its time to laugh again!

                          
                         this is why i don't work out! :)


i feel kinda bad that i watched this video about 20 times. i laughed harder and harder each time i watched it. i couldn't help myself! it's just too funny!

no more fences

ever since we got dodger, he has attempted to escape any fence that we put up to keep him in our back yard. aaron was constantly fixing the places in the fence where dodger had found that he could manipulate in a way that would enable him to escape into freedom. dodger would take off to visit everyone and anyone who was interested in paying attention to him. he loved anyone who favored him at all. we had a tag made for his collar that had his name and phone number on it for those times when someone who noticed him might be able to call and let us know where he was. we received hundreds of calls in his lifetime. a couple of them were from the dog pound. many of the times that we were called, the people who had him saved him from being hit on the highway. dodger had no fear of cars on the road. he thought he had as much right to be there as any car did. so, for his safety, aaron continued to fix every place in the fence that dodger seemed to mastermind. even up to a couple of months ago he still made a short escape. his love for freedom was never stifled only prevented by a fence.

i woke up this morning and looked out the sliding glass door to see at the back of our yard a wooden cross that aaron had pounded into the ground in front of the pile of dirt that covered where we buried dodger. i immediately felt sadness all over again. it brought back the vivid memories from the night before when we had watched aaron lower dodger into the ground. later that day, i ventured out there to look a little closer and noticed this...

aaron had put dodger's collar around the cross with the words that said, "no more fences." that is all it took to make tears quickly stream down my face. in my mind, i could see him "free." there are no more fences to confine his desire to greet and meet. run, dodger, run! you are free now! no more fences!

it's a sad day for our family!

it's a sad day for our family! our first family dog passed away today. we loved him very much! he has been a part of our family for 13 years. josiah was three, rachel was 18 months, and olivia was 6 weeks old when he was welcomed into our family. he was the cutest golden retriever that you have ever seen. he has astonished the vet in living as long as he has. over a year ago, he told us that dodger had already lived past his expected life span and to not expect him to live any longer. but, up until a couple of weeks ago, you never would have known that he was even old, except a little graying in his face. today, he decided it was time to rest from this life and meet us in heaven. we expect for him to greet us there when it is our time to rest from this life as well. he has touched all of our lives and we will never forget him.


                                                                                           DODGER
                                                                                11/1/1996--11/18/2009

                                                                                                isn't he beautiful?

                                                                               he could catch anything!!

                                                                                    he loved the water!

                                                                                 looking for leftovers at the kitchen table

                                    jacob loved to spread his front legs apart and scoot himself back until he could lean upon dodger's chest
 

                                                                                    or just use him as a pillow

we will miss you very much dodger! you were the best dog EVER!

i am leaning

is there a line that parents should not cross when it comes to telling their teenagers how their behavior makes them feel? do we have the right to say, "hey, that hurts my feelings!" or "being a parent to teenagers is not as fun as i thought it was going to be." or "i would love it if you would think past yourself sometimes, just a little, so you could see how your behavior is overwhelming me right now." is that too much for teenagers to be able to handle? the true frustrations of parenting? the responsibility of caring about the parents feelings? i am not sure where i stand on this. in the last couple of days, i have thought several times how sad that it is that when my kids were young, everything about being their mom was rewarding and fulfilling. but, as my kids have entered their teenage years, the struggles of dealing with attitudes and proper behavior seems so constant that i seldom experience that rewarding feeling on a daily basis. i know that as they grow past this stage and become adults, my sense of fulfillment will become more evident as i get to experience them becoming adults and watch them walk out the course of life that God has prepared for them. but, in the here and now, living in the moment, i am so overwhelmed with constant conflict that i can't find the inner reward.

i know this time will pass and i will look back and remember the wonderful times of raising my teenagers. but right now? i do not like it! can't they just go from ten to twenty, overnight? it is not that i can not see the awesome things about my children. they are all wonderful and have so much potential to become a great influence in the world they live in for the Lord. but, the in between times are about to bury me. i told them that tonight. i am not sure that was the right thing to do or not. i have no desire to make them feel manipulated or guilted into anything. but, i wanted to share with them how hard that it is for me to be in constant battle with them over decisions that i make for their best interest and how weary that i am feeling.  i am not sure that they were the ones i should have taken my frustrations to. only God can empower me when i am weak. it is His grace that i need. help me Lord! i know that as i lean on you when i am weak, i become strong! i am leaning now. i am leaning.

you add sunshine to my day

several weeks ago i received this award from a wonderful blogging friend of mine maryleigh from blue cotton memory. she is a momma of five boys and writes of her daily pleasures and struggles of raising them for the Lord. her writing is delightful to read. she is a great blogging friend.

use this code to take this bling of an award!-- <"img src="http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/TheRedHeadRiter/commentboxBUTTON-1.gif"/"> you have to remove the quotation marks at the beginning and the end of the html in order for the button to pop up wherever you want to put it.

there are no rules to this award. it is just a blessing to those who have blessed you with their comments, encouragement, or inspiration from a writing in their own blog. i would love to pass this award along to all of my blogging friends and followers who have stopped by and made my day a little brighter by their presence in my blogging world. i am always so touched when you stop by and even more so when you comment and let me know you touched my world. so, please accept this award and pass it along to those who add sunshine to your day.

a new breed of "man"

"By abolishing in His own crucified flesh the enmity caused by the Law with its decrees and ordinances, which He annulled, that He from the two might create in Himself one new man, one new quality of humanity out of the two, so making peace." (Ephesians 2:15)

just some things that i have been pondering and meditating on today

1. the Law causes enmity.
2. Jesus annulled the Law.
3. through faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, He created a new breed of "man" (one that never
    existed before) "the God/man" (man filled with the Spirit of God)  
4. there is no longer enmity between the members of this breed of humanity. each member is equal in having
    the same miracle unite them as "one" with God.
5. we are equally united with God and with each other. there is not one who has more Holy Spirit in them than
    another. thereby comes peace.

what a masterful work of art!

i watched my husband begin to clear our backyard of leaves this past weekend. he raked most of them in a pile and burned them. then he started up the riding lawn mower to give the grass one more good sweep to mulch up the leaves that remained. as i think back on it now, the john deere really did the work. aaron just sat on the seat and steered the rider in the direction that needed to be cared for.

