Butterfly Kisses From Daddy

My husband sometimes has to travel for days at a time... my youngest Kara used to get very upset when he would leave... She is a Daddy's girl and I am sure Dusty just loves that... A couple of years ago he went on a trip... he left her a present for her to find in the morning.. It was a book based on the song "Butterfly Kisses" and in the book was a CD of the song... she would play that song over and over again - because it was her and Daddy's song....
Well today we were driving home from dropping off her friend and Butterfly Kisses started playing on the radio.. I heard Kara sigh in the back and say "God knew I needed to here that song cuz Daddy isn't home tonight." wow.. I almost started to cry....
I thank God everyday for blessing me with my daughters...

Drinking Wine... Is It A Sin?

As a Southern Baptist woman - I often hear that drinking alcohol is bad.... that it leads to bad behavior and nothing good comes out of it. I have talked with friends at church who have shared that they felt very uncomfortable around people drinking... whether the person drinking is sober or not....

I have many friends that are Christians. Many of these friends are an inspiration to me. A few of them are active missionaries..... and they all drink wine and beer... So the Baptist side of me used to think - are they wrong?.... are they sinning?.... should I say something? On reflection - I believe the answer is no it's not wrong... no they are are not sinning... and why would I say anything.....

Why would Jesus' first miracle be to make wine if He had issues with it? He DOES have issues with being drunk and alcoholism but not the enjoyment of drinking wine.. I remember speaking with Nate York, the son of a Southern Baptist minister. Nate was very adamant that the wine Jesus made was just plain grape juice.. Nate told me "In the days of Jesus' ministry - grape juice was considered wine because the people of the time could only handle grape juice and that is why when the Baptist church celebrates communion -we drink little cups of grape juice and dry crackers...." That sounds plausible but the truth is - grapes would not "keep" unless they were turned into wine.

The new and old testament does warn us against drunkenness but also tells us to drink wine.

Ephesians 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit..

1 Timothy 5:23 No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities.

There are many verses to pull from in the Bible but I believe the ones I did pull say it all. The New Testament clearly teaches that real wine should be used in communion - 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 - the last supper when Jesus said drink this cup (wine) is the new covenant in My blood, drink it, in remembrance of Me...

Clearly, God does not say that drinking is sinful but like all things... food, sex, friendship, and wine can be misused and abused... Christians should encourage responsible drinking, rather automatically assume or judge a person who is enjoying a glass of wine with their meal as a sinner or an alcoholic ... I do believe strongly that it is sinful to tempt an alcoholic with wine... If I were having a dinner party and a person who I knew had a problem with drinking, I would not serve wine with our meal.... Yes, the person probably would stay away from drinking... but why tempt them? My husband and I disagree very strongly on this subject.. He believes it's okay to serve wine because the alcoholic is an adult and can take care of themselves... we are not his parents. This is one of those times that Dusty and I have to agree to disagree... maybe it's easier for me not to serve wine or alcohol... because I never drink.... hate the taste.... yuck..

What do you think?

Jesus Take The Wheel

As mothers we tend to take on too much. Not believing that things can be done right or done at all if we don't take over.. As women we are constantly multitasking. As a single mother, I can only imagine how difficult it must be. I am thankful to God that I have not had to find out. I do know many single mothers and many feel so alone and lost... Never having time for themselves. Worrying about their children, worrying about the bills, and worry about everything except themselves..

There is a single mother of a young boy I have met recently.. She has been coming to our church service and I have also seen her occasionally at the women get togethers. I love the fact that my church offers daycare during our women/mother activities - making it possible for many mothers to come and hang out with a bunch of crazy Southern Baptist women as ourselves.. Well this particular mother has opened and broken my heart. She has shared a small part of her life with me. Currently, she is living in a homeless shelter - trying to find a job to support her and her son.. She also is trying to go to school to better her and her son's future.

This young woman was married and had a nice home to live in and all of a sudden it was gone. Her husband left her for someone else... left her with all the bills... all the rent... and no job. She was a stay at home mom... many times she has wanted to give up...

She was sharing with me that a song by Carrie Underwood helped to get her out of her self destroying thoughts and anger.. She realized that she has to let Jesus have control... her optimism for her future is contagious and I just love seeing her joy.... many of us could learn a lesson from this young lady... no home, no job, and no income but she has put her faith and trust in Jesus and she just glows....

Stress Filled Work Day - Not Fun

Today work was just plan awful.... Stressful environments bring out the worst in people... As many of you know, I own a contract mortgage loan processing business. Over the last few months, rates have dropped and a huge wave of refinancing has come in.. There is too much business for many companies to handle right now. Because of the fluctuating mortgage industry, brokers are a little shy to hire processors full time (costs way too much money) they hire people like me - who only get paid if their loan closes and everyone makes money. Lenders who have previously laid off their full staff and now have a skeleton crew are not ready for the huge increase in business.... the result is that underwriting times are taking three to four times longer than they should be - a lending staff that is so over worked and under appreciated that they no longer care about offering good service but trying to make it through the day without losing control. Good customer service is a thing of the past... The new game is passing the buck - No one taking responsibility for their lack of knowledge, their lack of customer service, or their lack of doing their job....
I believe because of the housing market and FNMA and FHLMC major messes - lenders are adding more conditions than are needed - critiquing appraisal much more harshly.... adding more forms.. adding more everything... I think because of the lack of workers - the lending staff is tired of being yelled at and pushed by brokers and processors.. so they have tuned themselves out... not really caring if a loan closes or not as long as they can bring home their pay check..
Today I had two beautiful and perfect loans that were suppose to fund - due to the high volume of loans the lender was not able to look at the file for funding until Sunday. (yes, we are all working weekends, holidays, evenings, and always) The escrow officer and I were able to handle every little thing the lender wanted... way before the deadline... and you know what happened? The person who was suppose to fund these two loans.... went to lunch and left every single broker and processor needing to fund their loan today in a major bind...the interest rate expired today and the rate we have - does not exist.... but if the broker has the borrowers pay $1870 then they can have the same rate that was free when we locked the loan in - if the lender did not go to lunch then everyone would have been stressed but happy - ie: making quotas and money....
Unfortunately, the lender refuses to acknowledge the numerous mistakes they have made... they refuse to make exceptions on two loans that have been mishandled from the first day in underwriting. I have documentation to support every allegation in my possession - unfortunately it does not matter - you cannot squeeze juice out of a rock (known as the lender)...
So today, while my mind was thinking up various ways to torture said hungry funder - I realized that though I feel my client is the victim - my heart and mind was in no way glorifying God.. I was filled with anger, hate, and no forgiveness..... I was paying attention to how this situation affected me.. I was only focused on me... and that is not where my heart should be..
Of course, it is my responsibility to do the best possible job for my clients... and of course - I must be diligent... But I must NOT lose focus what is right... not lose focus on how God wants me to handle things... with love and understanding.. He does not want me hateful.... He does not want me to be vengeful.....
Stressful environments can bring out the worst in people..... as a follower of Christ - I must continually fight against falling into that trap......