What About The Goodness of God?

I am the blessed mother of a child who is very conscientious about everything--right and wrong, what is pleasing to God, what sin is, what faith is, what doubt is, what worry is.....you get the picture. And while I am grateful for that characteristic, I fear that the focus of attention is on the wrong thing--SELF. I am constantly advising, just trust Jesus. Just think about Jesus. Just pray and tell Jesus. But now I realize that much more is known about the sin than the Saviour. Therein lies the problem.

In the U.S. Treasury, there are people whose only job is to look at bills all day and determine if they are real or counterfeit. In training them, they do not ever look at fake bills, they only study the real ones. They study and study and study them. They come to know them so well that when a fake one comes across their desk, it stands out like a blaring horn or flashing neon sign. They are so familiar with the real that anything less than the real is automatically detectable by a quick glance.

I meet a lot of Christians who are also concerned, as my child is, with being and doing right before God. And I notice that they listen to a lot of preaching that points wrong things out, defines wrong things, warns of wrong things, and describes the outcome of not overcoming wrong things.

Granted, there are people who need to hear these things, but if not balanced with the overwhelming knowledge of the goodness, mercy and love of God, they continue to struggle. They might strike the Goliath in their life down, stunning it, but they never seem to get the sword out of the sheath and cut off it's head. So after a short period of relief, the giant returns after waking from it's seeming unconsciousness more angry and vicious than it was before. And so the war of intimidation continues, thus rendering the struggling Christian stuck in the mire of condemnation and defeat.

Could this be why there are so many unhappy, frustrated Christians? They are constantly repenting and telling God they are sorry because they realize that their lifestyles could send them to hell. Now I agree that if there is one thing in life that you should fear, it should be eternity in hell--rather, as scripture says, fear the one who can send you there. But if our repentance and lamentation is simply over the prospect of hell, is that truly repentance? And if it is, is it lasting repentance? Because while the giant is stunned, things will go well, but what about when the giant awakens and returns?

Timothy Keller writes “In fear-based repentance, we don’t learn to hate the sin for itself, and it doesn’t lose its attractive power. We learn only to refrain from it for our own sake. But when we rejoice over God’s sacrificial, suffering love for us – seeing what it cost him to save us from sin – we learn to hate the sin for what it is. We see what the sin cost God. What most assures us of God’s unconditional love (Jesus’s costly death) is what most convicts us of the evil of sin. Fear-based repentance makes us hate ourselves. Joy-based repentance makes us hate the sin.”

We need to study the real! We need to focus and look at Christ! Before we start to attack the things that are wrong in our lives, we must first see the one who is right--Jesus Christ, our mediator and our help! We must see and know and experience His great love and mercy in our lives. We must understand the pricelessness of His love, the exceeding capacity of His mercy, the depth of His commitment in that He suffered our punishment on the cross, and His undying fidelity to us in His resurrection and intercession. We need to get this, much more than we need to understand our sin, for when we understand our sin without knowing Him, we try to fix ourselves. This is impossible. That's why we were lost when we were without a Savior! But when we know Christ, our sin becomes like that blaring horn and flashing sign of a counterfeit bill. As we know Him, we also know sin, because next to Him, all sin is grotesques. As we know Him, even the slightest flaw will be like a pebble in our shoe prodding us to stop and remove it with every step.


We need to know Him as the GOOD shepherd.
"I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep!" John 10:11

The shepherd is a favorite Scriptural picture of the divine love and care. In the Old Testament, the twenty-third Psalm gathers the whole wonderful truth in exquisite lines which are dear to both young and old, wherever the Bible is known. Then in the New Testament, when our Lord would give His friends the sweetest revealings of His heart toward them, and tell them what they are to Him, and what He would be to them--He says, "I am the Good Shepherd.

"The earthly shepherd lives with his sheep. If they are out in the storm, or exposed to any danger--he is with them. Likewise, Christ lives with His people--in all their afflictions, and all their storms. He enters into closest relations with them.The earthly shepherd knows his sheep. He has a name for each one--and calls them all by their names. Christ knows each one of His friends, and has intimate personal knowledge of each one. He knows the best in us--and also the worst. He knows our faults, our sins, our wanderings.

