Lottie Moon

Once again we find ourselves at Christmas, with all the hustle and bustle of the season. Christmas parties, baking, gift buying and giving, it seems to never end! This weekend I was remembering a Christmas I spent in another part of the world. It was such a different time and place. There was no hustle and bustle, no gift buying and giving and no baking. On Christmas these people were actually just going about their day working and going to school. Our group of 6 girls was able to give a gift that we as the givers and the receivers could never pay for or earn. We had the opportunity to tell the story of Jesus' birth for the first time ever on this campus. We read straight from our Bibles the story of His birth and what it meant. It was such a joy to us to be able to share our faith so openly to students who are lost in such an unimaginable darkness.

Lottie Moon, you may be asking what are these 2 words? Is it a person, place or thing? Lottie Moon was a missionary to China. She was one of the first single female evangelist, and quickly realized that to reach the women of China she would have to get out of her classroom and go play in the dirt of China. She had to get out of her comfort and begin to build relationships with the women. She had to physically go to them, that may have meant the field, their house or other meeting places, but she couldn't just sit in her classroom and teach. She had to go and play amongst the ones she wanting to reach. So if it meant getting dirty in the fields then that was what had to happen to build a relationship that could have eternal effects.

Within southern baptist world there is an annual Lottie Moon offering in December. The offering is to help in sending missionaries to the uttermost parts of the world. Like Lottie, these missionaries have realized they have to get out of their comfort zone and go play in the dirt! They have chosen to devote their lives to a life that will have it's fair share of struggles, but will have such great rewards in the end. Rewards that they may never see or understand. They given up all so that can share Christ with cultures that are in darkness.

I have several friends who are living this life already. They are in the uttermost parts playing in the dirt and getting dirty. I also have several friends who are waiting to go and play. So I encourage to give this year to the Lottie Moon offering. You can give at your local church, if you go to a southern baptist Church or you give at http://imbresources.org/index.cfm/fa/store.prod/ProdID/256.cfm . If you are not one who has been called to go and play in the dirt, you have been called to pray and give. So, even if you can give $5 or $500, give to the offering. Let's help send our friends out so they can go play in the dirt in the uttermost parts.

Oh my goodness I'm 30!!!!

On Tuesday of this week I turned 30! It is now official I'm getting old! I want to take the time and write down some things I am thankful for in my 30 years.

1. My wonderful Husband
2. My precious Son---did I tell you, he says precious!
3. My relationship with God, and his love, kindness and grace for the last 30 years.
4. My "extended family" -there are too many to name here, plus i need to respect their anonymity.
5. My great friends- and the time I spend with them.
6. Having the freedom to worship wherever and whenever I choose.
7. Having a house that is just enough for my family.
8. Having the opportunities to see how other people in this world live. (by the way, we Americans have it GREAT!)
10. Having had the opportunity to go to college, and get an education in general
11. Having an income for our family to live on.
12. Having a care to drive around town.
13. Living in North Carolina, close to our families, for this time in our life.
14. My Health.
15. A Healthy family.

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking website, as defined by wikipedia.

I have found Facebook to be a bit addictive. I said I was joining just to keep up with a few people, but now i have 100+ friends. Now don't think that is large number, many of my friends have 400 and 1000 friends. Sometimes i look at my friends list and say, do i really know 100 people? Of this 100 people I can tell you a story about each one. Don't worry, I'm not going to tell you a story about each one. However, I do want to tell you what I have learned about people through Facebook.

I have learned that teenagers have no clue who is really reading their pages. They should pay attention to their privacy settings. I have become saddend with many youth because of their pages.

I have come across old friends and acquaintances and have been sadden by what I read in their profiles and specifically what they say about their religious views. Many of these people are ones when we were 10 years younger I felt were striving to follow Christ in their lives. Now i find them as "Buddhist", "Mystic", "non-conforming religion", "I tried Christianity, didn't work", it burdens my heart for them. It makes me wonder about today's youth, will 10 years from now reveal that they too are not wanting to follow the Lord.

Christ has taught us that we are here on earth to love, to tell people about him, and know that He is revealing Himself. Many people forget that CHRIST seeks us, not us finding Him. We have the free will to answer Him, but He seeks us first. I wish I could go back in time and impress even harder on my old friends that Christ is seeking you and don't say no to him. And to today's youth I would(will) say LISTEN! Just put your IPOD, WII, and computer down and spend some time just listening. You will hear what Christ is telling you and that he is seeking you to follow him. Just say YES to Him.

