Guess that Parable!

The last parable is found in Matthew 20:1-16. If you guessed The Laborers in the Vineyard you guessed right! We learned on Wednesday that it is a good thing that God is not fair. Just like the vineyard owner who paid all his workers the same (those who worked all day and those who didn't get hired till the last hour) He gives salvation to all of us, no matter when we ask or in what condition we are in when we ask. If he treated us fairly...who would get to heaven?

Here is this weeks parable:

Jamie was a leader at his school. He didn't lead normal things like band, football, or a club. Instead, Jamie was the one who other students looked to for guidance  They treated others the way he treated them. They wore similar clothes that he wore. You were a part of the "in" crowd when you followed Jame and many students did. Mainly because he would have you beat up of you didn't. 
Tami is a new student today and at lunch was trying to find a place to sit. Tami has red hair and Jamie's group didn't like this feature for some reason. By placing books, bags, or saying that the open seat was being saved they kept her from sitting them. Their "group" took up most of the lunch room, and by the time Tami found a seat she didn't have much time to eat. Jamie's group was relentless in their taunting and wouldn't give her a break. It went from teasing, to cruel put downs, to beating her up. It started with Tami having read hair to picking on anything about her appearance or personality. The day they had beaten her up Rosa, who is a part of Jamie's group, went home that night ashamed for what she had down and for what Jamie's "friends" had done. She had felt this way for a while but finally made a decision about it. The next day Rosa, with all her courage, broke away from Jamie's group and went to Tami's house to check on her and to apologize. Since Tami is now home-schooled, Rosa visits her everyday even at her own risk of being hurt.

Have fun guessing! 

Responding instead of Reacting

I feel like it's been a while, but I have really been tired at night this week. The new glasses have put a bit of a strain on my eyes. I feel okay tonight. 

Every Thursday a dear friend and I get together. We are building a discipleship relationship, so we dig deep in the Bible and also talk of life. This Thursday I was telling her of something that had happened to me on Tuesday that I would have normally reacted to. Now, if you have been reading my posts you know this but if not then I will give you a run down... I have a short fuse and have been working to respond rather than react and that this dear friend and I came together in circumstances that I can only call "A God Thing". When I was done she said I should talk about that on my blog so I am...

On Tuesday I set out to make apple pie bars as well has bread (which makes three loaves). I have an adorable three year old son who helped. Before I even get our oldest out the door to school I dump over our son's milk. He put a straw in his cup, which I asked him not to for this very reason (except I thought it'd be him spilling it not me!). Later as I was washing something I needed my elbow hit a cup of O.J. So I had the opportunity to clean my kitchen floor! Then our son dumped all the apple skins I had been pealing for the apple pie bars! He was very helpful in cleaning up his mess thankfully. Normally I would have said some very "put down" type things to myself and to our son. Working with my friend closely to "Be still and know that He is God" has really, really helped me a lot. I have learned and have been practicing much I have learned from her and others around me. 

Who are you thankful for in your life? Someone who has taught, guided, listened, or play with? Think about it, then thank God for them and let them know what they mean to you!

Danzig Passage

I have finished Danzig Passage. This was an incredible book. I love the way she uses history and then makes personal stories come alive. There were a couple of characters that I didn't mention before. One is a boy named Alfie. He lives in a graveyard. Four other children who are trapped in a church. The Nazis are after them because two of them are Jews and two of them are children of parents who are helping Jews. Through some amazing event they finally make it to the train to take them to Danzig. Lucy finally breaks away from Wolf and escapes with two boys who she saved from Wolf capturing them. It wasn't as suspenseful as the other ones but it has the same pull on your heart. Since it wasn't as emotional to read this one I feel able to read the next and last one in the series. Usually I need to wait a couple of weeks. The next is titled Warsaw Requiem. 

This is sort, but soon I will have another with a parable and a few thoughts. Plus my cake is coming up. I will be making a graduation cake for a friend of mine for Nov 17th.

Everyone have a nice night!

Time Management

Last post I talked of not going to church for a bit and asking what would you do to spend your time. This is an extreme situation to make you think. So, what did you think of? What would you do to cultivate your relationship with Jesus? Talked to my hubby about this some and his answer was not to stop going to church, but perhaps the church as a whole needs a break from the normal things. His idea would be to still meet but do something different. I thought on this some and think it to be a good idea. Have you noticed some Sunday's your church as a whole is just ho-humming it? Sometimes after tragedies churches can do this, ours has. Just like in your own life, there are ebbs and flows. Same is for the church. So I thought of different things a church could do as a whole. 1) Serve together. Every year our church serve the community soup during the Christmas season. This is a planned thing, but I think it is good for us to work together on something to better our community and perhaps witness to someone about God's love for them. 2) Fellowship together. Once we were totally snowed/iced out. Instead of cancelling, we kept the church open. We had a small turn out of course but we still had a small lesson and then we enjoyed hot chocolate together and just had some fellowship. Maybe your church could use a change up. Small sermon/lesson and then just let people mill around with some snacks. Communicating is an important things. Some people maybe looking for someone to confide in, or maybe someone just needs adult time away from kids, or maybe someone need comforted. This would be a great way for people to have the time to connect and grow. 3) Pray together. We had a wonderful 40 of prayers where each Sunday the member leading this would get up and speak on some verses that were covered in the coming week and give us ideas on what to pray for each day. She had pamphlets made up for us to take home with the verses and ideas too. We've also had prayer days were we had station for people to spend 10 minutes at in prayer. Confession station, pray for others station, pray for our nation station, ect. 