Yet, knowing us as we are--He loves us still, and never wearies of us!The earthly shepherd is most gentle with his sheep. He does not drive them--but goes before them and leads them. When they need rest on the way, he makes them lie down, and chooses for their resting-place, not the dusty road--but green pastures. He is especially kind to the lambs, gathers them in his arms and carries them in his bosom. All this is an exquisite picture of the gentleness of our Good Shepherd, in His care of His sheep. He is thoughtful toward the weak. He loves the 'lambs' and makes room for them in His bosom. Whatever the need is, there is something in the heart of Christ which meets its craving, and supplies its lack.The earthly shepherd defends his flock in all danger. Often he has to risk his own safety, even his life, in protecting his sheep. Just so, the Good Shepherd gives His life for His sheep. Christ's sheep are absolutely safe in His keeping. "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish--ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand!" John 10:28. Then at last He will bring His own all safely home, "and they shall become one flock, one Shepherd." J. Miller

William Dyer writes: "He is altogether lovely!" Song of Songs 5:16

Jesus is most desirable in Himself--and all things that are desirable are in Him.
Beauty is in Christ,
bounty is in Christ,
riches and honor are in Christ.

Jesus Christ is the treasure hidden in the gospel,
the pearl of great price;

He is the sun in the firmament of the Scriptures, whom to know is everlasting life.
He is . . . a spring full of the water of life,
a hive of sweetness,
a storehouse of riches,
a river of pleasures, wherein you may bathe your souls to all eternity!

Oh! He is all fullness and sweetness!

"He is the chief among ten thousand!" Song of Songs 5:10

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6

You may go to heaven . . . without health,
without wealth,
without honor,
without pleasure,
without friends,
without learning;
but you can never go to heaven without Christ!

"He loved me--and gave Himself for me!" Galatians 2:20

All that Christ did and suffered--it is for me!
All that Christ has--is mine!
Christ's love is mine to pity me!
Christ's mercy is mine to save me!
Christ's graces are mine to beautify me!
Christ's power is mine to protect me!
Christ's wisdom is mine to counsel me!
Christ's Spirit is mine to comfort me!
Christ's Word is mine to teach me!
Christ's glory is mine to crown me!
Therefore, a grain of saving grace in the heart,is better than a chain of gold around the neck!"

The love of Christ constrains us." 2 Corinthians 5:14

Love of Jesus is essential to Christianity. No privations can starve it, and no burdens can break it down. It is the core of all true piety. It is the only cure of the reigning worldliness and covetousness and fashionworship, which have made such havoc in too many churches.

There is only one way to be a steadfast Christian--it is to get the heart so full of love to Jesus--that the world, and the lusts of the flesh, and the devil can get no foothold. A true Christian life is the continual consecration of our bodily powers, of our energies, our affections, our resources, and our influence--to Him who bought us with His precious blood. "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship." Romans 12:1" Steven Cuyler

We need to KNOW CHRIST! Not know about Christ, but to know Him in the sense that He is as real to us as our mother, father, brother, sister, friend, or spouse. And that is His desire as well! God created us to have fellowship with Him--that means, God wants us to hang with HIM! He hard wired us that way! He wants to laugh with us, shop with us, talk to us, BE WITH US! And as we come to know Him in all the facets of His personality, and we come to understand through His spirit how He loves us, sin will be the furthest thing from our mind and desires. And when sin does come calling us to come out and play, we, like David can grab the Word of God and the Sword of the Spirit and go out and defeat it and move on!!!!!

I totally trust my husband because I know him so well that I know he can always be trusted. In the 30 years I have known him, he has never done anything to prove himself untrustworthy. My heart is secure with him. As I think about my relationship with Christ, I realize that although I know all the things that are right about Christ, sometimes my heart does not feel secure because my circumstances don't seem to line up with what I know.

Faith is having a secure heart even in the midst of contradicting circumstances. The only way I can have that secure heart is too truly know the one that my faith is in and to know that as long as He has been, from everlasting to everlasting, He has never been unfaithful. Oh that I may truly know Him in His fullness!

Warning! Twilight Comes Before Darkness!

Why get involved in the "Twilight" controversy?

Really I don't know! Usually I keep my mouth shut about such things, except with my own kids, of but I find this serious enough to join the choir! Our youth Pastor has pleaded. Our Pastor has pleaded, but still I read and hear excited chatter about it from youth that I care about. I can't make them listen. I can't chain them to their beds to keep them away from the bookstore, the movie theatre or the the internet, but I would like to. I don't know what else it will take to get through to this young generation who think those older, wiser and more spiritually mature are full of bunk, but because I love them, I'm sticking my neck out here.

For me, just the name "Twilight" is a big, red warning flag.

Twilight is the time between sunset and dark - the sun is just below the horizon. Twilight is "1. the diffused light from the sky during the early evening when the sun is below the horizon and its light is refracted by the earth's atmosphere; 2. The time of the day when the sun is just below the horizon, especially the period between sunset and dark; 3. Dim or diffused illumination; 4. A state of ambiguity or obscurity."

