Whatever You're Doing- Sanctus Real...(aka my lifesong at this moment)

A lot has been happening in this little house of ours. God is really doing some hard work on my character. One of my biggest issues is pride. I mean I've got it really bad. I try to work on it, but it keeps popping up. So this year I've been praying for Him to dig that out of me. His answer? All sorts of situations for me to practice tongue biting.

It's getting kind of overwhelming. It's senior year, so that means lots a school work, but our finances aren't that great (are anyone's?) so I need to babysit, which takes time from school, we've still got dance going on, which means time to study verses, find songs, learn steps, and today we start Choir! Yay.

I think I already posted about the summer choirs my church has asked me to lead. This year they want one for Christmas. I'm really excited about that, unfortunately ministries don't always go very smoothly during the holidays, and choir never runs smoothly as a rule anyways so this should either be a lot of fun or well...not as much fun :) And besides all that, as graduation gets closer I can't help but wonder sometimes if I'm heading in the right direction and doing all that God wants me to do.

So anyways, in view of all that I post the lyrics to this song, for my own benefit and for the benefit of anyone else who can relate. Enjoy and be blessed.

It's time for healing time to move on

It's time to fix what's been broken too long

Time to make right what has been wrong

It's time to find my way to where I belong

There's a wave that's crashing over me

And all I can do is surrender

(Chorus)

Whatever You're doing inside of me

It feels like chaos but somehow there's peace

It's hard to surrender to what I can't see

but I'm giving in to something Heavenly

Time for a milestone

Time to begin again

Reevaluate who I really am

Am I doing everything to follow Your will

Or just climbing aimlessly over these hills

So show me what it is You want from me

I give everything I surrender...

To...

(Chorus)

Time to face up

Clean this old house

Time to breathe in and let everything out

That I've wanted to say for so many years

Time to release all my held back tears

Whatever You're doing inside of me

It feels like chaos but I believe

You're up to something bigger than me

Larger than life something Heavenly

Whatever You're doing inside of me

It feels like chaos but now I can see

This is something bigger than me

Larger than life something Heavenly

Something Heavenly

It's time to face up

Clean this old house

Time to breathe in and let everything out

The Ball Game ;)

This is it! (Or well, to be completely honest and truthful, which is something I fervently believe in, tomorrow will be it) Senior year of highschool! Oh YEAH! 11 years of schooling and only one more year to go! And then....then what? What comes after highschool? After I turn this chapter in my life, what next? Just like anyone else, my life has had it's rough points, high points, sad points, and Awesome God points, but now...now things are going to be different!

It's like in baseball, when a team is playing in the playoffs, the last game before going to the world series. Sure it's the same game, but a whole other ball park! Now there's more at stake! They've gone longer, worked harder, sweat more, and their dream is right before their eyes. No holding back anymore! They've got to leave it all out on the field! Every last drop of sweat, every last aching muscle has to count!

You know, highschool isn't the only think that's like the previous illustration. You're entire life should be like that. Striving to go beyond, pushing for something better then your best, determined that you will not simply endure life, but that you will live it with purpose, leaving a long legacy in your wake.

Especially this year when things seem so dreary, with all the financial crisis' happening everywhere, with all the hurt; I feel that God wants his people to wake up and to make a difference! This may very well be our country's last century as a free nation. Our rights are slowly being taken away. Should we not, then, use this time to the fullest, so that when the time comes , and a time WILL come, when we can do no more we can say with full hearts that we left EVERYTHING out on the field? When our time to go Home has come, will we go with tears for all that was left undone? Or will we know that we did what we were meant to do?

I think to some extent, we'll all have a few tears to shed over things left undone. That's because we're sinful, down to the core, and sometimes, knowing how dirty we stand in view of a holy God is better then foolishly believing we can gain access to him through our works alone. Because he can take all our mistakes, all our wrong turns and turn them into something beautiful. And that's why I will strive to do hard things this year. To stretch myself and go the distance. To His glory and His alone! Anyone with me? :)

Forever and Always,

-Sarah

P.S.

And yes, in case anyone is wondering I have been reading the book Do Hard Things ;)

Camp...The "S" Word...And 3 Beautiful Seeds...

