One True God

One of my earliest "school" memories was sitting on the golden carpet listing to the song, "The most important person in the whole wide world is you..." And I believed it.

I believed that the world and all of it's beauty was created for me, and I believed that Jesus went to the cross with nothing but me on His mind, as the song says, "He took the fall and thought of me above all..."

But, when I began to understand the life and death of Jesus, I began to understand the love that He had for His Father. After all, both His life and death were a gift of love. A love that brought Him to the cross so that His Father's will would be complete. A love that even though He was God, was willing to lower himself to the form of a man. A love that powers this "man" to live a life without sin so that He would be the spotless sacrifice for the One True God. A love that although He prayed asking that the cup of suffering be taken from Him, went to His death despite His fear.

Beth Moore quoted Neil Anderson, saying, "Satan's ultimate lie is that you are capable of being the god of your own life, and his ultimate bondage is getting you to live as though his lie is truth."

I'd never really seen it as being "god of my life," until I realized that the world, created for God's pleasure, and the Son, who died that God's will would be done, were things that I was taking credit for. And that's only the start. My life is filled with daily crosses that I choose to ignore, instead of obediently humbling myself to the will of the Father.

I know that God loves me and that He cares for me enough to sacrifice His son for my life. And I know that it gives God pleasure when I enjoy the creation around me, but it gives me pleasure when I finally understand my place in this life. His servant. Ugh, if only I'd adhere to that every waking moment of my day!

If we're living the lie that we're the most important person in this whole wide world, we're missing out on love and relationship with the One True God--Our Father.

"(Jesus)Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." ~ Philippians 2:6-8

Father I ask that you will continually remind me to live my life in submission to you. Teach me by your Word to be more like Jesus, who took the fall, and thought of you above all...

Visit Christine at Fruit in Season this week to get her take on Neil Anderson's quote, and to visit the other participants.

Life is a Play

Life is a play, scripted by the hand of God. Given the chance to start again, would I dare to change a single line of something written so masterfully? No. But I would play the role quite differently.

Walk for Breast Cancer

I'm so proud of my niece. After being overweight for most of her life, she managed to take off 90 pounds by changing her eating habits--that's about three chins and four bra sizes!

Many of you may know her from her old blog "Steff's Secrets" or the joint blog we used to have "2 fat chicks." She is also a former contributor to Steff's Poetry Corner at CWO.

She's recently decided to get active in addition to eating well, and as part of this new leaf she's turned over in life, she's walking for breast cancer. Steph says,

"I think just about everyone including myself has in someway had their life impacted by cancer, be it a spouse, a friend, a family member, or even fighting it themselves. I haven't directly been impacted by the effects of breast cancer and my hope is through raising money toward the cause maybe I wont have to. The statistics now say that one in 9 women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime are not just scary- it's terrifying. On average, 415 Canadian women are being diagnosed with breast cancer every week (that's over 21500 a year) and 102 Canadian women are taken by the disease each week. And these number are on the rise. In Manitoba alone, the incidences of breast cancer-and all cancer-is growing by 3% annually.
If the incidences of breast cancer continue to rise at this rate in Manitoba, by the time I reach the age of 40, (forgive me if my math is wrong) there will be on average almost 1400 Manitobans being diagnosed with breast cancer each year compared to the average 810 in Manitoba at present. That's almost DOUBLE."

If you'd like to know more about the walk, or if you'd like to sponsor Steph, you can visit her page for the cause here: End Breast Cancer

Steph needs to raise $2,000.00 in order to enter the walk. Go Steph!!

The Power of Prayer

Looking back at my recent posts, I see that God has placed the topic of prayer heavily on my heart. It seemed that every morning I'd wake up with yet another thought that would revolve around prayer. If I wasn't thinking about prayer, then I was thinking about those who need prayer--Emma, Kelli, Laurel's husband, CWO readers, my friend Carol... and the list goes on.

While God laid a burden on my heart for prayer, He also directed me to Exodus where I began to understand that there is a battle being fought around us and unless we continue in prayer, we are letting the enemy get a foot hold. Every time that Moses put his arms down, the enemy prevailed. I decided it was time to press on.

Bible reading has always been an important part of CWO, but yesterday I decided that prayer needs to be an equally as important--if not more important--part of who we are online. So I opened the prayer room.

I'd like to invite you to join there whenever you feel led to join us in prayer:



Even if you are not a blogger, you can be involved--have a ministry from home. I've written more about ways that readers can help at this page:

Wow, Does He Know The Scriptures!