In physics, refraction is the change of direction of a ray of light, sound, heat, or the like, in passing obliquely from one medium into another in which its wave velocity is different. In Opthamology, refraction determines the ability of the eye to diffuse light that enters it so as to form an image on the retina.

Twilight brings a dimming of light. Dimming means "not bright; obscure from lack of light or emitted light. It means not seen clearly or in detail, indistinct, not clear to the mind; vague; not billiant, dull, not clear or distinct to the senses, not clearly seen."

In "Twilight", you cannot see clearly or discern what you see!

IN SHORT, TWILIGHT IS A TIME JUST BEFORE DARKNESS WHERE YOUR VISION AND PERCEPTIONS ARE HINDERED!

Herein lies the reason why the series "Twilight" is so aptly named. First of all, it is just "dark". Tell me, what is edifying about it? How does it add to your Christian experience? Nothing you do is harmless! Every action you perform, every show you watch, every minute of time you spend is strenghthening one area of your life, either your spiritual life or your carnal life. Tell me, honestly, does this strengthen you spiritually? Or does it arouse passions in you that are not Godly? Does it create in you yearnings that are not reality forming expectations of love and relationships that will hinder and destroy real future relationships? Does it cause you to think on the glories of Christ?

It's not a new concept. When I was growing up, this whole story was played out in a soap opera called "Dark Shadows" that centered around the love of a vampire for a human being. Even as a sinner, it creeped me out, but as a Christian my discerner is off the charts! Why are the youth of Christiandom so blind to this???? Where is their discernment?

During evening twilight, there is a lack of vision. Things are not seen clearly because there is not enough light on them to see them for what they really are.

One beautiful twilight, I took a walk in the country with a friend. On the horizon, we saw the sillouette of a large dog. As we walked on, the dog seemed to be walking towards us and we were walking towards it. As we watched the dog, he happened to walk under a pole light and we realized that he was not a dog at all, but a big, black bear! Fortunately we realized this in time to turn around and head for home without being harmed.

Youth! Twilight is not a harmless, fictional tale! What it is is what 1 Timothy refers to as a "fable".

1 Tim. 1:4 (KJV) Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.

2 Tim. 4:4 (KJV)
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

What is a fable? A fable is "anything delivered by word of mouth; legendary tales, as opposed to historical account; a fable; foolish or improbable story (1 Tim. 1:4; 1 Tim. 4:7; 2 Tim. 4:4; Titus 1:14; 2 Peter 1:16)." Read the verse! Fables turn you away from the truth!!!!

Are you fleeing fables by joining in this hype? Have you stopped to ask yourself why Twilight, which you have been warned against by all your spiritual leadership, appeals so much to you? Come into the light! It's time for some serious reflection and some clear refraction! Please tell me why you are ignoring these warnings and going your own way? Do you think that adults have never dealt with these same kinds of things? Do you think that your generation is special in some way? I tell you the truth! "There is nothing new under the sun!" History truly does repeat itself. And you are headed for the same pit as many others throughout history have fallen into. It is every spiritual adult's heart to teach those younger by helping them not make the same mistakes that we made, to impart wisdom and warning so that when you reach the age that we are now, you will be light years, spiritually speaking, ahead of where we are. But in order for that to happen, spiritual advice must be heeded. This isn't one person's opinion. There is a firestorm of warning coming from every corner of true Christianity!

If you are into "Twilight", I tell you that darkness is ahead! Twilight will not bring you into more light! It will only make the light you do have more obscure!

We all say that we believe that we are living in the last days, but let me ask you something. Are you living like you are living in the last days when there will be an increase in the "doctrines of demons?" This is that. Entertaining the ideas presented in "Twilight" will only serve to dull your senses, and make demonic ideas more palatable. It is dangerous!!!! Can I say it enough??? Having had friends who came out of occult into Christianity, one who was a practicing witch, I can tell you that this is not a benign, fantasy love story. There is a subtle evil resident in it. You can "Christianize" it all you want, but it won't make it Christian any more than me wearing a tiara and calling myself Diana will make me a princess.

I'm pleading here! Are you listening?

Twilight--Emotional Porn??

This blog had an interesting take on the Twilight series. I will be adding my own thoughts a little later.

http://joyfullyliving.blogspot.com/2009/12/to-twilight-or-not-to-twilight-that-is.html

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

To Twilight or Not To Twilight... That is the Question

The answer.... no thank you. I'm not even going down that road. I won't be joining the fan club of the ever popular Twilight Series.