(No no no! Before you freak out everything in this post is G RATED! lol! )

Ok so the "go away" CAMP...Monday, July 13, 2009 we left in a bus full of kids and leaders all pumped and excited with smiles and laughter ringing from the windows...similar to lambs being led to the slaughter! 4 days and 3 nights later we dragged our beaten, bruised, zombie like boddies back into the church, just grateful to be alive!

Naw just kidding! lol! It WAS hard work, but at the same time ALOT of fun! We're broken up into 6 teams: Grizzly Bears, Coyotes, Rattlesnakes, Mountain Lions, Hawks and Wolves. I am Wolf leader from our location. There were 3 other churches involved with us and they each had their own Wolf leaders and kids. It was great getting to work with all of them. What an experience!

Everything was very different from what I was used to and that's where the "S" Word comes in...that's right ladies...SUBMISSION. Yeah, not my greatest strong point. I'll admit it: I've got serious pride issues! During this trip I had to swallow my pride and bite my tongue more then I've probably ever had to do at one time in my life! The hardest time was when one of my kids was being out right disobedient and straying from the rest of the group. I told him to stop several times and the third time I warned him that their would be consiquences. Would you believe he looked straight at me and walked away! Ha! Got to love the boldness, I'll say that much, though at the moment I felt like ringing his neck! So I told him that he could not participate in the next activity and he would have to sit by me so I could watch him since I couldn't trust him to walk by us anymore. Well they told us at the training that if any of the kids act up we need to tell our Camp Directors so that they're aware of it. So I did, but the camp director decided that I had acted to quickly and allowed the boy to participate in the activity. Needless to say I nearly SWALLOWED my tongue trying to bite it! But in the end I was so thankful that I did. God came through for me and in the end showed my how Submission does not take away from me as I thought it would. But rather it allows me to reflect God's Sovereignty. I wish I had figured it out before this, and while I know it's still going to be a struggle in choosing whether to be a reflection rather then a suction, but now I have "tasted and seen that the Lord is Good!" He really is! And for everything we give him he not only replaces but overfills us with blessing and favor!

And the 3 Beautiful Seeds? I was given the opportunity to lead 3 children into the kingdom of God! I lead one little boy who wasn't on my team, but who I ended up sitting next to during Bible Talk time. He must have been 7 or 8 and he just asked me if I was a Christian. So I said, "Yes, I am, are you?" Well he gave me this funny look and said, "Nuh uh!" So I asked, "Ok, so what are you?" You'll love the answer! He said with the most serious little face, "I'm mexican."

No I didn't burst out laughing, though I wanted to! I just explained to him that mexican was what he was as far as blood, but Christian was something you kind of believe in and live out. So what did he believe in? You'll like this one too! He said, "Well I believe I'm mexican." So I asked him if he knew what being a Christian meant. Of course he didn't so I got to walk him through the colors of the wordless book (if any of you know about that you'll understand, for those of you who don't look it up on google it's AWESOME!).

I learned that the simplest and truest way to break up the explanation of becoming a Christian was to break it up into 3 steps. 1 is to help them admit that they are sinners, and show them how we are all sinners and that separates us from perfect God. 2 is to explain that Jesus' death was the only way we could be saved from those sins and believing that to be true is the only way we can be with God. 3 is to explain that out of thankfulness and love we should live our lives for Jesus. So when I came to number 3 which really is the hardest, God gave me the most AWESOME example! I told him this story:

"Living for God is kind of like if I took you to a car show and we were looking at all the cars there and you saw a sweet BMW that you just loved! And I saw how much you loved it so I just snapped my fingers and said, 'It's yours!' and paid all the money and even the insurance just like that! Then one day I ask if I can use your car for the day to run some errands or just to visit a friend or something, wouldn't you let me use your car, not because you HAD to but because you were just so thankful and grateful for me GIVING you the car? Heaven is like that BMW. God gave you heaven! And you should be so thankful and excited that you're just going to love him all your life and live your life for him here since he gave you a life in heaven!"

