So, I'm a Christian, Now What?

How Singing To Jesus Saved A Town

2014-04-30T07:18:00.000-07:00

After watching an interview of a little boy who was kidnapped in Atlanta, Georgia, I remembered a lesson I learned when I first became a Christian. Praise God No Matter, Whatever the situation is! Willie, a 9 year old boy was kidnapped and sung the song "Every Praise" the whole time. After about 3 hours of singing praises to God, the kidnapper let the boy free. I remember when I learned that very lesson, It was Memorial Day 2004.
My husband at the time, knocked on my door high, drunk and very angry. He felt that I was being unfair because I would spend time with his cousin and her husband who would drink a beer or two sometimes in the evenings after work, but I would not allow him to be around our son because of his drug addiction. He could not see the difference in the two. He punched me in the head couple of times and then he wrapped his hands around my throat and began to choke me over the back of the couch. I couldn't breathe and I could feel my self start to fade. It was then that I remembered my Pastor saying Praise God in the storm, no matter how it looks, always give him the glory. With every thing left in me I said "I Love You Jesus" and he let go of my neck and went to go find Christopher. Thank God he went to long way to the room Christopher was in because I went the short way, I grabbed his hand and we ran out of the house and up the street to get help from a neighbor.
So you are probably wondering how on earth does singing to Jesus save a town? After watching the interview with Willie, Jena comes home from school and I tell her about the boy. I told her that if she was ever in a scary situation to sing to Jesus and He would help her. Now I know this probably sound quite hokey, like its a nice thing to say to a kid to help calm them down. But it works, it really does!
Sunday morning roles around and the news is talking about possible tornadoes, I get a feeling that we are going to have a tornado here. The feeling wasn't like a scared freak out kinda feeling, it was a peaceful knowing. It was like God saying, There is going to be a tornado and I will be with you. So we went to church. After church, just as we were puling into the drive my phone alerted that we were under a Tornado Warning and to seek cover immediately. I asked my Ernie, who was outside painting where were we going because we live in a Mobile Home. He said he would stay home, he wasn't scared. I grabbed a sandwich (I didn't want to be hungry and homeless) and went to a friends house. We were waiting for sirens to go off to head to the basement, but they never did. The front door flew open and we knew it was time. The only entrance to the basement is a cellar door entrance outside, as we made our way to the basement the wind was very strong and it began to rain really big drops. We made it safely into the basement and Jena, She was terrified(so was I). I wanted Jena to rely on her training so I asked her "Jena what do you do in a Tornado?" She replied "cover my head". So she crouched down and covered her head. She was so scared, I told her "Remember when you are scared to sing to Jesus, he will help you." She began singing "We Believe" a song we just sang in church. I remembered that I had my ipod with me so I turned on some Christian music and she sang along to it. Soon we received an all clear from the radio we had on and we went home. There was some damage on the street we were on but nothing too horrible.
Tuesday evening I go into our local store where my friend Sheryl works, it was her basement we took refuse in. She told me that there was a Tornado in our town and it was spotted one street over. We live two blocks apart with one street between, the street the tornado was spotted on. The tornado never touched down in town. All thanks to one little girl who sang songs to Jesus.
Believe it or not, but I know that God is faithful to the Faithful! There is no better way to defeat the devil than to praise God, No Matter What!

Ministry Is Not What I Thought

2013-12-12T08:44:00.000-08:00

min·is·try (mn-str)

n. pl. min·is·tries

a. The act of serving; ministration.

b. One that serves as a means; an instrumentality.

When I think of Ministry I think of going to Seminary for 4 years, I think of out of my league, I think it's nice to serve on a team where someone else tells me what to do. What I don't think is, is that I personally have my own Ministries. That God would ever use me so significantly because I would probably mess it up. After all I have no training, no formal education on how to be a Minister- Ministry leader. So when a very kind women {Robin} told me that my two most important Ministries are my Husband #1 and my Daughter #2, you could of pushed me over with a feather. For lack of better words I was dumbfounded! I have never heard this or even considered the fact that I minister to them. I don't know why, I just never have.