Sometimes, I'll pick up a book that has gained some populairity and read it for the sake of discerining and reviewing. I did that with books such a Harry Potter (read the first three - had one of the worst weeks of my life spiritually when reading through them) and The Shack, among a few others.

With the Twilight series, I have NO desire to go there at all. Vampires? Enough said.

However, I did want to share with you two EXCELLENT reviews on the series.

One was done by Jasmine Bacham. She has this to say in her article (you can go over and read the full post HERE).

One of the "hallmarks" that has been spouted by ardent supporters of Twilight is that it teaches a lesson of abstinence. But, even though Edward and Bella do abstain in the most basic sense of the word, their relationship is filled with hands-on passion: lengthy embraces; breathless kisses; violent declarations of devotion. They are obsessed with one another. "Abstinent" they may be --pure they are not. And as Bella and Edward's intimacy increases, despite continued warnings that the relationship is no good for either of them --

We watch with bated breath, crafting an obsession of our own.

As daughters committed to emotional purity, we watch as Bella Swan gives her heart and soul to Edward Cullen, and he gives eternity to her --and we celebrate the exchange.

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. ~Song of Solomon 8:4

As we watch Bella awaken dangerous desires -as we watch her willing to give herself completely to the one she loves (uttering, again from New Moon, page 69, "I don't care! You can have my soul! I don't want it without you -it's yours!")

The Botkin Sisters over at their blog Visionary Daughters have some incredible insight. They say this: (you can read their full post HERE).

Emotional Pornography

“He grinned his crooked smile at me, stopping my breath and my heart. I couldn’t imagine how an angel could be any more glorious. There was nothing about him that could be improved upon.” (Bella Swan, Twilight, Chapter 12, p.241)

For this discussion, we would like to set aside the dark paranormal element of Twilight, though that is a concern on its own. We believe what ultimately draws women into this series and other romance novels in millions-strong droves is the same thing that lures men into an estimated $3-4 billion-a-year pornography industry.

Journalist Alisa Harris explains: “It’s called emotional porn. When men glut their physical lust with pictures of airbrushed girls pumped full of silicone, they become dissatisfied with real women’s bodies. When women plug their emotional caverns with chick flicks and chick lit, they become dissatisfied with the real men they know because they can’t measure up to the guys from The Notebook or Pride and Prejudice or Walk to Remember.” (Alisa Harris, “Beating Darcy Down”, Kritik Magazine)

Pornography is not simply about pictures. At its core, pornography starts with:

1. A desire to use people as self-gratification machines

2. A preference for man-made reality and man-made people over the real thing.

These hold as much temptation for women as for men, though romance novels often feed their fire better than pictures.

I found these to be pretty convicting words. We try very hard to filter everything we watch or read through Scripture. No, we are not perfect and there are probably still some things we need to give up... it's a journey and a process.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philipians 4:8

http://joyfullyliving.blogspot.com/2009/12/to-twilight-or-not-to-twilight-that-is.html

Reality Check

Every now and then, life or maybe God gives us all a little reality check. I had one of those this morning. My daughter has been sick with a cough and a fever for 12 days. Once, when the fever reached 105, I called the doctor, but wasn't required to take her in to see him. Things were complicated this last week with me having pneumonia, my hubby being down with who knows what, and our daughter being sick. It was hard to take care of everyone adequately, which bothered me. I did the best I could, but I just got plumb tired most days and ended up in a heap, asleep on the couch.


I had already decided to call the doctor again this morning if my daughter still had a fever when she woke up. I took her temp while she was still in bed and according to the thermometer, she had already been dead for several hours--her body temp was down to 95 degrees. I thought that pretty odd, but at least, it wasn't 105! But just because I was entirely tired of dealing with it, I made her an appointment with the doctor and let her sleep until an hour before we had to leave. She got up, got dressed and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. I happened to be in there with her because we often brush our teeth together--an Egolf tradition! All the sudden she said that her vision was blurry. I laughed and said, "of course it is! You don't have your glasses on!" Then she started to say "it's going black, it's going black!" And then she started to scream "I'm blind! I'm blind! I can't see anything! I looked at her eyes and her pupils were completely dilated! I yelled for my husband because by then she was shaking and wobbling between the sink and the wall and he got there just in time to catch her before she hit the floor.


Now all that probably took less than 30 seconds, but it's amazing to me how many things can go through your mind in that little bit of time.

