All Things Lucy

2008-05-15T07:01:00.002-04:00

I do believe I've got a new favorite song!.............maybe even a new favorite singer.................

2008-05-12T16:19:00.005-04:00

Once upon a very long time ago, I blogged about my son bringing a live (kind of) fish into my house. If you haven't seen it, go here. If you have seen it, sit back and enjoy another exciting episode of...............................

"Jesse Carson Critter Gitter"

2008-05-09T18:04:00.004-04:00

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted! I'm not even sure that I remember how to write a complete. Ha! I crack myself up.

Where do I start? The last real post I wrote was back in January on the day of my grandpa's funeral. There's still a little sting as I write the words "grandpa's funeral." I miss both of them so much. So, let me see.............where do I start?

God has been doing some incredible things in my life during the past few months. Eventually I hope to sit down and write a more detailed post about all of it, but now I'll just give you the Reader's Digest version.

Last December I finished school and started the dreaded job search. I ended up working for a home healthcare agency, which will remain nameless. I absolutely loved the people I was caring for, but the company itself was not at all what they made themselves out to be. When the recruiter from this home healthcare agency came to Tech to recruit we were given a lot of information that made the agency seem very appealing (duh! They were recruiting!), but once I was hired, very little about the agency was what it was made out to be. For instance, we were told that we would be reimbursed for mileage.......NOT! We were told that the agency offered a good health insurance package. The insurance wasn't worth the paper it was written on. It was a joke. At one point in this lucrative career I was driving 30 minutes to my first house, staying for two hours, driving 30 minutes to my next house, staying for two hours, driving 30 minutes to my next house, staying for two hours and then driving 30 minutes home. Do the math. I was working 30 hours a week and driving 10 hours a week, but I wasn't getting paid for the time I was driving, nor was I getting any reimbursement for my gas. I was not a happy camper. I prayed about it and prayed about it. I asked God to guide me and to put me where He wanted me.

Not long after I started praying about it (a matter of days) I got an e-mail from my instructor at Tech. She was telling me about a job that someone else had told her about. She said that the second she heard about it she thought of me. There have been only a few times in my life that I knew beyond all certainty that something was mine before it actually became mine. The first time I ever layed eyes on my husband, I knew he was mine. I knew he was mine before I ever knew his name. The very moment I read about this job, I knew that God's handprints were all over it and I knew that it was mine. I sent in my resume the same day. A week later they called me in for an interview. I went into the interview knowing that God had already given me the job. I got called in for a second interview and was hired.

Ephesians 3:20 says that God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. I can't tell you the number of times that my mind and mouth have quoted that scripture since He gave me this job. I'm telling you I'm just flabbergasted by what He has done. He has given me a job as a medical assistant with Preserve Health. Preserve Health is a family practice being built five minutes (count 'em - five minutes!) from my house. Although the building is still under construction (we're supposed to start moving in May 19th) and we won't start taking patients until the middle of June, all of the employees have been on the payroll (full-time!) since April 2nd! Even our health insurance has been effective since April 2nd. As amazing as the job itself is, neither the job nor the benefits compare to what I know God is getting ready to do IN me through this job. This lesson goes so much deeper than what can be seen. There is no doubt in my mind that God is getting ready to take some shackles off of me that I've been carrying around most of my life. I know it as well as I've ever known anything. I've got a feeling that it's going to be a wild, sometimes challenging ride. I'm anxious to see where it goes.

2008-05-06T17:54:00.003-04:00

Question: How many women with PMS does it take to change a light bulb?

Answer: One! ONLY ONE!!!! And do you know WHY? Because no one else in this house knows HOW to change a light bulb! They don't even know that the bulb is BURNED OUT!! They would sit in the dark for THREE DAYS before they figured it out. And, once they figured it out, they wouldn't be able to find the stupid light bulbs despite the fact that they've been in the SAME CABINET for the past 17 YEARS! But if they did, by some miracle of God, actually find them, 2 DAYS LATER, the chair they dragged to stand on to change the STUPID light bulb would STILL BE IN THE SAME SPOT!!!!! AND UNDERNEATH IT WOULD BE THE WRAPPER THE LIGHT BULBS CAME IN!!! BECAUSE NO ONE EVER PICKS UP OR CARRIES OUT THE GARBAGE!!!! IT'S A WONDER WE HAVEN'T ALL SUFFOCATED FROM THE PILES OF GARBAGE THAT ARE A FOOT DEEP THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE HOUSE!! IT WOULD TAKE AN ARMY TO CLEAN THIS PLACE! AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON WHO CHANGES THE TOILET PAPER ROLL !!

I'm sorry. What was the question?

TOGETHER AGAIN

2008-01-10T09:25:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to let you all know that seven weeks from the day that my grandma went home to be with the Lord, grandpa joined her. He had been so unhappy with her gone. He developed pneumonia the Wednesday after New Year's. We thought he was begining to get better, but then Monday night he went to bed and by Tuesday morning, he was hearing Grandma say, "Fred, what took you so long?!?"

It was such a shock to the family, but we're convinced that He knew what was about to happen. Every one of us who saw him the days right before he died noticed that he was incredibly affectionate and loving during our visits with him. I saw him two days before he died and when I started to leave I hugged him and kissed him, as usual. When I stood up, he smiled, reached for me again, kissed me and held on longer than he ever has. I didn't think a thing in this world about it until after my Uncle Johnny called me and told me he was gone.

I've always said that I hope I die before JB. I don't want to be left here without him. My grandpa had a different take on the subject. Right after grandma died he told me that eversince she got Altzheimer's he had been praying that she would go before him. The way he figured it, he knew that if she died before him, he would be placing her into good hands and he would've "seen her through to safety." I guess it's kind of like in the movie "Titanic." When the ship started going down, they got the women and children off first. Grandpa got her into the first life boat and then he got into the second. God is faithful.

For those of you who don't know my grandparents story, this post will explain why the following song is going to be played at grandpa's funeral today.

NORMAN ROCKWELL WE AIN'T

2007-12-25T17:59:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Christmas at my mama's house today. My brother, Wesley was in town from California, which made me extremely happy! It's not possible to have anything but a good time when Wesley's around.

About five minutes after the children were told to stop throwing the football in the house, Uncle Tommy and Uncle Wesley preceded to tear the house apart wrestling..... in the hallway of all places. Notice the dent in the air conditioning vent.........about the same size as Tommy's head, wouldn't you say? They were all "ain't skeered" when it came to going against each other. They sure got quiet when they thought Mama was coming......I guess that's called "aint stupid."

Of course, I played nice, kept my hands to myself (notice the G. I. Joe kungfu grip on the cup of coffee) and used my inside voice.

Jesse has always had a strange attraction to his Aunt Kathie. If I'd waited and snapped the picture a second or two later, I would've had a wonderful picture (suitable for framing) of Kathie ringing Jesse's bell after he stuck his tongue in her ear.

Kathie made her famous deviled eggs.

She really put her all into it. In case you're wondering, the bag broke.

We really should consider seperating these two next year.

Maybe not.

2007-12-18T21:46:00.000-05:00

If this song speaks to you, you'll want to head over to Val's Walk Of Faith and read this post. It's one of my favorites. Go on. Watcha waitin' for? Go get yourself sharpened. Go on now. Git.

2007-12-11T09:56:00.000-05:00

Since Valarie has started ~~bugging me to write something~~ encouraging me to write something, I guess it's time for me to get at it. I don't know if it's just a bad case of writer's block or pure laziness (probably the latter, considering what my house looks like right now), but I am just not in writing mode.......so don't expect much. I've heard it said that a public speaker should always talk about what they know. I guess the same would hold true about writing. There are two things that I know beyond all doubt. I know that I married the man that God intended for me to marry. Anyone else would've killed me by now. I also know that I am saved. There is no question in my mind about that. Since I've already written about how I met my husband, I guess it's time to give my testimony. Can I get a witness up in here?!?

Growing up I attended church very sporadically. Every so often my family would "do the church thing," but for the most part, everything I knew about Jesus and the Bible came from time spent with my Grandma. When I spent the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa we always went to their church on Sunday mornings. They went to a pentecostal church. My best memories of that church are of the music. The music was incredible.........both a piano and an organ, drums, guitars and horns. Grandma spent a lot of time telling me about Jesus, but it would be another thirty-five years before it would "click."

I don't remember giving God a whole lot of thought during my teenage years........unless I was around Grandma and I could never separate the two. To see Grandma was to see Jesus, but for the most part, I was doing my own thing.

I guess it was during my early twenties that God started working on me because it was during that time that I started thinking more about Him. For years all my thoughts revolved around why He couldn't possibly exist. I couldn't make myself believe. There was no way. If God was real, why didn't He just show Himself? It would sure make things a whole lot easier. Who was I to tell some little Chinese girl that the Jesus my Grandma taught me about was real, but the Buddha her Grandma taught her about was a lie? I knew both couldn't be true. Was I really supposed to believe that Noah got all of those animals in an ark? And what about Methuselah - 969 years?!? Did people really and truly believe that stuff? What about dinosaurs? What about cavemen? God COULDN'T be real. The Bible COULDN'T be true. As soon as I would settle the whole thing in my mind, I would sense the same unsettling thought in my heart, "Tracy, what if you're wrong? What if it IS for real?"

It was during that same time that God started working on me that satan started turning up the heat. At the time, I couldn't see it, but looking back now, it's obvious that there was about to be a long, drawn out battle brewing in the heavenlies.

For reasons that I won't get into now, I have always wrestled with issues of insecurity. God has dealt with MANY of my insecurities already, but I'm sure there are some that He'll be dealing with right up to the point that I draw my last breath. People who are around me on a regular basis tell me that they have a hard time believing that I have any insecurities. I hide them well. I know you've heard the saying, "ten foot tall and bullet proof." It's usually used to describe the effect that tequila has on the self image of some people, meaning that after a couple of shots of the stuff they become invincible (or so they think) and willing to fight anyone...........others just become incredibly gifted dancers (play like). Imagine taking someone already overrun with insecurity issues and introducing them to drugs, drugs that seem to "make them" who they want to be...........and who they think other people want them to be. I'm not going to go into the exact type of drugs..........some were street, some were prescription. If anyone wants to know more or wants to talk about their own problem, I'll be happy to talk to you - just e-mail me or leave a comment, but for right now, the point I want to make is that it was a nightmare that lasted eight years and a perfect example of the lie satan will use to lure you into the trap of solving your problems any way but God's way. satan knew that God was wanting me. satan threw me a bone. I took it.

In December of 2001 Sarah, Jesse and my best friend's son were in a Christmas program at the church that we had been shipping them off to every Wednesday night for a couple of years. Yes, I was one of those parents. I would love to be able to tell you that I went to the program, fell on my face at the altar and was saved, but I can't. I went to the program too tore up to see straight and too numb to care. I'm telling you all of that, not to glorify satan, but to show you how suddenly God can change a person's entire existence.

One evening during the following January I stopped by my friend's house to pick-up Jesse. He had spent the night with her son. Several people were at my friend's house, which wasn't unusual. That was the house where everyone seemed to congregate, especially on the weekend. What was unusual was the fact that they were getting ready to sit down and have a Bible study. I thought I'd entered the twilight zone. Out of the nine or ten people there, only two of them were saved. These two had somehow managed to talk the others into sitting down for one hour to study scripture. Y'all, they were a bunch of drunks getting ready to sit down and discuss the Bible! Don't tell me God doesn't work in mysterious ways. You know you are in an unusual Bible study when the first rule is "No drinking until after the study is over." I'm not joking. That was the rule. I tried my best to grab my child and squirm my way out of that study. Had I known it was going on, I would've never shown up when I did. My best friend (who was as lost as I was) grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back, saying, "If I can't get out of this, you're not either. Sit down." I took a chair as far away from the circle as I could. I had no intention of participating. I don't remember what led to it, but at some point, the study turned into a debate. The lost people were arguing theology. I picked my side and was determined to prove them all wrong, but I needed to do my homework first. The "study" was postponed until the following week.

When I got home I went to the hall closet and pulled out a box full of my daddy's old books. One of those books was his study Bible. The other was a book on apologetics, "Christianity, The Faith That Makes Sense." Those books had been collecting dust in the bottom of that closet for eight years. I started with "Christianity, The Faith That Makes Sense." I sat at my kitchen table ready to prepare my argument. and God had prepared His. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that right there at my kitchen table God answered every question and every doubt I ever had about His existence. Two days into that book I said, out loud, "Oh crap, it's true."

That night, while laying in my bed, I prayed the prayer of salvation. I also reminded God (as if He needed reminding) about my little drug problem. I explained to Him that I couldn't stop. I tried and failed too many times to make Him any promises. I told Him that if He wanted me off drugs, He'd have to take me off of them. I couldn't do it. To be honest with you, I assumed I would die addicted, but at least I knew I'd go to heaven. That was almost six years ago and by the absolute grace of God, I haven't touched anything since.

The next week, instead of arguing my case, I was giving my testimony. I am happy to report that since that first "Lost People Bible Study", five of the original participants have been saved. That doesn't count the spouses and children who weren't part of the study who were saved or rededicated their lives later. It just goes to show that God can use anything. I have never regretted making the decision to follow Christ. I only wish I'd made it sooner.

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."

~ Philippians 3:79

New Cell Phone Law

2007-11-29T07:17:00.000-05:00

According to a proposed new law that would go into effect Jan 1, 2008 you will no longer be able to use a cell phone while driving unless you have a 'hands free' adapter. I went to Circuit City and they wanted $50 for a headset with a microphone for my cell phone. Having a friend in the cell phone business, I talked with him and was able to come up with an alternative, working through Office Depot.
These kits are compatible with any mobile phone and one size fits all. I paid him $0.08 each because he bought in quantity. Then we tried it with Motorola, Sprint, Verizon and Nokia units and they worked perfectly.
A photo is attached so scroll down & take a look and let me know if you want one. Also, forward this to anyone you know, who has a cell phone, and who may want one!

2007-11-22T08:51:00.000-05:00

I really do have an awful lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. On the top of my list is my salvation. When I think of where my life used to be it just amazes me to think that I really and truly AM SAVED. How in the world did that happen?!? It really does blow my mind. I wasn't looking for God by any stretch of the imagination, but He found me. One minute I'm as lost as a stop sign and the next I'm completely and utterly His. My salvation is so incredible to me that I just have to say the words out loud sometimes, "I am really and truly saved!." I guess it's sort of the same experience people have after winning some huge lottery ("I am a millionaire!"), except their excitement eventually wears off. I don't think I'll ever get bored with the fact that I really am His (I pray that I don't)..............and as of yet, I haven't had a single long lost family member beating down my door, begging me to share my winnings...........although I have offered. That said................