whoever designed the riding tractor was brilliant and went to great lengths to have it created to work perfectly. it is a masterpiece among lawn tools, able to accomplish a great amount of work in a short period of time. but, the mower was not created to do what it does so brilliantly on its own. it was not created to self start and propel itself independently of an owner. beautifully crafted, with so much potential to accomplish so much, it is useful for nothing on its own. unless it is empowered by an owner, it will just sit there and do nothing except be jacob's play toy. but, united with an operator, great work can be accomplished. the beauty of it's accomplishment is displayed in our backyard. what a masterful work of art!

i see the work of Christ in our lives much the same. we are His creation. His work of art! His masterpiece! He went to great lengths, in Jesus, to bring about the ability for us to accomplish great things, to bring us into union with Himself through the Holy Spirit and empower us to radiate His glory in our lives. but, we were not created to do that on our own. we were not created to self start and propel our lives independently. we have been beautifully crafted and empowered by the Holy Spirit with the potential of such good works. but, we are useful for nothing on our own. unless we allow the Operator to start us up and guide us, we are accomplishing nothing. we can pretend to go and work physically, in our own ability, but spiritually, we are just sitting, doing no good thing and revealing no true beauty. ephesians 2:10 says, "for we are God's own handiwork (His masterpiece), recreated in Christ Jesus, that we may do those good works which God planned ahead of time for us that we should walk in them." we have been recreated in Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, to accomplish the great work of displaying the glory of God and as we depend upon our union with Him and are empowered by His strength, His beauty will be displayed in our lives. we are the workmanship of God created to do great work as God empowers us and steers us in the direction that needs to be cared for. what a masterful work of art!

a birthday celebration and a beautiful fall day!

friday was josiah's birthday. he did not want a party. he just wanted to have his dad cook steaks on the grill and have his grandparents over. that sounded much less expensive than a big party, so we gladly obliged. so, aaron went to the local meat market and got him a 12 oz filet and grilled it to perfection for him. he also grilled sirloin steaks for the rest of us. they were very delicious too! after dinner, he opened his gifts.

an ipod touch! yeah! now maybe he won't need my laptop as often!

                                                                                                    nope! wrong again!

                                                                            jacob is patiently waiting for his cake!

 

then he enjoys a view from his big brother's broad shoulders as he attempts to hide the remainder of his cake in josiah's ears. we had a wonderful evening celebrating his 16th birthday!

                                      the next day was such a beautiful day. we used it to finish some outside fall clean up.

                                                                 as soon as jacob heard the tractor start up, he took off...

                                                                                          ...and found his spot for the job.

                                                                             then he decided to try his hand at raking leaves

                                                                                     until he got a phone call

                                                                            after that, he was thirsty and done for the day!!

it was fun watching him enjoy a beautiful fall day helping clean up the backyard!

i can't hardly believe it!

                                      happy 16th birthday josiah!

i can't hardly believe it! you are 16! you are growing up to be a wonderful young man! it seems like yesterday that i was coming home from the hospital with this bundle of love in my arms. i loved being your momma from the very start. you have brought so much joy to my life. there has not been one day go by that i have not been so proud to call you MY son!! i am so excited to be a part of the life the Lord has given you to live! remember, you were born to "shine for Jesus!" go light your world!! i love you so much!--love mom



Happy Birthday Josiah. Sweet sixteen!!! I can't believe it. Where did the time go??? Aren't you the little one that hid in my arms afraid of the thunder-Aren't these the little hands that held so tight to mine-Didn't we both agree you'd never grow up now here we are and here you go- Of all the things i want to say, the... thing you really need to know-I believe in you-I believe in you-For everything you are and every thing you are becoming-I Believe in you-I believe in you-So spread your wings and fly on the winds of knowing I believe in you. I love you!!! Dad.

a tiggerific time (updated)

i have been so frustrated in the last few days because i could not find my camera cord to download these pictures to the computer. i have looked everywhere for it. i finally decided that jacob must have thrown it in the garbage. i have caught him throwing so many things away that do not belong there, like his shoes, dishes, his cup, clothes, and even money. i wonder how many other valuable things have gone unnoticed and ended up in the local landfill. anyway, so today, i went out and bought a card reader that plugs into my computer. it worked beautifully! now i can display the pics that we took of jacob and amanda on october 31st.

we only had part of our family that night because josiah, rachel, and olivia were gone to a youth convention and did not get back until late that night. so, we dressed up jacob in his tigger costume and went out to eat and to toy story 1 and 2 in 3D. we were the only ones in the whole theater. it was great! jacob watched most of toy story 1 and enjoyed the rest of the theater for toy story 2. and, since we were the only ones there, we let him do his thing. we had a tiggerific time!
                                                                                                                            
                                              
               the most wonderful thing about tiggers is he's the only one!

                                            

                                                                             
                                         

                                                       


                                       amanda and jacob


                                                     they love each other a lot!





                                   update: i found my camera cord right after i 
                                   published this post! go figure! guess where it
                                   was. at the bottom of my camera case! now!
                                   why in the world would it be there? nothing is 
                                   ever put back in its place at our house! :) poor
                                   jacob, i blamed him!

no tricks, just treats

i just wanted to display some treats that i have been blessed with lately and pass one of them on to bless others also. yesterday, i was so blessed to be honored with this award from Tara @ keeping up with the kellys!

she is one of my wonderful, sweet blogging friends and she has honored me with the privilege of announcing our friendship for all of her blog readers to see.  this is something that she has done on fridays for awhile now and i have met so many of her friends this way. i think it is a great way to pass friendships along and unite us all in the blogging world. please stop by and meet her. you will be so glad that you did.


and also! a few weeks ago, i was blessed with this friendship award from another wonderful, sweet blogging friend of mine, loren @ the magoo news. i can not express what a great friend that she has been to me! i feel so honored that she would pass this award on to me! she has a gift of encouraging others even when she needs encouragement herself. only God can do that in a person's life and she definitely reveals the depth of her relationship with Him in everything that she writes in her posts and her comments. i thank God for her friendship in my life!
   



