My Commitment as a Christian

This morning in church we read the following commitment. I could have shouted it! Our pastor said that it was written by a young pastor, he doesn't know how long ago.

My Commitment as a Christian.

I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power.
The die has been cast, I have stepped over the line, the decision has been made: I am a disciple of HIS! I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still!

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, foolish talking, cheap living and small goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, or popularity. I don't need to be recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer and labor by power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven; my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few...but my Guide is reliable and my mission is clear.

I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up or let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up ~ for the cause of Christ! I am a disciple of Jesus!!!

I must go until he comes, give until I drop, preach until all know and work until HE stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me - my banner will be clear!!!

Can you say it with me?!

Giving Thanks Challenge 2011

Well it has been a long time since I have done a Thanksgiving Challenge!! God has just blessed me bunches this past year and I just feel that I need to share with all of you! If you would like to join, go here and get the button and read the very simple rules. Here are 5 for today:

1. For God continuing to find me lovable and teachable!
2. My wonderful husband who supports me and is always my biggest encourager!
3. My redheaded boy!
4. My tenderhearted girl!
5. My Church, that stands firmly on the Word of God!
   

A Fall tradition that not everyone is happy with.....

Gizzy is not the biggest fan of anything that take him outside a house!!!

Champ just deals! Well that is not necessarily true, he has a lot of "issues"!!

A Righteous Anger over a Mockery of Marriage!

O.K. since I no longer have a Facebook account and I have no other place to vent my incredible frustrations, you dear ones are going to get an earful!!! Here it goes:

I am so angry over this Kim Kardasian farce of a marriage that, as I told my son this morning "I can spit fire!!!" I just saw a snippet of an interview she will be doing this morning on The Today Show, where she said "this is hard, but I had to be true to my heart". True to your heart! Shouldn't you have thought about that 75 days ago? This man did not do that much changing in 72 days! I read an article on Fox News (remember their fair and balanced, whatever) about her spending 10 million dollars on this wedding, but through selling of pictures and stories she made 17 million. It was not about love, commitment, or even having too, it was a money maker!

Well Kim dear, I am here to tell you that as a child of God, and the wife of a wonderful man, SHAME ON YOU FOR MAKING A MOCKERY OF A COVENANT THAT GOD ORDAINED!!! Shame on you!!!

You may not know this, but I am here to tell you that marriage is a picture of Christ and his church (or bride as he calls it in scripture). God ordained for a man and woman to leave their homes and cleave to each other. He ordained that it be life long (ya know like animals that mate for life). He (Christ) performed his first miracle at a wedding. Whether you realized it, or realize it now God was a witness at your wedding. It says that in Malachi Chapter 2:14. Whether you wanted him there or not, he was there! Even though society today says "follow your heart, life is too short", God does not! You took something that he ordained and made it a circus act! Here are a few more pictures to help you understand how NOT lightly God takes marriage:

Isaiah 61:10

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Isaiah 62:5

For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you,and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

Matthew 9:15

And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guest mourn as long as the bride groom is with them? The day will come when the bridegroom is taken from them, then they will fast." (Who is this bridegroom, but Jesus Christ)

This next one gives me goosebumps and it should you too!

Revelations 19:7

Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.

We are that bride! We adorn ourselves! We make ourselves as beautiful as we can, just like any bride does today! Just like you did! You did look beautiful! But that beauty was all surface. It was not real. It was an act!

I have to admit that I am asking God to give me a love for you, because right now I am just so angry! Young people today look at you as a roll model, and you stink at it! I know why, I do! You don't know Christ, so you are going on your own moral compass, that society has taught you, you can. It's about you, and your personal happiness. It's not about love. It's not about commitment. It's not about forever. It's about the here and now. Getting all I can. Doing what is best for me, never thinking of others and how my actions may affect them. Believe it or not, you do not live in a bubble, where you decisions affect only you! People, young people are watching and learning, and you act totally irresponsibly. I know you are ignorant of these truths and I wish I could talk to you in person to speak to you about The Bridegroom himself, but I can't. I live in Michigan, and you live in la la land.

I will pray for you and for me, and for anyone that may be wrongly influenced by your actions. Right now that is what I can do, so I will do it.

O.K. I think I feel better now! Got that all off my chest. I think I'm breathing again!

I am a runner.......

O.K. so I'm a 47 year old runner, but for me to even say that is an amazing miracle!! It all started when our sweet Bekah joined Cross Country in the 6th grade. Both Steve and I were so amazed at her determination and ability to persevere through the pain to finish. We both said we should take up running. Well that talk went on for quite sometime!! But in March we decided to start training. We found a wonderful podcast that helps you go from the couch to a 5k in 8 weeks called runningmate101. Not wanting to overdo it I did it in about 12 weeks. To say this is amazing is just not saying enough! I remember when I first started out running at the High School gym to run 1 1/2 minutes about killed me! I couldn't wait for that 1 1/2 minutes to be over with so I could walk for 3. It took me almost the whole 3 minutes to stabilize my breathing. Funny thing too, Steve had to drop out because he got Planters Faciatis(?) and his feet hurt to bad, so I became a lone runner.