I am thankful for God's provision. Since locking the doors on the restaurant two months ago, I have bought a very minute amount of groceries, just a few odds and ends (toothpaste, deodorant..........and yes, I've been able to buy hairspray......I am forever thankful for the intercessory prayer that went up on behalf of my hair), but I've also come to the conclusion that there are certain things I may never have to buy again as long as I live. Drum roll please...............

Thanks to the six deer (FOUR taken by my 14 year old, Jesse and a mere two taken by my husband) I may never have to buy meat at the grocery store again. I've got a freezer full of cube steak, hamburger meat, roasts and stew meat.
I may never have to buy another can of ANYTHING (well, except hairspray) again for the rest of my life. See all those cans of tomato sauce and kidney beans? Remember all that hamburger meat? Can anyone say, "chili beans?"
The question is not, "What am I going to do with all of this sugar?" I mean, I AM from the south and my mama DID raise me right. The question is......... Can I make this sugar and the case and a half of 3-gallon tea bags that I'm storing in my laundry room run out at the same time?
Y'all, this isn't even the tip of the iceberg. I was just too exhausted from stacking all of those cans to haul the rest of the toilet paper into my bathroom........not to mention the fact that JB's photographic patience was starting to wear thin. After five times of hearing, "Work with me here,honey. This is funny stuff", he still doesn't get it. Exactly how am I supposed to hang this stuff from that little toilet paper holder?!? Val, want to go roll your sisters yard?!? You think I'm joking. I. AM. DEAD. SERIOUS. Bwahhh Hahaaaa!!!
If my calculations are correct (and they are) one of these foodservice rolls of plastic wrap/aluminum foil will last an entire lifetime, assuming that a lifetime is, say.......120 years. I have FIVE of them. Note to self: Self, update your will.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, Y'ALL!!!!

I love, love, LOVE this song..........

2007-11-18T21:21:00.000-05:00

I have so been this mama!!!...................

2007-11-16T22:34:00.001-05:00

2007-11-13T21:42:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to take a minute to let all of you know that Esther Naomi Stargel Poole went home to be with the Lord around 4:30 this morning. I got to be at the nursing home every day her last week. I stayed with her until around 11:00 last night and then came home. Uncle Johnny called with the news around 4:45.

Her suffering is finally over and there is some more party going on in the Heavenlies. It's the craziest thing. I feel closer to her right now than I have felt in many years. For the last 13 years Altzheimer's had taken her further and further away from us. She's been healed. She's completely whole and I no longer have to wonder about whether or not she remembers me. She does.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support.

In case you're interested you can go to her obituary by clicking here.

2007-11-09T19:56:00.000-05:00

Valarie posted this video on her blog today and I just loved it and had to have it on my blog too. Thanks, Val!!!

2007-11-06T20:56:00.000-05:00

Y'all, I know I am past due for a post, but it's probably going to be a few days. My Grandma (click here and here) is in the process of dying. I'm spending just about all my free time at the nursing home with her. Please pray that God would make us (me) see this for what it is - the end of her suffering. She has fought the good fight and I want to be happy for her. This is what it was all about. Also, please pray that God would give me the strength that I will need to be able to speak at her funeral. I feel like if I don't, I'll regret it the rest of my life.

P. S. - Go ahead, make fun of the big hair. You know you want to. Just remember, it was the 80's!!!!

For Nicki ~

2007-11-01T13:59:00.001-04:00

The following video features a song that is actually the ringtone that I hear on my phone every time Valarie calls. I set this particular song as my ringtone for Valarie's calls because Valarie has been SUCH an encourager to me, but today this video goes out to Nicki over at Three Girly Girlz. She's going through the fire right now and I want to ask all of us girlfriend's in Christ to hold her up in prayer............including you lurkers who aren't commenting..........you know who you are : )

Here you go Nicki.........consider yourself prayed for, girlfriend!

2007-10-29T19:41:00.000-04:00

OK, my little blogging peeps. This is about to be the most unthought out, impromptu, off the cuff post ever written. Jesse (my 14 year old) is breathing down my neck and all but daring me to whoop his tail at a game of pool and it's looking like I might just have to oblige the little twerp. It's going to be ugly. But before I do that, I've got a quick point to prove. Yes, ladies, there is a point and I'm going to get to it quickly.

The other day I was "talking" to my friend, Toni over at In The Midst Of This Season. I was telling her about JB's new job driving one of those huge, monster trash compactor trucks for a residential trash service. I was telling her that she wouldn't believe some of the things that people throw away. Just the other day JB brought home two salon quality blow dryers that someone had thrown out just days after I made the comment that one blow dryer in a house of four was starting to make getting ready for church, school etc. a little hectic and that we needed to get one for Sarah and Jesse's bathroom. I half jokingly told Toni that I had JB keeping his eyes open for me a "new" end table. The people who own the trash pick up service are really good friends of ours that we go to church with. You would not believe the stuff they've found that people just throw out..........expensive exercise equipment, gas grills with NOTHING wrong with them, patio furniture, practically brand-new cd players etc. Just the other week JB brought home a combination dvd/vhs player that someone had thrown away. We hooked it up to the TV........voila!!!.......it worked. For a couple of years we've been using this pitiful little monitor on our computer..........tiny screen, bulky monitor. Sad little thing. Guess what y'all.........today JB brought home a 19" flat-screen monitor/TV. I kid you not!!! Someone had thrown this baby away!!! Why in the name of all that is good on this earth would someone trash a perfectly good computer monitor, especially one this nice?!? I'm curious to know what else he picks up. Who knows? Maybe I'll get a "new" car out of this............it could happen.

I'm off to humble my little 14 year old pool shark. Peace out.

2007-10-26T10:40:00.000-04:00

So many times as I'm reading, I come across a familiar truth that just gets me cranked up all over again. It won't be anything new really, just a fresh reminder of something already filed away in my heart that needs to be taken out and read again. God injected me with a fresh dose of familiar this morning and I'm just wondering if anyone else needs a fix.

I want you to think of everything we gained the moment we gave our lives to Christ. Well, not everything. I don't think it's even possible for the human brain to comprehend everything we gained. Just the ones that immediately come to mind are mind boggling. First of all, we receive forgiveness for every single sin that we've ever committed or ever will commit and we are brought into a right relationship with our Creator. If that's all we ever gained, we would still have more than we'll ever deserve, but there's more. We receive God's protection, His provision, His unfailng, unfaltering, unconditional love, we are given everything we'll ever need to live victoriously in the here and now, not just in the there and then. But speaking of the there and then..........We receive the unbreakable promise from God Himself, who CAN NOT (not WILL not, but CAN not) lie that He is building us a home like nothing we could ever, ever, ever, ever (did I say EVER?) dream up in this life. You won't find anything like this home in any real estate guide. The walls are jasper and the city (not just the streets; see Rev. 21:18) is made of pure gold. In this city there will be no more death, crying or pain. We will have every tear we've ever cried wiped away by God Himself. We will literally be encompassed by the light of God's glory. There will be nothing impure there. We will see Jesus face-to-face. But guess what y'all - that by itself isn't even the truth that got my attention this morning. This is...............

Our inheritance from the Lord is just utterly incomprehensible. But check out Deuteronomy 32:9 ~ "For the Lord's portion is His people, Jacob His alloted inheritance. In a desert land He found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; He guarded him as the apple of His eye......" Am I just reading too much into this or does that not just BLOW. YOUR. MIND?!?!?

WE are the Lord's inheritance. We are. You are. I am. Sometimes we inherit things we don't even want. My husband has an aunt who left him a spent mortar shell.........don't ask........I have no way of explaining that. The thing is the Lord PICKED ME OUT!!! He picked you out. We are not what He "wound up with." He picked us out. What's more, He picked us out while we were still wallering around in all sorts of sin and cursing His name!!! He knew all I had done and all I was ever going to do. He knew the ugliness of my heart and still He pointed and said, "Father, I want THAT ONE right there."

If that doesn't make you want to get your praise on, nothing will. In fact, let's just do that right now. Press "play" y'all. Go on! No one's watching. Cut that rug in Jesus' Name!

2007-10-25T11:48:00.000-04:00

As you all know, we lost the restaurant four weeks ago. Well, we didn't really lose it. I mean, we know where it is. We just don't go there anymore. Around 9:30 p. m. on September 26, JB told me that he wanted to talk to me. He led me into our bedroom and shut the door behind him. I thought, "This isn't going to be good." That's when he preceded to tell me that, as of 8:30 p. m. the following night, we would no longer own a restaurant. My mouth hung open and I don't think I even blinked for a few minutes. I went numb and couldn't do a thing but just sit there. After a while, JB checked to make sure that I was still breathing and then went back into the living room. Different thoughts raced through my head, but there was one particular thought I just couldn't get rid of. Looking up toward the ceiling, I expressed this thought in a short prayer, "Lord, if we're poor, how am I going to buy hairspray? What if my car breaks down and I don't have the money to get it fixed? How will I get to the store to buy hairspray? What if it gets so bad that we have to go on food stamps. You know they don't let people buy hairspray with food stamps." Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have this thing about haircare products. I've tried them all. One quick look under my bathroom sink will testify to the fact that I haven't liked them all. That's not a big deal where the less than satisfactory hairspray is concerned because I just send those to the laundry room..........you do know that hairspray will take ink stains out of clothing like nobody's business, right?..........well, it will. The problem is with the other haircare categories that I can't seem to throw out, nor find a way to recycle into something useful. If I had a dime for every tube, bottle and jar of wax, gel, jelly, spiker and glue that didn't completely satisfy, I would have....well.......a heck of a lot of dimes.

My sister, Missy came by here on her way to church last Sunday. She and her husband are pretty much in the same financial boat that JB and I are in right now. She walked into the house and called to me, "Would you bring me a hairbrush?" As I was going to get it, she called, "And bring me, please, your hairspray." "As surely as the Lord our God lives," I replied, "I don't have any hairspray - only a little bit left in the bottom of the can. I was saving it to use this morning before church and then I was going to come home and watch my hair fall." ~~Elijah~~ Missy said to me, "Don't be afraid. Go into the bathroom and do as you have said. But first get the hairspray for me from what you have and bring it to me and then take some for yourself."................AS IF!!!!...................y'all, this is such a lie. I haven't seen my sister in over a week, but didn't it sound good?!? HA! I crack my own self up.

Seriously though...........I have no doubt in my mind that God has provided, is providing and will provide everything we could ever possibly need, not to mention the fact that if worse does come to worse and our church has to do a can drive for us, guess what y'all...............Aussie Instant Freeze comes in a can!!!

2007-10-23T14:15:00.000-04:00

I've been doing a lot of digging in the book of Psalms for the past few days. I love the book of Psalms. I am thankful for the book of Psalms. I praise God for the book of Psalms, but not for the reasons you might be thinking. Yes, the Psalms are beautiful. Some of our best contemporary praise and worship songs come from the book of Psalms ("Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens. Your faithfulness stretches to the sky. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains. Your justice flows like the oceans tides. I will lift my voice to worship you, my king. I will find my strength in the shadow of your wings........", which is "Your Love, O Lord" by Third Day, aka Psalm 36 by David..............When David was busy writing the Psalms, I wonder if it ever crossed his mind that one day his words would be on the Christian Top 20 Countdown?) Where was I? Oh, yeah. I praise God for the book of Psalms, but not for the reasons you might be thinking. I praise God for the book of Psalms because they remind this ol' gal that even the man after God's own heart had his "not so 'spiritual' moments." Thank you, Jesus! I have so needed to be reminded of that here lately.

The past year has been what you might call a hectic one. Back in February Sarah decided that it was time to age her parents by twenty or thirty years by running away from home for nine days. I've had two surgeries in the past year. I quit work and went back to school last August and then just a few weeks ago my husband's restaurant of 19 years went out of business, leaving both of us temporarily unemployed. As if all of that wasn't big fun in itself, for the past few months my hormones (one of those surgeries was a complete hysterectomy) have been all but impossible to regulate. I'm pretty sure that if the word "hormone" was anywhere in the New Testament, the Greek transliteration would simply say "of the devil."

Although I'm more than a little sure that David's highs and lows had very little to do with hormones, he sure does one heck of a job describing me when mine are out of whack. One day I'm sailing along just fine ("You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety" ~ Psalm 4:7) and the next I'm not sure about anything anymore ("Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" ~ Psalm 10:1.) Sometimes, I just have to lock myself in my bedroom and go face down before the throne ("Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am faint; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in anguish. How long, O Lord, how long?.......I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears).......knock, knock, knock......Mom!........Open up!............ Have you seen my jersey?...........(Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer." ~ Psalm 6) Mom!!!! Where are you?......Bang! Bang! Bang!.......Why is your door locked?.... Would you please tell Jesse to give me back the remote control?........(O Lord, see how my enemies persecute me! Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death that I may declare your praises. ~ Psalm 9:13) In the next room I hear my husband praying, "Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me........I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed!" (Psalm 57:1)

In Psalm 55:16 David wrote - "But I call to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. He ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me." For a woman, I think that the biggest battle waged against her is the battle that's waged within her and I am just incredibly, incredibly grateful to serve a God who knows that I am but flesh (Psalm 78:39) and delights in me anyway (Psalm 18:19).

2007-07-06T07:46:00.000-04:00

Jaime,

Hey, girl! I'm glad you commented. For whatever reason, I'm unable to comment back! Every time I click on my comment page and scroll down to leave a comment my computer starts doing this annoying clicking thing and then my comment page scrolls back up. I downloaded an AVG spyware program and an anti-virus program yesterday. The anti-virus scanned for almost three hours and detected and supposedly got rid of 13 "trojan horses" (have no idea), but my computer is still not right, but I believe I will at least be able to post this short note. By the way........if anyone out there has any suggestions about my little computer malfunction, I'm listening. I'm fighting the urge to throw it through a closed window as we speak.

Jaime, my e-mail address is still the same, if you want to try that: jb_carson@bellsouth.net

In a few hours, yours truly will be heading to Myrtle Beach for a week. I am so ready for this vacation to begin!!! We're staying at Ocean Lakes for the first time. I hear that it is an awesome place to take teenagers. I hope to post lots of pictures when we get back.......assuming that this computer hasn't burst into flames.