My son Graham really knows his stuff. Apparently his friend was making fun of him at school today, in front of all the other kids. Of course this bothered Graham, because as he put it, "You're not supposed to tell embarrassing things about people, it even says that in the Bible!"

I remember that verse--it was right before "Do not participate in Wedgie Wednesdays," which apparently is another commandment the students are breaking, and my kids aren't liking it one bit.

Please Pray

I received this letter this morning. Please pray for her and her daughter:

Darlene,

I heard about your website on KCIS - Christian Living - today and
thought that you said there was a place that a mother had requested
prayer for her daughter. I need to have prayer for my daughter. She
is a struggling single mom, and is addicted to alcohol. She has
consented tonight to go to a recovery program in Illinois, Reformer
Unanimous School of Discipleship. She does not feel that God can
possibly love her anymore and is afraid of the change and
commitment. She is very confused and scared. Please pray that God
will give her the courage to make this commitment and follow
through. She wants a new life but sees no hope for herself. I know
that God can and will change that but she needs help to find her way
out of her situation.

Thanks for your prayers,

Cheryl

3rd Posts a Charm

Ok, third post today, but I had a lot to say. :)

Everyday Mommy is hosting a contest called "Hidden Treasure Blog Awards."

Mom, Dad, here's how it works: On or shortly after January 29th, I'll post my finest story ever written. On February 1st, you nominate me--February 8th, go back and vote for me--simple! I'm sure you want to see your adorable grandchildren again...

Everyday Mommy's version of the rules are listed below.



Step 1: For Your Consideration. Anyone who wishes to participate in the Hidden Treasure blog awards may re-post what they feel is their finest post beginning January 29th, 2007. The categories are: Children & Family, Faith, Marriage, Motherhood, Homemaking, Humor, Current Events and Life. No profanity or offensive material is permitted. Please note in your re-posting that it is your entry for consideration as a nominee for the Hidden Treasure Blog Awards.

Step 2: Nominations. Nominations will open on February 1st, 2007. Everyone may nominate a single post in each category. Nominations are not limited to posts which have been submitted. Any favorite post is eligible. The three posts with the most nominations will advance to voting. Nominations will close on February 7th, 2007. Nominations may be submitted to EverydayMommy@gmail.com.

Step 3: Voting. Voting will open on February 8th, 2007. One vote per category. Voting will close on February 13th, 2007. Winners will be announced on February 14th, 2007 The nominated post with the most votes overall will be awarded Best In Show.

_____________________________________________

Prayer

Laurel Wreath wrote me this morning about the radio interview I'm having this afternoon. She said, "I'll be praying you through." Wow, it's an awesome comfort to know that one is with you in prayer.

I'm reminded of the many people praying Heather through while Emma (last post) is sick, and I'm reminded of a Bible story that brought tears to my eyes this morning. Exodus 17:11 reads, "And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand, Amelek prevailed."

We may not have a staff in our hands like Moses, who held it high in the air as a symbol of his reaching out to the Lord God Almighty, but we have something equally as powerful--prayer--and we can reach out to the Lord God Almighty because of a High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ who mediates between us and God.

How far will we go to support our friends in prayer? Verse 12 says that Moses' hands were heavy, and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon, and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side, and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun."

Pray for Emma

Please pray for Heather's daughter Emma today, she's sick in hospital with severe heart problems.



I hope to write more later about an online contest, but for now I have an appointment to get to.

Restoring The Soul

"Let us learn to discern whether the words spoken against us or against God or against the truth are merely for the wind--spoken not from the soul, but from the sore. If they are for the wind, let us wait in silence and not reprove. Restoring the soul, not reproving the sore, is the aim of our love."

~ John Piper from "A Godward Life"~

Having an online prescence, and being a Christian Writer opens us up to all kinds of criticism, our hair will never be long enough for some, our baptism will never be good enough for others. Our jeans will offend some, and our skirt length will offend others. Our choice of food will offend some, and our choice of friends--you guessed it--will offend others. The question is are these complaints valid?, and the answer is some of them could be.

I hope that as long as I'm a human, I will never live with the assumption that I have arrived, or that I finally have it all figured out, because I don't. As I grow I'm learning. Learning to listen to the voice of God and learning to let the garbage blow by me. But unless my ultimate goal is the restoration of my soul, I'll never be humble enough to let the constructive critisism mold me and shape me according to His will.

