Dear John...

Have you ever felt like you are not even sure that your prayers are heard, much less answered by the Lord? I know I have had more of those times than I care to count!

I think one of the things that can squelch our ability to commune with the Lord more than anything else is knowing we have sin in our lives and not doing anything about it! Scripture says it does...

Psalm 66:18 (MsgB)
If I had been cozy with evil,
the Lord would never have listened.

Another version talks about cherishing sin in our heart. When I cherish something, I spend a lot of time focusing on it, nurturing it, feeding it, etc. Think about what it is you cherish.

For me, I cherish my family...Tim and my children. I cherish the home we have been given and certain things that have sentimental value in it! I cherish my friendships and, of course, above all else I cherish my relationship with the Lord. Scripture is clear, though, that if we are not careful sin can become an object of our affection.

Our friend, Joel, was praying a few weeks ago and he said in his prayer that we need to quit "cuddling" with sin! I loved it because that is a great portrait of what it looks like when we allow ourselves to cherish sin. Today he was sharing during worship about how we can often times treat sin as a relationship, an unhealthy one at best, and that we need to get to the point where we "break up with sin"! I got so excited I almost had to shout!

We should each do some personal inventory in our hearts and ask Papa if there are any areas of sin that we need to hand a "Dear John" letter to! I think it would read something like this...

Dear (insert sin of choice),

I am sorry to have to tell you this, because I know what a close and special relationship we have shared, but...I have met Someone else. His name is Jesus and He seems to be a very jealous Person in my life. He said it's either you or Him because He cannot keep wooing me as long as I have you on the side. I really think what he has to offer long-term far exceeds the momentary fun we have been experiencing. For this reason, I am going to have to ask you to pack your bags and hit the road. I am sure I'll miss you in the beginning, but am confident this is the right thing to do!

Signed,

Free at Last

Of course, this is obviously a somewhat tongue-in-cheek attempt to get us to view how unhealthy our relationship with sin can be, but I don't think it is too far off from how it really looks in our lives! I know I do not want to have any areas of my heart in which there is anything I cherish more than Him!

Psalm 139:23-24 (MsgB)
Investigate my life, O God,
find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
get a clear picture of what I'm about;
[24] See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong—
then guide me on the road to eternal life.

Truth vs. Imagination

I had a very unpleasant encounter this morning...with a HUGE spider! I really do mean...HUGE! I had gone out to the back porch to fix the covers on the bed and when I flipped the quilt...there it was! Of course, it was probably as equally shocked to see me as I was it because it quickly sought to regain a secure hiding spot.

To say that I jumped would be an understatement! I ran in to get something to try and spray it with and a fly swatter to have something longer than my arm in order to search for it with! I did manage to spy it again twice, but I am sad to say that it is currently winning in our little competition to annihilate it from this life!

The bed is stripped and taken apart, the sheets are being washed...and the spider is nowhere to be found! Ugh! There was a hole in the boxspring we discovered when we tilted it so we have sprayed bug spray in there and taped it up!

I share all this not for the sole purpose of letting you know how I got my adrenaline rush this morning, but rather to let you know how God can use even spiders to speak His truth to our hearts. I would personally like it if He chose another means of communication, but it has been effective, I'll give Him that!

You see, my encounter has left me feeling creepy, skin-crawling, jumpy at the littlest thing and imagining a potential spider threat around every corner! I was making my bed...very cautiously...when I heard this...

2 Cor. 10:5 (MsgB)
We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.

Another version calls them vain imaginations! That verse sucker-punched me because I realized how wildly I had let my imagination run! The spider was outside...somewhere...on the other side of a closed door, but I had imagined all its family members lurking behind every fold of a sheet and stack of pillows!

And it hit me, I do that with SO many things. I know what the truth says, but I had already forgotten my study in Me, Myself and Lies this morning and had allowed my mind to run, unfettered, until I had worked myself into a tizzy.

So I am choosing to reign my mind in, dwell on the truth...and hope that spider is tucked safely away behind the tape, inhaling poison fumes! ;O)

Lord, this is my prayer ~

Psalm 119:97 (MsgB)
Oh, how I love all you've revealed;
I reverently ponder it all the day long.

