rash is still spreading and the nightly itching episode is the norm as well as 4 hours of sleep, if I am lucky. Today was the day I was suppose to call the dermatologist and let him know how I was doing. When I explained my current symptoms with the addition that my throat is tightening and feeling swollen, I received instructions to go straight to the Urgent Care. Anaphalaxis Shock was a concern. So off I went to sit in the Urgent (?) Care for 90 minutes. The problem was my blood pressure. The steroids had increased my blood pressure to 169 over 109. Now I am on temporary high blood pressure medicine to allow me to stay on my steroids. What a process.
Nine days ago, my face swelled up, and on that day I prayed and asked God to heal me. It is still my prayer today. So that creates questions that we all have to answer at one point or another. Does God not care? Why isn't He healing me? He heals others, why not me? Is it that big of a deal to God? Satan would love to trip us up with these questions.
See, I am okay with whatever God wants to do and I believe He answered my prayer whether I am healed today or not, because after I ask for God to heal me, I surrendered to whatever His plan is for me. I asked Him to empower me to go along whatever path He takes me on. I trust Him totally for whatever the outcome is because I know that He goes before me and He prepares my way. I will grow in dependency and faith as we walk together, whatever He chooses to do.
After every prayer we lay before the Lord, we have a choice to make. We will choose one, or the other. We will trust, or we will worry. Our choice marks our prayer as a 'trusting prayer' or a 'worrying prayer'. When we trust the Lord, we trust Him with our life, not just for the answer we think is best. When we worry, we go through the motions of giving it to Him, but we want to call the outcome. We are afraid that he won't give us what we want. We start to worry that maybe He won't love us enough to give it to us, or maybe we haven't been good enough. The focus is on whether He will give us what we want. Which kind of prayer do you think is pleasing to God? Which kind of prayer do you think gives us peace? I hate the way worrying prayers make me feel. I am done with worrying prayers. I have determined to trust the Lord for whatever direction He leads. It doesn't mean I can't tell him what I would like to happen, but the real prayer is always for His presence in the circumstance. He always answers that prayer! Though this is my 12th day with this allergy and its affects, He has helped me, taught me, strengthened me, and made His presence known to me. That is a true blessing and one that feels my heart with thankfulness.

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when test and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help.

James 1: 2-5

Thankful for His Makeover of Me

Tonight I got to watch my favorite TV Show. It is a show that has had an impact on my life and my personal health journey over the last two and a half years. (Stay tuned because I will share the spiritual lessons from that journey in January.) The show is The Biggest Loser! Not only is it my favorite show, tonight was my favorite week of each season. Tonight was makeover night. Six contestants which have lost over 500 pounds in ten weeks, had the opportunity to see themselves for who they have become. Part of their journey is to take a serious look at who they have become, let go of the person they were, and live like the person they want to be. If they continue to think and act like they did when they were unhealthy, they will never be the healthy person they want to be.
This same principal applies to our spiritual growth. If we do not stop thinking and acting like the old person we were before Christ, we will never grow into the strong, faithful Christian we long to be. We need to see ourselves as the new person we are in Christ, let go of the old self, and live like the follower of Christ we want to be. The principle that we need to act like the person we want to be needs to resonant in our behavior. I remember a statement I heard a long time ago, that I hated, "If you want to be skinny, eat like a skinny person." I am finally starting to understand that principle. You will become the person you practice! How do you see yourself? Do you act like the old self you were before Christ? Or are you acting like the child of God that you are? It is my goal to act like the person I am, not the person I was! What is your goal?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!

