What is money really worth?

In my bible reading this morning, I was taken to Luke 12. I've read this many times before and love it, but this morning it really hit me. Every where you look, people are struggling financially. BUT, if you read Luke 12, and you trust in God alone, He will take care of you! He takes care of the birds, why wouldn't He take care of His people?

I am not much of a worrier. EXCEPT when it comes to snow. I have no idea why, but I hate to drive in snow, or slick roads. I grew up and learned how to drive in Nebraska, which usually has, first, a nice layer of ice and then snow on the roads. We usually take a trip to the mountains for a youth Winter Retreat in Feb. of every year. Sometimes, I'm asked to drive. A few years ago, I was really praying through the idea of driving in the mountains on snowy roads and I came across this:
"Look at the ravens. They don't need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not!: Luke 12:24 & 25.

As we left for the winter retreat, I watched the snow clouds over the mountains and was really close to crying the closer we got. As we started up the mountain, it started to snow...HARD! The higher we got, the more snow was packed on the roads. By the time we got to the top, the roads were snowpacked and you could barely see the car in front of you. I really don't remember much of the trip, or what the teenagers were talking about in the back seat, because I prayed the entire way up the mountain. He got me to the top and we had an amazing weekend of worshiping and having a fun time together.

So, why worry! Just put your trust in God, ask Him to get you through whatever is worrying you, and "keep driving" and going forward, into His arms!

We were on our way to church the other day and as we were stopped at a stop sign, I read a bumper sticker on a teenager's car. I can't recall what it said, but it made me feel very blessed that I have Jesus as my saviour! I told my kids that I was glad to know that I'll be in heaven in less than 100 years because this world just keeps getting worse and I'll be living safe in the arms of Jesus. I also told them to be glad they have Jesus in their lives to help them in this world. I can't imagine going through some of the things this world throws at you without having the help from Jesus to get through them!!!

We all take for granted that God is in control of EVERY detail of our lives. Stop and thank Him for his many blessings in your life!

Peaceful evenings?

I remember the evenings when the kids would go to bed early on school nights and I would fall asleep in front of the tv or reading a book. I think back at how peaceful our evenings were when the kids were younger and after they went to bed. I have been teasing Jason that I wanted him to go out-of-town for business so the kids and I could have cereal for dinner and I could have the house to myself in the evenings. WHAT?!
Jason left this afternoon for a few days. This entire day has been one thing after another....why would I think this evening would be any different. The second he left I started making dinner, then I had to leave to go get Cody from soccer practice. Came home, ate, cleaned up dinner and thought, I'm going to sit down for a few minutes. Yeah right! Not with an 8 year old in the house along with a new puppy! Sam kept begging me to do something or to watch a movie, the dog was running around yelping and chewing on anything and everything and the kids running after her yelling very loudly, "STOP" or "NO!". It is now 8:30. Peyton has Bella outside to go potty, Sam is upstairs reading and Cody is in his room doing homework. How long will the quiet last? Probably until Peyton comes back in with Bella, Sam is done with homework, or Cody decided he needs to come upstairs to chew on ice. I think I will go run a hot bath, put in some earplugs and let Calgon take me away!

Me time!

It's fall! Well, not yet, but kids are going back to school and that is how the saying goes, "the kids start school in the fall". We have had company for a week and they just left this morning. It's been a crazy few weeks with so much to get done, keeping up with housekeeping, errands, end-of-summer "stuff", concerts, company, etc.
I'm sitting here now, listening to my music, getting home-school stuff in order, invoices ready for work, but no one around to interrupt my thoughts and concentration. I only have one thing on the schedule today...Lunch with a great friend! Oh yeah, and early youth group tonight for the scavenger hunt. At least dinner is provided...one less thing I have to think about.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed having company, and I also enjoyed having the kids home for the summer, but it was time to get back into a routine. EVERY time I tried to have quiet time this summer, someone came downstairs to ask me a question, wanted breakfast, etc. I was feeling edgy and grumpy toward the end of summer and I finally realized last week that "things" were getting between me and my relationship with God. So, time to write down what I want in the next few months and really concentrate on them.
1. GOD first
2. Fitness (I really want to focus on feeling better).
The rest of the list I'll have to think on and write down for myself to review.
So, now to go work on these things!

