God, Our Father

My girls are in Preschool at Trinity and one of the first things they teach them is the prayer song, "God Our Father." I have to say,t his kind of bugged me last year when Korey started singing it before every meal and at bed time. I started trying to teach her and Krissy that praying isn't just another song, but it is talking to God. I had no idea if any of the things I had said had actually sunk in or not until this morning.

This morning, Rich made us Oatmeal for breakfast (yes, my husband usually makes the breakfast and yes, I know how lucky I am!). When the girls sat down, Krissy immediately started singing "God, Our Father," but instead of the usual words she said, "God, Our Father, God, our Father, we thank you. And please make my oatmeal just warm, not too hot. Amen, Amen." THIS IS HUGE! Krissy actually asked God for something. She knows that she CAN ask God for something! At 2 years old, she is already getting the concept of prayer.

As a mom, this is one of those days that I know I am doing some things right. It also makes me want to do more and teach them more. They comprehend so much more than I know. My pastor often says that we shouldn't say "no" for people when he is encouraging us to invite people to church or to talk about Jesus with them. I don't want to say "no" for my children either, just because I think they may not get something. The truth is, no matter how I say it, the Holy Spirit is the one doing the interpreting to their hearts and minds and He knows exactly how to write it on their little hearts.

Lord, thank you for the responsibility you have given me to bring my children to the cross and knowledge of Jesus. I also thank you that You will take it from there. Help me to not get in Your way.

Pray for Jenna

I have a friend who's 13 year old daughter is in the hospital. She has had a heart problem since birth and on Friday, she collapsed at school. By God's providence, a nurse was beside her and kept her alive. She was taken to Eggleston and will have surgery today.

This girl has an amazing faith and is an incredible inspiration. She does not question why God has allowed her health difficulties and in every situation thanks Him for His love and provision. I have never actually met her personally, but the things I know of her from her mother and grandmother cause her to be an inspiration to me.

Please pray for Jenna and her family. She is a gift from God and He hears our prayers. Be an intercessor for her.

I love Fall!

I love fall! I love when I get up in the morning and it is a little chilly. I can't wait to wear my warm clothes and have a fire in the fireplace. I love decorating and buying pumpkins. I took the girls to Dellinger Park this morning and the air smelled just like in smells in Yosemite early in the morning (Just that is enough to make me fell great. Yosemite is the one place I miss as much as I would miss a good friend and relative. Yes, it is that awesome. Everyone must go before they die.)

I can't wait for the Apple Festival in Elijay and Oktoberfest in Helen. We took the girls to the North GA State Fair last night and they had a blast. Krissy even sat and watched part of the Lonestar concert without covering her ears. We all rode the Ferris wheel, they loved it but I was terrified that they would fall out. All in all, it was a great time.

I love fall!

Politics

I guess we will have to vote soon. Although I am honored to live in a country where we get to vote, and don't get some crazy dictator thrust on us, I actually get stressed out about voting. I feel such a burden to cast the right vote. My problem is that my beliefs don't ever match up with just one party or one person. So, I thought I would write out what I believe to see if it would actually help me to choose this year.

I do not consider my self conservative or liberal, although I have strong beliefs that would align on both of those sides. So here it goes:

I believe that we should respect all life, from the very minute of conception to the very last breath in a person's body. I am sickened by the murder of an unborn child and the way we treat the elderly in our country and feel that we must do a better job in this area. We also must respect the life of all living creatures including the lives of the animals that are our pets and the ones we use for our food. Maybe God is trying to remind us of an important spiritual truth every time we eat. Shouldn't it remind us to respect the fact that something had to die in order for us to live? I think so. This core value of respecting all life makes it very hard for me to believe in capital punishment. Although I understand the arguments for it's existence and I get the fact that it is even biblical; it is still hard for me to swallow. Until I am on a jury in a death penalty case, I reserve my right to not make up my mind on this issue just yet.

I also believe that we should be good stewards of everything God has given us, including the earth we live on. I think we should be moving away from using oil and towards using renewable resources. I think we should recycle, grow food on sustainable farms and not clear cut natural habitats. I think we should be more responsible with the way we build, think and live when it comes to our earth. We are only given one, let's not waste it. More specifically, I agree with the Pickens Plan when it comes to energy in our country.