Val, don't forget........three hours........three itty bitty hours.........basically the same amount of time that it takes to......let's see........ugh........scan your computer only to find out that it's still possessed by satan.

I'm off to cram a weeks worth of necessities (including Sarah's 10 pair of flip-flops) into the back of my Explorer. If we happen to cross anyone's mind this week, say a prayer for us. Jaime, I'm always praying for you. If you read this before we leave for the beach, try my e-mail. Otherwise, I'll talk to you when we get home. I'm going to have someone with a little more computer "know how" (perhaps a two year old with a hammer) to take a look at this thing. I love you, girl.

SHACKLES, BY MARY MARY

2007-06-29T07:13:00.000-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VALARIE!!!!!

2007-06-25T21:24:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a really, really good day because I got to meet a friend of mine for the first time. Yes, I know. Usually you meet someone and then they become your friend, but Valarie was my friend before I ever met her. Allow me to explain.....Valarie and I crossed paths on Beth Moore's LPM Blog a couple of months ago. I ended up visiting Valarie's blog. Valarie ended up visiting my blog. We started commenting and e-mailing and have now talked on the phone several times. Valarie's church had a HUGE Fourth of July Celebration Sunday (complete with military men repelling down from the church ceiling!). Since we're only a couple of hours away, Sarah and I decided that it was time for a road trip and it was well worth it!

Valarie's 50th birthday is today........Valarie, close your mouth before a fly gets in..........I'm joking. It's not her 50th. It's her 51st. HA! I crack myself up! Let's just say I'm 40 and she's younger than I am.......barely. So, everyone head over to Valarie's blog and tell her Happy Birthday. Tell her Lucy sent you! Valarie here's a video in honor of your birthday..........

2007-06-15T18:21:00.000-04:00

I just came out of my daughter's bedroom. I went in to get some dirty clothes to wash. I came out. I'm not going back in.........ever. No one can make me. DO YOU HEAR ME?!? I WON'T DO IT I TELL YOU! I WON'T! There are THINGS in there.......MY things!!!......my circular brush (missing since Wednesday), my toenail clippers......(missing since Monday), and my strapless bra (had no idea it was gone).

Oh, I know he din't........

2007-06-08T17:12:00.000-04:00

There are certain things that I'm sure can only happen at my house. The other night I was in front of the computer, minding my own business when Jesse walked in and said, "Mom, look what I've got." I turned around and he was holding a dripping, flopping, bass...........in my bedroom. I kid you not. Look at the picture. Yes, I realize that my bed is not made, but if you were able to look past the FISH IN MY BEDROOM and see my unmade bed.............there is medication that will help you. Turn off the computer and seek professional help. Now.

After we took that last picture I told Jesse, "Son, do not touch my furniture with those eau de fish hands of yours. Go take a bath." Being the obedient boy that he is, I wasn't the least bit surprised just moments later when I heard the sound of water running in my bathroom. And knowing that he's got his mama's warped sense of humor I wasn't the least bit surprised by this either.........................

FOR JAIME

2007-06-06T22:43:00.001-04:00

2007-06-05T20:23:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I went out to eat with my best friend and we started talking about how we first met and became friends. We both agree that our friendship is a "God-thang." It has to be. Nothing else can explain it.

I had been a Christian for a couple of years when Brenda and I met and started talking. We had gone to the same church since I accepted Christ. Actually, Brenda had been at our church since she accepted her first breath of air. She first started going to that church when she was negative 9 months old. I don't know how it is that Brenda and I were able to speak in passing, yet not become friends for two whole years after my family and I joined the church, but we did.

Several weeks before we started becoming friends I remember being on my way to work one morning and feeling frustrated because I had so many God thoughts and God questions just bouncing around in my head and I didn't have a really close female friend to unload them on. I'd had close female friends before I became a Christian, but as often happens, the biggest majority of those friends just didn't "get it" when I got saved. They didn't understand why everything had to be about God. They didn't understand why I couldn't just be a "normal" Christian, go to church on Sunday and leave it alone the rest of the week. I think I made them uncomfortable. I think I still make them uncomfortable, but I digress.......As I was driving to work that morning I remember praying and asking God to send me a friend who couldn't be run off by "God talk", someone who would understand my heart, someone who wanted Him as bad as I did. And believe it or not, I really didn't think that much more about that prayer. I just kind of left it there and went on about my business.

A few weeks later I was absolutely fit to be tied. I don't remember exactly what it was that had me mad enough to bite the head off a live chicken, but I do remember WHO it was.............and no, I won't be sharing that little bit of information.......water under the bridge.........and it's not pertinent to the story. And Mama, in case you're reading, it wasn't you......or was it?!?.......I'll never tell. Anyway, the anger that I was storing in the center of my chest was explosive and toxic and I'd been carrying it around with me for several days. I'd actually been carrying it off and on for several years, but had been able to "manage" it for the first two years after being saved. Sin management. HA! That's a joke. Anyway, I was sitting in church stewing one night and Brenda caught my attention when she got up to sing. I knew who she was (my kids Sunday School teacher), but didn't really KNOW her. I noticed that she always seemed so calm and in control, just the opposite of what I had been feeling. I couldn't imagine her ever losing her temper or allowing anger to just eat at her like I had. I decided that I would just come right out and ask her about it. After church I asked her if we could talk. She said that we could and we went back into one of our Sunday School classes and I explained everything to her (Mama, put the phone down. Brenda's not going to tell you.) and she prayed with me. The following week she brought me the book, "The Wonderful Spirit Filled Life" by Charles Stanley and we've been each others accountability partner, prayer warrior and best friend since. That was three years ago.

At first I couldn't figure out why Brenda kept calling and e-mailing me. She even invited me over to her house for lunch. Right off the bat we had some of the longest and best "Jesus talks" you could ever imagine. But I was still trying to figure out WHY. We were so different. She was calm. I was (and still am) easily excited. I have a colorful past. She was born on a church pew. She lives in a nice house. I live in a double-wide. She eats only healthy food. I don't mind eating healthy food, but I do want it floured and fried first. She's proper. I'm........not. We laugh about it now, but there was a time when I actually thought that maybe she considered me her pet project, an easy way for her to earn a few extra jewels in her crown. And then I got THE phone call that set our friendship straight for me.

Brenda and her husband were gone on vacation. They had been gone for several days when the phone rang. I answered it and guess what, y'all...........it was Brenda calling..............from NEW ZEALAND. Brenda was in New Zealand and called just to say, "H!" and that she missed me. She could've been doing anything, after all she was in NEW ZEALAND, but there she was, on the phone with me. That sealed it for me. I'm sorry, but no one calls their "project" from New Zealand. People call their friend from New Zealand. We still laugh about how a phone call from New Zealand made me see our relationship in a completely different light.

I was thinking about that this morning when it dawned on me that a phone call from New Zealand is NOTHING compared to what Jesus was willing to do because of His love for me. One of these days I'm going to get to Heaven and I'm going to stand in wide-eyed amazement as I look around and realize the glory and splendor that the Lord was willing to leave in order to come to earth and save..........me. He would've done it had it only been me. He would've done it had it only been you. One of these days I know I'm going to be standing in the presence of Almighty God, looking around at the glory of Heaven and all I'll be thinking as I look into His face is, "You left this for......... me?" Then and only then will I begin to comprehend the magnitude of such a love. Only then will I fully understand.

2007-05-29T18:30:00.000-04:00

We got brave (or stupid) and took a group of 6 teenagers with us to the lake over Memorial Day weekend. We actually had 8 teenagers because two more met us there. It was a really great group of kids and we had a lot of fun with them.

If you spend enough time with a mixed group of teenagers it doesn't take long to pick up on some major differences between the girls and the guys. I couldn't help but get tickled at my daughter's very talkative friend, Britney. She went to the lake with us the weekend before last too, when another friend of my son's (Sam) went. On our last trip Britney kept trying to get Sam to talk to her. Sam is a lot quieter than most of my son's friends. He doesn't like to waste his words. At one point she came right out and told him, "You should talk more." I'm thinking, "How can he?!?" This past weekend Sam didn't go with us to the lake (probably busy trying to get that Britney pitched ringing out of his ears), but Jesse's very talkative friends Carson and Chase did. At one point, Britney came to me and said, "I think I liked Sam better." I reminded her of what she said the weekend before, "Sam doesn't talk." She let out a deep sigh and said, "Yeah, but these guys won't let ME talk!" I thought, "How sweet. Britney is becoming a woman!" So the three girls hid away in a bedroom for most of the night, piled up in the bed behind closed doors where they took turns talking and talking and talking and talking until morning. I thought to myself, "These girls are going to make great bloggers one day." Don't you agree, Val?

Dreams

2007-05-28T21:04:00.000-04:00

I have officially been tagged by Leigh over at "Speaking Thru Me." Leigh wants to know - What do we dream about? What do we whisper in God's ear and believe Him for? She wants us to be bold, be honest and be courageous. If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged.

I dream of the day that God resurrects Tyger Baptist Church from the dead or gives me permission to find another church that is on fire and passionate for Him.

I dream of the day when I'm living out my grandmother's legacy and teaching my grandbabies about Jesus.

I dream of selling this doublewide and the 32 acres that it sits on (it's on the market), paying off all of our bills and buying a "real" house in a nice neighborhood.

I dream of the day when I get to the place where I don't care what people think and pray that God doesn't make me live in this double until that day : )

I dream of the day when every knee shall bend and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

I dream of the day when I walk into Heaven and God looks my way, smiles and says, "That's my girl!"

I dream of the day when I'm facilitating an "Overcomer's In Christ" support group for women recovering from pain pill (and other) addictions.

Now it's your turn. What do YOU dream about? What are YOU whispering in God's ear?

2007-05-20T16:21:00.000-04:00

Our day at the lake was not without it's technical difficulties:

But we sure had fun:

2007-05-20T07:47:00.001-04:00

JB and I took Sarah, Jesse and a couple of their friends to the lake over the weekend. I'll post more on that later, but right now I'd just like to make an observation. For the past few months my 14 year old son, Jesse has repeatedly made the statement,"Stop staring at meeeeeeeee!!!" No, he's not making that statement to his sister, although I have had to get in the middle of that fight and the "She's/He's touching meeeeeeeeeeee!!!" fight more times than I care to remember. Lately the offending starer has been me. I can't help it. There are times here lately when all I have to do is look at him and my heart feels like it's literally swelling four times its normal size. He is absolutely the most handsome thing I've ever seen in my life. He's always been a good looking kid. The day he was born I remember thinking, "Wow! Good looking kid!", but now he's going from good looking kid to handsome young man at a speed faster than my heart can keep up with. He has no idea how he made my day Friday. We were discussing the fact that we've put our house and land (anyone interested in a double-wide on 32 acres?!?) on the market (so that we can pay off our bills and buy a "real" house on much less acreage). Jesse doesn't want to move and was giving his protest speech (for the gazzillionth time), "Where am I going to ride my 4-wheeler?!? Where am I going to shoot my guns?!? Am I going to be able to pee off the front porch?!?" I started counting on my fingers and said, "What does it matter? You've only got 5-7 years left with us anyway." He looked at me with the most astonished look on his face and said (without counting on his fingers, I might add), "Y'all are going to make me move out when I'm 21?!?" I wanted to say, "No, son......WE'RE moving out when you're 21", but I was so moved by the realization that we've got one kid who's NOT counting down the days until emancipation that I couldn't. It was almost enough to make me take the house off the market.......... almost.

He Reigns

2007-05-17T07:14:00.001-04:00

2007-05-12T10:28:00.000-04:00

I've been sitting here, with my fingers on the keypad, trying to figure out how to even begin a post about my Grandma. I started several lines, but then deleted them. Just the thought of Grandma and I'm immediately flooded with so many different emotions. It can be hard to sort them, even harder to express them. I don't know where to start, so I guess I'll just jump in anywhere.

Esther Naomi Stargel (is that not a cool name?) was born on August 24, 1924...................beyond that, I know very little because, to be honest with you, I like to believe that she didn't have a life until I was born on February 16, 1967. I do know that she is one of four daughters.....Ruth, Lilly Mae, Mary and Esther.......I can't help but wonder if my great grandma was backslidden when she named Lilly Mae : )

I remember a story I've heard my Grandpa (Fred Poole) tell about how Esther Naomi Stargel became Esther Stargel Poole. I may not be telling it exactly right. According to Grandma, Granpa wasn't telling it exactly right, so I don't guess it really matters. Grandpa had been visiting Grandma at her house. He was headed back home and she was walking him back to his bus stop. In the weeks before, Grandpa had been trying to talk Grandma into marrying him, but she wouldn't commit. They had just got the news that Grandpa's name had come up and he was being drafted into the war. Halfway to the bus stop Grandma stopped walking, turned, looked at Grandpa and said, "Fred, let's just do it!" Looking all wide-eyed, Grandpa said, "Sounds like a plan to me, but don't you think we should get married first?" Grandma hates that story, which is probably why Grandpa tells it so much.

Fast forward post WWII..............Grandpa made it home from the war (since I'm sitting here, writing this, I guess you kind of assumed that part). Before too terribly much time had passed my daddy, Uncle Wayne and Uncle Johnny were born. In the words of Forrest Gump......."That's all I have to say about that"........if Uncle Wayne and Uncle Johnny want their stories told they'll have to get their own blogs. This is my blog and I'm tellin' it my way.

Forty years ago my parents eloped. My daddy was 18. My mama was 15. I was "born three months early." Hey, I'm just tellin' it the way it was told to me. I came into this world three months early weighing 8 lbs. I was a miracle child. What can I say? Anyway.............(Mama, if you're reading this.......shut your mouth before a fly gets in........have I told you lately that I love you?...........ya know I'm taking you a present tomorrow.)..........I've always assumed that that's the reason why my Grandma always catered to me.........being all "premature" and all.

I have so many great memories of times spent with my Grandma. She's told me so many stories about raising three boys in the mill vill (cotton mill village - a community of little houses owned by the cotton mill where a lot of the workers lived). I remember the story about my Uncle Johnny skipping school. To insure that the school couldn't call Grandma and rat him out, he climbed on top of the roof of the school and cut the telephone wires. To insure that they couldn't simply splice the wires, he cut a three foot section out of the middle and took it with him.

