Arts of Faith

Sinning with Stretchy Pants

2017-11-27T00:06:00.000-07:00

Our youth pastor once talked about how avoiding sin required some prep work. You need safe guards in place. He compared it to going over to a certain family's house, who is known for serving yummy meals, while he is on a diet. He said that it required doing some prep work which meant that he would take along his own food, to ensure he stayed on his diet.

Sitting in my pew, I felt a little ashamed. When he mentioned doing prep work before going over to that family's house for the meal, my first thought was to skip all other meals that day and wear stretchy pants so I could pig out.

So instead of sticking with what is right, I immediately went to planning a way to not do what was right.

Definitely not a Hall of Faith moment there.

I have done that in my past. I knew I wasn't doing what God wanted me to do, but I went ahead and wore the proverbial stretchy pants so I wouldn't feel confined by my convictions.

We can come up with some great justifications while doing our sin planning. Just like I thought of skipping meals so that when I indulged later, it wouldn't be as bad, we convince ourselves the sin we are planning on doing isn't as bad as another sin. The problem with that is the fact that sin is sin.

There are no big sins or little sins. We like to categorize them as such because it makes us feel better. We don't feel we are as bad as we could be if we were doing such and such. Or we aren't as bad as that other sinner over there. But Jesus only died on one cross. He didn't die on a big cross to pay for the big sins and then go die on a small cross for the little sins.

One size cross fits ALL our sins.

Back to the stretchy pants.

Instead of thinking of ways to plan how we can sin and get away with it (yeah, there's no getting away with sinning), we should spend our energy and time thinking of ways to plan how to avoid sin.

So no more stretchy pants for me!

Faking Obedience

2017-06-27T18:01:00.000-06:00

Sassy faked going to the bathroom outside so she could go ahead and get her treat. She had no clue I was watching her through the window. I could clearly see that she had gone outside and then turned right back around to the door.

Sneaky.

She was focused on the treat, the reward, the prize. She didn't have a desire to obey for obedience's sake.

Faker.

But...

Do I fake obedience to God outwardly so I can be blessed? Or do I try to obey Him just because I want to obey Him?

To obey Him is to love Him.

By that measure, how much do I love Him?

I will strive to obey Him in all things. He is watching me like I watched Sassy through the window.

My treat, however, will be to hear the words, "Well done" from God Himself.

Beware of Wonder Woman

2017-06-24T23:25:00.000-06:00

No, I don't mean that Lynda Carter is out to get you. I am speaking more of an expectation we women put on ourselves. We think we have to be Wonder Woman. I have been there. And it is exhausting. Not to mention that after having five kids, the costume is kind of uncomfortable.

How do we measure if we are a good mom for our kids? Simple, we ask God to examine our hearts and show us where we need to improve as mothers.

Simple...but I confess it isn't/wasn't usually the first thing I do. What's the first thing we usually do? We compare ourselves to other women.

She always has it so together.
Her house is always spotless.
Her kids are so smart.

So what's wrong with comparing ourselves to others? Because that is not how God works. He doesn't compare us to others. He holds us accountable for only how each one of us is obedient to Him.

However, there seems to be this trend in our culture that our worth is measured by how much we can handle or endure. So if I have more stress in my life that must mean I am doing more important things than others are. And because I can handle all this stress, bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan...I am Wonder Woman. But...that makes it all about me.

There is now a t-shirt that men can get that says their wife is Wonder Woman. While I truly appreciate these men supporting their wives and being proud of them, I think we better be careful. That's more pressure to be this perfect woman who can handle any challenge in her own strength.

And I say this because I used to have the Wonder Woman syndrome. I wanted to people to admire just how much I could handle. Why? Oh, because that determined my worth as a mother and wife.

Wrong.

I recently watched the movie Mom's Night Out which was very entertaining and I enjoyed it. But it started me to think about why this woman would feel so stressed. And what does "stressed" really mean? We use it fairly often and casually in our culture.

Here is what a dictionary said the word means:

a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances

Ew. That is not what I want for my life. I hope it isn't what you want for yours. If we examine our lives, we will find a lot of the "stress" in our lives are of our own making. For example, in that movie, many of the things that were stressing her out were only there because she wasn't discipling her kids. Granted, the behavior shown was over-the-top for comedic effect, but I know I have created stress by not being a consistent parent with my kids. Surely God doesn't want our lives to be consumed by stress.

