and then there was hallelujah!!!

Today a husband and wife decided God was not big enough and decided to divorce - they have two small children.

Today a mom decided to let her ex-husband have custody of her 7 year old son - while he sat weeping in my office to stay with her.

Today a 10 year old little girl turned her mother and grandmother in for physical abuse to CPS - falsely, her mom irons her pants ever morning and warms them on a small heater so they are not cold when she slips into them each morning.

Today a little girl is scared because her daddy was in a wreck with her and she is scared to be near him now- it wasn't his fault.

Today a 6,8, & 9 year old told me that they can't stop cussing - that is how they talk at their house.


Today a woman told me she couldn't take her child to church because the only ride she has always goes out for breakfast afterwards - she has no money.

Today a mother asked me what to do about the devil, satan - her 11 year old sees him in her room.

Today my day started off with the most precious words texted to me by my daughter...

Mom,
LK (that would be Laura Kate, my first and only 8 month old grand daughter), said "hallelujah". She really did. Laura Kate already loves Jesus.

Those words have more than sustained me through a very hard day.

Praise you Mighty God for Jesus. Thank you for so invading my childs life that her greatest desire is that her child will love You ... and then there was hallelujah.

HALLELUJAH.

Putting Him off...

It's in those times when you have a 1000 things to do that sometimes a person needs to just ... put it off.

• Like when you have 2 weeks of laundry and you hate even the thought of doing it. One should just lay on the coach and ponder.


• When school is screaming at you and you just can't get motivated - one should go to Wal-mart and shop.


• When your garage is full of leaves and you know you need to rake it out - watch your favorite tv show.

Sometimes, now I know I am the only one who ever does this, but sometimes we as humans "procrastinate"; what really is convicting is when we do that with the Lord. We need to pray, we need to be in the word, we need to be seeking Him...but we put it off for another day. Aren't we so glad He doesn't do that to us. That He is ALWAYS available - 24/7 - 352 days. He never leaves, never fails, never even procrastinates a little; He is always on time.

Jer.24:7 (NASB) says, "I will give them a heart to know Me for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with their whole heart".

How's that New Year's resolution going - you know, the one to walk closer to the Lord, stay in the Word, share His life giving power with others?

Somethings it's ok to put off... but putting off the God of Heaven? ... not thinking that is one of those "I'll get to it tomorrow".

Dig in, dig in deep to what the Lord has for you; He is waiting to talk just to you...and me.

Every have an Itch?

A few weeks ago, about 13 to be exact, I started itching. Not just a little itch - I MEAN REALLY ITCHING - all over. It was horrible, I itched in places I didn't know that I even had. So being from the medical family that I am from, I began investigating. What could it be? It must be something I am eating, it must be a new soap, detergent, something? Nothing made it better. Some said it was, the weather, dry skin, others said it had to be what I was eating. I promise, nothing, nada, no, not a thing has changed... then I thought, rootbeer. Yep, that had to be it - I have become a lover of the new diet drink (it's a friends fault, she introduced it). Anyway, so I stopped drinking this delicious new beverage, with no calories or caffeine - for 3 days. Did the itching stop? No. Did the rashes go away - Nope. Still there.

Now, like any woman of God - I finally resorted in what we all would think - no, I did not go to the doctor, I FINALLY prayed about it. Well, I even went a bit further (I mean, I have really been itching bad), so I asked 4 women whom I trust deeply to pray about this silly rash that was consuming my thoughts - guess what, it got better. So then, one day after work, I asked another godly woman if she would pray over me - she did and I mean she prayed. WOW!!!! The rash improved - greatly. Today, I asked the women of Desperate Housewives - (not the TV show - the Women who are Desperate for Jesus) to pray. I expect it to be gone by tomorrow evening.

I guess you are wondering why I am telling you this tale? I do have a point. First, after being a Christian for 44 years, I looked to the world first not the Almighty God who heals ALL our sicknesses. I'm not proud of it, it's just fact. Second, the enemy - he just isn't very creative. He continually attacks me in the same ole ways - the stupid thing is that I forget that. Hopefully, my little itch will help you remember too, where does the enemy get you? Be alert, be wise dear sisters and brothers - we serve an awesome God. He is the Creator of the Heavens, The One Who Spoke existense into being - He can, does, will, wants to, and is waiting to answer the prayers of His children.

Ask - before you itch.