He got it! He totally got it and when I asked if he wanted to be a Christian he said he did. I did warn him though that the Christian life was not easy and you might have to loose some friends because of it, but God would always be there and he would always be more then enough if we let him. And what was so great about that was because I KNEW this to be true because of my testimony! How AWESOME of God!

And that was just one seed! The second was a little girl with a glass eye who was scared of everything! During our stay she had had to sleep with me every night and had continuelly woken me up every hour on the hour to tell me that it was still dark. (Finally at five 'o clock I told her firmly that since she could see the sun she had to be completely quiet and give me one uninterrupted hour of sleep)

Then on the last night as we were walking to our cabin one of the boys jumped out and scared some girls behind us. Well that was enough to scare anybody, and then someone started screaming, "It's Chucky! It's Chucky!" The poor girl just took off running in the dark! She didn't even head towards the cabin she just ran blindly away, screaming and crying. I ran after her and caught her just before she fell, but she struggled and fought me until I brought her close and told her, "It's just me, Natalia! I've got you! You're safe!" Then she buried her face in my neck and sobbed until I had brought her into the cabin.

I learned later that she has a very had life and all this fear had just been growing in her for a long time. So when I brought her to the cabin she told me between sobs that she didn't know why she was so scared and she didn't want to be be but she couldn't be brave like her twin sister who's afraid of nothing. So then I asked her if she knew how Jesus could be with her forever and protect her from all her fears. She'd grown up in church somewhat but she'd never heard about that. I took her through the wordless book just like before, and gave her verses about God never leaving us, and how when we're afraid we can trust in him, and at the end asked if she wanted to become a Christian. She did and when she had prayed she told about 10 different people about what she had done! And because of her telling one of the other little girls in my cabin asked, "What's being a Christian?"

My Jr. Leader (who by the way is the best Jr. Leader EVER!) had been listening and encouraging throughout the whole thing, so I handed that one off to her. She did a wonderful job and I only reviewed at the end before the prayer to make sure she had understood everything and then lead her through the prayer itself.

So would I do this again? Despite the aches, the pains, the struggles, the bug bites and the sleepless nights, I would! Just so that I could sow 3 more seeds for the Lord! And can you imagine? 3 seeds every summer? Why by the time I turned 30 I'd be an experienced farmer! God is GOOD! He'd breaking me this summer, that much is sure, but he's also making me anew and filling me with his love for those children, so hurt and so lost in the great big city of Chicago. That's why I do what I do. It's why I am what I am. A Beacon in the Inner City. Just One Girl CAN make a difference! I just made 3 :) Blessings to ya'll!

Forever & Always,

-Sarah

P.S.

I hope to post some pics of the camp next time I post!

The post that was long overdue......

Yeah, I know, I should have had these up the day after, but instead I'm posting 3 weeks after the event! I tried to post this several times but this little thing called LIFE kept changing my agenda :) So here we go....finally!

Here Ye! Here Ye! I am now an older sister to 2 grade school graduates!!!! Here are the pictures along with a funny vid that I took a while ago and have been just DYING to put up here :)

After seeing my sisters pass such a wonderful life marker I couldn't stop thinking about how truly short life is! We live like we have all the time in the world, but really we barely have any time at all! Last week we attened the funeral of my dad's aunt. They had some wonderful pictures up, some from when she was very young, back in Ireland, some when she was a young woman, and then a mother and grandmother. You don't think how much time you spent, until it's gone and all you have to show for it are memories, sometimes a few pictures, a snapshot of 1 piece of your life, forever frozen on paper, but unable to ever be lived or felt again.

We were at my grandparents house, and they gave us a few old pictures. This was one of them.

At first it was just so cool to see our grandparents young, our great grandparents and even our great, great grandmother! But after studying this picture again, I suddenly felt very sad. Why? Because almost everyone in this picture (with the exception of my grandfather- the one with glasses- and the 2 little kids) has died. And the ones who haven't, are no longer young and carefree. It makes you see life in a whole new perspective. One day we're young, and then, somehow, only a couple years later, we're not.

