what impacted me the most from the Bible miniseries

In case you haven't heard, the Bible was recently brought to our TV sets thanks to a great miniseries by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey. If you didn't get a chance to see it, I would recommend you purchase it on DVD. Don't get it to replace reading the Bible, but watch it to get a vivid picture of what might have happened back in Bible times. When we read the stories in the Bible, it's easy to forget that the people involved didn't know the end of the story like we did. They didn't know that everything would be okay... all they knew was the agony of waiting, the difficulty of trusting, the thrill of facing the road God had for them.

For me, the Bible TV series is a reminder not only of how awesome God is, but that the people in the Bible were human, just like us. They doubted, questioned, wondered... then marveled, worshiped, and stood in awe when God showed up.

Okay, not everyone marveled. The Pharisees and most of the Romans didn't think too much of Jesus, to name just one example. They, in fact, were part of what I learned most from the miniseries. Let me explain.

For the Pharisees at that time, Jesus was a frustration and a distraction from what they thought was the right thing to do. He wasn't following their law as they thought he should. Jesus was "breaking" rules and seeming to blaspheme God and doing the unthinkable, in their minds.

Jesus did miracles. Signs. Wonders. He caused chaos (even though it was potentially organized) wherever He went because crowds followed Him around. I'm sure they weren't quiet crowds! They were noisy, trying to get to Jesus, asking questions... who knows what all! The city was essentially in a constant state of "ruckus" for three years as Jesus walked the earth. For the Jewish leaders who were living under someone else's rule (the Romans), that was enough to make them go crazy!

But then... and here's what gets me excited and wowed... Jesus died and rose again... and then the Pharisees didn't have to deal with one anymore... but 12... 120... 5,000... the numbers of Jesus-followers grew and all of a sudden the world was in an "uproar" because Jesus "multiplied." The Pharisees... Romans... and God's enemy didn't just have one "zealot" to keep track of. They had tens... hundreds... thousands.

That gets me excited because Jesus' multiplication is what the church age is. He gave us His Spirit to empower us to carry on the "chaos" that rocked His world during those three years.

What a cool plan. Unfathomable.

I was in church today surrounded by thousands of Jesus' followers and I thought... so many churches are meeting today filled with people, followers of Jesus, creating their own ruckus in their world. The devil couldn't stop Jesus... and his biggest attempt at stopping Him (death) became a pathway for Jesus to multiply all over the world.

God is crazy cool and has a plan that is so beyond me and my thinking. I like that I'm following the Master Planner who constantly goes beyond what my mind can comprehend.

well... I'm the exception

I had an interesting thought this morning. A few days ago I posted something on facebook that was a prayer and said something along the lines of "I'm sorry that I fail a lot!" A lot of people commented that God's grace is enough and we all fail. I sooo appreciated their comments and reminders that we all mess up.

But then this morning the situation came  to mind, followed by the thought, "But you don't know what I've done...." No one knows those secret inner thoughts that I feel guilty about. (Don't worry, I'm not secretly planning world domination....) Then I realized that's a negative thought because it doesn't matter what I've done. God knows what each of us have done and He knows our inner thoughts even better than we do (what?! crazy!).

You may have heard this perspective before, but think for a moment about the people in the Bible God used... Moses and Saul/Paul? Both murderers. Abraham and Peter? Both of them lied... Abraham's lies put his wife into someone else's arms, and Peter lied about knowing the Son of God. Noah got drunk. Rahab was a prostitute. David committed adultery and was a murderer... yet he was a "man after God's own heart." The list could go on.

Maybe my negative thoughts don't "look" too bad after all....

Seriously, though, my guess is we have all had that thought, "My sin is worse than you know. If only they knew...." And if you haven't, you might want to check yourself for the sin of pride.... :)

When we mess up, run back to Him, and ask for forgiveness, God forgives us all. End of story.

If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. (1 John 1:8-9, Message)

loving my toddler

So mommyhood and working and housework and wifehood (not in that order) make blogging more difficult... but since I want to keep stories and memories alive, I thought I'd take a quick moment to post some favorites.

I love Brayden's noises. His babbling, his high voice, his jabber, his figuring out words... I even inwardly smile (at times) when he's "yelling" at me to get him more food! Erik has commented more than once that he loves the jabber when B's in the back seat of the car. Just random jabbering... although perhaps he's telling himself a story and the jabbering is not so random?

Pardon the potential TMI, but I love when Brayden goes poo in his diaper. His whole world stops for those few minutes, and his face turns red. I think it's adorable, plus I know I have a minute or two where I don't need to worry about him getting into trouble. Every minute counts!

I love diaper butt... both the big cloth diaper butt and the smaller disposable diaper butt.

What parent doesn't love their kid's smiles! Love when B laughs and smiles and plays shy and all his emotions. He's gone through so many face-making stages. Most recently, he has a squinty face he gives that is adorable... for both mad and glad. Love it.

I love watching Brayden throw the ball for Tucker and play with him. Tucker is one of the few things that Brayden laughs at... laughs and laughs and laughs. So many stories could be told and I love them all!

Although I don't love when he's picky about his food, I think it's hilarious to watch Brayden stick his fingers in his mouth to pull out something he doesn't like the taste of. It's also pretty funny when he looks over the edge of his high chair and deliberately drops food to Tucker. I feel like I shouldn't be laughing at that, because it's not the best practice for him to develop, but it is so funny to watch.

