Our prayer for the new year.

For us, our church communtiy and beyond.


We pray for grace and truth. Truth to guide us in our choices. Truth to bring light to the darkness. Grace to cover us as we move boldly ahead.

For those who are frustrated, know that "The anger of man does not acheive the righteousness of God." We pray that the 'throwing of stones' would cease.

We pray for repentance and a renewed understanding of morality. That we may all search our hearts, question our motives and lay them at the cross. No agendas. That God will bring conviction. Accontability. That we will repent, turn around and head the other way. We pray that we will all know the fear of the Lord. That we will not forget that He is the one and only all-powerful, righteous God and ultimatly our only judge.

We pray for peace and discernment.

That we will discern right from wrong and as His children we will choose to walk on paths of righteousness. That we will experience His everlasting peace. Only then can we move forward. Boldly......yet peacefully. For blessed are the peacemakers, they will be called the children of God.

We pray for restoration. Restoration for the church and restoration in families and marriages. This one is very close to our heart.

We pray for all who are hurting. May God hold all of us in His arms and there may we find comfort. No human can ever fill that need.

May God 'show up' to each and everyone of us this year.

Moses' Dry Feet

As I was reading this bedtime story to my son, these two paragraphs stood out.

'The Lord then spoke to me and said
that we should never worry.
He would fight the fight for us
And in that way gain glory.

The Lord said, Stop your questions now
And tell folks to quit moaning.
So forward, march! Pick up those feet
And get the people going!'

Merry Christmas everyone!!

1 Thessalonians 5:12-18

Dear brothers, honor the officers of your church who work hard amoung you and warn you against all that is wrong.

Think highly of them and give them your wholehearted love because they are straining to help you. And remember, no quarreling amoung yourselves.

Dear brothers, warn those who are lazy; comfort those who are frightened; take tender care of those who are weak; and be patient with everyone.

See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to everyone else.

Always be joyful.

Always keep on praying.

No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Yes, indeed, boys are gross

the highlight of the day......

while driving along railway this morning a seagull casually flies up to the windshield, poops, then flies away.

they are still laughing about it.

My son came home yesturday with a note from the teacher. He had a time out because he was 'hopping around during math'. He had to write lines "I will not hop during math".

I've been wanting to post pictures on my site but am having trouble with it. I've downloaded Hello but when I enter my username and password it comes up as 'this page cannot be displayed'. any advice?

The laundry......the laundry

I'm slowly going insane

If I see another load of laundry......I'm going to stuff it down the drain!

It was a good day

Yesturday we decided to do some christmas shopping. We loaded up our three children and headed out. The traffic was crazy, the stores were packed and we didn't really get alot accomplished but somehow it was wonderful just to be out in the hustle and bustle of the season.

After shopping for awhile we decided to go out for dinner. While waiting for our food to arrive Gary was holding Grace and the boys were coloring nicely (a rare moment!) I looked over at Gary and he had a big smile on his face. I said to him "You look happy" and he replied "I'm just so content." How wonderful to hear him say that!!

After dinner we loaded up the crew and drove around for an hour looking at christmas lights, while listening to the boys (and Gary) sing "Jingle bells, catfish smells, jellyfish takes ballet...." over and over and over! The lights were beautiful. My family is beautiful! I, too, feel so content. It was a very good day!

Gossip

Ephesians 6:12

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."


Last night I had a phone call from a good friend who, while attending a church in another town, had heard a long list of gossip about our church. She called concerned with what she had heard. All this past week, I have continued to hear stories of 'whats going on.' I don't need to (or want to) hear it. Some of what I've heard is so off the wall, that it is truly unbelievalbe. It saddens me greatly. What is it about human nature that drives us to destroy those around us. We say that we are concerned for others, or that we are motivated by 'love' for the people involved in the situation. Really? Are we? Sure, in life many problems and situations will arise within the church and they do and will need to be adressed by those in authority. I have been on both sides of this, I am guilty of participating in gossip and I have been the one everyone has talked about. I'm pretty sure we have all been on both sides. What I have noticed lately is that once these situations have been dealt with the talk is still continuing, stories get exaggerated, people become angry, hurt and eventually nobody trusts anybody.

Gary and I had a long talk about this last night. We love our church communitiy so much and we don't want to see us self-destruct. After all we are the body of Christ. It is completely understandable that we want to destroy evil, especiailly if we feel and see it invading the lives of those we love. My question would be, how does God want us to do that? Our own (physical) bodies will tend to push the impurities within us to the surface. The same happens within the body of Christ. So....who are we to trust to expose truth, lies and push out the impurities? It is not our job to dig deeper into everyone elses lives to expose them. Sometimes God will use us, but even then we need to be sure that whatever needs to be said is done in love and not out of selfish motivation.

When Gary and I opened our bible together last night we immediatly came to Ephesians 6:12. Pretty powerful words. What is the battle? The word of God is pretty clear. It's not against flesh and blood. Hey.....it's not about the people! It's a spiritual battle that we are called to fight through prayer. We are attacking the wrong thing. God will push the impurities to the surface while we remain on our knees praying for truth in love. Do we trust Him?