Here is what God says He wants for us:

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

John 14:27

Much better, right?

Of course, we do have demanding circumstances in our lives. We are in a sin-cursed world. God does allow us to experience hard times. Contrary to a popular saying that God doesn't give us more than we can handle, He actually does. Because He wants you to come to Him and let Him handle it for you. For Him to be glorified from the experience.

"Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you."

1 Peter 5:7

If I have this goal to be a Wonder Woman wife and mom, where does God fit in? When does He get the credit He deserves for giving me the ability to be the wife/mom that I am? Or for the fact that He carried me through the challenges I have faced?

My life should be pointing people to Him. Trying to be Wonder Woman only points back at me.

Why is There Chocolate?

2017-05-03T10:54:00.001-06:00

While talking with one of my language learners online, I was presented with an interesting question. I decided it was a question that forced me to examine why I do things as a Christian. Just because? Or because I truly love the Lord?

Here's the story: I was meeting with a South Korean who lives in Canada.

Inserting prayer request here: Pray for South Korea! They have a presidential election May 9th that has a lot weighing on it. One of the leading candidates has sympathetic meanings toward North Korea.

We will call her Sally. Sally and I were discussing holidays and religion. She told me she had not been really involved with any religion, but that her parents became Catholics in recent years. Sally told me she knew some about Easter, but asked if I would explain the holiday to her more in detail.

Talk about Easter? Sure! I love Resurrection Sunday! So I began. I told her about why Christ died for our sins and about how He victoriously rose from the death, which cancelled the power sin & death has over us.

She listened intently and understood the language I was using. She understood the vocabulary I was using. She understood what the holiday was truly all about. But she was genuinely confused about one thing and she asked me about it.

"Why is there chocolate?"

What Sally struggled to understand was if our culture truly was excited about Christ's resurrection, then why did we add other things like bunnies, chocolate, and eggs?

Life With Boys...September 12

2016-09-12T08:45:00.000-06:00

While waiting for breakfast to finish baking, I heard this between two sons:

"I'm here to exterminate you!"

(sound of toy automatic gunfire)

"And I'm here to insult you! You're weird!"

And the day has barely started...

Find Us Faithful

2016-05-08T15:50:00.000-06:00

Our church has been learning new songs and some of them really minister to me. However, I'm not one to toss out our old songs. Since I'm a girl from the 80's, I still have several favorites from that era. One of them is the Steve Green song, Find Us Faithful.

I have sung this song before in church services. I have always loved the words. The chorus has wonderful words:

O, may all who come behind us find us faithful

May the fire of our devotion light their way

May the footprints that we leave

Lead them to believe

And the lives we live inspire them to obey

I dusted off this song the other day and these words hit me in a new way, especially toward the end:

After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone

And our children sift through all we've left behind

May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover

become the light that leads them to the road we each must find

Now that my mom has passed away, these words have a more powerful and personal meaning to me. My sisters and I have sifted through what Mom left behind. Although we all already have a personal relationship with Jesus, the clues Mom left behind would have led us to Him.

Only Daughter received one of Mom's Bibles. There are a multitude of hand-written notes in the covers and margins.

This is a note where she had written my name and a date. The ink has blurred over the years, but I think it says "July 77". The verse is Psalm 48:14 which says, "For this God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death." I think she wrote that as a verse she was claiming for me while we were on furlough back here in the states.

These notes here are some of my favorite. These are verses she claimed for our family's ride home in the summer of 1977. My parents were serving on the mission field in Okinawa. We had flown back to the states on furlough. However, we had a little trouble getting back to Okinawa. We were using the Space Available service with military flights. At this point of time, my dad was retired, so we were hardly the first on the list to get seats. And trying to get six seats altogether...almost an impossible task. Almost, that is. But God did have a flight for us. However, we spent twenty-one days living in the terminal at Travis Air Force Base in California before that flight. We got to know people while there. I was very young at the time, so my memories are quite clouded and limited. However, knowing my parents, they were probably ministering to those around them. I love how Mom claimed a verse for each of us during that wait.

