Well, I got off to a great start...  One post and then I missed a week!  It was Spring Break though and we went to the beach...  But I didn't miss my journaling...  What a gift it has been, I am learning SO much along the way...

So here are the moments that have captured me lately...

6.  An idea when it comes together, better than expected!
7.  Movies that make me smile.
8.  The chance to say, "I love you more."  (A game I play with my sweet husband...)
9.  Blueberry waffles that make the kitchen smell like blueberry muffins!
10.  The sun highlighting the edges of the clouds.
11.  The constant song of the wind chimes on a windy day.
12.  Birds singing in the trees at the start of the new day reminding me that His mercies are new every morning.
13.  Things that make me sad because they remind me that God took my heart of stone and gave me a heart of flesh.
14.  Desperate prayers with sweet sisters in Christ.
15.  Songs that make you want to run!
16.  Finished necklaces that surprise me!
17.  Earrings with bead tassels that sparkle in the light.
18.  Naming the moments...  really digging deep and exploring what about a moment touches my soul...  Finding descriptive words that give it life and meaning!
19.  Sharing tears with a friend who is struggling.
20.  Coming home to NO flashing light on the answering machine!
21.  Great moments in movies that I'll watch the whole movie, again and again, just for that one moment...  "You had me at hello."  (Scott and I had a really fun conversation out of this one naming our great movie moments!)
22.  A really bad situation that gives you a really GREAT story!  It was a day that could have left us frustrated and ornery, but then my mom asked 'so what is the gift in today?'  (We had been talking about this book...)  I thought for about a second and then laughed because I knew the answer...  A really GREAT story!
23.  A smile that can still turn my insides to mush!
24.  Teenagers who still like to hang out with their parents!
25.  Sleeping late!
26.  The sound of waves crashing on the shore.
27.  Finding a new, warm snuggly sweater (and getting to buy it!)
28.  Connecting with old friends.
29.  Opportunities to show grace that become moments to giggle about! 


I have a bunch more since I missed last week, but I think I'll do another post later in the week since this one is getting a little long...  I'll have some photos to go with that post!!

Hope you had a wonderful Easter...  So much to be thankful for!

Taking On A Challenge...

Not many books inspire me to blog about them, but I've found one that has...  It's called "One Thousand Gifts", and I really don't know how to describe it...  It's raw...  honest in a way that most books aren't (well, their authors)...  It's profound, maybe one of the most profound books I've ever read...  and I think God might use it to change some things that need changing in my life...

You just need to read it... but at the heart of the book is a woman's journey to discover and journal 1000 gifts, daily blessings in her life.  It's not about the obvious things...  our husband, children, homes, food on the table, health...  This is about those daily moments that we miss because we don't take the time to live in the moment...

I hesitate to take on a challenge such as this...  but something tells me I need to...  to blog each Monday about my blessings from the previous week, until I reach 1000...  Something also tells me that if I will be faithful...committed...If I will persevere in this challenge...  God will transform my heart along the way...

So I'm going to take it on...  And if I miss a Monday, please don't hesitate to hold me accountable...

I've already got a few, so I guess I'll get started today...

1.  The sound of the coffee pot as it sputters the last drops telling me that my morning coffee is ready...
2.  Words that express ideas in a way that breathes new understanding in to my heart and takes my breath away...
3.  Text messages that remind me that someone special loves me...
4.  Warm breezes that inspire me to take a walk...
5.  Songs with lyrics that make you want to grab hold of their truth and live it...

So it's a short start, but it's a start...  I'm so looking forward to what this journey holds...

A Reason To Praise!!

As I look at the world around me, there is some really hard stuff going on right now...  Japan is at the top of that list...  My heart just breaks for what the people of that nation are having to live through, especially in the areas hit hardest by the tsunami...  but as I watch news reports, my heart also aches for the people of Li*b*ya...  To live in fear under such an oppressive, evil regime...  To fight with all you have to be set free...  I can't imagine a day to day life like that...

And yet (and this is not where I had planned to go with this blog, but wow... what a parallel!!)...  That is such a picture of the spiritual regime that the world is under, apart from Christ!!  There is a very real enemy who oppresses...  enslaves... seeks to kill and destroy...  and people will fight him a million different ways to try and escape...  food, alcohol, shopping, promiscuity, pornography, even tv...  But here's the thing...  Just like the re*bels fighting in L*ya...  On our own, we just don't have the weapons to win...  But all is not lost, with Jesus, victory is already won...  It may not look like it some days... maybe alot of days...  But we have got to learn to live in the truth of what's already been accomplished on the cross!!  Jesus WON!!  We He arose on the 3rd day, He defeated sin and death, once and for all!!  Now that's a reason to praise...