The rest of Ephesians 6 speaks of wearing our armour....TRUTH, RIGHTEOUSNESS, FAITH, PEACE, SALVATION, and the SWORD OF HIS SPIRIT which is the word of God. Verse 18 says "Pray all the time......and keep praying earnestly for all christians everywhere."

I know that Gary & I needed to be reminded of this last night and it did bring us to our knees. We are ALL family and we will spend eternity together. Let's not bring each other down with our words. Let's fight the battle we are called to fight.

My five year old son is one of the most energetic kids I have ever met. Many tell me this is normal. I was sitting in my jeep at the school yesturday picking up Mikail, and Caleb was literally bouncing off the interior of the truck. Ahhhhhh! I finally snapped and told Caleb to STOP being crazy......just SIT already! He turned his back to me and said "just flip the switch to 'good' mom." Could it really be that simple? I pretended to switch it and suddenly he was sitting quietly. Sigh....now I just have to teach him to flip his own switch.

Let's fly!

All week I have had this song going through my head.

I want to fly like an eagle to the sea
Fly like an eagle let my (His) spirit carry me,
Fly like an eagle till I'm free.......

I started thinking about eagles. They are beautiful, magestic creatures. Strong and powerful. They spread their wings and "ride" the wind. The wind carries them over the mountians to the sea. I want to be like an eagle, soaring over the mountains in my life. After all from way up there those mountains don't look so big.

So here goes my 'eagle' analagy. In a way this is my life as an eagle. Eagles are not born soaring. They have to learn to fly. They are born into the comfort and security of their nest. I, too, have a comfort zone, a nest of my own. A nest that I would probably prefer to stay in. But, as growth goes, there comes a time to learn to fly. An eagle learns to fly by standing on the edge of their nest, spreading their wings and waitng for the wind to carry them. The key word here would be waiting. About a year ago I attempted to step out of my comfort zone, wanting desperatly to move ahead in the plan that God has for me. I made a mistake.....I stood on the edge, spread my wings and foolishly stepped out of the nest thus taking a horrible plunge away from the will of God. My own will caused me to step to soon instead of waiting for His spirit to lift my wings and guide me. Fortunatly (by His grace) I survived the fall (learning sucks sometimes) I don't think my wings are broken but I know that it did break my will. So...humbly I've climbed back up the tree and now find myself standing at the edge of the nest again. This time I will spread my wings and wait on the Lord.

I suddenly see a picture of a New Heights nest and all of us standing, wings open, catching the wind. A pretty good looking bunch of eagles! and humble of course :) What a flight we'll have together.

Let's catch the wind of His spirit, just imagine where it will carry us!

"But those who wait on the Lord,
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40:31

scott is my hero

and he is sooooo cool... and humble.
and hot!

Lost in the speakers

Sunday night I headed down to street church ready to help out and have an awesome time (as usual). I was full of expectation. As the evening started to get underway I sat down in the corner behind the speakers waiting for my turn to sing. As I waited I began to look around. I soon found myself overcome with emotion watching all the friends we have made from the street. I watched Sandy dance, Uncle Herman tapping his foot to the music with a grin on his face, and so much more. I was watching so many lonley, hurting people finding comfort and acceptance here. Thinking began to turn into praying and as I was sitting there I was filled with thankfulness. I said a prayer for all the lost and forgotten, I said a prayer for the dedicated, loving volunteers. I asked God to continue to bless what we are doing here in our town. Scott motioned for me to come up and sing but I knew that if I tried you'd all be listening to a blubbering rendition of Johnny be good! That definitly would not make good dancing music! It's funny I came full of expectation and yet I was not able to get up and do what I usually do. I sat the whole time! I guess this time I was called to pray while lost in the speakers.

Caleb's song of the day

"....la,la,la there is a man in space,who's name is God, la,la,la......"

makes me wonder what his perception of God is, hmmm. perhaps we'll spend a little longer doing devotions tonight.

Life is a musical

My youngest son began tap dance lessons this year. I had no idea when i signed him up how perfectly this art form fit his personality. He taps eveywhere he goes, feet flying, arms flailing and just recently he has began singing (vibrato and all!) creating a very amusing, constant performance. Last sunday he tapped into the living room, raised his arms and sang (in the most operatic voice possible for a 5 year old) "Let's carve our pumpkinnnns!!!" I so enjoy his take on life. Yes, according to Caleb life is a musical.

Who am I ?

I am accepted...

I am God's child, as a disciple I am a friend of Jesus Christ
I have been justified
I am united with the Lord, and am one with Him in spirit
I have been bought with a price, and I belong to God
I have been redeemed and forgivin of all my sins
I am complete in Christ

I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ


I am secure...

I am free from condemnation
I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances
I am free from any condemnation brought against me, and I cannot be seperated from the love of God
I have been established, anointed, and sealed by God
I am hidden with Christ in God
I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me
I am a citizen of Heaven
I have not been givin a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind
I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me


I am significant...

