Perfectly different in Christ

Do you feel different?  Different as a believer in Christ living in this world?  Do you notice it sometimes, all the time or is this the first time you have thought about it?  What makes you sense the difference?  Do people even sense something is different about you?  They should...

Notice anything different about these pictures?  Hair color, location, baby girl, baby boy?  Lots of things right?  But what is different about the inside of me?  Got any proof?  Only you would know to interact with me, read what I write, how I react, how I live.  I am different.  WAY different.


I think I feel different so much more these days.  But it's a good different.  We are called to be different says Romans 12:2.  "Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world."


It is natural for me to say "Praise the Lord" for a lot of things.  I say it in public, in private and my kids say it too.  But when I am in public and say "Praise the Lord" I get a reaction from people that tells me, "wow that's different."  But I really mean it, PTL!  As I grow in my walk with Him and I realize that He is the one blessing, directing, protecting and teaching me.  I want to praise Him all the more!


Praise Him!

Psalm 148

 Praise the LORD.
       Praise the LORD from the heavens,
       praise him in the heights above.
 Praise him, all his angels,
       praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
 Praise him, sun and moon,
       praise him, all you shining stars.
 Praise him, you highest heavens
       and you waters above the skies.
 Let them praise the name of the LORD,
       for he commanded and they were created.
 He set them in place for ever and ever;
       he gave a decree that will never pass away.
 Praise the LORD from the earth,
       you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
       stormy winds that do his bidding,
 you mountains and all hills,
       fruit trees and all cedars,
 wild animals and all cattle,
       small creatures and flying birds,
 kings of the earth and all nations,
       you princes and all rulers on earth,
 young men and maidens,
       old men and children.
 Let them praise the name of the LORD,
       for his name alone is exalted;
       his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
 He has raised up for his people a horn,
       the praise of all his saints,
       of Israel, the people close to his heart.
       Praise the LORD.

Paralyzed!

Our dog Bailey is 10 years old but acts like he is 2 when it comes to his energy level.  If you leave for 10 minutes and put him in the basement, when you open the door he jumps on you, licks you as if he hasn't seen you in years!  Every single time!

Until the other day.  We were gone for 3 hours and opened the door to find a s-l-o-w movin' Bailey with his head kind of down and he didn't jump on me.   My very first millisecond reaction was, "He's finally learned not to jump!"  Then, "What's wrong with you?  Did we have a power outage and your dog fence collar shocked you?"  What in the world?  He was shaking too when we talked to him and so I googled "shaking dog".  Why was I googling that?  I was in shock obviously!


I had taken off the collar to see if it was hot or his neck felt hot.  Nothing.  Then I was googling and Alysse said "Mom what is this black stuff on under his neck?"  I said it was probably dirt and then she empatically said noooo come look at this.  So, I did and rolled him over to see under his chin was the biggest tick I have ever seen or googled in my life.  We were in total disbelief and disgust!  We all started itching immediately when we saw it moving.  Yuck!  Alysse ran upstairs to get the tweezers, Gigi got a napkin and I had to do the dirty work.  To pull it out!!!! Ahhh so sick when I didn't pull hard enough the first time.  I took him over to the vet for a shot and get antibiotics for possibly Lyme disease.  He has all the symptoms of very slow, almost arthritic and wouldn't eat.  He had been doing this for several days not coming all the way up the stairs at night but I thought he was getting eyesight problems all the sudden.  The doctor said it was probably there for 3-4 days already.   So, Alysse was the hero!  She cracked the case!


Vibrant, eager and all totally gone in a matter of days from a blood sucking parasite.  I used to have a few of those parasites in my day so to speak.  Those parasites were my bad friends of sin, justified sin, habitual sin, self destructive sin and secret sin.  Literally they crept up on me and sometimes I didn't know I was even being attacked.  I didn't even notice them at first until it nestled into an unprotected area of my life that I either felt I had control over or didn't give control to the Lord.  Either way I had some things that were sucking the life of the living God out of me.  You finally realize it when you are paralyzed with your head down and sick.  God was gracious and put people in my life who shared truth to me and over time I was healed of the destruction!


What is paralyzing you?  Pray to the Lord to reveal it through His Word the Bible or ask someone who honors God to pray for you and give you wise counsel.


1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 


All for Him!


P.S. Here are some great sermons from our church series about spiritual warfare and satanic attacks.  It will help you identify some of those parasites!  Click here: http://www.hbclz.org/Blog.aspx?site_id=10048&blog_id=23347

Giddy Up Horsey!

Love my creative and forward thinking kids!  Noelle who is 3 saw Daddy's snowmobile trailer sitting in the yard.  She probably heard us discussing that we want to move that trailer...for the past 4 years!  It moves from the driveway to the garage and back and all the while we don't want it anywhere but we haven't found a safe place to store it when it isn't in use.  We are technically in violation of our subdivision covenants with it being in the driveway.

Noelle thought she could solve this problem....three year old style!  Giddy Up Horsey will fix it!

Bummer it's still out there in the grass today!  Good try Noelle!

It reminds me of sin in our life.  We don't want it there and we move it around in our life.  It shows up as various forms or excuses.  We try to let wordly advice, willpower, trying to convince others it's really not that bad and guess what it's still there and the Lord knows it.  It's His Word that washes us white as snow and the Word that transforms our mind.

All for Him!

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white assnow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."  Isaiah 1:18.

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."  Romans 12:2 

Lunch by Gigi

Gigi is our no fear, take life by the horns child.  She has been using her gift of hospitality since she was 2 years old.  She decided today to make lunch again for Noelle, Blake and I.  She got everything out herself and even took some creative license.  Don't you love that happy faces are the norm at this age?

She has only chosen the sad face once to express her feelings recently.  She was unhappy after being scolded by Daddy that she wasn't doing what he asked.  He told her she wasn't getting a treat because of it.  He was presented a very sad 4 year old drawing of a sad face.  She bawled handing it to him and it was this tiny drawing the size of your thumb.  He held back chuckling and she said she was very sad not to be getting a treat.

"Taste and see that the Lord is good!"