My husband is not saved. Which proves very difficult when trying to raise a child with Christ-like teachings. There is a reason the bible says "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" 2 Corinthians 6:14 KJV.

Picture from/christianity201.wordpress.com/

Real quick side note, what do you think of when you hear yoked, I always thought of EGGS and I never could quite understand what an EGG had to do with Christianity.

<---- But this is a yoke

Do you see how the two ox are held together, that is a yoke.

When you are "yoked together" with someone who doesn't believe as you and you are trying to go in separate directions in life, it doesn't lighten the load, it makes it load quite harder to pull.

Robin shared with me this passage of scripture "In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. " 1Peter 3:1-2 NASB. And that is my deepest desire, That my husband decides to Accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!

So... Here's the tough part, I have to make a bunch of changes in who I am and how I behave in order to fulfill this role just in regards to my husband. But I am up for the pruning!

Dear God, Please take away all of the parts of me that keep me from being who you made me to be. Please God give me the Wisdom and Strength it is going to take to become the Wife Ernie Needs and DESERVES. God Please bless this Ministry you have placed in my life. I pray that I do not fail You or Ernie. Please Guide my actions and attitudes. Thank You for the opportunity to work in your Kingdom.

In Jesus Name I Pray,

AMEN

I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13 KJV

Missing Something

2013-11-30T20:30:00.001-08:00

My Pastor has been preaching a series called Missing Something. It has been a series that really makes you reflect. I stopped today to remember who I was before I surrendered to Christ. I wasn't a good person, I lied, stole, and cheated my way though life. I had been neglected and abused in some way my whole life. After I learned who I was in Christ I started demanding better for myself, I prayed for God to deliver me from the hands of the people who were, at the age of 24, still abusing me. I am not the same abused and broken girl I once was then, but I still have deep wounds that only time and God can heal.
Pastor Ralph's teachings have been about having The Joy of the Lord, Being Humble, Having Confidence, and Perseverance and Focus.
     The Joy of The Lord; When you think about JOY, you think overwhelming happiness. But the Joy that you have, learn to have, when you are a Child of God, is more of a confidence. It's KNOWING who God is and KNOWING that he uses everything in your life for GOOD.
       Being Humble; A humble person is someone who is grateful and doesn't think too highly of themselves, but for me I believe it is more than that. Being Humble is more for me about Mercy and Grace and well as Gratitude and Honor.
        Confidence isn't about a good self-esteem and who You are ALONE, but about Knowing Who God says you are and Knowing who He is and KNOWING He always does what He says.
         Perseverance and Focus; Well I think this is the simplest of concepts but the hardest in application, well at first and sometimes in the middle and at the end as well. Keeping your Focus on God when your "world" is crumbling around you. But that's the thing, your world isn't crumbling! The Enemy whispers those lies trying to get you to take your eyes off of Jesus, forgetting the very important fact that God works EVERYTHING in your life for GOOD. Staying to Fight each Battle to be able to WIN the WAR!!
   When the scars start to open, I need to stay focused on the One Who Saved ME!! The One who cut the chains that bound me to a life of abuse. My Daddy is God and my Big Brother is the Big Bad Jesus him self, and with them being for me, Who can successfully stand against me!

Thank You Pastor Ralph Morris for being obedient to God!