Grandma kept me and my sisters during the summer months while my parents worked. I remember her cooking lunch for us (Yes, cooking lunch. She probably thought the meat and vegetables would be better for me........being a preemie and all........sorry mom......I couldn't resist!) My memories of Grandma in the kitchen have nothing to do with food. My memories of Grandma in the kitchen revolve around two things: (1) Singing. My Grandma always sang while she was in the kitchen. Two songs stand out in my mind more than any others - "He Lives" and "In The Garden." To this day when we sing either one of those songs at church my sister, Missy and I will make eye contact and mouth the word "Grandma." (2) The hickory - no, hickory was not the wood that my Grandma's kitchen cabinets were made of. The hickory was the stick that she kept on top of her refrigerator, just in case we needed reminding of who was in charge. That hickory was strategically placed with just enough of it hanging off the edge so that we never forgot it was there. At least once a day she'd say, "Don't make me get the hickory down." I don't know what it would've taken to make her get that hickory down because she never did. Sometimes just seeing her look up at it did the trick. I don't remember her ever using it. It's quiet presence was always enough.

I spent the night with my Grandma a lot growing up. I spent the night with her right up until I moved out on my own when I was 18. Actually, I spent the night with her a few times after that. Had I not got married, I'd still be spending the night with her. We would toss Grandpa and his pillow into the extra bedroom and I would sleep with Grandma. I never packed a night gown or pajamas when I spent the night because I always wanted to sleep in one of Grandpa's white undershirts. I can barely remember when the hem of those undershirts touched my ankles.

There is a lot of divorce on my side of the family, especially amongst my sisters and cousins. I've been told more than once how "lucky" I am to be married to such a wonderful man and have such a strong marriage. Luck had nothing to do with it. If they'd've let Grandma pick out their husband/wife, they'd still be married too. I never dated a guy that I didn't take to meet my Grandparents. It always worked the same way. I would walk in the house with prospective husband (a. k. a. unsuspecting date) and take a seat on the couch. After 15-20 minutes of small talk Grandma would suggest that she and I go into the kitchen and get something to drink. Once in the kitchen Grandma would always say, "He's not the one." FINALLY in 1988 I got the go ahead. The routine stayed the same, but this time, when we went into the kitchen, Grandma looked at me and said, "You can marry that one." And on July 2, 1989, I did just that. Years later I asked her what made the difference. She said that she never liked the way any of the others looked at me. I'm not exactly sure what that meant, but there was obviously something different in the way JB looked at me and it was enough to win Grandma. If it was good enough for Grandma, it was good enough for me..........and still is.

There are certain things that will never fail to remind me of Grandma - Dippity Doo hair gel, a crochet needle and the smell of Jergen's lotion; the hymns I mentioned earlier.........and Jesus. Grandma was the one who taught me about Jesus. I remember her telling me Bible stories about King David and King Solomon. For the longest time I just assumed that Grandma had written the book of Esther. Growing up I don't believe there was a day that she didn't tell me something about Jesus. There's no doubt that during my teen and young adult years, right up until the day I accepted Christ, it was Grandma's prayers that kept me safe and probably kept God from striking me in the head with lightning on more than a few occasions.

When I moved out on my own Grandma never "nagged" me about church or how I should be living. I don't remember her ever quizzing me about whether or not I drank or what else I was doing. I feel sure she knew, but she also knew that she'd spent many, many years laying a good foundation. I don't remember a time in my life when I've been able to look at Grandma and not see Jesus. I can't separate the two. If you see a picture of Colonel Sanders what do you think? Chicken. In the exact same way, when I look at Grandma I see Jesus. It's kind of like that unused hickory in the kitchen. It was always there and I had a healthy respect for it. Even during my "pit dwelling days" I could look at Grandma and Jesus was always there. I didn't have a relationship with Him during those years, but I still couldn't look at Grandma or even a picture of her without being fully aware of His presence. Without saying a word, she was my constant reminder and still is.

If you ask Sarah and Jesse who they see when they look at me, they will not say, "Jesus." For whatever reason, I think it skips a generation, but I would love to know that one day (many, many years from now, kids!) my grandchildren will see in me the One I've always seen in Grandma. I can't think of anything else I'd rather inherit than that legacy. Happy Mother's Day, Grandma!!! I love you!!!

2007-04-26T22:14:00.000-04:00

Tonight we took our youth group from church to Mutt's BBQ to do a fund raiser. I've never seen a group of kids works so hard, have so much fun and get so excited about making money........to give away. My sister, Missy arranged the fund raiser and drafted a few adults to help supervise. The way it works is the kids show up at 5:00. They are in charge of keeping the tables bussed, the condiments topped off and the drinks refilled. At the end of the night, they clean the dining room, restock the condiments and clean both bathrooms and take out all the trash. The kids get 100% of the tips and 10% of everything the restaurant takes in, which can be a good chunk of change for just a few hours work. Our youth made $400, which will be used to help restock the local food pantry.

"I don't know what's heavier, these plates or my earrings."

"These women are so loving me!"

"I love her so much I could just squeeze her little head off!"

"Nobody should get paid to have this much fun."

"I told you there was a catch!!!"

Psalm 23

2007-04-24T21:58:00.000-04:00

My Favorite Comment

2007-04-24T17:15:00.000-04:00

You guys have left me some really great comments since I've been blogging. Several of them have been, "Hey! Get off your lazy tail and write something, you bum!", but I received my favorite comment of all just a few minutes ago. If you want to read it, go here and look in my comments (I'm sure there's an easier way to do this, but I don't know it). I think you'll probably be able to figure out which one it is. Hurry up.......run along now. I'll sing or hum or something while you're gone......In Christ alone my hope is found hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm. This Cornerstone, this solid ground, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm.......

Back already? Was that not awesome? I think I need another kleenex. I know you remember everything that went on with Sarah a while back. It was quite an ordeal. Something that I never want to go through again, something that I would never wish on my worst enemy. Thank God it ended well.

Our church began revival last Sunday night. When the invitation was issued, I whispered to my sister, "Come down and pray with me." She stepped out into the aisle. I stepped out into the aisle. Someone from two pews back stepped out into the aisle.......and grabbed my arm to walk with me. I had a little deja vu moment there of my daddy giving me away (except Sarah wasn't saying, "You know, you don't have to do this. We can turn around at any point. We can leave right now and go have a few beers. And I wasn't saying, "Daddy, chill. I know what I'm doing!"). We got down to the altar and Sarah poured it out right there beside me. The snot stains on the carpet are still testifying.......mine and hers.

I love my baby. Someone told me that having teenagers is the closest a person will ever come to taking their heart out and letting it walk around by itself. It would be a hard thing to survive if it weren't for the fact that I know the Lord loves my baby even more than I do.

2007-04-20T16:49:00.000-04:00

I normally don't post jokes on my blog, but this one was too funny to pass up. A customer in the restaurant told me this one. Enjoy:

Two men were going full throttle in a speed boat out in the ocean. Out of nowhere, they hit a reef and were both thrown from the boat. The boat was splintered into a million pieces. After waking up on land they both combed the area and came to the conclusion that they were on a deserted island.

Guy #1 - "We're going to die."
Guy #2 - "Nope. I make $450,000 a week."
Guy #1 - "Are you delirious? We are on a deserted island - no food, no fresh water, no nothing. We are going to die."
Guy #2 - "No we're not. I make $450,000 a week."
Guy #1 -"You don't understand. Your money can't save you. We are on a deserted island. Our boat is gone. We are going to die!"
Guy #2 - "No, YOU don't understand. I make $450,000 a week............my preacher will find me."

Get it? "My preacher will find me." A little tithing humor............see? This is why I don't post jokes.

This post is for Jaime:

2007-04-12T20:30:00.000-04:00

Hey, girl. I'm out of town, as you know. Got here safely. Being the techno-wizard that I am, I can't get into my e-mail on this hotel computer.......can't remember my stinkin' password. I thought you might check-in here. I've thought about you a lot today and have prayed about your situation many times. Everything will be fine. Call me if you want to. I'd love to hear from you. I'll be home Saturday evening.

Love you!
Lucy

Things That Go "BOOM!"

2007-04-07T18:43:00.000-04:00

When I was growing up, things weren't always what they should've been, as is the case with a lot of people. No parent is perfect. No family is perfect. No situation is perfect. Just 6 years ago I met Jesus and found Him to be perfect and more than I'll ever need. I try not to relive the past because that's just what satan would have me to do and frankly, I've had enough of his calling the shots. But there are times when I can't help but wonder "what if?" I was always very nervous as a child, spent a lot of time walking around on eggshells, unlike my own kids who can take control of a room simply by walking into it. Sometimes I look at them and wonder, "Are they what I would've been had things been different?" I love my kids, but more than that, I really, really like my kids. They are both just overflowing with personality. And funny. My kids crack. me. up.

Sarah has a very dry sense of humor. A few years ago we were driving down a backroad, the same backroad that I'd driven down a blue zillion times before. I could've driven down this particular road with my eyes shut. All of a sudden we heard it, "BAM!" and there was the passenger side mirror of my Explorer, hanging by wires. In my rear view I could see a postless mailbox, spinning around in the road......looked just like one of those street dancers in New York, spinning around on a piece of cardboard. Sarah never cracked a smile, but turned and looked at me rather matter-of-factly and said, "I guess they were right." Me - "About what?!?" Sarah - "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear."

Jesse recently made himself a tater gun. He had seen one while he and my husband were on a hunting trip and could not rest (or let us rest) until he made his very own. I'd never seen one before, so I just couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. I should've known that I was in for a treat when I looked over his Tater Gun Shopping List - 5 feet of pvc pipe (check) pvc t-joint (check) pvc cap (check) pvc glue (check) igniter switch and hairspray (?!?!?) But I will admit, once he got the thing put together it was one impressive piece of weaponry. It was time for a test fire. He shoved a potato into one end of the barrel, opened the cap, loaded it up with about 12 seconds of Aqua Net (what? I know you didn't think I was giving him my good hairspray. I love my kids, but come on now!), hit the igniter switch and "BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!" that tater took off like a scud (spud?) missile. It sailed 400 yards if it went an inch. This wasn't just a tater gun. It was - The Taternater..................and I want one for Mother's Day.

2007-04-03T22:23:00.000-04:00

This post goes out to "Can't Fight Anymore", a commentor from the LPM Blog. Please e-mail me so that we can talk. I tried reaching you through the e-mail you left, but it came back "undeliverable."

I've really thought a lot about your comment on the LPM Blog and I've prayed for you several times. I want you to know that there is no such thing as a pit that's too deep for God's reach. What Beth Moore has experienced in her relationship with Jesus, what I've experienced and what so many of those other women have experienced is the very same thing that God wants you to have. If the Holy Spirit wasn't dealing with your heart already, I don't believe you would've ever been reading that blog, much less leaving the comment that you did. You say you "walked away" from God five months ago, but I don't think you did. I think you tried to walk away from Him and the fact that you are still asking questions and worrying about your relationship with Him is proof that you really didn't go far. He definitely didn't leave. The Bible says that God will never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6 & Hebrews 13:5). It doesn't say "unless we get upset and try to leave first." It says NEVER. He's still there. He never went anywhere. He's as far away as your next prayer. Do you believe that He exists? Be honest. You're not going to do yourself any favors by pretending to believe and you're not going to offend me if you say that you don't. There was a time when I didn't believe. If you don't believe, pray for Him to make you believe. It's ok for you to pray, even if you're not sure that you do believe. His existence is not dependent on your belief. He exists whether you believe He does or not. If you picked up the telephone and wasn't sure whether or not someone was on the other end of the line what would you do? Would you wait until you knew for sure that someone was there to ask them if they're there or would you say, "Hello? Is anyone there?" If there is someone on the other end of the phone, they are there whether you believe they are or not. What does it hurt to ask? Jeremiah 29:13 says, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity (the pit)" It's perfectly fine to pray for God to make you believe. Belief comes from God and even the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith (Luke 17:5).

I want you to take a deep breath and know that things are going to be OK. God can do more with our lives than either one of us can dare to imagine and that's exactly what He's going to do. Put your hope in what He can do, not what you can do. Pray for Him to increase your faith. Pray for Him to reveal Himself to you. I'm going to be praying that same prayer for you. Feel free to bounce your thoughts off of me if you want. I'll walk through this valley with you.

Love In Christ,
Lucy

2007-04-02T07:29:00.000-04:00

As most of you know, I'm a waitress. I roll my eyes and shake my head as I read that last (first?) sentence again. There's some words that 20 year old Lucy never hoped to be saying as 35 38 40 year old Lucy. Another example of some words 20 year old Lucy never hoped to be saying are "Me too" (in reply to 14 year old son announcing that he's growing a moustache). But back to the waitress thing........

I actually like being a waitress. On average the money is pretty good. The hours aren't bad at all and if I need to leave early for whatever reason, all I have to do is make the boss think that there might be something sexual in it for him and I'm outta there. Before y'all start throwing around words like "cheap" allow me to remind you that I work for my husband and cheap is all he can afford. And if you'll look back over the sentence in question, you'll see that I'm only making him THINK that there MIGHT be something sexual in it for him. I'm not actually following through with it. Exactly what kind of waitress do you people think I am?!? Anyway............

We're a little family style/meat and three restaurant (that happens to have the very best comfort food in the whole wide world - fried chicken, cube steak and gravy, chicken pie, macaroni & cheese, fried green tomatoes, fried okra, pinto beans, steamed cabbage, corn bread, incredible sweet iced tea....) and we get a lot of regular customers. It doesn't take very long to "learn" the regulars. Within three visits a good southern waitress will know your drink preference, your children's names and whether or not your mama's bursitis is actin' up.........and whether or not you're a good tipper. The other day a very regular customer came in during the heat of The Lunch Rush From Hell. Another waitress was out sick and we were training a new cashier. I was running like my butt was on fire and my hair was catchin'. Believe it or not, on any other day what I'm about to tell you would not have seemed so strange, because we get some crazy requests, but it was one of those days where I was going in a hundred different directions at one time. I passed myself three times during that one lunch shift. It's also not like it wasn't obvious to everyone watching that we. were. busy. A couple of my regulars took pity and actually moved some dirty dishes to another table before they sat down........and STILL left a good tip. God love 'em. Where was I? Oh, yeah.....this regular customer walked in at the peak of the rush. I ran over, slung a menu down, ran over to another table to deliver their drinks, ran over to another table, took their lunch order, ran it to the kitchen, ran some food to another table, ran to the waitress station fixed Regular Customer's 1/2 sweet, 1/2 unsweet tea in a to-go cup, no ice in tea, ice on the side ( in second glass) and an extra cup of sliced lemon and then ran it to him. Did I mention that I did all this in a little over 60 seconds? I got to Regular Customers table, sat his drink down and he asked, "Would you mind taking a little styrofoam cup of water out to my dog?" I'm not joking. He had left it in the back of his pick-up truck and wanted me to take it a cup of water. We don't offer curbside for humans, much less their pets!!! What do you say at a moment like this? I know what I wanted to say........"Does your dog tip?!?..........because I know you don't. If he does, let's bring him in and let you sit in the truck. If he tips better than you (and it's not possible that he doesn't), I'll even read the menu to him, sorta like his very own seeing eye waitress." Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to hide the bodies where they'll never be found.

