Obsessed...

Following is a poem written by my daughter Abby. Enjoy...


What if....
we became as consumed and obsessed with Christ as we are with so many other things?
we truly believed that Jesus is who He says He is and that He is sufficient?
we found all of our desires fulfilled in Christ?
we stopped compromising and started living set-apart?
we fell deeper in love with Jesus like never before?
hmm......what if??

Obsessed
Longing to be loved
Needing to belong
Feeling empty
Pretending to be strong
Makeup, hair, perfect date
Fashion, Clothes, perfect weight
Attention, Perfection
Security, Affection
Shows on TV
Quoting the latest movie
News feed,
Texts to read
The craving, the hunger,
The compromise I’m living under
Nothing can suppress:
I’ve become obsessed
Is there something more
That this life is meant for?


Unbelievably loved
Eternally I belong
Completely filled
I’m weak, but He’s strong
The cross was His weight
Our sins determined His fate
He bore the rejection
Godly perfection
Glorious resurrection
John chapter 3
Words it beautifully
“The Son of God died for me”
He’s satisfies the hunger
He despises the compromise I’m living under
Nothing can suppress:
I’ve become obsessed
Christ is the something more
He’s the one my heart has always longed for

*Colossians 3:1-4*
*Philippians 3:7-11*

Undermining God's creation...

Satan is crafty; from the very beginning he was deceiving and tricking man. As time has passed he has had to change strategies, but his goal is always the same; to move man away from God. He started out in the Garden by deceiving Eve, and he's been busy deceiving man ever since!

One of Satan's more recent approaches has been to attack the family. He gained some ground with this war, families are all so busy now, both parents are working, kids are in every activity imaginable, divorce is rampant, and now we have gay marriage. So in defense of that many Christians have gone on the offensive, fighting off his attacks before they began. Many organizations such as Focus on the Family and Family Life were created to give families some ammunition, to learn how to be a family, how to be a husband, how to be a wife. My own husband took a job as Family Life Pastor because we have a passion for families, that they would grow closer to God and as a result closer to each other.

Lately though, I've been noticing a new area of attack. It's This attack is a bold attempt to slap God in the face, a way to get man to question their very creation. A way to make us wonder if maybe God does make mistakes.  I read an article in the Des Moines Sunday Register that got my blood boiling. I was so mad as I read this article I had to call my husband just to vent. I was surprised this was happening at all, let alone in my state. There is a college in Iowa that has been promoting and encouraging gender-free living. Gone are the days where men and women had their own dorms. Now they not only share a dorm, they share a dorm room and a bathroom. This is not about a sexual relationship, its about gender. Here is a quote from the article: "Ideally, we would live in a gender-neutral world where your sex wouldn't define you. We wouldn't be defined by our physical bodies." In fact there are new pronouns to replace he and she (because these are too gender specific), if you are a female you would be called "ze" and if you are a male you are called "hir". This is about allowing a person to choose which gender they want to be, plumbing is no longer important.

I see this as a direct attack on Genesis 1:27: 

So God created man in his own image,
   in the image of God he created him;
   male and female he created them. 

God created us male and female. He knew what He was doing. When He was finished He declared His creation to be very good. Adam didn't complain to God that He made a mistake. He accepted that he was a man. God hasn't gotten lazy or sloppy lately, when He creates us He doesn't get DNA or body parts mixed up. He knows what He is doing. We are each created with a purpose and God has a plan for each of us. We cannot begin to allow Satan to have a foothold on this issue. God created us male and female, we don't get to choose this one. We need accept who we are and follow God's guidelines for what we were created to be.

As much as I complain about the pains of being a female, I would never trade who I am. God allowed me as a woman the joy of carrying and delivering three miracles into this world. He made me to be a mother to them.

I think our first response is to pray. We need to show Satan that He cannot attack God's creation like that. We need to pray for people to see that being male and female is special and how they were born is how they need to live!! Take some time and reacquaint yourself with Genesis. It is very clear in that book that God created us male and female, lets not allow Satan to win on this one!

There's power in the blood...

This week I found out I am slightly anemic. This experience got me thinking about the first time our family got up close and personal with anemia, it happened when our daughter Abby was a senior in high school.

Abby was  a starter on her varsity basketball team, but this was  a rough season for her. After being in a game for only a few minutes she would need a sub as she was struggling with her breathing. She would sit for a few minutes and then go in for just a few more. Naturally we made several trips to the doctor that seaon. The diagnosis was that she had asthma, so numerous inhalers were prescribed. She was tired a lot of the time and also had a strange obsession with ice, she was always craving it and eating it. There was one game that really had us scared for her. She couldn't get subbed as quickly as normal and we could see her struggling to make it up and down the floor. We were ready to call time out to get her out of there. After that game, we made one more trip to the doctor and he had no answers for us. We were frustrated, we kept praying and doing all we could with drugs and breathing techniques to help her out.

Shortly after that our miracle came. Abby was doing her Anatomy and was reading about blood and blood disorders. At lunch she casually mentioned the symptoms of anemia and I realized that has to be it (big time light bulb moment!!), why didn't we see it before. So, I called the nurse and we agreed a blood test would be good. Well, as soon as the test was completed our doctor made sure to see us asap. Abby was not only anemic, she was borderline in need of a transfusion! The cool thing is Abby had just diagnosed herself.(hurray for homeschoolers!)

notice how her skin is as white as the uniform...a sign we missed...

