Choose

The last month has been a whirlwind of busy fun. I took 3 kids to Disney and left the other 3 home with Tim. Then they flew down on Allegiant Air ($45/person!). It just all worked out and God blessed us with a fun family vacation. Having one-on-one time with my kids was a blessing...getting to know them better individually. I carried Crew around Disney for 5 days so I got to know him really well!

Disney with little ones is like an iron man contest. Strollers up hill, carrying kids for miles, taking sleeping kids out of the car and up a couple flights of stairs, packing, unpacking, etc...

I was thankful I had been working out before that marathon!

This pilot REALLY blessed me at Animal Kingdom. I love people who go to great lengths to tell the world about God. It makes me want to be more bold and more creative.

I loved watching them look at the animals on the safari ride. At places like this, I tell them that no one gives God the glory so WE GET TO! In our hearts, we praise HIM for His creation and its magnificence. It's so ironic to me that people can gawk over such beautiful animals and never once mention their creator. Creation points us to a loving God Who not only made amazing zebras and giraffes but also us...not only did He make us... HE WANTS TO KNOW US AND US TO KNOW HIM!

"For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature."

Romans 1:20 

I realized as I was uploading all the pictures that one of the reasons I LOVE taking pictures of my kids is so that I can study their faces and catch things that I may not catch in the business of the day. 

I am sure I take and post too many pictures but it is because I am fascinated with the 6 little humans who God placed in my womb. I am curious about them. I love to study them and discover new things about them. 

People mock bloggers and accuse them (us) of being narcissistic but if loving your family and children is "narcissistic" then count me IN!

While I am on the subject of mocking :), it is NOT OKAY. 

I think mockers just show their need for approval of man. They want to bring others down. They tear down instead of build up. Maybe knowingly, maybe not. 

Like the video that was passed around on social circles about the girl who just uses her quiet time to instagram. You probably saw it. I watched it once. It was appearing to be cute and funny but what is the message? Mockery. 

Because, guess what? I have to share God's Word or I will explode.

Like Jeremiah, it is a fire shut up in my bones and I cannot hold it in. 

There is not gimmick and I am not trying to look "spiritual". 

I was given a gift at salvation that was from God.

I have to speak forth the Word. It's obedience. It's life to me. It's natural.

The people who share that video are not only mocking believers who share God's Word but also the Giver of the gifts. Seems cute and funny at first glance but it isn't. It makes people question whether they should continue to use their lives as a vessel for God's Word. That's the enemy. He mocks. He tries to make you feel stupid and stop ministry.

The Word of God is so powerful that just simply sharing my life along with the Word has led people to salvation and changed their entire lives for eternity. 

It is the Word that pierces into darkness. 

KEEP SHARING IT.

Don't second guess your self. 

Do it for His glory not your own and you will get a front row seat to MIRACLES.

"Not to us, O Lord, not to us,

but to your name goes all the glory

for your unfailing love and faithfulness."

Ps 115:1

But Paul says even if they are doing it with the wrong motives, PRAISE GOD!

"But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. 

And because of this I rejoice."

Phil 1

If people understood the power of God, they would rejoice EVEN IF girls are just sharing it try to be cool!

Who cares why people are sharing God's Word? 
The Word is going out!!!

*************************************

God works through simple daily acts of obedience.
Maybe you feel prompted to step out in faith to share what God taught you in your quiet time and it is the exact Scripture that someone needed at the exact time!

 The enemy loves to accuse us of being phonies. 

If you want to find fault in me our my family, I can save you a whole lot of time and gossip.
We are very faulted and 100% phonies. Our strength comes from God and His Spirit's power in us. 

So will yours. You are a phony :).
Go ahead and tell people that and get it out of the way. :)

What if when my babies started trying to walk, I made fun of them! No way! I encourage them just like I am encouraging you! SHARE GOD'S WORD! 

Sorry to rant about that video. I know it seemed harmless but I don't see it that way. 

I have dealt with enough mocking since giving my life to the Lord. 

Whether it is deciding to not date as a single... staying pure... blogging... homeschooling... 

Don't listen to mockers. Don't be a mocker. You keep doing what GOD has called you to do. 

Follow Him wholeheartedly. If God has called you to blog or start a Bible Study in your home, DO IT.

If you just gave your life to Jesus Christ and He has begun His transforming process in your life and you want to share, DO IT! Don't be afraid of people!! 

Time is running out. The laborers are few. In other words, GOD IS HIRING.

Get to work. :) Offer your mite.

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "

Here am I. Send me!"

Isaiah 6:8

"Then He said to His disciples, 

“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few."

Matt 9:37

We have to step out in faith that God use our 2 mites or our 2 fish and multiply them!

Start where you are! I go back to my salvation prayer constantly, "I don't have anything to give you but I give you all that I have". 