It's Not Fair

2013-04-11T15:17:00.002-07:00

I have been doing great, not much on the grief scale lately. Earlier this week I dreamed about Christopher, which was great!! I look forward to the nights when God allows me to spend time with my son. Today though, the simple act of folding a clean blanket brought me to my knees. Now this is no ordinary blanket, it is a Quilt made from Christopher's old t-shirts. I have decided today that is not fair that God took my son away from me. I wasn't a great mom, someday I wasn't even a good mom but his mom I was. I have been looking forward to all the things mom's get to do with and for their kids, like teaching them to drive, prom, getting their first car, graduating, college, getting married, having children. I was so close to seeing who he would become. What choices he would make regarding his life. The last choice he made regarding his life was to end his life. I wish I could have stopped him, I wish I knew what was in his heart, I wish I knew then what I know now regarding men and how they think, what makes them tick. I didn't know I was going about it all wrong. Right now my pain is so thick that I want to say that God's love doesn't matter, I was just listening to a song that said that no mater whats going on you are not alone and that God cares and loves you and he is always there for you. But sometimes. the pain is so real, so strong, so thick that nothing else matters and the fact that someone loves you, the very someone who could end your pain but won't, hurts you. I know that in 10 mins, an hour, or a day I will feel differently. But today, its not fair that my fourteen year old son killed him self while there are 1000's of women are killing their unborn children or abusing their children or could give a care less if they were alive. I wanted my son, I still want my son alive. He was my reason for living, he was my reason for not using drugs, he saved me from my self when I was 17 year old. I miss my boy. In 3 months he would have turned 16. I miss my boy. I love you kid! I'll see you on the flip side, until then, ALL MY LOVE!!!

Side note: I love and trust in GOD! He is amazing is all he does, I know that Christopher's time was up and he served his purpose here on earth. This is just an honest account of a grieving mother's head space at this very moment in time.

April Challenges Day 3 (and 2 oops)

2013-04-03T20:21:00.000-07:00

Well its day 3 and I'm going to be real, the cleaning challenge has been just that a challenge for me. I use my job as Pharmacy Tech as a good excuse not to get up and do it. At the end of my day I am so exhausted from the mental stress (and physical) I go through that I can reason my way out anything. I am going to do today's challenge tonight and then the first and third tomorrow because I do not go into work until the afternoon.
The being active is easier for me. Yesterday I walked Jena to school, Ernie was going to give her a ride but I chose to walk with her instead. Today my day was very busy so I didn't get to actually do any particular exercise. Working in a pharmacy though can be a very active job, and I did the most active job today to ensure I got some kind of activity in today and I also walk a couple laps around the inside of Walmart shopping with my husband after work.
Theses challenges have been eye opening to me only 3 days into it and I am having trouble. I have not yet decided to make either of these, priorities, in my life. That is evident in my weight and in my very messy house.

Ok, so Day 2's Challenge is:

Set the timer for 20 minutes and put toilet cleaner in each of the toilet bowls and let it soak.

Remove any items that don’t belong in the bathroom, put away items that need to be put away in the bathroom, empty the trash.

Spray and wipe down the sink and tub.

Finish swishing and cleaning the toilet.

Shake the rugs outside (or throw them in the laundry) and mop or vacuum the floors.

Wipe down the outside of the cupboards and clean the mirror.

You’re done!

Day 3's Challenge is:

Set the timer for 20 minutes and pick up and put away all items that are out of place. (Bonus: find 7 items to get rid of.)

Pull out any items under the bed that don’t below under the bed and make the bed (wash sheets/bedding, if needed).

Vacuum/sweep the room. (Bonus: use an attachment on the vacuum to vacuum around the baseboards and vacuum under the bed.)

Clean fingerprints on the windows.

Bonus: Spot-clean the carpets and walls.

You’re done!

I will let you know how things go tomorrow!

April Challenges

2013-04-01T20:31:00.000-07:00

So a couple of my friends have challenged me this month and well I can find really good reasons to take them up on the challenges. Tara Costa a former Winner of The Biggest Looser has issued a challenge to be active everyday this month . Being active doesn't have to be boring or painful, it can and for me FUN. Crystal Paine of Money Saving Mom has issued the 30 day house cleaning challenge. She will give a chore to do the night before and then check in in the morning and evening. I will be giving updates in the evenings and listing her challenge in the evening.
My updates for April 1, 2013
Today was Jena's last day of spring break (she only gets 2 days) and Ernie and I wanted to make sure she had a great day so we took her to a park and then on to Kaleidoscope. The park we stopped at was a spur of the moment idea, and I am so glad I suggested going to it. We went to the Wyandotte County Lake Playground in Kansas City, Ks. This is the same playground that I went to when I was little and I took Christopher there as well when he was little, but since Jena has always lived in Missouri we have never taken her to this park. The playground has had so many improvements over the years and we had so much fun running from one end to the other playing and sliding and trying to keep our balance. After we left Kaleidoscope we went to BK for a super late lunch/ early dinner and while we were sitting there she said "I love being HAPPY"!! Wow just what a mom wants to hear!! I have tried to do stuff with Jena that I think that she would like to do and I have ended up not going well. It blessed me so much to see her so HAPPY!!
The Cleaning challenge for the day was to