Another thing is that, whether we know it or not, we are ALL going to leave a legacy behind. Everyone of us. But now what is that legacy going to look like? I was thinking about this one day and scribbled this little poem on a sheet of paper that happened to sit nearby. Comment on it if you want, but more then that, I hope it makes you think, good and hard about your own life. You aren't going to have it forever. And someday you'll be called to take account for everything you've ever done, said or thought. Think about that when you read this.

Another day has passed away,

Another hour is no more

Soon tomorrow will be yesturday

As you pass through another door

So many mornings already met,

So many sunsets already left,

Never again will this moment pass

It's gone forever,

It will never come back

Each hour is special

Each day unique

It's a new chance to follow

A new chance to lead

Treasure it always and never forget

God gave you this gift

Don't make Him regret!

Forever and Always,

-Sarah

Glance Back

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. February had been one heck of a month. So many things have happened I thought I would list them here so ya'll could feel sorry for me :P Just kidding. But I would appreciate your prayers.

1) My mom, along with homeschooling the four of us, helping my Dad with his home businesses, counseling other moms and wives, running Awana and babysitting now has a part time job! (I know sometimes I wonder if she's really wonder woman in disguise) She also has arthiritis so if ya'll would please keep her in prayer that God would give her the strength to get through her days.

2) A friend we know has a teenage son who got involved with the wrong crowd who was involved with the wrong gang who got involved in stealing a car. He says that he didn't know the car was stolen when the gang asked him and his friends to help them strip it. When he did find out it was too late and he and his friend's fingerprints were now all over this car. So someone got the bright idea to burn the car. Someone had some gasoline and they poured it all over the car then struck a match to it. THE THING BLEW UP! So the guy we knew got really badly burned and was taken to the hospital. The police found him there and took him to jail. Right now he's under house arrest waiting to go to court. It's really sad because when we knew him he had just made a commitment to Christ, but a couple of things have happened since then and he admitted that he had started to walk away from Christ. He's 18 years old and was going to be going in for a job interview the next day, but now he's in a realling big mess. My parents are trying to help the family get legal help and we'll see how that goes.

3) Things are getting very tight in my family with the economy and all. My dad quit his job a couple years back and started his own businesses. Things haven't been going too well with everything that's been happening, so could ya'll pray for him? I know he's feeling a little discouraged. But Praise God I can actually say that I am not worried at all. I trust both of my Father's to get us through.

4) Awana has been going really well. God has really been using it more then ever this year to show me areas in my life that I need to work on. It's just something about teaching. You always end up learning way more then you thought you had to (yeah I've got a loooong way to go in the area of patience let me tell you). I have 10 girls as I've mentioned before, and just getting them to get motivated is a challenge. I've told my mom that next year I think I'd like to be in a boys classroom (I used to be in one when we had fewer men teachers) I can handle the jumping and running up the walls and gross booger stories, it's the gossiping and the rumors I have trouble with :)

So that's been my life for right now. I have to go, but hopefully I can get on tonight to post another poem.

Forever and Always,
-Me

P.S.
This a video I took at our Valentine's Day party for the Awana girls. It was such a blast! We sprayed our hair pink and put glitter in it, played a few games and contests and just had an awesome time.

Something old, something new! Something red and something blue!

Awana went really well today. I have got ten girls assigned to me, grades 5th-7th and only one helper, so I was pretty much like :O the entire time, but it was alot of fun.

Trivia time!! I bet you didn't know this!

In the song "Angels We Have Heard On High" we sing the line, "gloria in excelsis Deo", but does anyone really know what that means? It's actually Latin (big surprise:) and means Glory to God in the Highest. Which, in case anyone doesn't know, is exactly what the angels said to the shepherds. So if anyone is thinking about learning how to tell the Nativity story in Latin, you alread know one key phrase! Ha ha!

So now I'm gonna talk about something that might sound a little bit random, but just bare with me. Anyone else HATE pimples? Yeah I said the "p" word. Most teenage girls have to put up with them at one time or another, (unless their plastic movie stars made from a computer). Well a few days ago when I was having one of those bad days (you know, when your face looks like an ariel view of the himalayas :P) anyways, I was so distraught about my red spotted forehead that I actually just sat down and cried. I couldn't help it. I felt so ugly, but then I realized something. You know we hear alot as girls that Jesus is the only one who can make us truly beautiful. We hear how worldly beauty is fleeting but that a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. We might believe it, but how many of us really truly live that out? So sitting there with the tears falling down my spotted face, I realized that this was one of those times when I could live out that my beauty was not of this earth, but from the one who made it. Something to think about when your having a bad hair day, or face day, or body day :). Once you do live that out, your life will forever be changed.