-I let her fever go too long and it's blinded her
-She'll be on disability the rest of her life
-Her brain injury as a child weakened her brain and she's having a stroke or her brain is bleeding.
-The codine in the cough syrup has killed her
-Oh no! They'll take her to the local hospital that has a bad reputation and of whom it is commonly said, "yea, they bury their mistakes!"


My husband yelled for me to call an ambulance, so I did something I've never ever had to do before. I dialed 911. I told them that we needed an ambulance right away giving my name and address. And then the goofy operator asked me if Cyndi was spelled with a "C" or an "S". Who the heck cares???!!!!!! What does that have to do with anything? And since WHEN???? has Cyndi or Cindy or Cindi ever been spelled with an "S"??? No one ever spells my name right anyway and I still get all their invoices and bills in the mail! Do they need to know the proper spelling of my name to send an ambulance????? It was on the tip of my tongue to tell them what I was thinking but then reality jolted me back to the task at hand! Oh yes! We need an ambulance!


Fortunately, once she was lying down, her vision returned and she could talk coherently, so I cancelled the ambulance and we loaded her in the truck and headed for the doctor. They ran her through a battery of tests, and discovered that she has pneumonia. We're still waiting for some other things that weren't exactly normal to be looked at by specialists.


Things like this cause you to think, and think real hard! This particular child has been in some kind of life and death struggle way more than once in her short 16 years. So much that, I realize God has something special for her to do or the devil wouldn't be so busy trying to take her out. Even though she can completely tax me out in a day's time with questions, or worries, or anxieties that she has (mostly brain injury related risidual quirks we are still working through), I once again faced the reality of living life without her. If you've never had to face the uncertainty of a child's survival, I pray that you never will. It is THE WORST feeling in the world. It's like that sinking feeling you get when you lose your wallet, but on steroids!


Days like today just help me to realize what is really important in life. Things like:

-Prayer--but not just distress calls but "ferverent, effectual prayer" and making sure that there is nothing blocking my communication with God. Making sure that there is no known sin in my life, nothing unrepented of, no unforgiveness or offense. These can all tie the hands of God, even in those moments when we need Him the most.


-Relationships with people--obviously none of us know how much time we have to know another person. We must treat each other in a way that we will not have to live with regrets that can never be righted if one of us is taken prematurely or without warning. We must accept each other, even with our differences and quirks and still value the life and gifts that God has breathed into the heart of every man.


-Family--we often scold our children for treating their friends better than their family. "Your friends will come and go--mostly go. But you will have your family forever!" But today I realized how little I live with that reality myself sometimes and I've made a note to improve in that area. It's so easy to take what seems stable and normal for granted--until that stable foundation is shaken! Normal can become abnormal in the time it takes to faint or lose control of a vehicle on black ice. This I know all too well.


-Evangelism--people need the Lord! How many people do we know that slipped into eternity unprepared that might not have had to had we swallowed our fear, and our pride, and told them about Jesus? How many people meet God without Christ everyday? Did those 4 policemen in Washington know Christ? Did those who died on highways over the holiday know Christ? Do your neighbors, co-workers, friends, know Christ? Am I willing to look foolish and stupid to the world in order that I might win just one soul to the Lord? Am I willing to lose a job, lose a friendship, lose a customer so that they might hear of their need of Christ?


I thought about all of this today amidst all the doctors and tests. And I'm thankful---yes, even for reality checks because they bring me back around to exactly where I need to be and once again I see and know the wisdom and faithfulness of my God.

Our Brightest Moments

The leaves of fall were beautiful this year!

The colors were so brilliant.

The leaves were so plentiful.

Driving down tree lined streets was a lesson in beauty, and it seemed, that if I listened really closely, the leaves almost seemed to sing as the sun exposed their brilliant color.

Each leaf's color gradually migrated from green to a sunny yellow, pumpkin orange, or robust red.

It was a thing of beauty!

And then, in the midst of my ecstacy I realized something. These leaves were dying! In fact, they were in the very last stages of life, right on the edge of life and death. Within a week, they would drop to the ground, turn an ugly, crunchy brown color, and become next year's compost. How could something so beautiful and vibrant be so close to death?

"Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth." Ps. 71:9

"They shall bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing." Ps. 92:14

I'm about to enter into my last season of life. Soon I, like the leaf will stop producing. I won't produce children, I won't produce as much money, my available energy for production will also lessen.

Lord, grant this, my desire.

When people observe me in those last stages of life, let the color of my life be as brilliant, as vibrant, and as loud as those leaves.

Let the lifetime I spent basking in the Son of God resonate with as much brilliance and beauty as the leaves of fall.

