Love this -

Among us all worldwide, time is what makes us all equal. We each get the same amount. It's what we do with it that makes us so different.

Are we doing something worthwhile with our time? How would we rather spend our extra time? Sleeping? Watching TV? Playing on the Computer?(lol) We can never say we don't have enough "time" to serve others or study God's word, or fufill our calling because God has given us all the same amount of time. It's all in how you manage what he's given you.
:)

We all have our little quirks and preferences. I was telling someone the other day how I absolutely hate to be on the phone. There are less than five people that I don't feel completely and totally uncomfortable with on the phone. Not naming names! But I realized my phone has a data and call counter this morning. I have validated my own claim! My call counter says that in almost my entire four week billing cycle I've been on the phone 115 minutes. That's not even two hours, AND they round up and Mike had a conversation on my phone with Mike one day last week that I'm sure was atleast ten-fifteen minutes so there you have it folks. Proof positive - I AM NOT A PHONE PERSON!!!!! :) Ha Ha Just in case you didn't believe me before.....

Wow, Mac Powell and Brandon Heath video is awesome!!! Fantastic tribute to Rich Mullins! I could listen to Mac Powell all day long. I'd love to sing with him...I wonder does he enjoy singing with off-beat, tone deaf people? If so he'll love me!!

Always forget about this thing! No joke.

Today I was thinking about how many times you see an athlete hydrate (fuel up) with gatorade during a game. They are paid to be at the top of their game and obviously without the proper care they would be no good to anyone. Last week Sunday Night football in Arizona - it was 110 degrees!! Seriously! There was gatorade everywhere. I started to think about how our lives were bought with a price greater than any sports contract ever written. You may not know this but Jesus paid more for your life than Chicago paid for Michael Jordan. And the price Jesus paid for you is for eternity - not just a season! So, why then do so many of us think we can get in the game without ever studying the plays, without hydration and go all out in the 110 degree heat. No wonder so many Christians don't finish the game. We need to fuel up our temple so that we can do the work we were called to do. Pray, Read, Fellowship, and Fast. That's what the early church was all about. Think it's about time we got back to that :)
~ Louise

I apologize to the faithful who check my blog for my lack of consistency in posting. I've heard your repeated complaints and am seeking to rectify your current aggression with this post. :)

Went and saw Z at the hospital with Amy tonight. It made me realize how much I've missed her. I think about her and a few precious others quite often and am so frustrated at myself for letting so much time pass without talking to them.

These last few days have been jam packed with one thing after another. I need to catch up on housework and get ready to celebrate Madison's and Mike's birthdays this weekend. I wanted so much to take Mike to dinner Friday night, but sadly not going to happen. He will be 32. Wow, I'm married to an oldy... at least he's not a baldy...lol.

Next week all the kids are going to VBS and I'm super excited about that. Jess needs all the help she can get (hint, hint Lord.. if you're into reading blogs, I'm just saying..) She is seriously on my last nerve these days. Ten days left before we leave for Clearlake. So, I'm hoping her attitude improves by then!

So very tired right now. Have to go to sleep so I can get up at 7 and ride my bike with Pam!

I'm so excited because my mom is going to start doing the study of Esther with us and I think Reeta is too!!!! Amy invited some girls too!! We are so blessed to be able to gather together here and learn about the bible and the God we serve without fear of persecution!! I can hardly wait for Monday. This week's lesson "kicked it up a notch" and I actually had to spend extra time thinking about my answer. It wasn't just an easy task.

Yesterday I read the most amazing book! It's called Between Sundays by Karen Kingsbury. Here's an excerpt from the foreward, written by Alex Smith.

"It's not what we do in front of 80,000 people on Sundays that defines who we are. Just as we are not defined by what we do on Sundays in church. It's what we do and how we live Monday through Saturday, when no one is watching, that defines our legacy. It's more than a game, it's life, and we all have a chance to make a difference as we live our lives between Sundays."

This book is a must read!! It had a love story, football, and Salvation... seriously what more could you ask for from a fictional novel?

Loved it!!!!!!

I'm totally bummed! UPS came today and delivered my books, but didn't leave them because I wasn't home. :( That makes me feel sad! I don't have much to say today. Nothing funny or thought provoking. Not even something lame. Hmm. Maybe tomorrow.

God isn't going to use your life because you are just like everyone else.

"Mediocrity is mass produced
Destiny is custom designed."

Stop trying to be excepted and be exceptional!