Pinkie Promise

Do you remember the days of pinkie promises - well I am here to tell you that you are never too old for a good ole BFF pinkie promise.
I used to think that the best years of my life were when I was in my 20's and 30's.
NOT.
I think 50 - 60 is going to take the cake. That used to seem old - now it is really quite young.
Ok, back to the 20 to 30 stuff. Yeah all the crying babies, the worrying about money to buy diapers and formula; how to care for the "three little blessings who came within 2 years of each other(twins - and they said I wouldn't be able to have babies- go figure), and fevers, and overdosing on dimetap (can't believe I wrote that) and "will they love me if I don't let them?" ideas; and sharing the excitement of going to school that first day, crying when they graduated from H.S., and then of course weaping when they marry off and they truly are no longer "yours". Yep, those were the good ole days all right. I remember listening to them all gang up together and see which one was going to take the blame for the mess that they had gotten themselves into - oh, that was fun. Or the time when my precious little boy came home from Sunday School and proclaimed that he had learned to "shoot the bird" - let me say that always goes well when your daddy's the preacher. All wonderful times - things a mother ponders in her heart and never forgets. Oh, and two more - the time one, whose name will remain annonymous, "rocked the goldfish to sleep" and the other twin brought her offering back home from church "because Jesus didn't come today". GREAT DAYS!!! And I am so glad I have the memories and lived to tell about them all AND am through them and now am getting to remember them all and THEY are getting to experience them. - If you ever wonder if there is a God - just wait til your own children get married and have to "do" life. It's one of the joys of being a grammy too!!!!
But tonight, I got to have a very nice, quite (did I say quite) dinner with my dear dear friend and we laughed, ate, cried, talked, and talked, and talked. We shared our hearts and our Jesus stuff with each other and... we pinkie promised at the end of the evening. All at the wonderful age of 50ish. :)
The next 10 years - oh what a delight they will be loving on those grandbabies and givin them back to their own mommies. I love you all my precious little grown up babies!!!

Where Are Your Shoes?

I have never been very good at wearing my shoes. Having been raised in Southeast Asia as a child, wearing shoes was not a common practice. Every year my mom would give me and my siblings hookworm medicine to prevent us from getting the awful things - or at least kill them if we had them (Oh how I hated that medicine - she disguised it in Tang - can I just say, "I hate Tang" to this very day!). But even now as an adult I hate wearing shoes and I am continuously taking my shoes off - my pedicurist hates that.

However, being raised in Thailand also left another lasting impression on me. Before a Thai person enters into the Buddhist temple or into another house, they remove their shoes. This is an act of respect, of not bringing that which is dirty into a place that is clean, or holy. I lived this ritual as a child. Whenever entering our home or another home we always removed our shoes. When we would take visitors to see the temples, we took our shoes off in respect of the customs of that culture as we entered in.

I also learned and observed something else. Whenever in the temple or in the presence of the King of Thailand, the people always had their shoes off. They also bowed very low - all the way to the ground. The further down a person went the greater the respect.

In my quest of desperation for the King of Kings - for the Lover of My Soul - My Heavenly Father, The Almighty God, The Prince of Peace, The Risen Christ - I find myself on my face...and you guessed it, with shoes no where to be found.

Desperate for Jesus

I set this blog up one year ago - I blogged 1 time. It has been quite an interesting year to say the least. In this past year I have married off two children, and had my first grand child (the highlight of my life so far),graduated with my MS in Marriage and Family Therapy, and gone back to work full time. But, it is true, grand babies are "the best" - Laura Kate's arrival has been the best gift of the year.

About 2 months ago the Lord began working in my heart. Drawing me to something fresh. He was calling me to be desperate for Him. You see, not only have I not blogged for a year; but I have sat on the sidelines of my Christian walk for maybe the first time in my life. I set my will against His for the first time as a Christian. I have been a Christian for 44 years and not once in that time can I remember making a conscious decision to set my will in an opposite direction from God. Oh I did not choose sin - just stubbornness. I was tired. Tired of the fast paced "pastors wife" life, tired of being at church every time the doors opened, tired of smiling when I didn't want to, and tired of being hurt and disappointed by Christian friends whom I trusted over and over year after year. I was just tired. So I took the year off. I went on vacation from "service" to the Lord. Did you know that as Christians that is not an option. Not really. When we are saved, truly changed for Christ, no matter what our age, we are His. That means He decides what course our lives go - not us.

Well, He was patient, he was loving. He never stopped talking to me, or wooing my heart. He kept pursuing me. He never gave up. A funny thing about a personal relationship with a life changing God. He doesn't grow tired of loving us. His love is the ultimate in unconditional love. That's what captured my heart. One day I was worshiping in church and His love just grabbed me. It literally took me to the floor and that has been where I have wanted to be ever since.

I am on a desperate quest for the lover of my soul. When I am in His presence I just want to be on my face. I want to take my shoes off because I am in the presence of a King. I want to bow before Him and gaze into His holiness. I want to see Him - to feel His presence in my life. I am so desperate for HIM that if the church was open and praise and worship was going on 24/7 I would so be there.

Jesus I love you and I am desperate to be near you. I am desperate to seek after the things of Your spirit, Your truths, and Your ways. Show me the path.