I don't think the government has done a very good job handling money or programs for that matter. I think they have made a mess out of social security, welfare, education and immigration and can't even balance their own budget. Because of this, I certainly would not want them to run a national health care system. It's kind of like giving all your money to a financial planner with a gambling addiction.

I think the majority of our domestic issues could be solved with immigration reform. Our education system, hospitals, jails and welfare are overloaded because of illegal immigrants. And for those who would argue that we need the cheap labor, I say shame on you! What you are saying is that the value we place on the life of an illegal immigrant is less than the value that we place on the lives of Americans. We would never pay an American citizen a few dollars a day to pick strawberries in the hot sun for 12 hours yet we argue that it is OK to do that because they are illegal. We say that our whole economy would come crashing down without the cheap labor. Well, if that's true, than we deserve for it to crash! It goes back to my respecting all life, even the lives of those who are from other places. They deserve a fair wage and that means coming into this country through the proper channels in order to be here legally. I mean really, what part of illegal don't we understand?

WAR - OK, you are about to think that I am contradicting myself and maybe I am, but when it comes to people like Osama Bin Ladin and Saddam Hussein, I have no sympathy. They deserve to die. They have proven that they do not respect the lives of others and should not be allowed to further endanger those around them. Saddam Hussein's death was worth the cost of war in my mind. The search for Bin Ladin is worth the cost we are paying now. However, I do think we should give a deadline to be out of Iraq to ensure that we actually have the funds and the manpower available to fight where fighting is needed. Without a deadline, the Iraqi government will never be ready. They will lean on the US for as long as we let them, that is human nature. It may be time to push them out of the nest.

I don't think we should try "diplomatic approaches" when it comes to terrorists or crazy people. They aren't going to listen, they are crazy. Sometimes war really is the safest and most peaceful way to end a conflict. I don't think we should only go to war to guard our own interests either. We should care about the lives of everyone. That should include Darfur, the Congo and it should have included Rwanda when that happened as well. Who are we to play God and say who is worth our support and who isn't. We either love our neighbor or we don't, but to pick and choose is to be lukewarm and I think we all know what God thinks of that.

So those are the big issues for me. I don't think I am any closer to picking a president.

The Happiest Place on Earth

We just got back from our vacation to Disney World and the Beach (We spent the last weekend of vacation at Venice Beach, FL). The girls are pretty sure that Disney is heaven. They got to meet all the princesses and they, of course were dressed in their princess costumes the majority of the time. They both loved the "Small World" ride, Korey wants to be a pirate when she grows up (her words, not mine), but Krissy did not like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Krissy loved having lunch with the Little Einsteins and seeing the Little Mermaid Show. They both loved swimming in the guitar shaped pool.

Korey caught her first fish off of the pier at Venice Beach, FL. Krissy still hates sitting her royal fanny on the sand at the beach. She hates getting dirty.

It was a wonderful vacation. My parents went as well, which was amazing. We all got along famously and we didn't even feel rushed at all, although we were all pretty tired at the end of the day. I am so blessed to be able to take my family on this vacation and that we are close enough with my parents that they were able to go to. I can't think of a better gift that I could give my children than a relationship with their grandparents. My parents are wonderful with my girls. They are their biggest fans. What better gift could I give them than two people who will always think they are the greatest kids in the whole world. I thank God for them everyday and for the impact they are having in my life and the lives of my family.

Life Changing Moments

My Pastor on Sunday talked about those times in our lives when we have life changing moments, such as Saul did on the road to Damascus. I began to think about my own personal life changing moments. I thought about the day I asked Jesus to be my Savior. I was 12 years old and sitting with my Daddy in the balcony at church and it hit me that I was allowed to make the decision to follow Christ all by myself. I had been asking questions for several weeks and at that moment, I just knew. I remember telling my Daddy that I was going to go down front when Dr. Marsh gave the invitation and Daddy said, "don't you want to wait until next week? We will buy you a new dress and then you can go." I remember thinking, "what if next week is too late?" and I said to Daddy, "I don't think God cares if I have a new dress on or not."

