Day 1 of my journey

Today in church Pastor Chris talked about why we fast and the different ways we can fast. It was a terrific message that really settled in me. He mentioned that there are three parts to us, mind, soul (mind and emotions), and spirit. Then he said, whatever part is strongest is the one we feed the most. Now, I'm going to go out on a limb here. If I am brutally honest with myself, although my spirit is strong and has periods of being in control, for the most part, my body is in control. I love my time that I spend each day with God, but there are many times when my body or my emotions are in the driver's seat. So today, as I begin my 21 day fast, I say that my spirit is in control.

Chris and I were coming back from a birthday party and I declared our fast as officially started. Then he realized there was candy in his goody bag. Now, I could have let him have it, we weren't starting the fast until after the party. But I had already declared it as begun. So I told him, that candy will be a great treat after our fast is over! He was obviously a little disappointed but what a great teaching moment. So I took a few minutes to have the conversation about how during this time we are telling our bodies, they aren't in control. Our spirit is in control and God is in control of our spirit. And just to get him excited, we started yelling at our bodies. "Body, you make poor choices! God is in control now!" I am sure we looked pretty silly, but as Pastor Chris pointed out today, we are constantly at war with our bodies and what our bodies needed right then was a good talking to!

Today, I pray that we, as a family, will allow God to fill us and sustain us throughout this fast. That we will be constantly on alert to our fleshly desires, deny our flesh, and seek Him with our WHOLE hearts. I pray that when the fast is over, we will be able to maintain our spirits being in control and guiding us daily. I ask that God would unify our family as we seek Him together and focus on Him. May our Lord and Savior be the center of our family and families around the world. Do you have a prayer request? Let me know and I'll pray with you!

The Journey Begins

Today, I begin a journey; a 21 day journey of fasting and prayer. Our church announced that we would participate corporately in this fast and I was excited. I love times of fasting and prayer. It's such a time of sacrifice, and drawing nearer to my Lord and Savior. Oh how I love watching Him work during these periods.

Well, I sat down to think about what my time of fasting and prayer would be about. What would be my focus? As many of you know, at Thanksgiving my 13 year old son moved back east to live with his mother. It was heartbreaking. It's a long story, that I won't go into but the short of it is, we prayed about it, we heard, and we followed through. Sometimes, the hardest things in life, are things you know are right. Every day I pray for him, and every day I pray for his mom. But through this incredibly difficult time, my husband has been at his best. You see, it's in times of heartache and turmoil that he is truly at his best, and focused on God and on our family. What would normally be the downfall of a family, only brings our family together more.

During this time of prayer and fasting I am praying for family unity. Not only mine, but yours. You see, I believe without a shadow of a doubt that the enemy hates unified families. His goal is to divide and conquer and in today's world too many families are being divided. Galatians 4 says "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." That's my prayer for families all across the world. Make no mistake, we are at war! And for me, during the next 21 days, I will be fighting for families. I'm fighting for mine, I'm fighting for yours, and I'm fighting for families all around the world.

I invite you to take this journey with me as I blog each day. Sometimes it will be a devotional, sometimes just a prayer or what I'm feeling or thinking. But I invite you on my journey. I invite you to sen me prayer requests for your family or families you know. I invite you to pray with me and if you feel led, to fast with me.

May God bless you all, wherever you are in your journey.

 

Fix Your Eyes on Jesus

He loved the Lord with all his heart
Devoted himself not just playing the part
One night, late on a stormy sea
He heard Jesus say "Come to me"
On Jesus alone he fixed his gaze
Stepped out of the boat and onto the waves
He braved the waters until he looked away
Then he began to sink straight away
Fix your eyes on Jesus, focus only on Him
Don't look around at a world that's grim
On his solid rock you'll stand
When you're feeling lost just take His hand
Keep your eyes on Jesus
and keep Him in your heart
From your presence he'll never part
When the world looks cold and grey
Keep focused on Him and he'll light the way

Honor

Honoring my parents is what I will do

Mistakes were made, that is true

But they don't define us only He does

My mother was beautiful and was kind

Mistakes we made, she put behind

She showed me how to live and showed me how to love

He showed me how to be strong

Only in our weakness He comes along

You both were a great example to me

Of how I should love and who I want to be

Mom and Dad today I want to honor you

In my words and my deeds and all that I do

Happy Birthday

Today is my husband's 39th birthday. 11 years ago I married my love and although we agree on most of everything in life there are a few things in which we don't see eye to eye. One of these things would be how to spend your birthday. You see my idea of a birthday well spent is surrounding myself with my kids. Birthday breakfast in bed in which the hubby and kids would make and then clean up, but that never happens so I'll settle for some coffee, it's the love that counts. I would play with the kids all day, no housework done on the birthday, go out for a relaxing birthday dinner, maybe even have some cake. But the main thing about my birthday is that I want a day of no kids fighting and the family just playing together. That's a great birthday for me. Now the rule in our house is that it's your birthday so you should get to call the shots of how the birthday is spent. My husband's idea is sleeping. He wants to nap, get some sushi, nap some more and allow my kids and I to lavish him at dinner time. I'm not sure why this is his activity of choice on his birthday but it is his birthday and he should get to spend it however he wants. So as I sit here writing this birthday longing, my husband lays in bed napping. And I sit here like I have ants in my pants waiting to shower him with love and gifts and his favorite meal. I get so excited about birthdays and I just want to celebrate. He works hard and his idea of celebrating is taking the day off and napping. Don't get me wrong, I am glad he gets to do whatever he wants on his birthday, I'm glad he gets to relax and rest on his much deserved day off. I'm also glad that he allows us to lavish him for a time later today. Because he is the love of my life and I want to celebrate his life. I want to celebrate the day that God chose for his birth and celebrate another year of being able to love him.

Birthdays aren't about the age, it's about celebrating a life and I am very grateful for his.

So God, thank you for Virgil. Thank you for his life and his love and his spirit. Thank you for sending him to me for a lifetime.

Beautiful Day

This morning I enter the gardens and the busyness of the world seems to melt away. Outside of the gardens, the people continue to hurry to work but inside is a protected sanctuary. The thick clouds hang low in the sky blocking the sun from peeking through. But the shining sun isn't needed to find the peace that fill this garden sanctuary. The music fills the air and everywhere are traditional chinese beginning their dance. Notice the peace on their faces as they slowly perform their routine that has been memorized by the decades. Among the flowers, they center themselves for the day that lies ahead of them and find their peace. Among the flowers, I do the same only in a different way that has been memorized by the decades.

I close my eyes and listen to the sounds that surround me. The gentle Chinese musics, the trickling of the water in the fountains, and the birds greeting one another with their morning song. I can smell the scent of the flowers, too many to name and with the breeze comes the scent of breakfast at a nearby diner. I focus in on God. center....center...center...Guide me today Lord. Guide my steps, my actions, my words and my thoughts. Make your plans for me today Lord. Lead me...center...center. I open my eyes and notice the church in front of me in the far off distance. An older building with beautiful pillars and steeple. The doors are open, inviting the people to come..."Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest..."

Directly in front of me I can see God's masterpiece all around me and I marvel at His work. So many colors; virbrant red, gentle pink, golden yellows, precious orange, and greens of every shade. God has painted an amazing picture today. All over the city and all over the world, the scenes look different but the intent is the same. The beauty of this day brings glory to God. As I begin my day, my prayer is that I will do the same. Good morning God! Thank you for this beautiful day.