I have found myself the past few weeks more "in tune" with the passions of my youth. When i was in college, specifically, I was more apt to talk to my friends about Christ and what He was doing, i cared about my friends then. Now i rush through my day and say HI to my friends and forget about eternity. Today I am seeking and praying for the Lord to use me again, to bring to mind the times when i am rushing and pay attention to His voice.

So all this from Facebook...It is amazing how the Lord brings conviction!

This past weekend was our annual Mission conference. Our church host numerous missionaries from stateside and overseas agencies. It is always a great time of fellowship with the missionaries and growing time in ones faith. This weekend was no exception. I most admit, i really didn't want to have much to do with the conference, I went to church on Sunday morning and that was it.

On sunday night I work with 8th grade girls. As i was going to my meeting with them, i ran into a friend. We spoke on what all the Lord was doing in her and her husband's lives as they prepare to move overseas and how He had brought them to where they are now. Then she asked me what Adam and I checked on our commitment form. At the end of the conference we have a form we are to complete as a commitment to what we see the Lord showing us through the conference. I told her nothing. Yes, this year we didn't check anything...why, because we needed time. We needed time to not make a decision on emotions, but on the Lords guidance.

So I tell you all this to bring us to today, Tuesday.

The one thing this weekend showed me was I have not been "abiding" in the Lord as I once did. Today, I noticed the series of events that lead me to become a believer in Jesus Christ. Yes, i have always known them, but today they are fresh again. Why? Because I have found myself the past few days abiding in the Lord, and loving it! Wow, how much I have missed spending time in the word, praying and praising with a joyful heart! I love that the Lord sought me out to abide in Him. I love that He has saved me, and even when i stray He is constant, steady, never changing. He knows it all, everything i have been running from and to, but He still loves me. He still calls me to abide in Him, to rest in Him, to proclaim His name. So this weekend....or at least Sunday, set a fire within me. A fire to trust, follow, READ, PRAY, and know that HE will reveal all things in due time...HIS TIME.

Mommies

I do not work on Tuesday's and Thursday's so " the bean" and i get to go out and do things. We have gone to see animals in the swamp, continued our story time date, ran errands and today the park. Wow! How much fun it is to devote all of my day to him.

With all these ventures I have run across so many mommies. My thought is that all mommies fall into two categories, mommies who teach and mommies who ignore. I think all mommies fall into both categories at one time or another. and i think (probably optimistically) that all mommies love in one form or another.

There is one Mommy that I want to talk about for a minute. This Mommy was unable to have children for a very long time. One of her passions in life was to be a mother. She yearned deep in herself to be a mother. She was taunted because she was unable to bear children. She would pray every year to become a mother. One year her prayer became, Lord if your give your servant a child, i will devote him to you for the rest of his life. Well shortly after, this woman became pregnant and had a son. The son was then given up and devoted to the service of the Lord. This mother gave her child away so that he could be raised to completely, whole heartedly serve the Lord. She now would only see him once a year.

Wow! How amazing is that? She gave her son for the Lord's service. When I was reading again about this spectacular woman I began to think, would i give my son up? Really, in all honesty, would i give him up to the Lord and only see him once a year? So I came to the thoughts that my answer would depend on my relationship with the Lord. Do i truly trust him, do I truly want to follow his plan, do I believe he has my future, and the future of my child? Wow! My brain hurts, but mostly my heart at times when i really ponder. Will I give my child to the Lord's control. I know we did the baby dedication, but was my heart truly in that "service" or was I just walking through the motions?

So who is the Mommy i was speaking of? Her name is Hannah and you can find her in 1 Samuel. I pray i can always follow her example of devoted my child(ren) to the Lord's service.

Labor Day

Today's Labor day and I am sitting in the living room in quiet! "The Bean" and husband are both sleeping and I'm enjoying some time to myself. I must admit, I am not sure what to do. There are many things i could be doing, but what do i want to do? I think I 'll just sit and enjoy.

Training

I have an 18 month old going on 13! I don't know about you, but when I tell "the Bean" NO, he just smiles and does it anyway. I thought he was going to do that when he was teenager! He leaves me a bit frustrated at times.