friendship hits the spot award

now, i have a treat for some of my other blogging friends. i want to pass this award on to some of you.
for those receiving this award it is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming. you kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. you are not interested in self-aggrandizement. my hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. please give attention to these friends who are writers. deliver this award to six bloggers who must choose six more and include this cleverly written text into the body of their award. i would like to pass this award on to;

tara
kristin
darcie
mimi
karen
rosel

every one of you have been a great friend to me! and i want to make sure that i let you know how much your frienship means to me. there are so many others that i would love to treat as well, but i will leave that to you to pass on to some of them. it seems we are all connecting so well, that we have a circle of friends that are becoming connected through the direction of the Lord. let's make our circle bigger by visiting the friends that i have honored here that you do not know and passing this award on to those who you would love to treat too, so we can stop by and meet them. i am completely amazed at what God is doing in His body through the internet and the blogging community. treat your friends today!

i see dead people

the neighbor mowing his lawn, the grocery clerk checking my produce, the mailman delivering my mail, the new mommy walking her baby in a stroller, my child's teacher at school, the friends that my son plays baseball with, the daddy that dropped his kids off at school this morning. all around me, everywhere that i look, i see dead people! not just hurting people who need help. but, dead people who need the Life of God! most of them don't even know that they are dead. they really don't look like they are dead to the natural eye. but, God's Word says that they are! their physical body is alive because of their natural birth but it is just the costume that is covering up the death that abides within. their spirit is dead because of sin! they are living dead people! as was i before i acknowledged my state of being and embraced the Life of God through the work of Jesus.

i was dead in my sin. i was a physically living, breathing dead person until God breathed His Life in me and resurrected me from death! He brought me to Life by uniting Himself with me. the same Life that raised Christ from the dead raised me as well. i have been raised up together with Jesus, joined with Him by the power of God. now, i live! the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in me!  and the same power that raised Christ from the dead can save all dead people! their hope of resurrection is only found in the Life of Jesus that is being offered to them in exchange for their lifeless spirit.  now,  i see dead people with hope of being raised to Life!

but God!!

truly, i don't deserve for God to bless my life with His goodness. i have done nothing to qualify myself for all that He has to offer. anything good that i have done is easily erased by the the bad attitudes that I have had or the prideful thoughts that seem to rise up in me. in and of myself, i deserve God's wrath on me, not His blessing.  in and of myself, i have nothing to offer God, except the works of my flesh, which stink in the nostrils of God. in and of myself, i am destined to a life of frustration and failure in my attempts to please God at all.  in and of myself, i am hopeless!


but God!


"but God---so rich is He in His mercy! because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved me...." (Ephesians 2:4)  He did not leave me to my own demise. because His love for me compelled Him to do so, because His love for me had to be satisfied, because His love for me was so intense, because His love for me could not fail, He changed everything for me! He changed my posiition before Him, from "in and of myself" to "in Christ." now, in Christ, i no longer attempt to stand before God offering myself to Him. because I am united and in fellowship with Him, i stand alongside of Him, displaying the work of His mercy and grace. in Christ, i am destined to live in the riches of God's goodness as His daughter, reborn by His Spirit. in Christ, i always have hope!

the kids who learn and play together stay together

when i was a teenager, i went to every youth function that there was. my whole social life was within my youth group or other youth groups. i went to camp every summer. i went to youth convention every fall. we usually had at least one retreat getaway a year. six flags was an annual trip. we also went to every Christian concert and youth rally that we found out about. we experienced God together! plus, we had "fun nights," times of hanging out together doing all kinds so different things, skating, miniature golf, bowling, bonfires, etc.  there were so many things going on that i never once thought that i was missing out on anything that the world had to offer. honestly, i did not have time to go out into the world to look for fun or fulfillment.  i was too busy finding it with my youth group friends. i am good friends with many of them still today.

youth groups seem to be different today than when i was young. it seems like youth pastors spend more time tying to have big events with lots of people for evangelistic purposes and very little time providing activities that provide social gatherings for the young people who are already a part of the body of Christ. i do not have a problem at all with evangelistic events. i am all for introducing more people to Jesus! but, i also see a huge missing piece in the lives of many young people because they do not have enough socialization time, centered around God and moral fun, with kids their age. teenagers are social. that is a top priority for them. if they are not given many opportunities to develop that part of their life with other Christians, they will find it in the world.

so, yesterday, we took our kids to a missions youth rally, ourselves. the worship band from our church was doing the worship so we thought that we would go and support them and take our kids so that they could experience worshiping God with a lot of young people who weren't necessarily from their own youth group. it was a wonderful experience. it brought back a lot of old memories for me. the speaker was even one of the same speakers that used to do youth rallies in our area when i was a teenager. his message was on responding to God's call. he had all of the kids come forward after he spoke and offered salvation to all who would accept it through Jesus. then, he encouraged everyone of the kids to listen and respond to the moving of the Spirit of God inside of them. he said there are only two things that you can do when someone calls you, answer it or ignore it. he challenged them to never ignore the calls of God in their lives but to answer them so that they can live and never have regrets, wondering what God might have been trying to get through to them about.  it was a wonderful experience. my kids were ministered to very much.

i think it is time that i lift up our youth group's social calendar to the Lord in prayer. there can never be too many Christ centered social activities for our young people. if we do not provide them enough social opportunities to develop friendships and learn spiritual things together, they will search to fulfill that need in them somewhere else. lasting friendships, centered around having fun, with God in the middle of all that they do is a necessity for our teenagers. the kids who learn and play together stay together.

most inspirational blog award

several weeks ago my wonderful blogging friend, lidj @ crown of beauty gave me this sweet blogging award. i have been so busy since then, i have just gotten around to passing it along. it was only a couple of months ago that i met lidj in the blogging world. she has a heart for the Lord that is amazing. she lives in the phillipines. she writes about her relationship with God and how He guides her through her daily life. she inspires me with her posts and encourages me to keep my relationship with the Lord intimate and real. i love having her as my friend. please stop by and meet her. you will be so glad that you did.

this award was created by caitlin @teen life. she is the teenage daughter of kat @ heart2heart. the purpose of this award is to recognize the people who inspire me with their great posts,  kind words, constant feedback, or for just being interested enough in me to follow my blog . The goal is to pass this along to five people and let them know what they mean to you!

i would like to pass this "most inspirational blog" award on to.