Okay, I admit it, when I wrote the title for this post I wasn't sure what to put, so since I was planning on talking about 1. Awana 2. The meaning of In Excelsis Deo and 3. My enlightenment on pimples, I realized I had most of that little saying. I've talked about Awana before (old) Hopefully the definition was something you didn't know before (new), and then the pimples (you know, they're usually red?) So for something blue, I thought I'd take the random way and show a picture of a hole I made in my blue jeans. Ha ha!

Forever and Always,

-<(*Me*)>-

Hi! Hey! Hola!

I found a few of my older posts so I put them up, unfortunately they're in a weird kind of order. Oh well, anyways, I'd like to apologize for not posting like I had said, every other day until Thanksgiving. I'm sure you all know how life is.

It's been quite a while since I've been on the computer. Some good news is that my laptop is now fixed and working fine. Some bad news is that I lost some files and pictures that I hadn't backed up. Some random news is that my boys have been around a lot more and they've been coming to church almost every Sunday.

Thanksgiving for our family always lasts two days. On the day of we always go over to one of my aunt's house. My dad is the oldest of eight children and almost of the family gets together for the holiday. Then the day after Thanksgiving we have our own celebration. Ironically we had a family who also has eight kids. What's interesting is that even though my Dad's family is pretty close, we all feel a lot closer to our friends because we have the most important thing in common. Jesus. It's like that with most of the Christian families we know. It really is as the Bible says. The family of God becomes your REAL family because those ties will never die and neither death, nor hurt of any kind can break them.

Well, just thought I'd share that with you, Blessings to all!

Forever Friends!

Not too many of those these days. A forever friend is someone who will not leave you no matter what you say or do. They know when you are having a bad day and when you are having a good one by the look on your face and the tune of your voice.
Forever friends will not only be there to laugh with you, they’ll be there to fight with you, and cry with you. They’re the type that no matter how long it’s been since you’ve seen each other, always seem to be able to connect again as though nothing has ever changed.
Sometimes it takes a hard time for you to truly see who are your forever friends. My mom found out when she had a miscarriage when I was ten. She was so thankful for her forever friends, who cried with her as they prayed together. I found out who my forever friends were after I had started to walk away from what I knew was right because I thought I wouldn’t have any friends. My forever friends didn’t pressure me to be like them and were there for me when I came back.
The Bible has so many examples of forever friends. But one of my favorites is between God and Abraham. How awesome to be the friend of the one who promises never to leave us nor forsake us. If you have been born again, then you too have that privilege of direct access to God at anytime, anyplace and for anything. He will be your very best friend. He’s even called Jehovah Shammah, which means: The Lord Is There.

Today, thank him for the Forever Friends. And thank him also for your own friendship. Even though we’ve messed up so many times, he still loves us! He is the ultimate Forever Friend!

Vamos a comer! Let's eat!

What's your favorite food? I'm not sure I have one, but I do know what I do not like to eat. Pasta. Nothing with pasta except for my little brother's homade lasagna, but that's it! No noodle, no maccaroni and especially NO SPAGETTI!!!

It wasn't always like that. When I was little I used to love spagetti. But then one day as I was eating, my jokester Dad leaned over and whispered, "Doesn't that look like a plate of worms?" Well, goodby spagetti!

But honestly, how many people would kill to have a plate of spagetti. Something cooked and still warm. Something that was clean and made just for them, not something they had to dig through the garbage and fight off the dogs to get. What about our Thanksgiving dinners? Can you imagine how the sight of all that food would just floor a child who has gotten used to an empty tummy every night.

Oh to be able to fill the hungry!