I love watching Brayden figure out things. He looooves buttons and is very deliberate in finding out how things work. Remotes and cell phones continue to be a favorite. His grandma gave him a jack-in-the-box and he doesn't wait for the crank to be turned. He figured out how to undo the latch and make the "jack" pop out on his own. He goes right up to it and does that.

He loves the dishwasher. As I type, he's hanging out there, figuring out how to pull open the top rack, touch all the dishes on the bottom rack, etc.

I could go on, but I'll end with this. We recently went on vacation with family and we found out that Brayden loooooves the sand. He would crawl and crawl and crawl (he can walk a few steps, but he doesn't want to give up crawling yet) through the sand and pick it up and let it drop through his fingers. I loved watching him.

Here's a pic... him crawling in the middle of God's biggest sandbox. We had a wonderful time!

P.S. He's fourteen and half months. I'll write again the future! 

becoming a team

Every once in a while, I get very frustrated with people in the body of Christ. Someone leaves me out or ignores me or forgets about me. Most likely, they aren't doing it on purpose. They are probably very busy and simply missed calling me or just plain forgot I existed--not out of malice, but out of busyness.

From my perspective, though, I don't know their intent, and thanks to our stupid enemy, the devil, I keep thinking they must not like me. I can literally feel the enemy working on my brain, giving me reasons to dislike that person or ignore them right back or never talk to them again.

**Disclaimer: if you think this post is about you, for some reason, it probably isn't!** :-)

Then my spirit man... or the sensible part of me... rises up to say, "Like you really think they did that to hurt you?" And I remember that the biggest poison I can bring into the body of Christ is division, dissension, strife, anger... whatever you want to call it. Getting mad at someone for something they may or may not have done is part of that poison.

God has called us to work together as Christians. He has called us to put aside differences and bring the world an example and information on how they can enter into a relationship with God.

Plus, when I walk this path of "they ignored me" or "they didn't do this" or "I shouldn't like them anymore"... I wonder, "Who is thinking that about me?"

I wish I didn't have to admit it, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who I have unknowingly snubbed or ignored or forgotten about because I was caught up in my own world. Am I too busy to remember my own friends and the people I meet?

So I'm challenged to not be so busy for a friend. I'm challenged to write myself notes to remember to call people back. I'm challenged to put myself out there as much as I can to be with other people and cultivate relationships.

When it comes down to it, Christians are on the same road. We're all doing our best to live for God despite the distractions and difficulties. We all run into trouble, and when we're united together and avoiding division, we can learn from each other.

So, if you have ever felt ignored or overlooked by me, I apologize. I want to do better and for those of you who I've felt ignored by... well, you probably don't even know I'm frustrated with you, so never mind. I'll work on my end of things and see you soon.

happy four years!!!

Four years ago, the love of my life and I and about thirty of my family and friends were here...

... oh you know, just on a beach, getting married. It actually looked more like this.

Within a few months, we added to our clan...

...within a year or two, he looked more like this...

And after that year or two passed, our clan grew...

Now, you won't see that little guy until heaven, but that made room for...

...pregnancy #2, which you know better as...

... or more recently...

It's been a wonderful four years with my growing family. I don't think words can convey how happy I am to have my hubby, sons, and puppy in my life. They just fit me and I love walking through life with them. I'm thankful to the Lord for my wonderful family and most of all for today, happy anniversary to my hubby! Love you so much! Here's to many more years celebrating the love God has given us. 

my recent writing projects!

I had the opportunity to write some things recently that I thought I'd share with you....

One was a devotional for my sister-in-law's ministry New Beginnings. You can read it here.

The other was an article for www.cfaith.com, a faith-based website where you can access tons of articles, videos, and audio messages on the Word for free. You just have to sign up. You can read it here. 

Have a great day!

nasty memories

Over the past few weeks, various situations have been scratching at the surface of an old scar in my life. It's one that I could have sworn I had forgiven and forgotten. But these situations drip, drip, dripped onto my emotions and tugged at the scar, wanting to open it up.

I did what I think is the right thing. I didn't think about them. But I did wonder about them. It was like, "Oh yeah, that was a rough situation."

Today, I was driving home and I went there. Someone had said something that reminded me of an old hurt, and I decided I must not have forgiven and I needed to rethink why I had been there. And the most interesting thing happened. After I had essentially made the decision to think about the situation longer, all the old memories - the ones that I had forgotten - came flooding back in.

"Oh yeah, that happened. And that happened. That's why I was frustrated. That's why I had to forgive."

I had unknowingly opened the floodgates to old memories I had forgotten. I found myself going to a bad place of being exactly where I had been previously of re-feeling everything negative I had experienced. I knew I couldn't do that.

After going through that moment of unlocking old memories, I started to wonder, Maybe this whole forgiving and forgetting thing isn't something you do once and you're done with it. Instead, as situations remind you of what you have forgotten, you have to deliberately choose to keep away from negative thoughts, stay in the place of "forgiven and forgotten," and when negative thoughts come, you don't invest time in them.

Time seemed to be the factor that was most involved. When I was dealing with the forgiveness the first time through, I invested a lot of time in thinking through the ins and outs and justifying my position and trying to figure out their position. To some degree that was probably time well spent as I tried to figure out what my feelings were and what was going on, but after a certain point (and I usually knew when that point was), I had to stop investing time in it. The "chip on my shoulder" was eating all my mental energy, and that's not good.

So I'm not going there today or any day. In the future when circumstances come that remind me of my old feelings, I won't invest time in those thoughts. I have forgiven and forgotten. I choose to move on. Because God's grace enables me, I choose to not think about it. I will continue on.