Set the timer for 15 minutes and pick up and put away everything that’s out of place. Bonus project: Find 7 things to get rid of.

Next, wash the dishes in the kitchen (if there are any), wipe down the counter tops and surfaces in the kitchen.

Finally, vacuum the living room.

So I challenge you to do the same and start tomorrow April 2, 2013. Check in and let me know how you are doing!!

Trust

2012-09-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

I trust God to take care of me. I trust that God has everything all worked out. Today though, I just want to know what to do. Do I leave my home because my husband told me to, or do I stay? I want to be able to met him for dinner and ask him what does he want me to do and get an audible answer. I don't want a feeling, a song, a sermon, I want him to tell me what to do, him self face to face.The more I think about this the more emotional I get. I don't want to leave, I want my husband, But he has been telling me to leave for months now, and just now do I realize that he is serious. Oh Lord, what am I to do? God knows the questions that are in my head, God knows my worries. I trust God, but I do not trust my own decisions. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. Isaiah 55:8 nasb So do I stay and fight, do I leave and honor his wishes, or do I crawl in a hole and cry? I chose the last, its the easiest. Yes this post is a downer, I promise sad posts will be very few. Thanks for reading! God Bless!

A Very Tiny Word

2012-09-18T06:39:00.000-07:00

I have been reading a book called The Resolution for Women by Priscilla Shirer. In her book she asks a question, and the question I did not know how to answer. So I did what I do when I'm not sure on something, I start to write, and as I wrote, God lead me to the answer.
The question was: "Record your thoughts regarding this statement: "Sometimes the best, most empowering word you can learn to utter is no.""
No, No, If I say NO, no one will like me, If I say NO, no one will ask me again, If I say NO, I won't feel important, If I say NO, I'll miss whats going on. So I think that the most destructive reason is, is that I won't feel important. Lets rest on that for a moment, am I doing things for the Glory of God, or am I doing things for the Glory of ME? Wow this really is a gut check moment. The Bible says and Jesus commanded us to die daily. KILL our FLESH DAILY, and here I am wanting to feel important. I have noticed that like now, I have so many pokers in the fire that none of them are really doing their job. They are just getting tangled up and not being effective. Time slots on a schedule doesn't mean that I can do it, that is what I am beginning to realize. I am beginning to wonder, if I pick my yes's and give them my all, then won't the result be better? Rather saying yes to everything and not having enough for anything, especially my family. If I half way do everything, I'm not using the full potential that God has given me, and Most importantly, I'm not bringing Glory to GOD. What Blessing am I Keeping from others by not being FULLY prepared? What blessings am I keeping from my self by not fully preparing. Wow, that really Smacks me in the face. How dare I keep someone from being blessed.
So I need to sit down and really look at what I'm doing, and prune the areas that I can fully see that God isn't blessing. I need to give more to my family and more to the chosen few that I can handle. Saying yes to everyone doesn't make me important, it makes me stressed, it causes problems in my marriage, which in turn, make me very unhappy! So which is it, do we want to be Unhappy Important people or Joyful Servants of God? My pick folks, is, Joyful Servant of God!

All of that from the very tiny word NO!

