Date Night...well, sorta

We don't get many opportunities to get dressed up and go out around here...especially during the week. However, Phil had to present an award at the Chamber of Commerce Awards Ceremony last Tuesday, so we got to dress up and hit the party for a date night. We enjoyed wonderful food and listening to guest speak Barbara Dooley and her husband Vince, and most of all just getting out of the house for a change:-)

My fabulous hubby and myself before heading out.

Jesse wanted to take a picture with Mama and Daddy:-)

Vince and Barbara Dooley

Barbara taking her final bow after singing I Just Called to Say I Love You.

Phil presented the Industry of the Year Award to Bacon County Hospital System.

Barbara Dooley spoke at length about counting your blessings, and showing love to one another. She ended her speech by asking the audience to join her in singing I Just Called to Say I Love You. She encouraged us to not postpone telling those around us that we love them. Two days later this devotion arrived in my inbox that totally reminded me of me and my hubby. We are definitely mismatched candlesticks. Luckily, our differences compliment each other, rather than cause strife (most of the time anyway). And I can say without hesitation, that my hubby never forgets, gets too busy, or postpones telling me that he loves me! Thank you Lord for blessing me with my best friend as my husband. May I always remember to treasure him.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Ephesians 1:3

Love

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Eleven years ago I married the most wonderful, the most frustrating, the most loving, and the most aggravating man that I have every known! Today he still thinks that I'm beautiful inside and out, he still makes me laugh, even when I think that I'm mad at him, he is still coming to my rescue when I won't go anywhere near my car because a mouse has stowed away, he is still MY BEST FRIEND!
I am the luckiest woman in the world.
Thank you Lord for blessing me with this man.

Today I read the most perfect devotion to celebrate our Christmas time anniversary and I wanted to share it with you.

A Gut Honest Look at Love
by: Lysa TerKeurst

"if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."
1 Corinthians 13:2 (NIV)

As the holidays approach, I have to be careful about developing an overly ideal view of love. Sometimes I'm guilty of setting the expectations so high of what a 'love filled' Christmas should be that it dooms me to feeling disappointed and grumpy. Ever been there? Well, this year I am feeling challenged to look at love a little differently. I don't want to repeat a habit that I've had from the past where I expect unrealistic things from those I love. I used to hold out the little cup of my heart to my husband, "Will you fill my empty spaces? Will you do that one really romantic thing that makes me feel like I'm the most terrific and special woman in the world? "Then I would hold it out to my children, "Will you fill up my empty spaces? Will you do something that makes me look really good as a mom so I'll feel a little more validated?"Then I would hold it out to my friends, "Will you fill up my empty spaces? Will you provide something today that makes me feel more included and significant?"Maybe Christmas is an odd time to consider such things.Or, maybe this season celebrating Jesus is the perfect time to hit the reset button on my sometimes frail heart. Love is a tricky thing. Our hearts were created to crave it. But misplaced expectations from love can wreak havoc in a person's heart.God proclaims in 1 Corinthians 13:8 that love never fails. And in the quietness of my heart that verse makes me squirm a bit. I see love failing all the time. Or do I?If my only view of love is what it will give me, love from others will fail me every time. It's not that love fails. It's that other people were never meant to be my God. Even a great husband, wonderful children and a thriving ministry can never truly fill me up, right all my wrongs, and soothe those deep insecurities. Not at Christmas. Not at any other time of the year.No, I can't read 1 Corinthians chapter 13 with eyes hungry to see what love should give me and then demand it from those around me. I should read those steadfast Scriptures with the realization that this is the kind of love God gives to me. And this is the kind of love I can choose to give to other people.I can choose that my love will be patient. My love will be kind. My love won't keep a record of wrongs. (Ouch - that's a hard one, right?)I can choose that my love will protect and persevere.And I can choose to lay the cup of my heart at Jesus' feet and stop twirling, twirling, twirling...hoping- demanding- that those around me do things for me they were never meant to do.Interestingly enough, when I read 1 Corinthians 13 again this morning I found an odd yet perfect verse toward the end of this chapter. "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me" (verse 11).Yes indeed. How funny I never connected that verse about putting away childish things with 1 Corinthians 13 - known as the chapter of love. Oh how we have the propensity to grow in other areas while keeping such a childish, selfish view of love.Love isn't what I have the opportunity to get from this world. Love is what I have the opportunity to give. And I guess there's no more appropriate time to remember this than Christmas.

Dear Lord, thank You for the ability to see love in the proper way. Help me to know how to be filled with Your love so I don't try to get others to fill my empty spaces. Lord, give me wisdom with each of my relationships. Make me a woman that properly lives the principals in 1 Corinthians 13. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

I want to move to Australia!

