Friends that want to hang out

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Blog Hop - What I Was Doing About 20 Years Ago





What was I doing about 20 years ago? Let's see... 20 years ago - today plus 10 days - February 11th - I was celebrating my 1st year anniversary with my husband - this year will be 21 years.... Looking through my eyes today - I was so young back then... I had not lived yet... I had not matured yet... I was young and bright eyed - playing house... I did not know what marriage was all about - I did not have a clue... It took me 21 years to figure it out.... Thankfully, Dusty and I were too stubborn to give up on our marriage.... we stuck it out... Today, I am in love with my husband.... I learned how to love by reading my Bible.... by my relationship with Christ... and by growing up.. It's hard to believe 20 years has passed....

A lot has happened in twenty years..... Celebrating our 21 years of marriage.. Two incredible children, I became self-employed... My dad passing away.... A baby going to Heaven too soon..... made incredible friends, getting to know my Lord and Savior,..... lots of tears.... much more laughter..... a lot of sadness... much more happiness... I have to say - I have been blessed these past 20 years...

Thank you for letting me be a part of this blog hop -hosted by Where laughter lives - The Riggs Family Blog

I looked so scared... and young - I was actually peeking through the tiny holes in the blinds watching people enter the church...






MckLinky Blog Hop

Saturday, January 30, 2010

SBC Disaster Relief In Haiti


One of my greatest desires is to go out into the mission field... Wherever God wants me - I'll be there. Being a member of the Southern Baptist Church has opened the door to so many different opportunities. One of the biggest missions/outreaches is the Southern Baptist Church Disaster Relief...

SBC is a group of people who are highly trained to pick up and go whenever there is a disaster in the world... SBC has been known to be many times quicker than the Red Cross to arrive at the scene. I have been blessed to know some incredible men and women who were one of the first responders in New York after 911, New Orleans right after Katrina hit, and now many are headed to and are in Haiti... SBC is not there to Bible thump as many tend to assume about the Southern Baptist Church. They are there to help... In New York and New Orleans - my friends served thousands and thousands of Breakfast and Lunches to the families that had lost their homes.. They offer shoulders to cry on... pray on... blankets when you are cold.. A person that will listen... A person that will serve.... The best way to spread the gospel at times of crisis is to serve as Christ serves us... giving comfort in action....

In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5 Please pray for Haiti - Please pray for the SBC worker and all the volunteers there to help the less fortunate. Please pray for the children who have lost their families and are finding new ones. Please pray for the ones who are hurt.... Please pray that in all this sadness - God's Glory and His Love will Be Known.



Friday, January 22, 2010

The Special Bonds


Last night I had the privilege to spend an evening with five incredible women.... The kind of women whom I can depend upon to love me.... to lead by example... to give me encouragement.. and to make me laugh until my mascara is running down my face...

God blesses us with friendships... I believe that He loves us so much that he wants us laughing... being joyful.... and enjoying one another.... There is a special bond that occurs between women of faith... women who are mothers... There is an unspoken understanding.... I can't explain it -there just is....

Today, I am thankful... Thankful for being so richly blessed....

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: if they fall down, they can help each other up. But pity those who fall and have no one to help them up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12


Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Pat Robertson - What Did He Say?


Pat Robertson recently said that Haiti is suffering because they made a pact with the Devil... Yes, the man truly said this..... I think this is a crazy comment to make... Hateful? I don't know - judgmental? Absolutely.... "Men of God" like Pat Robertson truly give a bad name to Christians around the world.... We as followers of Christ need to be loving... need to be helpful... and if the Devil truly did make a pact with Haiti - don't blame a pact from hundreds of years ago - against the people of the region today.... Many of the Haitians have not had the opportunity to know God's love..... His Mercy... Rather than finding an asinine excuse for this horrible tragedy, Mr.Robertson, Why don't you pray.... Shower the people of Haiti with love not judgement...

