Quote of the Week and Stuff

It's been a tough week here on many fronts and for sanity's sake, I had to take a complete break from the cyber world. I'm playing a little bit of catch up this evening and look forward to visiting more in the next couple of days.

In the meantime, here's my "Quote of the Week":

Our Saviour kneels down and gazes upon the darkest acts of our lives. But rather than recoil in horror, he reaches out in kindness and says, 'I can clean that if you want.' And from the basin of his grace, he scoops a palm full of mercy and washes our sin.

Max Lucado

While I was away, I was graciously and lovingly bestowed an award by two of my favorite blogging-friends. If you haven't met these lovelies yet, do visit Heidi Pocketbook at Bargain Hunting in the Corn and Becky at Holiday in the Sun. Thanks, Ladies. What a welcome back into blogging world! God knew I needed a little lift!

If The Shoe Fits is an award for those enthusiastic people who just bubble over!! I'd like to share it with my incredible sister-in-law Beth at It Is What It Is , my dear friend Liz at A Day in the Life of Liz, and my new bloggy friend, Isabel, whose life I can relate to in so many ways, at Thrills, Frills and Drills of Motherhood. Amazing Fiona at FeeBeeKay, who has a true-blue heart and the (6th!) most beautiful baby on the planet, also deserves the award but has already been granted it twice, otherwise, I'd share it with her too!

When I finally got out of the house today, this is the song that came on the radio. It was just what I needed:

I look forward to sharing what God has been doing in my heart and life, knowing full well that He only puts us through the fire so that we come out more refined and closer to His image than we were when we went in.

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2&3

Quote of the Week

God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to.

Elisabeth Elliot

Brotherly Love

Can you just feel it?!?!

The Stranger

A friend shared this story through email last week. It's cute, but for our family it's also "amen!"

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small Texas town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family.

The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on. As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey.

But the stranger...he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies. If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to our first major league ball game.

He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind. Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave).

Dad ruled our household with moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home. Not from us, our friends, or any visitors. Our longtime visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.

My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave.

More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today, you would find him sitting in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him paint his pictures.
His name?

We just call him 'TV.'

We are coming up on our five year anniversary of being "tv free." It has made a huge difference in our lives!

We still physically have a tv but there is no network access so nothing is coming in that isn't "approved". The only things we watch these days are encouraging and faith building and the "poor quality" of some of these doesn't bother us anymore because we have nothing to compare it to. We've been deprogrammed!

We have our evenings free for family devotions because we're not waiting for a favorite show or the game of the week to come on. Our children are unaware of the latest and greatest "stuff" they are deprived of because they're not being saturated with manipulative advertising. We have time to read and explore and just talk.

Does this mean there is no draw? I wish. We were at one of our favorite burger joints the other night for dinner. There were tv's in every corner of the restaurant. I think there was a basketball game on. After we prayed for our meal, AJ confessed, "Mom, my eyes were open when we were praying. I was kind of watching the tv!"

Quote of the Week

Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of; they just turn up some of the ill weeds on to the surface.

Charles Spurgeon

Testimony Friday

Sometimes someone else has already said it far better than I ever could. For me, that is true in the case of this song. It's an oldie, but a goodie!

Through the trials, the doubts, and the fear. Through the joys, the blessings, and the victories. No matter what state I've been in, HE has been faithful.

In my moments of fear

Through every pain, every tear

There's a God who's been faithful to me

When my strength was all gone

When my heart had no song

Still in love He's proved faithful to me

Every word He's promised is true

What I thought was impossible

I've seen my God do

He's been faithful, faithful to me

Looking back, His love and mercy I see

Though in my heart I have questioned

Even failed to believe

Yet He's been faithful, faithful to me

When my heart looked away

The many times I could not pray

Still my God, He was faithful to me

The days I spent so selfishly

Reaching out for what pleased me

Even then God was faithful to me

Every time I come back to Him

He is waiting with open arms

And I see once again

He's been faithful, faithful to me

Looking back, His love and mercy I see

Although in my heart I have questioned

Even failed to believe

Yet He's been faithful, faithful to me

Tag!

My friend Sue tagged me yesterday. I had to go into my picture files to find the 6th picture in the 6th folder. I cringed for a moment, but then voila...relief...it's one of the kids!

AJ and Avery set up a "lemonade" stand at the end of our driveway during our garage sale last summer, although they didn't actually sell lemonade. They made gingersnaps and snickerdoodles and bundled fresh lavender from our backyard. They sold their little goodies for a dollar each.

We have a nurse friend who does medical missions trips. She has spoken often in church about where her organization, Agape in Action, is going next. A month or so before our annual garage sale she had mentioned an upcoming trip to a Rwandan orphanage.

This piqued AJ and Avery's interest and they wanted to help. Avery, who has an extremely generous heart, had already emptied her piggy bank a few months prior to give to our pastor who was going to Africa. It was one of those times when my child taught me about a spirit of giving. I realized it was more important to let her do what God was speaking to her little heart than it was to explain to her how much money she had saved and that she really didn't need to give ALL of it.

The kids wanted to give some money to help the orphans in Rwanda, but Avery was sad that she didn't have much to share. I reminded them of the upcoming garage sale and suggested they could sell cookies as they had the year before and give some of the money they raised. They thought this was a splendid idea, and I assumed it was all settled.

Well, it wasn't. They had apparently formulated their own plan in the backseat of the car on the way home from church that day. After we pulled into the driveway, AJ and Avery practically jumped out of the car and headed for the playroom, although I didn't give it much thought at the time.

They came out awhile later and asked to show me something. I walked in and found a pile of toys in the middle of the floor. Of course, I immediately wanted to know what the mess was about, but was quickly chagrined.

"Mom, we're going to sell this stuff and give the money to the kids."

They asked how much money I thought they could get and I suggested they pray about it. They decided they wanted to raise $100; an astronomical amount to a five and six year old. Considering the pile I was looking at, it also seemed like an awful lot to me, but I realized it was probably better not to argue. And pray they did.

A few weeks later as sale day dawned, they proudly displayed their treasures (and it was many of their treasures) and set up their "lemonade" stand. They kept their own money box and were responsible for selling their own things. I'm sure it helped when they cornered our browsers and said they were raising money for "kids without moms and dads!"

At the end of the two-day event, we poured all the money out of their box and began to count. Lots of nickels, dimes, and quarters and some green bills. I was overcome with emotion as we came to the last few coins. "Mommy, what's wrong?" they asked.

"Oh, nothing's wrong. But God answered your prayer and honored your efforts."

Their grand total? $100.26. You tell me that was coincidence.

My kids were not the least bit surprised. Of course they would have $100. But my faith was bolstered that day. God cares so much about the details and goes to such great lengths to show us that nothing is out of His control. Even at a garage sale.

It was with great joy that they handed their heavy envelope to Kristi at church the following Sunday. The looks on their faces were priceless as I shared their story of sacrifice. I wish I had a picture of that in folder six.