But I had another reason this morning too...  It's where I originally planned to go with this post... I read Psalm 100...

"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.  Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.  Know that the Lord is God.  It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.  Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.  For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations."

What an awesome Psalm...  Because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross, we belong to God!!  We are His people...  His treasured possession!!  No matter what is happening in our lives, we can still praise Him because we can trust His faithfulness and His love!!

When I think about our Great and Mighty God, comparing Himself to a shepherd...  WOW... a dirty, nasty job... yet the shepherd loved his sheep... he would do whatever he could for them... and that's the image that God gives us of Himself...  AMAZING!!

I know life can be so hard, but keep your eyes on THE Shepherd... He loves you beyond anything you can imagine... He is faithful, no matter what the circumstances might look like...  and He is victorious!!  He paid with His life to buy us back from the enemy...  What more reason do we need to praise!!

Have a GREAT weekend...

So What About?

The Psalm I read this morning was Psalm 145, verses 13-18...  I admit I struggled a little when I first read it...  Here's how my thought process went... (My thoughts are in parenthesis)...

"Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations.  The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made." (Ok... but what about the people in Africa?  Do they feel loved?)

"The LORD upholds those who fall down and lifts up all who are bowed down."  (Definitely know the truth of that!!)

"The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time."  (Ok, I believe that ALL of the Bible is true, but I'm struggling with this one...  Not everyone has food...  Many die every day from starvation...  How do I make this work in my head?)

"You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing."  (Still struggling, some just desire food and water...  You're definitely Enough for all my needs...but what about the hunger thing?)

"The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made.  The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth."  (I get loving everyday...but I'm not hungry...do hungry people get it?)

So there's a very real and honest look at what was happening in my head and heart...  But here's what God reminded me of...

For whatever reason, God has CHOSEN to use the church to be His hands and feet to the world, at this time.  He doesn't need to do that...  Just look in the Old Testament... He made manna and quail rain down from heaven and He fed the Israelites as they wandered in the desert...  He told Moses to strike a rock and water flowed from a rock...  God is perfectly capable of providing, all by Himself.

But that is not how He has chosen to do it...  He has given US the BLESSING of being His hands and feet...  I remember the first time I gave a man a grocery card on the side of the road...  I got a little ways down the road and had to pull over because I was crying so hard...  I was COMPLETELY overwhelmed at the blessing and privilege of getting to help someone in need! 

And yet, I live like I think that getting a new sweater or a new pair of shoes is an even greater blessing...  But it's NOT...  New anything has NEVER once blessed my soul like helping someone else

So, is Scripture wrong?  NO!!  Is God falling down on His job?  NOOOOO!!  We (the church) are the ones who are misrepresenting our Great and Glorious God to the world!  Too many of us (like me) have bought into the lie that stuff will bless us and bring us happiness...  but that's what it is...  a lie! 

There is no greater blessing than having the opportunity to show God off... to proclaim His greatness... His provision...  His generosity...  to someone in need!

Scripture is true about God...  it is the responsibility of the church to make sure the world sees and knows that!!

Oh The Things She Says...

Last night we were walking across the field to watch Zack's soccer game...  Abby was wearing the most adorable black cardigan with pink hearts and she looks up at me and says,

"Mommy...  Do I look like an old lady when I button this?"  I laughed out loud...  "No really, someone asked me today if I was wearing your sweater!"  Oh my...  I guess that makes me an old lady!!  TOO funny...

Lingering Thougts From The Mats...

So three days have passed and I can't stop thinking about Nick as he fought off getting pinned by his opponent on Saturday night...

It's made me ask myself... Do I ever resist the enemy of temptation in the same way he resisted getting pinned by his opponent?  Do I want victory over sin so badly that I'm willing to fight, no matter how much it requires of me?

The lures of this world are SO easy to say 'yes' to... It is so much easier to give in to them than it is to fight them off...

I so want my life to mirror what I saw as Nick resisted his opponent on the mat...  And I want to win... Jesus gave His life so that I could know victory on the "mats" of temptation...  So I truly need to resist temptation with all that is within me...

The battle is over... the victory has been won... it's time for me to live like it, every day...  in every moment!!

Lessons From The Mats

It seems that Nick has found his sport...  wrestling!  He tried it a couple of years ago and didn't really like it, but a couple of his friends convinced him to try again last spring and he really loves it.  He started wrestling in matches at the end of January and I'm amazed at his progress...  He just keeps getting better and better!