Yes, Haiti is poor - Yes, Haiti is suffering from a major tragedy. Yes, Haiti's primary religion is Voodoo... That is not to say they are evil.... that is not to say they deserve what happened to them. Bad things happen to good and bad people... We live in a world of sin - and bad things just happen.... My love, My prayers, and my efforts go to the people of Haiti - and Mr. Robertson needs to work on his relationship with God.... because I believe true men of God don't cast stones. They have compassion and I don't think Pat showed any at all.. He is on a show to raise money for the earthquake victims but basically he is saying that Haiti made a pact with the Devil and I hope they turn to God but let's raise money to help..... Kind of saying you don't deserve it because you're bad but because I am a person of God -
I'm going to help.... do you find something wrong with that?




Haitian Ambassador, Raymond Joseph - shaming Pat Robertson

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Today I Was Weepy


I heard a comment not too long ago from a woman at church.... She said that coming to church can make you weepy... I had never thought about it but it's true.... Standing in His house.... in His presence makes me feel awe... wonder... and sadness for not being the woman that He has called me to be... There are many times when I will be standing and singing in worship and a particular song would start and I would feel that He was talking to my heart..... my soul....

Today was one of those days.... Every message I heard today spoke to me -from Sunday school, to a short skit before the sermon, and to the actual sermon. When God wants you know something ... feel something - he just makes it known in any way He can.... He loves me and He wants me to get it...

I am in a place today - that needs wisdom... I need discernment.... and I need a better character.... I know that I have not been living my life in the past couple weeks the way I should... I have been mad.... I have been stressed... and at times.... often times I feel alone..... There are many wonderful people in my life... in my world but I chose not to seek support... guidance.. love.. I chose to fester and in Church today - I became weepy.... Today - I realized that He knows me.... He loves me.... and He knows my name... Today, I heard Him....



Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Not All Roads Lead To God..


For most of my life - I have said I was a Christian.... That does not mean to say that I have lived my life as a Christian... I also am not saying that because I live my life as a Christian now makes me better than I was before... because it does not.. It just makes me more knowledgeable... more closer to Him... Because I believed in Jesus... Because I believed He died on the cross for my sins.... Because I have asked Him for forgiveness... and Because I had invited Him into my heart when I was a young girl - He has never left me... I had just forgotten He was there....

One statement that drives me completely insane is this - "All roads lead to God"..... That is not true.. But the saying "Good intentions - lead to Hell" is more true..... The One and Only way to God is through His Son, Jesus Christ... I know in today's society that is not politically correct... Today's society wants to make everyone feel warm and fuzzy and tell them what they want to hear... But the truth will remain the same no matter how society wants to paint it a different color... There is only one way.... Only one road.... Jesus said, in John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."How is it that Jesus can make such a huge statement? The answer is simple - He is God.

I used to be a fan of Oprah - I thought she had an incredible heart... incredible soul... I believe she probably still does but in the same statement I believe she is lost... I have shared this video when I first started blogging a while back and I would like to share it again today..

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Pray for Haiti


Today Haiti's capital Port Au Prince was hit with a 7.0 earthquake. The biggest in over 200 years. The damage is intense - there are thousands of people killed, injured and missing.. The hospitals cannot keep up with the injuries. On the news tonight they said there were dead on the streets...

There is still so much unrest in Haiti - please pray for peace.. Please pray for the families who have lost loved ones.. Please pray for those who are injured.. Please pray that medical personnel will be able to come into Haiti to help those in need. Please pray for all the volunteers who are headed there right now...

According to news reports there is complete damage - due to the structures of the buildings not being earthquake safe.. Haiti has a long road of recovery ahead of them.. My heart goes out to them...... My prayers go out to them.

Please watch this video from today - no commentary just raw footage... Warning it may be too difficult to watch.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Stop Whining... Start Doing...


I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit with you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26


One of my greatest desires is to do something spectacular.. Something that will make the difference in another person's life.... Something so great that it could only be from God... Tonight my husband and I were talking... I was talking about the disappointment I felt with our church.. with our women ministry group... I was disappointed that people (including myself) don't seem fired up to go out there in our own mission field.. Yes, overseas missions is something I want to do one day... But today - there is so much that can be done here... now.... today!

