Memories and Missions, Family and Faith

For 37 days I cut Coffee Coke and Cockiness for health reasons and so I could focus better on my relationship with God.  I want to share with you what the Lord has been teaching me in my times of prayer.

What kind of legacy are you going to leave behind?
If you died tomorrow, what would people remember about you?
Would they remember how you died or how you lived?

These questions put me in a teaching mode with my children. I want to make sure that my children are taught everything that God wants them to hear from me. From faith, family, manors, Love, hate, sacrifice, hardship, education, dreams, service, compassion, persecution, relationships, sex, these are just a few things that God wants me to be my childrens teachers in these things.
God has carried my whole family through very difficult times over and over and over again. It has come to my understanding that we need to thank him in a big way. And in doing so we will be showing our 2 oldest children that there are always people in a more desperate situation then us. That God is in every corner of the world with the poorest of the poor. He is there giving them hope just as much as He gives us hope. This is a reality I want all of my children to understand in the fullest. It is a hard reality to see and comprehend so Rob and I will use a lot of prayer and discernment in deciding where and when and how old they will be. Missions has always been a huge part of our lives and we are trying to pass the legacy of the Great Commision on to our children as well.
God has opened a door for us to be on a missions team to Nicaragua this summer. We thought it was definately a good fit for us because its a week long. It is an evangelism team that includes skits, worship, feeding the hungry, and playing with kids. We thought that this would be a good first family missions trip with our 2 oldest. Robby and Jack are nervous about traveling to another country, but are excited about serving God. We are going with another family who has an 11 year old daughter. She went last year and was a very vital part of the team and reaching out to the children wherever they went. This was our final deciding factor in taking the boys. They love worship and telling others about Christ. Just this last week with all of the Easter festivities I ever heard Robby trying to preach to a little boy in my parents neighborhood. Jack passed out fliers to every family with kids in the neighborhood to our church's Easter egg hunt and a whole family of 5 came. Not only that but they are coming back this Wednesday. So proud!

How can you get involved?
We each need to raise $1200
A total of $4800 this includes our airfare and all the living and travel expences for the week. We need to have half of our money raised by the first of June.
We do have the extra expense of Passports this trip. The Boys need their first ones and Rob and mine expired a few years ago.

There are a couple ways you can be a part of our financial support team. You can give to us as a family or you can sponsor one of us. You can also donate supplies for crafts and things that we will be taking with us to do with the children there. If you would like support us please pray about the amount that the Lord would like you to give and if you can't give thats ok there are other ways to be involved.

We all need prayer teams both as a family and as individuals. So please consider being a Prayer Partner.

By suppoorting us in either capacity we will be your hands and feet  and voices that will get to share the Gospel in Nicaragua.  Here we are send us!
For more information please email or private message us on Facebook.

I am working on a facebook page that will give you more info on who we are serving with, who to make checks out to, financial updates, and prayer requests.
please look for it and start praying about helping send us.

Thank you Lord for this opportunity! Help us to be a beacon on a hill and the salt of the earth.

meg

Tea and Prayer

2 weeks ago......
It's been a little more then a week since I started fasting certain things and my body is starting to feel better. I've been enjoying some awesome teas and my eagerness to surround myself with things of the kingdom has grown a ton. I have noticed that other things are also making my stomach upset like pizza I had a slice yesterday for lunch and my stomach was on fire. I took a sip of Ahna's root beer and wow I couldnt believe how quickly my stomach started cramping. When my stomach gets upset like that and I end up in the bathroom for long periods of time it exhausts me and I am so grateful that Rob was willing to help me with the tasks of the evening. He has shown me a ton of grace. I love that this challenge has gotten me in prayer more. I have so wanted a cup of coffee but Im doing well with my praying. I have headaches quite often with the lack of cafein but they are slowly starting to subside. I have been praying more often and trying to get in the word a bit more. I want my walk with God to grow.

1 week ago
We have had some hard times this week that have opened a lot of wounds. Heartaches have been great and its been really hard. My sister had a misscarriage that later resulted in an emergency D&C. We are praising God that she had success getting pregnant so quickly and they have said that they will try again soon and we are glad. However it has opened a lot of aching of my heart to have some closure with my own babies losses. I have found myself thinking about them often wishing I could do something that will help me let them give them over to God a little easier.  Every time I think about them I have to remind myself that God's got them in his hand in fact they are probably sitting on my papas knee or playing with my aunt Gina. These thoughts bring me comfort and I can usually stop being sad as quickly as the sadness comes on.  I have 3 little angels watching over me and my sister now has one as well.  It hurt my heart that I couldn't take that burden from her but I also know how losing my three babies has made me grow and become a better mom and stronger woman. I know this will do the same for her.

