20 years of Love (sigh)

Sorry about that everyone! I know I haven't been very good about posting, but you know how it goes. Oh and uh, about the title, don't worry there's nothing mushy or gushy in this post so relax. This isn't Cinderella love, but about that hard, unselfish, never failing love that unfortunately isn't seen very often anymore.

Yeah I'm talkin bout marriage :) My parents just celebrated their 20th anniversary New Year's Eve! (So you can all post a comment later congratulating them!) My mom told me as we were setting the table for dinner that while she loves celebrating her anniversary on the day they got married, she doesn't really see it as their anniversary. "Every day is an anniversary for your father and I. Every day I thank God for the wonderful man he has given me. (in a whisper) I'm even more in love with him then ever." Now doesn't that sound so much better then Pocahontas', "I'd rather die then live a thousand years without knowing you! (fake sob)"

You know, Disney gives us a very good picture of what love isn't like. It isn't demanding, impulsive or impatient. My parents have shown me what true love REALLY is. It's patience, kindness, willingness to understand, trusting the character of a person, humbleness, the essence of chivalry, unselfish, peaceful, wise and honest. It always perseveres, always trusts, always hopes, always endures. Love Never Fails!

Love really is powerful stuff. :) Paul even says that should he speak with the tongues of angels, give all he owned to the poor and surrender his body to the flames, but have not love, it would be NOTHING! Wow! When I first read that I was like, "Woah! Back up! All that without one little ingredient would be....nothing?" hard to believe but true.

In some ways it's like baking a cake. Now, depending on the type of cake your making your ingredients are going to vary. In all the cakes I've ever baked there always needs to be some flour stirred in at one point or another. Without that flower, the cake would just be a watery bowl of egg, sugar and salt (Gag!) and no matter how much time and energy you put into that cake, if you forget the main ingredient, well, it just means NOTHING. You can't eat time and energy. And you can't live without love. Maybe you can survive. But God doesn't call us to survive.

This is the time for new resolutions, and this year, I'm going to strive to have more of my Father's love in my life. Not mushy, gushy, "Follow your heart after whatever", love, but the strong unconditional love of my parents. Just because your single, doesn't mean you don't have anyone to love. Of course for everyone it's different. I know my starting place is with my siblings. It's a funny thing about sisters. I would willingly give my life for either of them. It's just living with them that's the problem :) Maybe for you it's your boss, your neighbor, that girl that just ooooh....you want to ring her neck every time you see her, maybe it's that dirty little boy with the foul mouth in your Sunday school class (you know the one!) or maybe you need to go back to the beginning and fall in love with God all over again. Wherever you are in the list, make it a special point this year to have a love that perseveres, trusts, hopes, endures, and never fails. Blessing for the New Year :)

(four days late)

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!

Awana

Tuedays are my favorite day of the week for one reason and one reason only: AWANA! I've told you about it before. It's a Christian children's club that meets at our church from 7-8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays. I'm one of the leaders for the 5th, 6th and 7th grade girls. I LOVE that group! Even though they certainly have their times when I'd love to wrap them in ducktape and stick them in a closet :)

God has really given me so many opportunities in that group to be a light for him. Some of those girls live such sad lives. Awana is sometimes the only place where they will hear that they are loved and wanted. When you look at it from that perspective, you can't help but feel humbled and honored to be picked by God to be that one person in their life to speak those words of love and live out the way of light.

We have some funny moments too. On the way to Awana my dad was driving some little boys from our neighborhood. Their names are Freddy and Romeo, (ages 4 and 3) and they are two little rascals, let me tell you! Anyways, they found out from the rest of the boys about a place called Awana that was alot of fun, so of course the asked to come too. Well as my dad was driving them up he starts asking them, "So do you know who you're going to learn about at Awana?"

"Yeah, the teacher." Freddy yells.

"Well who are you going to learn about from the teacher?" My dad tries again.

"I dunno." Freddy shrugs and Romeo nods.

"Me neither, right Freddy? Me don't know either?"

"Well you're going to learn about Jesus."

"Oh! We know about him!" Freddy exclaims.

"Really?" My dad asks, somewhat surprised and pleased at the same time.

"Yeah! He lives three houses down from us! And he has Guitar Hero! Have you played with his guitar hero, Romeo?"

"Nuh uh." (My dad sighs and decides to pray for them more)

Another time in my brother's class the teacher was asking the kids who knew the story about Jonah. One of the boys waved his hand excitedly. "Oh! Oh! I know! I know! He's the guy with the pet whale!" At the teachers horrified face he quickly exclaimed, "No! Wait, I know! He RODE the whale! No! He WAS the whale?"

In Cubbies one time (the preschoolers) the teacher was telling the story of how God created man. "So then God took some dirt and he shaped it and formed it and blew into it and guess what he made?"

"A bagel." A little Cubbie answered matter of factly.

"There's also been those sad moments like the time I gave one of my girls a hug and she looked up and said, "I wish my mom hugged me like that."

Another time my dad asked one of the boys what life was like for him, he answered, "Life is pain ever since my mom died. I can barely remember her now. Sometimes I cry myself to sleep."

One of our Cubbies contacted cancer and lost all of her hair, but she wouldn't stop coming. It was one of the things she lived for. And when one of the kids found they had lice she was quick to smile and tell her mom, "Well I don't have to worry about that!"

Awana. It's more then just a club. It's a ministry. And I love it and the kids who attend it with all my heart. When you think about it, I've got 10 girls in my group. So those are 10 young woman who could also double as 10 potential wives who could have 10 potential families with children of their own. God has given me the opportunity to touch these girls now, while they're young, but he has only given them to me for a season. It's up to me to make the most of that small portion of time. Who knows what can be done in 1 school year, what changes done, what imprints formed, what memories made or what visions cast? We are all given these opportunities. We all have people who are placed in our lives but only for a season. We don't know for how long. And we don't need to. Our job is to simply be open to God and allow him to work.

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.