Today was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
And I want to move to Australia.
Any of you out there recognize the voice of Alexander???
I used to read that book on the first day of school.
I now know why.
Since school has started my life has been filled with terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days, mostly because my 3 year old totally refuses to "adjust" to school. Mornings are a fight and I'm called out of my classroom almost daily to attend to potty problems.
Today was the worst.
Then I came home.
And in my email inbox there were two very important things:

#1...My daily devotional which concluded with this:

Is there a situation you are facing that has made you weary? Are you at a point
where you have nothing more to say? If so, you are not alone. Let's pray today
that our words will cease so that we can make room in our hearts and thoughts to
hear His.

Hmmm....a very important reminder!

#2...An interview in which Rick Warren said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a
nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and
God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and
that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100
years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is
the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.
God wants us to practice on earth what
we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you
figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.
Life is a series of
problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're
getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more
interested in your character than your comfort.
God is more interested in
making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be
reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to
grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest
year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife getting cancer.
I used to
think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go
to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.
Rather than
life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a
railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in
your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always
something bad that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in
your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.
You can
focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.
If you focus on
your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, "which is my problem, my
issues, my pain."
But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get
your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that
in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to
heal my wife or make it easy for her.
It has been very difficult for her, and
yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other
people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You
have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually,
sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past
year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me
instantly very wealthy.
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never
had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your
own ego or for you to live a life of ease.
So I began to ask God what He
wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two
different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm
72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our
lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through
last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
Third, we set up
foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches,
equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next
generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24
years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to
be able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live
for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt?
Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my
life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say,
God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love
You better ...
God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's
more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human
beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments,
SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every
moment, THANK GOD

I needed both of these reminders today. I needed to remember that I am not walking through these problems alone. I needed to remember that He has a plan in all of this. I needed to remember that it is okay to cry out to Him and say, "please change this!" He may not answer but that's okay too. And most importantly, I needed to remember that there is good in everything. People that I didn't really know at all a month ago came to my rescue today. They comforted me, they allowed me to vent, and they voluntarily took over for me so that I could have time to recover without fourteen 4th graders watching my stress. Yes, I have a lot to be thankful for!

Dear Lord, Thank you for the people that you have placed in my life.
Help me to trust You to work out the problems that Jesse is facing in preschool
and to seek Your counsel and not rely on my own answers. In Jesus'
Name. Amen

Life's Twists and Turns

Life is full of surprises and twists and turns and it seems that I never wind up exactly where I was planning on going. When I left teaching in 2002, I always thought I'd go back to it, one day, way down the road. However, I thought that it would be years and years and years because I never dreamed that we'd move away from McDonough and I never in a million years thought that we'd move back to our hometown!!! In my plans, our life would continue on pretty much as was, Phil working a nice 9 to 5 type job that he truly enjoyed and I would be at home raising the babies. What turns my life has taken in the last 7 years! I never dreamed that Phil would wind up owning/working his butt off for four or five different companies. I never dreamed that he would wind up farming thus meaning that I would be a farmer's wife. I mean when we dated I made it perfectly clear that farming was not the life for me!!! The hours, the uncertainty, the highs and lows...that is not something I wanted. Don't get me wrong, I am so very, very happy that there are people out there who love to farm. I mean where would we be without them??? But that's not my life! Well, the Lord has surely shown me that my plans are not HIS plans and that I better get with HIS program. Phil is currently farming hay in our hometown, the job and location that I never would have picked ten years ago. However, I can look back and certainly see God's grace in all the twists and turns that have lead us here and I can say with 100% certainty that there is no place I would rather be. A few weeks ago another new chapter, another turn took place in our lives. I went back to teaching. I know with absolute certainty that I am absolutely where God placed me. I adored being a stay at home mom. It is absolutely the best job in the world! However, now that my children are growing I wanted something more...a connection to people, to feel as though I was making a difference in the world, and most definitely stability. When I first began looking for a teaching position, several people suggested the small Christian school that Trey was attending. I brushed it off because if I was going back to work then I certainly needed to make x amount and we definitely needed insurance, and the list went on. But God was at work in my heart and once I started listening to Him I realized that there was no place that I would want to be other than that very Christian school. It took some time, but I finally landed right where God had intended me to be the whole time. I love the environment, I love the people, and I am really enjoying 4th grade! It is so different than where I was before Trey came along and I am truly happy. However, there are so many feelings of guilt too. Since I am now in the classroom it means that I will miss out on field trips, class parties, and all the "room mom" type stuff. I will miss that and I feel guilty about it. Jesse has not had an easy time making the adjustment from being with Mommy all day to going to school. He cries and whines and says he doesn't like school at all. It makes me feel oh so very guilty. However reading my daily devotions definitely helps. It's so funny isn't it, that they always seem to be speaking directly to me and a situation that I'm facing. One last week stated "As a mom, I have an opportunity to bring out the best in my children. But it consistently means I have to bring out the best in me." Now this particular devotion wasn't talking about me going back to work. It was trying to show how as moms we can't model one behavior, such as impatience, and expect our children to learn an opposite behavior. I must also admit here that I don't always take the time to read my daily devotions and I probably would have skipped right past this one except that my sister-in-law posted the prayer on her facebook page and also blogged about it's impact on her. And folks, lightening struck! Being the best teacher that I can be, surrounded by eager young minds that I can help shape and mold both intellectually and SPIRITUALLY while working with a wonderful, loving Christian staff most certainly brings out the BEST IN ME!!! And that means that I shouldn't be having these feelings of guilt! Okay, all us moms know that the feelings of guilt never truly go away, but if I am exactly where I am supposed to be, fulfilling God's plan for my life and I'm also consistently bringing out the best in me, then doesn't that mean that I am being the Mommy that I am supposed to be??? I think so! So while the feelings of guilt still linger, and are sometimes quite strong (I was in tears before leaving the house this morning after listening to Jesse tell us how much he didn't like school for at least an hour!) I have the power through our Lord and Saviour to move past those feelings and know that I am doing the best possible job that I can for my family and it's the job that God has intended for me all along. I'll leave you today, after my long and windy monologue, with the devotional prayer from that day. It is one that I needed, and I hope somewhere in all of this that I have inspired and/or helped one of you!