May the fruit of my old age be an abundance of the life of God to all who observe it.

And may the residue of my life, after I am gone, be like an aromatic oil and a sweet, sweet song to those I leave behind.

Football or Mudball?

A special thanks to my friend, Abbie, who braved the mud with her expensive camera and captured these photos and graciously allowed me to use them on my blog!

In Happyvalley, weekends are made for football! Penn State football, State High football, and SCAG football, of which my son is a part.

Here he is, all clean and crisp in his newly pre-treated, hand scrubbed, clean football uniform! He's the handsome #29! Don't spend any time remembering that number because in a moment, it won't mean a thing!

And the game started just as any other ordinary game. There was prayer, (yes, it's a Christian league, so they say. I learned that in the midst of flying clipboards, yelling coaches, and little black words that would "slip out" easier than a boy can slip playing football in a foot of mud. Oh, that's coming later!) So they lined up to receive the opening kickoff!

Did I mention that the field was muddy? Just a little. Can you see the mud they just lined up in?

Oh wait! Here's a better shot!

And so the game went on, from bad to worse until we couldn't even recognize our sons! In fact, we couldn't even tell what color team some of them were on!

The game quickly became less about football and more about who could stay upright!

As you can see, some faired better than others!

Next time someone tells you to eat dirt, THIS is really what they are saying!

By halftime, the Golden Bears were looking more like the Brown Bears and playing about as bad as the Cleveland Browns!

Unfortunately, the half time pep talk didn't do any good and we lost! Can you tell?

But even so, our guys were good sports about it, just like they were for EVERY OTHER GAME OF THE WHOLE SEASON! Can someone say "Houston, we have a problem?"

As you can see from the scoreboard in the background, the field was not the only thing that got ugly! Yep! That's Golden Bears 8, Green Eagles (or the Green Giants as I called them) 40.

The bright spot of the whole day was my son!
He had the time of his life, rolling around in the mud and sticking a dirt filled mouthguard on his already questionably clean teeth (if I don't remind him to brush, it doesn't get done! Just one more reminder of how I have failed at mothering.) One of those sets of legs are his!
He was #29 until you couldn't see his number anymore. Then he became the boy with the gold arms, the only one on the team with gold underarmour.

Here's some shots of the action. Sorry so many, but my family are about the only people that read this blog anyway and they're interested in seeing him!

Yes! He got an assist for this tackle!

Here, he's calling the defense! The play the coach sent in was "mudslide!"

This is probably one of those plays that ended in part of that 40 points you saw earlier on the scoreboard. You know those plays? You know that no one is going to catch the kid with the ball, but you hustle down the field anyway so that the coach doesn't single you out and call you an idiot! And these kids are smart! They stay in a pack so that they can't be singled out!

That's his "mean" football face!

The real dilemma was after the game. What do I do with him until I can get him home and clean him up? I can't put him on my nice, beige, seats! I don't think I'm allowed to put him in back of my pickup truck, or tie him to the top! So, being the resourceful Mom that I am, I found the hose in back of the concession stand! I've always wanted to pull a trigger and yell "dance! dance!" And dance he did trying to dodge those frosty drops of water!

As you can see, it really didn't do any good!

But obviously, he enjoyed it anyway! At least I was sure that I was actually taking the right kid home, yep, that's him, #29!

Eventually I ended up opening the doors of the pick up truck which open opposite of each other. Then I stretched a big beach towel between them creating a makeshift dressing room and made him strip down to his boxers! No! I didn't take any photos of that! Posting photos of my son in his boxers might be considered child porn to non-football families!

He rode home wrapped in a big beach towel with the heater blasting! What a trooper!

And not surprisingly, after washing his uniform and pads--first by laying them in the driveway and blasting them with a hose and then putting them in my washing machine, I had to call the washing machine repairman.

How Far Would You Drive For Sunday Lunch?

On Sunday, we were invited to the home of some friends for Sunday lunch. How far would you drive on a Sunday to have lunch with friends? We left happy valley and headed out. It was a nice day for drive. Apparently, one of our friends thought so too because we passed her on the way. (I like to say I have a new hobby, drive by shooting--with a camera of course!)

We started out on Interstate. Then we turned off onto a normal looking road--paved and all. The scenery along the way was beautiful

Eventually, the road changed into this!

Then we saw all sorts of things!

We saw a lot of these!

And these......

Zuckerman sheds, full of organized chaos that house everything from Great Grandpa's cultivator to the newest newborn calf ...

and the valley....well it speaks for itself!