I've learned to say, "Thank you, I'll consider your advice." And then to hold that opinion up against scripture to either validate or invalidate the words. But as a Christian my soul is subject to my Spirit, and unless I walk by that Spirit I'm not walking in faith.

Visit Joy in the Morningto read her post and to find a list of other participants this week.

Plans for My Life

Praise God that He sets the plans for my life and not my daughter. She's a quirky little stinker.

The other night she told my husband and I that she plans to have two children, but she'll give one of them to us so her house will stay clean.

Stinker.

When One is Hurting

A sister in Christ is hurting today. Here is what I shared with her...

My son was born with severe kidney problems. It started in the womb--but we couldn't see the extent of it until he was born. He had an extra uretor that was dangling and filling with liquid, ready to pop at any time. He also had a deformed kidney--part of which needed to be removed, but he couldn't have the operation till he was 10 weeks old because the risk was too high. So we lived in fear that the uretor would burst or get infected.

I know that the word of God is powerful, so I laid a tiny new testament on his tummy every single night. And I read the Bible to him, and I prayed--filling his spirit with all of the Lord that I could. Nourishment for the body and soul.

We were called in about a week before the operation telling us that there was a complication. The anesthesiest was concerned that putting him under for that long of a time had severe risks. We continued to pray and to give him fully over to God.

A few days before his operation, I sat in my livingroom, cradling him, when the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life took place. His face shone with the glory of God. I have heard of this happening in Acts to Stephen, and again I've heard of some people before death experiencing this, but I had never seen anything like this in my life. His face changed and the only way I can explain it is that it took on the characteristics of a father, as though he was comforting me.

I did find comfort. And the doctors did find wisdom and were able to successfully bring him through the operation.

About a day after the operation, I found myself standing in his hospital room with about eight doctors at 3 in the morning. His head was swollen and everyone feared the worst. I was later told by the nurses that no one expected him to make it through the night. I prayed the room walking around his crib and in the name of Jesus I prayed that harm would not touch my child, and he survived.

Today he is a 7 year old boy with an unusual spirit. Unusually curious about the things of the Lord. His name is Graham, and we've often referred to him as the three foot tall Billy Graham because his faith is amazing and unlike other children.

Please know that I understand your fear, and know that you are not in this alone. I will pray along with you that God will shield you under His wing, where you will find peace and strength, hope and healing.

"The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance." ~ 1 Corinthians 12:25-26, The Message

Visit BooMama to find out how you can help:




_____________________________

Coldest Day of the Year

Today is the coldest day of the year. Many daycares are closed, school busses are parked, meetings are cancelled, and exaust fumes fill the air as drivers rush through the streets, hoping to get out of the cold.

I took the kids to school as usual this morning despite the cold, but on the drive home, the sky was anything but usual. I don't know if it was a sun dog or a rainbow, or simply the glory of God revealing His presence in an everyday life. The beauty of the morning was like nothing I had ever seen before. I wondered if Jesus was coming back at that moment when the light came flooding through the clouds like a paint brush swirling over the land. I wondered if today would be the day I walked on streets of gold.

Yesterday I stood in my kitchen frying eggs at the stove, when the light came shinging through the window casting its shadow on the pan. The sunny room brought me back to a place in my past when I watched my mom living the simplistic life of wife and mother. I wanted so badly to be in that place--that gift of motherhood that only God can give--and here I am standing in that very place--that holy place--today.

I'm thankfull for where I'm at, this very moment of my life. And I'm thankful that God is revealing Himself in the gift of everyday life.

The Writing Life

Dear Diary,

I thought I'd have a little more time for blogging, but life is busy both with CWO, making time for God, and the family. But I'll still be popping in here to say "hi" because I like being connected to the blogging world, and I missed it too much when I was absent.

I've been writing a new book. And I'm very excited about this one. It's a real departure from my first book, and I'm loving it just the same. I feel that God's hand is really in it and He's been blessing me daily with inspiration. I'm led by the scripture page by page. I won't say too much about the book yet until I'm further down the road with it, but hopefully that won't be too long.

I'll be in an upcoming book called Grace Givers published by Thomas Nelson. Thanks to Heather Ivester who encouraged me to send my story in. I received a check in the mail just before Christmas, and it was just as exciting as I had dreamed it would be.