That is one of the memories I have sifted through. And yes, I have found Mom to be faithful. Now the task at hand is to leave the same for my children.

Random Question From Youngest Son

2016-03-21T12:35:00.000-06:00

Here's a random question Youngest Son asked me:

"Do we know any one who is a police officer that was shot by a bullet on New Year's Day?"

He said the question came to mind because he saw a broken beer bottle on the ground while we were taking a walk.

Beat the Odds with Bob Holmes!

2016-02-18T18:11:00.000-07:00

Our church brought in this speaker, Bob Holmes. He goes into schools and plays volleyball against teams by himself! He has even played against professional athletes. He is able to draw the crowd with this amazing talent and gets to talking to the crowd. Bob Holmes addresses the hard issues of bullying, suicide, and substance abuse. He eventually is able to share the Gospel of Christ with the crowd.

Last night we had our rally. Even though our church usually holds a Wednesday night service, we instead met in a gym and invited the community. Utah needs to hear this message. We are one of the states that has a high rate of suicide. According to one website, we have 14 suicides per 100,000 people. We have lost church members to suicide. Our twelve-year-old son lost member in his Civil Air Patrol. The young man was only in the ninth grade.

A crowd did come forward at the end to hear about Jesus. I don't know what exactly went on in their hearts, but I sure hope they chose Jesus.

For more information on Bob Holmes, please visit Beat the Odds

Zombies Who Have Trouble Sleeping

2016-02-08T19:50:00.000-07:00

The other day I had a few errands to run. Youngest Son invited himself along. As we left our last errand and headed home, he was telling me about a song someone wrote when he had zombia.
"Ew!" I exclaimed. "I don't want to hear anything about zombies."
"No, no. Not zombies. What is it called when you can't sleep?"

Love those moments!

Alone Yet Not Alone

2016-02-03T00:31:00.001-07:00

No matter where we are, no matter what our circumstances, we are not alone. God is with us. Satan wants us to think God has abandoned us, but don't buy that lie. We are never alone.

This movie is based on the story of a young woman who had to experience being alone, but knew she isn't truly alone. However, she experienced trials beyond our comprehension. Will she continue to believe God is with her?

This is a great family movie! It is set in colonial America before the American Revolution. In fact, a young General Washington makes a cameo appearance in this movie! A family that is grounded in the Word of God experiences an unimaginable horror.

My family has watched this movie more than once. I am so glad I bought it! I am planning to write a study guide to go with it. There is a pivotal point in the movie that makes a great teaching moment for parents. Are you going to trust in God? Or are you going to take the "easy" way out?

Find out for yourself how great this movie is! An added bonus is the theme song, sung by Joni Eareckson Tada. I think she is an awesome heroine of the faith! In the bonus features, the movie video shows Joni praying before recording the theme song.

Cutting the Cord!

2015-11-24T14:32:00.000-07:00

Enough! I had enough of cable and I definitely had enough of paying a high cable bill.

It was nice to get lots of channels, but when I would look through the online guide, I realized how many were just junk. They were shopping channels, movies we wouldn't watch anyway, and informercials galore. It especially bugged me with how much time we were spending watching tv, too.

At first, the family kind of fought me on it. I explained it was a monthly bill we most definitely could do without and we were just too dependent on it. "But our shows...." was their response. To which, I said was proof we were too addicted to the tv. Hubby admits he was fighting it the most. As a good mother, I decided I would be negligent of my motherly duties if I did not throw a good ole guilt trip in there as well. This is the guilt trip I used:

We spend (insert ungodly amount of money) every month for tv when we have missionaries who are going without (food, housing, etc.)

Yeah, that got them. Hubby said I'm really good at bringing down a shower of shame upon him.

