TEN THINGS TUESDAY

1. My house is clean. My wonderful hubby has been doing a great job with the dishes and I've been mostly keeping my nose above water. The laundry, on the other hand...

2. There is a pork roast in the crock pot. We will be pulling it apart later and making tacos. Mmmm, yummy.

3. I'm getting excited about ministry again. I've been eagerly anticipating Rob's graduation from seminary for some time now. Up until very recently, I had hoped that it would mark the end of not only our time in Edinburg but our time in located ministry all together. I didn't care what he did as long as he wasn't the senior minister of a small church somewhere. Now, I'm still looking forward to his graduation, but in a different way. First of all, I'm enjoying the wait time instead of just getting through it. Secondly, I am very excited to see where God will take us next. Will He say, "Stay" or does He have somewhere else for us? I really don't know what the future holds and I'm excited about that!

4. We have finished one more chapter of The Weaver. We now move on to Solar System, Stars, Time & Seasons. However, this does move us ever closer to the unit on the human body. For some reason, I am petrified of teaching my children about the reproductive system. They might start to suspect that their parents...umm...well...ahem.

5. Lost is on tonight, tonight. Lost is on tonight.

6. Yesterday, I finally mailed off all my "thank-you" and "praying for you" notes that I've been working on for the last two weeks.

7. The weather has been positively Spring-like lately!

8. I got to make two cakes last weekend and I get to make another one this weekend.

9. The LORD is filling my life with so many friendships right now. This is something I've missed for a while now. I'm so very thankful for this.

10. I am leaving right now to visit Wal-Mart and the library all by myself!

But you ain't got no legs...

Lately, Rob and I have been listening to sermons during lunchtime. Today we listened to Jeff Walling's sermon "Witness Unveiled" from the OCC Preaching & Teaching Convention.

His text was Revelation 10 and 11. He spent a lot of time on the following verses...

So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, "Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey." I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings." - Revelation 10:9-11

He said that when John ingested the scroll, it became part of him. They were now inseparable. He also gave an illustration of where the world is and where the church is in relation to good vs. evil. He made the point that we are all too often standing with our hand on the shoulder of the world and only a few short steps behind where it stands. He went on to say that one who "eats" the Word will stay rooted in one spot and that while the world moves to and fro, he will stand.

That got me to thinking about where I'm standing. I try to stay rooted in one spot. I try to stand still and be an example. I try to lead and teach and minister to others. Then I realized that I'm trying all this with no legs. I have not made a meal out of God's word. I sample it now and then. I read it, but not as regularly as I should. I do a little more in-depth study, but usually only for a lesson I'm preparing to teach.

Jeff Walling wrapped up his sermon with this, "A lost world is waiting but until we eat and drink we won't have what it takes to be the witnesses you and I are called to be." How can I stand with no legs? How can I teach my children and be an example to them with my face in the dirt? How can I be a Christian almost all my life and be so lacking?

I want this to change. I want the teaching and truth and hope that is found in the Bible to be so much a part of me that it pours out through everything I say and do. In order to be effective in all that I do, in order to not get swayed by every passing diversion, I need to be nourished. I need to grow strong, sturdy legs that are rooted in Christ and can not be moved.

TEN THINGS TUESDAY

1. I had a great time in Joplin last week. I love seeing family and friends! On Friday night, the kids spent the night w/family and Rob and I had a hotel room to ourselves!

2. I am now only watching one extra child on weekdays.

3. My home is filled with the mouth-watering aroma of a corned beef slowly baking in the oven.

4. I have the privilege of decorating two cakes this week. They are both sculpted cakes - El Toro Loco (a monster truck) and Lightning McQueen. I love doing these types of cakes. Can't wait to get down to business!

5. Lost is on tonight. Since we missed it last week, we get to watch two hours worth. Rob and Robby have Boy Scouts tonight, so we'll record it and watch it later with no commercial interruptions.

6. Have I mentioned how much I love my new vacuum cleaner?

7. Several people have been on my heart lately. I feel led lately to pray more than I have in a long time. I feel like it's the best thing I can do for these people.

8. In addition to the new desire to pray, I'm feeling led to start up a card ministry. It's something I've thought about for a long time now. I've decided that when someone is on my heart, first I will pray then I will drop a card in the mail letting them know that I am praying and thinking about them. Then I'll pray some more.

9. While in Joplin, I visited a teacher's supply store. I found some write on/wipe off mats that I had been looking for. (It's the simple things in life that please me.)

10. I've been hearing birds singing. There is hardly any snow left on the ground and the temperature is s-l-o-w-l-y climbing.

Ten Things Tuesday

(It's really Wednesday, but Ten Things Wednesday doesn't sound nearly as clever)

1) Our mechanic called on Monday to let us know that our car was finished. He originally thought that the transmission needed to be rebuilt and had given us a quote of $1700. Turns out it was a wheel bearing making all that noise and it only cost us $125.

2) I now have Weaver volumes 2-4 in my possession. A woman in our home school group offered them to me. I don't know yet how much she wants for them, but I'm sure it will be a huge savings.