2 Corinthians 5:17 (Message)

Okay, I had to look up the word burgeons! In case you are like me and need the definition, it is: to produce new growth, to flourish

Thankful for His Love

If any word has lost its value in our society, it is the word ‘LOVE’. It has become a feel good emotion. It comes and goes as situations arise. So many couples stand together and commit to love each other until death separates them, and yet that commitment does not last through the difficult times. Parents abuse and neglect their children. Children abuse and neglect their parents. When love leaves, dysfunction comes and is rampant in people’s lives today. The world has substituted sex for love and more and more youth and adults are reaping deep scars from the hurt of that substitution.
As the world continues to warp love, real, genuine, and godly love glows like a beacon of light in the darkness. I feel blessed to have experienced love from so many friends, family, and a wonderful husband. I know what God’s love looks like. However, a few years ago I saw the most amazing picture of unconditional love and it will stay in my heart forever. About a year before we moved back to Oklahoma, Dwayne's college basketball coaches' wife became very ill and spent her last many months in a comatose state. He never quit caring for her. Every day, he would feed her and talk to her. He would tell her what a wonderful wife and mother she had been and how blessed he was to have her. I have seen families live through this last stage of life, which I have experienced in our family as well. There comes a point that you realize it would be better for the person to let go of this life and enter into the arms of Christ. Sometimes, you get to the point of praying for it. I understand these feelings and again I have experienced them myself. However, on our last visit with the coach before his wife passed away, he made the following statement to me with tears in his eyes, “I thank God for everyday I get to spend with her. She is a blessing to me.” Wow! He loved her unconditionally. Though she was not able to give anything to him in return, he still thanked God for her. He didn’t complain about the demands her care required of him, or the stress of expecting the end to come each day. He honored his wife until she took her last breath. What a picture of unconditional love.
None of us are able to truly love unconditionally without allowing God to love through us. He is the source of unconditional love and He loves each of us with that amazing love. When we grasp the depths of God’s love for us, it completely changes our relationship with Him. He does not love like we love, and not like our earthly fathers love. When we realize that God loves us no differently when we mess up, we will stop running from Him when we do. We will run to him for restoration and forgiveness. He is like the prodigal son’s father, who waits for his child to return, not to punish him but to celebrate their renewed fellowship. I am thankful for the gift of God’s special love for me and for letting me be a vessel of His love to others. What an honor! It is my desire to never dishonor that gift. Have you accepted the unconditional love of God? Have you quit trying to earn it, or keep it? His love is not based on you, it is based on who He is and He is Love! No matter what we do or what we experience, we can rest in the arms of God’s love!

We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God. God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love,

we live in God and God lives in us.
1 John 4:16

Thankful for His Churches

It seems like yesterday that I was attending college. In reality, I started college thirty years ago. Dang, it's going fast! I remember many of my classes, and some of them I don’t even remember being present for. It seems the ones that I remember are the ones where there was interaction in the class; group conversations, debates, and projects. Those classes with no personal input or the on-line courses were only an activity of memorization for the next test, and then the delete button was pushed and all was forgotten. There is something that stimulates learning and remembering when we interact with others. I think that is why God tells us to not forsake the gathering of fellow Christians. We learn more when we interact with others. We remember more when we hear testimonies. We experience more unity with corporate worship. Our spirit is stirred more with the deliverance of God’s Word. We have more sense of belonging when we're a part of a body of believers who love the Lord and loves each other.
So far, God has used eight churches to mold me into the woman I am today. Each has played a part of my spiritual growth and each has been a blessing. I grew up in a small hometown church. My parents did not attend but I went on my own with an aunt and uncle. This church loved me and never made me feel out of place because I did not attend with my parents. I accepted Christ in this church. Everyone stepped in and parented my spiritual growth until I graduated from high school. When Dwayne accepted Christ in college, we attended a local church in town. We were married by the pastor of that church and as newly married adults they helped us lay a foundation for our life with Christ. When we graduated we joined a church in Broken Arrow, OK where we moved. It was a large church, but it was here we developed lasting relationships with so many people. It is here that God spiritually grew me. It was here Dwayne was ordained as a deacon and a minister. This church supported us through seminary. They have invested in our lives and our ministry and they are always a part of what we do. We attended two churches in Seminary; these two churches gave Dwayne the opportunity to do some ministry work that prepared him for what God had in store for us. One pastor met with him weekly to mentor him. The next church was our first church in the ministry, it was in Montana. It is like your first child, you don’t love them more than you do your other children but there is a special bond from sharing first time experiences together. This church taught me faith, trust, true fellowship, on my face prayer, unity as a body, and how miraculously God works. Our next church brought us back to Oklahoma. This church taught me forgiveness, healing, spiritual growth, encouragement, and openness. Now we are at Fusion. It has been a new journey for us as we learn to reach out differently to a generation that is walking away from religion. I am learning to accept people where they are and for who they are. I am learning how to minister to those who question whether there is a God. I am learning to teach those who know very little about how to walk with the Lord. I am experiencing living in the freedom of Christ and to be a follower of Him only.
I can’t help but wonder how different I would be without each of these churches. I know that I have struggled in my life with self discipline and I doubt if I would have studied and grown on my own. You would never be able to convince me that I would have experienced God on my own, the same way I have as a part of a body of believers. I am not devaluing the fact that personal time of study and prayer is not vital to my Christian walk. However, my corporate learning and worship is of equal importance. I am very thankful for each of the churches God has allowed me to be a part of. What about you? How has God used the church to mold you? If you do not attend a church, let me encourage you to find one where God can teach you and grow you according to His will. We are not meant to walk our Christian journey alone.

Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.

Hebrew 10:24-25

Thankful for His Word

Have you bought a piece of furniture lately. Everything comes in a box and it is ridiculous how many pieces there are. It is so complicated that a man will actually have to read the directions, or at least look at the pictures. I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to put it together without the instructions.
I feel the same way about life. Life can be so hard and it is overwhelming how many things we have to juggle to get through it. We have jobs, marriages, children, church, health, friends, family and God to balance. We have stresses from all the busy schedules finances, cleaning, shopping, eating, and on and on it goes. How do we do it? How do we balance it all and keep our sanity?
Thank God, we have an instruction manual. It is called the Bible, words from God to us! God loves us too much to just stick us here and let us figure it out on our own. The problem is many of us try and live without reading the instruction. We will only add a lot of stress to our lives when we do it on our own. When we follow the instruction manual, it all comes together perfectly. We should cherish the Word of God like they are love letters to us. I have a stack of letters that Dwayne’s father wrote to his mother when he was away in the Navy. They are precious and very sentimental to us. The Word of God should be even more precious because they are words written directly to us from the one who gave it all to for us. Thanks you God for your Words, may I let them direct my path!

Let my supplication come before you; deliver me according to Your word! My lips shall pour forth praise (with thanksgiving and renewed trust) when you teach me your statutes. My tongue shall sing (praise for the fulfillment of Your Word) for all Your commandments are righteous.
Psalms 119:170-172

