The Christian walk summed up in TWO words.

I am a simple girl. Well, not really cause I often make a mountain out of a mole hill and need my peeps to bring me back to reality. I was listening to the radio and the talk show was about the basics of being a Christian. This really hit home for me. Here is how it went...

If you consider yourself a Christian, your walk can really be summed up in two words.
Trust and Obedience.

Yep. Those two words really have it in a nut shell.
1. Do you trust God at His word?
2. And are you obedient to it?

I either trust God and believe what He tells me is in fact true OR I don't. The answer to that determines my actions and reactions to everything in life. Also, am I being obedient or disobedient? This is the question I can and should ask myself in regards to EVERYTHING that happens in my life. It is either one or the other. Ouch. The closer I get to God, the more I KNOW Him, the more I realize I am being disobedient and not trusting of Him at his word. Again, ouch!! Being a Christian is not for the faint of heart. No sir. It is the most painful, heart wrenching, pride-breaking, joyous, glorious, amazing thing I have done or will ever do. I will conclude by saying,I truly am....a pile of poo! But, the God of creation loves me anyway!! Why? Just cause! Thank you Jesus! Gotta love that.

Here we go again...I am back at His feet!

It is Monday....my children are back at school after a 5 day break for Thanksgiving. I love my children dearly. I really do. I would jump in front of a bus for them. I would trade my life for theirs in a heartbeat. They are the reason I get up in the morning. Having said that.....boy, can they shut....me.....down! This blog is actually being done in order to spare my dearest friends about a hour of venting. For those of you with children...I know you hear me. As my children age, it seems I am aging twice as fast. Can I get an Amen?! I totally understand and hold tight to the fact that the goal in parenting is to love them and raise them to be loving, God fearing, productive individuals. I get that but good grief....can I pick a different goal cause that one seems too hard sometimes. How about this for a goal... get them to smile or walk or hug or speak?? How about a goal of getting them to fuss or cry? Ooooo. Ooooo...how about, the goal in parenting is to get them to go to the potty! Now, that is one I can achieve.

Ok...seriously. Raising children is so tough. More accurately, it is impossible without the loving kindness and words of wisdom from God. After a meer 5 days with my children, I am graveling at His feet for scraps of something to lift my spirits. I need Him to remind me that the goal will be accomplished (if I don't give up). Gal 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Without Him, I would feel so discouraged. Discouraged in what? Well, how about this for just one example. I have been a parent for 11 1/2 years and I just learned that one of my children has not changed underwear in 4 days. Seriously. I can't even teach them the basics. This is where my head goes. What on earth did I do wrong? What am I not doing that I should be doing? Well, God assures me that He is with me. He says to me, don't be discouraged. ( Even in the dirty underwear part of my life. ) Deut 31:8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

I have learned that keeping a healthy sense of humor is very VERY important when parenting. Without it, things get very gloomy very quick! I have a child...who is sitting in school...right now....with underwear that have been on the same tush since Thursday!!!! (this is being posted on a Monday!) If I am not able to find the humor in that...I think I have lost the ability to laugh. (out of respect for my children, I will not mention which one it is but just so you know, all three of them are old enough to change their own undies!)

As a mom...a fallen, sinful creature. A mom that truly wants to do the best I can do...these are the things in my head this morning. I am kind of all in a fuss over some minor family "things" that occurred over Thanksgiving, I am still fighting off a virus that won't quite, my husband is AWOL cause he prefers the company of men dressed in camo and bright orange over me, I have a very messy house, loads of laundry, empty cupboards, a bare frig, a house decorated in fall pumpkins and a faux lighted Christmas tree with no decorations yet. I have science projects to supervise, Nativity scene projects to guide, spelling words to help with, presents to get, presents to wrap, bills to pay, animals to care for...and oh yeah....I need to make sure I put together an unforgettable Christmas season filled with warm fuzzies memories. I also need to remember to try and make it snow ever-so-slightly on Christmas Eve. (Can't forget that!)

I am going to be bold and say that many of you have different things that are going on in your head but it is ALL kind of the same. Right? Well, these are the words that I am resting in from our God. Phil 4:8 tells us...Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

I will close with another great verse that I will rely on and rest in...and I would urge you to do the same.

Proverbs 31:25 Strength and dignity are her clothing, And she smiles at the future.

Amen!!

While at the Football Hall of Fame...

