Happy Father’s Day…

I can’t be with my father today, so I thought that I would put this up for all the dads with little girls.  Wonderful song!!!!!!!  Enjoy!  HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!

It’s the 11th anniversary of my 21st BIRTHDAY!

Stop counting on your fingers!  I’m 32!!!  I praise GOD that I have been allowed to see another day, let alone another year.

I have been blessed so much this year!  My marriage has been strengthened and we seem to be basking in that “marital stride” I’ve heard so much about.  Rick has been my rock!  I love that I get a front row seat in seeing God work in his life.  I LOVE this man!

My son turned 2 and he is becoming such a loving, caring, & articulate little man!  He has been an absolute blessing as an older brother…very gentle and compassionate…even when he co-parents Ash!  Gotta love him!

I gave birth to my baby girl!  She is such a delight!  And I have never seen a child more determined to do things on her own time (i.e. taking steps at 7.5 months)!!!!  “I will only eat table food at 6 months!  I will drop my nighttime bottle at 8 months!  I will sing my ‘Daddy Song’ during the last hour that I am supposed to be napping!  I’ll take my water in a sippie cup, thank you!”  If I had expectations for her, she has exceeded them!  She’s a firecracker and I love her to pieces!

Spiritually, I feel as if my hunger and thirst for His Word has been renewed.  I am encouraged that The Word has become alive again.  Not saying that I was in a Spiritual Slump, but you know how sometimes you can get “used to” the awesome preaching and regular routine of having a quiet time.  Now, I long to get in It!  And surround myself with people who are passionately pursuing Him.  I have been challenged to stretch myself in really reading and studying God’s Word.  I LOVE the Lord & I LOVE that He speaks to me so clearly through His Word!

My prayer for this year is that I would become even more sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  I’m often hesitant to do things or express an idea because I’m too concerned about how it may come off or whatever.  The Lord is giving me some very specific tasks for this coming year and I can’t waver or be timid.  I recognize my need to be led by the Holy Spirit, so I pray that I stand with boldness and loyalty!

Music Saturday

**had to update link”

I LOVE Hymns.  I couldn’t always say that, but I can now.  I guess it came with age and maturity.  I just really love the Truth and Hope that lies within the lyrics.  So I was VERY excited when I found out that members of The Autumn Film got together to form Page CXVI and release “Hymns” (you can download it for free, for a limited time, from their website). Good stuff!  I heard them perform “In Christ Alone” live & I just fell in love with their arrangement.  So here it is to share with you…

I LOVE the Truth behind this song so I did a little searching into the story behind the lyrics.  I found an article here.  These are some of my favorite take-aways:

Written in 2002, “In Christ Alone” was a collaborative effort between Townend and fellow songwriter (and now good friend) Keith Getty. “The song came about in an unusual way,” Townend explains. “Keith and I met in the autumn of 2000 at a worship event, and we resolved to try to work together on some songs. A few weeks later Keith sent some melody ideas, and the first one on the CD was a magnificent, haunting melody that I loved, and immediately started writing down some lyrical ideas on what I felt should be a timeless theme commensurate with the melody. So the theme of the life, death, resurrection of Christ, and the implications of that for us just began to tumble out, and when we got together later on to fine tune it, we felt we had encapsulated what we wanted to say.”

One e-mail described how a U.S soldier serving in Iraq would pray through each verse of the song every day, and how the promises of God’s protection and grace helped to sustain him through the enormous pressures and dangers of life in a war zone.

“It seems like this song is timely,” Townend says. “We in the West have had our sense of safety and security brutally torn apart by recent world events, and it’s caused many to re-evaluate the foundations of their life. I feel that the song has helped to stir faith in many believers that God really is our protector; that our lives are in His unshakable hands.”

He continues, “The lyric [of this song] excites me because it places our hope, our assurance, our eternal destiny in the right place—on the solid foundation of Christ. I know in my own life I need reminding continually not to live by my feelings or my circumstances, but by the unchanging truth of the gospel.”

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny…

Music Saturday

**had to update link”

“It is Well” has been speaking to me this week. When peace like a river attendeth my way…

This version is by Selah.  They intro’d it with Bika Mono Ve (Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior), and it is beautiful!  Go here to read about Selah.

Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say…

One Busy 9 Month Old

Want to know what a typical day looks like for Ashlyn?  Here’s a glimpse…

She pretty much just walks back and forth…ALL DAY!

Music Saturday

I have two new favorite singers!  I’ve already told you about Jazmin Sullivan, now let me tell you about Chrisette Michele.  She is AWESOME!  My sister is using a few of Chrisette Michele’s songs from I AM during her wedding.  The one I am listening to over and over is Golden!  Enjoy…

Birth Pains

I have embarked on a Bible Reading challenge, 4×4x4, initiated by John Carroll and I think close to 60 people are doing it.  I get invitations to do these types of things all the time, but this is the first one that I actually jumped at the opportunity.  This got me excited about reading the gospels over and over.  You know the idea of the more you read/listen to something, each time you learn something different?  Well, that’s what drew me in.  Reading the story of Jesus’ Ministry from 4 different perspectives…back to back…excited me.

During today’s reading, the end times was discussed. I’ve heard the story and read the passages over and over, but today Matthew 24:6-8 really struck me:

“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” (emphasis mine)

All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.  With all that is going on in the world today, wars and rumors of wars…nation against nation…kingdom against kingdom…famines…earthquakes, people are quick to say that we are living in the end times…the coming of the Lord is upon us!  But verse 8 says that these are just the BEGINNING of the birth pains.

