How do you view God?

How do you view God? Do you view Him as someone who is a "higher power" that you seek when times get tough or you need a new promotion, or healing, or...whatever? Do you view Him as someone who sits on high allowing turmoil without doing anything to stop it or protect the innocent? Do you view Him as Loving, but not also full of righteous wrath? Or perhaps you view Him the opposite, full of wrath with no love. Do you see God as non existent? Or is He your All in All? Or do you feel you're somewhere in the middle - not "too religious," but you have a "healthy respect?"

God's character never changes. He is Love all the time. He is also Judge all the time, but His justified wrath is the far opposite of what our human anger is; His judgement and anger is deserved. God cannot be around sin, because He is also always Holy; "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23).

You might wonder, "why do bad things happen, if God is so loving, if He is so Fair?" Why is my loved one dying of cancer? Why is there war? Why is there famine? Abuse? Devastation? Why did my spouse cheat? Why can't I get pregnant? Why are the kids mean to me at school? Why can't I have the family I so desparately long for? Why am I alone? Doesn't God see?! Doesn't He care? Surely not, perhaps you reason, or else He wouldn't let this happen.

To answer the question with a rather broad stroke, human beings must suffer all kinds of things because of our sinful nature. When Eve disobeyed God and took that bite of fruit in Genesis 3, all of humanity was effected. No longer were we a race who could walk & talk with God, no...sin separates us from Him. Unfortunately, we also fight with our loved ones, cheat, lie, get sick and die and so many other things, many done out of our selfish will. So some suffering is unfortunately inevetiable until the day Jesus returns to judge and every knee bows and every tongue confesses Him as Lord. Second, sin bears consequences. Sin against our bodies bears consequences. Sin against others hurts ourselves and others, sometimes on a very huge scale. The only way to be reconciled to God is through Jesus Christ who took our sin on the cross to pay the full penalty for it.

God doesn't want our happiness to be in the pleasures of this world. There are certainly good things that He's given to us; many of our desires are healthy (marriage, having a baby, having food to eat, having there be peace in our own family and worldwide). The problem comes in when we make these things an idol (something we place above God in our lives). The problem comes when you would do anything to get what you want: lie, cheat, steal, hurt someone else, turn your back on the right way of living God has called you to. God wants to be first in our hearts. Why? Because He loves us. He wants His best for us. What is His best? Holiness. Heaven. Communion with Him. The blessings that come with a life of serving Him.

Let me be clear: there is no middle ground with God. You are either for Him or against Him (John 8:42-47). He wants all of you. He doesn't want just the Sunday-church-going-person who then goes out into the week and doesn't give Him a second thought. He wants to walk with you daily. He wants you to talk to Him in prayer about more than just your urgent problems; He is Holy and deserves our praise, our confession and our thanksgiving in addition to hearing our pleas. He wants to talk to you daily through His living and active Word. He says that the Bible is "God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17). He wants you to open it and hear from Him about what to do about your current problem. He wants to give you hope for that situation you think is unbearable. Are you on the fence? Do you think that the claim to being a Christian is enough, that you don't need Him to change you? Do you think that the stuff you do that displeases Him is ok, because, hey, you're "already forgiven?" God desires sanctification (for us to be made holy). He didn't just send Jesus to give us a free pass to act however we want.

God never ever changes. But we do. Do you want to be changed for Him, or do you want to stay the same? I'm not going to sit here and say the process is always 100% comfortable. I'm not going to say that when you accept Jesus or decide to finally take the next step with Him He's been calling you to take that your will is always going to like it. Most of the time, you probably won't. I'm not going to tell you that all your problems will go away. What I will say, and I can promise, because the Bible promises, is that if you fully hand your situations over to God and ask for Him to be glorified in the midst of your suffering, that He will use you for His Glory and not waste your pain, that He will do just that. And He'll grow you up in Him in the process. And let me tell you, even though it sometimes hurts like any growing pains do, it is so well worth it in the end.

"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what the nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you." Romans 8:5-9

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? Who has ever given to God that God should repay him? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen." Romans 11:33-36

"Therefore,we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternl." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

"Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." 2 Corinthians 7:1

If you would like to know how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, please e-mail me.

Prayer works!

I have been praying for two years (ever since Ryan started at TSA) that God would protect his schedule for my ministry at BSF on Saturday mornings and Monday evenings, that God would allow Ryan to be able to attend church and that Ryan would have hours that allowed him to spend time with us as a family. God has been very faithful in protecting my BSF ministry; Ryan has always been able to watch Zooey on Mondays, and when I wasn't sure who was going to watch her every Saturday, God changed his hours. At that time, the hours also allowed him to come to church with us. At the beginning of the month, Ryan applied for a supervisor position. I spread the word to pray fervently for God's will in this. We found out last Thursday that he got the job! Praise God! What is really cool, and I'm still in awe over (because God is just so COOL and always blesses in abundance!) is what this job brings for our family.

