The Happy Day Project 2012

Have you seen this? If not, go over to Life Rearranged and check it out! It looks like so much fun and what better way to brighten your day than to make someone else's day better!

 

It starts Monday so unless I'm starting a new job (praying!) I'll be back to post about what we've done...

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Trunk or Treat 2012

Trunk or Treat 2012

 

B wanted to do a nativity-themed trunk for our first trunk or treat with her beloved doll WIQ (which is pronounced "Phillip" in case you were wondering) starring as the baby Jesus and a  'Jesus loves you and me' poster that she made herself.

 

We decided to go handmade with her angel costume so I found a fabulous tutorial at Maker Mama to make angel wings out of paper plates! Can I just take a moment to say how much I love the interwebs...I could never think up this stuff on my own. They turned out great and for the 10 minutes or so that she actually wore them we got several complements, not bad for $0! You can also see her halo that I made with some pipe cleaners and a headband. I thought she might not like it but she thought it was perfect so who am I to argue with that!

 

I was running the Plinko game (remember that one?) so I ended up doing about 300 squats over the course of the evening. It was so busy I didn't even realize it until the end of the night when I was hoarse and sore. Hopefully it will help make up for all the Butterfingers I ate earlier in the day...

 

A, my oldest, passed out the candy and punched holes in each child's card that came by. A few times I caught myself saying "Ok, go over there so she can punch you and give you candy!". I don't think anyone noticed though. :-)

 

At the end of the night we had a great time, burned or consumed many calories and most importantly showed several hundred of our neighbors the love of Christ. I have no idea what we'll do next year but this year was probably my favorite so far.

Reclaiming Halloween

About a week or so ago I posted about how we've been rethinking Halloween and what that means for our family this year so I thought I'd come back and share what we plan to do.

Fortunately, this year Halloween falls on a Wednesday so our church has decided as a missions opportunity to hold a trunk-or-treat and invite the neighborhood to come. Oh, I can hear it now:
Come on, so you change the name a little and do it in the church parking lot instead of your block, how's that really different?

Well, truthfully it doesn't have to be. We could dress up, throw candy at some kids and go home no different than if we'd done nothing at all. The actions by themselves are worthless, empty filthy rags without God.

Or we could plan a bunch of stuff and invite God to come and hope He blesses it. "Hey, God look at all we're doing here for You! What would You do without us?" type of thing. That would be worthless too and maybe worse because we're deceiving ourselves as well as others.

But here's where it's at for me and why it makes sense for our family:

Recently our pastor said something that really stuck with me - God can take something meant for evil and reclaim it for His glory. He can. And does. The story of Joseph is a good example of God doing this, Moses is another. As Christians, we don't have to hide inside while darkness gathers around us, we can allow God to use us to fulfill His mission!

Here's another thing, God gives certain commands in the Bible and those commands are not contingent on the calendar. There's no out just because it's October 31 any more than thinking we only need to tell others about God on Christmas and Easter. 1 John 5:3 says, "This is love for God: to obey His commands." and in John 15:14 "You are my friends if you do what I command.".

• We are commanded to put Him first.

• We are commanded to love our neighbor.

• We are commanded to serve. The first time I typed sever...yikes!

• We are commanded to spread the gospel.

I'm sure some will disagree but for us these commands apply here. This is something that we are to do every day, and I think that this is an opportunity to do it on a larger scale than we could otherwise.

God is the focus, we are the followers.

We can't do the work, only God can, but we can be obedient to His commands and I don't think that we would accomplish that effectively by either boycotting Halloween by hiding in our houses or embracing Halloween as willing participants. This is the way that we feel God is leading our family to spend this time, it may look different for yours. I'd love to hear your thoughts and plans in the comments!

Linking to:

Gratitude

Lord, I am so thankful today for your loving care for me. Even though I don't deserve it you lavish me with your love. Thank you that even though my window is broken, I can still see the wonder of your creation through it, and although my bank account is empty, I've never felt richer in you. Thank you for the beautiful bluebirds in my back yard, for opening my eyes to your Word, for sermons that pierce my heart, and for friends that hold me accountable. I am so grateful. Help me to remember that You are all I need, nothing more.  I am resting in You. Amen.

