Our Constant

I only have time to pop in for a second to ask for your prayers as I travel to Pigeon Forge for the ‘So Long, Self’ conference I’ve been preparing for. My heart is so full this morning and I want you to know that I carry each one of you with me who responded to that survey here on this blog. I read through your comments again last night and was just amazed at the work of the Holy Spirit in your responses. One of the places we’ll be spending some time in scripture is with Satan and Eve’s encounter in The Garden and it blew me away so many of you to commented and emailed with insights from that same passage. I always feel God is confirming His direction when others double-affirm what I’m already thinking. Again, I thank you for your vulnerable, honest responses. Please know I’ve continued to pray for each one.

And though it wouldn’t seem appropriate to follow by talking about Lost, I just have to tell you that though last night’s episode was mind-blowing, the sub-theme through the whole thing of Desmond and Daniel having ‘constants’ in their lives wasn’t lost on me. All I could think of is that no matter where we go, what situations we find ourselves in, what depths we plunge or the heights we reach, there is a Constant for those who are in Christ. Jesus breaks through sin and confusion and reminds us that we are never left without hope. I could preach but just don’t have the time. If you didn’t watch last night, no worries. You can still Amen the application. :)))

Okay, I really gotta go. Much love to each of you…hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Psalm 139:7-12:
‘Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. ‘

February 29, 2008 | Filed Under So Long Self | 23 Comments 

What I Won’t Do For Some Peace ‘n Quiet

Most of you know that I have three boys and a baby girl – 12, 10, 8, and 5 years old. For the most part, the kids get along okay but by the end of a long winter when we’ve been stuck inside, the sibling rivalry and conflict can just be too much to take.

That is perhaps the most gentle way I know of telling you that the kids, well, they are driving me nuts.

Today as soon as they came home from school the fighting commenced and I just prayed in my best whiny voice, “Lord, please not today. What can I do to make it stop?” Suddenly, I had a brilliant idea.

“Children!! Come in here!! I have a deal for you!!!”

They all gathered and here was my Holy-Spirit-inspired offer:

“If y’all will play board games this afternoon and work on loving one another with no fighting, I will clean your rooms for you today. If you start fighting, you will help me clean the toilets with your toothbrushes which you will then continue to use to brush your teeth.”

Okay, that last part was a joke but I tried my best to make them believe I meant it. (Only one of my many parenting tips you’ll never find in a James Dobson book.)

So, here’s the thing. I’ve had my head in books all day and hadn’t really peeped into their rooms to see what I was getting myself in to.

Oh. my. word.

I don’t think I told you there was a bomb threat at our school on Friday. Fortunately, no bomb was found on the school grounds. However, I think I know why.

It’s because they were detonated in my kids’ bedrooms.

My only hope in weasling out of our arrangement was for the kids to start fighting because that would cancel the deal. But – wouldn’t you know the little brats got along famously the entire afternoon with nary a cross word between them?

And I worked like a stinkin’ dog dusting and sweeping and mopping and digging out mystery food from under beds and missing socks from under dressers.

But you know what?

Hearing those kids laughing together instead of stomping each others’ heads in was totally worth the grueling work.

It does kinda stink that I didn’t get to make them scrub the toilet with their toothbrushes, though.

Now that would have been a memory-maker.

February 27, 2008 | Filed Under Parenting or Lack Thereof | 29 Comments 

Still Numb….

I can’t begin to tell you how surreal the words I am about to type still seem to me.

Remember the ministry wife project I’ve been telling you girls about? The one in which you’ve been so gracious in sharing your experience about the hardest things in ministry, raising your PK’s, and conflict?

Well, IT’S GOING TO BE PUBLISHED!

Can I get a ‘Wahoooooo!!!?!?’

I got the official word on Friday and I’ve been busy thanking God and reattaching my jaw to my face ever since.

This book is tentatively called, Married to the Ministry: Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me. More than anything I pray it will be a guide to approaching the ministry life in a proactive way instead of a doom and gloom book about how pitiful we are because God asked our husbands to be pastors. I also believe it will be an insightful tool to congregations in learning how to minister back to their ministers! If I get myself in gear and meet all the deadlines, it should be released in September of 2009. That seems like forever except there’s this tiny little issue of my needing to finish writing the thing first.

Please know that your input is invaluable for this book and I will be asking you many, many more questions in the coming months. Thank you for being so willing to share your experiences with me. Also, be prepared for many of your quotes to be included! :)

I would love to write more, but I have a zillion things to do today……I just wanted to let you know this good news and praise my Lord and Savior for being a God of details. When the time is appropriate, I’d love to share the story of exactly how this all came about. For now I can tell you it took a lot of coincidence that was in fact no coincidence at all.

Hope you have a wonderful Monday!!

February 25, 2008 | Filed Under Cute Shoes, Married to the Ministry | 59 Comments 

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