I don’t know if you have had the privilege of experiencing childbirth or witnessed someone go through it, but it is a pain unlike any other that I have experienced!  Try to imagine the worse thing that you have went through, multply it by 100,000,000, and that will give you an idea of what childbirth is like (I’m exaggerating of course, but you get the picture).

The beginning of the birth pains are easy to deal with, not so hard, just like an anoyance in the background.  So for Jesus to say that what we are currently experiencing is the beginning of the pain, Lord have mercy on us when the birthing begins!

God’s power and glory as seen in the lightening. A Psalm of David

Psalm 29

Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord strikes
with flashes of lightning.

The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord twists the oaks
and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord is enthroned as King forever.

The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.

What Happened? How Did We Get Here?

I am currently reading and discussing “Parenting by the Book” with some wonderful ladies.  In the midst of the reading, all things PARENTING is on my mind.  Rick and I have been charged with the responsibility of raising men and women who will passionately pursue a relationship with Christ and to tell others about a Man that knows everything about them…  With this in mind, I have been pondering why some children “are the way they are”.  You know the ones I’m talking about.  They kick, hit, bite, spit, & scream.  And that’s just to their parents!  Lord knows how these precious angels are ALLOWED to treat others.  (I’ll just say here that it will be a sad day in Memphis the moment one of mine decided to do me bodily harm…I digress) Why are they allowed to behave in such a way?  I’ll let Bernie Mack answer: “We some punk a@@ parents!”

We are more concerned with our child’s self-esteem and feelings and allowing them to feel free to express themselves that we have sacrificed respect and general obedience.  There is a time and place for esteem, feelings and self expression, but you the parent has to set the parameters/boundaries.  I remember getting a LOOK from my parents and I knew that I was about to cross a boundary.  A LOOK was all it took.  My dad would say “This is not a democracy” or “Be very careful”.  Nowadays, I am being advised to talk and understand why my child is acting unbecomingly (can’t say what I want to say).  I do advocate knowing your child and taking into consideration the circumstances, but Rick and I have some non-negotiables.  For example, Rick CAN NOT and WILL NOT deal with the open-mouth uncontrollable crying.  He just can’t take it & neither can I.  So, we have trained Jaxon that when we say “be quiet” that means it’s time for him to get control and if he continues he knows that we will assist him in getting control.  We’re not the only family that I know that practices this.  I was recently out of town with a family and when Jaxon and I were saying our goodbyes their son wanted to come with us.  When he realized he wasn’t he began to weep.  All parties involved took into consideration the fact that the poor child hadn’t seen a bed in HOURS and was running on fumes.  Grace was given, but when his father told him to be quiet, guess what he did?  The opposite of this is giving a child whatever they want in order to get them to be quiet.  There’s a time and place for this as well.  Ashlyn starts screaming while in the store, please believe the cheerios will be whipped out!  She’s 8 months, I can tell her to be quiet all day and she’ll look at me like I’m crazy.  I got of track, but another non-negotiable is disrespect and disobedience…automatic, age appropiratie, discipline will be handed out.

What I am also learning is that I will NEVER stop being a parent.  The type of parenting may change, but I will always be a parent.  I finally watched “A Raisin in the Sun” yesterday and this one scene struck me.  The mother, college-age daughter and daughter-in-law are talking in the living room and the subject moved to God and what God’s Will is for the daughter.  Here’s the conversation:

Mother: Well of course you’re gonna be a doctor honey, God Will it.

Daughter: God doesn’t have a thing to do with it!

Mother: That wasn’t necessary

Daughter: Well neither is God.  I’m sick of hearing about God!  What does He have to do with anything?  Does He pay tuition?

Mother: You bought to get your fresh little jaw slapped…

Daughter: Why?  Why can’t I say what I want to around here like everyone else?

Mother: Because you weren’t brought up to talk that way!  Me and your father made sure that you and your brother were brought up in the good christian way.

Daughter: Well, you and daddy were wrong.  Ma, you just don’t understand.  It’s all just a matter of ideas.  And God is just one idea that I won’t accept.  It;s not important.  it’s not like I’m going to go out and be immoral…commit crimes, cause I don’t believe in God.  I don’t even think about it.  I just get so tired of Him getting all the credit for the things the human race achieved on its own stupid effort.  There simply is no God.  There’s only man and it’s he who makes miracles.

Mother: [SLAP] Now, you say after me…In my mothers house there is still God. IN MY MOTHERS HOUSE THERE IS STILL GOD!

Daughter: In my mothers house there is still God.

Mother: There’s some ideas we just aint gonna have in this house!  Not long’s I’m head of this family.

Daughter: Yes ma’am.

Daughter-in-law to Daughter: You think you’re a grown woman, but you’re still a little girl.  What you did was childish, so you got treated like a child.

I’ll save the “World View of God” discussion for another day, but this was powerful for me!  It spoke of an unwavering standard of how a child is to address certain issues while STILL under the authority of their parents.  I have never been allowed to speak crossly to my parents…I’m a grown woman and I still watch what I say and how I say it.  Too many times have I seen children talking to their parents any old kind of way and nothing being said.  I recently told my two year old that he needed to watch himself talking to me crazy (he gets frustrated when I can’t understand him, so he’ll start repeating what he’s saying louder and louder).  I can work with you on the misunderstanding part, but you’re not going to yell at me.  I think that’s where being a punk a@@ parent comes in…just letting your child govern how things are going to go.  So I charge you, you be the parent!  YOU be what God has called you to be and parent your child and stop allowing your child (and society) to parent you!!!

What are your thoughts?

My husband posted this: Branford Marsalis’ Take on Students Today.  What are your thoughts?