Drop The Book And Come Out With Your Hands Up

2007-03-11T08:11:00.000-04:00

I love to read. I read all the time. I've often said that if this house ever caught fire it would take the firemen three days to extinguish the flames coming off the books alone. I think I have every book Beth Moore has ever written. Jay Adams has never had an unpublished thought, so I don't have all of his books, but I have a lot of them. Here lately though, books seem to be getting me into a lot of trouble. Case in point - Last summer JB and I took Jesse to Table Rock State Park for the day. Jesse was out on the high dive platform, doing his thing. JB and I were stretched out on the beach catching some rays. JB never has been much of a reader (unless of course you count all of those hunting magazines that find their way into our bathroom and never seem to find their way out). He's not one to just lay on a beach either. Book in hand, I could stay on the beach until.....well, forever actually or until the coroner drags me off in one of those big ziplock bags. What was I saying? Oh, yeah. books. There we were, laying on the beach. I was reading "The Excellent Wife" by Martha Peace when JB, bored out of his mind and looking for something to do, reached over with one finger and started jiggling the fat which is my rear-end. Be honest. What would you have done? Me too. I busted him in his head with my Excellent Wife book. I'm still waiting for Beth Moore to come out with "The Better Than Average Wife." I hope it's not a hardback.

Just last night JB and I were in bed. I had a book. He had the remote control. At some point he turned the television off and scooted over to my side of the bed. He had "man on a mission" written all over his face.

Me - "Not right now. I'm reading."

Him - "What are you reading?"

Me - "The Gift Of Sex"

Him - "Do you have it on tape?"

Then there was the time that I'd had enough. Enough, I tell you! E-nuff! Sarah and Jesse had taken me to places that God never intended the human psyche to go. I had been reading. I remember saying, "Jesse, if you don't shut. your. mouth. and do what I said for you to do, I'm going to call DSS ON MYSELF!!!" Did he take note of the twitch developing in my right eye? I don't think so. Did he assess the situation and go into "Yes, M'am Mode?" No. he. did. not. He laughed. Oh, yes he did. Out loud. The last words I remember hearing were Sarah's, "Oh, crap! She's gonna blow!" I hurled my book, ironically titled "When Godly People Do Ungodly Things" (Beth Moore) right at my only son's head. Thank God for the fact that my aim pulls to the left and not the right. Otherwise I would've hit my brand new lamp instead of his sister. I kid you not. I can't make this stuff up. If I could, I'd be writing a book instead of a blog. As the book fell to the floor, title up, I vividly remember thinking, "Beth would be so proud." I don't know who came up with the saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me", but I can promise you one thing.........it was no one in my family.

It Just Doesn't Get Any Better Than This. INHALE........

2007-03-07T09:11:00.000-05:00

Psalm 18
1 I love you, O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn [a] of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
5 The cords of the grave [b] coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.
7 The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry.
8 Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.
9 He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet.
10 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky.
12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
13 The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. [c]
14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies , great bolts of lightning and routed them.
15 The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.
16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support.
19 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.
20 The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I have not done evil by turning from my God.
22 All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees.
23 I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin.
24 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
26 to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.
27 You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
28 You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.
29 With your help I can advance against a troop [d] ; with my God I can scale a wall.
30 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God besides the LORD ? And who is the Rock except our God?
32 It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights.
34 He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great.
36 You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
38 I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet.
39 You armed me with strength for battle; you made my adversaries bow at my feet.
40 You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes.
41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them— to the LORD, but he did not answer.
42 I beat them as fine as dust borne on the wind; I poured them out like mud in the streets.
43 You have delivered me from the attacks of the people; you have made me the head of nations; people I did not know are subject to me.
44 As soon as they hear me, they obey me; foreigners cringe before me.
45 They all lose heart; they come trembling from their strongholds.
46 The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!
47 He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me,
48 who saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from violent men you rescued me.
49 Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD; I will sing praises to your name.
50 He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.

Because I Was Eavesdropping I Couldn't Help But Overhear......

2007-03-05T18:34:00.000-05:00

For those of you who don't know, I am a waitress. Because I am so down to earth and laid back and that quality does tend to come out in my writing, most people are shocked when they discover that I have such a glamorous job. Don't hate me because I'm succesful........hate me because I can't spel. Actually, my husband and his brother own the humble establishment in which I "kiss tail for dollars." I used to help manage the restaurant, but quit work for a short time to homeschool one of our chilrin'........whole nother can of worms that I will NOT be opening right now. Anyway.....what was I saying?....oh, yeah......... once I decided that public school with all it's gangsta activity, drugs and thugs was a much safer alternative for my precious daughter than staying home with me all day (duh!), I sent the kid back. STUPID! STUPID! STUPID! It took JB all of two years to realize that she was back in school and I was back at work in a flash!!! JB is just real observant like that. Nah, I'm joking. It only took him a couple of months. So anyway, I did go back to work, under one condition.......that I be limited to waiting tables. I despise managing and I despise training, but I do like being out on the floor interacting with (toying with the minds of) the customers. Seeing how I am a woman of few words, I said all that to say this:

I overhear some really interesting conversations in my line of work. Just the other day I overheard this conversation:

Guy #1 - "I never smoke while I'm in my computer room and I don't let anyone else smoke in there either."

Guy #2 - "Really? Why is that? I smoke in my computer room all the time."

Guy #1 - "You shouldn't. It's one of the worse things you can do to your computer. The smoke gets in your hardrive, your monitor, all of your equipment. The tar residue will actually gum up the inside of your computer and can eventually cause all kinds of problems. It's not a good thing."

Guy #2 - "Oh, man, I'm glad you told me that. I had no idea. I won't be doing that anymore."

I so wanted to scream, "YOU IDIOT!!!! Are you hearing what you are saying?!? You will not smoke in the same room with your computer, but you will smoke in the same room with your LUNGS!!!!!" But what do I know? I'm just a waitress.

Wordless Wednesday

2007-02-28T07:20:00.000-05:00

JB - "No, I don't want a Dacshund. We've already got beagles. We don't need a Dachshund."

JB - "No, we're not having an indoor dog. Dogs belong outside. People belong inside."

JB - "Well, I can tell you one thing right now, we'll never have a dog sleeping in the bed with us. That's just not going to happen."

Welcome to Wordless Wednesday, y'all! For more great pics go to 5MinutesForMom. You'll be glad you did!

2007-02-25T17:55:00.000-05:00

OK girls, bring out the White Rain and drag out those party shoes!!! The Ultimate Blog Party is just around the corner and YOU (yes, I mean YOU.....who did you think I was talking to?!?) are invited!!! Head on over to 5MinutesForMom and they will give you all the details. Go on now.......what are you waiting for?

2007-02-25T13:58:00.000-05:00

As all of my readers know (and by "all" I do mean all three of you) we have been wrung through the proverbial wringer this week, what with all the excitement going on with Sarah and Austin's Big Adventure and my turning 35 (and by "35" I do mean 40). We've done as much praying since they returned as we did during the 167 hours, 45 minutes and 21 seconds (but who's counting?) that they were gone. Most of you (two out of the three) know that I graduated from a two year biblical counseling class last June that, by all accounts, should've left me overflowing with no small amount of biblical discernment and wisdom. In reply to that idea I have but one word...... "HA!" There are just some things that I don't think they covered in Biblical Counseling 101. For starters:

Where exactly is the line that separates a parent's desire for their children to "not conform to the world" and plain old legalistic control? Case in point - For the past several years Sarah has had a preference for the dark, grungy, not quite gothic, not quite punk, not quite skateboard, not-quite-what-Mama-would've-picked-out-for-her-little-girl look. I can respect her individuality, style and creativity. I mean, I'm all about some funkified hair and I love me some ugly shoes, but if given the choice, everything she owns would have a skull on it, but she's not given that choice. I have put my foot down as far as anything related to death, suicide, ICP (for all of you who are fortunate enough to be asking, "What is ICP?".......it's a band.......Insane Clown Posse.......be afraid. Be very, very afraid) and/or anything else that would be obviously detrimental to her well-being. That still leaves a lot open for her. She wants everything she wears to be black or drab olive. She likes the depressed, "skary" look and it seems to have a definite effect on her attitude when she wears it. Part of me says that she's just doing it to get a rise out of me and the more I notice it, the more she's going to do it. Part of me says that if it's not outright sin, I should just hold my breath, bite my tongue and ride it out until she loses interest. Put on your thinking caps and give me some feedback.

2007-02-23T17:09:00.000-05:00

Once again, The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly neologism contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words.

The winners are:

1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.

3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.

6. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.

7. Gargoyle (n.), olive-flavored mouthwash.

8. Flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.

9. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.

10. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.

11. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

12. Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.

13. Frisbeetarianism (n.), (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

The Washington Post's Style Invitational also asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.

Here are this year's winners:

1. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

2. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.

3. Giraffiti (n): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

4. Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

5. Inoculatte (v): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

6. Hipatitis (n): Terminal coolness.

7. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

8. Dopeler effect (n): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

9. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

10. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

11. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you're eating.

PS - There are some really exciting things going on in blogville. Check this one out. You'll be glad you did.

2007-02-22T21:47:00.000-05:00

I'm back home with Sarah. Austin is back home with his mom. They will both be back in their beds tonight and JB and I will sleep like we haven't slept in over a week. God is so incredibly good. Thank you so very much for all of your prayers.

2007-02-22T07:24:00.000-05:00

THANK YOU, JESUS!!!!!!!

MY BABY IS COMING HOME!!!!!!!

Sarah and Austin were picked up by the police in Cleveland,TN....somewhere near Chatanooga. We don't know the details yet. We're waiting on a second phone call from the police so that we'll know the where/how to pick them up etc.

WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS MY THANKFULNESS FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-02-20T21:01:00.000-05:00

When we first realized that Sarah and Austin had run off, I was really aggravated, but I never imagined that they wouldn't be home by morning. We did get my church's prayer chain started and we did a lot of praying ourselves. We notified the police, which felt really strange because we really thought they'd be home soon. The first 24 hours went by and then 48 and 72 and the sickening panic really set in. Austin's mom and I took off to Titusville, Florida and I started getting hopeful because we knew they'd been there and we were going to get to speak to people who had seen them. I felt like we'd get there and before long, we'd be bringing them home. I did a lot of crying in Florida and I prayed, more like begging and pleading. On our way to Florida and while we were there I had a lot of time to think. I started thinking about what I had written in this post. I also thought about last Tuesday night. I spoke at a WMU meeting at church. I gave my testimony and spoke about why I believe and why I am so passionate about truth. One of the last sentences I spoke at that meeting was, "Truth is why fear over the "what if's" doesn't control me." What I didn't know was that at the exact same time I was speaking these words, my daughter was in the process of running away from home and I was getting ready to run head first into the biggest "what if" of my life.

As I thought about that previous post I had written and the last sentence I had spoken at WMU I couldn't help but wonder...........Is God trying to teach me to not talk so big? Was He trying to show me that my faith wasn't what I thought it was? Was He teaching me a lesson in humility? I thought, "Fine, I'll never write or speak on truth again. Since my faith is apparently not what I thought it was, I'll just keep my mouth shut on the subject."

In the meantime, we continued to look for Sarah and Austin. It didn't take long to figure out that during the day I would get pretty hopeful and I could more or less keep my composure, but at night I would lose it. There's something about the sun going down and not knowing where Sarah is that makes me come completely undone. As I begged and pleaded with God I started doubting everything that I knew to be true. Was He listening? Did He care? Was He going to do anything or just stand back with His arms crossed while my family fell apart? I talked to my pastor's wife Monday and told her where I stood emotionally and spiritually. I told her that I knew that God commanded me to not worry, but if that's what He wanted, He was going to have to give me the ability to not worry. If He wanted me to have peace, He was going to have to give me peace, because I couldn't manufacture it on my own. I'd tried. He was going to have to furnish that peace. If he wanted me to have faith, He was going to have to supply it. If He wanted me to trust Him and not panic, He was going to have to plant that trust in my heart. Whatever He was commanding of me, He was also going to have to supply. I had no supply of my own. Sandra started praying.

Yesterday morning I woke up. I prayed and I sat down and started my quiet time with God, something that I hadn't been able to focus on since Sarah and Austin left. That was when I remembered something. For a couple of years now, JB and I have been dealing with Sarah's rebellion. She was spending more time grounded than she was spending enjoying being a teenager. We were constantly taking her car and phone away. We were constantly locking horns with her and we felt like nothing was working. I was spending way too much time worked up, anxious and worrying about whether or not she was going to destroy her life. I knew beyond a doubt that it was not God's will for me to worry. It was not God's will for me to be anxious about anything. I knew that somehow I had to stop worrying and being anxious and I had to give it to God and leave it there. During another quiet time I was reminded of Matthew 18:19 ("Also, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something and pray for it, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven."). I decided to take God up on that scripture. With the exception of the first paragraph (which came from "David, 90 Days With A Heart Like His" by Beth Moore), I wrote the following prayer and a very close friend of mine, who also happens to be my kids Sunday School teacher, agreed to pray it with me and on January 13, exactly one month before Sarah and Austin ran away, we prayed:

"Lord God, may I want nothing greater for my children than that they should be taught by You, established on a foundation of righteousness. May I faithfully tell them of Your might and the wonderful works You have performed, that they might put their confidence in You - that they might become a generation whose heart is loyal and whose spirit is faithful to You.

Lord, there is nothing that I want more than for Sarah and Jesse to be walking victoriously, each step guided by Your truth. There is nothing that I want more than for Sarah and Jesse to desire You above all else. I pray that You will make me an example to them of unwavering faith and calmness in the storm. There have been too many times that I've served as an example of just the opposite. I've been an example of raw panic in the storm. Please remove that image from their minds forever and replace it with the image of what you are going to make of me. In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen."