1. kat
2. loren
3. adeye
4. kristin
5. hope

you have all inspired me and encouraged me in sharing my life and my writing. thank you all for your support, hard work, and dedication to blogging! please pass this along to five blogging friends who have inspired you so that others can meet them and be inspired by their lives as well. keep the inspiration coming!

fits end when trust begins!

isn't is amazing how it is so easy for people to get along as long as everything is going the way that they would like it to. I have noticed that my children think life is just grand and their parents are wonderful as long as they are getting to do what they want. but, as soon as something doesn't go their way or we have to discuss something that needs to be addressed in their life that they would rather not discuss, the tone of their voice changes and the level of sound rises to try to show the necessity of getting what they want or try to prevent having to deal with an issue that they would like to avoid. when that doesn't work, then over reaction usually takes place with pouting and saying things like, "i never get to do what i want!" "you don't trust me!" every body else gets to do it!" "i don't want to deal with this right now!" it's my life!"

sounds like a fit, doesn't it? actually, it is. just like when a little toddler does not get something they want and they throw themselves on the floor and start screaming. their flailing arms, kicking legs, their cries and screams communicate the same things as the teenager who speaks his mind easily with words. either way, both of them are sure that what they are missing out on is so vitally important that they must convince their parents of that. inside of them is the thought that we do not know as much about the issue as they do or the feeling that we are holding something back from them something that would make their life so much better. but, in reality, the opposite is usually true. we do know more than them and the only thing we are holding something back from them is something that could possibly hurt them or bring them destruction. the real issue is trust. they are not convinced of us having their best interest at heart. they believe that we really do want to keep some things that are good from them.

usually the end result of the issue is sulking and pouting. but, some times children are so convinced that they need what they want so badly that they try to get it somehow anyway. a teenager that has been told that they can not go somewhere that they want to go might sneak and go anyway or a toddler that has been told they can not go outside because it is too cold might continuously keep trying to open the door and go outside themselves. knowing that they can not live without attaining what they want, they attempt to go after it themselves.

i see this behavior in adults as well, even in my own self sometimes. well, maybe adults don't throw outward fits. actually, some do. but getting really frustrated if something is not going the way that we would like it to or had planned for our lives would be considered an adult fit before God. and, just like a child that is not convinced of their parents desire to give them everything that would make their life great, thinking that they are holding back on them, we rant and rave before God. and, rather than trusting God that He has His hand in our lives and He is blessing us with the right things at the right time to bring His perfect plan to pass in our lives, we do one of two things, we sulk, pout, fold our hands in our lap and have a pity party or we venture out to try to get what we want ourselves trying to change our current situation somehow.

the root of every fit is lack of trust in the one that has control. and, lack of trust is the result of believing the lie that the one in control is holding back something good from them. the enemy of our soul has not changed his tactic since the beginning of time. he is still using the same lie that he used in the garden of eden, "this is not a bad thing. it is a good thing. it will not hurt you. it will bring great things into your life. God is really trying to prevent you from knowing what He knows and experiencing something better than you could possibly imagine. don't wait on Him. take matters into your own hands and see for yourself" (my paraphrase) what a big, fat lie!! the only thing that God was holding back from us was death and the destruction of our lives that living apart from Him brings. and, He has not changed!

it is only when our children become fully assured of our love for them, our desire to bring good into their lives and prevent them from falling into harm that they will be able to accept our ways for them and trust us. it is only when we are fully assured of God's love for us and His desire to bring good into our lives and prevent us from falling into harm that we will be able to accept His ways and trust Him. whether it be sulking and pouting or taking matters into our own hands, fits end when trust begins!

o taste and see that the Lord is good!

science can explain so many things. formulas and mathematical equations can describe most everything there is to know and give us a physical reason for its existence. but, just because you can recite a scientific equation for something does not mean that you have experienced a relationship with it.

a sheet of music is a mathematical representation of a song with sticks and dots on a lined page. we could look at that page of music all day and memorize every stick and dot. but, we have to hear the music in order for us to experience it and let it touch us.

color can be described mathematically too. but, hearing someone describe orange and yellow is not experiencing a beautiful sunset. we have to see it to experience it and let it move us.

taste can be described anatomically, with texture and physical structure, and descriptively, with adjectives. but, we will never experience our taste buds dance from a delicious meal or a piece of chocolate cake until we have tasted it for ourselves.

we can describe God theologically. we can list His attributes, His character, the work of creation, His plan of redemption, and quote the book of revelation. but, unless we experience God for ourselves, let Him touch the deepest parts of our heart as we share our daily lives with Him, we will never truly know Him. "Oh taste and see that the Lord is good." Psalm 34:8

we must lean upon God and ask Him to open the eyes of our heart and help us to partake of His goodness, experience His love, and move us in the very core of our being. we can not just look at things with our natural eyes and try to make God's wisdom fit into a scientific box or mathematical equation. He created science and math, they did not create Him. He is the author and finisher of everything. if we try to figure out God only from what we can understand in the natural, even if it is by us memorizing Scripture or doing religious things, we will never experience the intimate relationship that He desires to have with us. so many things in this world will never make sense unless we commune with the One who holds everything in His hands.

growing up monday-------------"do you know God?"

today, i am joining joanne @ blessed..... with a "growing up monday" post. she has a great idea of bringing the message that God is speaking to all of us together, uniting our hearts, and growing up together. Please be sure to stop by and read her post and link up with the others who are joining in to unite us all while we grow up together.

"do you know God?"

i don't mean know about Him. i mean, "do you know Him?"

"do you know what makes Him laugh? do you know what makes Him sad? do you know what He thinks about most of the time? do you know what He is going to say before you hear Him say it in your spirit? do you hang out with Him and listen when He talks? does your heart hurt when His does? does your heat leap with joy when you know He is excited about something? do you know what He dreams about? do you really know His heart? do you know God?"

to know someone means more than knowing about them. knowing a person conveys a close, personal, intimate relationship. so many people can rattle off many characteristics about God. they can describe theologically everything that makes God Who He is. but, they do not know Him. they have never taken the time to allow Him to share Himself with them. they may know that God loves them because that is what the Bible says is true. but, they have never experienced the life changing revelation that takes place when they allow Him to whisper in their ear every day, "I love you so much. I love YOU! I think about you all the time! I created you for no other reason, other than, to love you! you make my heart leap for joy every time I see you grow and take one step closer to living in the completeness of my wonderful plan for your life. I want to share every moment of your life with you! I want to laugh when you laugh and hold you when you cry. you are everything that I have ever dreamed about! YOU are my heart!"

