Beach Trip

We just returned from the beach on Sunday evening and let me say it was an experience. The day we left started out good until I realized I couldn't have my morning bible time and immediately I lost all patience I had with the kids. Without saying anything they all stayed clear of me. Ill is not even the word to describe me. I did get better and I did apologize to them for being so ugly. And of course, they forgave me.

When we got there (it took us 5 hours since I went 30 min. out of the way) we went straigt to the RV we were staying in. One bedroom, one bath one couch, and one table for, um, six people. Need I say more. Just for visual effect, here is a picture of the RV (which belongs to my dad.) Needless to say, I learned to appreciate what I have and not complain about needing more space. We ate at cici's pizza and had only two accidents. Elizabeht spilled her pizza on the floor and Katherine spilled her drink. No major catastrophes. We left there and went on to the beach. It was 9:00 at night and when we left, my kids were wet and sandy. Something I did not want to have to deal with so late on the day we arrived.

Anyways, we had a great time. We spent Friday on the beach. Blake got there about 7:30 and we went to eat at LuLu's for dinner. WE waited two hours for a seat but the kids had fun waiting. They had games and volleyball on the beach for them to play. Saturday we went and ate lunch at Lambert's, "Home of the throwed rolls." The kids loved seeing the waiters throw rolls across the room at people. I caught two of them myself. After we ate we went to a place called the Track and rode bumper boats, go carts and some amusement rides for the little ones. WE had a really good time. We cooked out Saturday night and then crawled into bed for a good night sleep.

We went back to the beach for a couple of hours on Sunday. It was blazing hot so we didn't stay long. We left for Birmingham around 4 and finally got home at 9:30. Here are some pics of our trip. Enjoy.

Casual Christianity

As I was doing my Bible study yesterday morning God spoke to my heart saying that it was time for "casual Christianity" to end. It is time for us to cry out for God to set our hearts ablaze with the FIRE of His Holy Spirit. So many of us cry out to God for our nation and the things we see around us, yet our hearts seem so so far from the words we speak on our lips. There are way too many christians today who are too friendly with the world. We say we love God, but our actions show that we love the world more. We want to see God move in mighty ways, yet we sit back in our casual state as we wait for God to move before we move. Where is the discipline and passion of God's people?

Do we really understand the life we could have if we are Sold Out to God. Do we really understand if we get on our faces and tear our hearts out before the Lord instead of having a WWJD bumper sticker on our car that we would be so much more satisfied? Joel 2:13 says, "Don't tear your clothing in grief; instead, tear your hearts." That's what God wants. Our hearts, not our service. It's time to see the world for what it is and to see God for who He is. And when we do, we will see that there is no comparison to be made. So many people play the part on the outside, but their hearts are far form Him.

Until GOD'S PEOPLE get serious, and I mean really serious about Him I don't think our nation will see revival. I believe God showed me that two revivals need to take place. First, revival of the saints and then revival in our nation.

Amanda

There are only a few friends that God brings into your life for a purpose and one of those He has brought into mine is Amanda Taylor. She is the most humble, sweet, real and loving person I have ever known. She will be the first to tell you how much she loves the Lord, but she will also be the first to tell you that she is a sinner only saved by grace. I have seen her grow so much in the Lord and she is such an encouragement to me. I know that when I feel defeated, she is there to encourage me and lift me up. Without doubt, I always feel revived when I get off the phone with her.

She and I went to school together. We were good friends, but I never would have thought we would have stayed in touch the way we have. She was always closer to the girls she "grew up with" as I was the one who "invaded" the school in 8th grade. I always looked up to her. She was beautiful, had a wonderful family and everyone loved her. She was who I wanted to be. We had our rough times in school but we persevered through it all and now we are closer than ever. I can tell her anything and never fear that she will judge me or feel she is better than me.

