The God in You..

The God in you helps you bear up under pressure better than most who don't
know Him. The God in you makes you love your enemy. The God in you shields
you from all hurt, harm and danger. The God in you has you laughing when
others would be frowning. The God in you helps you see your way out of no
way. The God in you puts your feet on solid ground. The God in you opens
doors when they should be shut! The God in you gives you peace in the mist
of the storm. The God in you won't let you down, He'll build you up! The
God in you never fails. You are different, because of the God in you. The
God in you hides you in His arms. The God in you quiets the raging storm.
The God in you is a strong tower. The God in you helps to light up your
path. The God in you will keep you until the day of completion. The God in
you sees you for you are and still loves you. He is amazing. You are
blessed!

The final stretch...

Summer is coming to a close in these parts. The kids,well at least Mattthew and Caroline and Mommy:), start school in a little under three weeks. Before we begin the new routine/insanity that will be our Fall, we're heading to Pittsburgh. Why Pittsburgh you may be asking yourself?
Well, the thing is both of my parents were born and raised in Pittsburgh. They were high school sweethearts! My mom's sister and my dad's brother still live there. I have four cousins that still live there and my cousin who lives in New Jersey will be coming in next weekend for my cousin's son's birthday..are you still following me? Anywhoo..I have been wanting to go there for a long time. Six years to be exact because the last time I was there was when my paternal grandmother died. It's been far too long and I my family to know THEIR family.
We're (Matthew,Caroline and I) are heading out early Friday morning. I am sure the ride will be nostalgic for me as I made the trek there when I was a girl every summer. I have wonderful memories of visiting grandparents and cousin and of FLUFFED ham and WISE potato chips!! Seriously, that stuff is like crack to me. I hope to hook up with all of the cousins from both sides of my family while I am there. I am praying that Matthew and Caroline don't drive me insane in the car. They aren't the best travelers. I am expecting lots of fun and memory making on this final trip we're about to embark on. I know Ellie and Daddy will have lots of fun hanging back here in Michigan. Maybe next time they can join us.
Hope your last minute summer plans go just as you plan!!

Know God

Today I went to a funeral for a women I have never met. I know her mom and dad through church. Her dad is one of the most giving, caring, live for CHRIST and have that contagious desire to get to know Him better vibe going. So, even though I didn't know Peggy, I know Mike and his wife and their other kids so I went to show that I care. It was a wonderful celebration of a life that yes was haunted with some addiction demons, but one that ultimately knew the greatest truth of all..The Christ died for her sins. Many family members got up to speak about her and all of the fun and laughter she brought to their lives. Our pastor spoke about how Romans speaks about once we know God nothing can ever separate us from the love and grace of God. He also spoke about how it was a struggle for Peggy to surrender her pain and struggles to God even though she believed in Him.
The most profound sentence of the morning came right at the beginning of service from Mike himself. It was a simple sentence.."KNOW GOD!" He said, with such urgency, that this is really what it all comes down to. If we KNOW God, the rest is so much easier. If we KNOW God, that means we're SEEKING Him more, wanting for others to KNOW him too. If we KNOW Him it does become easier for the Holy Spirit to permeate all the pores of our lives that need the refashioning and molding.
I left the funeral feeling like I knew Peggy and many of the wonderful gifts she blessed those who knew and loved her with. I also left feeling convicted to continue on my own quest to KNOW God and to be intentional about making sure others want to KNOW too!

The dog days

The dog days of summer are certainly in full force here in Michigan. It always surprises me how different Summer can be in this Great Lake state of ours. I have many memories of cool,almost downright chilly summers here and then there are Summers like the one we're currently enduring which is down right hot! I am not a huge fan of super hot, super humid weather. In fact I would take a 20 degree, snowy day over it in a heartbeat. Take for example today. I decided to be the "good" mommy and haul all three kids over to a local park for an animal show. It is about 95 degrees and horridly humid here today. I decided to take Ellie with us and all the could go wrong, did. There was miscommunication between the library and the presenter. This caused about a thirty minute delay in the performance. The guy also thought he'd be inside which is better for his animals so half of his animals barely came out of their cages. Did I also mention that due to the large crowd that came out to see this man, they moved us all in the blaring hot sun?! We ended up leaving early because we were all puddling and the presentation kind of lost us without any animals!
I realized in this moment of frustration and irritation how blessed I am. Sure it was an annoying couple of hours but at the end of the day it was pretty funny how stinking hot we all were. Plus the slushies and diet cokes we were rewarded with from Sonic soon made our heat exhaustion a distant memory. I am thankful for the mundane. For being blessed to be irritated by truly trivial occurrences. Thankful for three beautiful children who yes, whined and cried so much today that I thought I might be committed for a few hours. But who also belt out, "My God is so Great!" with such enthusiasm that you can hardly stand it. I have a little boy who loves to learn about the tiny details of everything and has a giant heart for others. Last, but certainly not least, a little girl who is nearly two who walks around with her blond, yes, blond mop of hair and shakes her head feverently and says..."No!!" but also gives the best.hug.ever!
As I have begun my MSW progrm this summer, I have been re-introduced to the world that makes up social services. One word..DEPRESSING. It already has made me cherish the normalcy that is my life. This week I have read several things that have giving me glaring perspective. One of which was a post from Shelly Buck on her blog about the 6th anniversary of the death of her daughter, Ava. It was eloquent and heart wrenching to read but it spoke such truth to me about how lucky I am. How lucky we all are really to love and serve a God who serves us and our every need. In every circumstance my God is there. He meets us whether we're literally in the depths of despair. grieving so deeply we're not sure that we can go on for one more day. But also for those of us who outwardly have it all together but inside feel like sometimes we can't go on for one more day. Don't freak out..I am not saying that I literally feel like that. Sometimes the daily grind just literally starts to GRIND on you is all I am saying. The past few weeks I have made a concerted effort to have daily, early morning quiet times with God. It has made all the difference. I feel like when I do that I literally can feel God within me. I can go to Him and lean on Him much more readily than when I skip it or choose some other activity instead. I am feeling very convicted about several "time suckage" issues I have. I am praying that God would clearly reveal to me those areas in which I need to consider giving up. I am sorry to say there are several things in my life that certainly aren't edifying to me or doing anything to help me grow closer to God.
So..I started talking about my hot, crappy day and ended up talking about God. Well..where the Spirit leads...