"do you know God?"


you can hear someone else tell you about God, you can read about Him, even in the Bible, you can listen to the preacher talk about Him, and you can study everything that has been written or spoken about Him. you can know God theologically but, it is the experience of Him sharing His Life with you personally that makes you "know" Him and love Him. we love Him, only, because He first loved us and, only, as we experience and "know" that.

this is what God has been showing me in the last week. He is calling me to Him. He is revealing Himself deeply to my heart, helping me to recognize His unimaginable intense love for me. He wants me to know Him. He wants me to share myself with Him. He wants me to experience Him in every aspect of my life.

What about you?

What is it you are studying? What is God telling you? What lessons did God want you to learn this week, and what did you take away from your pastor's lesson or church family today that you can apply to your lives now?

Let's share with one another what we are learning and how we are growing up in Christ. Be your hometown church representative and fill us all in!

faith is a fruit

as i continue to study ephesians, i see that Paul was trying to convey to us, the church, that this life that we have been given through Jesus is pretty amazing. we have been chosen, made holy, adopted, redeemed, forgiven, lavishly favored with wisdom and insight, made God's heritage, destined for the praise of His glory, and sealed with the Holy Spirit all because God is love and He picked us to be the beneficiary of Who He is. not because we did anything to make Him love us that way. He just does! He just does!

knowing this truth by revelation from Jesus Christ Himself, paul desired for his family, by spiritual birth, to see that revelation too. he prayed for us to come to a deep and intimate knowledge of God by having our eyes flooded with Light so that we could see the Truth and believe and "know." it is the revelation of Truth that births faith, not just the mere information. it is when God opens our eyes and shows us the Truth that we do believe. this kind of faith is not brought about by any effort or decision on our part. it is the result or the fruit of enlightenment of the Holy Spirit within us showing us deeper insights into Who God is, what He is like, what His plan of action has been and will continue to be.

it is in these times of dependence upon God within us and leaning on Him to open our spiritual eyes to help us to see the Truth, that we consume and partake of the revelation that He shows us. this is the experience of all that God's Word tells us is available to us because of what Jesus has done for us in His life, death, burial and resurrection. this experience of depending on and living with God in all that we do, is what God has desired from the beginning, life with and in Him not for Him!

recognizing that we are helpless to come to Truth on our own and incapable of making ourselves believe by trying our hardest because we know we are supposed to, is the first step in having our eyes opened to truly "know" and believe. as long as we think we are supposed to try to believe, we will neglect the power to "know" that lives within us. and, itstead of partaking of the Holy Spirit's nourishment, we will be vomiting it up and trying to find our own strength to accomplish what only He can do in us. you can not conjure up faith. you can't make yourself "know."
you can't just decide to believe. you either "know" or you don't. and, only the One Who Is can reveal Himself and make us "know" Him. true faith or "knowing" is the fruit of communion with the Spirit of the Living God Who abides within us.

i will believe it when i see it

"i will believe it when i see it!"

i have heard people say this many times before. and, really i had always thought that the ones that said this were so shallow and unspiritual because "faith is the evidence of things not seen." obviously, this portion of Scripture is the truth, but the word seen means looked upon with the natural eye. faith is our evidence of truth when there is no physical evidence to be found. but, faith is only faith when it is birthed as fruit from our spirit. otherwise, you are just trying to believe. the truth is, seeing is believing! it is just a different kind of seeing. Paul prays in Ephesians 1:18 for us to have the eyes of our heart flooded with light so that we can know and understand the truth of who God is and what He has done for us. with the right set of optics and in the proper Light, we can see past what our natural eyes can see and see what is truly going on in our lives. and, when we do, without any effort on our part, we believe because we have seen the truth.

just because we can not see something with our natural eyes does not mean that it is not there. we all know that there are germs and bacteria that live in our air that we breathe. we see the evidence of them with our natural eyes. we see symptoms of sickness in our bodies and evidence of bacteria growing on our leftovers in our refrigerator. but we can not see the culprits that cause theses things unless we use the proper set of optics to see them. but, with a microscope we can see most of them and realize they truly exist and believe it.

we can look up into the sky and see many stars with our natural eyes. but, with the proper set of optics we can see that there are so many more than is evident by just looking up into the night sky. with a highly powered telescope, we can see galaxies of stars that will blow our minds.

i want to see the big picture that God sees. i am tired of being moved by what i see in the natural. i want to be like a tree planted by the waters and not be moved. i want to see behind the scenes and believe that God is not sitting on His thumbs doing nothing. He is on the scene! He is active and moving and preparing His bride for His soon coming arrival. if i really want the truth, if i really want to know the truth, if i really want to know and believe the truth, i have to use the proper set of optics to get the full detailed picture. my heart's prayer is this, "open the eyes of my heart, where you abide, Lord, and help me to see what you see. i do not want to be moved by only a partial view of the truth. i want to see what you see. You do not get moved by the things that seem to move me. i want to see it your way. it is only when i see through your eyes that i will truly believe. open the eyes of my heart and let me see and believe! i know i will believe it when i see it!"

happy birthday olivia---------our vacation day 8

our last day of our vacation was olivia's 13th birthday, sept 25th.
i hope it was a birthday that she will never forget.
since it was her birthday, her addmission to the park was free. but, we had already paid for her admission with our vacation package. so, she got a gift card for the amount of her admission to spend on anything that she wanted that day. that was a nice birthday gift for her, for sure.

 

her day started with a visit to toon town with amanda, with the intention of getting their picture taken with tinker bell, but the line was way too long so they stopped by to meet belle.

since they didn't get to meet tinkerbell they headed over to her gift shop.
they had a lot of fun playing with all of the princess and fairy accessories.








wouldn't she make a beautiful fairy?

                   






















                                                         they were having so much fun!!

 but it was time to head to the royal castle for our royal dinner and olivia's birthday celebration.

 

we were greeted by cinderella herself

 

then we were escorted through the royal hallway to our table.

                                                                                                                                                    our night in shining armour--in training--

             we sang happy birthday to olivia!

                                                                                                                 ate our royal dinner




                                   used our magic wands


                                         and our swords


                                          "hi-yah take that!"

then one by one all of the princesses of the land made their way over to welcome us to the castle.