Only By God's Grace, Learning To Live Humble

2012-08-30T21:58:00.000-07:00

God has given me the gift of being able to cook well as well as the gift to enjoy it, a lot! Well today I figured I'd make up a batch of Duncan Hines brownies, Duncan Hines NEVER disappoints me! NEVER! Well I must have overcooked them, because they were the driest brownies EVER!! No wonder no one at the party ate more than one! But the good part about this is, tomorrow they will be covered in vanilla ice cream and hot fudge!! They will be yummy, even if I have to add 1000 calories to them to make them editable!! lol
I believe that I have been too proud of my cooking. I also believe that God is humbling me in this regard. I know that pride is the fastest way to Hell and the fastest way to lose friends. The Bible says: The pride of man will be humbled And the loftiness of men will be abased; And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day, Isaiah 2:17 (NASB) . I know that just as easily as God gave me this gift he can take it away in a heartbeat. I do not want to tempt him, yet I catch my self boasting that I am a good cook or I find myself comparing my food to my friends food. How audacious of me to think that my skills or gifts are better than someone else! James says this, But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. James 4:16 (NASB) or How about this in Jeremiah 9:23 (NASB)

Thus says the Lord, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; But in Romans, it shows us that boasting in the Lord is good; Romans 15:17 (NASB) Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God.

I have a friend who doesn't have a Gift for cooking, she does a good job but admits to lacking in that department. She is the most creative person, OMGoodness, she pulls ideas out of her head for craftiness that I only wished that I could do what she does. But I would NOT trade my cooking ability for her crafting ability, no way, no sir!! Being able to put a good tasty meal on the table for my family is part of the fabric of who I am! Here is a great thing about friendships and family, we can play off each other strengths and talents. We can help one another, teach one another, go to one another for ideas and help. Isn't that what being a christian is all about? Helping each other strive and grow through the love of Jesus Christ. Check out what Paul says in his second letter to the church in Corinth, For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 2 Corinthians 5:14 (NASB). I am so incredibly grateful that God has given us his infallible word to live by! ~~With out it~~, With out Him I would be LOST!! I love being christian!! God is So Good, All the TIME!!

God Bless!

Lazy Train

2012-08-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

As I look around my small 2 bedroom mobile home trailer, I realize that I have been stuck on a Lazy Train lately. I do not believe there is a flat surface that doesn’t have something on it. My kitchen is so incredibly cluttered! I don’t know how to fix it with no real storage space. The main culprit is my depression. I think I have been depressed since I was very little, like elementary school days. I finally started taking some meds for it the end of last year. The past 2 months though I haven’t taken them very regular at all, which is why I believe I am stuck on this “Lazy Train”. It is so easy to get overwhelmed when you are depressed, the simplest of tasks are completely daunting. A couple loads of dishes to wash can “look” like and seem like every dish in the house is dirty; so I put it off and by the time I finally get enough gumption to it, every dish in the house is dirty. It is so funny, I can clean someone else’s house with no problem for the most part, but to clean my own…

We all have sin that we struggle with , and mine is Laziness. I have struggled with laziness my whole life. It wasn’t until recently that I realized that it was a sin. Laziness is ruining every aspect of my life. I know that it is laziness that is the reason my Scentsy Business hasn’t really taken off the ground yet! Laziness is the reason my daughter has behavior issues. Laziness is the reason My Husband is unhappy in our marriage. Laziness is the reason we don’t yet own a house. Laziness is the reason I am over 100 lbs over weight. Laziness is the reason my home is SOO incredibly cluttered. Laziness is the reason!

The bible is very clear on this matter Proverbs 13:4 (AMP) The appetite of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the appetite of the diligent is abundantly supplied. And for those of us who do crave, but still can not get off the couch, Proverbs 6:6 (AMP) Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways and be wise!-- Ants work very hard, and they work together in community! So lets imagine being an Ant, running around gathering food and making tunnels and whatever else it is that ant’s do, they are constantly working. We Do NEED to be more like the ant!

As I am asking For God's help with this I will let you know my progress! I really want to overcome this sin and I know that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) I know that I am nothing without the Lord Jesus Christ.

