For Daniel

I am bored to bits and pieces of Glass
Makes my face look Funny
How it seems like no one can hear You
Are the most amazing person I have Ever
Wonder why it is I have to Yell
So loud that even David would Be
Proud of who you are and Where you
Went is where we all want to Be right
With the One that made you For
He saved you from this Life
Never ends when you’re on the Other
People knew, but they didn’t know the you that I
Did not get the chance to tell You
Are respected because you gave It
Seems like you’re not so far away After
All the stories and the Memories
And dreams it slowly begins to Make
Me usable Lord, and use me to Finish
The work that my brother started When
He departed from This earth
Is filled with Your glory and all Honor
To Your holy, matchless Name
Above all names

For my brother who is in chains…I miss you

Grown Up Stuff

I guess I sort of forgot to tell everyone the news...we finally bought a house. We closed on August 30th and have been in for a little over a month. WHEW! What a wild ride! Moving, packing, sorting, piling, un-piling, hauling, cleaning, scrubbing, painting, sanding, taping, cutting, scraping, texturing, edging, mowing, lifting, and more! You name it, we've done it! AND WE ARE TIRED!

We are pretty settled now and over the, "Where is my toothbrush?" "Have you seen the phonebook?" "Is there a fly swatter anywhere?" "Where are we going to put our dishes?" "Will we ever be done with the laundry?" and are getting an idea of where everything is now. It's finally starting to feel like home. Especially since we bought the MONSTER FRIDGE! We haven't filled it up yet, but we are enjoying listening to the ice fall and the water fill up. The first few nights we had it, we both jumped when we heard the thunderous crash of the ice and thought, "WHAT WAS THAT?" Then we'd hear the water, and then we'd get thirsty.

Now...on to the next phase...KIDS. Yes, you heard me right. We're going to get settled long enough to find everything and feel comfortable only to jump on the next rollercoaster of, "Where is my calendar?" "Have you seen my prenatal vitamins?" "Is there a clock anywhere in this house?" "Where are we going to put all our guitars if we can't use the nursery?" "Will we ever be done with the laundry?" :) So, all I can say about all of this is PLEASE PRAY FOR US. For all of you that are parents, I'm sure you know what we're about to experience. I bet we have no idea what we're getting into. I bet you think we're crazy, but guess what. You were crazy once too, and your parents were crazy enough to have you.

If there's anything I've learned in my short life so far it's, "No, we're never gonna survive unless we get a little crazy..."

"My Song"

When the music has stopped
And nothing is heard but silence
My heart praises You, Lord Jesus
Is my voice reaching heaven
Through the Holy Spirit's being
And the heart of this baby soul?
My life is consumed with a melody
That will never leave my mind
And never utter farewell to my heart.
It allows me to show You
And permits me to tell You
Exactly how much my heart loves You.
It will never be enough feeling
So I strive for an outpouring
That exceeds a human heart's capacity.
Lord, bless me with desire and passion
And the strength to keep on singing
For Your heart is the only giver of such gifts.
What a gift it is to praise You
And a privilege to love You
And an honor to have known Your heart.

And Your Praise Goes On

The moon is high and the sunset fades
The lullabies have all been sung
We’re tuckin’ in another day
And stars appear now one by one

But the stillness moves and the silence yields
And not a single beat is lost
You can hear the chorus in the fields
Taking up where we left off

And Your praise goes on
Rising to Your throne
Where You guard us while we dream
Past the stars they fly
Your praises fill the sky
‘Til You wake us with the dawn
And Your praise goes on

Now bring your warmth, O morning sun
Chase the stars and the moon away
And wake us with your brightest song
And add our voice to your refrain

Now rise up everything that lives!
Flap your wings and leap for joy!
Oh forest lift your arms and sway!
Clap your hands you ocean waves!

And Your praise goes on, rising to Your throne
Where You bless our toil and play
Through the clouds they rise,
Your praises fill the skies
‘Til the setting of the sun
And Your praise goes on

And when my final breath You lend
I’ll thank You for the life You gave
But that won’t mean the praises end
‘Cause I won’t be silenced by the grave!

And Your praise goes on
I’ll be runnin’ to Your throne
With every nation, tribe and tongue
To Your arms I’ll fly
I’ll gaze into Your eyes
Then I’ll know as I am known
And Your praise goes on
And Your praise goes on
And Your praise goes on

lyrics by Chris Rice

When It's Time To Go

Isaac, I couldn't write or express anything until now...I love you, and I miss you, but I will see you very soon.

