I DO Love!

Loving HAS TO BE my cup of tea!

     Loving has been a challenge for me for as long as I can remember. I know I'm a hard #@% by nature, but through life and my own choices, I have very little skill in loving well. So, TODAY, that all changes!
I declare these things as true:
I DO love well.
I DO let people love me.
I DO return love.
I DO love in a manner that fills once's bucket!
When I fail to love well, I DO repent and ask for forgiveness from the person!
I DO hug each of my family members daily!
I DO pat and hold each of my family members daily!
I declare these things as true and final!
Well, here we goooooo!

Loving People........is HARD!

Loving people IS my cup of tea!

     When we sign on to love Jesus with all of our hearts, we aren't really told how hard it's going to be to love His people. Like, his creation. The people he's been dreaming of since before he created the planet. It..is..hard.
     When we decide to follow Jesus, the word love takes on a new meaning. It has a beautifully full sound to it even. To love someone  before being in love with Jesus, was shallow. We certainly didn't love them just as they are!
     After Jesus' kind of love hits our spirits, love comes ALIVE! You can see people way more then you could. You can see them through His eyes. When that happens compassion-glasses fix to our eyes and love over flows.
     Don't get me wrong, it's USUALLY not easy to love people right where they are. They will push your limits. They will try you. They will even do their best to make you dislike them. Maybe even succeed at times. But, the love of God ALWAYS wins.
     I'm thankful for the people who chose to see me through compassion-glasses over the last 17 years. WOW, 17 years! I can't believe I've truly loved the Lord for 17 years! My love feels so fresh, so new, so much "in progress"! (sorry, just a little mind blowing moment right there :)
     I can't begin to name all the people that have chosen to love me...There have been a few that have impacted me extra-big: Lonna, Mary, Gypsy, Caron, Laura, Clarien, Meagan,  Sandra, to name a few. These ladies stood with me at times, mentored me at times, prayed for me at times and spoke very hard truths to me at times too. All things that I needed. 
     They were Jesus with skin on, at just the right times, over and over in the my life. I am forever thankful for them!
     When I have experienced the fruit that comes out of relationship that spurs each other on to love like Jesus loves.... I HAVE TO LOVE. I will continue to love, I WILL! Hard as it may be...I will!

Celebrating LADIES!

Celebrating after the baptism of one of our ladies!!

     I am excited to write about having ladies in my life. We are all enjoying getting to know Holy Spirit, understanding God's word and falling MORE  in love with Jesus!

Part of our group on an AMAZING night!!
  The Father was speaking to us through his glorious creation in the sky!!

     We get together once a week as a group (others as time allows) and we have a super fun and supportive group text going too! We don't do a Bible study. We simply pray all week and go where Holy Spirit leads us!
     Each week one of us seems to take a turn being "in the hot seat", receiving prayer and encouragement through the washing of the Word and sharing our testimonies. As you know, we have all "been there" a time or two!
     So, I write today encouraging you to engage in other women's lives. They need us and we need them.

Being a friend IS my cup of tea!

Breathing a LITTLE air

     This last week has been a very busy week but a good week. Over the last several days, since being on LOCK DOWN, things have shifted around here. For the children and myself, things are looking a lot more loving, more forgiving and hopeful. I feel hopeful that the character of Christ is growing deep in us.
     Because of the progress Bubba and I have seen in our family, we have allowed different books and three movie's to be watched. After the first one, there was SERIOUS behaviors: yelling at each other, arguing, tattling, hitting, warring over toys! It..was..bad.
     So, after a few more days off, we tried it again, this time it went a little better. Still whining, but less fighting.
     I ask myself why we keep trying. Why do we NEED t.v. type entertainment in our lives? Why are we trying to make movies work in our family?
     The answer is….we all need to be able to handle this world with God's grace and mercy. Movies seem to be a pretty "safe" way to practice dealing with the world; we talk about the spiritual things happening in the movies, we talk about the worshiping of false gods in the movies, we talk about how we feel when we are watching the different situations…all good discussions.
     I guess I feel this is just a training ground. REAL people are much more challenging and we sure want to love each other and them well. I know the Lord talked with Bubba and I about getting our family deeply grounded and a HUGE part of that is being able to act in love in daily situations as well as in hard times too.
     Until we get deeper, these things are going to rattle us up. More Jesus! More grace, more mercy, more fun, more love...more of all that you have for us.

Lock Down...

A rare ALMOST happy moment :)

     This summer vacation thing is very different this year. The kids are fighting, yelling, speaking hatefully, not loving each other, out to "win" over each other, crying, blah, blah, blah. I can't even bear to write it all out!!!!
     I flipped out about a week and a half ago and put our family on Lock Down! NO tv. NO movies. NO screen time. NO book accept the Bible. NO playing with friends. UNTIL, there is a shift in our family.
     The shift has started! There has been more peace, less fighting and even more forgiveness with less yelling! Awwwww, the sound of a family that LOVES each other :)
     And, today I caved. Why? Because of the NEIGHBORHOOD GARAGE SALE and all the talking, and asking of questions, and wanting to shop, the asking of questions, the whining, the sadness, the asking of questions. Did I already say that?!
     And just as I expected, things got worse after the movie. More yelling, hitting, fighting, even Jojo (the 17 month old was worse!) I knew it wasn't a good idea :/
So, tomorrow is the second day of our sale. Bubba will be home to help, PRAISE GOD!! But, no caving this time!!!
Jesus HELP ME!!!!

Kansas? Oh, it's good.

     OK, so Kansas is good! Like tea and cookies, good. Like quiet time with The Lord good. Like Chocolate, black tea, sunrise, birds singing and The Word, good. 
     So, why do I feel lost at times? I think it's the starting over and being at the total mercy of the Father. His schedule, his rules, his pruning, his ways are not my ways…which is GOOD! 
     His ways are not my ways NATURALLY, but the more time I spend with Him, Jesus and Holy Spirit, the more their ways seem to be rubbing off on me…
     Like when Esther spilled a full cup of Sprite on the floor I didn't even scream! No gritting of the teeth, no eye bulging look of "WHAT..DID..YOU..DO ??!!" Like when Miriam, approximately 3 hours later, spilled a full cup of purple soda on the floor… again no screams, not even a yell. OK, I did sigh, but that is Jesus right there Ladies and Gentlemen! 
     He's still in the business of miracles don't let anyone tell you different!
     So, I think the tea and cookies will start sticking around more in time. I will settle back into his lap and just enjoy the ride again soon. I think this ride is already more crazy then the last one, but I may not remember things exactly as they were. I'm thankful Father does that for us, if we let him. He can take the bad and help us look forward into the sweet future with excited anticipation…it's gonna be a goooood!
     

Schedule…..WHAT SCHEDULE!!??

Being the wife of an evangelist, well at least my evangelist, is never boring. It's also VERY rarely scheduled. :/
I am a type A personality, for the most part, and really enjoy knowing what's coming, even day by day. When God gave me Bubba, a calendar, and a prayer language, I had no idea I would use them all just to servive!

Ever feel like this? Nah, me neither ;-)