~He'll be home around 3:30 every day. Home for dinner!! And BSF!!
~His schedule doesn't make him go in too early or too late, so he's not going to be sleep-deprived.
~His days off are Saturday and Sunday! BSF & Church are covered!
~He'll be able to take holidays off most of the time.
~He got a pay raise, of course, but honestly I'm so super excited about the other stuff, that this is just an additional blessing to us.

God is so faithful to us. Thank you Jesus! I'm loving this new gig you've given my husband!

Six Months Gone

My mom has been gone from this earth for six months today.

I've been thinking about her a lot. Sometimes it's little things, like how I was remembering her love for "drama." I was reminiscing about the time there was an seemingly intoxicated person on one of the residential streets in our neighborhood who fell asleep on the side of the road. My mom called the police and waited until they came. We were with her in the car...I was probably about 15. Or the time my grandma's purse got snatched at the pool on my 12th birthday. After they found her purse in a dumpster, my mom, grandma, Sarah & I got all detective on the guy and basically started stalking the area looking for him. Probably not too safe, but we had fun. Other times I think about huge things she did for us, like pray for her family in detail and consistently ever since she became a Christian. Or how she stayed home to raise us and wanted nothing for us but that we know the Lord and follow Him well. Sarah and I both have had some separate issues in the last week that have just been overwhelming for each of us. She called me for her issue; I spoke to her about mine. We both agreed that it's just not the same as being able to pick up the phone and call our mom.

Half a year...who would've thought I'd make it this long? I sure didn't feel like it. I miss her so much.

28 Months

It feels like I haven't posted about Zooey in forever! Zooey's now 28 months old. When I look at Zooey now, I see a little girl. The only time I really see remnants of the baby she was is when she's asleep with her little lip bottom pouting out. She is growing so fast! She's so beautiful, she always takes my breath away.

Zooey weighs 26.5 pounds, according to the scale at home. I'm not sure how tall she is, exactly, but she's almost outgrown all her 24 month pants and is growing quickly into her 2T's. 24 month shirts no longer fit her. Her hair is beautiful, red & curly and goes down to the middle of her back when it's wet. Her arms and legs no longer have those little baby rolls. Her smile is astonishing, and I love her belly laughs.

Zooey loves:
~belly tickles
~running (& she is absolutely adorable they way she bounces down the hall gleefully!)
~the Bible & Jesus; she asks to read her Bible all the time, and her favorite books are those with Bible stories
~saying NO (although we're not too fond of this one!)
~play doh
~bubbles, which we blow during bath time
~bath time, especially picking out & throwing her color tabs into the tub
~coloring; when her crayons are put away, she will usually run to the drawer in the hall, pointing and saying "color" for me to take them out
~tomato soup...soup was a first for her this month, and she'll only eat tomato (which by the way, I ate a lot of when I was pregnant)
~Yo Gabba Gabba

Zooey is now:
~Sleeping in a big girl bed. She transitioned pretty well. She still rolls out occasionally onto pillows on the floor, but I know she'll get used to those invisible boundaries soon enough.
~Speaking in more "jargon" versus babbling. (Zooey will begin speech therapy sometime next month. We'd appreciate your prayers for this, that we'd be quick learners in implementing new skills and practicing with her, and that she'd be comfortable with the therapist and learn quickly, too. She's incredibly smart, so I am very confident that she will catch on fast.)
~Saying the word no (did I mention that already?) and even running away when she doesn't want to do something we ask.
~She's also saying "Ya." Which I think is so adorable! "Zooey, did you have fun?" "Ya!" "Zooey, do you want some ice cream?" "YA!!"
~Going down all the slides at the park by herself. If you'll remember at the end of the summer, she had just gotten over her fear of slides. Now she conquers even the highest slide with bravery!

Zooey dislikes:
~For some reason, she gets upset when it's potty time. We think she just doesn't like to take the time out to go. She almost always says no, even when she has to go. A phase, I guess...
~Green veggies, which she used to love. I'm hoping this is a phase, too!

Laughing at Yo Gabba Gabba

checking out her new big girl bed

at a local playroom

Post-church Cracker Barrell brunch

Play Doh with RaRa

Night one big girl bed!

"Weee! I love slides!"

Playing at the kitchen sink with water - another new favorite

Checking out the mastadon skull at the museum

Dinner with family, flirting with Uncle Rey

at the indoor jump play place

Loving the slides!

I know I say it a lot, but I continue to be amazed with how fast time goes. Zooey's 2! Having a two year old is definitely challenging sometimes. Zooey is a strong-willed child, so there are moments I really want to pull my hair out and take my own time out. She wants to be independent so bad! But there are some very sweet moments, too, like when she wants me to color with her or sit down and play babies with her or do puzzles, and she comes up and grabs my finger or shirt saying, "Mama." Or the sense of pride I take in her pride over coming down the big slide or climbing on the couch without her stool (she's a shorty!). I have a confession to make: I've taken a couple of naps with Zooey in her big girl bed (something I swore I'd never do!). I am tucking her in sometimes and am so sleepy and say "one little snuggle," and before I know it, I'm waking up from a nap. Oh my! Defintely not a habit, but I have to admit, those snuggles are pretty great. She is just such a gift. There are no words to how thankful I am for her, for how much I love her. Being a mom is pretty great.