Ok...it might be official. I am off my rocker. I admit it. I am not ashamed to say...I am completely nuts. Crazy!! Crazy for Christ that is. I spent the majority of the day helping with a field trip that my children's school went on. The 4th and 5th grades went to the Football Hall of Fame. This "iconic epicenter of all that is sacred on Sunday afternoons" happens to be about 25 minutes from the kids school so the trip itself was not that momentous of an occasion. Never the less, it was a field trip and these kids are 9, 10 and 11 years old. They could be going to dig a sewer line but if you said "field trip" to dig a sewer line they would be excited. Know what I mean? But, I am rabbit trailing again....I am crazy cause all I could think of as I walked through the "museum" was Jesus. See! Told ya! I am off my rocker. Here is what was going through my head. (read on at own risk!)

I had never been to the Football Hall of Fame and quite frankly, never intended on going...ever but I get to be a stay-at-home mom, they needed volunteers, so I volunteered to go. As we entered the parking lot, I started thinking about this three hour tour of our All-American Sport of FOOTBALL. I pondered how I actually felt about football. I grew up in the Cowboy vs. Steelers era as well as the 49ers era. My father was all about football on Sunday afternoons. The sounds of Monday night football are positive ones for me. The Super Bowl was an exciting time. The truth is, football conger's up warm-fuzzies for me. I enjoy a cozy, cold weekend when there is nothing to do but eat munchies and watch a good ball game. Now, I can't say I watch every play or even know what is going on at times but I can certainly enjoy the sport. I can appreciate the hard work and dedication it takes to play.


As I walked through the Hall of Fame I was in awe! It is a beautiful building. Everything is top of the line. Everything is so pristine!! The man who took all the parents around to give them the lay of the land as the kids were getting the 411 in another room actually used the word "artifacts" to describe sweat socks and old jerseys. ARTIFACTS! Sadly, one of the other mom's happened to be an art history major and this about shut her down. I think someone had to give her a paper bag to breathe in! Seriously. The general theme of the architect of the building was kind of a spiral. Possibly a pun on the "perfect pass". Don't know. There were very few angles in this place. It all just f l o w e d from one amazing display to another. The lighting was perfect, the acoustics were orchestra-esk, every inch was pristine. Not one drop of dust...anywhere. Much of the lighting was motion activated so when someone stepped up to a display, the lights came on. There were touch screen computer displays that gave information upon information. The coolest item...an entire "room" ( I use quotes cause it was not actually a square room as we think of rooms..it was kind of circular in shape ) that housed the Super Bowl trophy for this 2009/10 year. Kind of cool. The strangest item...well, I would have to say it was a toss up between the actual shoe of a famous kicker and a sweat stained, holey sock. Now, when I say shoe of a kicker, I should mention that it was actually 1/2 a shoe as this kicker was born with only 1/2 a right foot. Yes. I am serious. (please don't miss my satire here. I am in NO way trying to be disrespectful of this gentleman. I really do think it is rather amazing that he was able to pursue his dream in spite of his physical limitations). One of the last things we did was sit through a 24 minute long playback of the previous years Super Bowl game. At least I think it was the most recent one? Not sure. Any who, the sound system was intense, the screen was theatre size...the seating even moved during the showing. As I sat there, I was in awe by the players on screen. The passion, the motivation, the drive....remarkable. Not only from the players but the coaches, the announcers, the fans at the game. Even the other people watching what I was watching! Amazing! Truly astonishing. There were lots of other people at the Hall of Fame too. Mostly men. Most of them wearing their favorite teams jersey and carrying a camera and/or video camera. Some interesting facts that I was given while there...90 million people from the US alone, watched the 2008 Super Bowl game. They estimate that close to 1 billion world wide watched at least some of the game. That was billion with a "b"! Again, amazing.


Now, just think of all the energy, power, money, prestige, time, talent, blood, sweat and tears that go not only into each game but into each practice as well. Shoot, into the Hall of Fame itself. Almost uncountable!! I think it is safe to say that these men (along with some of the women in their lives) give all their strength and power to this game. They love every second of it. They give their ALL! Why? For the love of the game.

Now, what if we did that for our Creator? What if we did that for the one and only person who has the power to give us eternity with Him or eternity without Him full of pain and suffering. What would this fallen world look like?


I will leave you with this task, given to us by our Lord.

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:5
Just something to think about. Blessings.

I have the secret to a good night sleep, EVERY NIGHT!

