Monday, January 6, 2014

A letter to my friend in Heaven


Dear MattE,

The past few days have been surreal.  The idea that I won’t talk to you or see you on this earth paralyzes me with grief.  Your abounding joy for life, food, your kids and people were contagious.  All who knew you loved your big warm smile, tender heart, amazing sense of humor and patience.  No one person can fill your shoes as a father, a friend, teacher, leader, a pastor, handyman, and helper, but many will feel led to come forward to continue your legacy. 

You oozed the Joy of The Lord (Nehemiah 8:10), and many felt drawn to you because of whom you lived for and served.  Jesus was your master, savior - your everything!  My hearts cry is that no one who met you will not feel Jesus’ mercy on your life and know Him through you.  

I know that without a shadow of a doubt you are hanging with Jesus and giving him a “hiiigh fi-ve.”  You are dancing with the angels and saying with awe-struck wonder, big wide-eyes “this is soooo good,” that way you did for every meal we had together.  You truly can proclaim “WINNNING!” as you are living out the eternal reward that Jesus’ death and resurrection for our sins has given us.

You know this, but Morgan and Wyatt are loved with all of the love you have shown us.  Morgan told me a couple of years ago “My Dad gives the best hugs!”  We will try to recreate the hugs you’ve given them.   Because of you, I’ve had to rethink how I hug and not take them for granted.  From now on I will hug and hold on until I’m the last one to let go. 

No one had more fun than you did, but you had a serious side too.  I am grateful for the lessons you taught me, but especially for the gun safety tips you gave me.  It’s such a silly thing to say, but I got to see a different side of you – the teacher, the seriousness for safety, but the respect you showed to the sport. 

I will also take care of the other-side of your “BroMance” with Michael.  He lost his best friend, his buddy, his pal – a part of him.  I will bring more silliness and fun to his life, trying to fill the void you left.  Thank you for being his friend.

Thank you for filling our lives with fun, dude.  I love you MattE! 








Friday, December 21, 2012

Healing & Perseverance in 2012

At the beginning of this year God placed on my heart Perseverance, I wrote 3 blogs on it.  This week God showed me why this was so important....
“They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength”
Isaiah 40:31
 
 
 
 
 
At the beginning of 2012 I believe God told me I would be healed of my ear pain & infections. I've had a rough few months and in a lot of pain. I recently went through weeks of seeing specialists & having different tests run. Last week a neurologist referred me to Physical Therapy for very, very stiff muscles in my neck. I went to PT on Monday, described my pain to her and for the first time in my life I fit a medical diagnosis to the T!!! :) It turns out a lot of my ear & sinus pain is from an injured muscle in my neck. This has been going on for months and months and lately so bad I'm almost debilitated. The blessing in this, is there is treatment, it's going to solve a lot of my issues, and God kept his promise! (duh!) The PT is a Christian, so it's fun sharing with her what God promised me. After 1 appointment I can notice a difference in my pain level - Praise God. I'll include a link to a chart to see the pain pattern & my diagnosis (it's #2 SCM Muscle). 
Please Praise God with me and pray for a pain-free 2013!!! :)
http://round-earth.com/HeadPainIntro.html
 
This is what I wrote on January 9, 2012:

"I’m so excited for 2012.  Coming out of a very hard year, I’m ready to move ahead and firmly keep my feet planted on God’s Word and promises.  I’m ready to fight, grow, love, laugh, learn and explore.  I’m feeling healthier, stronger and freer…blessed with a great group of Godly counsel, friends and new hope.  I opened up a devotional I’ve had for a couple of years on new years day to find exactly what I needed to help me on the journey of 2012.  The first five days of the devotional go over the same verse “We will reap a harvest if we do not give up” Galatians 6:19 NIV.  Woah, I want to see the harvest, but I’m good at giving up."
 This is what I wrote on January 26, 2012:

If you’re at the end of your rope today, grab hold of these three promises: (1) “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord” (Psalm 27:14 NKJV). (2) “Wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him (Psalm 62:5 NKJV). (3) “As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters…so our eyes look to the Lord our God” (Psalm 123:2 NKJV). Do you need more strength? Wait on God!
******

If we wait on the Lord and rest in His promises the end of our rope can become a lesson in faith and turn into a gentle, loving lesson of freedom in Christ.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

DIY-ing it in the wardrobe area!

