The Joy...

Photo taken from flickr

Of the Lord is my strength!

The Lord showed up in a BIG way this past weekend. This past week I have felt renewed passion for Him and a renewed sense of love from Him. The Lord has opened the door to my heart and has been pouring into it.

My darling friend Kim spent Saturday with me and we had the BEST time. We had great fellowship and enjoyed each other's company. Things got intense when we returned to my house after I lost my wallet at the movies (only negative blip on the radar screen this weekend). She hung with me while I cancelled debit cards and such. Then we started talking about the Lord and all the revelations we had been having recently.

The experience following the start of the conversation was unbelievable! The Holy Spirit was so thick in our abode that we were overwhelmed with joy. We were silly, we laughed, we praised God with gladness. He revealed serious things to us that we were totally joyful for. It is so much that it's almost hard to describe.

We prayed for our lives, for our husbands, for whatever the Lord laid on our hearts. I have been craving this breakthrough for so long. We had the most enjoyable day with the Lord.

I hope that everyone can feel the Joy of Jesus! I pray for widespread revelation of His Joy to each and every heart. Pray for Him to open your eyes, hearts, and spirits to greater understanding of Him!

Tyler Dale

10 tiny fingers...

1 cute button nose...

One happy new mom...

One proud papa...

Welcome to the world Tyler Dale. Born 6/17/09 at 5:43 PM. Weight: 10 lbs 6 oz. Length 21 inches long. We love you, thank God for you and pray for a happy healthy life for you. Praise God for this little miracle. Don't believe me on the weight, scroll down. He was a hefty one, lol.

Blessings to you my sweet nephew!

June 17, 2009...

Our sweet nephew Tyler is being born today! The sis-in-law is up at the hospital as I type. I'm trying to get out of work as soon as possible. I have clients in and I'm getting anxious. I keep eyeing the clock and screaming with my brain "hurry up!".

I'm so excited. The hubster is too cause this is his first time being an uncle! I will post pics soon.

The day is ending....

The Lord knew I needed encouragement and He sent it my way in His perfect timing. I'm rejoicing! He sent me on a mission several years ago. I have grown weary and needed push after push over the last few weeks. I have tried to persevere. It has been difficult, but God is bringing the back up I need!

A dear friend of mine came by today and I told them my story about loving with boundries and taking a step back. They told me that they knew my struggle and that if my mission were thought of as a day, I would be in the late afternoon. WHEW! I was worried I was still in the morning!

The Lord has provided the people and support I need to get through. I was so worried that I was being selfish by taking the step back. But God is the one releasing me to do this. Oh that devil is a tricky liar. It's not that I don't want this mission, its just that as this mission has matured, there is less need of my ministry services in this particular area. It is finally happening. THANK YOU LORD! THANK YOU LORD! Seriously I can't shout it enough!

God is faithful and He is so kind to give what is needed at the right time!!!!

House update

Just letting you know that our house is coming along quite nicely. It has been almost 3 months since we have lived there and still no pictures yet, but they will be up soon. We forced ourselves into a deadline. We said that we would host our church small group this month which is the third Sunday of the month. We have until June 21st to get a substantial portion done on the house to make it entertainable.

The kitchen is almost done, working on cabinet doors, drawers, looking for a screen door to cut down for our pantry, and all around organizing and unpacking. Guest bathroom needs to be painted, decorated, new light fixture, and a new toilet installed (don't want everyone going through our bedroom to get to the toilet). Hallway needs to be painted, pictures hung and a new light fixture. The other two bedrooms are fine for now because they will be future kid's rooms and we don't want to bother with them right now.

We need to install a new toilet in our bathroom as well. Front entryway needs to be repainted (wrong color green is on the walls right now which makes it look like minty fresh). The craft room/office needs some serious organization! Which my friends Julia and Carrie have so wonderfully offered to help.

Our game room will be last on the list which doesn't neccissarily have to be done before our small groups, just before our house warming party (which we hope to host a month later in July).

Some other repairs needing to be made: New french doors to our back patio (which needs to happen soon), new front door (which can wait for a while), gutters, outdoor landscaping, fill dirt, and in the fall we need new insulation.

Man when I put it down on blog, it looks like a never ending list. Which I know everyone says, "you are never done with your house" and I believe that, but it almost seems unattainable. I just have to keep reminding myself, "I think I can" like the train or "just keep swimming" like Dory.