May I choose to ponder Your TRUTH as I go about my day and not allow my mind to get caught up in vain imaginings that lead to nothing but fear!

P.S. Would you also be so kind, Lord, as to show us a dead spider before the day is done! ;O)

What's Youth Got to Do With It?

1 Tim. 4:12 (MsgB)
And don't let anyone put you down because you're young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity.

This has always been one of my favourite verses from early on in my walk with the Lord! I think young people have been convinced that they can't make a difference and they have become so apathetic in their approach to life. Sad, but true!

I have a friend named Jordan who visited Africa when she was 14. Jordan saw a need and she determined that she would not allow her youth to hinder her and she would make a difference. She has...



So proud of you, girl, for not allowing complacency to take over once you were back to the comforts of home. Thanks for challenging ME to be even more aware of what I can do to make a difference in the lives of others! You rock! XOXO

Random Grief!

I know I have posted this already this year, but I really am blown away by how random grief is and how totally unexpectedly it can sneak up on you!

I was looking at some things online this morning and I saw some bed sheets ~ they were songbird bed sheets ~ which seems rather innocuous in and of itself. I had this thought, though...

Granny LOVES songbirds! I bet she'd love a set of those for her birthday!

And then it hit me and here I sit...crying lots...and wishing she was still here so I could buy her a set of sheets!

It's been 7 months, Granny, but you are never far from my thoughts! Miss you...

I'm not crazy!

My family has been thinking the last few days that I am crazy! While it is still 90 degrees here, it feels different to me. I have been telling them that it is a 90 that feels like a summer going into fall 90, rather than a spring going into summer 90! I can't explain it exactly, but there is an undercurrent that feels different...honest!

Of course, they just roll their eyes at me and continue to wipe the sweat from their faces! But then my dear friend, Jane, wrote this...

Even yesterday, I came outside and I could feel that fall thing in the air...it's a warmness that has a cool undertone. In the spring I feel the coolness with the warm undertone and know that summer is on the way...this is the opposite. I could feel fall in the air.

Yay! I'm not alone! Someone else feels it, too! Ah, it's good to have friends that understand! So, hey...

Happy almost fall to you!

Motives?

As I find myself with a few speaking engagements and contemplating how to spruce up my blog so it looks more professional, I am reminded of this scripture...

1 Cor. 1:17 (MsgB)
God didn't send me out to collect a following for myself, but to preach the Message of what he has done, collecting a following for him. And he didn't send me to do it with a lot of fancy rhetoric of my own, lest the powerful action at the center—Christ on the Cross—be trivialized into mere words.

There is such a fine line between pursuing what God has set before us to do in a strategic manner and getting caught up in the facade of doing it all for Him while actually building a following for ourselves.

There are many, many truths in His Word that Papa, in His infinite kindness, has revealed to me. There are also stories and situations He has allowed me to experience so that I can personalize these scriptural truths. I remember Tim's mom telling him when he began to speak a lot, just tell stories...people want to see that you are real and that they can relate to you! What amazing advice!

Lord, may my purpose for opening my mouth always be to share the Truth of your Word, in love, with whomever you set before me ~ be it 1 or 1,000! Would I continue to catch everyday glimpses of You, the most extraordinary God, and be able to share how these glimpses make the Word come alive in our lives. Bottom line, may the motives of my heart always be found pure in your eyes! I love You!!!

Gossip or Flattery...

I heard the best quote yesterday, although I am not sure where it originated so I cannot give credit where credit is due. It's too good not to share, though! Okay, hold onto your hat...here goes...

Gossip is something you say behind someone's back that you would never say to their face. Flattery is something you say to someone's face that you would never say behind their back.

Zing! Isn't it so true! Sadly, that about sums up the major issue women have in 2 sentences! We're either trying to put someone down to make ourselves feel better or we're buttering someone up so we can gain something from the relationship! Not saying it always happens, but our words are enough of a hindrance that He had a lot to say about the matter! Here are just a few of my favourites...

Proverbs 15:26 (MsgB)
God can't stand evil scheming,
but he puts words of grace and beauty on display.

Proverbs 18:7 (MsgB)
Fools are undone by their big mouths;
their souls are crushed by their words.