The ugly truth is that human beings do not have a thankful heart by nature. Nope. Some of us are more thankful in general, as a baseline frame of mind but by nature we are a selfish lot. Own it or not...that is the truth. However, being thankful, REALLY BEING thankful can become part of our everyday. It must be practiced and become a "habit". We don't get up in the morning and start cking off the things we need to do...like brush teeth, get dressed, take a shower, etc. We just do these things. Right? Well, having a heart of gratitude can be one of those automatic things you do. We must practice it though. For our country, November is a great time to get a booster shot of being thankful. I cherish the fact that I have come to this "thankful heart" realization while my kids are still young so I can train them up to be thankful. Being thankful will not be an afterthought for them like it is or was for me. Praise God!! (that is my hope anyway) Here are some interesting statistics as collected by a secular study.

Gratitude and Well-Being
A large body of recent work has suggested that people who are more grateful have higher levels of well-being. Grateful people are happier, less depressed, less stressed, and more satisfied with their lives and social relationships [18][19][20]Grateful people also have higher levels of control of their environments, personal growth, purpose in life, and self acceptance. [21]Grateful people have more positive ways of coping with the difficulties they experience in life, being more likely to seek support from other people, reinterpreted and grow from the experience, and spend more time planning how to deal with the problem.[22] Grateful people also have less negative coping strategies, being less likely to try and avoid the problem, deny there is a problem, blame themselves, or cope through substance use.[22]Grateful people sleep better, and this seems to be because they think less negative and more positive thoughts just before going to sleep[

Ok...let me highlight THIS part again... grateful people sleep better. (Thus the title of this post! Who out there doesn't want this!)

Let me conclude by saying a few things.
1. I needed to go to scripture to see what God had to say about being thankful.
2. I am so flawed that I need to practice this type of heart attitude in order for it to become part of my life. I was not raised in a grateful environment. Lots of grumbling, arguing, negativity....I don't want that for my children. I want something better!


God is clear about being thankful. He asks us to ALWAYS be thankful. Yikes. Say again? Well, in several verses, we are called to focus on being thankful for everything. Even yucky stuff. Now, God is not wanting us to be happy and thankful FOR the yuck that happens in our lives but He wants us to get our eyes off that yuck (cause it is going to be there) and look at the good. Sometimes the best thing a person is able to see in a situation is their faith. As they look around they see nothing else good. They have only their faith to cling to. Some of us have tons of wonder around us but ONE thing that is yucky will drag us down into a huge pity party. (Don't you hate that when you do that? Me too!) Wherever you fall right now, get your eyes off you...get them on Jesus and read some of His word.

Psalm 100:4-5 from the Message bible says: Enter with the password: "Thank you!" Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him. 5 For God is sheer beauty, all-generous in love, loyal always and ever.

Philippians 4:4-7 from NKJV says: Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 in the NIV says: 16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

These are just a few verses. There are so many! This last one is a great one. Did you miss it? Verse 18 tells us what God wants for us. He wants us to be joyful, do lots of praying (cause that is how we get closer to Him so in essence He is telling us He things we rock and He wants to chat with us!!) and be thankful ALWAYS!

If the God of the universe, the creator of all things is telling me He wants me to be thankful....well, golly gee. I think I aught to make it a habit. Amen? Amen.

FREE refills!!

Free refills. We all love um right? Dinner is less stressful when we are out to eat at a place that gives free refills. You know what I am talking about. The bill is less, the kids are happy, there is no stress trying to make the food and the drink last the same length. Right?


You might be asking why on earth are you talking about this Michelle? Glad you asked. I can tie all things back to God and this is no exception. I serve a God that specializes in FREE REFILLS! Praise God for that cause this girl needs to have a refill quite often. A refill of what you ask? Well, I am a girl who always is in need of doing some self monitoring and checking to see if I need a refill of the power of the Holy Spirit and an infilling of the love of God.


As mom, homemaker, wife, daughter, friend, neighbor, ministry leader, etc....( I could go on with all my titles but that would be bragging! ;0) I find that my joy, peace, patients, kindness, and love for ANYTHING and ANYONE gets depleted often. Quickly and often to be exact. I have come to the realization that one person has put a label on me... (the label of Wonder Woman.) One person has me thinking that I have to be all things to all people that I come in contact with. One person is right there to point out when I fail miserably at being wonder woman. Guess who that one person is? It's ME! For crying out loud, I do it to myself. Then, when I am exhausted, fall short of what I expect, I start being rather feisty with all those around me. Now, by "around me" I mean...my kids, my husband, my friend, my in-laws, my kids teachers,....oh who am I kidding...the girl cashing out my groceries at Wal-mart is fair game for me when I am in need of a refill!