                         princess jasmine






                                           

belle

princess aurora a.k.a. sleeping beauty







                                  
        and snow white

                                                                                                  bippity-boppity boo!!!

it was a great birthday for olivia. i hope she never forgets her 13th birthday.
after our birthday celebration, jacob and i headed back to the resort to start to pack for our trip home the next day and catch a nap. everyone else headed over to blizzard beach for some more fun in the sun and water slides.

then we all headed back to downtown disney for
olivia to spend the rest of her birthday money.
shop! shop! shop! until we dropped!

the next morning, it was time to head home.
but, before we hopped on the bus to take us to the airport,
amanda posed for a colored drawing.

                                                                                                                                           how cute!!!


            and everyone else spent their final hour in the resort arcade.


josiah stopped to pose with his chemistry book to try to make everyone think he did homework on his vacation. Yah Right!!


it was a great action-packed vacation. we all had a wonderful time. I feel so blessed that we were able to enjoy this time with our family. but, we decided that next vacation is going to be a week on the beach somewhere, DOING NOTHING! :)

animal kingdom--------our vacation day 7

this was the day we went to animal kingdom. i think we all really enjoyed it a lot.  we were greeted at the entryway by several animal characters.

                                                we stopped to a take our family picture in front of the tree of life garden.

                                                                   look at the detail in the carvings. it is so cool!


                                                                        then we stopped to say hello to lilo and stitch

                                               
                                                   ...on our way to the safari, which was so fun!

we were able to see so many animals. these are a few of the pics that i got that were not blurry though. we had to take them while moving along in our safari bus.

       josiah is comparing his hand to a six year old male gorilla. WOW!


                                                                                  then we saw this....

                                                                                       we headed up the mountain

                                                                                          .......and then DOWN!!!!

the looks on their faces say it all!

the kids loved everest! i think they rode it a half a dozen times. i, of course, only road it once and that was enough for me!

                                                            the dinosaur ride was great! we all loved it so much!

                              of course, jacob couldn't go. but one of the dinosaurs almost got him while we were gone.

watch out jacob!!!!

                                                                           the rose family, seeing life bug-style.
                                                                  "its a bugs life" was the best 4D show we saw the whole trip.

                                      the rapids was our last ride of the day. once again, they rode that multiple times too!
                                      they were just a little wet!

                                             then we headed over to the last lion king show of the day.
                                             it was so awesome!

                                                    it was a short day for us, animal kingdom closed at 5 pm.

so angie took the kids back to the resort for pizza and a swim while aaron and i went out on a date to the yachmans steakhouse for dinner by ourselves. that was so nice and delicious.

                                                                                 it was another great day!!

epcot-------our vacation day 6

this was our day at epcot. we were up and going a little slower by this morning. we were starting to feel the effects of all of our long days. but, we were still excited to get to our next attraction for the week.

this is a picture of the kids on top of the big cowboy boot in front of our room at the resort. we stayed at the all star music resort in the country fair building. they had country music playing all the time.

  we are waiting in line for the bus to take us to epcot.

























 



 we hadn't even gotten started yet and everyone
is already trying to steal jacob's stroller.



                                 
                                      the rose family at epcot                                                                                                                                                                


angie's brother joined us for our day at epcot. the kids made fun of his big straw hat all day. good thing he was a good sport about it. i think he actually liked the attention. he made us laugh a lot.


we saw many workers riding around on these standing motorized vehicles, called segways,and wondered about them. we happened to find a place in the park where they were giving riding lessons for them.


aaron and josiah enjoyed getting on them and trying them out,

while amanda found a place to make a craft in a nearby room of creativity.


                 then it was time to find those disney characters

                                  mr mickey mouse, himself

                                           along with minnie

                                         and pluto

                                 goofy

                  and, of course, donald duck



                                                                                   but, they just plain wore jacob out

     we enjoyed a great steak dinner in canada at le celier steakhouse

    even jacob enjoyed some steak. that is how tender it was.

      here, i enjoyed the best desert all week
      they called it whiskey chocolate cake. it was absolutely delicious!
      i have no idea about the whiskey though. couldn't taste that at all.

     the kids had chocolate mousse.  cute, but it was not as good as mine.

                                              we were so full!

    jacob found a new traveling position. i wonder who was trying to get in his stroller then.

                                                                                 olivia at the interactive under the sea show.

               this was one of our favorite rides, along with soarin'.



we cut our day shorter than normal this day so we could go back to the resort and relax and swim. besides that, we still had a full day at animal kingdom waiting for us the next day. i think we were back at the resort by 10 pm.

and now back to our regularly scheduled vacation posts-----typhoon lagoon-----our vacation day 5

   tuesday was typhoon lagoon day. one of disney's beautiful waterparks.


we had heard of the awesome wave pool that they had here.

so, everyone waited around in the shallow water waiting for the time for the big waves.


                once again, jacob loved the water





                               
                                         UNTIL THIS!!!


everyone else loved the huge waves. they played here for hours. i think they could have played in the wave pool the entire time.

i was holding jacob, in the shallow water, when the first wave came and we still ended up falling over and riding the humongous wave to dry concrete.

                                                but, there was so much more to do. so, we headed off to the the water slides.
                                                this is aaron and josiah finishing the straight-down drop water slide.

                      
with olivia and rachel following. the verdict was "FUN! but you get a huge wedgie."
rachel is taking care of that in this picture. LOL
           



about half way through the day, jacob was water logged. he napped while everyone else headed over to the snorkeling area.














here we are,  getting ready to snorkel with the fish, stingrays, and even sharks! everyone loved doing this!


            the snorkeling mask is so flattering!


amanda was scared at first and wouldn't go. but, she did not want to miss out and eventually did it.
she was so glad that she did.

                   the water was really cold too!



      but, you got used to it once you got in and started floating around.





            now we are ready to snorkel in the real ocean some day.


typhoon lagoon closed at 5 pm. so, we went back to our resort, cleaned up and headed
to downtown disney to eat, check out the shopping, and disney quest.