After we prayed it, I printed it off and put it in one of my dresser drawers. I felt like there would come a day when I would need to look back at it to remind myself of what we had prayed and that God had heard. Sure enough, I found myself looking at it again this morning. That's when it occured to me. I prayed for Sarah to be walking victoriously, each step guided by truth. That prayer was within the boundaries of God's will. Dead people do not walk victoriously. God will bring her home. I also prayed that God would make me an example of unwavering faith and calmness in the storm. He can't do that without a storm......this storm.

In Genesis Chapter 45, Joseph refers to a traumatic experience he'd had growing up. You know the story. His jealous brothers had sold him to the Midianite merchants, but God took over and worked it so that Joseph would end up in charge of everything Pharaoh owned and he would eventually save his entire family from famine. What Joseph's brothers meant for evil, God used for good. satan wants to use this situation to destroy my faith. he wants me to doubt God. he wants me to take my focus off the truth. I believe with all my heart that God is going to use this situation to build my faith and to bring Sarah closer to the end of herself. What satan meant to use to tear down, God is going to use to build-up. Whether satan realizes it or not, he is still doing God's bidding.

I don't know if this situation alone will be what drives Sarah to the end of herself, but I do know that at some point, she will come home and at some point she will be walking victoriously.

I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly tell satan to go to hell. I will not doubt God's control over this situation and I will not turn my back on the truth.

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." ~ 1 Peter 1:6&7

Update

2007-02-18T15:26:00.000-05:00

Friday we got word that Sarah and Austin were definitely in the Titusville, Florida area, which is 12 hours from home.......we live in the Greenville, SC area. The police had gone to an address there where a friend of Austin's lives with his grandparents. They showed the grandparents a picture of Sarah and the grandparents said that she had definitely been at their house with Austin on Wednesday afternoon, but had left. Austin's mom and I took off to Titusville Friday. We arrived in Titusville around midnight and looked until 4:00 a. m. We got a room, slept until 7:00 and got up and looked until around midnight again. We were able to find out that this "friend" of Austin's was able to contact Austin after they left his house and informed him that the Titusville police were looking for them. There's no telling where they went after that. Last night his mom and I slept at her mother's house in Orlando. At 12:00 I boarded a plane and flew back home. His mom is going to stay a little longer. Will let you know if anything changes.

2007-02-15T19:52:00.000-05:00

It's 8:00 pm and we still haven't heard from Sarah and Austin. They've been missing for 48 hours now. They could be anywhere at this point. Sarah's picture has been sent to all the law enforcement agencies nationwide. She and Austin are both listed in the system as missing persons. I'd give anything in the world if she would just get pulled over for speeding so that her license would be run. I never thought I'd pray for one of my children to get caught speeding, but I'm sure praying it now. Lord, please protect them and bring them back home.

Update

2007-02-15T07:26:00.000-05:00

I requested prayer Wednesday on BooMama because my 16 year old daughter, Sarah and her 15 year old boyfriend had run away from home. So far, we haven't heard a word from either one of them, nor has anyone seen them. They got caught cutting school together for the second time Monday. The first time they cut school his mother told him that if he got into anymore trouble she would have him transferred to a different high school. I'm sure Sarah knew that she was about to have her truck taken away, so instead of facing the consequences, they took off. My husband owns a restaurant where Sarah works after school and weekends. She had gone to work Tuesday. The last time anyone saw them was around 7:30 Tuesday evening when Sarah left work. Please continue praying. Please request prayer at your churches too. I'll keep you posted.

2007-02-05T20:32:00.000-05:00

Ever since I was saved I've prayed and asked God to use me. I've prayed for God to be glorified in my life. I've tried to give Him every area of my life and told Him that it's all His to do with what He will. I've asked Him to empty me of myself and to clean away any remaining residue that tries to stick and to pour Himself in. I've even offered Him my free will, told Him that I don't want it anymore because with it, I stand too big a chance of messing things up. I want to be a "woman after God's own heart" so bad that I can taste it. So, what happens when a storm hits? I freak. I let my emotions control me. I go into a crying fit. I take my eyes off Jesus and I start to sink. I want God glorified in my life..............as long as it's at a convenient time.........and painless. I want Him to empty me of myself and clean away any remaining residue that tries to stick, but exactly what process am I expecting Him to use to accomplish that? I doubt that's it's going to be Windex and a paper towel. Zechariah 13:9 says, "I will refine them like silver and test them like gold." In 1 Peter 1:7, Peter is writing about the various trials that a believer must endure. "These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." According to Webster, to refine is "to free from impurities or unwanted material." In simpler terms, God will, from time to time, allow trials to come into our lives to burn the fake off our faith. Psalm 66:10 states, "For you, O God, tested us; You refined us like silver." It's interesting to note that in the process of refining silver, the silversmith places the silver in the hottest part of the fire, but at no time does he ever turn loose of the silver or take his eyes off the silver for even a second because if left in the fire too long the silver could be destroyed. How does the silversmith know when the silver is fully refined and all impurities removed?..............when He can see His image in it.

Every Good And Perfect Gift

2006-03-07T22:10:00.000-05:00

I can remember being around ten years old, not long after my parents divorced. Daddy's birthday was coming up. Not old enough to work, I had no idea where the money was going to come from to get Daddy a gift. It never dawned on me that asking Mama for the money was an option. The divorce was still fresh and I didn't think getting him a gift was high on her list of priorities at that time. We had just moved to Panama City, so I didn't know anyone well enough to ask for the money. Grandpa and Grandma were in Greenville, along with everyone else I knew. It looked pretty hopeless.

The last weekend before Daddy's birthday was his visitation weekend. As usual, he picked Missy, Kathie and me up, but instead of going to his apartment, he took us to the mall. At the mall, Daddy handed each one of us a twenty dollar bill and explained that he knew we had no means to get him anything for his birthday. He told us that he would be sitting on a bench in the center of the mall when we got finished shopping.

It wasn't until many years later that I understood what Daddy had done. It wasn't the gift he was after. He had everything he needed and considering our ages, he was taking a real gamble trading the cash for what we might pick out (What did he need more, another bottle of "High Karate Cologne", another "#1 Dad" statue or a Hillshire Farms gift basket?........or his $60?). Daddy wasn't investing that money into his own birthday present. He was investing that money into his girls. He didn't want us to feel bad about being unable to get him a birthday gift. That money was an investment into us, not him.

Is that not the same way our Heavenly Father invests Himself into us? If I've learned anything, it's that God never asks anything from us that He's not willing to give to us. There have been times when I could feel my Bible study going dry. I couldn't muster up the desire to study. There has never been a time yet when I've asked God to re-light in me a passion for Scripture that He hasn't done it. A year or so ago I started praying, "God make me love You the way You want to be loved." He's doing it.

In what areas of your walk are you lacking? What would you love to be giving to God, but can't seem to manufacture on your own - faith, love, devotion, trust? Do you want God to be the delight of your life, but just end up feeling guilty when you can't seem to make it happen? Do you want a deeper relationship with Him, but you're not sure how to go about getting it? Every good and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17). If there is an area of your life that you sense is not pleasing to God, don't continue trying to fix it in your own strength. Pray for God to empower you to please Him. He'll do it every time.

".......since it is God Who is producing in you both the willingness and the ability to do the things that please Him." - Philippians 2:17

Do We Want To Get Well?

2006-01-02T11:14:00.000-05:00

In John 5, Jesus went to the pool called Bethesda. Around this pool a great number of disabled people gathered. When the waters of the pool were stirred, the disabled would go into the water to be healed. One of the people there was a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. Verse 6 tells us, "When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, 'Do you want to get well?" At first glance this may seem like a strange question. Of course he wanted to get well.......or did he? Is it possible that he wasn't really all that eager to be healed? Had he become comfortable in his affliction? Is it possible that his affliction had become more of a leaned-on crutch than a hindrance? According to Jewish law, this man's defects would have made him ceremonially unclean (Lev. 21:16). He certainly wouldn't be expected or even allowed to serve in the temple nor participate in any of the Jewish holy days or ceremonies. He was unable to work and because he was ceremonially unclean, no one dared get near him for fear of becoming unclean themselves. No one would've made any demands of him, nor would there be any expectations placed on him. Along with his healing would've come obligations.

How many of us have learned to live with our own defects, maybe even to the point of becoming comfortable with them? We may even half-heartedly pray for healing or deliverance, but in the back of our hearts we hear Jesus ask us, "Do you want to get well?" Sometimes our affliction manifests itself in the form of something physical, but more times than not, it's the mental, emotional and/or spiritual affliction that is in need of healing. It's these non-physical wounds that we are more likely to hang onto like a stray animal until they become our pets. We care for them, feed them, but eventually they grow big enough to turn and devour us.

Who hasn't used the excuse, "That's just the way I am. My father (mother, aunt, grandmother) was the same way. There's nothing I can do about it." It's the bandage we use to cover our anger problems, control issues, refusal to submit, fear, laziness (and that's just some of the things for which I've used that excuse as a cover in my own life. How about you?). It doesn't take a lot to turn the bandage into bondage. That may be the way we are and there may be nothing we can do about it, but it's not the way God wants us to be and Jesus Christ can do everything about it.

Let's not be resigned to our condition. Jesus is asking us, "Do you want to get well?"

"Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows.................He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." - Isaiah 53:4&5

2005-12-17T20:01:00.000-05:00

My baby sister, Kathie got married today. They had a very nice ceremony. Considering everything going on with the weather here, it's a million wonders they were able to pull it off. In the very early hours of Thursday morning the upstate of South Carolina got hit with an ice storm. There are a hundred and so thousand people without power right now. We were without power for two days, but just about everyone I know is struggling through their third day with no power.

Donald and Kathie, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I pray that God will bless your marriage and your family more than you ever dreamed possible!!!

Merry CHRISTmas!!!

2005-12-12T21:00:00.000-05:00

I keep hearing about how so many department stores and other business's are trading "Merry Christmas" for "Season's Greetings" and other generic lingo. I walked through the Christmas section at K-Mart yesterday just to see if I could find anything even remotely connected with the true meaning of Christmas. Christ was nowhere to be found. I did, however, find Harry Potter ornaments and stockings. I found plenty of NASCAR ornaments. I even found some ornaments with slot-machines, dice, playing cards and the words "black-jack" on them. I give it five more years (if that long) and with the exception of Christian bookstores, we won't be able to find anything that pertains to Christ in any store at Christmas time or Easter. What I want to know is why Christians aren't losing their minds over this! Back when the big confederate flag issue was all the talk and various groups were trying to get it removed from the statehouse in Columbia, protesters came out of the woodwork. It seemed like everyone in the state of SC was flying the confederate flag. I never really noticed the flag that much until someone said something about banning it and then it was EVERYWHERE. We're not talking about a flag this time. We are talking about keeping Christ in Christmas. Why is the ban on Jesus/Christianity in Christmas not getting the reaction that the controversey over the confederate flag got? Does anyone even care? I did paint "Happy Birthday, Jesus" on the back window of my car. It's not much, but maybe other Christians will catch on.

One man can stand alone for 100% of the people. Why is it that the 80% who claim to bear His name can't stand TOGETHER for Him?

Modern Day Jonah

2005-12-08T15:29:00.000-05:00

We recently studied from the book of Jonah in Sunday School. Although God was commanding Jonah to go preach to the Ninevites, I can't help but wonder if God wasn't using the Ninevites to change Jonah instead of Jonah to change the Ninevites. This occasion is the only time that the Old Testament mentions God sending a prophet to preach to a gentile nation. Jonah hated the Ninevites. They had been responsible for the deaths of many of Jonah's fellow Israelites. In Jonah's mind, they weren't deserving of mercy. Those bad old Ninevites were nothing like him. He would've taken great pleasure in their pain. It's what they deserved.

Before God ever commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh, He knew what Jonah's attitude would be. He already knew Jonah's heart. He also knew that Jonah would do the job half-heartedly when he finally did get around to going. When Jonah started running, why didn't God just send someone else, someone who wouldn't give Him (and everyone else) such a hard time, someone who would really put their heart into it? The Ninevites did repent and it's obvious that their repentance came from a moving of the Spirit and not as the result of Jonah's passionate words of eloquence. Apparently it didn't take any great human talent to "git-r-done", so why did God insist that Jonah go? Could it be that this particular job assignment was designed to bring about as much change in Jonah's heart as the Ninevite's?

It never fails that anytime I start praying for God to change someone, He always changes something in me first. Years ago I started praying for God to change a particular family member (FYI - If you're reading this blog, then you're not the particular family member). This person was hanging out in sleazy places with shady characters. He was constantly drunk and showing up at work the next morning still smelling like the night before. He didn't seem to care or have enough sense to realize that he was embarrassing himself and putting a burden on his family. In one way or another everyone in the family was being affected by his irresponsible, self-centered behavior, but as far as he was concerned it was "his life" and none of anyone else's business - until he would find himself in trouble and needing someone to bail him out. I prayed constantly for God to open his eyes and change his heart, but that's not all I prayed. I prayed for God to teach him a lesson, to make him hit rock bottom so that he would be forced to change his ways. I prayed for God to drop-kick this person to repentance. Then one day, as I was praying, I felt God speak to my heart. He said, "If I save him today, will you shut-up and be happy?" I thought, "You mean by-pass "the lesson", rock-bottom and the drop-kick and just save him, make him a new creation, do not pass go, do not collect $100? You mean let him get away with everything he's done in the past and just make him new and give him a clean slate (like you did me)?" I didn't have to think about it but a minute. I knew what my answer was. No, I would not have been happy. I wanted him to be saved, but first, I wanted to see his lifestyle blow-up in his face because of all the aggravation he had caused for so long. Starting that day I quit praying for his salvation and started praying for God to change me and make me see this person through God's eyes. Since I changed the way I pray about this person, God has allowed me to feel the tension between us melt. We talk more. We laugh more and I trust God to direct this person's life according to His plan, His time and in His way, with no creative input from me.