I keep seeing Pinterest post with new purposes for old t-shirts.  I picked up a cute black & gray striped long-sleeved t-shirt at Goodwill for $2.50.

My inspiration was found here: t-shirt-fringe-scarf

My final project is below, with the "help" of 2 of my cats M&M and Snickers (rolleyes).

Shirt "BEFORE" on my cutting board - really didn't need the ruler since the shirt had stripes, but I liked having it anyways.
 Cut in 2-pieces.  M&M loved the shirt.
 Wrapped M&M up in the sleeves.
 M&M loves the sleeves and my foot!
 Cut fringe all the way around it.
 Wearing it.
 It's a little longer than I expected, but not bad for my first try.
 Now Snickers is laying on the cutting mat.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Perseverance...I can do it, but I can't spell it!

Earlier this year I published this blog Perseverance January 2012 about my goal for this year...my motto for this year.  I really was excited for 2012: My brother getting married to my friend, performing their wedding, being licensed through the Assembly of God as a pastor, VBS and kids camp.  Here it is 7 months later and what a year it has been.  There has been good, there has been annoyances and there has been A LOT of perseverance going on! If I only knew how much this would help me, steer me and guide me this year.

January a dear friend told me about trouble in her marriage.  It rocked my boat.  If two people that I loved, respected and knew so well could go through trouble, what kept any of us.  It's one of my biggest fears and seeing it played out in front of me was hard.  That's when I knew this would be the year to keep chugging along.

January - April was spent helping plan my brothers wedding.  He and his now wife live thousands of miles away, so her sister, our moms and I aided in a lot of activities here, where they were getting married.  It was an amazing event and we gained a wonderful addition to our family with my new sister-in-law.  Not only did I help with the planning, co-hosted a shower, put on a rehearsal dinner, but I also performed the wedding.  I'm a behind-the-scenes person by nature, so granting them this request was hard for me.  I'm so glad I did it and not really sure I want to do it again.

In April I was also officially licensed as a pastor through The Assemblies of God.  I was given the license last September, but had to go through the ceremony.

In mid-May the attached town home next to ours caught on fire.  A cigarette was not properly extinguished and caused exterior damage to their home and filled all 3 attached town homes with smoke.  We had to move out of our home for 2 weeks, after spending a week trying to clean it ourselves.  It was a long 10+ week process, which included having every article of fabric professional cleaned (clothes, curtains, furniture, duct work, carpeting, towels, etc), new siding put on the house, garage attic cleaned, etc.  This all happened during my busiest season at church.

My husbands family held a week-long Family Reunion to celebrate a cousins High School Graduation.  Thankfully it was in town, but we were only able to make about half the activities, due to just moving back into our home, putting everything back and getting ready to leave for camp.  I also missed all but 1 of the graduation open houses I was invited to.  It was so sad, since this is the first year the students graduating were in Children's Ministry when I started at the church.

June we attend a week-long camp in Northern MN for kids in grades 3- 6.  I help plan camp all year long with a team of Children's Pastors.  Camp was amazing and I didn't want to come home.

The day after camp was done we were at church getting ready for VBS.  We spent long days at the church for 2 weeks planning and implementing the best VBS we've ever done.  We had 50% visitors and the biggest turn out in volunteers ever each night.

As soon as VBS was done June 30th I had until July 21st to complete 3 school courses, that I had to extend due to missing the deadlines before.  I told my church that I was going into hiding and I would see them on Sundays and Wednesdays, but the rest of the time I'm going to be working on school.  I actually finished my classes a week early and got started on the next ones.  Things went so well that I've decided to keep going until I'm done.  I'm motivated and I've been given permission to keep chugging along.  This is 4 years in the making and the complete sense of relief and release of guilt off my shoulders has been AMAZING.  I feel so light and happy.  The downside is all the sitting has wrecked my back.  Pray for healing for me, please.

