Reflections

Lately I've been pondering church and why we do things the way we do them. For instance church is so different these days. You can attend a traditional service where most people dress in their "Sunday best" and go to Sunday school followed by preaching. You can attend a more contemporary church where people don't dress up and they drink coffee and have refreshments. You can attend a church that offers contemporary and/or traditional worship depending on the time you come. You can attend church in a school gym, a remodeled mall, a metal building or a traditional church building complete with stained glass windows and a sanctuary. Once you get to the church you may see people in all types of clothing and shoes. Those same people will have their Bibles, but the versions will vary as much as the people. There's the King James version, the New King James Version, the New International Version ... and the list goes on. Most churches not only have an organ, but now have drums, trumpets, well ... a full orchestra. Some churches still have a choir and choir robes. The main thing the church needs is to invite the Holy Spirit to join in the midst of those attending. The church needs to have a man of god who preaches from the word of God. The church needs sinners who want to be saved by Jesus' blood. What does church mean to you?

When I was a little girl mom made sure me and my brothers put on our Sunday best and we went to Tucapau Baptist church. We sat on the 3rd pew from the back, left side of the church. I absolutely loved looking out of the beautiful stained glass windows. Each window had someones name of dedication. We sang hymns and actually held the hymnal ( sharing the hymnal with my mother was something precious). We knew everyone around us and made sure to greet any visitors. We read out of the King James Version of the Bible and I'm sure we all had the same version. It was where I prayed and asked Jesus into my heart and where I was baptized. I lived next to Startex Mill and on Sunday the mill was shut down. That meant peace and quiet; no noise of the looms running or people talking or traffic in the parking lot. Sunday was a special day, set apart. It was a day of worship, respect and reverence. I wonder if it will ever be that way again? Sadly, I believe that time in our history is gone ... I miss it. I wish my daughter could have experienced a Sunday like I did.

Reflecting ...

Mountains and Valley's

Have you ever been to the top of a mountain? Isn't it neat how clear and far you can see? Unfortunately though mountain tops are for picnics and hiking ventures. Once you've been there for a while you return to the valley. Life is a lot like mountain tops and valley's. Where ever you may find yourself as you read this, know this, God is with you where ever you are even when you don't "feel" Him. I posted a very personal blog a week or so back about my daughter's first days back to school and anxiety. I have sense deleted that blog, not for any reason other than the fact that is was personal and I feel like those who needed to read it, read it. I will move on from this point and just praise the Lord for His goodness in mountain times and valley times.

I am saved by the blood of the lamb, Jesus Christ. I know He loves me unconditionally. I am not perfect, just forgiven. I make mistakes and sometimes learn from them. Sometimes I make the same ones over and over and wonder if I'll ever learn. No matter, being a child of the one and only King is enough for me. If you find that life is difficult and your struggles seem to much to bear, remember Jesus gave His life for you. That is the ultimate gift... a FREE gift that you accept. You don't WORK for it, you just accept it. Jesus tells us in Revelation 3:20
New King James Version (NKJV)

20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." What ya waiting on?


If you need more information or if you are unsure about this message me and let's look at God's word and get it cleared up for you.

God Bless You.

My daughter, who I love so much, did great last week in school. I give God all praise for releasing her of the anxiety; she is like a new kid. Over the weekend she helped her dad collect food for "Food From the Heart", food drive our church held. She was in and out of a motorcycle trailer (pictured above) loading and unloading bags of food. When she got home she said her ear was hurting and from her voice I knew her sinuses were draining. Well, unfortunately we had to go to the doctor yet again on Monday. She was given a shot and an antibiotic for her sinus/upper respiratory infection. Again she had to miss school, thus more make-up work. I am praising the Lord today that she has been in class the past 3 days and seems to be much better. Today is her last day to take the Z-pak and hopefully after a long weekend she will be on track with all of her classmates next week. I don't expect any special treatment from her teachers, but if you'll pray for them to at least be understanding of the fact that we didn't choose these sicknesses ... they have come on her and we just have to deal with them. After homeschooling for the past two years and not having to be accountable to anyone (other than 2 yearly letters) I can say it is a little stressful for me. Continue to pray for our family and this adjustment. She may be their 7th grader, but she will always be my little girl :-)

From the heart of a momma.

2 Corinthians 12:9 "And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength I made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

Lessons from flower pots.