Quote by Steven Furtick

Days after spending the weekend with Beth Moore I am still soaking it all in. For days before we even left God had been speaking to me through Ephesians 4. Unity in the body of Christ. Part of Beth's message was to not allow your diversity to cause division. God loves diversity it's why He created us all differently. She also advised not to make things an issue that aren't critical to the spine of salvation. I liked that. In other words it's okay to agree to disagree about things that aren't impacting anyone's salvation. God bless her petite, Texas self for allowing herself to be used to bring a powerful message to so many who needed to hear it!

Jessa reminded me of something funny a little earlier and I thought I'd share. This morning while I was taking a bath Jess came into the other bathroom to talk to me (since she's figured out that's the only place I can hear her from). Well, our neighbor was taking an Olympic shower and I couldn't hear a word she was saying... so when I got done taking a bath the dog wasn't in my room anymore which was weird cuz I had locked the door and it was still locked. I asked Jess what she needed and she told me she wanted one of her Barbie movies that was in my room, but she had already gotten it and was watching it. She said don't worry mommy I just opened your door with a bobby pin and got my movie and locked it back up. That brought me back to the days when she was two, Mike and I were afraid she was going to grow up to be a jewel thief or something because she would pick locks even then. Give that girl a paper clip or a bobby pin and she'll open anything. Seriously! I had forgotten about that talent.

"If you want God to do the impossible, you do the responsible."

Half of Friday and half of Saturday this week were devoted to the Beth Moore conference in Stockton. Where Amy, Sara, Elaine and I crazily decided to wake up at 4/4:30 on Saturday so we could get better seats than Friday. WOW! It was wonderful to be in an arena entirely filled with women who love God. Lately, I've been locked in on the scripture "Where there is no vision the people parish" It's located in Proverbs 29:18. One thing Beth said really spoke to me and that was this. "We will never have a vision if we don't stop looking in the mirror and start looking out the window." As Beth would say isn't that PROFOUND ya'll? We have to look away from ourselves and find God's vision. I'm diggin' it!
All in all we had a blast, but I will admit to coming home and taking a three hour nap! I have no idea how the rest of the girls fared. Hopefully better than me since they had places to go and things to do.

So, today I am posting twice (SO SEE BELOW TOO cuz it was really my main post) because I discovered last night that all the sermons from Elevation are on itunes. FREE podcasts! Wow! I love it. Please no one mistake that for code that I don't love our church. I'm not leaving or anything. Elevation is in North Carolina! I just find the messages a great source of mid-week inspiration. Hope you enjoy! My favorite right now is the Essential James.

So today if you are reading this you may consider yourself lucky because I'm not blah blahing on my blog. Instead I've chosen to quote a passage that I found particularly thought provoking from a book I'm reading. The author John Ortberg says this:

"Many years ago I took one of my daughters to see her first movie: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. For an hour and a half we lived in another world. I had forgotten how dark movies can be to a two-year-old. My daughter cried at the wicked stepmother, at the bite of the apple, and at the coming of the curse.
My tears came at another place. Snow White was cleaning the cottage and singing, "Someday my prince will come." Suddenly it was as if it were my little girl on the screen, and I was thinking about the day when her "prince" - whoever that was to be - would come and she would go away and they would be together.
In that moment I had new empathy for the dwarfs. In this story they give their home and risk their lives for this foolish girl who eats the forbidden fruit and falls asleep and breaks their hearts. And then the prince comes and awakens her with a kiss, and she runs off with him without a regret. But of course that is how it must be. That is her destiny.
And that is ours, too.
Each of us has tasted the forbidden fruit. We have all eaten the apple. We have all fallen under the curse. We are all, on our own, in a kind of living death.
But still the prince comes, to bring freedom from the curse, life from death. Still the prince comes, to kiss his bride. And every once in a while, somebody, somewhere, wakes up. And when that happens - that's life!

'Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you.' "


Book: The Life You've Always Wanted, Spiritual Disciples for Ordinary People

Sheldon Van Auken wrote that: "the strongest argument for Christianity is Christians, when they are drawing life from God. The strongest argument against Christianity? Also, Christians, when they become exclusive, self-righteous, and complacent."

I often feel like that in my own walk. Living with someone who doesn't have a commitment to God is especially difficult because every weak moment is placed under a microscope. I have to be equipped and ready every day for the trials that are going to happen before I even step foot out the door. It isn't always easy with a hormonal, attitudish eight going on sixteen year old, but His strength is perfect! His armour is more than sufficient for the battle if I make sure to put on every part, ever day.

The theme for today is love! Love one another. It's soo hard to love sometimes. Loving someone in the face of their anger or their depression. Loving someone through periods of disinterest or health issues. It's easy to love someone through the good times, but loving someone through the difficult stuff is when you are REALLY loving them.