Hay wagons were waiting on the fall hay ride season

Beautiful mountain scenery

Old deserted houses of worship
And other houses of worship still breathing and in the middle of nowhere! (Is there anywhere in this country you can go and not find a Methodist church?)

Family farms still in operation, no thanks to Congress!

No blog is complete without cows, the greatest creatures on earth! They give us amusement, warmth, love, milk and Big Macs! Yum! Hey, they were the original inventors of the idea of organ donation! They've been doing it for years! Have you ever heard of a cow organ that someone, somewhere hasn't tried to eat? I'd say that's giving so that others may live!

Yes, it was a land where people still cling to God and country, and as you will see later.....guns. As one guy put it, "if you come for my guns, you will meet my God." I think that about says it all.

We just kept driving and driving and driving until we came to this sign....and we wondered.......hmmmmm...are we near the end of the earth?

Then the road then looked like this.

I would say not only do they offer no winter maintanence, they offer no maintanence at all!

This was the major intersection at the top of the mountain, commonly known in these parts as a driveway.

Finally we reached our destination at the very top of the mountain. We felt fortunate that our car didn't overheat this time. There's nothing more nerve rattling than driving on a 10 ft. wide piece of road that has a 100 ft. drop off on one side when your car is ding dinging informing you that your engine is about to explode. No place ever looked sweeter than this one!

Pretty soon after arriving, we did what country folk do best, eating and talking and eating some more and talking some more.

Including this yummy looking cookies

There were all sorts of people there, including this farmer with his farmer's tan. Yes, those are organic socks, but he's definetely not a "green farmer." He loves chemicals and he LOVES killing stuff with them! In fact, he is the happiest with a sprayer full of razorburn in his hands. (insert diabolical laughing)

After dinner there were the traditional "country tales" being told....

I don't believe this guy had ever heard them before.

And true to form, this country gentleman took the lead and did what all country folk do after a good meal, no matter who is around or who is taking photos! :-)

As did these ladies!

And we got close to losing the tale teller.

But their naps were short lived because they happened to be sleeping in the same room with these!

And this guy!

The children were a little more polite. They took it outside for some serious swinging.....



Others were busy intruding on everyone else's activities.
Some played soccor, them versus the hill. I wonder who won?

These ladies just spent some time being friendly.

And these guys were busy planning their next safari. LOL!

Those having a need to prove they are men played football.

And what would a day in the mountains be without bullets? This guy has enough lead at his place supply pencils for every school student in the world for their whole academic career!


It was all in all a lovely day. There used to be an advertisement about walking a mile for a camel. But no cigarette could possibly be as enjoyable as a day in the mountains with friends, no matter how far you have to drive to get there. And lunch is included!

Rejoicing--What Hot Tubs Were Really Created For

These friendly little bubbles were part of my Sunday afternoon last week. They looked so inviting in our friend's hot tub way up on the top of the mountain. I think the mountain air had something to do with the abundance of bubbles. No, I didn't get in the hot tub. Not this time. We had a much higher use for it!

Others gathered to to admire the bubbles

It was quite an attraction! Today, that tub was not for socializing, not for soothing sore, tired muscles, and not for spilling lattes in. Sorry! I had to add that in there! No, on this day that hot tub had the highest privilege known to hot tubs! Water baptisms.

This is my friend from Trinadad! He was raised Catholic. One day, while sitting in a campus library, a guy sat down and talked to him about God. When asked if was ever born again, my friend had to admit that he hadn't been. So right there, in the middle of a busy campus library, these two guys bowed their heads and all of heaven listened. Then all of heaven rejoiced!

Then all of us rejoiced!
This lovely lady belongs to my friend from Trinadad! She was raised in church, but walked away. Oh, she knew the lingo, but she didn't walk the walk. Then, one day, an uncle talked with her about what it means to walk with God. That day, heaven listened. And this lovely lady listened. And heaven rejoiced!
And we rejoiced!

This little guy is being raised in our church! He hasn't had life easy, by any stretch of the imagination. If anyone has excuses, this kid does. But the Word penetrated, Holy Spirit conviction came, and he gave his heart to Jesus one evening in his home as his Mom and heaven listened, and his Mom and heaven rejoiced. What a sweet testimony!
And we rejoiced!
I love this kid! He makes me laugh! He, too was raised in church. But one day he realized that he couldn't ride into heaven on the back of his parent's faith. He came to the knowledge that he needed his own faith, and so, while heaven listened, he reached out and took what Christ had died to give him. And heaven rejoiced!
And we rejoiced!

