Angels Among Us

angel of the month contest

I am accepting nominees for angel of the month. I would do angel of the week but I don't know if I can keep that up.  For the next two weeks I will be looking for comments telling me about a particular person and few words about why they should be posted as March's featured angel.  (boy or girl)These would NOT be angels as in Charlie's type. I'm thinking more like the messenger of truth type.  Someone you have learned something very profound from, lately.  Then come the first of March I wil make a special post featuring one of those people and why.  I really think this will be fun and enlightening for all.  Really I just want the angels among us to get some recognition and also give the rest of us some encouragement.  We'll see how it goes............. 

I'm baaaaack!!!!!!!!!

I can't beleive it has been 2 and a half months since my last blog.  Thinking back it has been very busy.  I was busy all of November trying to get ready for Christmas a month early becase I was gone almost the entire month of December.  December 3rd- 10th we spent in Lake Tahoe, it was so much fun.  All of my kids and grandkids together in one place for a week.  That was Mom/gramma Heaven!!!!  We just hung out,  ate out, took the little ones sleading on the one little patch of snow we found.  I got my son in law and son to go swimming in the lake.  Well,  Jason went in and got wet all the way and Ed went swimming about 75 ft out.  Us big girls did a little shopping and I got everyone to dress up for one of those old time pictures.  It really was a christmas to remember, at least for me!  Then after getting home at almost midnight on the 10th I unpacked did laundry and repacked to go with my mom to Florida so she could spend Christmas with my brother and his wife.  My dad and his wife were also there for a few days.  That was pretty cool.  I have now seen grace at its best, my parents were married for 23 years and my mom spent 3 days in the same house with him and the woman he cheated on her with.  She actually really enjoyed their company.  She is funny she says she got the best of him when he was young and cute and not so grumpy.  It was weird but very cool.  They are coming here in May or so. I'm looking forward to that also.  Wow, I'm worn out again just thinking about it.  I'm just beggining to recover.  So I've caught you up.  Maybe I'll be feeling up to being a better blogger.  I haven't even been reading so I'm missing you all!!!  Time for catch up!!!! 

Proverbs 27:5-6

5Better is ^(E)open rebuke
         Than love that is concealed.
    6Faithful are the ^(F)wounds of a friend,
         But deceitful are the ^(G)kisses of an enemy.

WE ARE FAMILY!!!!!!!

October 26, 2006

One big happy (dysfunctional) family
by John Fischer

The family that thrives is the one that can absorb conflict and failure and still exhibit love and acceptance at the end of the day. The family that fears its conflict and buries its unseemliness under a cloak of good impressions is the one that creates highly dysfunctional people who lug around suitcases of unresolved baggage and never get down to the real thing. Sometimes maintaining a “happy” family can be the worst thing you can do. It can drive a lot of powerful emotions underground, where they will eventually surface in unhealthy ways.

How much of being a Christian and going to church is all about appearances? Too much, at least in my experience. Too many of us act as if it were our responsibility to make God look good by showing ourselves as shiny, happy people. In the end, we make God look bad, because we are dishonest in the worst sort of way; we are dishonest with ourselves. Do this long enough and you lose track of who you really are. I find a lot of Christians get so far removed from who they are that they need professional counseling to help them face the truth about themselves. Most of this comes from getting good at living an impression rather than living the truth. We are too good for our own good.

Why is it that PKs and MKs (preacher’s kids and missionary’s kids) always seem to have a reputation of being the most troubled kids in the church? Because pastors and missionaries have the most pressure on their families to maintain the best possible reputation. After all, isn’t everyone looking to them to model the happy, successful Christian family? And so a disconnect develops between who we are and who we appear to be, and the wider that gulf, the more unhealthy the person.

How do we fix this? Give up pretext and love each other for the messes that we are. Isn’t that the way God loves us? He sent his son to die for us while we were still in our sin, and that death is like a billboard for why we continually need him.

“Oh, foolish Galatians! What magician has cast an evil spell on you? For you used to see the meaning of Jesus Christ's death as clearly as though I had shown you a signboard with a picture of Christ dying on the cross.” (Galatians 3:1 NLT)

“Have you lost your senses?” Paul wrote to the Galatians. “After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?” (Galatians 3:3 NLT)

Our human effort always tries to cover everything up. Our life in the spirit brings it all out into the open because Jesus died so we wouldn’t have to hide. Let’s love each other for who we are, instead of trying so hard to be loved for who we are not.

e-mail forward from my Sis Truth in humor

A little humor and a little truth!