God is good and He is faithful! We are so blessed to be working on a house! Our house!

Mother's Day

First off:  Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, future mothers, like-a-mothers, aunts, sisters, daughters, etc.  Hope you all have a wonderful day and you rejoice with your family as they celebrate YOU!

I have the honor of having two moms.  My mother and my grandmother!  They both were my mother if you can follow me on this one.

My mother had a very unfortunate accident when she was young that caused her to have epilepsy.  She could not sustain a job when we were young that would provide adequate health care due to her condition.  So when I was 7 and my sister was 8, my grandmother and grandfather adopted us in order to provide for us.  This was a huge turning point in our lives as you can imagine.

My mom continued to be there, but her role as mother was fading.  I know this was horribly unfair to everyone involved because my mom felt horrible for having to make that choice, my grandparents were upset because they could no longer be our grandparents, and we kids could not understand any of this.  We were so confused.

My grandfather passed away shortly after the adoption was finalized.  So it left me, my sister, my mom and grandma in the house with each other.  My mom eventually remarried and moved out and we were with my grandmother until we went off to college.  She was our legal mother after all.

We did not see her side of things for a long time because it seemed so unfair.  We wanted to be with our mommy.  Little did we know that we got the best of both worlds.

Only looking back now after life has grown me up quite a bit (I have more to go of course), can I understand the sacrifice they both made to give us the best life possible.  My grandmother raised me with integrity, strength, character, belief in God, morals, a sense of right and wrong, hard work, ethics, essentially everything I will need in life to be a good person.  My mother raised me with kindness, gentleness, belief in God, caring, compassion, generosity, tender heartedness, unconditional love, essentially everything I will need in life to be a good person.  

My grandmother passed away almost two years ago now and it was heartbreaking.  I wish I would have told her more that I loved her and that I respected her.   I wish I would have thanked her more for all that she did.

My mother and I have become better friends (we were pretty great friends before, but it just gets better and better).  I try to tell her how much I love her and respect her and am thankful to her, but I know I don't do it enough.  I will strive to do better.  I do not want a day to go by that I don't thank God for her.  

I can now look back at the facts of the situation then and not have those teenager-ish emotions of entitlement, anger, unfairness, etc.  I never lacked in love.  I always had their love and support. I have had a wonderful life, due in large part to these two women.  I love them both and am so appreciative of what they have done and continue to do for me.  

 

They both had their strong suits and they both instilled it in me.  For that I am truly grateful.  I praise and thank God the day He made these two women and I thank Him even more that He made them my mothers.  

The Hardest People to Minister To...

That would be our families. How is it the people we are closest to, we feel we cannot speak candidly about our faith? We love these people so much and we want to see them in the new kingdom.

I find it particularly difficult because it can cause rifts in a family when one segment is saved and others are not. My husband and I are experincing this right now. We both have a love for our family, but there is only a small portion that can truly understand.

We are the "crazy Christians" lol. I have felt called to pray for these people and pray for the lost in general. God is wanting me to cry out to Him about all the lost in all the nations. I have felt the deep desire He has for our family as well.

I want to seek His guidance in this issue and learn to discern where each member is at so that I can more effectively share The Word. I feel that in our flesh we want these members to love us and feel that they will no longer love us if we discuss our faith with them. I have seen it time and time again were one person is ousted because of their faith in Jesus Christ.

I have the wonderful privaledge of knowing several people who are in the same boat as the hubster and I. One good friend told about she has nothing to do with her family or her husband's because they are atheists and literally hate their transformation. This makes me weep.

Why is Jesus's name so offensive? The only answer that I can think of in my limited mind is the fact that people will hate us because they hate Him. This too makes me weep. How can anyone hate our Perfect Father in Heaven? He created us and knows our every hair on our heads.

Another thing that comes to mind is that they are so wrapped up in themselves that they cannot see what God wants for them. He wants the best becauce he only gives the best!

I spoke with a friend at church about this heart cry God has given me and she said that she prays Ephesians 1:17-19 17 (I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[f] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength) for her son everyday. It made me want to hug her. I could not imagine the heartbreak she must feel as a mother who's child is lost.

I want to encourage you that you may join the cause. That you may pray in unity with me and others in the Body of Christ in our prayer for the lost.