In the few short weeks that we had "Libby" I was so busy chasing after that sweet bundle of energy, that I completely forgot to water the flowers on our front porch. After taking a walk yesterday morning I came up on the porch and cleaned out the dead plants from the two pots just above this post. I noticed a little life in one of the 3 plants on the middle of my porch so I watered it. Then I couldn't help but notice the plant closes to our front door and directly beside the word of God. You see it up there? Scroll up and look at it ... some of the leaves are yellow, but the flower still has a bloom and overall looks good. What does that tell you? It tells me that if you stay near to the word of God you will remain alive (yes, you will bare some yellow leaves that will need to be plucked and you may get droopy), but you will NEVER be alone. God will give you the strength to stand in the midst of trials and hardships. I am reminded of a song I sang as a child; The B-I-B-L-E yes that's the book for me, I stand alone on the word of God, the B-I-B-L-E. It's amazing how much you can learn from a few flower pots. :)

Go be a blessing . . .

I love this passage ...

Philippians 2:1-11

1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Roller coaster with loops ....

So, I posted one thing this morning and all I can say is my roller coaster ended up with loops. At 10 minutes until 2:00, just before leaving for the car line, I got a call that the paper work showed up today and Little One would be returned to her mom TODAY. Ok, I wasn't ready for that, but with the strength of the Lord I have survived it. As of this moment she is back home and I am mother to one again. Yes we cried and hugged and cried and hugged, but she is where she is suppose to be, with her mom. That was always the plan and our job is done. God is faithful and I thank Him for His peace. I will update in the days ahead, but for now I will reflect in silence.

God bless...

Hold on, it's a roller coaster ride of emotions :)

The journey continues ... Last week I got the call I knew was coming, but I was dreading. I was told Little One would be going home this week. She was suppose to be with her mom last weekend, but we requested having a "last weekend" with her. Her mom was kind enough to let her stay with us. We got up early Saturday and went to a DSS sponsored indoor Easter egg hunt and magic show. We followed that with lunch at the mall and seeing a movie (Rio in 3D). We went back to the mall for shopping, then home. Sunday we all went to church, then Little One hopped in the boat and fished all afternoon with Chris (that was what she wanted to do). During that time I tackled the task of packing ALL of her sweet little belongings. Oh how I cried and hurt inside. How could it be time for her to go? With each fold of each article of clothing I could picture her wearing that outfit and was flooded with memories and emotions. We ended the day gathered around a bonfire making smores. We all loved it. Monday afternoon I got another call, this one saying there was a paperwork issue and Little One would be staying with us another week. Since she is our first foster child I am learning by trial and error that nothing is as it seems. I am a type A personality...I am a list writing, plan to the last detail, always be prepared, pack everything you need, kind of girl :) The uncertainty of fostering has changed me and I am learning to loosen up.

One thing I have noticed throughout this post is the overuse of the word "I". "I" wouldn't be on this journey if it were not for the Lord's calling. He deserves all of the glory for enabling our family to do this amazing work of fostering. Webster's dictionary defines fostering this way: to give parental care to; nurture. To promote the growth or development of; encourage. (You know be a mom, a dad, a sister to a child in need :)

The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 4:9-11 to "Be hospitable to one another without complaint." As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

This is what I want to do ... I want to speak and serve my Lord; He alone deserves all the glory for His excellence. This is His plan and we are just being obedient to the call. Yes, fostering is like a roller coaster ride with many ups and downs, but it's worth it to see the joy on that Little Ones face when the ride is over. It's time for us to get in line for the next roller coaster, yes there will be ups and downs again, but the Lord will be right there with us. He has the track mapped out and He alone is in control. We are thankful for this journey. Prayerfully consider fostering, you will be the one blessed.

Go be blessing ...

