Happy Thanksgiving

The children and are are headed to Atlanta, to spend Thanksgiving and Isaac's first birthday with Bo's parents, "Gammie" and "Grandpa". Will come back happy and refreshed I'm sure.

Everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving. The boys and I are going to make a long list of things we are thankful for during the trip. I'm thankful for everyone who takes the time to read my blog. Blessings to you.

One year ago.....

More theology with Noah.....

While having a conversation about Jesus' resurrection Noah asked:

Was Jesus really dead?

Me: Yes, honey, Jesus was dead for three days. He became alive again and...

Noah: ...went to heaven.

Me: That's right, He went to heaven.

Noah: So he lives in heaven?

Me: Uh-huh.

Noah: But He lives in my heart.

Me: Yes, well...... He has so much power that He can be anywhere He wants, at the same time.

Noah: So, He splits Himself IN HALF???????

Me: Uh. Hmmm. Well. Yeeaaahhhhh.

Noah: Really???? Ha ha ha ha ha ha.........

Hedge of Protection

Some times in our journey with the Lord we need greater spiritual covering and protection. Worship ministry, for example, is a powerful spiritual weapon that attracts the enemy (that would be satan). Healing and deliverance is another area that can bring spiritual backlash. Confronting something of satan's that he has just the way he wants it causes spiritual upheaval. The Body of Christ needs to understand spiritual warfare, and be trained in it. We are not to walk in fear, but to stand strong in the authority God has given us. Greater is He who is in us, than he who is in the world. God promises His divine protection in His Word. Here is a prayer, using scripture, that claims a hedge of protection over our lives. Pray it when you feel vulnerable.

Father, in the name of Jesus, I come to you and pray a hedge of protection around me, my family, and all that belongs to us. I thank you, Father, that You are a wall of fire round about us and that you set Your angels round about us.

I thank you , Father, that my family and I dwells in the secret place of the Most High and abides under the shadow of the Almighty. I say of You, Lord, You are our refuge and fortress and in You we will trust. You cover us with Your feathers, and under Your wings we will trust. We will not be afraid of the terror by night or the arrow that flies by day. Only with our eyes will we behold and see the reward of the wicked.

Because my family and I have made You, Lord, our refuge and fortress, no evil shall befall us-no accident will overtake us-neither shall any plague or calamity come near us. You give Your angels charge over us, to keep us in all Your ways.

Father, because You have set Your love upon us, therefore will deliver us. We shall call upon You, and You will answer us. You will be with us in trouble, and will satisfy us with a long life and show Your salvation. Not a hair on our heads shall perish. Amen.

Zechariah 2:5

Psalm 34:7

Psalm 91: 1-6, 8-11, 14-16

Luke 21:18

Communion Dance

Okay, if you survived viewing my wedding video and it's very dated music, hairstyles, and fashion, here's a more current video of Bo and I. It's a dance we did together at Christmas two years ago. It illustrates the intimacy we have with Jesus through communion. This was the first time I'd taken communion during a dance, it was awesome. And the ministry from this dance was powerful for both of us. This was the last worship dance I did in a church. I told Bo "I saved the last dance for you".....

Please note that this video contains cruxifiction scenes from "The Passion of the Christ".

Nineteen years ago today......

Sin

This may not be the most encouraging post, but "it is what it is".....

Lately, I have learned of several instances of sexual abuse in the Church. Some by friends of mine, people I've known for years. I've been reeling, trying to wrap my brain around why in the world people who claim to love the Lord make such poor choices with their lives. Choices that lead themselves, their families, and those under their spiritual care down a long painful road. I'm especially bothered that these sins take place in the church, not that any of us are above temptation, we are not. But being in a place of leadership grants you access to trusting people......women, children, families who enter a church thinking they are in a safe place.

If you are one of these people struggling with impurity, seek help. Go to someone who you trust and confess you sin. God will forgive and cleanse you.

If you know someone who is in sin, and is a believer, follow the Matthew 18 strategy. Go to that person, confront them. If he/she listens to you, repents, and seeks forgiveness, healing, and restoration, great, you have "won your brother" and fulfilled your responsibility as a Christian to help restore a fallen brother or sister. (Has someone confided a struggle with sin to you? That could be a cry for help, don't let the opportunity pass by.) If they don't respond, go to their authority and report your knowledge. Someone's marriage could be saved by this, or a child's purity could be preserved. Conflict is never comfortable, but someone has to stand up and say "this is wrong!". Healing doesn't take place in the dark. Bringing sin into the light is the first step toward restoration.

Jesus said in Matthew 10:34 that he did not come to bring "peace" but a "sword". In order to get to the place of peace, there sometimes has to be some sharp pursuit. Things have to be revealed, discussed, addressed. Being a peacemaker and an encourager isn't always about flowery words, but often involves presenting a challenge.

"Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they shall be called the sons of God."