As we plan our Thanksgiving dinners, lets take the time to thank God for the food we have. I know times this year are hard, and maybe some of you won't be able to afford a turkey. But even if that's the case, we can still be thankful to a God who has the name Jehovah Jirah, God Who Provides. Today, thank him for the food on your plate that he provides day after day.

Ducktaped Shoes and Lemonade

This a picture of my sister Andrea's old tennis shoes and they've got quite a story behind them. Incase you haven't noticed (or read the title), that really is blue ducktape wrapped around them. She'd worn those shoes out awhile ago but we just hadn't gotten a chance to buy her new ones until recently, so for about a month she wore them like that with a bit of ducktape covering the holes. She would change the color of the ducktape every now and then (once it was purple), and she even decorated it with stickers.

Whenever someone would comment on her shoes, and most people did (usually not very nicely either) she would smile and say, "I'm starting a new fashion!" Then she would giggle and wiggle her feet before turning and skipping away. At this reaction, most of the girls would exchange "what-ever" looks, roll their eyes and simper down the hall, their new designer boots clicking loudly against the cement floor.

I'm daily learning old lessons I thought I'd had down, but ones God gently shows my I don't. Sometimes he shows them to me with through his Word, other times he speaks to my thoughts, and other times he uses people close to me to either speak out or live out the message he wants to send me. In my sister's case the message was the age old, told-by-every-mother-and-grandmother-on-the-planet-and-preached-by-every-pastor-behind-every-pulpit, message: In everything give thanks.

Now I KNOW I'm not the only one who gets a little tired at times of hearing the same message over and over and over and over and over and over (sigh) and OVER again right? Ever wonder WHY we hear those messages so often when we've had them committed to memory since the age of four? How about this: Ever dared to askGod why? The answer is simply that God knows ALL. And no matter what we think, or do, HE knows if we really have learned these simple lessons that are read, spoken and pointed out to us so many time. Usually we KNOW the lessons, but we haven't LEARNED them.

This was something he pointed out to me through my little sister's ducktaped shoes. Did Andrea want to go around with ducktape on her shoes? Nope. But did she complain? Whine? Scheme and plot a plan for getting what she wanted? No. Because my little sister had actually learned that age old mother-spoken-pulpit-preached verse. "In everything give thanks". She didn't just give God an empty, "Thanks for giving me some dirty, hole ridden, worn out shoes and for not leaving me barefoot." Instead she proved her thankfullness and her reliance on her Heavenly Father by creatively inventing a way to wait for him to intervene. And she did so with a smile.

You've heard the Proverb: When life gives you lemons make lemonade. I'd like to add to that: and drink it with a smile. Maybe you didn't want lemonade. Maybe you'd planned for something else. There's nothing wrong with that, but do you really want to waste weeks, months or years moping because you didn't get what you'd planned for? Even one day is too precious a thing to waste, for we'll never have that day to live again.

So the next time you're given lemons maybe you'll take the chance to finally learn that little lesson, that God has been reminding you of. Maybe you'll remember my little sister's ducktaped shoes, her willingness to wait, and to wait with a smile.

Vive La Familia!

My little sister Andrea got a dog for her 14th Birthday. It's a schnauzer (yeah I doubt I spelled that right, but oh well!) and probably one of the most vicious dogs I have ever seen. Usually she's really nice around our family. She absolutely LOVES Andi and gets along pretty well with the rest of us. But for some reason, this little 1ft dog thinks she can take on the rest of the world and win!

She's especially got a thing against the neighborhood boys who gather around our house from time to time. The poor little guys will knock on our door and the first thing that comes out of their mouth when we open is, "Is Ginger there?" At the sound of their voices, wherever she is in the house she'll come running, barking shrilly as she comes scratching and sliding along the wood floors.

"Aaaaaaaa!" They'll scream, and shut the door. They won't let us open it until we're holding her back. Even then she snarls and snaps at them as if to say, "Just try something bud! Just you try!" She's become the neighborhood bully and for once we don't have people running randomly through our yard.

What is it with little dogs? The giant Great Danes are usually as playful and gentle as kittens, but the tiny Chihahuas are like paranas on land! They're both fearless and ferocious. And while we can say from behind a glass, "Oh look how cute!" when they're barely two weeks old, we have quite a different mindset when we're faced with their annoying yapping and snapping a year or two later.