I'm busy this week with preperations for our big day this Saturday it's going to be beautiful and a lot of fun.  So instead of a good blog I decided to share this e-mail I got from my sister.  I'm not sure if she sent this to me because she thought it was funny or if she thinks I need to mind my own business.  I think she just thought it was funny but it could be directed at church going christians such as myself.  What do you think?

The pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won.
The pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered in another race  and it won again.
The local paper read:
PASTOR'S ASS OUT FRONT.
The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered
the pastor not to enter the donkey in any more races.
The next day the local paper headline read:
BISHOP SCRATCHES THE PASTOR'S ASS.
This was too much for the Bishop, so he ordered the pastor
to get rid of the donkey.
The pastor decided to give it to a nun in a nearby convent.
The local paper, hearing of the news, posted the following headline:
NUN HAS THE BEST ASS IN TOWN.
The Bishop fainted.
He informed the nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey
so she sold it to a farmer for $10.
The next day the headlines read:
NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10.
This was too much for the Bishop, so he ordered the nun to buy back
the donkey and lead it to the high plains where it could run free.
The next day the headlines read:
NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS
IS WILD AND FREE.
Alas ... The Bishop was buried the next day.

MORAL OF THE STORY???

Being concerned about public opinion can bring you
much grief and misery and even shorten your life.

So, be yourself and enjoy life.
Stop worrying about everyone else's ass and what they think about you and you'll live longer.

Mama don't preach

So after talking to my daughter last night I want to apologize if I'm coming off preachy.  Totally not intended.  The thing is that I talk to alot of people in the church actually women, and I don't think it is of epidemic proprotions (or maybe it is) but here and there people share with me different stuff about bad feelings going on between themselvews and others in the church. This is not gossip. It is simply people trying to get feedback on how to deal with certain issues. For some reason people talk to me. Maybe it's because I'm a lover (See Pastor Matt's blog). I am usually pretty safe because I do love all of you so I can listen without judging and try to give objective advice. Sometimes I'll have to tell people they need to talk to a professional because I can't.  ANYWAY I'm not talkin about really bad stuff here and I'm am not immune to this disease myself. I have had situations arise in realtionships myself that I have had to work through.  When you put this many people together and encourage them to be "intentionally relational" it is obviously gonna happen. But it can sometimes be so frustrating to me that I think to myself what is the point. When I'm relational it just seems to cause problems.  Just last week I read a blog from Denise C. in which she talked about how she wished people could just love each other and get along and last night  I was missing Heather V. and was checking out here my space and there is a blog there about christian "friends betraying her" These are the published ones. So......... I was not trying to be preachy I really was trying to be just the opposite I was thinking that by sharing an experience it may help. Guess that's what I get for thinkin'.  As usual I get myself in trouble.  LOVE YOU ALL!!! I get to go be relational with babies now. That's my favorite!

A Story from my life and a lesson from God

Many, many years ago, very young in years and in my faith. I was also very alone. I had no church family to help guide me. No pastor, mentor, accountability person. No small group. I could go on and on. Just me, God, a Godless husband, 4 little children, and a couple of neighbors that I barely knew, and barely knew me. Living in the Alaskan wilderness. In a 22' x 24' wooden shack that I made into our home. No normal elecricity, no running through the faucet water.  And no telephone to make contact with my mom, or anyone else in the world.  I was very isolated.  Without going into too much detail so I can get to the point, one of my neighbors was from California, Newport Beach. She was the closest thing to a friend I had, and our kids played together alot. She has a daughter Erin's age and son 2 years older. They are great people and I miss them to this day. Having been the victim of sexual abuse at a neighbors house when I was a little girl, I was very uncomfortable with my children spending the night away from home, but after a couple of years when Erin was about seven I let her go, after having stayed there several times, out of the blue one time she told me she didn't want to go. Apperently she wasn't o.k. with the way the older brother had treated her. Well when I tried to talk to my friend about it she became very defensive and upset. This in turn upset me very much. I didn't want to lose this friend but I also needed to protect my daughter and honor her feelings. So, as I laid down to sleep one night I was praying and I asked God to help me deal with this. The Lord spoke in my mind, all He said was James 4 something, I can't remember the exact verses. So I sat up in my bed, I lit a kerosene lamp and read the verse, then I read the whole chapter then the whole book. This was the first time I had studied in the bible. I stayed in that book for many years and learned alot about how to be a Christian. Not that I will ever reach perfection.