This is the baptizer! Relaxing in the bubbles. Soothing some tired, achey muscles. And the two with him are his sons, thinking of baptizing him. I believe the plan is to hold him under and read the 119th Psalm.

Make Sure You Pray Over Your Food!

Here is something I learned on my trip to Dallas with the youth group.

My Mom always used to tell us, make sure you pray over your food! That never made sense to me until this past week for several reasons. For heaven's sake, we had the FDA! We live in America!

The first time that statement came back to haunt me was while driving in a van with 10 teenagers, the youth pastor and another driver. A man drove by us honking, pointing and waving! I assumed he was referring to the cool window art on the side of the van that said "Texas or Bust!". But because our driver at the time is very cautious, we pulled over just to make sure everything was kosher. We soon discovered that the back door of the U-haul trailer we were pulling was all the way up--you know, the one holding all our luggage, bed rolls and earthly possessions. One suitcase, our drivers, looked to be the next escapee. Well, we hauled all the kids out of their slumber and to the back of the van where were eliminated victims by having them check to make sure that their allotted amounts of luggage were still in the trailer. It was all there! Praise the Lord! I was having visions of having to find a complete wardrobe at Wal-Mart for the week, which would have been a total miracle. My suitcase looked to be the second in line for a dive onto the highway.

However....we did discover that something had escaped and was laying somewhere in Central PA. Our cooler with the watermelon that we had packed for dinner was gone. We were bummed, but some Pollyanna assured the kids that the further south we got, the sweeter the watermelons would be and they all climbed back into the van and went back to sleep.

The second time I learned how important it is to pray over your food is when we walked into the cafeteria at CFNI to eat. You have to have a lot of faith to eat there because you really can't tell what you are eating unless you look at the white board to see what they are calling it. Again Pollyanna chirped in "Well, it's better than what you would get at a Chinese prison." And we all shrugged and dug in.

The last time I thought about praying over my food was the day I went to Wal-Mart and spent $20.00 on junk food. I brought it all back to the room that I was sharing with 4 other girls and put it on the shelf. When they came in from swimming or something, one of them spied it on the shelf and said "Cool! Cashews! Whose are those?" Now I had fully intended to share, but once things got started, it was like a feeding frenzy at the local aquarium. Ripping and tearing sounds drowned out the air conditioner that was only pretending to run as Smart corn, Crunch and Munch, Sun Chips, Cashews, and Gardetto's flew all over the room! Soon, the girls from the next room were in our room--they must have heard the sound of real food packaging--and they were eating it too!

So when you are sitting down to eat, pray over your food and be very thankful! And make sure that you pray for it's protection, preservation, and edibility! It will keep you from finding out what the food at a Chinese prison tastes like.

What to Write First???

I just had the most incredible week!

--I spent 4 days in a van with 10 of the most incredible teenagers, a youth pastor and a fellow driver.

--I spent 5 days in Dallas, TX, experiencing the hottest days they've had there since 1967 weaving and dodging amongst 1200 kids that ranged in between the ages of 12 and 18.

-- I ate food, well let's just say, it was a lesson in being thankful. I spent almost every meal saying "well, it's better than what I would get in a Chinese prison!" Today, I really got some perspective into how blessed I am and how little I notice it when I got such joy over deciding for myself what was for lunch!

--I saw a friend whom I have not seen in 15 years! It was if we had never been apart. I saw that spiritual fruit had remained and increased in his spiritual life and I was glad, so glad! And I met a new friend, his wife, whom it seemed I had known just as long!

--I saw God do some really, really deep down work in the hearts of our youth. It was not the usual youth conference that very often produces short lived change made from hyped up altar calls and man manufactured excitement in the name of the Holy Spirit. I saw God taking His Word and planting it deep, deep in the hearts of our youth group. And I'm excited about what the fruit of that is going to look like!

--I stood in a crowd of over 1200 people earnestly seeking and crying out to God and it was awesome!

--I can't remember a week when I have laughed so much in 6 days.

--I realized that I have the privilege of knowing some of the most sincere teens in this country. They have let God make them and are hungry for more. Even though they were packed in the van, sleeping on each other, spilling on each other, and falling over each other, I didn't hear one disagreement, one "STOP IT"-unless in the case of tickling, or one complaint. In fact, in 66 hours of driving, there was only one bathroom stop request. Now THAT'S a miracle.

--I saw what the love of a dedicated youth Pastor and the Word of God can do in the lives of our youth and I realize that the future is very bright for this generation! We MUST be about our Father's business!

--I really came to appreciate all that God has given and done in my life and the lives of those I love, and I am humbled and very, very, thankful. All praise be to Him!