Loving others as themselves

Here I go again. God has really given me a passion for this subject lately. I have been doing some studying and researching about this subject, and it's not a new subject. It's been going on for years....thousands of years. I found this great article on Christianity.com today saying that many Americans say the biggest sin is that of intolerance. And the ones committing this sin the most, according to many Americans....Evangelical Christians! This is so frustrating to me!
As one who didn't accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior until I was 30, I can see the side of those saying this. This was one of the biggest things that scared me off from wanting anything to do with being part of a church. BUT....as I have learned and what I hold on to every day, is that it's not about other people, it's about my personal relationship with Jesus and it's between God and me! Wow! What a wonderful thought that just makes me excited that He is part of my life! That gives me comfort when I'm feeling frustrated. I grew up believing in God and Jesus, but never had that personal, intimate relationship as I do now. I just thought that by being a good person (most of the time) would get me into heaven. I must have missed reading John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" or Ephesians 2:8, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." Boy, was I missing out on the most loving relationship a person can have...WITH GOD! I had the head knowledge, but not the heart knowledge. I'm also not saying good deeds aren't good. Luke 6:45 says, "A good person produces good deeds from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart. Whatever is in your heart determines what you say." When you are living your life for Jesus and He is in your heart, you will want to do good for Him.
I had a great conversation with one of my closest friends last night. We were talking about how people act one way while at church or around other Christians and then act totally different any other time. Let me just say, I know I am guilty of this myself. The reason I do this, is because I feel like I'm being judged/watched and if I say one wrong thing, people will judge me and think I'm a bad person. My heart and desire is for people to be more aware of this. I, for one, want to be myself and be accepted as I am. This gets difficult...on both sides. We are to be like Christ and act like Christ. The problem: we are human. If we didn't have this issue, Jesus wouldn't have had to die on the cross to cover our "human-ness". (or sins)
Whew! So what do we do with all of this? I pray that people would stop "acting" for other people, but strive to do the right thing because God is watching them and sees their actions...and their heart. On the flip side. I pray that people would stop judging others for their sins. We all have sin in our lives. “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.
“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye. Matt. 7:1-5
I pray that all who live for Jesus can be encouragement to each other, love each other, and be light and salt to those that do not have that relationship with Jesus, so that they too will want to know Jesus.

For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10: 10 and 13 NLT
So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13: 34 and 35

Teenagers and Legalism

I'm going to start this one off by saying, if you are easily offended...stop right now and don't read any more. To the rest of you, I will probably step on some toes and I'm sorry in advance.

We just spent a week at StudentLife Camp in Durango with some AMAZING teenagers! We took 16 teenagers and there were 4 of us adults all mingled with over 700 teenagers and adults. As I sat and just took all of it in, I was humbled and amazed at how God uses teenagers! For those of you that think teenagers are rude, horrible creatures, shame on you! You don't have to necessarily like them, but God tells us to love them. Matt. 22:39 (and many other places in His Word) They are God's creation and YOU were once a teenager. They are in their prime learning/growing time and it is the responsibility of the adults in their lives to be examples of how to live a Christian life. Unfortunately, a lot of adults think teenagers are no good, and they blame them for every bad thing that happens. As a youth leader, this really frustrates me. For example, I have heard several comments in our own church lobby about the teenagers using the sanctuary for youth group and that they spill drinks all the time. I have been helping with the YG for over 3 years now, and I have seen very few spills. AND, when it does happen, I see about 4 teenagers come to the rescue to help the one who does spill clean it up. On the FLIP (this was the theme of the camp) side, I have sat through bible studies in the sanctuary where women spill their coffee. I have seen other women tell that person their coffee just spilled and then just sit there and wait for that person to clean up their own coffee. When that person cleans it up, they just get a few paper towels and step on it and hope that's fine. (I know, because I have witnessed or been on both sides of the this...both spilling my coffee and being the one to tell the other they spilled).

I sat and watched the worship of these teenagers and lead a group of them during bible study time. All I have to say is...WOW! These teenagers are on fire for God! Yes, there are some that mess around and really aren't interested, but isn't that the case for some adults in church? These kids are the next generation of pastors, missionaries, youth pastors, leaders, etc. and I'm excited and proud of that fact! So next time you see a teenager walking around your church (even if it's a boy with long hair or his pants sit a little low on the hips, or a girl wearing jeans instead of a dress or has a piercing in a place that you think is wrong) please don't judge them, you don't see their hearts! God is their ONLY judge and He sees the amazing things they are doing to further His kingdom and He doesn't care what they are wearing or how they look! Jesus was not worried about what the Samaritan girl at the well looked like. John 4

That leads me to the second thing that I really took away from camp. One word, LEGALISM. This is where I may step on someone's toes. Don't get me wrong, I understand that God gives us each our own convictions, but please don't judge others if they aren't convicted in the same way. Our speaker this week was Ergun Caner. This is a man who does a church service for the "least of these". The "freaks" is what he calls them. The ones with tattoos, long hair, holes in their jeans, piercings, etc. If you've been to the mall or the county fair, you know the ones. These people need saved and loved too! They are all God's creation.

HOLY: Ergun explained this: A Christian should define holy as being more like Christ.

Legalists define this as wanting someone to be more like them. This really hit me! This is one of my biggest turn offs about Christian adults. Wear a dress to church, don't throw balls in the sanctuary, you are a sinner if you have a tattoo, you must kneel to pray, etc. I could go on and on, but you get the point. And maybe you've been convicted by one of these things. PLEASE, please, please, don't judge others if they aren't. Guess what, I wear jeans to church, I've thrown balls in the sanctuary, I have two tattoos and want another one, and I pray wherever I feel like talking to God...whether it's standing at the sink washing dishes, lying in bed before I nod off to sleep, or sitting in my car driving somewhere. (and I didn't close my eyes while driving either!)