I called the company and ordered the disconnect. Boy, did they ever do a dance to keep me. They called me numerous times to offer me amazing deals—amazing till you read the fine print, that is. Why couldn't that deal been on the table in the first place? But, I assured them I was firm in my decision and part of the reason was that we were too dependent on tv. One lady explained to me all I had to do was record the shows on the DVR and then just binge watch them. Okay, she needs a vocabulary lesson because "binge" and "dependency" kind of go hand-in-hand with addictions. Another representative, who spent numerous minutes of my life simply repeating himself (I realized his script on the computer screen froze so he was stalling for time), told me that I could stay with DirecTv and just merely tell my children on a certain day was when they could watch tv. How refreshing to know DirecTv is qualified to give me parental advice! Both representatives tried to tell me streaming was not reliable and you couldn't watch your shows when you wanted them. Clearly, they still didn't understand that still is catering to an addiction and they had never heard of an over-the-air DVR.

I found a basic antenna on Amazon for under $7, with free shipping. We are getting several over-the-air channels now. Our tv is a smart tv, so we were already able to stream Netflix, YouTube, and numerous other streaming sites. Eventually, I may splurge for a more powerful antenna to put in the attic. I would also like Oldest Son to show me how to turn the tv into a computer as well. Numerous channels have websites where you can watch episodes of their shows for free. You may have to wait a few weeks for the latest episode, but again, that helps break the tv addiction. We are such a "got to have it now" society that I'm okay if my family and I learn to wait on things a bit. Even simple things as a tv show.

By the way, the family has adjusted really well.

Focused on His Grace

2015-11-16T23:31:00.001-07:00

In this world of self-promotion and self-focus, it sure is good to hear this song and remember– I am nothing without Him. It's all God.

Vocational Homeschool!

2015-11-16T12:12:00.001-07:00

What did you do in home school today?

Oh, just took a reciprocating saw and cut up our old refrigerator.

Makes me curious what passersby thought. Our neighbors are used to our little projects out in the front yard.

F Words at the Missions Conference

2015-11-14T01:20:00.000-07:00

I heard a lot of f words at the Missions Conference last week.

And they were words I needed to hear.

The message was based on Nehemiah 2 and it was truly an encouragement to hear. Nehemiah was given a really important task from God. How would he go about doing it? By using his f words.

Find out the facts

Stick to what you know God has given you to be your ministry.

Focus

Nehemiah had to focus specifically on what God had called him to do. Now, most of us are not going to be rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, but our tasks are equally important. They are important because God assigned them to us. I have to remind myself of that. Being a wife and mother doesn't always seem as grand as what Nehemiah was tasked to do, but it is. God doesn't give us busy work. He gives us important tasks.

This also encouraged me in the area of ministry. For those of us who don't serve the Lord in an occupational position, we may often find ourselves feeling as if our ministry is not as important as what our pastoral staff does. Well, our pastoral staff is really important, but we are in the ministry too. We must serve diligently too.

Lord, give me fresh vision and encouragement about the ministry you have given us.

Form a fellowship

In Nehemiah 2:17, we see him saying, "Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach." (KJV)

Notice the pronouns? He used them, we, and us. Nehemiah gathered people to help him carry out the task God had given him. One area in our life where we have formed a fellowship is our weekly prayer group. I cannot tell you how much that encourages us to keep at the ministry and to persevere in reaching out to others for Christ.

Fortify

It is so hard to serve the Lord if you're burned out. Once I called it "ministry fumes". I really felt I just could not do more. Why? Oh, because I was thinking I was supposed to do it on my own. Forgot the little item of calling on the Holy Spirit to give me the strength to do what God has called me to.

Fulfill the function

Bottom line– finish the assignment. When I teach writing to students, I always tell them the most important thing is to fulfill the assignment exactly as specified. If you write a great narrative essay when the teacher called for persuasive essay, did you fulfill the assignment? No. No matter how great that essay was, if it wasn't the one you were assigned to do, then you wasted your time and talent. Do what God has given you to do, without changing your "assignment".

Just like the image above, I am a singular person in the body of Christ. But my part, my function, works with others to spell out the Gospel to the world that desperately needs it. I hope these f words encourage you as much as they did me.

That Name

2015-11-14T00:44:00.001-07:00

I love songs that deal with the name of Jesus!

God is so powerful, even His name has power! Have you ever experienced it?

There was a time where I could just feel that I was in the presence of evil. I was truly frightened. I knew there was nothing in my power that I could do...except call on His name.

And I did.

I started singing His name over and over and I could feel the evil leaving the room, and with it, my fear.