While watching the Olympics I was impressed with all of the athletes and their abilities in their particular sport. Take Michael Phelps, you know the "golden" boy of the Olympics, he surpassed so many records. How did he do this? He trained. He swam for years, he failed at times, but he didn't give up, he kept training.

Well it clicked one night...training... YES that is what my husband and I are doing with "the bean". We are training him to become the man that he is called. We must train him in discipline, respect, honor, and following the Lord, and many other things that would take thousands of blogs! Is it going to be easy, NO. Is it going to be overnight, NO. Are we going to win gold medals, NO. But we will receive rewards in the end. "The Bean" will eventually be a respectful, obedient child. Will we fail at times? YES. Will we have setbacks, YES. Will we continue to train? YES.

I have learned that we, as parents, are in a never ending cycle of training. I don't think it will ever end. I know, as a daughter, even though I am married and a mother now, feel at times my parents are still training me. A different type of training, but training none the less.

Happy Training...to us all!

Spiders!

Today I had my bi-annual dentist appointment. While I was waiting to go back, I picked up a book to read. In this book they were talking about spiders, their resilency and how they "dig deep" to survive. When you sweep a spider away does he give in and allow you to destroy him? NO! He begins to release his silky protein thread and before you know he has landed safely in a new spot and is stronger than ever; he has learned to avoid your attack.

What an example we have in this creature.


David, like the spider, "digs deep" when he says he will fight Goliath. 1 Samuel states, "Saul replied(to David), 'You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.'" But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."" David learned from his attacks while tending his sheep, and was prepared when he came up againist the Philistine. David trusted the Lord, he trusted that the Lord had prepared him for this time in his life. David knew that the Lord had given him all he needed to defeat Goliath, he knew he must "dig deep" to fulfill his duty.

My husband began a new job this summer. I know he will face struggles, make decisions people will not like, and have a bit of roller coaster year. But one thing I am confident in, he will "dig deep" in what the Lord has equipped him with. He will take time the time to seek the Lord's guidance and wisdom. He will be like the spider, even though one may want to sweep him away, or push him down, he will learn, rely on the Lord and become stronger. I am excited for my husband, I know this will be an interesting year, Ican't wait to see what happens.

A Spritual Being

Beginning in June "the Bean" and I started going to story time at the Library here in town. I had great expectations of this being a new activity for us to do together, and he could begin to interact with other children. However, I was worried at the beginning if he would sit still long enough to actually hear and enjoy anything. The first week was basically a bust, he was restless and wanting to get up and walk around or make these fun "owl" sounds, but we made it through.

The next week we were walking up the stairs to go into the Library, and I saw, out of the corner of my eye, this Muslim mother, grandmother and daughter. Both mother and grandmother were in their traditional clothing, while the daughter wore western clothes. So we walk into the meeting room and find our seats. "The Bean", of course, begins to look around and check out all the kids. I, too am looking around to see if I know anyone. I see the Muslim family again, and I catch myself staring at them. So I began to pray that the Lord would give me an opportunity talk with them. Our storyteller is going on in her story and "the Bean" is listening intently, but I am not, I continue to look at this woman. I begin thinking she is this girl I rode the bus with as a kid. So i pray again for the Lord to give me a chance to talk with her after class.

The class ends and I decide to go and see if this is the girl I once knew. It turned out to not be her, but I met a new friend. Now I seek her out on story time day and we talk often. I am now praying for an opportunity to meet her outside of story time, so I can build a deeper relationship with her.

With all of this I bring us back to my title, "A Spiritual Being" , during this summer and specifically this account with my new friend, the Lord has reminded me I am a spiritual being. Over the life of "the Bean" I have grown comfortable in just being a wife and mom. I was comfortable in conducting the daily tasks of dressing him, feeding him, kissing boo boo's, changing those stinky diapers, playing and loving him, going to story time and being a wife. I had lost sight in that I am first a spiritual being, specifically, I am first a daughter of Christ. My life, my heart, should not soley rest in the duties of motherhood and being a wife. I have known this for years, heard it in sermons, and always felt I understood. But it wasn't until my faithful day with "my new friend" that I realized how easy it is to get caught up with just being.

The First

Tonight I begin a new journey... The journey to blog. What am I thinking? My purpose will be to delve deeper in to what truly influences our hearts. I hope to see how the Lord is leading, teaching, revealing and how myself, family and friends influence the direction of the heart.

Stay tuned, i hope to begin soon!