When you live your live surrendered and walking in fellowship with the Spirit, you will be different. Different than other believers sadly. My pastor just taught on the great difference between believers who walk in the flesh/world and the ones who walk in God's Spirit. 

It is 2 different "mindsets". One has a mind set on the flesh on one on the Spirit. 

"Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.  The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.  

The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.  Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you."

Romans 8:5-9

Nothing prideful about it. But, I promise you that if you simply read God's Word everyday... He will begin to change/renew/wash your mind and you will think differently. You will begin to know God's heart and His voice. You will have your "mind set on what the Spirit desires".

***************************************

I think we are watching end times events and issues surface so fast.

Especially the issues regarding LIFE.

I tell my boys that the enemy goes after the weak first.

The elderly, the sick, and the unborn.

We have to fight for the weak because the enemy is deceiving people making murder look like compassion and they are BUYING it. It is so tragic.

I believe the American Church is going to get purified and sifted by issues regarding life and marriage. People who aren't walking in the spirit are going to get swept away by the arguments of the world. They won't have the courage to stand for what God stands for because it will cost them relationships and people will MOCK them.

I am determined to spend time with the Lord in the mornings when I wake up. I want God's Word to be the first thing I set my eyes on in the morning while my brain is still "squishy". :) That's what it feels like anyway. I can hear God louder in the stillness of the morning. My brain isn't fried from the heat of the day and the demands yet. 

"Make me walk along the path of your commands,

for that is where my happiness is found.

 Give me an eagerness for your laws

rather than a love for money!

 Turn my eyes from worthless things,

and give me life through your word."

Ps 119:35-37

The other day, I was grading 3 tests/changing a diaper/making lunch/ and talking to an electrician at the same time. It occured to me AGAIN that what God has called me to do is IMPOSSIBLE. 

I understand Gideon's concern when God shaved back everything to a few guys in a battle against an ocean of enemies. That was physically IMPOSSIBLE. But then God did miracles and they knew it was all God and not them. I get that. We have 6 kids and no family here. It's just us doing the work of 100 people. But I see that everywhere with families trying to raise godly children. There is a lack that leads us all back to the power of God. If we had huge armies and vast resources, we would mess everything up because we wouldn't cry out to God and lean utterly on His ability instead of our own.

Raising children is such a hard job. We are constantly failing and being humbled.

But then I go back to 1 Chronicles 22 and 29 where the Lord tells David that He is going to build the temple through His Son and to get things ready. 

He tells Solomon exactly what his job is and gives him all the resources that he needs to do it.

God is calling us to be very clear with our children about their purpose in this life...

TO BUILD THE KINGDOM.

Read those chapters if you need to get a fresh vision as a parent.

Sports, school, jobs, and all the things we are involved in are an avenue for a greater purpose:

To build God's kingdom one life at a time.

To be fishers of men and then disciplers.

The world says "work hard so you can get a good education so you can get into a good college to get a good job so you can live on a good street and have a couple of good children and be as comfortable as possible". 

Jesus says 

"follow me"

"lay it all down"

"my plan for you is good, pleasing, and perfect"

"better than anything you could dream"

"step out in faith"

 "enter into the greatest love story ever told"

"you are different"

"you are mine"

"I have plans for you"

"seek My face"

"walk in My Spirit"

"it is for freedom that I set you free"

"in Me, you will find abundant life"

We can pray for the Spirit of God to move in our children and we can give them all the resources to do what God is calling them to do. 

This is going to be a job done by faith because our children aren't always going to look or act the way we want them to. :)

I want them to desire the life God offers them knowing that His will for them is

GOOD

PLEASING

&

PERFECT

Life in the Spirit is exciting. It is fulfilling.

I can't believe how much God has allowed me to be a part of since the night I cried out to Him all alone in my room with my Bible. He took a broken, sinful girl and gave her a new name and a WHOLE NEW LIFE. Why? Because He is merciful. He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve.

We love going to the beach. It was especially relaxing and healing for me personally this Thanksgiving. God blessed me in ways only I would know it was Him. 

(Side note***He did that same thing for me at the gym the other day! Sometimes they play music that has terrible lyrics and since I have lived in a bubble for over a decade away from bad music, I seriously HOLD MY EARS. I can feel the yuck of the world getting on me and then it gets stuck in my head. I was telling Tim about it and then this last week, MY CURRENT FAVORITE SONG "Feel Again" by One Republic came on. I play that song all the time because for a while I couldn't feel anything because of tragedy and hardship and a broken heart. I listen to that song over and over and over. Only God knew that and He played it for me at the gym. Seriously grinned during Barre class... while I was tied in a pretzel... because I knew God was near. Isn't a personal relationship with God AWESOME!!!????

We call those "Jehovah Shammah" moments in our house. When God does something only YOU know to show you He is there.) 

He is redeeming and healing me. He is teaching me not to be afraid.

A dear friend reminded me at Church this morning that it was always when people in Scripture come close to God that He has to tell them "Fear Not!". Isn't that a comforting reminder that as we grow closer to the Lord, He says to us "Fear Not". 

I love watching the children at the beach. I love wide open spaces. 

Fresh air, ocean breezes.

The ocean has always been a place I feel near God.

Rhett just wants to GO. He is so cute.

Hope is free-spirited, unpredictable, head strong, capable, talented, loud, and keeps me on my toes and on my knees.

I never know what she is going to say or do.

God is tempering her.... and me.

It's a beautiful process.

Crew is athletic, timid, cute-as-a-button, and never far from me.

They are becoming friends for sure.

He tells her she is beautiful and thinks she is the coolest person ever.

She misses him when he is gone. 

Lake was just in the "Singing Christmas Tree". He laughs and sings through life.

He fills our home with joy and worship.

He has had a horrible cough. Breathing treatments and steroids are his way of life.

I don't know if this last round in our house was RSV or croup but it has been bad.

Thankful he is finally feeling better.

Reece is growing up. He just opened a bank account because he is making so much money babysitting kids in the neighborhood and is "saving for college".  He is Type A in a good way. He is responsible. 

He is trustworthy. He is ardent. He is a blessing.

Tim is a HUNK. I have a huge crush on him. He loves me and the children well. Our marriage has been attacked, tested, & tried. 

We are both way outside of the boat and what is comfortable. Our marriage is a refuge. God has given us something so very special. I don't know why. Neither of us deserved it. But God doesn't give any of us what we deserve. Don't ask God for things based on merit. Pray to God knowing that He performs miracles and that He is merciful.

If you are single, ask God to first shape you into the person you  need to be for marriage and then to bless you with a godly spouse to serve Him alongside of.

I believe with all my heart that God made me out of Tim's rib and that He watched over us to bring us together in order to serve Him as a team. I believe there is ONE THE LORD has chosen. You can choose or wait on the Lord and place it in His hands. 

Our love for each other is deepening. I tell my boys that there is a girl out there for them. That God will bring her in His time. It's like 2 magnets that keep getting stronger and closer. 

God brought Tim and I together and He KEEPS bringing us together by His Spirit.

**************************

2014 has been so difficult and painful. Hardest year of my life by far.

These passage reminds me of this past year...

"For you, God, tested us;

you refined us like silver.

You brought us into prison

and laid burdens on our backs.

You let people ride over our heads;

we went through fire and water,

but you brought us to a place of abundance."

Ps 66

I have been tested, refined, imprisoned, burdened, betrayed, through fire and water. Now I look forward to the last sentence that after we endure, He brings us into a place of abundance. I'm not talking about material abundance. In my experience, the abundance God has given me has been life in my marriage and home and ministry. That is abundance. 

It also occurred to me that I have misunderstood a passage for a long time:

"So be truly glad.  There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. 

These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world."

1 Peter 1

I always had a weird view that the person would be proved genuine who makes it through the trials but it is the FAITH that is proven. I have taught on this and memorized it but it HIT me when I watched Tim and Evan rock climbing.

When they jumped off the top of a building and that rope caught them and carried them, they realized the the rope was trustworthy.

One thing I have said to Tim over and over this year is "I just don't want to lose my faith". Because when you go through tragedy, your heart is broken, and everything you have ever known as solid ground gives way... then you really start to wonder if that rope is going to work.

But, as I feel my spiritual pulse and realize I am still alive, I also realize that my FAITH is genuine. Not me. My faith!

This faith that is more precious than gold.

God kept my faith strong. I had nothing to do with it. Nothing to offer.

Just like when Tim is falling down the side of a building. He is toast apart from that rope. The rope is genuine and trustworthy.

As is our FAITH.

If you are in the middle of FIRE AND WATER, get in the Word. Pray for more faith. 

The faith He gives makes it through FIRE AND WATER. 

And once you have endured, there is blessing and abundance.

I am so sorry if you are suffering. I mean that.

I hope that my silly little sharing of God's Word in some way encouraged you.

 Read your Bible every day. 

Follow the Lord not people.

God is so faithful.

Here is a good verse for you to pray over your family for 2015...

"You crown the year with a bountiful harvest;

even the hard pathways overflow with abundance."

Ps 65:11

If you don't know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you can pray right now and ask Him to forgive you of your sins and offer Him your life. He loves you.

If you are reading this blog, I truly believe it is because God is drawing you to Himself by His Spirit out of love. Surrender your life today. Don't put it off any longer. Flee from sexual sin. It will destroy your soul. It will rob you. 

God's ways bring true joy and fulfillment. 

In the stillness of your room, drop to your knees and cry out to God. That is what I did. I was alone when I gave my life to Christ. 

If you do, will you please write me. I will do all that I can to help you begin to grow in your relationship with God.

He loves you.

He knows all that you have done and He still loves you.

Be Blessed~

Steph