3) Since we saved so much on the car, I was able to purchase a new vacuum cleaner. A good one! It's an Electrolux model that is supposed to be really good for sucking up all that pesky pet hair.

4) I would say LOST is on tonight, but since it is actually Wednesday and I've already watched it... LOST was on last night, but we had some running around to do, so we recorded it and I got to watch in sans commercials.

5) I figured out how to make our Wahl hair trimmer work a little better. It is amazing what you can do when you take the time to read the little pamphlet that comes with a product.

6) We have had the opportunity for some great fellowship lately. It is wonderful to sit down with people and have them support us and really know what it's like being in our shoes.

7) I get to go on a date with my hubby and some friends on Saturday night!

8) Last Saturday, we attended a sock hop put on by the local Methodist church. We had a good time and then ate at Uncle John's Restaurant here in town. I love building these kinds of family fun memories with the kids.

9) I am sitting right now, resting and taking it easy. The kids are in bed. Rob is watching a silly movie and I am just Michelle playing on the computer. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love my husband and kids, and love spending time with them. However, by the end of the evening sometimes it's nice to not be needed.

10) On Sunday, we are leaving for Joplin and we won't come back until Friday! We get to see family and friends. We get to relax...ahhh.

A New Story To Tell

A New Story To Tell

I'm a very busy girl. I am the wife of a minster to a small church which usually means that if the church is doing something we are heading it up. I am a home schooler which means I have lessons to plan, school outings to attend and teaching to do. I am mom to two children involved in 4-H & Boy Scouts which means there are meetings to attend, projects to complete and badges to be sewn. I am a babysitter which means there are snacks to be given, wills to be battled and love to be given (often through gritted teeth). I am the church fellowship ministry leader, Sunday school superintendent, Sunday school teacher, children's church director/teacher, Home Extension secretary/treasurer and the sole driver in the household. I am a Christian, a wife, a mom, a daughter, a sister, a friend.

So often, I look at this list and at my very full calendar and think to myself that I am really doing a lot. Poor, little, under-appreciated Michelle. Shouldn't there be a day where everyone just stops what they're doing and applauds my noble efforts? Hmm, maybe not...

I came across this blog today http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/. Wow! I was taken for a loop. I feel humbled and ashamed. I'm sure she's not perfect or infallible but she does what she does for Christ. She sheds real tears for those around her and then takes action to help. She is probably much busier than I'll ever be. She has given all and continues to look for ways to give. I admire this young woman, but I sincerely doubt that she wants or needs my admiration.

So, am I ready to jump on the next flight to Uganda? Probably not. That is the way God is using her life for the Kingdom. Do her gifts and sacrifices make mine any less important? No. So what is the lesson to be learned here?

The first is this...

I need to come down from my self-constructed pedestal where I worship my time and my efforts and me, me, me. Christ needs to be on the throne in my heart and all I do should be for him and him alone.

Col. 3:23-24

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

The second is this...

I am very busy and do a lot, but so much of that is just busy work because I do not do it out of love. It's true that some people are very hard to love. We all are! But, I am called to love. I am not called to keep busy and have resentment and anger in my heart.

1 Cor. 13:1-3

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

So, this is my prayer; to be used by Christ for Christ and to do it all in love.

Okay, so I've become a bit of a complainer. Snow - blah. Car issues - blah. Interruptions - blah. Sewer issues - blah. Blah, blah, blah. I really don't like being like this. I used to be such a sunny, silver-lining-seeker of a girl. So, instead of sitting around complaining about the fact that I'm complaining, I thought I'd take steps to change. In my opinion, the best way to stop griping about what's wrong is to focus on what's right. Here's an idea that I'm swiping from a facebook friend of mine, Julie Swaim. (http://www.pearlsandjulesofwisdom.blogspot.com/)

Ten Things Tuesday

What I'm thankful for today...

1. Our kitties lost their social standing and their front claws and are recovering nicely. As an added bonus, the bill was considerably less than we thought it would be.

2. I recently discovered we are not behind in school as I once feared. At the pace we're on, we could be done by mid-May.

3. We had a houseful of people on Sunday! This is something I have been missing for a while now. I hope it's the start of a trend.

4. I've recently started to see glimpses of the kind, tender hearts I thought my children had lost.

5. My house is company ready and it's been that way since Saturday! If you rang my doorbell right now, I would let you come all the way in.

6. There is someone voluntarily and unexpectedly clearing the snow out of my driveway as I type! He's now finished and is moving on to bless someone else. I love to see the generosity and kindness of others.

7. My car is in the shop and will hopefully run much smoother and quieter when I pick it up later this week.

8. I think I know what I want to be when I grow up - a nurse. I will finally be going to college when Rob is done. I'm excited about it and a little fearful.

9. Someone offered to give us a piano. We have a space ready. Now I just need good weather, some burly men and a truck to get it over here. Then Megan can practice every day and we will not miss lessons because of my forgetfulness.

10. LOST is on tonight!!!