Predictions

(written 4/2)

Right now it is supposed to be raining.

The skies were supposed to be drippy all day today. 

I woke this morning thinking, “What good are warmer temperatures if it is just going to rain for days on end?” God immediately called me to confess that bad attitude. This rain fills our water table and sees us through the dryness later and I am Thankful for it.  I told Him so. As we drove to school I marveled at the closeness of the clouds with their many hues of gray. T said “They look so real! So close!” They were close, large black thunder heads that threatened to split the sky at any moment.  The air was warm and fluid. I reveled in it, waiting for the rain.

Now, eight hours later, the rain hasn’t come down yet.

I am feeling so loved.  God knew I needed a break. Knew I needed 20 minutes at the park to watch my precious ones run, climb, laugh and yell! The breeze is blowing across me. It smells amazing. I am so very thankful that the predictions proved false.  

Predictions are good. They can help us prepare for what is to come. Predictions are also dangerous.  They set up expectations that may or may not come to pass. It is really a 50/50 proposition, predicting the future.  There are no guarantees.  Predictions of weather do not control us.  Neither do predictions of other people.   I do not have to live up to the predictions of other people.  I can live free of them because God has claimed me as His child. He has set me apart for His purpose.  I believe this.  

There is a song out right now called “the Voice of truth”. This song zings me every time I hear it. It talks about the predictions of others. 

“But the giant’s calling out my name and he laughs at me

Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed

The giant keeps on telling me

Time and time again ‘Boy you’ll never win

You’ll never win!’”

“But the voice of truth tells me a different story”

The voice of truth tells me a different story! The predictions of others don’t bind me.  They don’t hold you.  Live free of the negative predictions of other people.

Lord, help me listen for your voice of truth. Help me to hear your leading and not take serious the dire predictions of others.

Too much time at the Coffee Shop

          Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists

           Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND post a comment on our post with a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post to share with us and all those who are participating. If you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!

I have decided to jump on the band wagon of Top Ten Tuesdays. There are lots of get to know you style listings and I want to do a few. These will show up on random Tuesdays.  I've included a link to the originator of this program. Some weeks I will follow their prompts and other times I will do my own thing. So here goes:

Top ten signs You have spent TOO much time at the Coffee Shop

#10. You are talking faster (way faster) than normal and making very little sense.

#9. When You have met all the people who posted business cards on the bulletin board.

#8.  You have updated your facebook status more than 4 times since morning.

#7. The barista doesn't wait for you to order he just starts making your usual.

#6. The barista by passes you for the person in line behind you because he knows you haven't made up your mind yet.

#5. Other patrons avoid "your table".

#4. You have more than 5 tabs or windows open on the laptop.

#3. You briefcase smells like coffee

#2. You and your partners have been nicknamed "The View" by the baristas.

#1. The fact that all of the above is My Reality.

There you are my top ten tuesday.

Now "back to work, Back to WORK!" (Gru - Despicable Me)

Time flies...

( started April 19th)

Spring break was here.

Now it is gone.

The week since spring break is gone too.

Wow.

(You know, I always thought my mother was a little daft when she talked about how fast time moves as you get older. I was wrong, it really does go by like a speeding locomotive! Sorry Mom!)

I have lots of exciting things going on in my world. They make a little nervous (or a lot nervous, since I keep bringing the nerves up), but they also excite me. As I look to the coming summer and school year.... I want to be organized.  I want to have a system I can maintain to be a woman of Faith, Mother, Wife, teacher, and business woman. Because of this I am researching, digging, sorting, cleaning out, and organizing.

Researching home school curricula and business plans. Digging and sorting through old papers and my personal clutter. Mentally cleaning out spaces to figure out the future plan. And then...

nothing.

I last published on 4/21/11. Life has been so wild. I am so glad for the flexibility of my life. Meetings to set up structure for the new business are flowing. We are almost there. Our goal is to have our structure in place before school is out mid-June. Pray we get this established.  We are also currently working on projects that need attention. I will post about the business in a few days and fill you in all the fun details.

Through this process I have been so thankful for God's continuous grace to me. Also thankful for His strength and vision to see this through. Time flies past me. Sometimes I feel like I cannot maintain the struggle to keep up with the flow. The hope of a new future keeps me looking forward as I seek His guidance for these new ventures He is leading me toward. Where is God leading you today? What dreams is He scaring you with? Where will you follow him before time flies away?

of Judgement....

Life brings judgment. Everyday in every activity we make judgments, receive judgments, process what those judgments mean to our lives. The misconception that life could be free from judgment is so prevalent we forget that all decisions come from judgments. Are we qualified to judge? how do we know?

I am finding that judgment is necessary. What I've found imperative is knowing your attitude. Are you making judgment on something that has no pertinence to you? Are you making your decision based on your compassion? Jesus made regular judgments - The money-changers in the temple were chased out in anger; The woman caught in adultery was not condemned. Do I make judgments based on my own frazzledness? We all do. I do it with my kids all the time. Lord, forgive me. Do you make judgments based on your own filters and understanding?  Yes. You cannot make them any other way. This is why knowing the Lord is so important.

Say you have a best friend whom you know really well. Someone asks you "Will Cherie like this?" Can you answer with confidence? Do you know Cherie well enough to make that judgment?

Likewise in our life as Christians. Do you know the heart of Christ intimately? Can you make judgments that reflect your faith and trust in Him?

This whole idea doesn't mean I think we should beat our opinions into those around us or place value on someone based on initial impressions. I think what I want to say is be cautious in your judgments that they would be thoughtful, compassionate, and focused. I pray that your judgments would not be snap, crass, or uninformed. May the Lord guide you as you are judging the world around you everyday.