I am a branch of Jesus Christ, the true vine, and a channel of His life
I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit
I am God's temple
I am a minister of reconciliation for God
I am God's workmanship
I may approach God with freedom and confidence
I can do all things through Christ who strengthns me.

I AM FREE!


Healing comes through knowing who we are, this is something I try to speak aloud everyday. The more I speak it, the more I beleive it. I am only beginning to understand who I am in Christ.

The Doghouse

Just a funny story

About a year or so after Gary and I were first married we decided to get a puppy. I, of course, wanted a small dog. Gary, of course, wanted a German Shepard. As it would turn out we had friends who bred shepards and they decided to give us one of the pups. Gary was thrilled. He proceeded to build the biggest doghouse I have ever seen, it seriously looked like a small house. We spent the next couple of months trying desperatly to get the dog to sleep in the house (not an easy task) we would lay awake at night listening to the dog cry. Gary (having a soft spot for animals, dogs in paticular) would go outside a couple times a night and comfort the dog. I thought he was crazy, I love to sleep and do not like to be disturbed! One night at about 2 am the dog started crying again, I watched Gary get up grab a pillow and a blanket and head outside (it was summertime) I thought this was a little odd, but I was to tired to care and fell back to sleep. At about 6 am Gary crawled back into bed and was chuckling to himself. I asked him what was so funny and he told me that he had fallen asleep in the doghouse. When he woke up he grabbed his blanket and pillow and crawled out of the doghouse. As luck would have it the moment he was crawling out with his bedding, yawning and rubbing his eyes, sporting some serious bedhead, someone was walking down the street. This person had a clear view of Gary leaving the doghouse. Gary smiled and said "good morning" then proceeded into the house. I still wonder to this day what this person must have thought.

Psalm 139

verses 17 & 18

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them.

If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.


Over the past nine months I have been on a journey of healing. About two months ago a friend said to me that it has been her prayer I may know that God directs His thoughts towards me and that they are more in number than the sand. Thoughts full of love and promise. This truth hit me that day. It hadn't even occured to me that within the mess I created God would be concerned with me, after all I was the one who strayed away. I was convinced that He would only be concerned with the happiness of the ones I hurt. As I began to think about what had been said to me and as I began to meditate on His word I began to beleive it. This was a turning point in the process God is leading me through. Knowing that I am precious to my Father, beyond head knowledge, but knowing and beleiving it in my heart. The life He has for me is still full of promise. Even though I was sure I'd messed it up.

A family saved by grace

I was over at scott's blog site and noticed that our blog site was added to 'the list'. This left me a little nervous realizing that there are now more of you peeking into my life, into our life. When I first considered setting up a site of my own it was going to be just that......my own. Something inside me really felt that this should be a place dedicated to my family. There are many reasons for this, well really one reason only.... God's grace. Many of you know that our family has experienced healing and restoration this past year, and I feel that our testimony, our experience, what we have learned (and are still learning) may be helpful to others. At times I struggle with feeling guilty that our journey has been one of such a dedicated love, and absolute forgiviness, especially when I look around me and see so many situations that have gone the other way. This forgiviness that has been talked about so much lately is my reality. Accepting that I am forgivin....and learning to forgive myself. I don't want to feel guilty....... I guess I just want to celebrate my family, my husband, my children. I want to celebrate what God has done for us and I want to share it with all who want to hear.

Waiting, still waiting.

I cleaned the house today........it sparkles. The laundry is done. The floors are scrubbed. The nursery is complete. The bedding is washed. The dog had a bath. All I can do now is wait.....I 'm not great at waiting and yet all I can do is wait. I just keep telling myself eventually it will happen, baby will arrive. Maybe I should go for a run or something!?! Or watch a few good decorating shows!!

Sponge Bob

our family enjoys many routines...... the most recent being sponge bob. our boys are 7 and 5 years old and right now the one thing we can count on after dinner is all gathering on the sofa to catch the nightly episode of spong bob. when i say all gather....i mean ALL! gary, I, the boys, a couple blankets and pillows for comfort all stacked on our small sofa(not the large one because that would make to much sense) this sofa is made for two and is now bursting with four bodies (actually five with me being nine months pregnant) and of course perched on top the pile is our dog. we then spend the next half an hour laughing at the crazy yet entertaining humour of sponge bob and the gang. after tucking the kids in the other night gary and i had a good chuckle at this silly routine that has now become something we always do, according to the boys, ( i tell ya, you do something twice in this family and the children swear it's tradition!) i think of this small, odd tradition and smile knowing this will be a memory the boys will always have.......

Psalm 23

words by Jason Upton

Your hand reached into the depths of darkness
Your arms pulled me to the light above
Your voice spoke the words that broke my heart
Your eyes burn with holy passion, fire and love

You lead me beside the quiet waters
You walk in the shadows of this darkened door
You make tables right before my enemies
You take oil and then you pour it over me

The LORD is my shepherd
I will fear no evil
You are my shepherd, God
I will fear no evil

Surely goodness and mercy cover me
All the days of my life they cover me
Surely I'm going to dwell in the house of the LORD
Forever and ever more

we're here

watch for our latest post.....