bAHAmas moment #2

"Here am I Lord, send YOU.  Here am I Lord, send YOU..." 

This is my son's version of a portion of a Patch the Pirate song, which really goes "Here am I, Lord, send ME."

The first couple times that he sang it, I laughed loudly, but the more that he sang it, the more it didn't sit well in my stomach.  It hit me that this is the song on our hearts. 

"Lord, I'm here, I want to be used... but send someone else to do that hard work.   I'll give, I'll pray, but going... well that's just too hard, God."

"I want everyone to see what a great Christian that I am so I will announce that I'm a good Christian.  I will be in church.  I will give money, but "go"... well that "going" business is for someone else down the pew. 


Getting on the plane with two little children, one who has had too many medical problems recently, is frightening.  Listening to my children fret due to the heat is hard.  Watching my daughter learn to walk in a room full of metal chairs is a bit scary. 

...a different place, a different culture...

It was far from "easy" but it was so worth it.  To see the lives that were changed while we were there, to see God's protection on our little family, to know that we were where we were supposed to be was so reassuring. Easy, no, rewarding, YES!

Just this morning, our Pastor quoted C.T. Studd.  "Some wish to live within the sound of church or chapel bell.  I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell."

What is the song of our hearts? - Rejoicing in the Present

bAHAmas moment #1

"My sweat is sweating" - This phrase was coined by Momma Jo on our missions trip to the Bahamas.  It was the best description of how hot we were at times.  We joked that people paid for sauna treatments but if they were $$-savvy, they could just get in a hot vehicle in the Bahamas for a  few minutes and get the same effect.  I believe that I sweated every toxin that was present out of my body.  It was insane!

The very first day and night, I struggled immensely, but within a few days, I was learning tricks to stay cool.  I would take a shower before I went to sleep at night and during the day, I tried shade and air flow tricks to keep cooler.  Yes, we fought heat rashes but we adapted.  We learned to do with less. 

I was reminded how spoiled I am.  I couldn't turn the faucet on and drink any old time.  All their water and pretty much everything has to be imported to the island. The cost of a small jar of peanut butter is $10.  The price of most food is QUITE ridiculous. 

I only packed so many items of clothing so I just kept washing and re-wearing the same shirts.  In the end I learned that I really could do with much less than I have. 

We are spoiled. 

So what am I going to do about that?

Live with less? 

How can I do that?

Maybe I can turn the air conditioning down.  Then I can take that extra money I save and use it for someone else. 

We CAN do with much less, and we can help more people. 

What can you cut out of your life? 

So blessed... now what am I going to do with that extra money I save?.... - Rejoicing in the Present

What is your church made up of?

What is your church made up of? 

Look around. 

Who attends? 

With whom do you connect? 

Who do you chat with? Who do you reach out to? Who puts a smile on your face?

Who doesn't fit into that box?

When someone comes in that smells a little funny or looks a little different, do you offer a seat next to you? 

Do you move?  

What is your reaction?

Recently, I was talking to a dear woman about a ministry that she is a part of.  The people live in a “rough” part of town and going there makes other church people noticeably uncomfortable.  As my friend was going around talking to various residents, she met a few ladies that were not your “typical” church goers.  They were a bit rough looking and probably did not know “church etiquette.” 

My friend had this SAD thought, "I wonder if these ladies would be welcome at our church."

When she told me this, I didn’t know whether to cry or scream!  These are the people that Jesus sat and ate with.  These are people that Jesus died for.

One of my favorite quotes is also my heartbeat  “The church is NOT a museum for saints but a hospital for sinners.”  When dear people with drug addictions come to our church, our arms should be held out open to them. When prostitutes come, we should surround them with REAL love and affection. When "sinners" come to church, we should cheer.

And my dear friend, may I remind you that YOU are a sinner.  You need Jesus like every other person does. 

The angels in heaven rejoiced when you came to Jesus; can you not have that same joy when another sinner joins the team?

Our whited sepulcher is not so white when we look through the eyes of God.  It’s full of sin and filth.  Yet we keep scrubbing the outside to make it look like it’s clean.  

Let’s be REAL!

We may be fooling another church member, but we are not fooling God.  

I may appear righteous but there is a lot of  sin growing inside.

We may think that we are better then those who have some obvious outward sin, but we were still born sinners and we still have those sin habits we have to fight every day.  (Praise the Lord, we have the Holy Spirit to fight them for us.)

Dear friends, let’s open our doors. 