Thankful for His Patience

The other day, I told you about my allergic reaction I had from a weed that grows in my garden. It is called Virginia Creeper. It is very frustrating to me that for the third time this weed has affected me. Each allergic reaction has been progressively worse. I am very aware of my allergy to this weed and I try to avoid it at all cost. This time it looked different because it was dead. I was concentrating on the project and just didn't notice it. Now I have paid the price for five days. My face has been almost unrecognizable. It is so weird to look in the mirror and not see me looking back. I have had blisters on my face and arms. Then I did something stupid again. I was trying to get out of the door as fast as possible to get to the doctor and I picked up the first bra and jeans I spotted laying in the corner of my bedroom. When I started breaking out on my bra line and my pantie line, I realized then I had put on the clothes I wore while I was in the garden! Now, I really am itching everywhere! The itching has brought me to a point where I thought I was loosing my mind. All I wanted to do is scratch and remove every inch of itching skin. Why do we think the pain is better than the itching? I've been taking steroids but they have been working very slowly. To top it off, this was an unusual week. I had tickets to three different performances, on three different nights. I had to choose to stay home and hide or learn a new level of humility and go to the shows. I chose to attended the performances. I was embarrassed for anyone to see me so I kept my head down and tried not to bring any attention to myself. I also had to return to work and today, I had to meet a new customer. I have a new level of commitment to never get close to this weed again. I do not want to experience this for a fourth time! I can't imagine it being any worse but the pattern says it would be.
Do you have some weeds in your life? The sins or habits that you know affect you negatively. It may be things you try and avoid but they catch you off guard and before you know it, they are bringing you pain and discomfort. They can drive you crazy! You look in the mirror and wonder who is looking back at you. It embarrasses you. You do whatever is necessary not to bring attention to yourself . You feel so stupid for getting back in the spot you have been before. The recovery takes time and effort. You ask yourself over and over, "Why didn't I pay more attention and not touch this 'weed'".
I am thankful that God is patient with us and He gives us second, third, fourth and more chances. However, I believe our consequences are worse each time until we become committed to avoiding the sin ,which brings us so much pain. The best way to avoid the pain is to ask God to remove whatever 'weeds' you find in your life. Let Him pull them out, roots and all!

"...Get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humble acccept the Word planted in you, which can save you!

James 1:21

Thankful for the Holy Spirit

Parenthood is an amazing journey! The excitement and joy of holding your brand new baby is overwhelming.You feel life couldn’t be better! Then reality sets in and you realize it is hard and exhausting. I think every parent has said the words, "I can’t do this”. But love keeps us persevering. They grow up into little independent children who can stir every emotion in us. We can experience everything from pride to anger! The family keeps growing together and at times it feels easy and at times it is the most difficult thing we can do. Our minds get filled with family 'Kodak moments' and it makes every difficulty worth it. Then the teenager years begin. A whole new set of challenges presents itself. You have to take a lot of deep breaths and wonder if they will ever love you again. Sometimes you wonder if you will ever love them again! Then before you know it they are grown and out on their own. As you look back, your mind sees all the memories as a movie, showing the highlights and joys of being a parent. The pain that comes from parenthood looses its intensity and becomes a funny story you tell around the dinner table. It is the journey from infancy to adulthood. The journey has a lot of hills and valleys, and wide turns and u-turns, but there is never a doubt in your mind that if you had the choice, you would do every moment of it again.
That is like the journey we take as God’s children. We start out our walk as a baby. We take falls and he picks us up. We grow by making mistakes and by hitting home runs. It is a process of learning to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus left this earth, He sent the Holy Spirit to be with us and to grow us. Our maturity is measured by how much we let the Holy Spirit control us. Scripture describes the things the Holy Spirit does for us.
· He gives us our ability
· He enables us to witnesses
· He leads and guides us
· He teaches us Truth
· He gives us life
· He gives us peace
· He manifest in us our gifts
· He fills us
· He comes to our aid
· He bears us up in our weakness
· He acts on Jesus' behalf
· He is our teacher
· He reminds us of God’s Word
· He is our comforter
· Our counselor
· Our helper
· Our intercessor
· Our advocate
· Our strengthener

It is amazing that everything I need and want to grow in the Lord is provided to me through the Holy Spirit. I do not have to do it alone, I just have to surrender moment by moment and let the Holy Spirit fulfill Himself in me. When I do not surrender, my journey gets hard and I end up having to do a lot of u-turns. Our Heavenly Father works through the Holy Spirit to mature us to spiritual adults. Though there will be trials and tests along the way, it all teaches us dependency on God. We are so blessed. We have the love of our Heavenly Father, the redemption of a merciful Savior, and the guidance from a comforting teacher! I can't imagine trying to mature on my own, what a mess I would make. That is why I am very thankful that I have the Holy Spirit to lead me. May I give Him the control and may He fill every inch of me.

If we live by the Holy Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. (If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.

Galatians 5:25