Father God, Please help my friends and I overcome our sin. We do not like falling short of your glory. God please give us strength and wisdom as well as a kick in the tail when needed. In Jesus Name, Amen

The Tongue Is The Hardest Member To Tame

2012-08-29T12:27:00.001-07:00

Has a friend ever hurt you with their words and you were scare to say anything because you were afraid they were going to get defensive and blow up? I know I sure have and I usually just stuff whatever it is down deep and keep a mental log of how they hurt me. Well I am the friend who did the offending this time. I have made comments in a friendly teasing way (to me at least) and other comments that just plain out sounded like criticism or judgement. I just found out that a very good friend of mine (I would consider Best Friend) was ready to write me off because of my tongue. I am so very glad she came to me and told me that I was hurting her with my words. Because hurting her is the very last thing I would ever want to do to her! I thought that I was working hard at getting her to trust that I was a safe friend and that our friendship could be amazing, but what I was doing was showing her that I was better than her and she was for lack of a better term a peon. Man do I feel like pond scum right now! I have always known that my mouth gets me in trouble and wow, did it ever!
Proverbs 18:21 (AMP) Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]. Wow This verse really says it! I surely do not want our friendship to die! This is something that I will be praying to God for wisdom in! I want to only speak love and encouragement into the lives of my friends and family. This verse in Job will be a verse I am going to live by! Job 16:5 (AMP) [But] I would strengthen and encourage you with [the words of] my mouth, and the consolation of my lips would soothe your suffering. Thank you so much to my dear friend, who I hurt with my words. For allowing me to right a terrible wrong! I am so incredibly sorry for making you feel less than.
If your friendship is worth it please speak up about your hurt. If your friend thinks its worth it they will do anything they can to fix it. Now all I have to do is build up her trust, man is this going to be hard! But WORTH IT!!!!

Dirty Feet

2012-08-25T13:35:00.001-07:00

My husband and I love to go garage saleing. Today we went to few sales, but because if the threat of rain, we only found 3. Two of the sales were very small and not worth stopping at. But the last one was in the country down a long gravel road was big and had lots to shop, so we stopped. I quickly found a plastic kids bowling set and knew I had to have it. As I walked back to our pickup truck to grab my purse I noticed the dust in grass was pluming around my feet. I felt so embarrassed for others to see my feet so incredibly dirty, covered in a white chalky dust. I quickly paid for my purchase and got in the truck with my family. I looked down at my dirty feet and I grabbed a tissue and tried to wipe off the dust.
We stopped at a gas station to get some drinks and snacks. Jena and I went into the restroom and we washed our feet and sandals. It was at that point my mind went to the last supper where Jesus washed his disciples feet.
Could you imagine, Jesus, God in the flesh, kneeling down washing your feet.
Seeing where you have been, how you take care of your feet, or lack thereof. For me, it would be embarrassing. For one, I should be washing his feet, He is my God, my Savior. I owe him my EVERYTHING !!
Second, I should be being a good steward and taking care of my own feet. On that same page, if The Great I AM can wash my feet, why is it so hard for me to not complain about cleaning up after my family? This something I will be working on through God's grace! How amazing is our God, he uses something as simple as dirty feet to remind me to be a good steward of my home! PTL

Obey God, and Trust Him for the Results

2012-06-10T22:07:00.000-07:00

Do you know how incredibly hard it is to Obey God when you can't see what he is doing, or is it? Even when I am hurting the most and full of grief I can still Praise and Worship God. I was told after my son's death that my Worship of God was a blessing to an "Older" Christian. As a "Preschool Christan", I do know that what ever you are going through always praise and worship God. It is only by God's Power and Might and Strength that all things are possible. "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11. So, although it may seem hard to obey God, in the end, It is the easiest and best way to live. “It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early andlate rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil. Deuteronomy 11:13-14. Knowing that God has a plan for me and that Jesus died for me, makes me WANT TO OBEY. That is the meaning of being a Follower of Christ, the WANT TO, not have to. My prayer for you, is that you have an obedient week!
Much Love, Crystal