This song sung by Yolanda Adams is just powerful to me. It has been on my mind all day long! I hope you will listen to it and will be blessed by it as well.

Aviation Day Camp

2015-06-17T08:39:00.001-06:00

This week our boys are attending Aviation Day Camp held at the Hill Aerospace Museum!

We parents had to attend a little briefing with our children on the first day. Some of the kids were constantly interrupting the man. I could tell Third Son was getting irritated at one particular kid. I was hoping they wouldn't get put together to work on a team project! I wanted this to be a great experience for them, not a source of annoyance.

Anyway, the older man continued his briefing. He was amusing me because he rightly told the children they needed to have a healthy respect for others, but then referred to the group getting off the tour bus outside as a group of "Orientals". He also called one of his co-workers an "old fart". Oh, well. The man served our country.

Hubby went back later to pick them up from their first day. He told me that one of the staff members approached him. The man placed his hand on Youngest Son and said, "Let me tell you something about this one."

Uh-oh.

Thankfully, it was not bad news he reported. He just wanted to mention how Youngest Son was very willing to be helpful. He helped with getting the ladder off the cock pit they had been sitting in. The man was amazed that Youngest Son was able to, given he is so tiny.

Poor Youngest Son! He is always going to hear about how tiny he is. However, you don't have to be around him for very long to know his personality is anything but tiny!

The Original Fantastic Four

2015-04-21T23:04:00.000-06:00

This week I have been mulling over these verses in Galatians:

Brethen, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Galatians 6:1-2

Then tonight I was reading Mark 2 about the four men who took their friend to Jesus to be healed. I thought that was a wonderful, tangible example of those verses in Galatians!

Years ago, we had a visiting preacher (I wish I remember who it was) who called these four men the "Original Fantastic Four".

Dan Determination
Frank Faith
Charles Compassion
Larry Love

These men did indeed exhibit these characteristics.

Their friend was crippled... overtaken in a fault
But they were healthy... ye which are spiritual,
Took their friend to see Jesus... bear ye one another's burdens
So he could be healed... restore such an one

Granted, I know the verses in Galatians are not specifically referring to physical burdens, but I could not help but think of that example. We are to help each other physically and spiritually. These men did not stop their mission to help their friend because it got too hard. They did not get discouraged. They didn't say to themselves, Well, he's been crippled all this time, what difference does it make if he waits another day?

I know there are times I find myself to be a selfish being and really don't want to "restore such an one in the spirit of meekness". But I then think, What if it were me that needed the restoration, the help? Would I want someone who could help, not help, because he/she was too busy or too tired? Naturally, that spurs me on to ask the Holy Spirit to forgive my selfishness and work through me. I should never forget to ask the Holy Spirit to give me the determination, faith, compassion and love to help others.

Besides, the rest of those verses are important. We are to do this "restoration" in a spirit of meekness, because we never know when we may be on the end of needing such help from our Christian brothers and sisters.

The Third Target

2015-04-11T22:11:00.001-06:00

Another great read from Joel C. Rosenberg!

I made myself put this book away until I had some time to enjoy. Today was that day.

I just finished this but want more!!! Get the sequel out quickly! Please!

posted from Bloggeroid

Knowing History

2015-04-11T21:10:00.001-06:00

http://tutorjuls.blogspot.com/2015/04/why-knowing-history-is-important.html?m=1

posted from Bloggeroid

Legos and Hearing Aid Batteries

2015-01-18T23:46:00.000-07:00

Some time ago, I teased Hubby with the fact you know you were old when you started having kids when you find Legos and hearing aid batteries in the dryer. Apparently, our children must think we are pretty decrepit as well.

Hubby and the kids have been sick for nearly two weeks now. The kids are actually doing pretty well now but Hubby had a set back today. He was just fine in the morning and early afternoon, but then he started really not doing well.

I went downstairs to check on the kids and to let them know that Dad had a fever again and asked for them to be on the quieter side so he could rest.

Third Son solemnly shook his head slowly back and forth. "At his age, a fever is pretty serious."

John 17:17

2014-11-18T06:27:00.000-07:00

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

John 17:17 KJV /Geneva

This is one of those verses, for me, that no other Bible translation works. I did not do a search of all the translations out there, but the ones I did look up had all changed the verb in the first part of the sentence. Changing the verb affected the meaning of the whole thing, too.