Trusting God With Our Kids

Sounds strange doesn't it? If anything, God should be the ONLY one we trust with our kids, but the reality of it is that my thoughts and actions don't always line up with what I know to be true. The school bus is a glaring example in my life of where I love God, but I don't necessarily trust Him, and a lesson for me in learning to give Him my all.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating the other end of the spectrum where we send the kids out to play on the freeway and expect God to do the babysitting! We are responsible for our children and accountable to God for them. I'm saying that I've realized that when I keep my kids on a short leash, it's sometimes because I feel like I have to do God's work to keep them safe. In other words, subconsciously I think God might try to take them early, so I hover over them to keep anything bad from happening to them, as if I can thwart the plans of God. This isn't something I do consciously or intentionally, but when I have the sense of dread when I send them out, or go against my husbands wishes (and the limits of our gas budget) to drive them to school myself, rather than put them on the bus, my actions reveal what is really in my heart.

I believe that part of my fear and doubt began on April 26, 2010 when a beautiful high school girl in my area got off the school bus and simply disappeared. You can read about her story and her parent's tireless efforts to find her here: http://www.alexandrialowitzer.com/ . I pray for Ali and her family often as I can't imagine what they are going through and my heart hurts so badly for them. Please take a moment to look at their website and send prayer their way. Unfortunately, there are many other families searching for loved ones, you can find more information at the Laura Recovery Center website.

As frightening as that is, however, it should give us a healthy respect of our surroundings & make us cautious, which is biblical (Proverbs 14:16), not handicap us with fear, which is not. I think that part of what causes us as parents to take this fear too far is simply the reluctance to give God our all, which includes our children. But if I do this I've made an idol, not just of my kids, but of my ability as a parent to protect them.

So maybe you're still thinking, jeez lady, what's the big deal? My kids have been riding the bus since kindergarten! Here's the thing about the bus: it's not the bus. It's the way my fear and distrust makes me see the bus. If transportation wasn't an issue, it'd be something else because it's the situation of my heart that's the issue here, not the external circumstance that exposes it.

Why shouldn't I trust my children to Him? He made them after all and gave them to me as a gift (Psalm 127:3). He loves them more than I ever can!

I'll come back in another post to explore what The Bible has to say about God's sovereignty and our children but today I will be a doer of the word and live out my faith instead of just talking about it. Today my child rides the bus home from school and I WILL NOT FEAR.

Linking to:

What I Know Now

One of the blogs I've started following recently is having a blog link-up to share stories of life lessons to share with others so I thought I'd share mine:

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

 

I became a christian at a young age but for years no one would have known that, or maybe even believed it if I had told them. See, I felt like once I had accepted Christ I was done and could do whatever I wanted after that safe in the knowledge that I was saved. What I know now is that I wasted years of my life pursuing things that brought me little joy when I could have had the peace and joy that comes from having a relationship with God. I had traded the truth of God for a lie and eventually my lukewarm lifestyle caught up with me. I was burned out from trying to do it all on my own and not sure where to turn.

 

I remember being so overwhelmed with everything that I wished I had my own sensory deprivation chamber that I could hide in to escape the world! Unfortunately, I didn't have one at my disposal so one night when I just couldn't take any more I did the next best thing, I shut off all the lights, the TV and everything else and just lay on my couch in the dark wondering if I was going crazy. At first it was weird just laying there, then kind of relaxing, and all of a sudden the most amazing thing happened. A commercial for a church in my area popped in my head and in an instant I knew what was missing. A relationship with my Savior! It was time for this prodigal daughter to come home.

 

That was years ago and I can't say that since then everything's been easy or that I don't sometimes need a reminder of who is in charge but what I know now is that if you're feeling overwhelmed & weary, it's time to stop trying to do it on your own. Lay your burden down & turn to your Heavenly Father for rest.

Linking to:

 



I am full!

Remember the old coffee commercial slogan, "Fill it to the rim...with Brim."?

I have no idea if Brim is still around (I'm a Folger's girl myself, and I'll keep the caffene thankyouverymuch) but the catch phrase was clever enough to stick in my then too young for coffee brain and came to mind as I read the scripture passage this morning.

 

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

Colossians 2:9-10

 

Fullness seems to be a theme in Colossians. Paul mentions it more than once in chapter 1 and includes it in both verses here. Fullness means 'filled to capacity' so the thankfulness he speaks of in verse 7, as well as love and other fruits might be considered an outpouring or overflow because we are filled completely with Him. If I am filled with Christ, the things of Him will be an outpouring of that fullness.

 

Here's another thought, usually when I've finished a big meal I stop eating. Why? I'm full so I don't want any more. If I try to keep eating after I'm full what will happen? I may make myself sick, I'll probably gain more weight than necessary and can become unhealthy. In the same way when I have Christ I am full and complete and have everything I need in Him. However, if I start to doubt that and feel like I need something more to fulfill me I can become spiritually unhealthy. Just like my body shows to the world when I've taken in too much, my life will reflect if I'm trying to take on too much. If that happens I may need to stop what I'm doing and go back to verse 8.

 

What about you? Are you full?