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." 1 John 4: 7-12

There's an old saying that I have no idea who originated, but it goes like this:

When life hands you lemons make lemonade!

So many times life is determined to give us lemons. Sometimes it's in the form of old friends, at times it can be loved ones, often it's discord in the church, but whatever the situation God's word tells us to crave the spiritual and put aside those things.

"Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." 1 Peter @:1-3

I hope that the Lord will continue to bless me by allowing me to grow up in my salvation all the days of my life!

Dr. Fred Stewart said about sin

"Sin will always take you further than you ever wanted to go, keep you longer than you ever wanted to stay, and cost you more than you ever wanted to pay."

Pretty powerful words! And so true.

Come Home

I recently experienced a message on the internet that was so powerful to me personally, mostly because of the situation that I find myself in, being in a relationship that is mired in unbelief, but I realized that we all have relationships that are bogged down by the refusal of someone in our life to follow Jesus. And yet what do we do? I have been so guilty of doing nothing. And I would go even farther than that to say that not only have I done nothing, but I have went out of my way to keep Christ out of the very thing that I should have been begging Him to be the center of… my marriage. Why? Because I allowed fear to move into my heart and take the place of the boldness that once lived there. The message was simple. It’s time to come home. The minister stated that his church’s mission statement is this: “so that people far from God will be filled with life in Christ.” Wow! Now, that’s a powerful purpose. Their goal wasn’t just to get people to church, because as we all know you can sit in church every Sunday of the year and be far from God, but to watch people be filled with LIFE in CHRIST. What an amazing objective!

“This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:22-24

”An ordinary life has extraordinary value to our Heavenly Father.” A profound statement that has caused conviction to overtake my heart. Jesus told a parable that is so familiar to most of us in Luke Chapter 15 about the lost sheep. Please even if you’ve read it before, read it again and ask God to open your heart to His word, that you would be blessed as I have been by a new perspective.

“ Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Luke 15:4-7

I never grasped the full implication of this parable until this week, probably because we live in a country that seems so far removed from biblical times, it’s almost impossible to imagine myself herding a flock of sheep or finding each of them so valuable that I would chase after one, while leaving the remaining ones behind. But the minister likened those sheep to children. I’d like to borrow from his example because I think it was a God inspired example of a modern day comparison for this parable. If you are a parent, and you are at the mall with your children and one disappears, you don’t just huddle up the ones that are still with you and say “Oh well, thank God I still have all of you.” NO, you leave them together in safety and find the baby that you’ve lost! And once they are found you rejoice together, tears of relief coursing down your cheeks and thank God for leading you back to your child.

Jesus calls each of us to spread the gospel both to strangers and to those close to us. Both should be important to us, but it seems like seeing our loved ones saved would be something we would be desperate for. And yet we say nothing. Why are we so afraid to risk our relationship with our loved one by mentioning eternal life? We should be challenging them to know Christ, setting an example of His love and instead we will sacrifice them on the altar of their sin, and allow them to perish in hell for eternity, rather than risking our relationship, which exists for but a moment compared to forever. We don’t uphold our own commitment to Christ if we let them drown in sin without offering them a life jacket.

I was so afraid to pray for my husband to re-discover Christ, thinking that I would only end up disappointing myself and frustrating myself right out of my faith (as had happened in the past) that I gave up on him spiritually, which eventually has led me to give up on him emotionally until even though I am seeking God there is no fulfillment in my relationship with Him because I am not truly following His commandments. God has been working on my heart to bring about a transformation in me and this message was the catalyst I needed to finally realize that by giving up on my husband and not reaching out to him as often as I can I am hindering myself. God cannot grant me the desire of my heart if I’m so afraid of failure I don’t ask. My husband needs me to fight on his behalf because he isn’t in a position to fight for himself right now.
I urge you whether or not you know my husband please pray for him. He is living a condemned life that only the salvation of Christ can save him from. He needs to be surrounded by people that care about reaching him and won’t give up on him even though the battle for his soul might exceed a “reasonable” amount of time. I pray daily now that God will soften him and that his heart will be turned back to God. “Nothing is impossible with God” so I have to believe that it can happen.

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Most of you are probably praying for all of your unsaved loved ones, but I challenge you to do more than pray. Begin to seek opportunities, initiate boldness, demonstrate sacrifice, and recommit yourself to a more faithful walk with God, whether it be a recommitment of prayer or the reading of His word. I am renewing my own profession of faith to Christ today and reaffirming my commitment to do His work and fulfill His calling for my life even though it may never be the same as He originally intended. Use me for Your divine purpose, oh Lord.