How could we all miss something that now seemed so glaringly obvious. It was missed because we were all focusing on her breathing and previous diagnosis of asthma. We got some iron pills and started pushing the red meat on her. By the end of the season, Abby was able to play with more energy and set some personal scoring records for herself. She even survived a double overtime game! She went from being as white as her uniform to a rosy pink color when she played! (oh and by the way, the craving for ice is actually a symptom of anemia!)


As we look back on this time, we see that what Abby did during that basketball season was all God. With her levels so low, she should have been struggling getting out of bed, yet she managed to practice and play in BB games. We prayed for answers and strength for her and God answered. This week as I'm struggling with my own anemia I keep thinking about her. My levels are about 4 point higher than hers were and I'm tired, I know God was keeping her going during that time. There truly is power in the blood!!! God knew Abby's testimony on this team was important, she is one of those truly joyful people and her team needed her!! Plus what an amazing testimony of God's power working to give someone strength when they were weak.

After the double overtime win...smiling and able to play!

for such a time as this...

Esther 4:14b

"And who knows but that you have come to your royal position

for such a time as this?” 

(NIV)

"And who knows whether you have not attained royalty 

for such a time as this?”

(NASB)

"Who knows if perhaps you were made queen  

for just such a time as this?” 

(NLV)

"Maybe you were made queen

for just such a time as this."

(The Message)

Not matter which translation this verse is read in, the message is unmistakably clear. Esther was there for such a time as this.

I've been pondering that phrase for a few weeks now. How can this relate to my life? God has made it clear to me that there are many instances in my life that I was put where I was for such a time as this.

10 years ago, our family was making preparations to set out on the first half of a six month journey. This journey was called The Goliath Project. Our church gave Brian their blessing for us to take this trip. We left September 4th headed to Carson City, NV,  our first stop on a prayer journey across this nation. Our goal to pray in all the state capitols. We prayed specifically for each state and for our nation.

 
7 days into our trip something awful happened...9/11! We were in California at the time, we reacted like much of the country, disbelief and fear and lots of prayer. Our initial reaction was we needed to get home, we longed for the familiar. However, God soon showed us that continuing on praying for our country was exactly what we needed to be doing. This was a big "for such a time as this" moment. Did our prayers save a nation like Esther's actions saved her people? No. But we were obedient and maybe someday God will show us just what our prayers did do!

In 2004, we were sure that God was moving us to move. We thought we found the perfect church in a small town in Iowa, we interviewed there and our whole family fell in love with the town. A few days later we got the call that they were going with the other guy. We were so disappointed, but we had another church interested in us and we continued to pursue them. We were sure they liked us and would ask to interview us...wrong again! The message from God was clear:

So we went on with life content to stay put for the time. A few months later, a family in our church experienced a gut wrenching tragedy. We were there "for such a time as this" in their lives. We cried with them, prayed with them and helped them move on in the midst of pain. Our church family rallied in an amazing way for this family. Would this family have made it through this time without us? Yes, but God allowed us to be part of something so powerful, "for such a time as this". Several months later the second church who had turned us down called us back and we have been in that church for 6 years now! God kept us in Colorado just  a bit longer "for such a time as this".

Those are two of many examples in my life of God placing my family somewhere "for such a time as this". How about you? Has God placed you somewhere for such a time as this? I think when we begin to look at things through God-colored glasses it becomes easier to see those times. God can use us in big and small ways. It could be as simple as letting that harried mom go first in the grocery line, or smiling at an elderly person in church or as big as giving someone a meal when they were hungry or comforting a family in the midst of sorrow. We may never know all the ways God uses us "for such a time as this", but won't it be fun someday to be given an account of those times that God used us! Let's just not be so caught up in our own lives that we miss these opportunities to be used by God and to be a blessing to others!

If God had tech support...

"Hello...welcome to XYZ Computer Company. Your call will be answered shortly, please enter your account number to speed up your hold time, estimated hold time 3 minutes."

Beep, Beep, Beep goes the phone as I enter in the 6 digits, and then after 6 minutes I get a person. He asks all kinds of questions about what the problem is, I do all the things to my computer he tells me to; to no avail. Sigh...

"I'm sorry ma'am, this problem requires a call to the ABC Computer Company, here's their number."

"Hello, you have reached the ABC Computer Company, if your problem is with technical support, please dial 1....ok, if you know the name of your operating system please say it now...ok, please give me your phone number." All this and then I get a real person, who asks for all the information I just gave! He realizes he needs to connect me to tech support. (I thought this guy was tech support!) "Please hold while I figure out how long you are going to need to hold." 5 minutes later..."Your hold time will be 3 minutes."

The 3rd person I talk to tells me he has to take control of my computer to find the problem. So I sit back and watch him take control and fix the problem!! Total time on my part 90 minutes!

Probably not a good idea to call tech support on a Monday morning, but I had a lot of time to think while on hold. I decided I am so glad that God does not use technology when it comes to listening to our prayers, problems, tears, and praises. When I need "tech support" from God all I have to do is start talking and He's there. Imagine if God had a phone tree for us to go to with our prayers. "Dial 1 for prayer requests, 2 for praises, 3 for flare prayers..." That would be so frustrating!

Then I also got to thinking about the way my computer got fixed. I turned complete control over my computer over to a total stranger. Why? Because I figured he had all the right answers and could fix my computer. I just sat there and watched as he opened and closed programs and fixed the problem. How often do we trust God with total control of our lives? We may "call" Him up and ask for His help, but do we turn over control to Him? Complete control? After all, isn't God smarter than a guy from tech support? Doesn't He know exactly what we need?

So I'm thankful that God does not use an automated answering system for my prayers and I need to give Him the controls! He knows more than me and He hasn't steered me wrong yet! The only time I crash is when I try and take over the controls again!!