An Amazing Weekend!

I just had the best weekend. As some of you know, my husband and I headed over to the other side of the state to meet with my blogging friend, Melanie. Her and I met in May, thru the blogging world. I was so drawn to her from the very start because of her genuine love for the Lord and her tender heart in sharing her faith.

It was amazing because the more we learned about each other, the more we found we had in common. SO MANY THINGS!! It is hard to explain how we connected on a spiritual level - but we have had so many similiar experiences that I can just really understand where she is coming from.

Anyway, when she told me she was coming to IN with her husband and friends, to lead worship at a church - I was so excited! I was finally going to get to meet my friend, whom I had already come to love, face to face.

Now I am really blessed with the husband I have, because he did not know these people at all - He has not yet caught the blogging fever - but still was willing to go spend the weekend with total strangers. I can tell you, he was NOT disappointed. We had the best time!

We started off going to their hotel room and meeting them and the couple they came with. We sat and chatted for a little bit. Then the minister of the church where they were to sing today, came and got us and took us to his house for a cook-out. So we head off to his house and are greeted with big hugs and smiles from his wife. This woman was truly amazing. She was so genuine and full of God's love. She has food spread all over the kitchen and the four of us women dug in and came up with a pretty amazing dinner. Grilled chicken breasts, grilled veggies, salad, homemade salsa, and guacamole etc. It was quite the spread. But the best part was hearing her share what the Lord has done in her life. I could have sat and listened to her for hours. Anyway, it was a great evening of fellowship and getting to know one another. Food! Friends! Laughter! Faith! I could not have imagined a better evening.

Today we got to go to church and be blessed by some amazingly talented people. Melanie has the most beautiful voice! She did such a good job leading worship and getting our hearts ready to receive the message. Her husband Frank is one cool dude! You should hear him on the sax! So passionate! I loved it! And I cannot even describe the talent of our new friend Wayne. He loves jazz music and I have never seen someone play the guitar like he does - he is awesome! So the worship time was simply amazing and then the message - wow - can Larry teach the Word of God! We definitely got filled up this morning.

We had a delicious dinner afterward, at Applebees and got to enjoy more time together before we each headed off in our different directions. It was hard to say goodbye. We took lots of pictures, which Melanie will have to post on her blog because I don't know how yet. :) But I have to say the coolest part for me is the fact that we were all virtually strangers - and yet the bond between us was strong because of Jesus. It was not like being with strangers at all, but like being with family - a family for eternity. How cool is that?

I would have never imagined back in May, when we started blogging and emailing, that God would bring Melanie all the way to my state to sing at a church and allow us to meet. He truely is the giver of every good and perfect gift. Thank you Jesus, I will always cherish the memories of this weekend.

Power of a Praying Parent

My son is away at a Christ in Youth Conference this week. I am very happy for him to be spending this time with hundreds of other teens, concentrating on his relationship with the Lord. I am especially hopeful for the timeing of this conference as it is right before school starts and the time he will get his drivers license.

I have been having a hard time dealing with the fact that my son is growing up. The thought of him having his drivers license and being out in the world on his own is really making me anxious. Will he make good choices or will he give in to peer pressure?

One day a friend was sharing with me something in her "Power of a Praying Parent" book by Stormie Omartian. I have one good book about praying for children called, "Praying the Scriptures for Your Children" by Jodie Berndt, but felt I should get Stormie's book too. There really is something to praying from God's Word. Anyway - yesterday morning I read the Chapter from Stormie's book called "Developing a Hunger for the Things of God". It was so good and the prayer at the end was everything I could ever want for my son. So I prayed it: Father, I pray for Dustin to have an ever increasing hunger for more of You. May he long for Your presence-long to spend time with You in prayer, praise, and worship. Give him a desire for the truth of Your Word and a love for Your laws and Your ways. Teach him to live by faith and be led by the Holy Spirit, having an availability to do what You tell him to do. May he be so aware of the fullness of Your Holy Spirit in him that when he is depleted in any way he will immediately run to You to be renewed and refreshed. I pray that his heart will not have any allegiances or diversions away from You, but rather that he would be repulsed by ungodliness and all that is in opposition to You. May a deep reverence and love for You and Your ways color everything he does and every choice he makes. Help him to understand the consequences of his actions and know that a life controlled by the flish will only reap death. May Dustin not be wise in his own eyes, but rather 'fear the Lord and depart from evil'. (Prov 3:7) I pray that he will be reliable, dependable, responsible, compassionate, sensitive, loving, and giving to others. Deliver him from any pride, laziness, slothfulness, selfishness or lust of the flesh. I pray that he will have a teachable and submissive spirit that says, "Yes" to the things of God and "No" to the things of the flesh. Strengthen him to stand strong in his convictions. I pray that he will always desire to be an active member of a Christian church that is alive to the truth of Your Word and the power of Holy spirit-led worship, prayer, and teaching. As he learns to read our Word, write Your law in his mind and on his heart so that he alwys walks with a confident assurance of the righteousness of Your commands. As he learns to pray, may he also learn to listen for Your voice. I pray that his relationship with You will never beome lukewarm, indifferent, or shallow. May there always be a Holy Spirit fire in his heart and an unwavering desire for the things of God. Thru Jesus I pray - Amen

Then last night he called about 11:30. He asked what I was doing and after I answered that I was sleeping, I asked how his day was. He said "Great! He went onto tell me about their lesson on Peter and how we need to be sold out for God and not afraid to take everything out of the box for Jesus. Don't hold anything back or try to hide things. He told me the message was the kind of message you would hear on the last day of being at a conference and that the kids were really changed already by what they heard. He told me he called because he wanted me to keep praying for him and for his friends. THis about made me cry. It was just such evidence of God at work and answering my prayer that morning. God is so good.