2005-12-07T20:54:00.000-05:00

I've got sixty weeks of Biblical Counseling classes behind me and twenty weeks to go. At the moment, I'm out for winter break. I go back in January. If I never counsel a single person, the classes have been well worth my time and money for what I've learned and been able to apply to my own life. I've always heard people refer to the Bible as a "handbook for life", but never realized how literal we should be taking that description until I started taking counseling classes. Why is it so easy to let our eyes pass over the words, but not take all of them to heart? I remember last year when we were studying the biblical roles of husband and wife. As we started getting into the area of "submission" I can remember thinking, "Oh...... He really meant that?!? He wasn't meaning me, though. Right?" As we started digging into scripture I began to realize that I had some really warped ideas about what submission was and wasn't. I think most women (and more than a few men) have the same warped ideas. Not only are wives failing misrebly in the area of submission, more than a few men are failing to become God's kind of husband. When God asks the husbands, "Why did you not assume the leadership position in your house like I commanded you to?", do you really think, "She wouldn't let me!" is going to cut it? Just like women are falling into the "got to have the perfect body trap" that Hollywood and the fashion industry has set, men have sat back and allowed the television media to transform the husband's image into the likes of Al Bundy & Homer Simpson............and even if you haven't fallen for it, don't think for a moment that it's not having an effect on your sons. If husbands and wives took the time to find out what God really expects from each one of them in their marriage, applied it and taught it to their children, we would all be amazed by the results.

Adirondac Chairs From A Place In The Woods

2005-12-07T16:57:00.000-05:00

My Uncle Johnny lives in Dacusville, SC and has been making adirondac chairs, rocking chairs and swings for years. He started out making them just for people he knew and loved (like favorite nieces), but then moved up to big-time events like the Pumpkintown Pumpkin Festival and Dacusville Farm Days. He has recently hit the big time and become an official "high-tech-redneck." Cyberspace will never be the same.

Sominex Poster-Child 1972 & 1997

2005-12-06T23:40:00.000-05:00

2005-12-06T21:50:00.000-05:00

Missy and I went to the nursing home to see Grandpa and Grandma today. While we were there we decorated each of their rooms for Christmas. For those of you who don't know, my Grandma is 81 years old and has altzheimer's. Eleven years ago my daddy, stepmother and 14 year old sister were killed in a car wreck. Grandma started showing signs of altzheimers as early as the day after the wreck. My daddy was her oldest son. Grandma went into the nursing home 2 years, 8 months and 23 days ago. The altzheimers got to the point that it became dangerous for Grandpa to take care of her by himself. He never knew when she was going to know that he was her husband and when she was going to think that he was a stranger who had broken into her house. On one occasion she left the house in the middle of the night and started walking up the road. She said that she was going home, meaning the house she had grown up in.

When Grandma first went to the nursing home Grandpa would visit her everyday. He would get there early in the day and stay until he knew she had fallen asleep in the evening. Those weren't easy hours to keep for an 81 year old man with Parkinson's Disease. Eventually, Grandpa's Parkinson's got so bad that it became unsafe for him to drive. Instead of worrying about whether or not he would be able to find someone to take him to see Grandma everyday, he chose to move into the nursing home with her. He's in one unit and she's in another, but every morning he walks over to her unit and sits with her until he knows she's fallen asleep and then he'll walk back over to his unit.

I sat and watched Grandma today while she ate. Sometimes when I'm with her I'll make the mistake of letting my mind wander back 12 years. I'll remember her laugh and the sound of her voice. I'll remember when she used to look at me instead of through me. And then I'll feel my throat closing up. It's so hard to believe that somewhere behind those dull eyes lives the same woman who used to threaten to "pull my arm off and beat me with the bloody stump." I'd love to make contact with her just one more time this side of Heaven. I can't even express how much I miss her.

Less Is More

2005-12-06T05:29:00.000-05:00

As Christmas approaches, I've been thinking a lot about the way God chose to reveal Himself to us through His son, Jesus Christ. Although He possesses all power and authority, God chose to wrap Himself in flesh and present Himself as an ordinary man. He could've presented Himself in wealth and power with all the splendor and prestige of Solomon, but He didn't. He wasn't born into a prominent family, but made Himself the son of a young Jewish girl. When it came time for the Savior of the world to make his earthly appearance, there was no pomp and circumstance, no trumpet blast, no lightning flash. The Prophet Isaiah wrote this description of Jesus - "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." He was born in a smelly stable and placed in a manger. Less is more.

God could've chosen any number of people to experience the incredible honor of being the very first visitors of the Newborn King. Bethlehem was full of people registering for the census. Every class of people was represented in Bethlehem that night. Surely He could've found someone more "important" to share this night with, but that's not who He wanted. God chose to spend His very first moments on earth with a group of smelly shepherds. Shepherds were considered the lowest of the low, social outcasts. They were a despised class of people. Their work made it impossible for them to observe the Jewish ceremonial laws and temple rituals. They were considered religiously unclean. They had a reputation for being thieves, (although not all were) and were not allowed to give testimony in a Jewish court of law. Yet they were the very ones God chose to bear witness to and spread the good news about the birth of the Savior.

Throughout history God has always used unqualified people to bring about his plan, not because "good help is hard to find", but because flawed, unqualified, weak people are who God takes great pleasure in choosing. God delights in the underdog. The world's outcasts are God's treasures.

Joseph was a smelly shepherd, but God made him second in command to Pharaoh. Rahab was a prostitute who God used to hide two Jewish spies. That same prostitute was "cleaned up" and placed in the lineage of Christ. Gideon, who described himself as the weakest man of the weakest tribe of Judah, was hiding from the Midianites in a wine press when God called him a "mighty warrior". David was another one of those smelly shepherds hand-picked by God to lay Goliath out with a slingshot and a stone. God took this social outcast and made him one of the most powerful kings of Judah. God took an orphaned Jewish girl named Esther and made her a queen. God used her to save the Jewish people from annihilation.

It's not unusual for God to take a person down a peg or two in order to make him usable. In the book of Judges (ch.7) Gideon started out with 32,000 men in his army. God told Gideon, "You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands." So that Israel couldn't boast that her own strength had saved her, God whittled Gideon's army down to a mere 300 men. Less is more.

Even Moses had to be taken down a notch or two. In Acts 7 Stephen is delivering a speech to the Sanhedrin. In verse 22 he starts telling them about Moses' "growing up years." Stephen says, "Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action." Say what?!? Back in Exodus I seem to remember Moses asking God to send someone else because, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." What happened to cause Moses to lose his self-confidence? Starting at Acts 7:23, Stephen continues telling the Sanhedrin about Moses. When Moses was 40 years old he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian. Moses defended the Israelite by killing the Egyptian. He thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they didn't. The next day Moses tried to reconcile two Israelites who were fighting. One turned on Moses and asked him if he was planning to kill him like he had the Egyptian. Afraid that Pharaoh might kill him, Moses fled to Midian. Where had Moses gone wrong? I imagine that Moses was powerful in speech and action, just as Stephen had said. He had been raised as a member of Pharaoh's family. He had received a royal education, so what went wrong? Moses was acting in his own strength when he killed the Egyptian. God had not sent him. He went on his own. God was not with him in his effort. The reason the Israelites didn't realize that God was using Moses was because God wasn't using Moses. After killing the Egyptian Moses left his influencial life of luxury, fled to Midian and became (this is good!)................... a smelly shepherd (Ex.3:1). Less is more. Forty years after escaping to Midian Moses saw the burning bush. God told Moses that He had heard the cry of his people. He adds, "I have come down to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians..........So now, go.........I am sending you." Notice that God didn't say, "So, go now." He said, "So now, go." God was giving Moses the green light. "I am slow of speech and tongue." Moses had lost the self-confidence that he had displayed when he was doing it on his own. God took Moses to a place where he had to rely on God-Confidence. Exodus 4:21 - "The Lord said to Moses, 'When you return to Egypt, see that you perform all the wonders I have given you the power to do.'" Moses was more usable being of slow speech and tongue, but acting in the power of God than he would have ever been as an educated, powerful speaker acting in his own strength. Less is more.

The Apostle Paul was very familiar with the "less is more" concept. Before becoming an apostle he was highly educated, a student of Gamaliel. He came from a very prominent family. On the road to Damascus God struck him blind that he might see. Less is more.

To keep Paul humble God gave him a "thorn in the flesh." Three times Paul begged God to take it away, but God said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Paul added, "When I am weak, then I am strong." Less is more.

"Less is more" not only applied to who God chose to use, but it applied to how those people trusted in God's provision. When Jesus would send his disciples out he would instruct them to take nothing for the journey, no money, no bag, no extra coat, no extra sandals. When Elijah was starving (1 Kings 17) did God send him to a fully stocked storehouse for food? No. God sent him to a widow who didn't have enough food to keep herself and her son alive, but God provided. Less is more.

How much time do we spend trying to impress God? How much time do we spend beating ourselves up when we fail to impress a God who can't be impressed? Better yet, how many times have we chosen to turn away from an opportunity to be used by God because we didn't feel we were qualified? Maybe God chose us because we're not qualified. Afterall, Less is more.

2005-12-03T16:35:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite stories to tell is about how JB and I met. I was twenty-one years old. I had recently moved out of the house that I had rented with a high school friend and moved into a house with another friend in a different part of town. At that time I worked in the office of my grandpa's business, along with my mother, grandmother and cousin.

Everyday around noon we would call in an order at one of the local restaurants and one of us would go pick it up and bring it back to the office. For a few months we had been watching the progress of a new restaurant that was going to be opening in September. We were anxious for a new place to eat.

Finally, on September 29, 1988 the new restaurant, Carson's Country Kitchen was open for business. We called in our order and I was delegated to go pick it up. As I pulled into the parking lot it was obvious that they had already attracted a large crowd. Once inside I made my way to the cash desk and took my place at the end of the line of people waiting to pay and pick up orders. Directly behind the cash desk was a window where customers could see into the kitchen. As I looked back into the kitchen, up walked, from the other side of that window, the most gorgeous human being I had ever layed eyes on. He was black headed, dark skinned with brown eyes and a moustache. As we made eye contact, he smiled (great lips), nodded his head towards me and winked. It was as if God whispered into my heart, "That's him, the man you're going to marry." I knew nothing about him. He could've been a dishwasher for all I knew (or for all I cared), but one thing was certain, I knew I was going to marry him one day.

When I got back with lunch, I walked straight into my mother's office, dropped the bags of food on her desk and said, "I just met the father of my children." She rolled her eyes at me, laughed and said, "Yeah, right." I asked her, "Have you ever heard me say that before?" She said, "No" and I said, "Well, mark my word because I'm telling you now. I just met the father of my children."

That evening when I got home from work I started telling the story to my roommate, Judy. Judy told me that her family had known the Carson family for years and she suggested that we eat dinner there that night, along with some other friends and she would see if she could find out about my future husband.

When we arrived at Carson's they were even busier than they had been at lunch. We were greeted at the door by the matriarch of the Carson family, Jane Carson. As she escorted us to our table, Judy introduced her to everyone in our group. Just as Judy was about to introduce me to Mrs. Carson, she (Mrs. Carson) looked at me, smiled the brightest smile, put her arm around me and said, "You don't have to introduce this one. I know her" and she gave me a squeeze. To this day I have no idea who she thought I was because we had never layed eyes on each other before that night.

To make a long story short, the "gorgeous guy in the kitchen" ended up being Jane Carson's youngest son, JB, and I spent the next two weeks eating almost every meal at Carson's trying to get him to notice me. For two weeks I ate at least one meal every day at Carson's. Most of the time during those two weeks I ate two meals a day at Carson's and a few times I went in for three meals in one day. Towards the end of those two weeks I started getting so sick of Carson's food and Judy was getting so sick of listening to me whine. Finally she said, "Enough is enough", walked right up to JB in the restaurant, told him that her roommate wanted to go out with him and gave him our number. He called that night. Our first date was two weeks before Halloween. He gave me my engagement ring the following Valentines day and we were married the following July...........just a little over nine months from the first time I layed eyes on him. And now you know the rest of the story.

2005-12-03T08:13:00.000-05:00

Recently JB and I had to go to a parent teacher conference for our son, Jesse. Jesse is twelve years old and in the seventh grade. We couldn't imagine why one of his teachers felt it necessary to call a conference. Jesse was making excellent grades in all of his classes. Obviously, one of his teachers had it in for him. One? We walked into the conference room and around the table sat every one of Jesse's teachers. Jesse sat nervously at the end of the table. Who could blame him for being nervous? He was obviously the victim of a well-planned conspiracy. One by one each of his teachers took turns praising Jesse for his outstanding grades and class participation. Exactly who did they think they were fooling? Teachers don't call conferences for outstanding grades. We knew they had something else up their sleeves. Just as we suspected, the mood of the conversation changed. One by one each of Jesse's teachers made their complaints known. We couldn't believe what we were hearing. Surely they weren't talking about our son. It took a few minutes for us to get over the initial shock. Our son? Our little Jesse..................a class clown?

As those words rang in our ears, our thoughts revisited the past twelve years. Had there been signs? Had we missed them? It's so easy to see the signs when it's someone else's kid, but whoever expected this to come knocking on our door?

Jesse's teachers seemed to think that he had some sort of irrepressible need to entertain people, oftentimes in inappropriate ways and at inappropriate times. Someone mentioned "Jim Carey with Tourette's".

How is it possible that his own family had not noticed Jesse's obvious cry for help? He had always seemed so normal to us..............

2005-11-11T19:06:00.000-05:00

Dateline (NBC) is airing a program tonight about the birth of Jesus. Why do I get the feeling that it's just going to be another one of those programs that attempts to throw doubt on the Bible and Christianity? And why do I always get aggravated when I see something like that? If anything, I should get excited. The Bible warns us that there will come a time when men will not put up with sound doctrine. We're warned about false prophets. I should be rejoicing every single time I'm told that I'm closed-minded or that the Bible is outdated. Scripture warns against these things, so every time they occur, Scripture is actually validated. I like what Charles Spurgeon said, "Scripture is like a lion. Whoever heard of defending a lion? Just turn it loose; it will defend itself."

People have so many misconceptions about the Bible. I can't help but wonder how many well-meaning (and in many cases, Scripturally ignorant) Christians have added to these misconceptions. Take, as an example, the subject of submission in marriage. Just mention the word "submission" in front of a group of women (Christian women not excluded) and necks start rolling and fingers start flapping like flags on the Fourth of July. These are the same women who will condemn a person to hell for wearing white after labor day, but can ignore every section of scripture dealing with submission. Take a fresh look at Proverbs 31:10. Does that sound like a woman who is treated like a piece of property to you? God commands husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church. Christ loved the church sacrificially and gave himself up for her. 1 Peter 3:7 says, "Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life...............so that nothing will hinder your prayers." God is basically saying, "If you want me to hear you, hear me..............'treat her right!'" Sounds like a pretty sweet deal if you ask me.

How is it that the word "intolerant" has become synonymous with the word "Christian"? If I see my child playing near an open well and I stop him, am I being intolerant? If I tell my child to fasten her seatbelt, am I being intolerant? God does not prohibit anything that doesn't have the potential to hurt us. He doesn't command anything that won't bless us.