I am here to tell you that this exact mindset is what the Holy Spirit can completely take care of. Yep. I tell ya....if I am honest and come to the foot of the cross with all my shortcomings, my God is right there. Ready to help pick me up. Ready to fill me up with the love He has for me. Praise God, I have the Holy Spirit at work inside me and when my tank is on E, I know it. My soul is not feeling the way it should be feeling. It is at these times when my running to God has such a powerful impact on my life. In order to be helped though, I have to be real. I have to be honest about what is going on inside. God already knows...we just have to bring it to Him and He can then help us to heal. Sometimes I am all good and things are going wondrous!! Other times I need to "be healed" 10x's a day. I am a weak, leaky girl that needs a refill... often.

How do I know that I need a refill and not just cranky and I will get over it? Good question. I can tell because I have come to a place where I am honest with myself. Rather, I try hard to be honest with myself. Another way I know that I am in need of a refill is because the Word assures me (and you) that when we accept Christ, we get the Holy Spirit too! Cool! Sounds like a BOGO to me!! Scripture goes on to explain how the Holy Spirit has great power. One specific verse goes like this...

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;

Act 1:8

Let's face it...don't we need all the powerful help we can get! Amen!

You might NOW be asking...what kind of power? Again, such a great question! The power the Holy Spirit gives us is listed in scripture. It says...

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

Galatians 5:22,23

Now...let's ponder this for a moment. On my very best days....I might possess these for a moment or two. Prior to my relationship with Christ, uuuummmmmm...never did I possess these. Maybe some of them for a while but never several of them or any of them for any length of time. I can testify that I am able to identify within myself when my Holy Spirit is NOT in full throttle. He's in there but my flesh has covered him up. All sorts of things cause this. All sorts of things that are either in my control or not in my control. The point is, I need a refill of what the Holy Spirit has for me. The world, my own poor choices, or maybe the people around me have eaten all the "fruit" of the Spirit. Time for a refill!!! Praise God they are FREE!!!

Here is how I get a free refill. It is an active process...I have to actually DO something. This is what it looks like in my life.

1. Ask God for what I need. Get on my knees and get into his presents. (scripture says you have not because you ask not! Ask and you shall receive)

2. Read some of the Word. ANYTHING! Just open it up! Sometimes I know where I need to go, other times I have no clue so I just open it.

3. Listen to praise and worship music. This fills me so quick!! It really does. Now, I am not talking about "churchy" music. For some, it might be "churchy" music that makes you think you are in a pew. For me, I need rockin' artists that are speaking God right to me!! If you don't have any favorite artists I encourage you to get some. Some of my favorites are listed on my web page (the link is on the left side of this blog). The wonderful, God directed songs out there are endless!!

The truth is, each person needs to figure out how to get an infilling, how to get refreshed by the Holy Spirit. This process is imperative in your Christian walk. Without refills, I would be just an empty vessel. Empty and available to be filled by the yuck of the world.

PS....you are not allowed to say..."that's great Michelle but you don't know my life. I am too busy to do any of that!" Remember, if our enemy can't get us sinning, he will just get us busy!

Recent Mom's Group discussion

I lead a mom's group bible study. Our discussion this week is on parenting in a way that God has instructed. Sounds like a lot to cover, right? Well, yes and no. With the guidance of a wonderful "study book" of sorts by Chip Ingram called House or Home we are getting what I feel to be such great, quick, concise parenting info. What parent doesn't want some help along the way! Amen! Any who, there is a verse that is kind of the Cliff Notes to parenting. (yall remember Cliff Notes! C'mon....you know you used them) It is Ephesians 6:4. Such a great verse. So much there in so few words. Here is how it goes...

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead,

bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Ephesians 6:4 (NIV)

Such great stuff! For dads, it is VERY easy to exasperate or provoke to anger, our children. Right? We can take out dad and insert mom and put in the word, NAG! You know we can do this sooooo easily. Per this study that Chip Ingram has done for us, there are four things in this one verse that we are to do as parents. Better put, what God has called us to do as parents.