Writing is a funny thing After writing for a few years already, I still procrastinate thinking that I don't have anything in my head to put down on paper. But then when I do force myself to sit down and do nothing but write, I feel so exhilarated (probably can't spell it, but I feel it). Tonight I said "I'm going upstairs to write!" Well then I had to check my email first, reply to email, and peek at CWO, then phone my sister, then I search for images... Oh, I'm bad for that. I search images online for hours on end looking for just the right logo or just the right image for a cover that I might not even design, but I feel like I just got to do it or I can't settle down.

Ok, I should get some sleep, it's 10:34 and I slept in this morning. We usually leave the house at 8:15, and I woke up at 8:22. What kind of mom does that? Oh, I know--a writer!

______________________________________________

Nail Scarred Hands

"Wherever you are spiritually whatever you have been through emotionally, you are already wrapped in the Lord's embrace. Held close by nail-scarred hands."
~ Liz Curtis Higgs~

I had trouble with this quote. Maybe I say that alot--I don't know. Some days I just can't think. I kept trying to figure it out, wondering what emotional experience have I had? Do I want to share them, or would that be getting waaaay deeper than I wanted to go with my writing?

Then I read Iris's post at Sting My Heart, and I got it. It's not about me--it's about Him. It doesn't really matter where I've been, or what I've done, it's past. The past that does matter is what He's done for me and what He's done for us. Death that we might live.

I received a letter this morning from a woman who just came through the worst time of her life losing friends to a tragic fire, and left homeless. She clicked on the ready button at CWO and wrote us, "I'm ready to follow Him too."

With the words I choose to comfort this woman, one thing I can add is this... "Wherever you are spiritually whatever you have been through emotionally, you are already wrapped in the Lord's embrace. Held close by nail-scarred hands." ~ Liz Curtis Higgs.

Visit Sting my Heart to read her post and to find a list of other participants this week.

Wrapping Things Up

Technically my family is still on vacation. There's only one day left and then we all get back to some serious work. We managed to find a few days during the holidays to go to our favorite hotel, which was nice.

My schedule has been all thrown off once again. I am such a night owl that I just can't fall asleep at night, so I read and computer and watch TV until my eyes get heavy, but only on holidays. As soon as the kids get back to school it's early to bed and early to rise once again.

I still have the tree to take down. Argh! I think that I've taken it down by myself every single year thus far, so this year I'm hoping to get the whole family in on the act before they all take off in different directions.

My dad just popped in for a visit with his little dog Scottie, so I should get off the computer.

I read a quote last night that I just love. Francine Rivers says, "I want what shapes me and my writing to be Scripture." Those are words that have nestled into my soul and are powering my brain today--inspiring me to press on.

________________________________________

New Year's Meditations

Dear Diary,

Laurel Wreath says, "I am not really one to make "New Year Resolutions" (infact I dislike them), if I make them I break them. But I am one to think about what my dreams and desires are at the time, and see where the Lord leads me. Sometimes it is exciting because the Lord has so much more in mind, sometimes it proves to be a difficult year because He had a lot to teach me. Either way it is exciting to follow God's leading and plan for my life. How about you?"

I've never been one to make resolutions either. It could be the stubborn streak in me that likes to dig my toe into the sand and ask why this day should be any different than the rest. Or maybe it's that I'm too anxious--too impatient. If I can't wait for my taost to turn brown, how could I possibly wait for the clock to strike 12? When I seek change, I'm "Johnny on the Spot."

But like most everyone else, in the back of my mind I do see the newness of the year and I do see myself wanting to be better each year than I have been before. Is that bad? No. It's growth and it's what I should be striving for as a child of Christ.

Because resolutions always seem to fail for me, I've come to live by Lamentations 3:21-23 "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." And the wonderful hym that echoes the scripture. Great is Thy faithfulness Lord unto me...Morning by morning new mercies I see...

Wow. I'm thankfull that should I wake up on January 6th with the guilt trip that I didn't seek God the way I hoped that I would have, or if I didn't serve my family the way that I should have, or if I didn't run on the treadmill as long as I could have... I can draw from His compassion and begin once again to seek Him in all that I do.

I know that this isn't about diets or addictions or housekeeping regimens, but yet in so many ways it is to me, because in giving to God I give all. I need to seek God in all that I do, so that in running the race, I'm running to win that I may attain the uncorruptible crown of glory. God doesn't expect perfection, but He does accept my tarnished and torn gift of love.

The gift of love that I offer Him is this. "And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I not as one that beateth the air." ~ 1 Corinthians 9:25-26

______________________________________