Tonight we had a speaker talk to us about manage time as well. What he talked about went with my last posted and wanted to share some of his thoughts. God doesn't want us to live a life of pressure but one devoted to God. Then everything else will follow (Matthew 6:33). He also pointed out that we need to give to God not only our money but also our time. So then he asked what is 10% of our day. After we sleep there are about 16 hours that. That's nearly 1.5 hours that can be give to God in prayer, Bible reading/studying, serving, ect. This do not need to be done alone. Pair up with a friend and do these together. I have a dear friend suggest to me to pray a prep pray for the day at the beginning, rather than crying out to God when I was already in the middle of a muddle. So I started praying what she prayed for me, Ephesians 1:17-19. This really helped me a lot and so I prayed it for others in my life. I have not done this in a while. Though and I do have a new verse that I focus on, it does not seem to have the same effect. I read out of my children's Bibles in the morning and don't usually get to mine until night. These are something I have done in ebbs and flows of my own life. What do you do with your 1.5 hours to God?

Guess That Parable!

The after school program that everyone was worrying about went of without a hitch. All their worrying made me edgy. I am glad it is has finally started.

On another note, this year for my Wednesday night class at church (3rd grade - 6th grade kids) I am following an example I found in a book by Herold Fickett titled Conversations With Jesus. He took the parables Jesus used and re-wrote them to be more relevant. I take the parables Fickett used and am re-writing them for children. So here I am going to type up the one I wrote and see if you can see which parable it represents. Should be fun. Leave your guess in the comments below.

This Saturday it was raining and the Ronald kids were bored. Matthew, who is 10 years old, came to his mom and asked if there was anything for him to do to earn some extra cash. His mom said that there was, he could do the dishes, fold and put away his laundry, and put away his things. Hmmmm, she thought for a bit and said that she'd give him $5.00. Matthew said, "Sweet!" and he went off to start working. The whole time he imagined himself in his yard with his remote control car. After a bit Mark, who is 8 years old, came to his mom asking a similar thing except he wanted a baseball mitt. She told him to dust and pick up his things and put them away. Mark's mom also told him he'd get $5.00. By this time it was lunch so Matt took a break to eat while Mark was just getting started after lunch. When supper time was near, little Maddie who is 4 years old, asked her mama if she could work too. her mama said sure and that she could pick up her books and place them back on the bookshelf. Maddie wanted to save for a doll. At bed time all three came looking for payment, excited about what they wanted to save the money for. Their mom gave them each a $5.00 bill. Matthew was so mad that he couldn't talk at first then he wanted to know why they were all paid the same when he clearly had worked the longest. He thought he should get more or they less. Mark had the look of confusion on his face. He wanted to know why Maddie got $5.00 when she only picked up like 3 books.  Maddie was the happiest, took the $5.00 and ran to put it in her piggy bank. Their mother explained to her boys that she had given them what she had promised. That it was not their concern how she gave out allowance among them. 

They way to really wrap this up would reveal too much of the Biblical version and make it easier for you to get, so I will put the point on here with the next post I write. Good luck!

To Church or Not to Church?

What if you didn't go to church for one month? What would you do? This is something that I was wondering as I was putting our son to bed tonight. It was random, but I think it stems from some things I have read from the "The Jesus I Never Knew" bookby Philip Yancey. How would you spend your time? Don't get me wrong don't stop getting together. The Bible talks of getting together with other Christian as being important (Hebrews 10:25). I am just wondering when a small part of following Christ became such a focal point. For me I sometimes find myself running around trying to get to church on time. Wed, Sun, Sun night and then anything in between. We are to be taught and to also teach, but Jesus talks of so much more than this. There's feeding those who need it, clothing, and loving your enemies. These things take much time and energy to do and do well. 

It not just church taking up our time either. It seems that we have put ourselves into a box. A very limited box...one with time restriction, culture restrictions, race restrictions, what is safe and not safe restrictions (like me picking up the hitch hiker = not safe). How are we to completely live a life as Jesus' if we are not open to living with others around us? Maybe we need to be interrupted doing the laundry, filing that paper, or going to an event so that we can  help someone else. I mean Jesus would be interrupted many times trying to get somewhere. He never rushed though, he always helped people on the way. Once He was interrupted so much that a little girl had died. A man came to Jesus asking him to heal his daughter. On the way there he was interrupted by a woman who had a hemorrhage. This woman touch Jesus' clothes just to be healed. Jesus stopped everyone to find who had touched him and then proceeded to talk to the woman, during which a servant came and said that the little girl had died. Jesus continued on though and then brought the little girl back to life (Mark 5:21-43). This is one of my favorite accounts of Jesus. 