I have concluded that I cannot always be with my son. I cannot always know what he does or tell him which choice to make. But I can pray for him and God can and will be with him. The Holy Spirit is alive in my son and He will be his helper. I will have to remind myself of this over and over. It is hard as a mother to let go and let your child to go into the world. But ultimately, my son belongs to God - and He loves him even more than I do. That is how he loves each of us. So much He sent his Son to die in my place, in your place and in my son's place. Now that's love.

Singing All Week!

As I told you in my last post, this week has been our VBS. Some of my fondest memories from attending VBS as a child, are the songs we sang. Well, Christian music has changed a great deal over the last several years, and we sing very few of the old ones I used to sing. (Zaccheus; This Little Light of Mine;Joy Joy Joy etc) But the thing that has not changed is the way the songs stick in your head. I've been singing all week! :)

All the songs we are doing are great - but my very favorite is called, "Be Like Jesus". Here are the words:

I wanna be like Jesus
think like Jesus
do what He would do
in every way every where every day
let His love and grace shine through.

I wanna be like Jesus
so that Jesus
will be seen in me.
Father help me be
like Jesus.

I hope this song is in the heart of everyone who attended this week.

Vacation Bible School

Ok - I hope no one passes out when they visit here and see that I actually posted something new. I know, it's been awhile!

Yesterday was our kick-off for Vacation Bible School at our church. We always have our kick-off after first service - right before the Bible study class time. Then, instead of having our usual Bible study time, we have VBS. Then we go back that evening and each evening this week. The program is Friday evening, after a free cookout. One thing our church does a little different for VBS, is have classes for all ages, 0-100. We try to make it a family adventure so everyone is learning and can share together at home.

This year I have the privalege of working with the teenagers. We have a class for 7th-12th graders. Our minister is the lead teacher with four of us assisting him. This is my third year to work together with him for this age. Although our church is using Standard Publishing's "Construction Zone" material, we write our own lessons for the youth. We are tieing into the construction theme by having time to work on a real construction project, a storage shed, for our church.

When our minister and I sat down to begin working on our lessons, we tried to think back to when we were teenagers and the things that we thought about the most. We came up with: Acceptance; Fear; Independence/Dependence; Sexuality; and Pride. For Acceptance, we used the examples of the Woman at the well and the Leper. We read those stories (it was last night's lesson) and discussed how Jesus treated them differently than other people. Tonight's lesson is on Fear and we use the example of David facing Goliath. He had no fear because of his deep trust in God. Tomorrow will be Independence/Dependence. We are using the example of King Saul and the consequences of him trusting himself over God. Wednesday will be Sexuality. We are focusing on how God made us in his image, but individual as male and female. We will use scripture from Genesis and creation and then skip to Hebrews, 1 Corinthians and Romans. We will talk about sexual immorality and God's warning against because it harms us and dishonors God. We will conclude on Thursday with Pride. We will study about Saul and his pride that blinded him to the truth. Then the wonderful transformation that allowed him to put his hope in Jesus rather than his own abilities.

I am feeling good with the lessons we have chosen. Makes me think back to when I was a teen and living for myself instead of God. That is why I am passionate about working with the youth thru Sunday School and VBS. I wish I had known then, what I know now. I don't think kids truly understand the blessing of being taught God's truth and being raised in the church. Still so many continue to live in the world instead of obedient to Christ.

Would you please pray with me for the transformation of young lives this week. Lord Jesus, we come to you praising your holy name. The name above all names, Creator, Lord and Savior. We hear your name and we think, holy, glory, honor and love. We live because you died. We believe because you are worthy. Lord, right now we ask that you would be with those who attend our VBS this week. Be with those who are teaching, and those who are serving in other ways. Thank you for each and every one. Allow your love to flow through them at every moment so those who come and don't know you, will leave feeling special and valued. Lord, we pray especially for those who don't yet know you. May they understand who you are and what you have done for them. May they see that they are separated from you because of their sin and believe that you died for that sin. We ask that they would admit their sin and turn from it, accepting your free gift of grace. May they confess you as Lord of their lives. And for those who have already done that, may they continue to grow in their faith, seeking a closer relationship with you. Thank you for each and every person you bring together in VBS this week. May we be worthy teachers of your Word, bringing glory and honor to your name. Amen.

Happy B-day Dear Dustin!