Lord Jesus, Help me make my words and choices sweet since tomorrow I may have to eat them! :) In seriousness Lord, help me to be compassionate in my judgments. Help me to follow your example to love each person as you do, regardless of what they have done or how they look.

An Unusual Place... again

This week past I served on a team ministry at a small church in Ohio. I do these throughAldersgate Renewal Ministries. This church was a neat example of love your neighbor. They genuinely cared for one another. The people wanted more of God. The hunger in this place was palpable. Coming in with the resource team to lead a retreat it was a tremendous blessing to walk into a church covered in prayer. An Unusual Place.

God did lots of things this weekend. The largest impact on me was arriving in a place covered in prayer. These people were intentional about giving the space and time to Father God. So often I try to do things in my own power. I skip the preparation of prayer and spending time with the Lord. My usual place is harried, rushed, and skittering from one task or project to the next. The other end of the spectrum is when I step into that unusual place. I can move calmly, intentionally, and be in a place of blessing others. I cover my day in prayer.  I am calling it the unusual place because I find it so hard to consistently get there amid the demands of life. I love being there in the place of quiet. I love the way I feel Him lifting me up.Yet the urgent tugs me out of the place. Bickering kids, shrilling phone, calling neighbor, they all tug at me.  Do this, go get that, stand up, sit down, write this, cook that... I am overwhelmed. I feel like my brain will implode. When I go to the unusual place, focusing on Father God, His guidance, His word, and His will, I find I can deal so much better with whatever my day throws at me.

When I entered this church for the weekend's ministry, the prayer preparation covered me like a warm blanket. It reminded me of the power of preparation, the power of listening and talking with the Lord. I am reminded of the importance of going to my unusual place.

Go to your place. Make time for Him. Let this place not be unusual but normal. Allow Him to impact your day!


Lord, Bring me to the unusual place, heal my imploding mind, prepare me to follow your guidance throughout my days! Bring me to the unusual place...Again.

The Scavenger Hunt

Yesterday we went on a scavenger hunt to find stuff around Grandma and Pap pap's farm. Check out our adventure!

 The Beginning! Complete with funny faces from T.

 #1 "I grow on a tree that is always green!"

Pixie exploring down the hill in the ravine.

#2 Silent and Gray, I am all that is left of animals that lived long ago.

We hunt for fossils on the creek bank.

 Look closely this rock has two fossils.

"We must stand on these rocks and look tough!"

#3 We are red and piled high, shaped like a rectangle and used for building to the sky.

T guessed the answer was a brick and Pixie found the pile!

#4 Gold and Gray, we like to "neigh" to hello and how are you today?

Annie & Shadow happy to see us - so long as we give them dinner

#5 Quiet and fun, where mousies like to run. I store the bales the Horsies like.

HayLoft Fun!

# 6 Many steps have I that lead up high, climb you might touch the sky.

They love walking about on the barn roof - testing their nerve!

 #7 Loops & loops water I spray to wash the dirt away

The hose

#8 With pride I reside on the side of a box where your food stays cold all day

Fridge drawings

#9 Woosh! you go when I am dressed in white.  - The sledding hill next door!

I love these pics!

#10 Some think I am sad as can be, but really I'm a beautiful Tree

The neighbors' Weeping Willow tree

#11 Slides and Firepoles, fun fun fun, Lots of kids have played in me!

Play house 

extra-ordinaire

#12 filled with hay and tractor pulled , I give a good ride - one of many wagons at the farm.

#13  A Prize  on wheels A pink signature makes me special

Grandma's MK Car!

Vacation thoughts

Some vacations are structured. Some are free flow.  We are on day 3 of a no plans vacation. The kids are starting to get a little stir crazy. I don't blame them. The farm is an exciting and wild place to play. But it has rained, and rained, and rained. Sunday night Grandma took the girls to the barn to feed the animals and somehow they all ended up in the creek!

Mud was everywhere. They had so much fun! Amazing what a muddy creek and grandma's sense of adventure will do for boredom. Yesterday, more rain. We stayed inside hanging out, playing Barbies. The girls even talked Pap Pap into watching "Despicable Me". It was a fun family time.

  


     The plan for this vacation was to veg out as much as possible. Visits to the Great grandmothers must be accomplished before we head home. The Admiral is upgrading Grandma's computer system as well. So today to ward off the boredom monster, we are doing some workbook pages,  having some reading time, and a scavenger hunt. My idea being to give the girls a list of clues like "a large pile of rectangle shaped red building supplies" They have to figure out where this is on the farm and take a picture there. ( answer: the old brick pile ) Then I will make a collage of their pictures. :) They are hyper excited about this adventure! I have 15 places for them to discover. Nothing fancy just fun. Tomorrow I will post the clues and the pics of the hunt!

      I look at them today and realize that too much time without plans is HARD. Hard like constantly planned activities.  I think perhaps this is because we get our selves stuck in a rut of comfortable activities. Then sooner or later they aren't satisfying any more. The challenge is conquered. It is possible that this why the Lord leads us into new areas when we are seeking His will in our lives. Challenge and learning, digging deeper to know Him more! Looking into the future, I am excited about where God is leading. I am nervous too. I haven't walked this road before. Can I really do it? This feels weird. Like a new shoe. God is Leading, I must trust Him. God made me and He believes I can do the tasks He has set before me. So lets go!  A new adventure, plan something, don't float and be a vegetable. Go. Seek. Follow. The adventure will find you.