This first journey is winding down

Wow, what a journey. This time last year foster care was not in my radar and now it has become my daily life. The Lord sure has a way of changing us. After having one child, who I love very much, I still desired to have more. When I realized I wouldn't birth any more babies, of my own, the thought of adopting came to mind. I have to admit as my friends were birthing their second and third babies; I was a little mad at God for not letting me birth anymore. I would pray and ask the Lord why 'so n so' was blessed with all those children and why He didn't trust me with more? I hated it when people would comment "oh you are lucky you only have one child to deal with". I've never thought of children as something to "deal with". I wanted more to raise, love and cherish. It wasn't until April of 2010 on a Turkey hunting trip to Waterloo, SC that the Lord revealed fostering to my sweet husband Chris. Donna, a long time foster parent to over 130 foster children enlightened Chris on what foster care was all about. Sure we had been to David & Donna's home before and we had met many of their foster children ( 2 that they had adopted and raised as their own), but this time something was different. This time we fell in love with "Bobbie" a little boy in their care. I told Donna I would love to raise him and she told us about foster care. We had many conversations and emails on the subject. Chris and I felt the call to begin the paper work to be foster parents like David and Donna. For the first time I finally had an answer to that "Why" question I had asked the Lord. Why didn't He bless me with more children? I think so I would open my heart to foster. We saw the need first hand and couldn't wait to begin the journey. So ... a year later here we are. Our first foster child, a 5 year old little girl came to our home back on August 30, 2010. Since that time we have experienced signing her up for K-5, taking her to the zoo, throwing her a Tinker Bell birthday party, buying her first Halloween outfit and taking her on her first trick or treat adventure. We enjoyed having her with our family for Thanksgiving, playing Santa at Christmas, we have taken her to our 5 year old Sunday school class each Sunday, school events, and we just took her on her first trip to the beach WHERE she prayed to ask Jesus into her heart !!!! Words cannot describe the joy that she has brought our family. I love her as my own. Now don't get me wrong it's not all fun and games. She is a normal child who tests me, yells at her sister, talks back, gets mad and all the normal things any child does. But when the Lord calls you to a task, He will give you the love, strength and patience to handle that task. As I type this I don't really know how much longer she will be with us. It is possible she could go home any day or be with us through April. I can't really talk about the details of the case. I will tell you that I love her mom and I know her mom loves her. I don't have a problem with her going home and I can't thank the Lord enough for that, because I am hoping it will make this separation easier on me :( I'll let you know when I get there. For now I am still her "mom", Olivia still has a little sister and Chris is spoiling two little girls. Prayerfully consider what you can do to help foster children. You may not want to foster ... that is okay. Donate to foster care or your local children's shelter. They are always in need of socks, underwear, tooth brushes, tooth paste, hair brushes, combs ... your basic hygiene items. They need the little things that we all use daily and don't think about until we are out. You can make a difference.

Go be a blessing ....

A couple of Christmas pictures and my birthday :)

Fun in the snow :)

Happy 2011

I absolutely do not know where to begin. My blogging time is so short these days that when I do have a few moments to type I don't know where to start. Christmas was wonderful. We loved sharing it with T. Olivia and I had a ball playing Santa. T got lots of gifts and her words on Christmas morning were, "I won, I won!!" Many of her gifts were donated by the DSS office which was a huge blessing to us. Back in October I was asked to turn in a wish list for her. I was amazed at the generosity of donors who shopped for her. A great big thank you to the Spartanburg County Department of Social Services for how well this program works. It really makes it easy on foster families. T and I made a nativity together and that was so much fun. When I told her the story of Jesus' birth she asked, "how do you know that?" I told her I read it in the Bible and then I shared it with her. What joy!!!

Speaking of fostering we are loving it. A great calling and a blessing to us. Please prayerfully consider it if you have a heart for helping others. Little T is growing in leaps and bounds (literally). She is so happy about how tall she is getting. We expect to have her until March. I am shifting gears and talking about her home more often to help prepare her. She is excited about going home and enjoys the visits we currently have with her mom. I am so thankful that this is a case where I am "ok" with her going home. I truly feel like she will be fine. I have been praying for her mom for months and will continue.

Olivia and I took two weeks off from home school while little T was out on Christmas break. We started back this week and I can't praise her enough for working so hard. Olivia is an excellent student!!! She makes straight A's and is super smart. Yesterday we talked about her science fair project ( I think she is going to do two:). She won a blue ribbon in 4th grade for her Science Fair project. She loves science.

Chris didn't have the best hunting season ... He gave it his all, but no deer were to be found. I don't know where all the deer have gone. Maybe next year he can find better property to hunt on. He is such a good man. He and I will be married 15 years this May. We are already talking about where to go to celebrate. We usually don't do anything big, but we are ready. 15 years is a big deal !!! I love Chris and thank the Lord for him and his sweet heart.

We are still teaching 5 year old Sunday school so between preparing those lessons, home school lessons, taking care of the house, kids, pets and extended family I am pretty busy. My main trips away are to Ingles, church, school for T, DSS visits for T, nursing home and to see my mom (and that is rare). If you never get a phone call from me, I'm sorry. I never pick it, but if you call me I'll talk :) If I am busy with home school or helping T with homework I'll let my machine answer the phone for me, but I'll call you back. I am now on a texting plan so I do text... never thought I would, but I do and I am pretty good at it ( if I say so myself:). You have to text when you have a preteen :) Yes, Olivia will be 12 in April. The years are flying. She keeps me young.

Well, that's all the time I have now. Teaching is my job and school is important. Take care and maybe I'll get to post again soon. Oh, Happy New Year!!!


Go be a blessing ...