Sanctify simply means to "set apart; make holy". We, who believe in Christ, are set apart from the rest.

What sets us apart? God's truth. Jesus.

This means that we are not judging others. We are not telling others we hold the market on salvation. That is not of us. It is of God.

Recently, I have seen a Christian who stated the Truth—that Jesus is the only way to spend eternity with God in Heaven—be called judgmental. Nothing of the sort was happening. The Christian was simply telling the truth, as according to God's Word. Please know, we Christians do not wish to see anyone spend eternity separated from God. We are simply saying what the Bible says.

Have I seen Christians declare they know the Truth in an arrogant way to others? Yes, I have. I am not advocating that approach at all. Who wants to listen to a smug know-it-all?

In humility, but with confidence, is how we should share the Truth with others who share this world with us.

Mine Can't Hear Either!

2014-11-11T22:04:00.001-07:00

Since today was Veteran's Day, Hubby and I went out for lunch!

We decided on Olive Garden. We didn't have much of a wait either.

As the hostess was leading us to our table, she turned to tell Hubby, "Thank you for your service!". Well....Hubby's hearing aids wreak havoc in restaurants, so basically he hears nothing but NOISE. If he turns them off, then he hears nothing. I could tell he couldn't hear her and didn't wish her to think him rude. I told her, "He can't hear you...because of his service to his country!"

She immediately replied, "Mine can't hear either!"

"Planes?" I asked.

"Yes."

Even though Hubby diligently wore his hearing protection through those years, it still affected his hearing. When I mentioned that, she flatly said, "Yeah, those don't work."

I told her to please tell her husband thank you for his service as well.

When we were seated, I relayed the conversation to Hubby. He burst into laughter when I told him she had said, "Mine can't hear either!".

Honor To Serve

2014-11-10T19:35:00.000-07:00

As Veteran's Day approaches, I cannot help but think of a famous veteran that we lost this pass year.

Jeremiah Denton

This pass March, Rear Admiral Denton passed away at the age of 89.

Sadly, I was never taught about our veterans and their contributions on a personal level in school. However, about eight years ago or so, I was asked to sing the Ray Boltz song, Honor To Serve. It was a touching tribute to Jeremiah Denton. As I started learning the song, it made me curious about who this guy was. I mean, I knew he was a veteran and all, but what was his story?

His story consists of a long career of service to our country in the military and politics. While Vietnam was a high octane situation, Denton was flying over North Vietnam in his A-6 Intruder when he was shot down. Both he and his navigator were captured and held as prisoners of war for nearly eight years.

While in captivity, Denton experienced one of the longest, if not THE longest, time in solitary confinement. He suffered torture at the hands of the Vietnamese. He spoke of things he was forced to experience which I cannot fathom. All because he was serving in our military.

He is known for being the POW who blinked the word "TORTURE" in Morse code while being

interviewed by the Vietnamese, which was broadcasted on television. Denton came up with the plan when they turned the bright lights on and it made him blink his eyes. By doing this, it was confirmation for the United States government that our men were indeed being subjected to torture.

Jeremiah was not the only fighter in his family. His wife, Jane, was busy on the home front with other military wives. They did not have access to information about their husbands like we wives today usually have. They continually had to press the U.S. government to confirm whether or not they were widows. I cannot imagine having that question on my mind for YEARS.

In his book, When Hell Was In Session, I felt he was very factual about what occurred without

spewing bitterness. I do not know what his relationship was with the Lord, but he did credit God for getting him through those years. He kept himself and other prisoners together mentally by implementing a "schedule" of things to do each day, just to keep them sane. They had developed a system of communicating, from prisoner to prisoner, with taps and knocks and such, even when they could not see each other.

Do I write this because I idolize him? No. I write this because we as Americans, myself included, have become too soft. We forget what our founding fathers sacrificed to build this country. We forget what veterans sacrifice to serve our country and what they endured at the hands of enemy captors.

Please watch the video. It has some great footage and brings me to tears.

