A Blessing Box

Recently my blogger sister (also sister in Christ), Deborah, sent me a blessing box. I decided to share this with my sisters in Christ that live here in Arlington.

These are some pictures of some of us opening the box and discovering it's contents. Each item was wrapped individually in pink or purple paper. And when we opened the box, it smelled soooo good. We oooed and awed, ate M&M's, and sniffed everything with a scent. At the end of our evening together, everyone had a couple of things to take home. We all felt very special to have someone, we have never met before, (living in a state that none of us has even visited) bless us in such a generous way.

Thank you Lord for people like Deborah! Who love with your unconditional love.

A surprise for the Church

At our most recent meeting of the Church in Arlington, we spoke of being sheep and knowing the Shepherds voice. And how the sheep aren't concerned with anything except the Shepherd. One may wonder off ... but the Shepherd is the one to go out and get the one that wondered off. The Shepherd breaks the legs of the one that keeps wondering off. The Shepherd leads His flock to still waters because the sheep will drown in running water. The Shepherd digs a pool beside the running water so that the sheep will have still water to drink. There are many more things that the Sheperd does.

Then we open a package that we recieved from the Church in Saint Paul. And in it is a letter, a DVD, some Belgian hot chocolate, some pictures with poetry about the Wizard of Awes, some packing paper telling us who we are in Christ, and a Lamb cookie cutter.

So the next night we got together to watch the DVD, drink Belgian hot chocolate and make lamb sugar cookies (Actually Robbin made all of them. But we watched). Here's a picture of some of us in the kitchen. What a wonderful time in the Lord!

Thank you Saint Paul, you are a blessing to us!
Thank you Lord for Saints like these, and sister Churches!

New Job

Hi all! I'm back. My dad passed away the end of February and I've taken some time.

In the time I've been gone, I have started a new job. I'm an aid in the first and second grade at Flint Academy. I love working there. I get up in the morning and get to go to work. And the night before, I say to Dan (my husband), "I get to go to work in the morning"! I think it's because the children and the teachers care for one another so much. There are alot of special needs children in Flint Academy. They seem to cause the school to work as one. Just like a family. Each child is concerned about the needs of the other. This was not taught, it just is. And, of course, is encouraged by the teachers. The teachers are special people also, they love the children. These kids are so fortunate to be in this atmosphere. They are learning not only book knowledge, but good social skills from the examples set by their teachers. These are some pictures I have taken in our classroom.

Valentines Day

Here's wishing everyone a very happy Valentines Day!!!

Control

Well I've been in Jacksonville, FL again to see my dad at the Mayo Clinic. He had an operation that has never been done before. My brother, Ben and I went to support dad... and my mom, who would be there alone. Ben and I were very surprised to find that she had the support of a church that she has visited only a few months. These people were there with her alot. They would come to the hospital and sit for hours with her in the waiting room. We must have met at least 20 or more people from that church. The Lord is good to us! Ben and I were there for 5 days. When we left, dad was still in ICU. They are keeping him sedated so that he doesn't pull out the ventilator.

Going through all of this, has caused me to start thinking about how we see good and bad. Then my mind went to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The knowledge of good and evil was passed to us through the generations. We as people living on the earth see things in terms of good things and bad things. But somethimes what we see as good, can be bad. Like when Judas kissed Jesus. A kiss is normally a good thing, but in this case it was betrayal. Betrayal is a bad thing, but in this case it was a good thing, because it was the Lord's plan. It's all so confusing. But, looking through the Lord's eyes causes us to see things in their proper perspective. Sometimes there are moments when we can't see through the Lord's eyes. We are just too close to what's going on. These are the times when we let go and rest in Him, and the Lord in us takes over through faith. He is that faith. He is leaking out of us at that moment. I noticed that everytime Jesus healed someone, He always told them that it was because of their faith. Those that were healed had come to the bottom and let go of control. They were giving control to the Lord.

So Lord, here's control. I hope that in all things in my life, you have control. I understand that I am not perfect, and that I will take control again and again. But, remind me again and again, that I want you in control.

Just thinking

Recently I've been thinking about relationships and how they work. Mostly I've looked at the Father and the Son's relationship with each other. They are so in love with one another. Everything the Father made, He created out of His Son, by His Son and for His Son. So everything we see with our eyes is something made by the Father for the Son. Why? Because God is so crazy in love with His Son, Jesus.

On the other side of the relationship, I see that Jesus said and did nothing of Himself. He only did what His Father told Him to do, and said only what His Father told Him to say. Why? Because Jesus is so crazy in love with His Father.

These are things that I have known with my mind for a long time, but suddenly I know them with my heart.

Now when I'm having someone over for coffee, I think "I want this to be the best coffee this person has ever had, because my Lord lives in her/him". "What else can I do to make this person's visit with me better?" "How can I make this person feel special?" My relationships are changing because of a revealing of Jesus to me. I see Their relationship as one I want to reflect.

Lord make me your mirror.

