FOREVER FRIENDS

I just had to post about a reunion I had with two of my best friends. Both of these girls were in my wedding party with one of them being a twenty year friend and my maid of honor. We have seen each other through so many phases in our lives. From silly college girls frequenting bars and dance clubs, to serious career women staying late at work. to recomitted Christians growing in our faith and finally wives and new mothers. It is incredible the depth of feelings I have for these friends.

They are kooky, gossipy, loving, practical, trustworthy gals who I have missed so much. We spent a girls only weekend in Orlando and we shopped like fiends, played games, hung out, tried each others clothes on and talked. And talked some more. And then talked some more. It was great!!!

Love you guys!

DO NOT BE JUDGEMENTAL

Easier said than done...am I right? The Lord has been speaking to me in this area lately. He has been urging me not to judge others for the choices they make or the sins they commit.

In the past couple of months I have encountered Christians who have chosen to divorce their spouse or look at pornography or even leave the scene of an accident. Appalling...right? Yet, when you can appreciate the fact that these people are no different than you and I, it put things into perspective.

Are you 100% sure that you are fully aware of what you are, or are not, capable of? Whether our sins are "small" or "big" or "seen" or "unseen", we ALL have areas that are not bathed in the light of Christ. We ALL are capable of making a snap decision while under pressure, or in a moment of panic, that we are deeply ashamed of.

Christians are all sinners saved by grace through the death of Jesus on the cross. Not that we have in any way earned this grace but that it is given to us as a free gift from the heart of our Saviour Jesus Christ. The penalty of sin is death but Jesus paid our penalty by dying on the cross. What greater act of love? Jesus chose to be the substitutionary sacrifice for our sins; therefore, God does not deal with us by making us feel guilt or by manipulating us. We are already justified in the eyes of God because of Jesus' death on the cross. God does not put labels on us but readily accepts us as we are.

We are therefore called to accept one another in love.

Matthew 7:1-3 says "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"

ABSENCE MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER

My blog...oh how I have missed thee. What have I been doing you ask? Well,let me see...I have been:
*teaching and reaching (Vacation Bible School)
*and swimming and socializing (Fourth of July at familyamericanstyle.blogspot.com)
*and wrapping and hiding and planning and celebrating(5th&6th b-days at Disney)
*and packing and unpacking
*and sunning and funning (Family Vacation in Fort Lauderdale)
*and snapping and scrapping
*and reading(www.paperbackswap.com)and studying(ladies summer bible study-Me, Myself and Lies by Jennifer Rothschild)
*and talking and laughing (girls weekend at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando!)
*and eating and trying not to eat
*and playing Scrabble and Sorry and Trivial Pursuit and Bananagrams and Rummicube
*and shopping and returning
*and cooking and cleaning
*and smiling and sighing
*and hugging and kissing
*and telling stories and tucking in
*and arguing and making up
*and praying and praising (sunday school and church)
*and picking and choosing (paint colors that is)
*and working and lounging
*and texting and typing (got a new iphone!)
*and dating (9th Anniversary)and babysitting(grandbaby came to visit!)
*and stressing and striving
*and thanking the Lord for each and every day!!

It has been a truly fun summer and I have enjoyed being "fully present" during all the times spent with my precious family....but alas SCHOOL IS STARTING!! and that just means one thing.."Hello blog..long time no see. Its great to be back! Let me tell you what I have been thinking.."

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

YO YO YO!

I've always said if it weren't for the morning sickness, maternity clothes, sore back, weight gain, loss of bladder control, endless OB appointments, anxiety and worry I would just keep having babies year after year just to see God's handiwork and how he creates each child in his own likeness yet so completely different from every other person on earth.

Checkout this wonderful, curious combination of two people's DNA. She resembles her mommy in the face but has her Daddy's cornflower blue eyes and curly hair. She mirrors her mommy's personality in that she is studious, orderly and a perfectionsist yet....she's got her Daddy's social ease and leadership abilities.

Where she got "da funk"?? I have no idea.

R

ON A PATH

Today was a thought provoking day...a productive day... a lovely day. I can't always say that after a day is done, which is what makes today all that more satisfying. I woke up today craving a quiet time with God but knowing that I was not going to have time to sit and find that peaceful place. But God knew my heart and He provided. Time spent over Starbucks coffee with a good Christian friend and mentor proved to be (albiet not quiet) still a time spent with God.

God can use people close to us to speak to us. They can be trusted friends (Christian and non-Christian alike) or they can be people who we may not even care for. He can use anybody to further our "walk" with him. I use the term walk because it is a day by day and sometimes a minute by minute dependancy which in hindsight usually proves to ultimately be our "journey".

I know I'm on a journey towards my kingdom purpose and that God is molding and making me into the person He wants to use to accomplish His willl. My friend confirmed that today, and gave me such encouragement and insight that I knew she was being used by God to minister to me. God is not always so obvious (infact most times he is way too subtle). Sometimes we miss him at work in our lives and we often need to gain some perspective in order to see what is really happening.

My friend provided that great perspective today. She told me about a devotional she had read:

A woman had a 6 year old child that fell into a pool during a party at a friends house. The little girl panicked and needed to be rescued from the water. Her mother was so shaken by the incident that she immediately signed the child up for swimming lessons to prevent any such potentially fatal accident again. She loved the child and wanted to do anything she could do to protect her from harm. Well, the little girl did not understand what the swimming instructor was doing during the lesson. She was confused as to why he would again put her in the deep end of the pool where she was likely to once again fall under the water. The little girl became frightened and began to struggle and flail. She became so distraught at one point that she shouted out, "Why do you keep trying to drown me !!??" She of course did not understand that the instructor was not trying to drown her but was in fact trying to teach her the skills she needed to be successful and to one day be able to save her own life or somebody elses' life.

This is a good picture of what happens in our lives. God keeps throwing us into what feels like the deep end. It is here that we struggle and flail. We may even shout out to the Lord, " Why are you trying to drown me!" He is not. He is like that little girls Mother. He loves of so much that He provides us with lessons that will allow us to survive. He is like the instructor who teaches us the skills we need to know to help ourselves and others. It is necessary for us to go into the deep ends of life because that is where God grows us and teaches us and equips us with the knowledge we need to accomplish His will.

I just thought it was such a neat story. It makes the deep ends of life a bit less scary. Don't you think?

R