Recess

One day, I was at our Youth Building praying and seeking God. I praised the Lord and came to Him boldly with prayers for our family, church, youth group, and friends. There was such an incredible presence of the Lord that fell in the place.  It was breathtaking.  As I was walking through the building, I happened to walk by our front window.  Even though I was in immense prayer and taking care of serious spiritual business, I stopped in my tracks to watch.   Our church was across the street from our Youth building and we also had a Christian School located in the building.  The kids had just been let out for recess.  I’m sure they had been working very hard all morning.  Even though I was across the street their body language showed how truly excited they were to be outside.

I saw a boy running up and down a great big snow drift, two girls having a snow ball fight, a little girl making a snow angel and many others laughing and playing and really enjoying life.  It was addicting.  I couldn’t stop watching them.  I found myself giggling as I watched sheer joy in action.  They were so happy as they played. I started to feel bad for stopping in the middle of such deep intersession to enjoy the sight outside my window.   Then God spoke to my heart.  He said. “Enjoy life, when I see my children taking time out of their busy schedule to play, I stop all that I do and watch.  And I too, chuckle as I see the joy on their faces.  Life is tough; you need to take the time to play too!”  

It hit me. That week I had been very mission motivated. I had worked more hours than I should have, I had accomplished more than I had expected, and I had not taken a moment for recess…so  I called over to the church and took the rest of the day off. Paid the babysitter for the full day and took my girls out to play in the snow. I took time to play, created a memory and made a right choice and I’m pretty sure as we were giggling in the snow that I heard The Father laughing with us!!!! Take time for recess today!!!

Father, please help us to remember to take time to play.  I pray that we will play without guilt knowing that you love to see your children taking a break. Help us to be more like Mary and less like Martha!!! Amen

Luke 10:38 (NIV) At the Home of Martha and Mary                                                                                       38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Proverbs 17:22 A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.

Good Things or God Things

When my oldest three daughters were little, I started giving them responsibility around the house. One day, I asked Kaytlynd to sweep the floor.  I asked Karrissa to make the beds and Keirstyn to pick up the floor in her bedroom. I went downstairs to do laundry and when I came back up I found Kaytlynd and Karrissa doing what I had asked. Then I found Keirstyn picking up Barbies in the living room. The look of disappointment must have shown on my face because Keirstyn quickly said, “Well, the Barbies needed to be picked up too.” I looked at her and replied, “Yes, that’s true and picking up the Barbies is a good thing to do but it’s not what I asked YOU to do.” I had this job in mind for someone else. While you’re busily doing someone else’s job, your job will be left unfinished.

Then it sunk into my spirit. How many times, has God asked me to do something for Him but another need or task has captured my attention. There will always be many “Good Things” we can put our hands to, but are they “God things”? God may not have told us to do that certain thing. By us doing that, it may have taken someone else’s job and blessing from them. So we need to ask ourselves, “Is this what God asked me to do or is this just what I think I should do?” We can’t be moved by what we think is important or a need. There will always be more needs than you can ever meet. We cannot be moved by a need.  We should only be moved by God.

At the time this happened, I had been busily planning our Communities World Day of Prayer. That year, it was our churches’ responsibility to put it on. I had planned it two times prior to this time and understood what needed to be done. I love prayer and this was a good thing to do. For some reason my heart was just not into it this year.  I almost began to dread something that should be a blessing. Over lunch one day, I confessed it to a friend. She began to cry and said that she really felt that God had told her to take point on it, this year. I joyfully handed her the reigns. See for me, it was a “Good Thing” but to her it was a “God Thing” I could have done it and kept the job and blessing from the one that God needed to do it. That freed me up to do another job that I was totally excited about that God needed ME to do.

What has God asked you to do for Him?

Are you involved with “Good Things” instead of “God Things?”

Could this “Good Thing” be keeping you from assignment that God needs you to do?

Take some time and pray; ask God if you are doing what He wants. He will reveal that to you!

“Mom!”…”What Honey?”…”I Love You.”