Proverbs 18:21 (MsgB)
Words kill, words give life;
they're either poison or fruit—you choose.

Proverbs 21:23 (MsgB)
Watch your words and hold your tongue;
you'll save yourself a lot of grief.

Now, I have to admit I have even been guilty of flattery because I was trying to make someone feel better! Someone is feeling down about how they look or what they did and I jump in with encouragement that's not based on much besides my good intentions to pull them from their pit!

At any rate, I am going to remember this quote and ask the Lord to help me speak words of truth in love...or hold my tongue!

Proverbs 25:11 (NASB-U)
Like apples of gold in settings of silver
Is a word spoken in right circumstances.

First Day of School!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Celebrating...

Today we get to celebrate the gift of Jesse Thomas Cash. 10 years ago today, "Chubby", made his appearance at 12:25pm. He weighed 10lbs 14oz and was 23 1/2" and took everything I had for me to get his big self out!

Jesse has brought our family much joy and many laughs. He has a great sense of humour and is very diligent when he sets his mind to something. He is very determined and I am looking forward with great expectancy to what Papa is going to do in and through him!

Happy birthday, Chubs!! You are very loved!

Mama XOXO

Content...

In my last post I was sharing about the dream of speaking and the process the Lord has been taking me through! While it is exciting, fun and scary all at the same time, I realize it does not define me nor make my life any better than it already is!!

Last night it was just me and the 2 little ones home. Tim and Jesse are out of town and R&B were at a friend's house. I had gotten the littles in bed and was preparing to go myself just as a storm blew in. I went out and laid on the bed on the back porch and watched the lightning and listened to the thunder. I pondered my day ~ shopping for school stuff and working in our school room, talking to Rachel about life, playing Trouble with the litte ones, catching up with Tim on what he and Jesse had been doing ~ and I realized that if THIS is all that life involves for me now then I will die a very contented old lady!

I LOVE my life! I can't think of anything that would make it better than it already is! Sure speaking, if the Lord continues to allow it, will be fun...but I get to share life with the 6 most amazing people I know and Papa loves me! Wow!!! I can't imagine it getting any better than this! \O/

Birthing a Dream...

When I was growing up, all I ever wanted to be was a wife and a Mama. The dream began to be fulfilled when Tim and I married and I became pregnant with Rachel. Then each time I found out I was pregnant I felt I was birthing that dream all over again!

While there was much excitement and anticipation associated with the pregnancies, there was also some restlessness and anxiety that caused some sleepless nights...a lot of sleepless nights, actually, because every night was multiplied by 5!! Restlessness because the dream was stretching me (literally ;O) ) and making me uncomfortable. Anxiety because I always wondered if I was equal to the task of taking on another huge responsibility even though I was thrilled to be expecting.

Well, I find myself in the birthing process again. Now before the rumours start, we are not expecting a baby, but rather the Lord has placed a dream in my heart and I find myself in the midst of the birthing process. As you can see by the time I am writing (almost midnight for this girl who normally turns into a pumpkin after 10pm), the stretching process is creating some restlessness, but it is an anticipation much the same as expecting...knowing that Papa is going to bless me beyond my wildest expectations once the dream has come to fruition.

While I was at She Speaks this weekend, it was amazing to learn some of the necessary tools to be as effective as possible in what I feel I am being led to do. Just the simple nuts and bolts of crafting a message makes the end result seem so attainable now...that end result being the effective communication of the depth of His love for us in a succinct and powerful way!!

I arrived at She Speaks knowing I was going to experience one of 2 responses while there. I was either going to go to all the seminars and listen to all the speakers and watch how they communicated and come to the conclusion I could never do that effectively myself...or I was going to take it all in and feel exhilarated at the possibility that this really was the direction He was leading!

I am sure you can probably guess the emotion that won out! While I know I shall never be equal to the task without His constant presence and direction in the process, I am excited that this restlessness is because I am embracing, nurturing and stewarding the dream He is growing inside me.

So I am going to nourish myself with His Word and wait for the labour pains to begin...

I also met a kindred spirit while I was there...Lucy from Memphis! What a special lady and what fun we had meeting! Here we are together.