I know that our youth pastor and probably every youth leader out there, gets criticism for how he/they do things. I can only speak for our Youth Pastor, he loves these kids and would do anything for them. He takes time out of his personal life to show them God's love. He takes them to camp and gets buckets of water poured on him, gets little sleep, and puts up with loud music and loud kids the whole week and still loves them and would do it all over in a heart beat...and does do it again and again! I'm not saying he's perfect, he may slip and say something he maybe shouldn't have, or run a yellow light while on one of those many road trips he takes with the youth, etc. But none of us are perfect. The kids see that he is real, and he slips up in life, just like they do/will. THANK YOU, Jesus, for shedding your blood to forgive us of our imperfections and sins!!!

So please, next time you see a youth pastor, thank him/her for his/her dedication and commitment to teach and love on those teenagers who will be our next pastors, leaders, missionaries, etc. Also, take a minute to thank the teenagers for what they do. You may not see what they are doing behind the scenes, but they are there. Setting up the chairs that you sit on during Sunday morning church, picking up trash at the skate park and sharing the gospel with the skaters, putting out the tables that you sit at during church potlucks, their committment to God and eachother as they "give up" their Wednesday nights to be at church to learn and grow in God, and being the encouragement and light in my life! I just want to say, that I love and respect every one in our youth group; our youth pastor, the teenagers, and the adult leaders! You are all amazing, wonderful people....God's chosen people! THANK YOU to all of you!

Gotta love sunburns

Went to the pool today. 2 hours in the sun. Now I'm bright red. Which is a little strange considering I had a pretty good base tan started already.
While at the pool, a friend and I were talking about how now they are saying that sunscreen causes cancer more than the sun. Hmmmm. Is this true? I have been struggling with the fact that I go to a tanning bed to start my tan in the summer. There is research saying this is a healthy way for your body to get the Vitamin D it needs. I have also heard that Hawaii has very little cases of skin cancer because the people there stay tanned all year long and don't get sun burnt. So, what do you do? Do you stay out of the sun and have a Vitamin D deficiency, go out in the sun and get sun burnt because you don't want to use sunscreen, or do you use sunscreen? Oh the options. Personally, I like the "healthy" look I have when I have a tan, so I will continue to go to a tanning bed and sit at the pool and NOT put on the sunscreen. If it gives me skin cancer....it's just my weird way of getting to heaven sooner! Go enjoy the sun...however you choose to expose yourself to it.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

I haven't heard the official word on how many days in a row that we've received rain, but it's a lot. Every morning my son gets up and says, "can we go swimming today?" and my answer, "if it doesn't rain." How many days have we been to the pool? ONCE! We have had a few nice days that we didn't go to the pool because we were at friends' houses, church, out-of-town, etc, but the rain is really getting old.
Don't get me wrong. I love a great thunderstorm and the smell of rain. At the first sound of thunder or the first site of lightning, I immediately go around the house opening windows and doors. It reminds me of when I was a little girl we would go out on my Grandpa and Grandma's porch on the farm and watch the rain. My Grandpa would say, "More rain, more grass for the horses". Now, I usually stand at the open patio door or front door and watch as the rain comes. I watch the water as it gushes down both sides of the street and dream of floating paper boats, sticks, or anything we could find to float when I was a kid.
But, not this summer. The weather has been really strange. We've had hail a lot of days, and tornado watches and warnings. If not here, then one of the counties nearby. I've seen lots of great pictures of funnel clouds that friends have taken. (I'm really jealous, because I love tornadoes and love to go driving to find them) I've often wondered lately if we secretly moved to Seattle or somewhere in Oklahoma because this is just weird for Colorado.
Well, in all my thoughts (and frustrations) I've decided to make a Top Ten Reasons Why I Love Rain. So here goes:
1. Because it's one of my most favorite smells! (and if it doesn't rain, I don't smell it)
2. Because I've only had to water our lawn two or three times this summer...and it's more green than it has been since we moved here.
3. Because I love the sound of thunder and counting the seconds between when I see lightening to when I hear thunder.
4. Because it holds many memories for me and makes me smile.
5. Because it's a true excuse to not have to do yard work. (although I love yard work, I love the rain more)
6. Because I love the feeling of cold rain drops on a warm summer afternoon. (I'm usually the one in the parking lot walking slowly enjoying the rain, not the one running for my life to get into the store)
7. Because I haven't had to wash our vehicles once this summer.
8. Because it forces families to spend time together, either playing in the rain, or spending time inside together.
9. It remindes me that God is bigger than me and is in control, and my little plans that might have gotten changed due to rain aren't really that important.
10. It's God's creation, why shouldn't I like it?! Find the beauty in everything, instead of grumbling about the uncontrollable.

He Reigns!

The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. Psalm 97:1