Now
Its been 4 weeks since I started fasting and praying and today my parents are getting new cabinets. They had a sewage pipe bust in the wall and it caused a lot of icky damage and mold.  I stuck my head under the sink to get some things out of that cupboard and the fumes were so horrible I couldnt breathe . We are wandering if this has been a lot of the causes of our headaches.  I'm positive that it has weakend all of our immune systems.  I am glad that the problem didnt grow further and that its getting fixed today. Yesterday Robert slammed his right hand in the car door and 3 of his fingures are 2x the size they are suppose to be. He is in ton of pain we are hoping that he will be feel better in the next couple days but in the mean time its lost of rest and keeping it in a sling so the swelling can go down. Luckily nothing is broken.  A lot is going on in our lives some good some not so good . Keep us your prayers as our life is getting more crazy by the day. Lots for me to pray about these days. I am so glad that God has given me strength to stay away from the coffee and coke. Im glad the headaches I've had are for a reason and I'm glad that my God loves us and holds us in our times of hardships. I'm glad we have a lot to look forward to as well.

Coffee Coke and Cockiness

Well I've cut Coke and coffee out of my diet. I'm showing classic signs of a stomach ulcer and these are 2 things that I consume daily that have become the product of my demise. Being that we have had a lot of stress in the past year that has also contributed to these health issues, I've decided that I will use this time to take advantage of the spiral of positivity that has begun. I want to be in the right mind as decisions have to be made. I want to be sure that the decisions we are making are what God has intended for us. We are truly excited about this upcoming year and I honestly don't want to get caught up in it. So many times before we have had an upward spiral and our relationship with God falters because we don't give Him the glory He deserves. Almost as if we get cocky and give ourselves the Glory when its due elsewhere. This truly is a struggle for me. It's about my money, my house, my kids, my health, my,my,my,my. I don't want that kind of heart. I want one of humility and Grace. So this is what I'm going to work on during this time. My prayer life has been lacking and I want an unceasing prayer life style. Or at least continue to try. I want prayer to be my first reaction to everything that comes up not the last thing I turn to.  So this is me challenging myself when I want to grab a cup of Joe or a coke instead I'm challenging myself to pray about a family member or issue or decision that needs to be made. Just a few minutes. With my constant want for my recent physical crutch, I should be doing a lot of praying lol. So I'll be working on my stomach and my spirituality by try to eliminate coffee, coke, and cockiness. 

One is the loneliest number - something has been bothering me about single people

I have quite a few friends who are single so here are some things I've been thinking about, and feel free to give me feedback. I hope that I can give you some encouragement. If you are 15 or 50 it all works the same. 

I have been married for going on 11 years and its been both hard and rewarding. I'm feeling as though I'm lucky that I met Robert so young but at the same time I feel as if our dating life was misunderstood a lot. Most people don't know that the summer Robert and I met we were 15 and 17 years old and we had  both vowed to no longer date. Instead we would focus on our relationship with God. We just didn't know that we had both made that same commitment at the same time until a few years later. Through a bible study that summer I learned that God had a plan for my life. If I focus on Him and making myself a woman after God's own heart than the man I marry would be presented to me when He knows I'm ready. I was really happy to hand over my dating life to God because that meant that I wouldn't be swooning over any cute boys. I could get down to business and focus on what I wanted in a husband not a boyfriend. That summer I wrote down all the qualities that I wanted in a man that I could spend the rest of my life with. I vowed to wait for Gods timing because His is perfect, and pray for the one that He set apart for me. That's what I did. I look back now and realized that God gave me a gift like no other by focusing on Him and our relationship I started viewing young men differently. My thoughts went from " Wow he's cute" to "Would he make a good spiritual leader?". I was no longer looking at them as cute boys, I was looking at them as brothers. I realized that the boys at home that I had crushes on were somebody else's husband and if he wasn't mine then I didn't want to ruin his integrity. I didn't want to kiss another woman's husband. I didn't want to kiss my "brother". I decided that at the beginning of each relationship I would pray and ask God to reveal Himself and help guide the relationship to where it should go. Now did that mean that I didn't look around? No in fact there were 3 boys that I looked at and thought about as serious contenders to that "spiritual leaders" part of my list. Then I took that list and prayed over it "God you know who he is please keep him safe and healthy and guide his path. Give him your heart. If he doesn't know you lead him to someone who does. Be with him and his family." I know it sounds weird but I felt connected to him in some way even though I had no idea who he is. I believe with my whole heart that we each have someone perfectly made for us, just like Eve was made for Adam. So here are few things that may help your situation. 

1# Hand it over! Are you truely happy and content with where you are?Well know this God knows where he or she is and one of you may not be ready. You or he or she maybe having trouble trusting in The Lord. One of you may be having a faith problem. Just because your not happy being single doesn't mean you can't be content with where God has you. You really need to focus on you not where he or she is and focus on where you are which brings me to my next point. 

#2 Where is your walk with God? Is it ok, good or the best it's ever been? I was so focused on God that I didn't see Robert sitting in front of me for awhile. I was really getting to know who HE is. When was the last time you studied I mean truely studied Gods word? Could you work on your relationship with Him so that He can focus on blessing you? What are you doing to make yourself a better child of God? Are you focusing on Holliness? Don't you want to be ready for that person when they do come your way? 