Little by little I met the challenges and surpassed my expectations! I'll never forget the first time I ran 3 ~ 12 minute intervals. I was running in Ludington State Park and cried most of the time because of the beauty, and that I could run for 12 minutes without walking!! Then came the running for 30 minutes. What in the world was I thinking! I remember starting out that day with the thoughts that I can't do this! I don't have the strength, and I'm to overweight. Then God showed up (excuse me ~ He showed me he had always been there!!!)! He started to remind me of scripture such as: Psalm 147:10; Isaiah 40:31; Philippians 4:13; 2 Corinthians 12:9. I could do it when I focused on him! And you know what ~ I did! All praise and glory and honor go to him and him alone!!!

I ran my first 5k on September 10th! Thought I would die, but I finished!!! It was hard too because I run on flat surfaces and silly me signed up for a race that was one BIG hill after another!!!


These days I run about 3 times a week. I try to run at least 3 miles, but sometimes do shorter stints at faster times. My goal is to get my 3 mile pace to a 14 minute mile. There are times I get discouraged, but then I am reminded by my wonderful husband, my kids and the Lord of how far I have come since March! I will never be fast, and that's O.K.! I can't say I love to run YET, but I do like it, and I like the fact that I can do it. If you would have told me that even 1 year ago I would have laughed at you! I remember watching runners and thinking "that doesn't even look like fun, why in the world would anyone do it!!?!" It's also encouraging for my children because I can show them that even though things are hard, in Christ's strength we can persevere! They are such wonderful encouragers too! I will run my second 5k on November 12th, this time with my sweet Bekah (of course she will be waiting for me at the finish line, since she runs much faster then I). We are running to help a ministry called Paradise Bound (great cause!)



So there you have it! I am a runner!!!!! Who would've thunk!!!!

Halloween 2011

Well Halloween is over for another year! This year we let Jeremiah go out with a friend, but told him, "Seriously when you're driving, you are no longer "trick or treating!!!" I wouldn't have minded him stopping a couple of years ago, but my easy going husband was like, no big deal, so I relented. I just thought I would share their costumes from this year. I think Bekah's is my favorite one from all the years! I just loved that tu tu!!! Jeremiah's was made, hummmmm...... let's see at 3:50 yesterday!!! He said after school, "yeah I'm going with Caleb to his grand parents house." They live in a rich neighborhood apparently where they had out King Size candy bars!! Ho Boy!! So off to the local LOVE Inc (In The Name of Christ), and $3.71 later viola!!! His mask is Hillary Clinton, I honestly do not know what the rest is stating!!!!

My husband knows how to make me cry...

Tonight I was out of sorts for so many reasons. Since Jeremiah was off with a friend, and we had just dropped Bekah off to go Trick or Treating with a friend, we were kid less. So we headed to Mickey D's for a hot cocoa. While getting the cocoa Steve was standing over to the side messing with his new DROID phone. I laughed and asked "what are you doing?". He said "nothing".

When we got back in the car, he put his DROID on the dashboard and all of a sudden "Margee Ann" by Fernando Ortega came on. A while back Steve told me this song reminded him of us. Well needless to say I hugged him and just started crying (Hormones, what are you going to do!!). Anyway I tried to find a video of it, but couldn't, so here are the lyrics:

My dearest, darling Margee, sleeping in my arms,
Dreams flutter just behind your eyes.
And in the eucalyptus branches all along the hill,
Birds sing their songs to the night.
I love to hold you near me, I love to hear your breath,
Blending with the swaying of the trees.
I love to wake together in our quiet home,
That looks down the hill to the sea,
White sails on the sea....
You're the first light of the morning, my cool sunrise.
You're my love across the table, a little sleep in your eyes.
You're my strong cup of coffee, you like to laugh right with me.
You're my heart's companion, my one true companion,
Sweet darling, lover of mine.
Dear Margee stay with me, don't wander from my side,
I can't imagine life without you here.
The longer we're together, the more I realize,
Our love was meant for the years,
We're made for the years....
You're the first light of the morning, my cool sunrise.
You're my love across the table, a little sleep in your eyes.
You're my strong cup of coffee, you like to laugh right with me.
You're my heart's companion, my one true companion,
Sweet darling, lover of mine.
You're the first light of the morning, you like to laugh right with me,
Sweet darling, lover of mine

My husband I think I'll keep him!!!