Last year we talked about serving others and this year we tried to follow through - we had a very low attendance... It's easy to say we'll go out and serve the Lord but it's hard to go out and do it.... As I was whining about my disappointment - Dusty, the husband asked me why don't I just do something... Get a program - an event started.. Get people involved.... Basically he said stop whining and start doing.... How about that mirror in the face???

Now I wonder what can I do? I think I need to let God tell me... It's funny when I wait on Him - He always answers.... Things are about to change... I feel it... God has given me a new heart... a new purpose... I was just too busy complaining about others not telling me what to do.... I was too concerned what others were doing and not doing... But God has shown in His Word that He uses small people... small groups... and sometimes only one individual to do His Mighty Work.... I say God use me.... however You choose.....

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Ann Coulter - In Your Face


I was recently reading an article about the top 100 women bloggers - Ann Coulter being one of them - below you will find a post she wrote - I completely agreed with her beliefs - had a little difficulty with the "in your face" tactics but she is Ann Coulter after all.... No holds barred.... No political correctness... Just The Word and only The Word.... ( I can't say I am a fan of her other writings because I have never read them) Read this post - Tell me what you think.....

IF YOU CAN FIND A BETTER DEAL, TAKE IT!
January 6, 2010

http://www.anncoulter.com/
Someone mentioned Christianity on television recently and liberals reacted with their usual howls of rage and blinking incomprehension.
On a Fox News panel discussing Tiger Woods, Brit Hume said, perfectly accurately:

"The extent to which he can recover, it seems to me, depends on his faith. He is said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So, my message to Tiger would be, 'Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world."

Hume's words, being 100 percent factually correct, sent liberals into a tizzy of sputtering rage, once again illustrating liberals' copious ignorance of Christianity. (Also illustrating the words of the Bible: "How is it you do not understand me when I speak? It is because you cannot bear to listen to my words." John 8:43.)

In The Washington Post, Tom Shales demanded that Hume apologize, saying he had "dissed about half a billion Buddhists on the planet."

Is Buddhism about forgiveness? Because, if so, Buddhists had better start demanding corrections from every book, magazine article and blog posting ever written on the subject, which claims Buddhists don't believe in God, but try to become their own gods.

I can't imagine that anyone thinks Tiger's problem was that he didn't sufficiently think of himself as a god, especially after that final putt in the Arnold Palmer Invitational last year.

In light of Shales' warning Hume about "what people are saying" about him, I hope Hume's a Christian, but that's not apparent from his inarguable description of Christianity. Of course, given the reaction to his remarks, apparently one has to be a regular New Testament scholar to have so much as a passing familiarity with the basic concept of Christianity.

On MSNBC, David Shuster invoked the "separation of church and television" (a phrase that also doesn't appear in the Constitution), bitterly complaining that Hume had brought up Christianity "out-of-the-blue" on "a political talk show."

Why on earth would Hume mention religion while discussing a public figure who had fallen from grace and was in need of redemption and forgiveness? Boy, talk about coming out of left field!

What religion -- what topic -- induces this sort of babbling idiocy? (If liberals really want to keep people from hearing about God, they should give Him his own show on MSNBC.)

Most perplexing was columnist Dan Savage's indignant accusation that Hume was claiming that Christianity "offers the best deal -- it gives you the get-out-of-adultery-free card that other religions just can't."

In fact, that's exactly what Christianity does. It's the best deal in the universe. (I know it seems strange that a self-described atheist and "radical sex advice columnist faggot" like Savage would miss the central point of Christianity, but there it is.)

God sent his only son to get the crap beaten out of him, die for our sins and rise from the dead. If you believe that, you're in. Your sins are washed away from you -- sins even worse than adultery! -- because of the cross.
"He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross." Colossians 2:14.

