My Jesus!

Today I received an awesome privilege. Today after kindergarten round-up, Rockstar and I headed to our local grocery store to pick up a few items before we went to pick up Crazy Horse from school.  While at the grocery store, we met a woman whom I've recently met and God had been bringing her to my thoughts regularly this week.  I was prompted to say hello.  She introduced us to her 5 year old little girl.  Today was her daughter's birthday.  They were looking at cards, but there was no money to buy one.  I undeniably knew that God had a plan and I had a part in His plan.  I bought my groceries, picked up Crazy Horse from school and drove home in tears.  I told Preacherman what I needed to do and he said, "then go do it."  So I did. 


Rockstar and I delivered a birthday present to this little girl.  The little girl was thrilled and full of smiles and hugs. Her mom hugged me.  She told me that earlier today the little girl was really bummed about her birthday and she had told her daughter that maybe Jesus would find a way to make her birthday special.  


Please hear my heart, I am not writing this to tell you what I did.  I want you to hear what my Jesus did!  He took a "chance" meeting at a grocery store with an almost stranger, who already had access to her contact information, to send this precious child a birthday present and let her know that he loves her. What an awesome God we serve!



~And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.  To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.  Phil 4:19-20

Sometimes grown-ups get it wrong...

It never ceases to amaze me that God can use the smallest, mundane conversations to tune our hearts and ears to Him.  This conversation brought my mind back to a point from our recent Sunday School lesson.


Rockstar:  "Can I go get some crackers?"
Me: "No, I'm almost finished fixing lunch."
Rockstar:  "You mean dinner."
Me: "Yes."
Rockstar: "Sometimes you grown-ups get it wrong."


Yes, Rockstar sometimes we get it wrong.


People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."  Mark 10:13-14

A Special Day

Today was a very special day.  Today we celebrated Crazy Horse's profession of faith in Jesus Christ through her baptism.  Family and friends were able to celebrate with us.  Grandma M, Grandma and Grandpa D, Aunt Sonia and our friends John, Sarah, Big A and Little E were all able to make the long drive to share this wonderful day with our precious daughter.  Words cannot express the joy that I experienced as I watched Preacherman speak so fluently the words of baptism and lower Crazy Horse into the symbolic waters of new life.  It was a very tender and sweet moment in the life of our family.  


After church, we came home and served Crazy Horse's favorite meal, tacos.  Preacherman stopped at the store for me on the way home to pick up paper plates and dessert.  When he arrived home he came bearing a sweet bouquet of flowers for Crazy Horse.  Her first flowers.


Since Crazy Horse is the first of our princesses to experience baptism it was my opportunity to begin a tradition for this milestone with our girls.  Tonight we presented Crazy Horse with a small heart shaped locket with a cross on the outside, inside I had printed and cut two small hearts,  the first with - January 2, 2011 - the date she gave her heart to Christ. The second - March 27, 2011 - the date she followed Christ in obedience through baptism. 


This is my daughter, whom I love; with her I am well pleased.

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.  And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”  Matthew 3:16-17

Yes, He did! (a review of God Gave Us So Much)

God Gave Us So Much is a three book treasury by Lisa Tawn Bergren that includes God Gave Us the World, God Gave Us Love and God Gave Us Heaven. God Gave us the World is a new addition to this series. In this new book, Mama Bear takes Little Cub to the museum to learn about the different bears around the world. Little Cub learns that all bears are not alike, but that all bears are created by God. This story focuses on God as the creator of the world and everything in it.

The second story in this treasury is God Gave Us Love. It is a wonderful story about love for each other. Throughout the story Grampa Bear teaches Little Cub about love. It highlights the many ways God shows His love for each of us including the most important way, “he sent his Son to save us, to show us the way.”

The third story is a dialogue between Papa and Little Cub about heaven. Little Cub has many questions and Papa answers them all. Here is a sampling of some of the questions Little Cub asks Papa: “What's heavn'n? Can we take our stuff to heaven? What will God look like? How do we get there?” This book provides thoughtful answers to many questions that children often ask about heaven.

I requested this book to share with my three little girls. I am so glad I did. My girls enjoy many types of books and this one did not disappoint. I enjoyed the dialogue that Little Cub has with special people in her life. The illustrations are well done and add untold elements to the story. I would definitely recommend this book to friends and family. I also think it would make a great birthday gift or baby shower gift and a great addition to a church library or nursery.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

4000+ emails

Yesterday I began a daunting task of cleaning and purging my inbox. Have you ever let those pesky emails you don't intend to read, just sit in your inbox?  I did.  This seemingly impossible task provided me some time of reflection during the quiet napping of my children.  As I sorted, first by unread, then by sender I began deleting.  I realized that my inbox can be reflective of my life at times.  I thought of the constant work God does in my life, trying to rid my person of all the baggage that doesn't need to be cluttering my mind, body and soul.  One by one I deleted emails.  Then I realized that some of the same short cut keys that work in other programs work well in my inbox too.  Once I was armed with that realization, deleting emails became much easier.  As I continued on my deleting spree I found numerous emails from my favorite stores, newsletters and forwards from friends that I often enjoy.  They had gone unread and were now old and useless.  Then there were the emails that I didn't even request that should have been out as soon as they came in to my inbox.  The huge amount of unread emails cluttering my inbox often caused me to overlook the emails I received from important people in my life.  This morning as I opened up my freshly purged inbox, I found it so much easier to purge the new unwanted emails and to quickly read the important ones.


I think that God works much the same way.  He takes hold of the things that we are willing to release easily at first. Then, as we realize we are better for it, we release more life clutter to his deleting power.  The more we release to him, the more he is able to clear from our lives and the easier it is for us to see and hear him when he speaks to us.


In the past, I have jokingly remarked that sometimes I wish God would just send me an email.  Maybe he just did.


Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  Hebrews 12:1-3

Praying for Prince Charming

Last week I made out my new prayer "rolodex" using my 4x6 inch index cards and a small 4x6 inch photo album.  This idea came from a book I am currently reading, "The Mentoring Mom" by Jackie Kendall.  I'm so excited about having my prayer requests at my fingertips to flip through and keep in prayerful thoughts throughout my day.  As I made each of my girls a card of their own, I wrote the things most Christian mothers want for their children: a relationship with God, good friends, good health and so on...then I found myself writing down prayer for their future husbands.  WHOA!  One of them isn't out of diapers yet!

Recently Crazy Horse and Rockstar have been pretending to be adult moms with wonderful husbands who work multiple jobs to buy them fancy clothes and pay for their life in a hotel with maid-service and constant dinners out.  In addition, these wonderful husbands have time to care for their 18 children (YIKES) while they operate an animal clinic and do a handful of other things as well.  These wonderful husbands buy them jewelry and clothes and spend quality time with them.  Talk about some high expectations!  The other night, Preacherman and I were downstairs.  Crazy Horse arrived in a new outfit that "Justin" had bought for her and wanted our opinion.  We looked at her and I asked, "How often do you see your dad buy clothes for me?"  Crazy Horse quickly replied, "Dad doesn't even buy his own clothes!"  The only way to respond to that statement of truth was to break out in hysterical laughter.

The truth is, if my girls find a husband as great as their dad, they will be blessed.  I recently read an article about the lack of boys who grow into men in today's society and I realized that unless we as parents set out to change that trend, the number of good men available to marry my girls (and your girls) will be few.  This past week I have sensed a great need to be in prayer for something that is more than a decade away.  So as I pray for my girls to grow in their knowledge, love and service to God and to live lives of purity, I pray that they will be blessed to find the prince charming of their dreams.