July 7th, 1989 - 16 years ago, but seems like only yesterday. That's when my precious son was born. I had gone to a business women's dinner as a guest, with a friend of mine. They had mexican night. It was delicious. I think I went to bed about 11:00 - but woke up around 1:00am and thought I was wetting the bed. It was the strangest thing - I got up, and finally realized - my water was breaking. I was only in labor 4 hrs before my firstborn - a son - 8lb 10 oz - 21" long was born into the world. I wanted my firstborn to be a son and God sure blessed me with a special miracle. There is nothing like the gift of being a parent.

I have been trying to figure something special for his 16th - but couldn't seem to come up with the perfect plan. I like to surprise people and do something they would love - but only time will tell if this will be good or not. My husband planned a two day golf outing with some buddies - so that put a little hitch in things since he won't be with us. So we are going to the NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis. It is a sports museum geered for student athletes. There is nothing my son likes better than sports - it is his passion - especially football. His best bud is going with us as well as a friend of mine who is a big sports lover too. She is a teacher and coach - so that will be good. Then we will eat somewhere downtown that he chooses and then go to the canal and rent a paddle boat. I am gonna check into getting a tour of the RCA Dome - home of the Indianapolis Colts - but that probably won't happen on late notice. His buddy has to be home by 5:15 because he has a baseball game and we live an hour from Indy - so that will keep us from going to the Indianaplis Indians game like I had wanted - but that's ok. He has been to an Indians game in the past. I am just looking forward to a day out to celebrate a special day for a special boy. He's my pride and joy and I feel so very blessed to have him as my son. I'll let you know how it turns out. :)

Break My Heart

The other day Christinewjc wrote a post at Stephen Bennett's blog called "Reasons to Hope When You Are Hurting". Over the weekend, I was listening to my Kathy Troccoli CD, Love Has A Name. Oh how I love to listen to Kathy Troccoli speak of her faith and listen to her music. Well, as I was listening to one of my favorite songs that she wrote, I was struck by how this song speaks to Christine's post exactly how I feel. Here are the lyrics:
Break My Heart

I've known laughter
Days of fun
Had many hours in the sun
Been to many mountains
Walked along the ocean shores
I've seen rainbows fill the sky
Counted stars on summer nights
Oh, so many moments
That have filled my soul with joy

CHORUS
But, it's been the rain
I'ts been the storms
It's been the days
When I've been worn
That I have found You, Lord
That I have found You, Father
It's in the pain
That I have grown
Through all the sorrow
I have known
But, if that's what it takes
For You to lead me this far
Go ahead and break my heart

I have felt the winter snow
Seen the beauty of a rose
Sat by many fires
And enjoyed the warmth of friends
I've known love
And it's embrace
Have felt the wind
Against my face
Watched the moon at midnight
Shine upon a sleeping world

(Chorus)

What a beautiful song and what a beautiful heart for the Lord Kathy has. She sure blesses me. For anyone who has never heard her or read about her or listened to her music, I highly recommend you check her out. http://www.kathytroccoli.com/

Wonderful Freedom Wonderful God

Hello Friends,
It has been ahwile since my last post. Kinda been in a fog this week. Been pretty discouraged about a situation and it was getting the best of me. I woke up about 4:10 am this morning and felt the stress of the situation like a ton of bricks on my chest. I could not get back to sleep, so I got up around 5:15. I tried to take my mind off the frustration by trying to plan something for my son's upcoming 16th b-day. (on the 7th) Checked out some things on the internet. Then, shortly before I needed to jump in the shower, one of my closest friends called to ask for prayer. It was concerning someone who had wronged her a few yrs ago and was now finding himself is a similiar situation. He was sorry for the pain he caused her, feeling really dumb and very empty. He does not yet know the Lord. We talked and then we prayed. It helped me to get over my self doom and gloom and refocus on what's important - others coming to know the Lord. I then started my work day and had some time to blog and email in between appts. I read some of the best Spirit filled posts today. I actually had the desire to respond to every one of them. Something I had lacked enthusiasm for most of the week. I am feeling very thankful for the encouragment I received today by reading what others shared about their faith. Here are the links so you can be encouraged too.
http://lepido.blogspot.com/
http://melaniesita.blogspot.com/
http://talkwisdom.blogspot.com/
http://www.jasondollarblog.blogspot.com/

This weekend is a very special time that I look forward to every year. As some of you know, I grew up on a small private lake of about 500 acres. My mom still lives there on a lakefront property and I live right outside of this community. Most of my clients are from there and I love this place very much. Well the 4th of July weekend is a big deal there. The women's club has a big flea market (which my mom was in charge of for over 20 yrs but gave up about 5 yrs ago), a huge raffle, a bake sale and sale of other goodies. The Kiwanis have a hog-roast and there are fireworks at night. Then on Sunday afternoon, there is a boat parade. It is great fun! My mom and I will sell raffle tickets tomorrow as well as help with the drawing at the end. We also will stand at the entrance and collect donations for the fireworks display. It is always tons of fun to see all the people. It's kinda like a big party for the whole weekend.

So - I hope each one of you has a wonderful holiday weekend and time to reflect on the wonderful blessing of the freedom this great country allows. Also - as you watch those fabulous firework displays, take the time to pray for those who are risking their lives, at this very moment, so that we can enjoy this freedom. God Bless America and God bless you!