Baylee the butterfly

Baylee's class at school had a performance last week. She dressed as a beautiful butterfly. She did such a good job!

encouragement

This should give us all some encouragement weather you are "called" into ministry or not. This applies in some fashion to all believers. This was only part of the speech, but the best part, I thought!

They go out in power. Not the power of profession or the power of wealth. They may not look to the world like an intimidating militia, but they are the army of God -- "soldiers of Christ, in truth arrayed." They are the powerless made powerful in Christ; the weak through whom the Lord will show his strength. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church they shall serve, and the forces of evil will flee their proclamation of the Gospel and the Word of God.

They are arrayed in glory. Not an earthly glory accompanied by office and status and entourage, but the glory of the crucified, risen, ascended, and reigning Christ -- a glory hidden now from the world but one day revealed to every bended knee and each confessing tongue. They are vessels of clay who bear the glory of the incorruptible Christ, who show his wounds and bear his scars and will both live and die to the glory of God alone. Death holds no sting and Satan holds no scepter to them.

They will go out to preach and to teach and to tell a lost world about Jesus and his love. They will break bread and share the cup and proclaim the Lord's death for sinners until He comes. They will baptize in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They will preach the Word, in season and out of season. They will teach, preach, correct, rebuke, lead, serve, follow, guide, and encourage. They will tend to the flock of God and serve churches. They will preach and pray as the saints are laid to rest. They will push back against the darkness as the children of light. They will plant and water and sometimes reap, and their labor will never be in vain.

How is all this secured? We send them out, knowing that all these promises are secured in Christ and in Christ alone. We know so because Christ has taught us to pray, "For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."

__________________________

This is a commencement address and charge to graduates of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, delivered May 15, 2009 by R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President.

My Nanny

I couldn't let Mother's Day go by and not give a nod to my grandmother, Nanny. To call her my grandmother seems a little to formal for me. She has been everything to me at some point in my life. She cared for me when no one else would, she witnessed my first word, my first choir performance, my first heart break, she was there and still is.

She is the most beautiful person I know. Since becoming a foster parent after her husband died, she basically died to self and lived for others. I've never known her to wear designer clothes, or buy "nice" things for herself, but she managed to shave $20 off the grocery budget one summer to buy me something so silly that I thought I'd die without. She is amazing, such a testament to selfless giving. She is not attached to worldly possessions like the rest of us folk. We might think we're not attached but we are. She'd go without so that you could have and she'd give you her best china (if she had any) without batting an eye if she thought it might make you smile. We disagree at times and she has made some mistakes along the way, but her heart is bigger than Texas and she'd walk 20 miles in the rain to come see me if I needed her, that is love. I love her more than words, she has given me so much!

I love you, Nanny!!!!!!!!

Ode to Pooh

(me and Pooh at the 2004 Easter Play)

An ode to a Pooh Bear

Well its mothers day and I'm broke
hum, what to do
thought I'd sit at my puter
and write a little poem for you

Childish, yes, it might be
funny, well maybe, we'll see

I'll try to pour out my heart
and make you laugh at the same time
So buckle up and hold on tight, it
could be a long blogging night

You can into my life and took me by surprise
Someone like you loving someone like me
I asked God, Lord how could this be
You were so pretty, and wore nice clothes
Lord, what if she doesn't love me
Will she see through the lies

Lies I had been told all my life
about who I was and who I would someday be
Lies little girls like us tend to believe
yea, you saw through lies for sure, and
helped me replace them with truth
It was only later that I learned you
had once believed those lies too

Putting up with a teenager,
goodness that was a mess
plates broken, angry words spoken
How we survived I'll never know
In about 3 years, I'll need to learn
your secret though

You've always been there for me
You've never walked out
Our family loves you, Pooh
beyond a shadow of a doubt

So on this Mother's Day, I'd like to say "thanks"........for loving me, letting me learn from the school of hard knocks, for encouraging my dreams, believing in me, listening to me fuss about life, making me clean the house, coming to my house at midnight to hold me while I cried, hunting down the person who made me cry in the first place, loving my children and being the best Pooh ever.
"you are braver than you are, and smarter than you think"-Christopher Robin

Baylee's prayer

Baylee's bedtime prayer:

"Dear Jesus, I don't want to ask you this, but I'm going to anyway.....please make Shawn obey at school, he is on my last nerve already"

I have tried to model realistic prayers with my kids. I hate the traditional "I'm praying b/c I have to and it has to sound just right prayer"......based on tonight Baylee's prayer life will be rich for sure......ha!

My rollercoaster week

So the week started out rough, got worse, got better, and now I'm just tired. Let me explain. This was my birthday week. That brings issues to the surface for sure. I'm 31 this year, yes 31. Turning 30 was great. I felt like finally I've arrived, I'm an adult. 31 is more like crap, I'm an adult! For the past few weeks we have been leading our small group and Monday night we finished up our time together with a smore roast in our backyard, and a study on justification and adoption. It was a rich study and I see now how God's timing is more than perfect for this topic in my life at this time. Today as I'm sitting here on the computer I have felt all the highs and lows life has to offer. Not to give all the tiny details, but I've been dropped kicked by someone I thought was a close friend, I've open the doors to a mentoring relationship with a young lady, dealt with all the drama at work and at home, turned a year older, buried a family member, planned for a weekend with my best friend and her family.........and believe it or not I could go on, but I'll spare anyone who reads this the misery....ha. Yesterday I was determined to live out the verses of this song I've been singing in my head all week....today the reality of this week has hit me. So who do I go to for some lifting up?? Jesus, well no, Beth Moore and her blog. Jesus showed up for sure though. Her daughter Melissa is on mission is Calcutta India. The poorest place on the planet. As I read through the stories and looked at the pictures (with tears and a heart of despair) I suddenly realized that I'm a big cry baby, at least I have been this week. I have so much in my life to be thankful for. I have been blessed by a God whose love doesn't depend on my own merits (thank goodness). Really, I am still soaking all this in. But today was a big wake up call for me. I think I'll go do the pity party dance and shake my blues away, and try to live out the verses in this song:

Thirty-nine (39) candles burnt out on a cake
Each representin’ a million mistakes
The last one still burns, there’s a wish I can make
This time I’m getting’ it right
So I close my eyes and I take a deep breath
And I promise myself in the time I have left

I’m gonna work like I don’t need the money
I’m gonna laugh like I’m not afraid to cry
I’m gonna dance like nobody’s watchin’
I’m gonna love while I still got the time

Twister

I'm not sure what crazy person stood out in the twister to take a pic, BUT it was a great shot!!! This was in Murfreesboro last week. yikes