Priceless!

So I don't often share my little events of the day, but today's was priceless...

Tonight I had dinner with my two-year old niece, Lily. Three-bean casserole was on the menu, one of my sister-in-law's specialties. After Lily finished her dinner, she came and sat on my lap. It wasn't long before she had taken possession of my spoon and was soon exploring my plate. As I watched her inquisitively, she began loading up a spoon full, but since she was no longer hungry, she offered it to me! I maneuvered my head to reach the spoon and carefully took a bite. She must have really enjoyed this opportunity and proceeded to feed me the remains on my plate. I smiled as I watched her. I decided things had perhaps gone to far when she reached her messy, little fingers onto the plate to rescue the last bean before forcing it into my mouth!

Priceless!

I Love to Laugh!

Psalm 42:5 says, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance." This was my feeling when I woke up this morning, I was very unhappy, and here I am at the end of the day, happy once again. Why?

Well, today I spent time with my eldest sister, Julie. Lately, Julie has been such a joy in my life and a healing balm for me. Today she invited me to a picnic on the lake. We must have spent eight plus hours in the sun eating, drinking, visiting and...LAUGHING! We laughed and laughed until our bellies hurt and gentle tears dimmed our vision. Now, at the end of the day and after hours of laughing, I feel great. I could go out and run ten miles! "I love to laugh," a memorable song from the classic film Mary Poppins, states so fittingly:

I love to laugh Ha Ha Ha Ha

Loud and long and clear

I love to laugh Ho Ho Ho Ho

It’s getting worse every year

The more I laugh Ha Ha Ha Ha

The more I fill with glee

And the more with glee He He He He

The more I’m a merrier me!

"A cheerful heart is good medicine!"

Proverbs 17:22

Praise the Lord for good times and remember to laugh today!

Living a kid's pace

I am sitting in the extra room at my parents-in-law's home reflecting on the past week. Tomorrow's the big drive home! Laying next to me, the deep breathing of my sleeping neice, Lily, calms me.

I love being an Aunt! Lily and Sophia bring me so much joy! Lily turns two tomorrow and Sophia is seven months! This past week has been spent around the girls clock: playing, eating (kid stuff of course), napping, changing diapers, traveling (between the two car seats;), and, of course, cuddling! I have gotten more slobbery kisses this week than I can count, and all of them well received!

Kids are amazing. Inventive. Fun. And hungry to learn! It's fun to see my neices develop! For example, Lily has been talking a lot! It's impressive...she's moving from single words to forming sentences and, at times, I can almost have a conversation with her! She's great at communicating her needs! Sopie also talks, or should I say babbles, quite a bit, especially when she's happy.

An amazing thing about children is, when you're with them, you almost feel as though you are reliving your childhood! I feel as though it is God's perfect design so that we remain youthful inside! I love teaching and learning with children, most of all my neices! I am excited too that my new job will bring me close to them! By God's grace, being with the girls helps me forget about my hurt. Happy days ahead. Perhaps some day I'll have my own.

Boston

I'm sitting in a comfortable, reclining chair, sipping tea and overlooking the city of Boston from an eighth story apartment. The windows are open and there is a peaceful lull to the constant sound of traffic below. Looking up, the sky feels so close to me. It's truly amazing to gaze upon God's creation from different views. It is a blessing.

This picture was taken along the Charles River across from Harvard and MIT. Everyone looks thoughtful.

I'm smiling as I think of the events of the day. Walking around Boston with a beautiful baby, my neice, Sophia, eating out at Melissa and Kyle's favoirte pizza place, Pizza Reginas, and then crashing back at the apartment at the close of the day (Four adults, four laptops:-). We are so pampered! God is good.

Strings Attached

From today's Daily Bread:
Ray Bethell is a world champion kite flyer. He can make multiple kites twist and turn in such precision that they behave as if they are one.

"The Kite; or Pride Must Have a Fall."

by John Newton

a selection of a poem about a kite who dreamed of being cut free from its string

Were I but free, I'd take a flight,

And pierce the clouds beyond their sight,

But, ah! Like a poor pris'ner bound,

My string confines me near the ground.

-

The kite does finally manage to tug itself free, but instead of soaring higher in the sky, it crashes into the sea.

-

The analogy calls me to reconsider some "strings" that make me feel constrained. Vows. Promises. Commitments. Responsibilities. Although such things make me feel tied down, God uses them to hold me up. As James teaches, it is our willingness to be humbled (or held down) that God uses to lift us up. "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up" (James 4:10).

Before cutting any string, make sure it's not the one that's holding you up. -Julie Ackerman Link

Read James 4:1-10.

Happy Father's Day

Dad's are so special. Around to listen, to talk, to guide, to support and most importantly...There to love.

Happy Father's Day, with love.

I heard a sermon this weekend by David Jeremiah called "Deciding to be a New Man;" it was a tribute to men in honor of Father's Day. If you have time, you may find this sermon food for your soul. Just click on the link below:

http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Turning_Point/archives.asp?bcd=2008-6-13

Just breathe

I am so tired of coping. It hurts...it hurts so bad. Sometimes it feels as though my chest is the only thing keeping my heart in place.

A friend reminded me, "Joey, just breathe." Just wake up each day and breathe. Then, walk step by step...and trust.

"Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about what happens to you." I Peter 5:7

There is a Reason

This is a music video taken in April of my brother and I singing the song "There is a Reason" from Caedmon's Call new album entitled Overdressed. The video isn't pristine and the first few minutes of the video are shaky but it soon becomes clear. If nothing else I hope you can listen to the words and think about a time in your life when things didn't go as planned...There is a reason!