Whenever my daughter was little and playing alone she always wanted to know that I was there and that I was close by if she needed me. One day we were in the basement together. She was busily playing with all of her toys as I studied. Every once in a while, her sweet voice would break the silence with an urgent, almost scared, “Mom?!”

I would lovingly look up, smile, and say, “What honey?”. She would immediately try to cover the fear “of me leaving her alone” with a simple, “I love you.”

I had made a habit of never leaving the room unless I notifyed  her where I was going and how long it would be until I come back. You would think that by this, a trust would be established. That I would never leave her.

But like Konnaleigh, in the decisions of my life when I haven’t heard God’s voice in a while I wonder, “God, are you still here?”Fear begins to creep in and it tries to convince me that I am alone. I, also in a panic, tremble and cry out, “God?!” And He lovingly looks up, smiles, and says, “What honey?”. Relieved, I reply, “I love you.” and He says, “I love you too.” You will never be alone!!!!

And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” ~Exodus 33:14

Daddy Sees It All

It is amazing how much siblings can argue and fight one minute and cuddle up or play a game with each other the next minute. Sometimes it can be frustrating but it is just a part of life.  We have a family rule that if they get in a “collision” with each other, they need to work it out and not retaliate.  One day I was watching the boys play.  They were in our lower livingroom and I was in our loft.  I had a birdseye view of their situation. They were unaware that I was there but nevertheless, I saw everything.  They were playing peacefully until KJ noticed that Karson had a Lego person that KJ wanted.   He started to throw a fit about it but Karson, being a peacemaker, gave it to him.   He was having fun playing and they were building some cool stuff together so he just gave it up without a fight!   They played happily for another five minutes and Karson built another really cool Lego person and KJ then wanted that one too. This time Karson was beginning to get upset.  He argued about it and finally just gave in and gave this one to him too.  KJ had an heir mentality and believed that he was older and that he had been here longer and had the “right” to whatever was in the box.  Some more time passed.   During that time I watched KJ build some pretty cool Lego men but he kept looking over to see what Karson was building. He seemed distracted, almost like he wasn’t enjoying all the cool things that he was creating. Finally, Karson built another person and KJ being empowered by the last two acquisitions, just grabbed the Lego guy straight out of Karson’s hands.  I could hear frustration in Karson’s voice and his whole body began to withdraw.  He was using his words but KJ was not listening.   After all, he is the older brother and they were his Lego’s first.  In total frustration, Karson reached back clenched his fist and popped KJ in the arm.   I probably should have jumped in before this but honestly I was just so proud of how Karson was handling the conflict.  I stepped back behind a bookcase as they ran up the stairs to report what happened.  You can imagine how KJ reported it, “Karson HITTTTTT MEEEEEE!!!!!!”  I sat and listened to both of their stories with FULL KNOWLEDGE of what actually occurred. The Bible says that the first report is often the one that is believed (Proverbs 18:17).   Knowing that scripture has helped me know that the first report is usually someone covering their sin J  I let them tell their long winded tearful stories already knowing what my decision was.  They actually were both wrong.  KJ was wrong for being jealous, bossy and mean.  If he had just been excited about all the cool Legos that God helped him find and build and wasn’t always comparing his to Karson’s he would have had a better time playing.  And Karson did handle it well right until the last seconds, when decided to retaliate on his own behalf.  I explained to them that I had SEEN IT ALL.  Amazing how quickly the stories changed.

Have you ever been in a conflict that you wish someone would have been there to witness…well someone was there…God himself…in the balcony…hearing…and seeing it ALL!!!! Trust Him to be your defender and the lifter of your head! He loves you, He see’s everything that is going on, He has heard EVERY conversation and will defend you if you do not hit back!

Proverbs 18:17 AMP He who states his case first seems right, until his rival comes and cross-examines him.

Matthew 10:26 AMP So have no fear of them; for nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, or kept secret that will not become known.