When I think ahead to my next life changing moment, it happened sometime during my senior year in high school when I decided that I was tired of being good. I was tired of following the rules, always doing the right thing and 'never having any fun.' So even though I knew that it was wrong, I made a conscience decision to stop doing things God's way and start trying them my own way. I remember even praying and telling God that I was going to to this. In a sense, this was my 'throwing out the fleece' to God. He claims that His ways are better than my ways and I wanted to test Him and see if He was right. I had a best friend, Dudley, who told me she couldn't be my friend if this was the path I was choosing, and yet I did it anyway.

As it turns out, I'm not that smart. My ways are not only far worse than God's ways, they are probably a lot worse than most people in the world. After years of inevitably bad decisions, bad situations, destructive behavior, heart breaking moments and fleeting fun, I finally came to another life changing moment. Rich and I were dating and for whatever reason (my mom's paryers and the power of the Holy Spirit), we decided to start going to church. We landed at Horizon Christian Fellowship one Sunday when they were having a special traveling ministry called Potter's Field Ministry. After the guy did his thing, I distinctively remember God speaking to me. He said, "So, you've been trying it your way, how's that workin' out for ya?" I began to cry (of course) and then God said, "Are you ready for what I have for you? It's more than you can ever ask or imagine." That is the day I made Jesus Lord of my life.

I don't believe that I lost my salvation during my rebellious years; I truly knew that Jesus is the Son of God who came to die on the cross for my sins and rose again from the dead in three days. I knew that He had gone to prepare a place for me in Heaven one day. What I hadn't done is given Him control of my life. I hadn't died to myself so He could live through me. In some ways, that is the most troubling part for people when they hear my story. I have often been asked, "How could you do all those things knowing they were wrong? How do you so willfully go against the God who saved you?"

My answer is I didn't know the value of my salvation or the depth of my own wickedness. I thought I was smart and that all the rules were just to keep me from having fun. I thought I was entitled to salvation, not that it was a gift that I didn't deserve and had come at an extremely high cost. Although I truly hope no one ever has to live the life I have led, or experience some of the heartache and consequences that I have suffered for my sins, I would never trade the lessons that I have from my broken and 'checkered' past. God taught me that I am weak and He is not. He showed me that I can do nothing but destroy myself and those around me apart from Him. But mostly, He showed me, no, imprinted on my heart and soul, how far He had to go to save my ungrateful, selfish, arrogant behind. He says in His word that "He who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it." It was God who began the work, so He was going to complete it not matter how hard I tried to screw it up. He also says that He uses all things for good for those who are in Christ Jesus. God used those years of self destruction and self indulgence to show me the depths of my own wickedness and the height of His grace and love.

Now, when I say that I am saved, I rarely can even say it without tears coming to my eyes, because I know in all too vivid detail exactly what I am saved from. Thank you Lord, for not giving up on me and for reaching into the depths to pull me out. May I never forget how truly helpless and stupid I really am without You.

First day of School

Korey and Krissy had there first day of Preschool at Trinity on Tuesday. Korey went to Preschool last year as well and she just couldn't wait to return. Since she is actually in the same room as she was last year, she went it without missing a beat. This was Krissy's very first day of preschool ever. She was so excited and couldn't wait to start. She walked in the door and didn't even turn around to say goodbye to Rich and me. I cried once I got to the car and Rich took me to Starbucks just because we could. (I had the worst cappuccino I have ever had in my life, by the way).

I can't believe that they are growing up so fast. I am happy to have a few hours without them every week and I know it is great for them. I just LOVE Trinity and they are so happy to go to school, but at the same time, my heart just breaks that one day they will be too big to snuggle in my lap. One day, a kiss and a colorful band aid on the "boo boo" won't heal the wound. Eventually, they will be counting the seconds until I leave them alone when now they just can't wait until I come home. Someday, they will want to dress themselves!

I wonder if my mom still misses the little snugly moments with me. I wonder if my heart will change and I will begin to long for a different, more mature relationship with my daughters once they outgrow peek a boo and hide and go seek. I certainly hope so because I just can't imagine spending the rest of my life as a mother who simply longs to have a baby again. I am sure God has designed the parent child relationship to grow and mature just as a relationship with our spouse grows and matures.

I also pray that they will always need a snuggle from mom every once in a while, no matter what the age. I know I do form my mom. There is just nothing like the feel of your Mama's arms around you to make you feel like all is right in the world. Mama, thank you for being the greatest mom in the world. I hope my girls think of me as I think of you.