Matthew 5:9

The boys and I got to speak to Bo tonight, the first phone call in seven days, but thankful to receive any since he's still in Red Phase and not supposed to call at all. He has a cold. He sounded terrible! It's very cold there at night and they've been doing drills in 60mph winds. Yikes! I would not like that at all! He asked us to pray for his lower back which is causing him a lot of pain. This week he has a physical training test and the gas chamber experience. I understand that the tear gas chemicals totally drain the sinuses (as in uncontrollably!). Maybe that will help his cold :) He asked for cold medicines which his mom is sending (thanks Marilyn!) and pictures of the boys and I. Thank you to all of you who have written to him. He said they've gotten mail once, so probably the next mail call will bring him a ton of letters all at one time! I met an army guy yesterday who said he wouldn't get mail for five days, then get six letters at once that the drill instructor threw across the room and made him to push-ups for. Wonderful.

All is well here. I am finally returning to my peace after a stressful week. Watching old worship dance videos has helped me relax. Here's one from 2000.....

Update

My sweet daily blog checking friend Stephanie reminded me yesterday that I haven't updated in a few days. I haven't had the mental energy, I am recovering from a horrendous week! One catastrophe after another. Plumbing problems, kid problems, bad news, financial delays, injuries..... Thursday I bounced from one ordeal to another. I heard this saying that night "if you don't heal today, you will heal tomorrow" and felt the Spirit of the Lord all over me. Friday was better (the water is back on! how do people live without running water????) and I am trusting God with everything that has caused me stress and frustration.

So, Steph, here's a tiny tidbit for my post today. A Noah saying from dinner last night.....

"Mom, I think I'm allergic to tomatoes. They give my mouth paper cuts."

Veteran's Day

Today was my first Veteran's Day as an army wife! I celebrated it by getting a military ID, granting me base privileges and health care benefits. My army babies got IDs too, and my army car Petra is proudly bearing a Department of Defense badge (base decal) on her chest (windshield). My friend Staff Sargent Ristau did our IDs, actually took us into the marine base pass office here, after hours and did them himself. Thanks for the special treatment, Trevor....I mean Sargent Ristau.

I talked to Bo briefly this weekend. The command is in "Red Zone" for three weeks so getting a phone call was a rare blessing. He was able to call collect from a pay phone for a few minutes (all the cell phones have been taken up and locked away). Bo was very excited because he'd just been issued his M-16 rifle. He has to carry it on his shoulder everywhere he goes (he also has to have a "battle buddy" every where he goes, too). He was being nominated for platoon leader. I'm anxious to hear how that went. The training they are doing this week is basic rifle marksmanship, first aid (including administering IVs to their battle buddies...yikes!), field training, physical training (I think they march five miles), and the gas chamber (tear gas) to learn how to use chemical warfare equipment.

I'm proud my hubby is now a soldier and look forward to all he will do to serve our country and make us proud. Happy Veteran's Day.

Worship Dance

One of my goals for this year was to transfer thirteen years of worship dances from 8mm camcorder tapes to digital media. I miss worship dance, and have wanted to easily access my dance videos from the computer. I am thankful that Bo recorded most of them. He is very supportive. He's taped dances, made ballet bars, run spotlight, helped me design flags, sewn elastic on my ballet shoes, entertained children while I taught....he's even danced with me three times (the first dance almost landed us in a divorce attorney's office but praise God we made it through). Anyway, I am learning to use the complicated video recorder we purchased for this endeavor and I have successfully recorded one dance to a DVD. I'm happy to share it with you if you'd like to view it. It's a dance I did with my sweet friend Rebecca in 2004.

Yucky Yucky

Yesterday afternoon Noah and I observed a vulture feasting on a dead squirrel in front of our house. Disgusting. He'd throw the squirrel about and pull his insides out, pausing only long enough to get out of the path of oncoming cars, then back at the slaughter. I explained to Noah that God made everything with a purpose and the vultures were designed to eat dead animals. They have the ability to consume bacteria-ridden carcasses and not get sick. How nice that they were responsible to clearing the roads for us.

We left shortly for a play date with some new friends. The whole ride over Noah is in the backseat reciting "vulture", "squirrel", "vulture", "squirrel".... Vulture was a new word for him and he was memorizing it. As soon as we stepped into the friend's house, Noah excitedly announces to the mom, "we saw a vulture, it was eating a squirrel". The mom said the same thing, about how cool is was the God assigned those birds the job of devouring roadkill.


Then last night, as I was preparing dinner before I left for Joshua's worship concert (which was AWESOME, more later), I heard Noah say "ewwwww, is that his blood????". Caleb was watching the movie "Castaway" on TV. Tom Hanks had sliced his hand open while attempted to crack a coconut. I asked him to change the channel and Noah came running, "Mom, I just love that Caleb so much, he let me watch a violent movie".


Oh, a gory day.

Tuesday night, Bo moved from the processing center to the actual boot camp training. Because the training involves intense, life saving instruction, phone calls aren't allowed so that the platoon can stay focused and undistracted. The boys and I won't speak with Bo for three weeks. We will be able to communicate by letters though. If you'd like to write, email me and I'll send you his address.