"When It's Time To Go" -- by 4HIM

Nothing new in this old town
The sun comes up and heads back down
Working hard from dawn to dusk again

Seventeen and a heart for change
The byways calling out his name
But not yet, there's too much left to do

'Cause daddy needs a hand
And mama's tender heart might crumble to the ground
Though they'd understand, he felt like singing

CHORUS:
When it's time to go
You've got to let me go away and face the world
Say goodbye, cry some tears, but don't worry
When I hit the city
I'll build you a house
Right down the street from mine

Have some faith in me and I'll show you why

Some years later late one night
He came in trying to dry his eyes
He realized what he was born to do

He said I'll always be your son
And I know you know what's going on
It's the hardest thing to think of leaving you

But this world needs a hand
And I've got just the thing they need to make it through
It's so clear to me, though I know what's coming

CHORUS:
When it's time to go
You've got to let me go away and face the world
Say goodbye, cry some tears, but don't worry
When I hit the city
I'll build you a house
Right down the street from mine

Have some faith in me and I'll show you why

Bridge:
And as they tore His flesh like animals
There were those I know who felt Him say

CHORUS:
When it's time to go
You've got to let Me go away and save the world
Say goodbye, cry some tears, but don't worry
When I hit the City
I'll build you a house
Right down the street from Mine

Just have faith in Me and I'll show you why

Where Have You Been?

Whoa! Okay, so can we say "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN???" I know, I know, six months is a long time without posting! Well, we CAN say I have been BUSY! So much has happened I don't know where to start!

Right now, my husband and I are in the busiest time of the summer. He had junior high camp last week, he has VBS this week, his evaluation with the senior minister today, and high school camp next week. Whew! This time sure does take its toll on us! Please pray for us as we're going through this summer time!

In other news, I got a promotion again here at work and am now on salary! PRAISES! PRAISES! This will help us be able to buy a house and start a family. I am now doing a type of indirect sales and also getting commissions! Pray we will be disciplined in saving up. Everything will happen in God's time. My job keeps me so busy though that I don't have much time to read email or blog!

We did take a stab at getting a house and it didn't work. That's what I mean about God's time. It went so fast that we didn't know what hit us! We were JUST LOOKING and JUST TALKING about it. Had just started talking and just started looking. We thought, "Hey, let's check out some open houses on Sunday afternoon." So, on Sunday we were looking, Tuesday we met with a realtor, and Wednesday we were signing offers! WHOA! SLOW DOWN! We totally were not ready, did not have up front costs saved, and did not have closing costs saved. Like I said, totally just looking. So, we were glad that God said "no". I mean, I don't think He intended for us to be mooching off of family for the earnest money and utility deposits. So, we're taking our time and will hopefully move by next April. Again, another prayer request.

We are also going to Illinois next month for my husband's cousin's wedding. Third trip to Illinois, third time DRIVING. Gosh! I wish we could fly! I hate that 16 hour drive!

Will post again upon our return! Until then...stay tuned.

LEAVE ME SOME COMMENTS! I know I lost some of you over time, but I never had that many comments anyways, so leave me some and I'll post more!

Once Again

Alright, I've said it before and I'll say it again. Can anyone answer this question for me:

"Why would God send His One and Only Son to die for the entire world if there was more than One Way to get to Him?"

Send me your responses, I'm ready.

I Cannot Be Silent

How can I be who I am, but be quiet?
How can I be passionate, but reserved?
How can I believe with everything that I am, but get reprimanded for it?
How can this kind of persecution be going on inside church walls?
Every time I feel the doubt creeping up, I feel You reassure me and tell me You're right.
You are truth, You are sovereign, You are life, You are THE WAY.
Show them, tell them, convict them.
I am not their Judge, they are not accountable to me.
One day...one day soon...they'll know.
When they face their Creator, and look Him in the eyes, then they'll know.
They'll know they were wrong all along.