Surely you remember the cross, liberals -- the symbol banned by ACLU lawsuits from public property throughout the land?

Christianity is simultaneously the easiest religion in the world and the hardest religion in the world.

In the no-frills, economy-class version, you don't need a church, a teacher, candles, incense, special food or clothing; you don't need to pass a test or prove yourself in any way. All you'll need is a Bible (in order to grasp the amazing deal you're getting) and probably a water baptism, though even that's disputed.

You can be washing the dishes or walking your dog or just sitting there minding your business hating Susan Sarandon and accept that God sent his only son to die for your sins and rise from the dead ... and you're in!

"Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9.
If you do that, every rotten, sinful thing you've ever done is gone from you. You're every bit as much a Christian as the pope or Billy Graham.

No fine print, no "your mileage may vary," no blackout dates. God ought to do a TV spot: "I'm God Almighty, and if you can find a better deal than the one I'm offering, take it."

The Gospel makes this point approximately 1,000 times. Here are a few examples at random:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:8.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23.

In a boiling rage, liberals constantly accuse Christians of being "judgmental." No, we're relieved.

Christianity is also the hardest religion in the world because, if you believe Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead, you have no choice but to give your life entirely over to Him. No more sexual promiscuity, no lying, no cheating, no stealing, no killing inconvenient old people or unborn babies -- no doing what all the other kids do.

And no more caring what the world thinks of you -- because, as Jesus warned in a prophecy constantly fulfilled by liberals: The world will hate you.

With Christianity, your sins are forgiven, the slate is wiped clean and your eternal life is guaranteed through nothing you did yourself, even though you don't deserve it. It's the best deal in the universe.

COPYRIGHT 2009 ANN COULTER
DISTRIBUTED BY UNIVERSAL UCLICK
1130 Walnut, Kansas City, MO 64106

Finding Contentment


What makes you content? I believe that many people have not found contentment because they have a hard time getting enough of what they want.. They place too much value on worldly things - the right car - the right house - the right vacation - more money - more belongings - more food - more friends and the list goes on... I know I have been guilty of wanting more - to say differently would be lying.... I am a very competitive person - I want to win... and for most of my life I have held tight to the philosophy of the "One who dies with the most toys wins..." Even today - I still find myself wanting more..... More clients.... more time.... more income.... more attention....

When I look at people like Tiger Woods - a man that many envy... many look up too... respect.... A man with so much talent, money, fame, and looks and he messes it up because he wasn't content with his life... with himself... - this is one example to me that having it all does not bring contentment... I have always wondered why many of those I think have it all - are miserable...

Trying to teach my children to be content is a task..... My oldest daughter "needs" something every time we walk into a store.... It about drives me insane.... But.... now that she has volunteered in a couple of homeless shelters and has seen with her own eyes - people without.. children without.. showing contentment in the "little things" - It helps to bring things more into perspective..... So her vocabulary changes from I need to I want..... so we are taking baby steps... she is after all teenager....

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5







Sunday, January 3, 2010

It's About Character


Today in Sunday school a great topic was brought up - character. How would I define my character - as good as it should be? Do I have my work cut out for myself? And what does my character say to my kids? When people think of me - what is the first thing they think about? This topic made me really think - Am I setting the example to my kids that I want them to learn.

My goal as a parent is to raise women of great character.. Women who are happy..... who are independent and self confident.... Women who know how to love without reservation.... Women who do not settle... and most of all.. women who know God and love Him with all their heart and soul. I want all that is good for both of my beautiful girls... I truly believe that they learn the most from me - as a woman - as their mom..... It is my job - my responsibility - my honor to teach these wonderful girls what good character is - by words, by actions, and by example... With that said - I have some major changes to make - my character is not as good as it should be.... don't get me wrong - I am not completely horrible (sometimes I can be - just ask my kids) but I have to be honest here.... I have some changes to make and they start right now.. today.... I think we all have work to do - we are not perfect yet...

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. James 3:13

Set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6

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