Cademon's Call � There Is A Reason
From the album � Overdressed (2007)
Words and music by Andrew Osenga and Randall Goodgame

Late at night I wonder why
Sometimes I wonder why
Sometimes I'm so tired
I don't even try
Seems everything around me fails
But I hold on to the promise
That there is a reason

Late at night, the darkness makes it hard to see
The history of the saints who've gone in front of me
Through famine, plague and disbelief
His hand was still upon them
Cause there is a reason
There is a reason

Chorus:
He makes all things good
He makes all things good
There's a time to live and a time to die
A time for wonder and to wonder why
Cause there is a reason
There is a reason

I believe in a God who sent His only son
To walk upon this world and give His life for us
With blood and tears on a long, dark night
We know that He believed
That there is a reason
There is a reason

Chorus:

For the lonely nights
And broken hearts
The widow's mite
In the rich man's hand
And the continent
Whose blood becomes a traitor

For the child afraid to close their eyes
The prayers that seem unanswered
There is a reason
There is a reason

Chorus:

Liberating Truth

We all have fears. One of my fears is failure. I have recognized that often fear inhibit's me from walking with God. Sometimes the spirit may lead me to do something and before giving it a go I say, "no!" When pride gets in the way, we can't be used by God. Mike Clarkson, a pastor from South Carolina, follows the motto "Get out there and do. Some of the things you do are going to work, so keep doing it. Some of the things you do aren't going to work, so stop doing it."

Today's daily bread speaks about the liberating truth for Christians.

"An unmarried missionary had been disparaging herself. She was unhappy with her life in general, but she was especially displeased with what she felt was her low level of spiritual growth.

One morning she looked searchingly at herself in the mirror. Then, very slowly, she said, "God I thank You that I am myself and can never be anybody else."

That was her moment of liberating self-acceptance. She realized that by God's design she was an absolutely unique person, a Christ-redeemed human being who could never be replaced or duplicated.

Do you condemn yourself because you aren't as spiritual as you think you ought to be? Do you see yourself as a second-rate disciple, lacking the gifts and graces possessed by fellow believers who seem to be models of prayer, witness, and service? We can rise above the mood of self-rejection and enjoy grateful self-acceptance when we put our lives into the nail-pierced hands of Jesus. "In Him we have redemption through His blood, [and] the forgiveness of sins" (Eph. 1:7). We are accepted and chosen by Him (V. 4-6).

If the Lord has accepted us, surely we can accept ourselves! That's the liberating truth." -Vernon Grounds

He made us accepted in the Beloved. -Eph. 1:6

Character

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through the experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

~ Helen Keller

Questions

I have recognized that one of my greatest strengths and my greatest weaknesses is my optimism. I know pain, but revealing it only welcomes weakness, a character trait innate to my gender yet fought with fierceness within my inner self. Will the pain ever disappear? How could I trust anyone ever again? I’ve been rejected by the one I’d become most vulnerable to. What kind of trust is that? I question my readiness to give and to love. How could I love another with deepest passion? Perhaps my love had become intoxicating and is still causing me to drive under the influence.

So many thoughts and questions and few answers. I look to the healer, my great physician, with longing eyes and a broken heart.

Addiction

I read this following excerpt in a book by Larry Crabb, a well-known psychologist, conference and seminar speaker, Bible teacher, popular author, and founder/director of NewWay Ministries. He shares on his website, "If I ever publish my autobiography, I’ll call it Sovereign Stumbling. My life journey to date is a series of how I have stumbled and how God has consistently guided me in His sovereign ways." He testifys that the Christian walk is filled with testings; how we deal with them makes us who we are.

"All of us are trapped by addiction to a desire for something less than God. For many women, that something less is relational control. “I will not be hurt again and I will not let people I love be hurt. I’ll see to it that what I fear never happens.” They therefore live in terror of vulnerably presenting themselves to anyone and instead become determined managers of people. Their true femininity remains safely tucked away behind the walls of relational control.

More common in men is an addiction to nonrelational control. “I will experience deep and consuming satisfaction without ever having to relate meaningfully with anyone.” They keep things shallow and safe with family and friends and feel driven to experience a joy they never feel, a joy that only deep relating can provide. Their commitment is twofold: to never risk revealing inadequacy by drawing close to people and, without breaking that commitment, to feel powerful and alive. Power in business and illicit sex are favorite strategies for reaching that goal.

The only cure for addiction is the gospel. We will not find the power to resist the pull toward lesser desires until we discover a more powerful desire that we long to fulfill, a desire the Spirit creates within our hearts when the Father forgives us. We must discover our desire for God. As we discover that desire, we come to see that we cannot pursue God and a lesser source of pleasure at the same time. The desire for God and the desire for anything else are competitive. Only one can serve as the guiding rule of life.

When we attempt to serve two masters, we end up bowing before the one who is more apparently responsive to our needs and hating the other. An hour of pornography reaps more immediate dividends than an hour of prayer. It’s only play money, but it looks real. And it does buy pleasure on demand. Prayer doesn’t do that.

We will not win the battle against addiction without discovering our desire for God. Therefore, if you want to know God, welcome shattered dreams. Nothing reveals our desire for Him so effectively.

But we must also discover God’s desire for us. A recognized desire for God exposes our idolatry and sets us on a better path. But only a fulfilled desire for God provides the power to consistently resist the lure of lesser pleasures and to stay anchored in Christ when life’s storms rage. The branch must draw life from the vine or it withers and dies."