Urgency

Okay, I've got to get this out now before I forget it all. I woke up at 2am with all this stuff in my head and couldn't go back to sleep until 5 so I'm getting it out now so I can sleep tonight. Last night we did a survey with our youth group. It was called, "What Do You Believe?" and we were going over the basic Christian doctrines with them and how a person gets to heaven and everything. I was so shocked because these kids were saying things like, "What does the word 'Trinity' mean?" and "What is salvation?" and I was like, "Whoa! Okay, back to square one." and when we got to the question that said, "How many ways are there to God?" I was equally shocked at all of their answers. Here were the choices:
A. Just one, through Jesus
B. Many ways
C. As many ways as there are people
D. It depends on the religion
So many of the kids said either B,C, or D, but very few picked A. RED FLAG! RED FLAG! MAYDAY! GOING DOWN! S.O.S. HELP!!!!!!!!
So, I got on my little soapbox for as long as I could keep their attention, which was like 2 minutes and drew the illustration of a cliff, a ravine, and another cliff. Then I put man on the left and God on the right and I said, "How does a person get from one side to the other? In other words, how does man get to God?" and they didn't know. So, I drew a picture of the cross with the word Jesus across it to illustrate how He bridged the gap for us and I said, "This is the only way that ANYONE can get to God." They also said that Jesus was just a good man when "God in flesh" was one of the answers, and the right one I might add. They also said that salvation was attained by "obeying all of God's laws" and totally missed "grace through faith". A lot of them kept saying, "But there's things we HAVE to do in order to please God and get to go to heaven." and I said, "All of our righteousness is like filthy rags! There's nothing we could ever do to work our way into heaven!" and they were totally lost! So, here is all I wanted to say to them, but there wasn't enough time, and I have just got to get it out:

#1. There is only ONE WAY to get to heaven and that is through Jesus Christ alone. If that is not true, then Jesus died for nothing. That makes Christianity the only true religion. Because Christianity is true, buddhism, islam, judaism, mormonism, and all the other isms are WRONG! There is no way we can all be right. If Jesus died on the cross for our sins and raised to life again, and the only way to get to heaven is by admitting we've sinned, believing that Jesus died for those sins, and confessing those sins and committing our lives to the Lord is the ONLY way to get to heaven, then whatever any other religion claims is the way is WRONG. It's NOT true! One of the kids kept saying, "Well, just because this is true for me, it may not be true for somebody else if they don't believe the way I do. This is my personal belief, not someone else's." This is all I have to say about that, if the above belief is not true for you, then you are going straight to hell. No one likes to talk about hell, it's offensive, but if we sit there and say, "Well, I know I'm going to heaven, but you can believe whatever you want." you're allowing that person to go straight to hell.

Let me put it this way...if I were to walk outside with a friend of mine and we both look up in the sky and see a plane flying overhead and I say, "That plane is flying east." and my friend says, "No, that plane is flying west." one of us is wrong. Make sense? So, in that sense you can't say, "Jesus is the only way to get to heaven." and in the same breath say, "Buddha is another way to get to heaven." because one of you is wrong. Same goes with evolution. You can't say, "I believe that God created the heavens and the earth and Adam and Eve." and in the same breath say, "I believe that the big bang is responsible for how we got here." It just doesn't work. You're either hot or cold, on or off, light or dark, black or white, right or left, you CAN'T BE BOTH! The same goes with the Bible. You can't claim that the Bible is true and call it the inerrant Word of God and then say, "Well, some parts aren't true, some parts don't count, and some parts we can just disregard." It's all or nothing. Either you believe it or you don't. Either it's true or it's not. Of course there were parables, of course there were illustrations, of course there were fictional situations that Jesus spoke of to prove a point, but if you don't understant it, don't discount it and throw it out, GO DEEPER! That's what Bible study is for!

Here's my last point. God created every single, solitary human being that has ever lived, is living, or will ever live on this planet. Black, white, Asian, Russian, French, Indian, African, and any other nationality you can think of. No matter what language they speak, He made us all. Every person you pass on the road, on the sidewalk, in the hallway at school, in the mall or wherever you are in the world, God created them all...THEM ALL...so do you know what that means? That means that Jesus died for every single, solitary one of us. You know what else that means? Because of Adam and Eve's sin in the beginning, we are ALL born into sin. So, do you know what else that means? Jesus died for every single, solitary sin that every single, solitary human being has ever, or will ever commit. Do you know why? The reason why He died for you is so you wouldn't have to. Now, you may know that, but here's the kicker, everybody else doesn't know it. Like I said, God created everyone, but does everyone know that? Jesus died for everyone, but does everyone know that? No. Do you know why they don't know? I'll tell you why...because YOU haven't told them. That is our job. Yours and mine. That is all the work that Jesus Christ left all of us to do before He left this earth and ascended into heaven. He gave us the Great Commission and told us to go out and make DISCIPLES. So, we're supposed to be Disciples of Christ right? So, let's get out there and make some more! Making disciples does not mean forcing a denomination of the same name on anyone. Making disciples means sharing the Good News with people, letting them know there's a God who created them, and He had a Son who saved them from hell. If we waste our time talking about anything else, especially from the pulpit, we've sent the listeners straight to hell if we haven't shown them the Way to get to heaven and offered them a chance to accept it. SO GET TO WORK!