He remains

all of us go through times in life when the walls quake around us and the earth seems to move violently under our feet.  many times, the things that we thought were solid and reliable suddenly change and begin to slide away. our lives get shaken up now and then and the pressure of the shake can truly feel as if we were a bottled soda that has been tossed around several times right before it explodes.

sometimes, i wonder why things happen the way that they do.  why do we go through such rigorous and often painful upheavals in our lives? why is it that our worlds have to be so rocked? i am not sure of the answers to these questions. but, i know that so many times after the shaking stops, life is completely altered from the way it was before.  we try to get things back to what we have been used to. we look for misplaced and broken items and attempt to put them back where they once were, only to realize that not everything has survived the quake.  many relationships can't handle difficult circumstances, and they disappear at the first sign of trouble.  some material items are not hardy enough to withstand the shocks of life and they too are lost forever. there are also jobs and activities that lose their meaning when mixed in with a significant set of circumstances and new avenues must be discovered to continue to go forward in life. 

when we go through turbulent seasons that jostle everything loose in our lives, what will remain intact is what was of real value and founded on truth in the first place. many times, there is not much left after the quake. but, when everything is shaken and life has seemingly been turned upside down, when people have disappointed and left you, when material possessions that have been treasured are gone, when the life style that you were living has been turned inside out, and when it looks as if there is just nothing that has survived, there is one thing that we can be sure of, something that once it becomes concrete in our understanding, we are no longer the same people ever again.  it is this: when all of the dust settles and the real value is salvaged, we will always know that ....................................

He remains!!!!

"all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things remain." (hebrews 12:27)

i wear my sunglasses at night

cause that's what all the cool PEOPLE do!!!

count it all joy

i definitely can't say that i am grown up and mature enough yet to be joyful every single time that a trial arises in my life. but, i have progressed a little. most of the time i seem to be able to recognize the trials that arise in my life for what they are; opportunities! opportunities for me to be able to completely depend on God, trust Him to bring me through them, and grow in my understanding of Who He is and His amazing love for me. when i think back on how i would have handled hard times before, i feel like i somewhat naively just stuck my head in the sand and pretended that the problem was not there. you know if you don't admit there is a problem then you don't have to deal with it. or, i would close my eyes, tap my feet together three times and say, "there's no place like home." well, not really. but it kind of felt like that is what i was doing because i thought that if i just prayed hard enough and believed God enough that He was going to send a miracle my way and deliver me from the problem that was before me.

i have come to realize that problems seldom go away on their own and most of the time God does not show up on a white horse, smooth out my problems and then carry me away into heavenly bliss on this earth. what usually happens is that He carries me through the issues and teaches me many things along the way, which is why i can now see them as opportunities. in recognizing that, i am beginning to be more interested in the lesson that i am going to learn in the midst of my trial rather than just getting frustrated that it exists and being overwhelmed with having to deal with it. i find myself thinking, "what do i need to learn here, Lord? i am open and willing to see where i need to grow because i know that you will not leave me to handle this on my own. please help me!" once i switch gears and get my head out of the sand and off of the problem and fix my gaze on God, i get some breathing room or at least enough perspective to see as far as the next step because He illuminates my pathway.

james 1:2-4 says, "count it pure joy, my brother, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance, perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." i really do want to move to the level of joy when i encounter trials and temptations in my life because i can see and recognize the opportunity to be side by side with the Lord as He guides me through them and enables me to  shine His glory in my life allowing me to grow up in all things lacking in nothing. i am thoroughly convinced that  if i truly knew that He was going to see me through whatever circumstances come my way and that i was being given opportunity for His mercy and grace to shine in me, i would celebrate every appearing trial that comes my way. i would definitely .......................

count it all joy! 

i want to grow up to be a "big girl" one day

i find it kinda of hard sometimes to distinguish between the kind of parenting that it takes to raise children in this world and the parenting style of our Heavenly Father. we are born in this world completely dependent upon our parents to take care of us in every way. a baby that is born and never cared for will die from neglect. but, good parents never neglect their children.  they spend their whole lives caring for them, yet teaching them all along the way to become independent and eventually able to function and care for themselves. it would seem kind of odd to see adult children still living at home and sleeping in a crib screaming when they are hungry and needing their diaper changed.

it is important that we teach our kids to eat from utensils by themselves, to use the bathroom, to communicate properly with others, be educated and learn how to work and handle money. actually to not do so is really neglect itself. from the day a child is born, a parent is really teaching that child how to survive independently. how we deal with them and handle their behavior reflects this. as my kids have gotten older, i find myself expecting them to not expect to be taken care of as much, but to help care for others. for example, if they need laundry done, i tell them to throw in a load themselves and to ask everyone else if they have something that needs to be washed as well. i think it would be right to say that the more capable of independence that each of my children becomes as they reach adulthood, the better job i did as a parent. maturity is actually revealed in our kids as they embrace being independent and responsible.

but, it is different with our Heavenly Father. He is not looking for us to become independent of Him.  i have to remind myself of this often because if i don't then i fall into the wrong thinking that His expectations of me are the same as my expectations of my own kids. i am teaching my kids to eventually be independent from me but He is teaching me that i can not be independent from Him.  i think it would be right to say that spiritual maturity is actually revealed in me as i recognize and embrace my dependency upon Him. the more i understand this, the more i understand mercy and grace and the more i understand my Heavenly Father's provision for me through Jesus Christ. it becomes ever more clear to me that if i remain independent, then i am behaving and only seeing myself as a spiritual babe with little knowledge of Truth, but as i grow up and mature i recognize my weaknesses and inabilities and become more dependent upon the finished work of the cross in me instead of my own efforts before God.

all i know is that every single day, i recognize that i need Him more and more! i guess that means that i am growing up in Christ just a little! i really do want to stop trying to make it without Him in this life and grow up to be a "big girl" one day!

mother's day---time to plant the flowers

helping grandma plant the pretty flowers

 

now its time to water the flowers

and the bushes

and the patio

and the rocks

what a fun day!!

there is a time to dance

dance recital 2010
tap--let's go crazy

ballet--iris

jazz--criminal

tap--car wash

jazz--jump and move

a bouquet of flowers for daddy's dancers

what a joy to watch my girls dance in their recital over mother's day weekend! i am so proud to be their mom! 

there are many seasons in our lives. there is a time to observe!
and.....................there is a time to dance!!!


wanna take a peak?
rachel and olivia tapping to "let's go crazy"


amanda jazzing her way through "jump and move"