                               on the bus to downtown disney


                ready to eat, shop, and play


                                            we ate  here!




   it was fun seeing a lot of the props that were used in so many movies


                  can you guess which movie this is from?


after we ate, we went over to disney quest, a five story building with any kind of arcade games you could  possibly imagine.
i think the kids could have played there for an entire day.


           jacob is learning to drive already!




it was not easy keeping track of jacob here. i finally found a small area that was gated off for him to play in.
it was surrounded by a bench seat that i could sit and watch pinocchio keep him entertained and fascinated for a very long time.


we did not leave downtown disney until almost midnight. we were all exhausted at the end of the day but everyone had a blast!

we interrupt these vacation posts for homecoming weekend

friday afternoon, the parade began the festivities. olivia marched in the homecoming parade and twirled her flag for the band.


aaron walked in the parade with some of his co workers behind the heartland bank banner. amanda walked with him too, along with our pastors and their children. it was a lot of fun watching them be a part of the community.

rachel was showing her school spirit too. these are pictures of her at community night and the football game with her friends. i think they all had a lot of fun!


                                                                           she is so silly!




                                                     saturday was the homecoming dance
josiah and his girlfriend, kayla, they make quite a gorgeous couple, don't they?

whose handsome boy is this??

josiah and his friends that all went to the dance together


it was a fun weekend. all of us were involved in something going on in the community all weekend long.

hollywood studios---------our vacation day 4

monday morning, we got up bright and early and headed back to hollywood studios. we had a full day of shows to see and rides to ride.

our first stop was the american idol experience. we watched performers who auditioned throughout the day and made the cut to sing in front of the three judges and a live audience. everyone in the audience voted for who they liked the best and the winner got a golden ticket to be at the front of the line to audition before the real american idol judges for this upcoming season.

this was our pick for the winner. i can't remember what his name was. but, remember this face. I think he could make the hollywood cut for this upcoming season. he was a worship pastor from arkansas. this picture was actually taken from the big screen from outside the auditorium because we did not get into the final performance, that was later in the evening. it was at capacity three people before us. what a bummer!!!

after the american idol show, we headed off to our next show.
this was jacob's royal seat, shaded and strolled around while able to recline?
it doesn't get much better than that.

the beauty and the beast show was our next destination.
it was really good!

i think the kids rode this at least a dozen times.

      


                            don't we look good in our 3D glasses?

      the car stunt show was awesome!


we stopped at some shops to check out the hat selection.

olivia had to try on some birthday hats because, of course, she was turning 13 on friday. 

















toy story mania was the newest attraction there. what a fun time it was!!!!

 

it was a long and exhausting, but very fun day. aaron and i left with jacob about an hour before everyone else who decided to see if they could get into toy story mania one more time. thank God for the buses that ran every 20 minutes to take us back to our resort.

magic kingdom-----our vacation day 3

sunday morning we got up and went to breakfast then headed off to magic kingdom.

waiting for the bus, we all passed the time with a hoola hoop contest.


                            go olivia!!

                          OOOOOPPS!!!!

                                                                                   i think josiah thought the hoop was a jumprope.
                                                                                     he actually was the best hoola hooper.



jacob was not quite sure what to do with the hoola hoop. he just wore it as a necklace.



                                   man!!! i am good!!! not!!!!



                     go, daddy go!!!!


             the bus finally came and we were off the magic kingdom.

amanda is getting her autograph book all ready for the disney characters to sign.









                magic kingdom here we come!!!!


                                                                                        ----on to the castle----

                                                                                   jacob is hanging on for dear life

                                                                                 aren't they the cutest mice you've ever seen?

riding the carousel

flying with dumbo




                                     taking on splash mountain




we left magic kingdom to dine at the 1900 park fare's royal table with cinderella
of course, we had to wait awhile for our table to be ready.

finally, our table is ready.  cinderella greets us!

josiah gets a gentlemen's lesson from the princess herself






the girls smiled big to get their picture taken with prince charming.

cinderella's wicked stepmother rudely made her acquaintance too





looking for a husband for her daugherters, she asked josiah if he was eligible.


when she found out he was, she announced to anastasia that she had found the man that she was to marry.
anastasia came running and kissed him right on the cheek.
she was so happy to have found such a handsome husband.



                     then she posed with her future sister in laws.


                      drizella stopped by for a visit too.




she was none too happy to know that anastasia had snatched up josiah.


dinner was delicious and so much fun! we laughed and laughed!
we had another super great day!

a day at the beach ----- our vacation day 2

on the second day of our vacation, we rented a car and headed to the gulf. we visited a state park called honeymoon island. it was a great beach. it had beautiful white sand and very shallow waters for a long way out into the ocean. the water was so clear, you could see everything all around you, just the way i like it!!

jacob was not so sure he liked it at first. he was very apprehensive.

do you think they look alike at all?



















    he decided that digging in the sand with his shovel was ok though.



everyone else headed to the water to see what they could catch with their net.

can you see all the fish in the water that nobody could catch at all?

they are just too fast!!!

they all decided to dig in the sand with it and find shells.



olivia and amanda are inspecting their finds.


aaron and josiah decided to head into deeper water and dig up shells there.
what could this be that josiah dug up?




hanging out in the shallow water was enjoyable too!






jacob kept his safe distance on the sand. but he had so much fun! 

then we decided it was time for jacob to fall in love with the water too.

it took a little bit of time, but he eventually realized that the water was pretty fun!









he realized that there was sand in the water too!

everyone had a blast!

then we took our sun-kissed bodies to dinner at the whispering canyon cafe in the wilderness lodge.
there was not much whispering going on there though!

    rachel and angie, my best friend since 7th grade. she lives in Florida and joined us for our whole vacation.
 ****what an experience for her!!****


it was a beautiful day!

growing up monday----------our vacation day 1

today, i am joining joanne @ blessed... with a "growing up monday" post. she has a great idea of bringing the message that God is speaking to all of us together, uniting our hearts, and growing up together. Please be sure to stop by and read her post and link up with the others who are joining in to unite us all while we grow up together.

she writes, "wouldn't it be fun to be able to check in with other sisters around the world and see what we are learning in each of our churches on sunday mornings or in our weekly Bible studies? we are the body of Christ. we gather on Sundays in our church homes to learn and grow from His word. each week there is something our pastor shares or teaches from the Bible that speaks (sometimes shouts) right to my heart."

i think this is a great idea. we can reflect on what God is revealing to us, write it up in a post and share it with each other. maybe it will help us get the bigger picture of what God is desiring to say to His body. we can grow up together as one body. we are to grow up in the knowledge and understanding of Christ. we can do that together.

