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Proverbs 31 Ministries

Below is a daily devotional that I receive on my email everyday from a site called "Proverbs 31 Ministries".  As a women trying to be the best for God, I also understand that I am going to be held to a higher standard for the mere fact that I am a Pastor's wife.  Yikes!  I had an incident this week that tested my character.  I failed in some areas but thrived in others.  Regardless of the fact that the turn out was not so good, God worked in me and through me and for it, I am a better person.  God has provided already and I am blessed with a peace that is surpassing my own understanding.  Everyday we are given the chance to choose how we react to others.  My prayer is that I will be careful to react and slow to speak, I hope that's your prayer as well.  Today's devotional from "Proverbs 31 Ministries" spoke right to me and I wanted to share it with you....

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1 (NIV)

A few years ago, Art and I hit a rough place financially. Some investments we'd made went bad and we lost nearly our entire life savings. I was knee deep in 3 small children at the time and hadn't a clue that financial danger was looming on the horizon.

That is until Art came home one day and the look on his face spoke of utter defeat. How could we have lost so much? He'd been wise with our finances. He'd done his research. He was a faithful saver. I stood stunned in our foyer that day, as Art told me the news.

There were many different directions my reaction could have gone in the minutes that followed. I was upset. When Art first talked of making these particular investments, I shared with him that I didn't have a good feeling about it. But, in the end, I let him make the final decision.

So many times in my marriage, I've chosen the wrong words - words that were tainted with bitterness, words that were emotionally toxic. But I'm so thankful the Lord had been working on preparing my heart for this moment and instead of reacting immediately with what would have been a disastrous response, I paused. I allowed the Holy Spirit a few seconds to interrupt my natural flesh feelings.

Then, because of God's Spirit working in me, I was able to wrap my arms around my husband and speak life-giving words into his weary heart. "I love you Art. I loved you yesterday when we had everything. I love you today when we have nothing. I love you for who you are, not what you have."

A few years later, Art and I were on Dr. Dobson's Focus on the Family radio program. On the show Art was asked, "I know you and Lysa had a rough start to your marriage. But what happened that made you know you'd stick by her forever, no matter what?"

Without hesitation, Art recounted my reaction over the lost investments.

I cried.

Had I been left to my own flesh reaction that day, it could have set us on the road to marital disaster. But, because of God's response being stored up in me, this situation wound up bringing us closer together than we'd ever been.

I realized how crucial it is to always be aware of God's preparation in our lives. Because He stands in our yesterday, today and tomorrow, He sees all. And He knows the perfect way to prepare our hearts for every situation.

When we embrace His preparations, even a girl with firecrackers in her blood like me can have reactions that honor God and breathe life into relationships.

Dear Lord, remind me to pause before I react. Sometimes the stresses of life pull at my emotions, which cause me to have reactions that tear a t my relationships. Please forgive me for poor reactions in my past. Thank You for second chances. Thank You for the way You prepare my heart for everything You see that I'll be facing today, tomorrow and in all my tomorrows to come. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Useless Post...

First let me say that this post has no rhyme or reason.  Very plain Jane and random but here goes...2009 has been very busy already!  I was finally able to upload some pictures from Christmas only to find that I look horrible in every single photo and you will see none of me on here, very depressing.

This is a pic of Elijah and his cousins, from the left-Devin who is the only one smiling but not at the camera, Shea on his lap- I believe shortly before this she was tossed to the ground, but it didn't seem to phase her... Cameron who is not paying attention at all, and then there is Elijah who is being held back from an escape by his daddy.  So there was our somewhat failed attempt to get a decent group picture of the kids!

Onto the next... this is me trying to get Elijah ready to go out and play in the snow for the 1st time EVER!

This next picture was supposed to come after the next one, but I am too lazy to go back and correct it.  Point being... he stood in the snow for while then just fell over.  Very cute! :)

This is when he was just standing...

I enjoyed watching them play from inside the warm house!

So anyway, there are a few shots of my life for right now.  Maybe someday the pictures will look better because I will have a new camera? humm....

I do find it sad that the look like they were taken in the evening when in fact, it was broad daylight outside!

Next post should be more entertaining... maybe a "10 Commandments" update or something.  For now, I need to sleep while child is sleeping ;)

Mary

I had the wonderful experience of going to bible study last thursday night with my girlfriends.  Our host was not able to have it at her house so we needed to pick another location.  We choose to meet at Hennings in the cafe.