Dear Lord, thank You for calling me to be the mother of my children. I confess that at times I fall far short of where I want to be in this area of my life. I know I can't do this high calling of motherhood without Your Spirit within me. Help me to submit my selfish will to Your perfect way. Thank You for loving me and seeing my potential to grow and change. In Jesus' Name, Amen

On It's Way

I hope that I am not breaking any laws here, and if I am I beg forgiveness in advance.
I recently began receiving a daily devotional via email. The one on Tuesday spoke volumes to me and even had me in tears. I have reread it many times a day and tonight God laid it on my heart to share with all of you. I pray that it blesses you as it has blessed me.

On Its Way – Part 1
Whitney Capps

“Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God. So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them.” Exodus 2:23-25 (NASB)
Devotion:
In today’s key verse in Exodus, we’re given an update of the state of affairs in Egypt. Clearly, God’s people needed deliverance and provision. When I read this passage, what stands out to me isn’t the people’s situation but the number of times God is called “God.”

Read it out loud and see if it hits you too. In everyday conversation we don’t tend to repeat the name of the subject over and over in subsequent sentences. We say it once and then use pronouns like “He.” However, God is referenced by name 5 times in 2 sentences in this passage. Awkward? Maybe. Significant? Monumentally.

I think the purpose is to make it clear to us that God is the one in charge of all that is about to transpire. God will hear their cries, remember their situation, and look upon them with concern. Then God will initiate the activity that will set the captives free, bringing glory to His name.

The Israelites were crying out to God for help in their slavery, but had no way of knowing that their gracious God was already at work, calling Moses to be His mouthpiece and their deliverer from Egypt. God had heard their cries, but it would be some measure of time before they were aware that He had answered their prayers.

Patience is required for those who seek the face of God. He has the answer in hand before we even voice our need, but it may take some time to manifest. You’ll find many examples of this in Scripture, but can I offer you a more contemporary example?

Most of my earliest memories are set in Fort Worth, Texas where we lived while my dad attended Southwestern Seminary. I remember little of the hardships my parents and grandparents talk about. My Granny still cries every time she describes what those years were like for her young son and daughter-in-law, so poor and so far from home. My mom, though a degreed teacher, stayed at home with me. My dad went to school full-time and worked as much as his demanding study schedule would allow. These were lean times financially.

At one point during our stint in Fort Worth, our car was stolen from the apartment complex where we lived. Mom tells me that while we had insurance, we didn’t have the money to pay the $100 deductible. While my parents tried to figure out how to make the ends meet, the mail arrived that day with a letter from my dad’s childhood Sunday school teacher. The letter explained that God had laid our family on his heart a few days prior, and God had told him to send us some money. In fact, God had told him to send us $100.00!

So a letter left Georgia nearly a full day before our car was stolen and two days before we were aware of our desperate need for $100.00. Even before my sweet parents’ prayers had reached the throne room of heaven, our great God had provision on its way. Remarkable? Certainly. Significant? Monumentally!

God knew what His covenant people enslaved in Egypt needed in 1400 B.C. He knew what a poor seminary family in Fort Worth, Texas needed in 1979. And dear sister, He knows what you need today right this very minute. He knows what we need because He knows all the cares of our heart. He is intimately aware of all that happens to us, because it all comes through His hand purposed for His glory and for our good.

Dear Lord, remind me even in moments of desperation and fear that You are in control. Help me fight the temptation to worry or doubt your provision. Grant me the peace to accept Your will as your promise to protect and provide for me and my family. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Related Resources:
Intimacy with God: Your Daily Guide to Prayer by Tara Furman

What Happens When Women Walk in Faith by Lysa TerKeurst

Visit Whitney Capps’s blog

Application Steps:
Track your prayers in a prayer journal so that future generations can see how God’s faithfulness is at work in your life.

Reflections:
What are you anxiously praying for right now?

Can you resolve to set your heart at peace knowing that God’s best answer may already be on its way?

Power Verses:
Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (NIV)

© 2008 by Whitney Capps. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G, Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
http://www.proverbs31.org/