#3 Stop looking but make contact. I know this sounds contradicting but it's not. Stop looking for a boyfriend or girlfriend. Stop looking for a mate period. Instead refocus your attention on making contacts socially while you are out and about. I've heard that some make a goal for themselves of 5 a day. Having a conversation with some one you meet anywhere can always lead to more. Here is the thing, if you are trusting Him but having conversations with 5 people of the opposite sex a day then you won't miss your special someone. God will use one of those Contacts as the One. You can say you did your part. Sorry but  you are not going to get a relationship by sitting in your house and never going anywhere. Unless your special someone is the postman God is not bringing you anything to the door. You must get out there but trust that God will put them in front of you when you are ready. Most married couples I've talked to said that their Mr. Or Mrs. Right didn't come along till they weren't expecting them. So stop looking!

#4 Humble your self and pray. 

Pray for your future spouse its amazing how much God will reveal to you about yourself. Make a list and pray over it. He wants you to have high standards for yourself and don't back down. 

Here's what really bothers me about single people stop complaining about Valentines Day! God demonstrated the Greatest love ever, use it as a day to share that with people. We don't use the day as a lovers day we can go out anytime we want. Instead our kids draw from a hat and buy a gift for each other. It's a huge family day for us. Lots of treats and a big fancy family dinner areamongst  our festivities. What is the most important festivity though? Reminding them that For God so loved the world..............

Long time,no post- the gift of life and the gift of His Son

I'd like to update you on a few things. When talking with my kids recently they have told me that I've done a good job at working on my yelling and have been encouraged to keep going. I still have bad days but they are getting fewer as I have realized that I'm usually mad at someone else when I yell at my kids. This weekend I have been encouraged to find teachable moments to talk about moral issues with my kids. I'm looking forward to what God is going to teach me through my kids in the up coming weeks and years. 

There has been a huge change in Rob and I in the past few weeks that I really want to share because it was life changing. I got a phone call one night saying that Robert was having a Diabetic emergency at work and that he was being taken to the ER. I was stunned. I immediately became disorganized and a bit panicky. Rob had the car and the Hospital was right next door to his Lab so I had to get rid of the kids and find a ride. His sister got me to him and when I finally made it he was not my Robert. So white and frail. Confused and scared was an understatement. He about cried when I told him it was almost 11 and that it took me a couple hours to get to him. He had no concept of time. It only took me a few minutes to realize that this was no ordinary visit. He was in bad shape and I soon would discover how close I had come to becoming a widow. We both came to realize how deadly low blood sugar is and that nothing mattered anymore but Life. I stayed in the hospital with him that night. He wouldn't tell me but I saw the fear in his eyes of being left alone.  At one point the next morning he asked me to pray for him and as I tried to we both ended up in tears overwhelmed with the gift we had been given. Life! We were taking it for granted, an ice tea and some cheese saved my husbands Life that night. His sugar was so low that despite his efforts to raise it the tea and cheese weren't fast enough.  He passed out in a room where no one saw him or found him. When he woke 2 hours later it took everything in his power to make it to a hallway where someone would find him. He later told me that he knew he would die if he didn't get out of that room. Life is so precious. We realized that it is so easy to get caught up in the next church function or the next bill to pay that we forget to tell those around us what they mean to us. 

This weekend was even more encouraging. We attended a marriage retreat and after what we had just been through it was super encouraging to us. We were already cleaving to each other  but when you know that God just taught us a huge lesson in cherishing life, we realized that wether we have new shoes is no longer important. Arguing is a waste of time that we can't get back. If God can provide Rob with life once again He will provide for us again in other ways. He gave us tools this weekend to go along with our new lessons in life. The week after his visit to the hospital we just enjoyed our family, completely loved on each other. After this weekend we have tools to keep it going. 

I did learn something about my husband tonight that humbled me and broke my heart. If we lived in Bible times we would have been the scoffers the people that shouted "Crucify Him"! I am convinced of this. But be that we live now and we know who He is what if you had to travel back in time and be the one that nailed his hands and feet to the cross? My husband told me tonight that he did that. In an Easter cantata many years ago he had the job of nailing his Savior to the cross. God gave Him an understanding like no other. It felt real and has made him have a love for Christ that I can't comprehend. He loves that His savior didn't stay in the tomb.  However Easter time is the hardest time of year to get through. He has a pain that grows because of the job he had been given. The Loud clank as the hammer hits the Giant nail, rings in His head! It grows louder and louder until Easter Sunday when it stops every year because of the Celebration that our Redeemer is Alive!!!! I don't understand the anguish he must go through every year knowing and feeling as if he killed the perfect man that came to die for the sinner like me and himself. I now have a deeper connection with my Lord and now have a deeper respect for my husband because God gave him a gift. A gift like no other a piece of God himself and the anguish He himself felt as He watched His perfect Son die for all man kind. It may have only been a Cantata, but it is just one more thing that made Robert who he is today. I'm glad he's mine. 

Dear Heavenly Father, 

Thank you for the gift of life and thank you for your Son. Thank you for my gift, my husband! Thank you for His gifts that he shares with me.