I went to the cafe about an hour earlier than our scheduled time because I wanted to get started on a book that my lovely sister gave to me called "My Husband wants to be a Church planter, so what does that make me?"  Jason and I have been talking about church planting a lot so I wanted to read what other wives have gone through in the process.  This is a very practical book with insight for all christians.  Not just those who are getting in the church planting field.

While I was reading I noticed that there was a young family at the table next to me.  The sound of my husbands last statement before I left the house rang in my ear.  He said "Oh, you girls are meeting in public, being missional eh?"

Actually, No...being missional was not our intention.  But it should be.  So I thought about what I could do in a simple way to strike conversation with this family.  I tend to be shy so I made my lame attempt by holding my book in a way that they could see the title.  I know this sounds so stupid but I'm a chicken! After a long while the family left and I failed at being Jesus to them.  Until she came back....
The women who was at the table came to me and said..."Excuse me, I couldn't help but notice the book you are reading."  I was trying not to laugh because I basically shoved it in their faces, how could they not notice!  We had a nice conversation.  It turns out that her sister and Brother-in-law planted a church in Vegas so she was familiar with the process.  I asked her if her family attended church anywhere and she said "No."  That was it.  She didn't expand on her answer so I didn't ask anymore questions.  Before she left she introduced herself as "Mary".  I told we share the same name and it was really nice to meet her.

I was completely stunned when she walked away.  My small and shy attempt to share the gospel was used.  I am not sure if Mary and her family know the Lord, and I wish I would have asked.  But all I can do now is pray.  My prayer is that if Mary is saved, that she was encouraged through talking to me and will be looking for a church family.  If Mary does not know Jesus I pray that our encounter left a seed in her heart that Jesus will grow.

Our small beings can be used by God in ways that we cannot understand.  This incident reminded me to be a light every where.  You never know who is watching and who is impacted by your actions.

I want to leave you with this quote from the book i talked about above.  I feel that it applies to everyone in ministry!

"Connect regularly with your mentors, other planter wives, your prayer warriors and your network.  Do not let your preparation for bible studies or worship services serve as your quiet time.  Stay grounded in Gods Word- dwell in his presence. Pray.  Maintain your daily quite time no matter how busy life gets.  Let ministry flow out of your relationship with the Father."

My 10 Commandments

First let me say "Happy New Year"!  Second let me say sorry to those of you who have been checking for a new post only to find that ugly buffalo still on my page.  

The holidays were so much fun this year.  Elijah had a blast and I think I spent more time with my husband over the month span of parties and family visits than I have all year!  

I have had plenty of time to think of this post, and well..... this is all I could come up with:

My 10 Commandments for the New Year (AKA resolutions)

1.  I shall get a family membership to here and use it!  (they have a pool)

2.  My guest room has been cluttered with children's clothing for 10 months.  I shall start to organize Elijah's "hand-me-downs" better.

3.  I shall blog at least once a week (oh dear, I might break this one)

4.  I shall go back to the weight I carried pre-Elijah.  (#1 should help with that)

5.  I shall care more about style.  (already on this...I got some new clothes last week!)

6.  I shall begin a women's group at church.  (we don't currently have anything geared toward women.  And if we do than I don't know about it!)

7.  I shall NEVER be the cause of another argument with my husband.  (hummm, this should mean that we won't have anymore disagreements ;)

8.  I shall wash, fold and put away clothes all in the same day.  (they usually sit in the dryer for days and suffer the "de-wrinkle" cycle several times)

9.  I shall go through the agony of canceling our Direct TV.  (this should help me out with # 7)

10.  I shall, with much prayer and the practice of # 7, be closer to being a 1 Peter wife and mother by this time 2010!

Does anyone else have any resolutions that you would like to share?  Maybe ones more attainable than mine?

Oh, and wait... one more... 

11.  I shall read at least 2 books this year!  (this is clearly a result of #9)

  

Living Proof on Tape!

In order to understand today's post you would have had to read yesterdays! So scroll down and do that if you have not already :) Anyway, as I was thinking things through last night, I remembered going to Freddy Hill Farm this past fall and showing Elijah the large dirty buffalo that was head butting the wall of his home. Perhaps Elijah stored that image in the back of his mind and settled on the plan of one day attempting to be like a buffalo? Well here he is, just 2 months later living out his dream. Today I had the opportunity to video tape him in the act...Enjoy!

This is the buffalo I was telling you about!

Here is the living proof of Elijah's recent strange actions, please note that the red marks on his forehead have since disappeared!