I love watching Nick wrestle (that took a few matches to get to the place where I could honestly say that, it just looks SO painful)...  I don't think I've ever seen such determination and perseverance...  Last night he wrestled in the state AAU tournament and he was wrestling the guy who ended up winning first place...  The other guy was good, he was pinning everyone he wrestled with seeming ease...   And then he came up against Nick...  Nick took the early lead in points 5-1 and the kid didn't like it...

Somewhere along the way, the kid discovered a weak point for Nick, his left shoulder and from then on it was painful to watch...  He would take his head and grind it into Nick's shoulder and pull back on his arm.  Actually, I'm stunned that the move is legal, but it is and this kid was out to win, even if meant inflicting injury.  Twice, the ref had to stop the match so the kid wouldn't hurt him too seriously and at one point I really thought Nick was seriously hurt...  When Nick acts hurt, he is hurt...  He has a pain tolerance that blows me away...

But after a couple of minutes, Nick wanted to continue...  They ended up in overtime and Nick lost 9-8...  But I was so proud of him...  He fought so hard...

As he sat and waited for his last match, he looked at me and said, "I really don't want to wrestle again, I am so sore, but I'm going to see this thing through."  As his mom, I wanted to tell him to stop...  not to risk further injury...  but something in me told me to be quiet...  that this was important and as painful as it might be to watch, I needed to let him choose his course.

His last match started and as the end of the first round came close, his opponent got him on the floor, so close to pinning him (both shoulders have to be touching the mat for it to be a pin)...  But in spite of the pain, Nick fought and he fought hard... We watched him arch his back, push with his legs, twist and turn...  fighting to keep one shoulder off the mat and he managed to do that for a good 15 seconds...  I've never seen such fight and determination...  It was SO hard for a mom to watch...

The first period ended and the score was 5-1, that's really difficult to come back from in a match like this...  But before we knew it, Nick had his opponent on the mat fighting to pin him...  For a good 15 seconds Nick fought hard to get both of his opponent's shoulders on the mat and finally that beautiful sound of the ref's hand slapping the mat...  Nick had done it!!  He won and finished 3rd at his first ever AAU tournament!! 

As I've reflected on last night's match, a couple of things have hit me...

The first was about the wrestler who won first place...  Now let me say clearly, I am not in any way comparing this kid to the devil (although I probably felt differently last night)...  But there is such a parallel here...  The kid found Nick's weak spot and went after it...  Over and over and over...  His intent was to win, no matter what the cost was and that's exactly how the enemy comes after us...

He finds our weak spot and he goes after it...  Whether it's a tendency to gossip...  Be insecure...  Overeat... Drink too much...  Overspend...  The enemy goes after it over and over until he finally breaks us...

So what to do...  Well, one of the other dads who was watching Nick told him, "keep your elbows in, you're giving your opponent the opportunity to thread his arms through and pull your arm."  Sure, Nick needs to work to make that shoulder stronger, but even more importantly is learning how to protect it so the enemy (oops...I mean opponent) can't take advantage of it...

And that's exactly what we need to do...  we need to come up with strategies to keep the enemy from getting a hold on our weaknesses and exploiting them and causing damage to our hearts and souls...  Whatever it is, there are things we can do to protect those weaknesses...

But there's something else that hit me about last night...  As Nick wrestled his opponents, especially that last one, there was a group of us cheering him on with all our might...  We were shouting for him to fight...  to pin him...  some of the dads who know wrestling were shouting for him to keep his head up...  There was encouragement...  There was counsel and advice...  But we all wanted him to win...  It's almost as if we were willing our strength into him and when he won...  WOW...  a cheer went up, we were so excited for him!  It was so much fun to watch one of his teammate's dads who was coaching him... he was SO excited!!

And that's how it should be as a family of believers...  We should be cheering each other on to victory...  sometimes it with words of encouragement... sometimes advice and wise counsel...  sometimes a gentle reproof...  but their fights should become our fights...  their defeats should feel like our defeats...  and we should celebrate their victories like they were ours...

Because I believe that that's exactly what happens in heaven...  Hebrews 12:1 says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us..."

When we come alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ and cheer them on through life's battles, it's as if we are pulling back the veil and giving them and the world around them, a glimpse of heaven.  I am so appreciative of the families and coaches who are loving our son so well with their encouragement...  they are cheering him on to run his race well... on and off the mats!

Let's find someone we can cheer on every day and bring a little heaven to earth...