1. Don't provoke

2. Bring them up

3. Train them

4. Instruct them

Don't provoke-

don't tease them or nag them to the point of anger. Our kids getting angry with us is going to happen but don't push buttons. Don't say things to try and make them angry cause they made us angry. Don't say things to them to proof you are the parent in the situation if your only point is to get back at them.

Bring them up-

simple and easily over looked. In order to bring them up, you have to BE there! Be present, be available. Parenting is a hands-on kind-a thing!

Train them.

In some versions of scripture the word used here is discipline them. These two words, when taken back to their original intent and meaning, are interchangeable. It means to train, to teach, to coach. The word disciple is part discipline. So often, parents use the word punishment and discipline to mean the same thing. Punishment might be part of discipline but only part of it. Do you see the difference? The "train them" or "discipline them" part of this verse is the active part of parenting. It is what you DO to change, encourage, stop, etc certain behaviors in your children. So often I see parents getting so frustrated with some of their child's behavior. Reality is, the parents have not done any training to NOT have them behave that way. Humans are a strange creature. We are born with all this sin tendency. It is just there! Has anyone ever had to teach a child to misbehave? It is up to the parents to train, teach the behaviors that are desirable. No matter what age our children are, they are going to do things that need correcting or training as to the proper, expected way to do them.

Instruct them.

This is similar to the above, "train them" but involves what we SAY to them. If you think about it, with small children, there is constant training going on. Rather there should be. As our children get older, the physical training of them decreases and the instruction part of parenting might edge out. However, if a child/teen does not respond appropriately when instruction is giving, then the parent has to revert back to training them. We might have to DO something rather than just talk to them. The hope is that our training has "worked" so well that the older they get, the instruction is all it takes. (please keep in mind, instruction is needed when they are you also.)

There is so much that can be talked about with this but I guess I would like to wrap up these parenting cliff notes. At the base of how God wants us to parent our children is love them. Love them unconditionally and make sure they feel the love that you have for them. Part of that love really is training them, instructing them and bringing them up to be Godly people. Some children are VERY strong-willed and take lots of training and instruction. VERY strong-willed. (did I say very?) These kids give us gray hair, cause us to loose sleep at night and bring doubt into our minds as to our parenting ability. Other children are easy as pie in all aspects. Most children are somewhere in between. So, if I stick to parenting the way God has instructed me to parent, I can cover all the different "types" of children that need to be parented. Some are easy some are hard but all of them are God given, precious and need me/us/ you to PARENT them. Love them, teach them, talk to them, show them how to be Godly people.

To make sure your child actually feels all that love you have for them, a great book to read is The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. Blessings!

Scripture planted into my heart is invaluable!!

This blog comes after a few weeks of such great sadness. An eleven year old boy from my children's school died tragically. A few days after his death, a 16 year old boy from the high school my kids will attend died tragically. One, a practical joke gone horribly wrong. The other, a tire blow out causing the car to flip and no seat belt. So many families in my circle are involved with both these children in many ways. Both deaths seem so random. So difficult to make any kind of sense out of. Both children...good kids...just being kids. Complete accidents in the true sense of the word.


As a Christian, it is at these times that I get the most "benefit" from my belief. Because I have committed many verses to memory, the comfort that is promised from the Word becomes undeniable. (referring to James 1:21) Here is where my head goes...

Why on earth did this happen? It just does not make sense!

Scripture says..."lean not on your own understanding"

Both children appeared to be true believers. Why them?

Scripture says... being a Christian does not mean suffering will not exist.

Boy, such tragedy makes me wonder about my faith.

Scripture says..."if you falter in times of trouble, how strong is your faith!"

They were just children!

Scripture says...no one is promised tomorrow.

I know my God is good.

How on earth can something good come from this!!??

Scripture says...for those that believe in God, He will take everything and use it for good! What satan tries to use for bad, God will take it and use it for good.

Those are just a few verses that have come to mind over the past few days. For me, they are comforting. For me, they directly answer questions I have. How is possible that those verses come to mind? (I certainly am NOT a scholar. I am just a regular girl.) Well, scripture also says that the Holy Spirit will bring forth the Word when the Word that fits the situation is needed! How cool is that! So what is next?

1. I will pray for the families of these dear children.
2. I will rejoice because they are both in the arms of their creator and in complete bliss as I type this.
3. I will pray for a hedge of protection around my dear ones.
4. Most importantly, I will continue to get to know my God because without Him, life is just too full of ups and downs to give the soul any true, lasting comfort.

Amen? Amen.