How is it possible to take even a shallow look at the history of the Jewish people and still question the the validity of the Bible? God promised Abram that He would make from him a great nation. He also warned that if this great nation was unfaithful to Him, He would use other nations to remove them from their land and that they would eventually be scattered across the whole world and live as strangers in a land that was not their own....................but they would remain a nation. Not only has the nation of Israel survived, but the nations that persecuted them have either been destroyed or completely lost their individual identity. As Josh McDowell wrote in "Answers To Tough Questions", "History has domonstrated that any people who leave their homeland will, after about five generations, lose their national identity by being absorbed into the new culture, but the Jews remained a distinct entity. Have you ever heard of a Swedish Moabite? A Russian Philistine? A German Edomite? An American Ammonite? No! These people have been totally absorbed into other cultures and races. However, have you ever heard of a Swedish Jew? A Russian Jew? A German Jew? An American Jew? Yes! As prophesied, they have not lost their identity."

If the God of the Bible isn't the Creator, why hasn't some "other god" stepped up and taken credit for the universe? Surely an entity powerful enough to create everything that exists is powerful enough to make himself known. "In the beginning God..............."

2005-11-08T15:59:00.000-05:00

If you remember, I wrote (10/13/05) about buying a bag of nuts that carried a warning that said something to the effect of, "Allergy Warning - This product is produced in a facility that processes nuts.", or something to that effect. I think I've finally figured out how it might be that somebody came up with that warning. I bought another bag of nuts today. This one pretty much had the same warning, but I also read, "At Planters, we're passionate about fresh tasting nuts. In fact, our nuts taste famously fresh...nut after nut after nut. Our nuts are packaged in an oxygen-reduced environment to deliver quality to you." Apparently Mr. Peanut has his marketing people working in that same oxygen-reduced environment.

2005-11-05T20:05:00.000-05:00

Sarah, how about some croutons with that salad?

2005-11-03T20:16:00.000-05:00

ALL THE GIRLIES SAY,

"HE'S PRETTY FLY, FOR A WHITE GUY"

2005-10-25T17:34:00.000-04:00

You hear some of the strangest conversations around my house. Being home alone is no cure for it either. Take for instance the phone call I received from my 12 year old son, Jesse today. He was calling from school:
"Hey, mom. First of all, I'm not in trouble, but.............................in one of my classes we were carving a pumpkin. This kid dared me to eat a big ol' jiggascoop (jigga- what?) of pumpkin guts. I've already thrown up twice. Can you come get me?" You gotta love him.

Osama Bin Jesse

2005-10-21T15:09:00.000-04:00

I just came out of my 14 year old daughter's bedroom....................would've been more comfortable in a mine field. The "music?" was blaring. Clothes (dirty? clean? who knows?) hung from every piece of furniture and doorknob like spanish moss. She was sitting in the middle of her bed (unmade), painting her toe-nails. She just looked up and smiled, oblivious to the fact that I was approaching meltdown. You would think that the nervous tic in my right shoulder would've served as a warning. Maybe she thought I was just keeping time with the "music?".

I'm having a hard time understanding the tastes of todays teenagers. I just don't get it. What are they thinking? I was a teenager of the 80's. The music made sense (karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon....). Yes, it probably was just as loud as it is now, but it had meaning (Purple Rain, Purple Rain............Purple Rain, Purple Rain).

The only thing worse than my daughter's taste in music is her taste in guys. She scares me. I know my mother is relieved that I never put her through what my daughter has put me through where guys are concerned.

And have you seen the hairstyles these kids are wearing? No, my generation wouldn't dream of such outlandish styles............

..............or clothes.

I don't guess my mother could ever understand the anxiety involved in raising a teenager in today's world. Maybe I'll call and tell her. Maybe I won't.

2005-10-19T21:52:00.000-04:00

God always seems to speak to my heart in themes, whether it be in scripture, music or through a friend. For a week or more everything I read, everything I hear, everything I feel will have a common denominator, some message that God is trying to convey to me. The current theme is definitely "God's Love".

As I was driving home from the grocery store yesterday, my mind was going in a million different directions. I was wondering how close (or far) from the center of God's will I might be. I was wondering whether or not there was something I was overlooking that God was wanting from me. I thought, "If I could ask God, 'Are you disappointed in me?', what would he say?" About that time I passed a transfer truck. Across his entire trailer were written the words -

I LOVE YOU!

~GOD

That message said everything I needed to hear, right when I needed to hear it. It was so natural to smile and say, "I love you too". I was at peace.

We accept salvation when we realize that there's no way we can go it alone. At some point we come to the end of ourselves and answer the Holy Spirit's call to allow Christ to live our lives for us. A few miles into the journey something gets lost in translation and we start trying to live our lives as if the Holy Spirit had called us to perfection. We start spinning our wheels, doubting ourselves, doubting each other and questioning how God feels about us. Christ did not die on the cross so that I could one day wonder how He feels about me. As He was carrying that cross up Golgotha He knew everything I would ever do, good and bad. Before I was ever born, as the nails were being driven through His hands He already knew me at my worst. When His feet were being pierced He already knew every thought I would ever think. Knowing all that He still went through with it, not because He wanted me perfect, but because He wanted me.

Thank you, Lord.

2005-10-17T18:13:00.000-04:00

For about the past four days I've walked around extremely stiff-necked, unable to move my neck more than a fraction of an inch in any direction. On those very rare occasions that I did forget about my injury and make any kind of sudden movement, the pain was incredible. Relief finally came this morning at the hands of my chiropractor.

Several hours later my husband asked me, "Are you still hurting?" I answered, "No, I'm fine." A little while later, he repeated the question. Again, I answered, "No, I'm fine." After about the third go around I started getting a little annoyed and asked, "How long are you going to continue to ask me if I'm still hurting?" He answered me with the question, "How long are you going to walk around like you are?" I hadn't even noticed. Although I was experiencing no pain, in just a few days I had become so accustomed to reacting to the pain that when the pain was gone, I was still trying to protect myself from it. Sound familiar?

In how many ways are we, as Christians, still trying to protect ourselves from pains and hurts that Christ took away the moment we believed? How many of us are unconsciously using the same defense mechanisms that we thought worked so well when we were "out in the world"? ".............by his wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5) Still hurting? How long are you going to walk around like you are?

Lord, make me ever conscious of the times I try to nurse old wounds that you've already healed on the cross and make me aware of the times that I'm tempted to think of myself as anything less than a child of the King.

...........Aaaaaaaah Relief

2005-10-17T17:33:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in my last post that I had managed to pull my neck out of line simply by suppressing a sneeze............it'll never happen again, so if any of you are ever around and you sense that I'm getting ready to sneeze...........take cover.

I went to the chiropractor today he worked a miracle on my neck. I was amazed at how he could apply pressure (sometimes a tremendous, teeth gritting amount of pressure) to an area on my neck the size of his thumb, jerk my head to one side and then "snap".............aaaaaaah relief. It just came to me this very second...................I wonder how many times God applies pressure (sometimes a tremendous, teeth gritting amount of pressure) to a particular area of our lives, in an attempt to bring relief, but we forfeit that relief because we refuse to relax in his capable hands. Some ache or pain comes into our lives and instead of immediately taking it to the Great Physician, we do like I did with my neck. We moan and groan, hide under the covers and try to treat it ourselves until it gets worse than we can stand. Finally, out of sheer frustration and desperation (as opposed to child-like faith) we put it in His hands. Suddenly, the pain gets worse and instead of relaxing, we doubt. Maybe we even get up and walk out of The Physicians office thinking, "I was doing better on my own." If we would've rode it out just a few seconds more we could've found it....................aaaaaaaah relief.

Lord, never let me focus so much on the pain of the molding process that I overlook the finished product.

2005-10-16T16:24:00.000-04:00

I love my best friend, Brenda. I take great comfort in knowing that there's someone out there who is just as sick and twisted as I am. The only difference is she tends to be able to hide it better than I do.

There's no doubt in my mind that our friendship is literally a gift from God. I can remember, not too long after I became a Christian, feeling like I needed someone to talk to, someone I could trust and someone I could grow with in my faith. I prayed about it and the next thing I knew, I had found everything I was praying for in Brenda. Well, everything and then some...........I don't remember asking for the attitude:

For a while now Brenda has been critiquing the way I sneeze, or actually the way I don't sneeze. I tend to suppress sneezes instead of just letting them fly. She keeps telling me that I'm going to blow my head off my shoulders if I don't let it out. I finally did it. I felt the sneeze coming on, I tried to hold it in and it came out the back of my neck. I've been in bed all weekend with what I'm going to assume is a pulled muscle in my neck. Today I received the following e-mail from my best friend:

HOW TO SNEEZE

1. TICKLE YOUR NOSE WITH A FEATHER
2. TILT HEAD BACK
3. INHALE
4. OPEN MOUTH
5. EXPEL AIR VIOLENTLY
6. COVER MOUTH WITH HAND
7. WIPE NOSE WITH SHIRT SLEEVE
8. FEEL BETTER (ESPECIALLY YOUR NECK)
9. SKIP STEP 6. TO GET RID OF OTHER PAINS IN THE NECK IN THE HOUSE SUCH AS HUSBAND AND CHILDREN

I love you, Brenda!!!

2005-10-14T19:19:00.000-04:00

Sweet dreams, Hershey

2005-10-13T21:07:00.000-04:00

Yes, I'll admit that I used to make fun of people who "love" their animals. I especially couldn't understand what in the world would possess a normal human being to treat their pet better than they do their own children. Then two things happened that changed my mind.............I met Hershey and my children became teenagers. Hershey is my four year old chocolate dacschund. Not once has Hershey ever talked back. She doesn't roll her eyes. She doesn't care what we watch on tv and my music doesn't bother her. She doesn't mind at all when I drive to school in my pajamas. She's just happy to be with me.

I got Hershey when she was six weeks old. She was a birthday gift from my husband, JB. He had always said, "We will never have an inside dog, not in my house!" We got Hershey in February and he went from "......not in my house!" to "Maybe we'd better put her in the laundry room, just until the weather warms up." I can't remember whether or not she ever stayed an entire night in the laundry room, but every night I can hear my husband ask, "Hershey, are you sleepy? Let's go to bed." And down the hall he'll go, to our bedroom, carrying Hershey under one arm.

JB swears he doesn't love Hershey. He says that Hershey is just a dog. He will admit to liking her, but not loving her. He doesn't have me fooled one bit. JB gets up to go to work long before I get up. Sometimes I'll lay in the bed, pretending to be asleep, just to see if I can catch him doing it again and I usually do. Just before he walks out of the bedroom he pats me on the head and then bends down and gives Hershey a kiss on the top of her head.

2005-10-13T12:46:00.000-04:00

I bought a bag of walnuts at the grocery store today. On the back of the bag I found this warning - "Allergy Information: Manufactured in a facility that processes nuts." Is this warning really necessary? I mean, It is a bag of nuts................................unless of course, the nuts they're processing are the same nuts who came up with the warning. Who knows?

Nuts don't kill people. People who are nuts kill people.

Shock Collars For Kids? Hmmmm..........

2005-10-12T21:02:00.000-04:00

I've always joked about putting remote control shock collars on my kids, the same kind that are used to train dogs. I swear it would work.........."Mom!!! He's touching me BZZZZZZZZT." Silence............... It would be great for long road trips......"Tell her to BZZZZZZZZT." Silence............. No more screaming. No more threatening. One second she's rolling her eyes at me BZZZZZZZZZZT.............the next second her eyes are rolling across the floor. Having trouble with the kids at church? One second they're playing during the prayer BZZZZZZZT...........the very next second they're praying outloud.

2005-10-12T08:53:00.000-04:00

I'm thinking about my sisters this morning. Missy and I are taking Kathie to have a cat-scan and an MRI done. I can't remember a time when one of us was at the hospital and the other two weren't there. We've seen each other's children come into the world. We've pulled all-nighters waiting for each other's children to come into the world. It was Missy who found Kathie, cleaned her up, got her dressed and took her to the hospital when Eric fractured her skull. I was the one who changed the card to read, "From Lucy & Missy" when Eric sent her a dozen roses two days later. Only Missy and I have been able to pull-off simultaneous surgery. We had identical cysts removed on the same day. We were in pre-op and recovery together...............doped to the hilt...............I think Kathie still feels left out. Maybe I could hook her and Missy up with simultaneous boob jobs. It could happen.

What If His People Pray?

2005-10-11T21:23:00.000-04:00

What if armies of the Lord
Picked up and dusted off their swords,
Vowed to set the captives free
And not let satan have one more?

What if the church, for heaven's sake
Finally stepped up to the plate,
Took a stand upon God's promise
And stormed hell's rusty gates?

What if His people prayed
And all who bare His name
Would humbly seek his face
And turn from their own way?

And what would happen if we prayed
For those raised up to lead the way?
Then maybe kids in school could pray
And unborn children see light of day.

What if the light that we pursue
Came from a hunger for the truth?
What if the family turned to Jesus,
Stopped asking Oprah what to do.

Accident or Design?

2005-10-11T16:19:00.000-04:00

I'm amazed every time I hear someone say that they don't believe in God. People say that they can't believe in something that they can't see or touch. It's not rational. There are too many unanswered questions, too much they don't understand. It's too complicated and confusing to think about.........Or is it? When contemplating the origin of the universe we can narrow every theory down to one of two words - accident or design. It's that simple. Is it possible that everything we see, everything we know fell perfectly into being as the result of some gastric explosion that occured in the atmosphere millions of years ago? Think about the alignment of the sun, the moon and this planet. Consider the human body and how every organ and every cell works together to maintain life. What about the cycle of the seasons or the way a baby instinctively goes to it's mothers breast without being taught. Chance accident or intelligent design? Do birds fly by accident or by design? Does a colony of ants work together by accident or by design? Once we come to the conclusion that all this order and detail is not by accident, we're left with only one possibility - Everything we are and everything we see came about by design. Design doesn't just happen. There had to be a designer, a creator. Is it really necessary to understand God in order to believe in Him? Do we have to understand how prayer works to believe in it's power? How many things do we put our faith in every single day, yet have little or no understanding of how they work? It blows my mind to think that I can mash a few buttons on a cell phone and send my voice thousands of miles through space. I don't even begin to understand how it's possible that I have access to so much information through the internet. If I can't comprehend the things that are made by the created, how much less should I comprehend the ways of the Creator?