It's a little sad to think I won't be able to talk with my husband on our 19th anniversary on the 18th, but I hope he'll be able to call Isaac on his birthday on the 29th. The boys and I will spend Thanksgiving and Isaac's first birthday with Bo's family in Atlanta, so that will help make it easier. We are all sacrificing for our country!

Here's a picture of Bo with his boot camp buddies. Bo is on the left, his bunkmate "New York" is in the middle, and "McNeal" is on the right. During our brief five to ten minute phone calls, I'd hear Bo yell to McNeal "stop with the language, I'm on the phone with my wife".

Africa

I had to share these beautiful photos of my friend Brad Thurston's recent trip to Africa. He runs a center overseas that trains and sends out missionaries. He went to Kenya and Mozambique to visit two missionaries there, and captured some great images of Africa and it's people. Brad is in the last photo, praying at a health center.

I have always wanted to go to Africa, and live there for a month or so, ministering to women and children. Seeing these photos rekindles the desire.....

The Dothan Blessing

Last Saturday after Noah's birthday party, Bo took Caleb and Noah and went to Atlanta to visit his parents before he left for boot camp, and I took Isaac and went to Dothan.

I had a wonderful visit with my grandmother, my pastor, my old church, and my friends. Pastor Estes preached at the nineteenth anniversary service of the church he founded in 1989. Here are some nuggets from his message:

Why would you want to think about the offenses people have done to you? Think on righteous things until a groove forms in your thought life that is deeper than the hurt.

The thing about "seeding"- whether you're still in that location or not, it produces eternal results.

The ultimate value of man is that God bought us and owns us, but has released us to live life how we want because we are free.

God put His treasure in earthen vessels (1 Cor 4:7). It's not "if we have it" or "when we get it". We already have it; it's "will you release it?" We are to be treasure releasers to the world. We are God's hope of glory on Earth (Col 1:27).

This is how valuable I am to God....He paid heaven for me!

When the church gets so full of Jesus, we are less full of ourselves.

The "Powerful Purpose of Man" is:

1. to stand when everyone else is falling (Eph 6)

2. to believe when everyone else is in unbelief

3. to speak when everyone else is silent

4. to let your light so shine, when everything else is dark, that people see the Lord glorified in our lives (Matt 5:16)

(Sounds likes some good purposes to drive the Church :)

Here are some pics from a fun Sunday afternoon in my hometown....

More from Bo

Talked with Bo again tonight. Apparently the guys are being granted the privilege of speaking to their families every night for 5 or 10 minutes, and those with cell phones have to share with other soldiers who don't have phones. Guess the army knows it will boost the morale of the soldiers to have contact and support from home. So, unless someone in the platoon doesn't "clear the deck in ten seconds" then I'll get to speak to my husband more often than I thought. That's great, and the boys need that connection with Dad, too.


Bo sounded much better tonight, more calm and peaceful and more like his normal self. He said he had a better day today. Thanks for all the prayers and support. I passed on everyone's messages.


I asked him what he did all day, and he said it was a lot of health screenings, drills to teach discipline, memorizing creeds, marching, learning formations, etc. He says they have to be busy at all times, sometimes with senseless things like standing in the sun for an hour, or picking up leaves and blades of grass with their hands. The food is good but there are no diet sodas, coffee, or Snickers bars (can he survive????). They have to drink canteens of water all day long (what if it's been two hours since you drank the canteen of water and you're stuck standing in one place for an hour??? yikes! toilet please, Sargent.) There are 1100 recruits processing at Ft. Sill, which is the second largest training facility in the world. It's also the field artillery hub so there's constant noise from canons, gunships, and rockets firing. Bo said Caleb would love that!


He is going to a non-denominational chapel service in the morning. I think the boy is ready for church! His bunk mate is atheist, but is going to the chapel service with Bo because he thinks he might be able to sleep there. I overhead Bo saying to him, "read John 1, that's a good place to start". They all have camo bibles.


The boys and I are doing fine here. I took Noah and Isaac trick-or-treating for the first time last night. We never did trick-or-treating with Joshua or Caleb. We would go to church festivals but we never put our kids in costumes and let them go house to house. Caleb reminded of this, feeling jealous that he never got to trick-or-treat but Noah is allowed. I told him I was sorry I never granted him the joy and excitement all his friends got to experience every fall, but I feel differently now. I asked if he wanted to wear a costume and carry a little plastic pumpkin but I guess fifteen years old is way past that. He did follow behind us on my bicycle and together he and I got to enjoy the experience through Noah's eyes. The smell of Noah's Halloween candy brought back childhood memories. I don't remember much about trick-or-treating, like what I dressed up as, or what houses I went to, but I do remember the smell of that delicious candy mixed with the plastic from the pumpkin basket. I've been sniffing Noah's candy all day.