Let’s be excited when the un-churched “dirty” up our pews.  Let’s love on them, pray with them, and celebrate with them the gift of grace!

I didn’t say be like them or party with them, I said to love on them, pray with them, and worship God with them. 

The hospital beds in our church should be full.  Let's get off our pedestals, clean out the museum and put out the beds.  I want my church to be the one that Jesus visits. - Rejoicing in the Present.

And Jesus answering said unto them, "They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." - Luke 5:31-32

Whited sepulchres.

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.  Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” – Matthew 23:27-28

This was a description that Jesus gave of the scribes and Pharisees. They paraded around like they were righteous and godly yet they were so full of sin.

When a person gets "bumped" you see what they are made of.  If they are truly godly, you see the response of love and joy and godliness.  You see patience and self control. You see long suffering and gentleness. 

Recently, I was able to watch a situation take place over a course of time. There was a godly couple who was trying to live for the Lord.  The godly couple was being attacked by some "friends." 

This couple poured out love on their enemies.  They would go out of their way to speak into the lives of these hateful ones.  They prayed, sought out wisdom, and strategically poured blessings on those who spitefully accused and abused them.  They had a genuine godliness . (Luke 6:27-28)

Then I watched this other group of “Christians” who rallied people for their cause, who spoke mischief and used their mouths of weapons.  These people poured out their “dead men’s bones” and iniquity.

Both groups of people got "bumped" …but the fruit each of these two "trees" produced was much different.

When you get "bumped", what comes out?

Are you the hands and feet of Jesus or a beautiful coffin?

Think about that. - Rejoicing in the Present

Kitchen Re-do '15 - Finale'

To finish off the kitchen I made a few signs including a large chalkboard. 

I had a 50%-off coupon for Michaels, so I bought a large white canvas. Then, I took it home and sprayed it with chalkboard paint.  After several coats it was good to go. Voila'!  Sooooo easy!

I also made a smaller sign using a little paint and some scrapbook stickers. 

We were finally able to move back into the kitchen.  YAY!   I don't think I have every been so excited to start cooking again.  :-) 

Here are pictures of our finished product.  :-) 

Kitchen Re-do '15 - Backsplash

Our former kitchen had a thin faux brick wallcovering. We both liked it for the time we had it but we knew it was going to have to come off when we re-did the kitchen. The brick was so old that we would not be able to match it and the back splash had to be replaced. 

We found this beautiful stone back splash that we centered our whole kitchen around. It was something we both agreed on and felt like it was perfect for our budget as well as our design. 

Thankfully, "J" had previously done some tile work so we knew that he could install it himself.   He was a little hesitant about doing it, but within about 20 minutes, we knew that he wasn't just going to do a good job, he was going to excel at the project. 

Hubby is VERY MUCH a perfectionist on these projects so it made it all the better.

He had borrowed a tile cutter from a friend so the only expense we had was the stone and thin set. He...

1. Measured each piece, 
2. Fit the piece like a puzzle,
3. Mixed the thin set ,
4. Applied the thin set,
5. Then put up the piece.

It looks like a professional did it.  I am so proud of him and thankful that God gave him that skill. Here is a picture of the good job he did.  - Rejoicing in the Present

Kitchen Re-do '15 - Countertops & Faucet

I would be content to NEVER look at another counter-top AGAIN!  :-) 

We did soooo much research and shopping.  I originally wanted laminate, but then, after a bit of shopping, I decided their styles were "too much" and I wanted a butcher block.  Butcher block would have been perfect with the old farmhouse style I was wanting. 

However, after I did the research, I found that butch block took LOTS of work to keep up.  Pricing was not too bad and the look was beautiful; however, the upkeep and ages of my children, in combination, pushed us away from that.

I went back to laminates while glancing over at solids and granite a few times. When I sat down with the counter-top designer at Lowe's, I found out that, with the specials they were having, it wouldn't be a huge difference to get a solid.  We found a basic stone that complimented our theme. 

Next we had to look at sinks. After talking to friends and family, we quickly realized that the way to go was a stainless steel sink. We found a beautiful faucet from Lowe's, the Annabelle, that was exactly what we were looking for.  

After deciding on all the styles, colors and types, we put the process in motion.  Lowe's coordinated it all and it was very easy. 

The one negative thing was that we were kicked back out of our kitchen again for about 48 hours while they were installing; however that is pretty normal with a kitchen remodel.

The counter tops turned out to be exactly what I was looking for! - Rejoicing in the Present