Unless God or Jesus Tells Me Otherwise

My husband has loved dinosaurs since he was a little Rick.  Throughout the years, he has done countless reports and papers about various types of dinosaurs. He learned to draw and spell all of their names at an early age. He has watched every movie and documentary he could about them, so He feels like an expert in the subject because of all of this.  So when our second son began his love of dinosaurs, Rick began to pour all that information into him.

One day my son and husband had a discussion about dinosaurs. Karson was eight at the time and announced, “Pterodactyl’s are NOT dinosaurs!”  When Rick heard this, all that he knew to be true, went TILT! He thought about it and began to correct Karson. Rick said, “Pterodactyls ARE dinosaurs.”   Karson would not budge.  Rick came at him from every angle but Karson was certain that he was right!  Finally in frustration, that his Daddy did not believe him, he made this statement, “Unless God or Jesus tells me otherwise, this IS THE TRUTH!!!”

Rick walked away a little upset at feeling that Karson’ was being bullheaded and unteachable. In frustration, Rick goggled, “Are Pterodactyls dinosaurs? “ Much to his surprise, it was in the top ten surprising dinosaur facts page that Pterodactyls are NOT technically dinosaurs. Only land dwelling creatures of that era were considered to be dinosaurs. So if it flies or swims it is not considered a dinosaur.  Feeling bad that he didn’t believe Karson he went back to him and apologized.

Karson knew what he knew and even his best friend and dinosaur enthusiast Father was not going to change his mind on that matter. He was persuaded by what he knew to be true.

So many times as Christians we are approached with doctrine that is contrary to the Word of God, The Bible. Skilled debaters will come up to us and hit us from every angle trying to change our stance on the truth. Political correctness will try to force you into a box of believing whatever the mainstream population believes to be truth. The problem is that their truth is ever changing by the whims of sin.

The Bible which is the inspired Word of God was given to us to direct us and guides us and to keep us safe. It is unchanging and consistent. We can stand unmoved and unshaken on what we believe. When approached by someone trying to talk us out of what we know as truth, we need to stand on that sure foundations and proclaim, “Unless God or Jesus tells me otherwise…This is The Truth!”

Ephesians 4:14 NLT Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.

2 Timothy 1:14 NLT Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you.

God is Good!

One night I was picking my son, KJ, up from Royal Rangers.  He was in third grade at the time. As soon as I walked in, I could tell that something was wrong.  He looked upset. As soon as I made eye contact with him, he began to cry. I wondered if  he had been in trouble or he was scared but he just hugged me and cried. I finally got what was wrong out of him. Apparently, some boy said, “Your Mama is UGLY!!!!” I just laughed because I knew that it was just a saying.  The boy didn’t even know me and he was just trying to get a rise out of KJ. I was secure enough to know that this was JUST NOT TRUE!!! But to KJ it just hurt.  He loved his Momma and did not want me misrepresented or picked on.

The following day, I completely understood how he felt.  I was driving and listening to Christian radio as a newly released song came on.  I listened to it in disbelief as the song portrayed God in a wrong light.  It was the most theologically messed up song that I had ever heard. It applied attributes of the devil on my Daddy.  I cried and was upset.  I thought, “How can a lost and dying world ever know a GOOD Shepherd if the church didn’t REALLY know Him?”  The description of my God was NOT TRUE! My heart ached that, my DADDY was being misrepresented!

In that moment, I ran into my Daddy’s arms in prayer. As He comforted me I knew that He just laughed. He knew it wasn’t true.  I began to pray that the church and the world would know The Real God that I know, The GOOD Shepherd.  He DOES NOT kill, steal or destroy.  He can ONLY GIVE LIFE and blessings to his kids. Death, sickness and destruction were never sent to us by Him to teach us. In John 14:26, it says that the Holy Spirit will be our teacher.  These characteristics are the description of the enemy given to us in John 10:10.  To keep your theology right, if it is good it is God, and if it is bad it is the devil.  I am praying that others will begin to investigate the Word of God and that they will discover the ONE TRUE GOD. GOD IS SO GOOD!

John 10:10- A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

John 14:25-27- I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset.