Wednesday, December 8, 2010

So this thing called parenting....


It's HARD!!!


It's also rewarding, exhausting, emotionally charged, challenging, precious & I wouldn't trade it for the world.


There is no grey area in parenting. There is however, a very fine line in which we must walk like an acrobat on a tight rope. It's moment by moment, I have discovered. I've also learned that there is NOTHING that can make you hurt more or make you feel that overwhelming love that seems as if your heart will explode.


I've learned (& it took me a LONG time) that showing grace & love is more convicting than yelling, screaming, or throwing a plain ole' fit will do. The one thing I want my kids to realize is that no matter what, I love them unconditionally. Yes, there will be consequences for bad decisions at times. But there is also redemption. The one thing I fear is that my kids will try to please me so much that they lose sight of who they are & they play a role.


As much as I love my kids, I know that God loves them even more than I do. That's why it's easy to leave them in His hands. I want me kids to strive to not please me but to have a relationship with our Heavenly Father & strive to do His work here on Earth.


I am blessed with great kids in which I feel we have a special bond. I've tried both ways... The tyrant & the loving, graceful parent. The fine line exists still but it's up to you to decide which one is the way God would have us go.

Monday, December 6, 2010

December....


I am not a fan of it. I used to be hot natured but now I freeze all the time. I don't care for the dreary weather. I need sunshine, the grey overcast skies just make me blah however just like the winter's on our lives I know we must go through this to experience the beauty of spring.


One would think that a basketball nut like me would love winter but more & more I enjoy summer better. Basketball, well it's just a game. There was a time where it wasn't just a game to us, it was our life. Don't get me wrong, I am a sports fanatic. I like basketball, soccer, baseball & my new love football but it doesn't control my life.


Sports have taught my kids some real valuable life lessons & I am happy they participate in so many of them. I love watching my kids play sports. Cole is in basketball right now & he absolutely loves basketball. He will be playing travel soccer in the spring so that is a new adventure for us. Aimee will have her first college softball season this spring & I intend to make every game of hers. It will be a lot of traveling but it's important for me to be there. So, for now I will bundle up & ride out the winter!!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

2 Corinthians 12:1-10
1 This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. 3 Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know 4 that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell. 5 That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. 6 If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, 7 even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. 8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Now from the message:

1 You’ve forced me to talk this way, and I do it against my better judgment. But now that we’re at it, I may as well bring up the matter of visions and revelations that God gave me. 2 For instance, I know a man who, fourteen years ago, was seized by Christ and swept in ecstasy to the heights of heaven. I really don’t know if this took place in the body or out of it; only God knows. 3 I also know that this man was hijacked into paradise—again, whether in or out of the body, I don’t know; God knows. There he heard the unspeakable spoken, but was forbidden to tell what he heard. 5 This is the man I want to talk about. But about myself, I’m not saying another word apart from the humiliations. 6 If I had a mind to brag a little, I could probably do it without looking ridiculous, and I’d still be speaking plain truth all the way. But I’ll spare you. I don’t want anyone imagining me as anything other than the fool you’d encounter if you saw me on the street or heard me talk. 7 Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! 8 At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, 9 and then he told me,

My grace is enough; it’s all you need.

My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. 10 Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.


No one knows for sure what Paul's thorn was but we do know that he asked 3 times for it to be taken away. But God didn't grant that prayer. He did however get things greater because he got grace from God, a stronger character, humility & an ability to empathize with others. It also benefited those around him in that they saw God at work in his life. We don't know why some people are spared & others not. We must pray, believe & trust. Nothing separates us from God's love (Romans 8:35-39). & our spiritual condition is always more important than our physical condition.