Amanda, I love you dearly. God truly blessed me with your friendship. I am a better person for knowing you. You are such an encouragement to me and you have the childlike faith I long to have. Keep your humble attitude and God will do great and mighty things in your life. I am so glad to call you "my friend." And no matter where life takes us, you will never be forgotten. (PS I think you know what I'm talking about.) I love you much

Nat

Being Real

At the age of 18, God called me to full time ministry. I had no idea at the time what I would be doing but during the last two years He has shown me and confirmed His calling on my life which is teaching His word. But what I keep hearing Him tell me over and over is that I must be real. I must be real to all those I teach. I can't be untouchable. If I were, they would never be able to relate to me. I have my spiritual side, but I also have my fleshly side. I live in this world but I am not of this world. I want so desperately for people to be able to relate to me. I want them to know that God is my everything, but I also want them to know that I still struggle and have problems. Yes, I get mad at my kids and husband. And yes, sometimes I wish there were no one else but me. I get jealous of people and I sometimes wish I were the best at everything. But I realize that all those feelings are normal but feelings that only God can change. And I would never judge anyone for feeling "normal." What God has shown me is that He is the only true satisfaction in this life. ThAT He is the "manna" from Heaven. Nothing compares to knowing and loving Him. As the old song goes, " I LOVE TO LOVE HIM."

Calling the Stars

I was reading in Isaiah the other day and came across a verse that really made me marvel at the greatness of God. Chapter 40 verse 26 says:

" Look up and see: (the stars) who created these? He brings out the starry host by number; He calls all of them BY NAME. Because of His great power and strength, not one of them is missing." WOW When I read that all I could do was sit in wonder. If His stars are so precious in His sight that He calls them out by name to make sure that none are lost, How do you think He watches and responds to His own children? Just as the New Testament says, If one of His children wander away, He goes Himself to find them and carry them home. He makes sure that none of us are missing. Go out tonight and look up at the stars. And when you do, remember He calls them out by name to make sure none are lost. Marvel at His greatness. A greatness we can never even begin to understand. And then remember that the same One who created and loves these stars, loves you more!!! There is NOTHING on this earth that can satisfy you more than He can.

Skinned Knee

O.K. I had to laugh at my husband a couple of days ago. He was at work and he fell down and skinned his knee. That of course was not funny, but let me tell you what was. When he got home from work, he cut a big piece of gauze (in his defense, the "boo boo" was big) and wrapped his leg with tan medical tape. It looked like he had been to the doctor and had knee surgery. He did get a little mad at me because I couldn't help but laugh at him. For goodness sakes, we don't even bandage the kids up like that.

As if that wasn't enough, a couple of days later he opened up the fridge and some dishes I had put up there fell off and he tried to catch them. Somehow they broke before the reached his hand and he ended up with five stitches. Two on his ring finger and three on his middle finger. Now that is something I didn't laugh about. The taped up knee, yes but the stitches, no!!! As of now, we have had no more accidents and hopefully we'll keep it that way.

Is It Possible

I'm just wondering how possible it is for me to actually write any kind of Bible study when I have four kids with me all day long. I do get my Bible time and prayer time in but to actually sit and study in order to write, I have no time. Just getting on the computer and writing on this blog is hard enough. I have kids up and down on my lap what seems like all day. I love them dearly and my prayer has been that I will delight in every detail of their lives just like the Bible says God delights in every detail of our lives. However, there is still that longing to find the time to discover bible truths so that I can teach others what I have learned. That is truly the desire of my heart. I love the Lord deeply but I want to love Him more. That is another longing of my heart. I guess the number one longing. That I will be so in love with Him that all the things that matter now, won't matter anymore. I want him to be my number one. And I want others to experience the joy of knowing Him the way I have.

Freaked out

My heart is racing right now. I am completely freaked out. I'm sitting at my computer trying to print a sale brochure for my house when i feel something crawling on me. I look down and see only the corner of my paper and felt somewhat relieved until I spotted the huge nasty brown roach on my arm. No kidding, it was two inches long. Atleast. I screamed to the top of my lungs just b/c it made me feel better. Not really b/c it helped me out in anyway. I can tell you that the poor roach was a quick goner. He didn't have time to feel a thing. Now I'm freaked about sitting in my computer seat. Oh, I had to thump the leg out of my chair. Can you say gross!!! Anyways, I'm still wondering why God made such a nasty little critter. If anyone knows, please fill me in. Otherwise, they will still be at the top of my "bugs I hate the most" list!!!
>

New to me

O.K. This seems to be the popular thing these days so I thought that I would give it a try. Not sure what I'll post or if I'll even enjoy it. I thing I will because I'm always wanting to "teach" the things I learn during my bible study time and this is a great outlet. I guess that is the teacher in me. I think I may start researching the armor of God to possibly write a bible study on it. Because I'm so impatient, the thought of it taking a long while intimidates me. We'll see! It will give me something to pray about and if God tells me to go ahead with it, I won't have a choice. He will only tell me to do things that will result in my joy and His glory.