Minnow

This post is for a little fish
My sweet Mirah Grace
She's my little buttercup
with her soft round face.

She can be both soft and loud
She goes with what she feels
The Lord has used her in my life
To explain what He reveals.

I would do anything for her
I will battle for her heart
But I know there's One who loves her more
From her He will never depart.

So, what's the point of this poem?
You might be wanting to know
It's just a little ditty for
My darling, my sweet, my minnow.

I love you, Mirah.

Last night, while visiting the KL congregation, someone had a word from the Lord for Mirah. (can I just tell you what a thrill it is to hear a word for your kid?) He said, and I summarize, that she will grow to know the depths of the Father's heart. I receive this and I pray it for you now, Mirah. May you always dig deeper, go farther, climb higher - just to be closer to Him. May you never be satisfied with status quo worship, prayer or knowledge. Go deep, little fish, swim deep into the ocean of His love. It doesn't matter that you are small, for He is with you. Swim, Minnow, swim!!

Celebration

Lily turned 5 on Sunday.

Our hearts are full. They are stretched at the seams with feelings for her.

Gratitude.

Pride.

Love.

Wonder.

Soft.

Fluffy.

Pink.

Butterflies.

Oh the joys of raising a Daughter of the King!

But something even greater happened.

Something that makes the seams of my heart burst open and love pour out all over the place...

LILY ASKED JESUS INTO HER HEART!

I could almost hear the Heavenly Hosts rejoicing!

I have never been more excited about anything!

My daughter

Is among

The saints

Who call to Him.

Who walk with Him.

Who know Him.

Who hear His voice.

Who will SEE HIS FACE.

I praise my Heavenly Father. I will be with Lily one day before the King of Kings. That makes it all seem worthwhile.

My daughter will see her Creator.

I couldn't ask for more.

She says she can feel Him.

And with tears in my eyes I tell her that He will always be with her.

She smiles and drifts off to sweet sleep.

It's real

I just want everyone to know some things about deliverance.

Deliverance is real.

Deliverance is now.

Deliverance is for us.

Deliverance is hard.

Deliverance is from HIM.

Deliverance is all that I ever hoped it would be.

Praised be The Holy One of Israel who delivers me out of the pit!! I am on my knees at your glorious beauty. I was enslaved and you freed me. I was stuck and you pulled me out. I was scared and now...well...now I'm not. Simple as that.

Hold tightly to Him and His ways.

Deliverance is today...are you ready?

My heart sings this today:

Psalm 34

Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left.

¹I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.

² My soul will boast in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

³ Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.

⁴ I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.

⁵ Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.

⁶ This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.

⁷ The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.

⁸ Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

⁹ Fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.

¹⁰ The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

¹¹ Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

¹² Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,

¹³ keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.

¹⁴ Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry;

¹⁶ the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.

¹⁸ The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

¹⁹ A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all;

²⁰ he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.

²¹ Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.

²² The LORD redeems his servants;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.

A prayer request for a friend

My dear friend Tricia here in Jefferson City has informed me of some news and I would like to ask all my friends to please pray with me for her husband, Brad.

Friday morning Tricia, who was awake at 4am feeding their brand new third son, looked over to see her husband begin to have a seizure in bed. After what seemed like an eon he finally stopped convulsing. She called 911 and the ambulance came within minutes to take him to St. Mary's here in town. Brad is an anesthesiologist there at the hospital, so all the paramedics knew him already and were very very good at reviving him and making him semi-conscious. Tricia could not go with him because her newborn, along with her two older sons were sleeping quietly in the adjoining rooms. After being taken to the ER and going through many tests and scans they have located a mass in his brain. They believe that the mass is "dormant", however they can't go in and take a biopsy because they could very easily damage the area around the mass which controls his speech, taste, smell and emotions. But they are watching it very closely with MRI's for the next few weeks to see if it grows or moves or shifts or anything. If there is any change whatsoever they will remove the mass. For now, they have Brad on seizure medicine and it seems to be working very well.

All this said, my friends are doing very well. They are strong Christians and are seeking Him in every aspect of their lives. They are grateful for each day they get to spend together. There is no diagnosis for Brad yet, really, so they are just trying to focus on God, their family and the tiny moments they get each day that they overlooked before. Major transformation is happening in the family right now. They are thanking God for this eye-opening experience and are standing, arms and hearts wide open, to receive whatever lesson they are to learn or whatever load they are to carry. They aren't sad or scared or nervous. Some days are better than others, I mean it was an overwhelming experience for everyone, but overall they are focused.

Pray that the enemy doesn't get a foothold here. Pray that they draw so close to God that the shadow of His Wing is the only place they want to be. Pray for the sons; the scare of losing a Daddy is hard for the oldest who is Lily's age. He is a little worried about his super hero Papa, understandably. I have a lot of practice in helping Lily overcome many fears, so just pray that I can be an encouragement to this little dude. He's precious, thoughtful and he's feeling a little shaken.

Pray as you feel led, but please pray that this mass disappears. Pray that if it's the Lord's will the mass will not be able to be found at his next MRI. Pray that God's will would be done in all things. Pray that Tricia keeps on keepin' on and that she has strength to help her 3 sons and her husband. She has to drive Brad around now because he can't drive for 6 months. He has to be seizure-free for that long in order to drive again.

Praise the Lord for this family. Praise the Lord for this tumor. Praise the Lord for an eternal perspective. Praise the Lord for His infinite wisdom and tenderness. Praise the Lord because He knows what He's doing. This is His timing and His way. We do not question it, but we do ask, Lord, for your mercy and love to pour out to this family. In your name we ask these things, keeping You at the forefront of our minds at all times, Amen.