All this is to say, If I had not kept going it would have been easy to give-up.  My first response it always to flee rather than fight.  I hate conflict, I hate fighting and I had when things get hard.  I'm a happy little otter that likes to swim around in the my little pond and not have ANY waves. 

This is what I wrote on January 9, 2012:

"I’m so excited for 2012.  Coming out of a very hard year, I’m ready to move ahead and firmly keep my feet planted on God’s Word and promises.  I’m ready to fight, grow, love, laugh, learn and explore.  I’m feeling healthier, stronger and freer…blessed with a great group of Godly counsel, friends and new hope.  I opened up a devotional I’ve had for a couple of years on new years day to find exactly what I needed to help me on the journey of 2012.  The first five days of the devotional go over the same verse “We will reap a harvest if we do not give up” Galatians 6:19 NIV.  Woah, I want to see the harvest, but I’m good at giving up."

I most definitely fought, grown, loved, laughed, learned and explored.  I have great family, friends, a church and I serve and love an amazing God who equips me with the things I need, as long as I'm obedient and teachable.   I'm very excited to see how the rest of the year goes and what lessons I'll learn.


Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Every Step

I'm currently using the devotional "Jesus Calling, 365 Devotions for Kids" by Sarah Young.  Even though it's for kids, I think anyone can get something from it.  The following is from February 1:


Every Step

“For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.” Psalm 91:11

The future is like a huge mountain looming in front of you.  Its peaks are spiked with troubles, and its sides are pitted with problems.  How can you face something so huge?

The real trouble is not the mountain – it’s that you’re looking only at the mountain.  And because you aren’t looking at where you’re going right now, you stumble on the easy path of today.

I know how much that future mountain worries you.  But it may not even be part of our path.  You don’t know what will happen today, much less tomorrow.  I may suddenly turn you away from that mountain, or show you an easier path.  But I promise that if I ask you to climb that mountain, I will give you everything you need to reach the top.  My angels will protect you.  And I will be right by your side every step of the way.

Read on your own: Psalm 18:29; Psalm 91:12; 2 Corinthians 5:7.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Need More Strength? Wait on God!


This is an excerpt from the daily devotional book I read "The Word for You Today: 365 days of strength and guidance.  Vol 6 By Bob Gass"

******

“They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength”
Isaiah 40:31

God usually doesn’t tell us how He will answer our prayers, or even when. But He does promise those who wait on Him one thing –strength. The word “wait” in this Scripture pictures a Hebrew word used in the making of rope.  Every rope starts out as a thread, and every strand added increases in strength.  So each time you wait on the Lord you add another thread to the rope, you get a little stronger, a little more able to cope.  Do you feel like you’re just hanging on by a thread today?  Spend more time in God’s presence and God’s Word, and watch your thread turn into a rope.  But waiting is not always passive; sometimes it’s active, like waiting on a customer, seeing that his or her needs are met.  In this case, waiting is not so much a position as a focus.

The Bible says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee” (Isaiah 26:3). Whether it’s sitting prayerfully in His presence or actively carrying out His will, you have God’s assurance that your strength will be renewed.

If you’re at the end of your rope today, grab hold of these three promises: (1) “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord” (Psalm 27:14 NKJV). (2) “Wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him (Psalm 62:5 NKJV). (3) “As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters…so our eyes look to the Lord our God” (Psalm 123:2 NKJV). Do you need more strength? Wait on God!
******

If we wait on the Lord and rest in His promises the end of our rope can become a lesson in faith and turn into a gentle, loving lesson of freedom in Christ.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Duct Tape saved the day and my budget!

A few weeks ago I found these adorable tiny little plates with a sequence of a snowman being made/decorated.  I picked them up & put them back.  Last Monday I found them again marked down to $.50 each...woo hoo!  So for $1.50 I picked up the little cuties...but now how to display them.

I found some backs to Dollar Store frames I'm not using and Duct Tape!

Thankfully this will easily be taken apart when Winter is over and I need the backs of the frames returned to their homes.






The finished product - all this for $1.50!!!