Teddy Bear Revival

2014-09-18T00:42:00.000-06:00

Hubby was going through some old files on his computer. He came across some of my writings about the family. This story took place four years ago; a couple of months after Hubby returned from his year-long deployment to Iraq.

Recently, Third Son has told us he is going to be a preacher. Of course, my first thought was "Boy, that is going to be one interesting church!", but what if he really does become a preacher? Third Son decided he wanted to hold a preaching service. He asked me if he could have some "alone time" in his room to prepare for his service. I told him he could and his brothers kindly accommodated him.

Since Daddy has been home, the children have had their indoctrination (aka brainwashing) of bluegrass music reinstated. Well, one song on a new CD of Daddy's has really become a hit with all the children. It's called "Teddy Bear Revival" and is about a little boy who would line up his stuffed animals and preach to them. Later, the little boy grows up to be a preacher.

Third Son used his alone time in his bedroom to get all of the stuffed animals lined up on his bed. He then told Daddy he was ready to begin, but he only wanted Daddy to be his congregation. Maybe that shows discernment to exclude the rest of us? We are a rowdy bunch.

Third Son held an opening song, even though he said it was a baby song, he sang "Jesus Loves Me". Personally, that's a favorite. I tell the kids in junior church they might think of it as a "baby song" but it really boils down the whole reason why we're at church. Third Son also included a "meet and greet" time in the church service. He had a rooster and pig greet each other with accompanying oinks and crowing. I do feel compelled to point out here he is NOT imitating what he sees at our own church.

In preparation for the service, Third Son had collected Daddy's Bible prior to the service and had leafed through till he had found a picture of Daniel. He decided to commence his service with the story of Daniel. So here is the story of Daniel as according to Third Son.

There was a king and these guys told him that there should be a law that people could only pray to the king. But Daniel kept praying to God anyway. Those guys told on Daniel. So the king had Daniel thrown in the lions' den but an angel came and made it to where the lions didn't touch him. The king said to those guys, "You tricked me!" The king went to the den and asked Daniel if the lions had hurt them and Daniel said, "Not a scratch!". So the king had those guys thrown into the lions' den, and well, they ate those guys.

Third Son also preached about the Lord's Supper as well.

Jesus had told his disciples that one of them would betray Him. They all asked, "Is it I, Lord?" And then Judas asked, "Is it I, Lord?" and Jesus said, "Yes".

Just picturing Third Son saying that with his usual deadpan face cracks me up.

The men came and arrested Jesus. They beat Him up and put a crown of thorns on His head, which really hurts if you're bald!

Most likely a reference to poor Hubby.

While on the cross, one of the guys who was on one of the other crosses told Jesus he had done a lot of bad things but he wanted to go to Heaven with Jesus. Jesus told him, "Yes, you will go to Heaven with me."

Now that Third Son had delivered his message, he decided to hold a time of invitation for his stuffed animal congregation. A troubled stuffed soul, a Minnesota Wolf given to the kids from Jon and Tammy Huju, was convicted of his many dastardly sins. This is in no way an implication of the spiritual state of Jon and Tammy, by the way. Third Son counseled with the wolf and physically assisted the wolf in kneeling and thus the angels rejoiced in another saved soul. (I'm guessing there is a chorus of stuffed animal angels somewhere???)

Completing his divine work, his calling, Third Son was now ready to leave the fellowship of

his stuffed animal congregation to join his real family in a gourmet meal of cheap pizza.

Just Like Mama Used to Make!

2014-08-23T19:32:00.000-06:00

I'm still on my quest to learn new recipes but decided to bring back one I have not had in awhile. My mom used to make baking powder drop biscuits. I thought those would taste good with my mulligatawny soup.
The soup that my kids hated.

A few years ago, my mom gave me a copy of a cookbook she had used while we were growing up.

I found the recipe for the biscuits and got to work! They were really yummy! And they tasted great with the mulligatawny soup. Reminded me of my mom making these biscuits before we left for school in the mornings.

My only problem with the biscuits is the baking powder. It tends to give me trouble, since is usually contains corn, so my tongue is bothering me a little right now. Next time I'm going to try them with an arrowroot type baking powder.

This cookbook has a wealth of information! It defines cooking terms and just pages and pages of recipes!