Ask and keep on asking

A few months ago I was lamenting to my brother and sister that I didn't have a tight-knit community here with whom I could share my beliefs, my pondering, my heart, my longings or my epiphanies. I was feeling low. I was feeling down in the dumps because I had a church, but it felt like I was in a relationship that was unequally yoked. (This is not me putting myself on some spiritual pony, saying I am so far above in spiritual growth that no one "gets" me. No way.) The hubby and I felt discouraged. But, Sam, in all his thoughtfulness turned to me and very slowly asked, "have you asked HIM to give you a community?" I shook my head yes. Surely I had asked, right? I mean, I've been talking' to the Lord since childhood. I'm certain I asked...right?

Nope. I did some praying and thinking and realized that I had just skipped that part. I took the "ask and keep on asking" line in the Bible and turned it into "sit and keep on complaining". Ugly stuff. But God, in His infinite wisdom and love beckoned me to Himself. He lured me (I'm seeing a fly-fishing line going through the clear running water here) and He brought me to Him. I sat on His lap and lay there, asking, begging for Him to provide those that "call to the Lord out of a pure heart".

Bless the Almighty in his lovingkindness and mercy!!!! (Just give me a sec, my eyes are all teary...praise with me!)

We have some friends (I'll get pics of them soon...they run fast so it's hard to get good shots ;). Kevin and Allyse Keeney and their two sons, Mikey and Jack, and their daughter Cadence have been our friends for a little while now. We met them years ago, but the relationship has really taken off the past few months. Sean has been in a men's group with Kevin for a year now and Allyse and I are embarking on this home-school thing together very soon (as in a few days) and so the togetherness just keeps happening. We're together a lot. We have been going through a lot of spiritual changes separately and it's amazing the parallels we have found in our families. Long story short, I have been longing for the Jewish traditions in my Gentile life and wouldn't you know it!!? THEY approached US about doing Sabbath together! I mean, what!? Wow. God is amazing. Not only that, but we visited their small church yesterday - you know, to get to know them even better - and WHAM! it was like walking into the middle of a river and getting sucked under. The Holy Spirit was moving. Moving. Moving. Moving. I was overwhelmed. I was blooming inside. I was home. God was alive and real and tangible and...well, now it's all changing. Life is about to change. We have been blessed with all this - literally we have blessings falling in our lap.

All this because I asked. Have you asked? I mean really? I'm not trying to belittle those of you who have been truly asking for years...you are the blessed ones talked about in Matthew 5. May His peace rest on you. I didn't ask, though. I just complained. All I'm saying is that there is a huge difference. I'm glad I see the difference now. I praise the Almighty for His provision.

Come, Lord. COME!

In the way SHE should go

My girls couldn't be more different. If I listed all the little ways they are opposite it would shock most of you. I won't bother with that list because it's too long and that's not exactly what this post is about. I have been praying very hard lately about my girls and about the way each of them should be raised, considering their differences. I want to keep myself aware at all times of the special, God-given talents and strengths that they each posses so that I can train them in the way they each should go...and that may be in totally different directions.

Mirah is very little, but has a very big personality. She is always laughing, talking, asking, or dancing. She wants to be in the middle of whatever is happening. She is the life of the party. She loves the spotlight and loves attention. We are usually laughing when she is awake. She is stubborn and I know will be a force for the Lord as she grows. The girl is spunky and so very very sweet.

Then there is Lily. She, as I already wrote, is very tender and feeling. She is a typical (almost) 5 year old. She is silly and ridiculously hilarious at times. But Lily is different. Her silly is different. She goes so deep into things. She's shy, but not with those she trusts. She doesn't like to be with large crowds, but enjoys the company of a few close friends. She's very inquisitive, but only to a point. She thinks on things, deeply and for a long time. She figures stuff out by talking about it with me. She processes things. She has a whole spectrum of personality. She's not always "sunny" but that doesn't mean she isn't happy. She is contemplative. She is also stubborn and I know will do many wonderfully stubborn things for God.

All this said, I am trying to be led by our patient Heavenly Father as I figure out what Lily needs for school. She went to preschool last year and did great. That's actually the problem. She knows it all. The next step for her is Pre-K because she doesn't make the cut-off for Kindergarten this year. Her birthday is too late (but only by 22 days). So, I have decided to homeschool her this year. We are going to do some Kindergarten stuff now because she's ready for it. I have gotten some flack from people asking if she will ever be "socialized" or "learn social skills". BAH! Ridiculous! The girl can converse intelligently with most adults! So, we are doing what we feel the Lord is asking us to do. Training her up in the way SHE should go. She is not interested in going to school, but wants to read, do science, and learn learn learn. She is a perfect candidate for this. Mirah on the other hand, well, who knows what she will need. Right now it's looking like she will love being in a classroom with other kids. She seems to flourish in the group setting. But who knows. All I know is that I have an obligation to them and to God to give them what He is asking me to give them. A life that raises them up to be strong, caring, humble, and wise warrior princesses for Him.

The Blood

In response to Susan's new blog entry about Twilight's flippant and perverted use of blood, I am posting something that reminds us what the blood is all about. I wanted to post the video of Jars of Clay's version with The Blind Boys of Alabama (LOVE it), but the videos that folks have made leave something to be desired. This one is just a choir of voices singing (the maker cited the Gaithers) and it's nothing flashy, but to hear the saints sing about the blood...ahhh, it's so beautiful. Enjoy and Praise our Savior for his ultimate sacrifice.