On the contrary, our big old Golden Retriever, Saaj, is loved by all who've come to our house. Even dog haters have fallen for his enormous, sad, brown eyes and winning, puppy smile. Whenever we talk about him we refer to him as "Baby".

When we were looking for a dog we had hoped for one who would be gentle with kids but firm with rats and thieves. Well, we got the gentle with kids part, but the rats? Our big ol' baby cries every time he smells one, and hides behind my mom. He thinks that everyone is his friend and we've had our barbecue, our first outdoor table, two bikes and more stolen since he's been with us.

The contrast of these two is hilarious to watch. Ginger will smell someone and start barking up a storm. Saaj will usually whine and cry and beg us to make her stop, sometimes he'll bark at her, but not very angrily. Sometimes Saaj will get scared of a sound and start to cry. Ginger will just stare at him with her head cocked and this confused look on her puppy face.

But as different as those two are, they still really like each other and help each other. Sometimes we'll be watching TV upstairs as a family, and Saaj will be downstairs because he's got arthritis. Ginger will go down and a little later we'll hear his heavy steps along with her light pattering come up the steps. Whenever Andrea leaves, Ginger is distraught. She'll go and sit in Andi's bed and just wait there with these sad eyes until she comes back. Saaj sometimes goes and sits beneath the bed with her to keep her company. She doesn't cry as much when he's there.

God designed families. They're very important to him, because they represent his relationship with us. But many times, as humans, we big mistakes and bad choices. As a result, our families are poor pictures of God's love for the church. He made families so that we would mold and meld together. We're all different in different places and as a result, we fit together if we allow him to draw us close enough. Even down to the pets of our family, he knew what he was doing.

Today thank him for your family. Even if it's not perfect, God can still mend what we have broken. He creates the roses that bloom among the ashes, and he can do the same with your life. Thank him for families.

Cyberspace and Death

Today I made one foolish click of the mouse and somehow deleted all my previous posts. (Yeah I'm still not sure how it happened.) I called my dad over to see if he could make any sense of what I had done, but he couldn't. Needless to say I was pretty upset. I'd posted quite alot over the last two months and it felt like I had basically taken my journal and thrown it into the fire. So as I was moping (and yes brushing away a few tears) my wise Dad said, "Isn't there something you could learn from this?"

"Think before I act." Popped out before I really thought about it. (It's the lesson I've been working on since birth).

Papa smiled. "Well, that's good. Anything else?" he coaxed gently.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Think about it. You spent alot of time writing down your thoughts, day after day. Pasting pictures and posting entries. And then with just a click, it was all gone."

"I know!" I wailed, wanting only to cry more.

"Don't you see?" My ever patient Papa explained. "Isn't that just like our lives? We think we're in control, that we know what we're doing. We spend alot of time on certain things that we think are important and then, suddenly, it all ends. We die."

I was quiet as this truth sank in. Over the last two months we've gone to two funerals and heard of lots of others. Walking by the caskets has always spooked me when I was little. But this time I couldn't help but feel awed. The person lying there was no more. Gone from this life forever. During their brief time on earth they had had choices to make and they had had time to change them. But now, that was all over and they were going to see the consequences and rewards of those choices.

Life is short. Very short. That's why it is so precious. Every minute is a jewel to be cherished and not thrown carelessly away. We are living in the last days. Our world has slowly been dying ever since Adam and Eve made that one wrong choice to disobey God. Every second brings us closer to that day that has been foretold for thousands of years, when Jesus will return. We don't have much time left. The board is set, the pieces are moving. The devil grows bolder with each passing day. The remnant is shrinking, the strongholds are weakening. America is not what she used to be.

We are in another garden. Unaware of the ever ticking clock and its quickly passing minutes. Again we are faced with a choice. Only one. It must be God's way, or our way. He can not make it any clearer. Hebrews 9:27 says, "For it is appointed for man to die once, and after this to face judgment." Adam and Eve had a choice and so have all the others who have been born, lived and died. What will your choice be? Choose quickly, choose carefully. You don't have much time left.