Keep Them Coming Lord

This morning I spent time with the Lord. Just loving Him, nothing else. Well besides drinking my morning cup of coffee. This is what I saw. I found Him in my cup. He is the cup, all white and pure without blemish. I found Him in my hands, they belong to Him. I found Him in my coffee. He stimulates me... He causes me to breath Him in as my heart pumps Him throughout my body. I found Him in the wood grain on the table... He carves those patterns in the wood individually just like fingerprints, not one is a mistake. I found Him in the gardinia plant... the fragrance is Him, the deep green of life is Him and sweet to take in. And I went on from there loving Him.

As we drove up to the rec center for our morning workout, the Lord had a surprise for us. I was thinking how grey a day it was. The rain spitting on us intermittently. And there in the tree were balloons, bright and cheery. So out of place in that tree with no leaves. A gift for my eyes from the Lord.

Then I took this picture of my cousin's son, Issac. (That's the way they spell it) This made me think of how we are all connected to one another and nature. He's in the car ready to go home for a nap. But the reflection of the tree caught my attention. In the picture he and the tree look to be one. We are one with our Lord and each other as His body.

Today has been a day of seeing the Lord or seeing the Lord's hand move. I love days like this. Keep them coming Lord!

Perfect Fit

Hi All! I've had a very busy Christmas/New Year Season. My son, Aaron got married on December 30th. I love the woman that he married, and I love her family. Her name is Nicole. Nicole's mom told a story and then her maid of honor also told the same story... Nicole knew she was going to marry Aaron after their first date. That's kinda cool to me because after I met Dan, I knew I was going to marry him. I told his brother, Andy and my best friend. It's like you find your perfect fit. That's the way I feel about Dan, and I bet Nicole feels the same way about Aaron.

Thanks Lord for our perfect fits.

Yucky Stuff

Friday I go in for another surgery. I'm not happy about it, but I'm ready to be done with it. So here comes another two weeks (at least) that I won't be able to function properly. I'm so tired of being abnormal. I want to go back to being a regular person that can do regular things. And my poor husband. Oh my gosh, he has to be on overload, because he is going to be doing everything AGAIN. He never complains about it. I just know that it's hard to do it all.

Well, I've said all that to say, I probably won't be blogging for a while, but I'll be back.

Thanks Lord for this day and every day to come. You are each and every moment.

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving this year was alot of fun with extended family. We talked and laughed, some watched the football game and some played taboo. My soon-to-be daughter-in-law, Nicole, made the Turkey. It was very good, I'm impressed! I met Nicole's mom and sisters, Gloria, Erin and Aimee. They came all the way from Okalahoma to be with us. All of them are a delight. Dan's mom, Helen, and his sister and brother-in-law, Denise and Don came. And I'm so glad they did. My Gramie and brother and sister-in-law, Ben and Annette (soon to be grandparents) were there with one of their daughters and her husband, Tiffany and Miquel (soon to be a mom and dad). And Bob and Sylvia came. We always have fun with them. We had way too much food and ATE way too much food. We had a good time together. Later that evening some of us went to see Happy Feet. That was fun also.

I am thankful for all these people in my life Lord. I am also thankful to still have a mom and dad that love me very much. You can never have too much family! They are the ones that love you anyway. Just like you do Lord. There are more than just the ones that I have named. There are some that had other dinners to go to. And they are loved also. Thanks again Lord for all these people I love, you are amazing!

Really Fast Trip

Some of us from the Church in Arlington went on a trip to Jacksonville, Florida this past weekend. It was a whirl wind trip. With a van rented we left Arlington, Texas on Friday at noon and drove to Pennsicola, Florida. It was about midnight when we stopped at a hotel. There were many bathroom stops in between there.

The next morning we were off again. This time for only 4 to 5 hours. When we reached Jacksonville the brothers went to thier meeting while we (the sisters) went to Ponte Vedra to visit my mom and dad.

My dad is there being tested by the Mayo Clinic for a lung and liver transplant. He has gotten on the liver transplant list but still waiting to find out about the lung transplant.

After visiting for a while, we (mom too, dad wanted to rest) took off for the beach. Annette had never been to the East Coast before. We all had a blast looking for shells and little souvenirs. Mom's cell phone rang and it was Ben asking that we come back to the Jax neighborhood. So back we headed with all our treasures in hand.

It was the sister's turn to have a meeting. The brothers went to Ponte Vedra to visit with mom and dad.

A couple of hours past and the brothers were back to pick us up for the long ride back to Arlington. But before leaving the sister's in Jax had made sack lunches for each of us for the long ride back. Thank you sister's for your thoughtfulness. With sack lunches in hand there were hugs all around and we were off once again. We drove straight through this time so that people would have time to rest during Sunday before having to go back to work on Monday. We arrived in the Arlington neighborhood at 12:30pm. It was nice to be home. Although we had a terrific time.

Thanks Lord for keeping us safe in more ways than one.

Camping Out

This past weekend some of the church went camping. We had a blast. We sang, and ate, and fellowshipped all weekend long. Some of us rode bikes. Ben did all the cooking and cleaning. Except for Bob cleaning Sylvia. We laughed and told stories. Annette was in a tree again! We tryed to take a picture with the timer on the camera. I guess you can see how that turned out. We burned all of our expectations. Just gave them to the Lord so that He can have what He wants in a meeting. After all it is for Him that we come together. All of it was alot of fun! Even the cold.
Thanks Lord for your body!!!