James chapter 4

1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

4You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?^[a] 6But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
   "God opposes the proud
      but gives grace to the humble."^[b]

7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

11Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

Looking back I can't remember what I said or did.  I just know that I called my friend and we worked it out.  There is alot to learn in this book, but I think that what I  learned first was that I need to ask God to help me with my heart.  "You have not because you ask not."  I started to ask in faith and God began to answer me.  He still answers me.  The enemy is out to steal, kill and destroy. What he wants to destroy more than anything is the love we have for one another. We cannot let him.  When negative feelings are happening in relationships we have to ask for God's help, He wants us to work it out in His Love.  We have to try to be open to giving and receiving constructive, loving criticism and praise and encouragement for each other when it is appropriate.  We have to be willing to talk to each other and be objective looking at ourselves first and forgiving others and if we love each other whatever the differences between us are. We have to know in the deepest part of us that if God is for us then noone and nothing can be against us. Hopefully, especially our Christian brothers and sisters.

A beautiful day in Newport Harbor

For those of you who do not know I was a part of a very baby ministry in our church  called "Beauty for Ashes", which is a sexual abuse healing group. I cannot tell you how very powerful it has been for me in ways I really couldn't even explain. If there is anyone out there that has experienced being a victim of sexual abuse I reccomend highly that someday you would take a leap of faith and join hands with others like you to begin healing through this ministry.  There is nothing like it.

Oh my goodness what a beautiful day in more ways than one. What a perfect girls day out. I have to say that I feel blessed to be a part of the very first Beauty for Ashes alumni group.  It has been a couple of months since the completion of the first group and we haven't had the opportunity to spend time together and hang out.  There is truly something special that happens when we are all together. We really missed Tammy and Dori. It was great being able to catch up on what's going on with each other. I hadn't realized how much this group had helped me grow and how much I had grown until we got together.  I am now officially in charge of alumni meetings and am totally looking forward to it. You ladies are all AMAZING!!!!  Thanks Angel-a!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blogging... Fun, work or both

I have to say that this blogging thing though informative and fun is actually very time consuming and work.  I love being able to keep up with all my friends and loved ones at quick glance, but keeping up this page and posts takes a lot of time.  I don't know how you mothers with kids and people with jobs are actually able to find the time!  I suppose the more familiar I get the faster and easier it will be.  BABY STEPS.  So, check out my biography.  I'll be adding to it as I have time.  Love you all!

My first attempt at being a blogger

O.K. so here I am.  I've been threatening to do this and I'm hoping that I'm followed by fellow "older people", or peers as I should call them.  Children of the the 50's and 60's, teenagers and young parents in the 70's and 80's, baby boomers that survived Vietnam, the death of President Kennedy, Watergate, and "free love" (sex), free drugs and rock and roll with a little bit of a brain left to tell what we've learned about it.  Possibly to impart some wisdom on the generation that follows us (If they'll have it) AND vise-versa.

I am of the opinion that we all ( young, old, and in-between ) have a message.  I feel like we are all "angels among us". If only in a theoretical since of the word. Angel meaning, "messenger".  The thing we tend to find the most diffacult is receiving them (messages).  Broadcasting our message seems to come easy.  Listening with an open ear, even if at first we don't like it. Eager to learn something new. That is what we have a hard time with.  I hope everyone who reads this understands I am including myself, (especially my children) Who teach me new things about myself and the world around me every day. Somethimes they have to work really hard at it. It's hard to beleive that someone younger than us, with what we consider to be "less" experience, could have something to "teach" us.  Sadly there are some people out there that are convinced they've experienced everything and are all knowing.  Those are the individuals I feel for, how sad to be so closed minded and prideful.  Truth be told our experiences are all different, and so are we.  That is what makes love, and relationships such beautiful things. If we train ourselves to be open about new and different ideas and people,(be in relationships) then I think maybe it is possible that we can learn to Love the way God wants us to.

God bless us all, we need all the help we can get!