this week, i have learned that Jesus and family are the most precious gifts that God has given to us. we spent the week in florida, at disney world. though it was hot, we had a great time together. i am so thankful that God has blessed me so much with such a wonderful family and the provision to take vacations together. He is such a good God! my heart is overwhelming with gratitude for all that He is and all that He has blessed me with.

we returned home on saturday evening, went to church on sunday morning to hear our pastor speak a message on "the Gospel according to moses." he emphasized the hunger of God desiring to live amongst His people. when God created man, He walked and talked with adam and eve, sharing Life with them. but, when they sinned, the shared existence of God and man had to be put on hold. but, God's burning desire to be a part of His children's lives continued. during the time period of moses, God made a way for Him to be in the midst of their lives through the temple. His presence remained in the temple, in the middle of the campsite of the israelites. the temple tabernacled His presence. it foreshadowed the place where the shared existence of Life with the presence of God would continue in the new convenant. now, our hearts tabernacle His presence and once again God is living in and amongst His people, sharing Life with them.

looking back at my week of vacation and recognizing that spending the week with my family as we all tabernacled the presence of God everywhere that we went, sharing Life with Him, i realize that i have even more to be grateful for that i can even express with words. He vacationed with us.

He was with us on the bus traveling from the airport to disney! He shared our excitement as we were almost there!

He walked with us on the red carpet to mickey's resort.

and, He immediately headed off to hollywood studios to enjoy the tower of terror and the rockin' roller coaster with us, while jacob took a short nap.

our first day of vacation was full of excitement and fun! all of us together, sharing Life with God, couldn't have been better!

What about you?

What is it you are studying? What lessons did God want you to learn this week, and what did you take away from your pastor's lesson or church family today that you can apply to your lives now?

Let's share with one another what we are learning and how we are growing up in Christ. Be your hometown church representative and fill us all in!

growing up monday

today, i am joining joanne @ blessed... with a "growing up monday" post. she has a great idea of bringing the message that God is speaking to all of us together, uniting our hearts, and growing up together. Please be sure to stop by and read her post and link up with the others who are joining in to unite us all while we grow up together.

she writes, "wouldn't it be fun to be able to check in with other sisters around the world and see what we are learning in each of our churches on sunday mornings or in our weekly Bible studies? we are the body of Christ. we gather on Sundays in our church homes to learn and grow from His word. each week there is something our pastor shares or teaches from the Bible that speaks (sometimes shouts) right to my heart."

i think this is a great idea. we can reflect on what God is revealing to us, write it up in a post and share it with each other. maybe it will help us get the bigger picture of what God is desiring to say to His body. we can grow up together as one body. we are to grow up in the knowledge and understanding of Christ. we can do that together.

we are going through the book of joshua on sunday mornings. we have been looking for the types and shadows of Jesus and the new covenant within it. joshua, himself, is a type of jesus. he takes God's chosen people into the land of promise. he was the man that God chose to lead them into all the fullness of His promised blessings. he represents Jesus because it is Jesus who has lead us into God's promised blessings of salvation.

when the isralites were in slavery, they continued their covenant with God through circumcision and observed the passover. but, after they left Egypt and crossed over the red sea into the wilderness, they ceased to observe the covenant rituals of circumcision or the passover. they were told by God to begin to live by the law of moses instead. they wandered in the wilderness for forty years trying to obey the law and failing. God provided for His people miraculously over and over again. He gave them manna from heaven to eat and drinking water poured forth from impossible places. but, when it came time to enter into the promised land they found it impossible to believe that God would really do what He promised and deliver the land over to them. why? because the law does not produce faith.

the people in moses' generation were unable to enter into the land that God had promised because they could not believe God. moses, representing the law, took the israelites up to the jordan river that separated them from the promised land. but, joshua, representing faith, lead them into the promised land. God opened the waters of the jordan river and they crossed over on dry ground. joshua 4:19-5:12 continues the story as they camped on the shores on the other side of the jordan river. they were now in the promised land.

to celebrate the great power and faithfulness of their God, the children of Israel followed joshua when he instructed them to return back into a covenant relationship with God by circumcising all of the men. while the israelites were in the wilderness, they ceased to depend upon the covenant relationship with God indicated by circumcision, and lived by the law. so, none of the men that were alive at this point, had ever been circumcised. God instructed Joshua to stand up and be His covenant people again and cut covenant with Him by circumcision. after every man was circumcised, they remained camped at the shores of jordan until they were all healed.

then, the Lord told joshua to name the place that they were camped at, gilgal, which means "to roll away the shame or the reproach." God had brought His people forth and delivered them into the land that He had promised them in miraculous fashion. people everywhere had heard of what God had done for His people and they were very afraid of the israelites. God had rolled away the shame and the reproach of slavery from them and set them up to be the rulers of this great promised land. that night they celebrated the passover. the next day they began to partake of the fruit of the land that God had delivered into their hands. there was no more miraculous provision for food or water. manna ceased to fall from heaven because provision was provided from within the land of promise.

i asked God for the significance in this portion of the story of the Israelites. i knew there was some truth within this part of the story that meant something to us today. what was the nugget of revelation that would help me to see more clearly what Jesus has done for me in the new covenant. i felt the Lord speak clearly in my spirit that the place of gilgal is where Jesus has brought us to. He has taken away our shame and guilt before God when we, by faith, walked across the pathway that God provided for us in Jesus. He took us out of the bondage of sin and helplessness and into righteousness, the place of promise. and, from that time forward, we are not to look for manna from heaven any longer, we are to begin to live off the produce of the promised land. we are not supposed to be looking for an outward manifestation of His provision, but know that the provision that He has promised us will come only from the land of promise. that land is my spirit united with the Holy Spirit. the promised land is in me! the provision for my life, in every way, is found within the promised land and it will come forth as i dwell there and share communion with the faithful, covenant God of promise. God's promise of provision and blessings will not come down from heaven but will now come forth from within me.

What about you?

What is it you are studying? What lessons did God want you to learn this week, and what did you take away from your pastor's lesson or church family today that you can apply to your lives now?

Let's share with one another what we are learning and how we are growing up in Christ. Be your hometown church representative and fill us all in!