I had a friend once tell me that everything we do needs to bring glory to God. That the things God does brings glory to Himself. He can take something bad in your life and make it good and bring glory. 

In the end I am trying to live a more flowing life rather than one defined by restrictions I try to put on myself. So far I have done a so-so job of it. But when I do succeed in flowing rather than being upset at the interruption, I have the most incredible sense of peace. I ask again, what would you do with your time if it was not tied up with church, sports, tv, books, ect? How would you bring glory to God? If you find yourself rushing around, maybe you need to cut something out of your life for now. Maybe you need to try not being so set on what you are going to do in a day, but allow God to guide you. Here is a chorus from Newworldson's song "Today". This gets stuck in my head when I try to take the lead or try to grumble that my day is not going the way I want it to.

 MAYBE THIS TIME YOU CAN TAKE THE LEAD, 

AND I WONT TRY TO PULL YOU BY THE SLEEVE.
BECAUSE EVERY TIME I THINK THAT I KNOW BETTER, I LOSE MY WAY, 
SO GOD, WHAT YOU WANNA DO TODAY?

Piddly Things and Books

I really should talk about something tonight. But I am really tired. I know that the graduation party is November 17th, so I will start planning and buying things for his cake. Tomorrow our after school program starts. I am wondering how it is going to go. I am sure that I will have a lot to talk about then. 

Theo has made it back to London to his family. He saw Hitler's army set Berlin on fire. It was terrible. Bodie does a great job describing what is going on. It really pulls you in. Theo's daughter. Elisa is Theo's daughter and is expecting their first child in the middle of all this chaos. She keeps having this dream of saving children from the Nazi. So is an adopted child that her and her husband have. I am wondering what they are going to do, they can't stay in London.

Well, this is a short night. Going to enjoy a video game with my hubby. Night.

Are you satisfied with life?

So tonight we had an evening church "service". It is more like conversation with the minister, songs, and communion for anyone who may not have received any in the morning service. I got a lot from the discussion. We were in John 6. Specifically where Jesus fed the 5,000 men with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. At the end people keep following him for physical fulfillment, like more food, clothes, healing, water. Jesus turns around and says

 "²⁷  Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you..."

For the rest of the chapter Jesus pretty much tell them that only life can happen with Jesus. You can only be satisfied with Jesus. You need Him. Many people turned away from Jesus at that point. Later Jesus asks his disciples why haven't you gone and Peter replies with my husbands now favorite verse, "where will we go?"

Some questions that were posed tonight and some that I thought of were these: Why do you pursue God? How are you satisfied? What do you do to have fulfillment?

For me I sometimes pursue God to be a better mother, wife, leader, teacher. Sometimes I am satisfied when I complete a "to do" list. Sometimes I feel fulfillment when my children are obedient and my husband is relaxed. However I find myself always craving these things when I pursue these certain things. When I focus on these I get the "pulled in a million directions" feeling. It can be very overwhelming. Tonight reminded me that I pursue God, am satisfied  and am fulfilled because I am a Child of God. I have all that I need and am everything (and more) in Him. 

One instance recently, where I was very unsatisfied and frustrated with my forgetfulness, God showed me just how fulfilling it is to just DO what I already know. I had driven nearly 30 minutes from home with a co-worker to buy some snacks for children that attend our after-school program on Tuesdays. Well we were able to afford these said snacks because we received $100.00 in vouchers to shop at this local store. Guess what we didn't have when we got to the store..that's right, the vouchers. So I drived nearly 30 minutes back home while stayed and shopped. While driving I am talking to God about just how much I hate being forgetful. He brought to mind that I am working on giving my weakness to Him so that He can be my strength (2 Corinthians 12). I was focusing on this because I had taken on a job I think is out of my capabilities (more on this in other posts) it never occurred to me to apply this to my personal life. I said, "ok" what do you want me to do now. On the way back to the store there was a hitch-hiker in a brilliantly clean white shirt. I drove right past, then it occurred to me maybe he needed a ride. I called my husband, told him what I was thinking, then asked what I should do. He said I needed to pray about it and do what I believed He was telling me. When I hung up I realized that I didn't need to pray about this. The Bible is pretty clear, help those who need it (Matthew 25). SO I turned around and picked him up. He was trying to make it back home, lost job, etc. Nice guy. Grandparent age. On the way back to the store my hubby texted me saying that he wouldn't recommend it for my safety sake. HA, to late. When we made it back to the store road, I let him out. He just wanted me to take him as far as I could. That was his form of travel to get back home. Called hubby and told him what happened and the one thing I remember saying was that I was so satisfied to have done what I knew I should do. Living by the "world's safety" is very unsatisfying and hard. It was so freeing to just DO. I was thankful that God protected me and son as we helped him out. Our son even fell asleep through it! 

Peace, protection, provider. All these things I think of when I think of this event.

So I ask again: Why do you pursue God? What do you do to have satisfaction? How are you fulfilled? I am not saying I am at this point all the time. Actually I have just made it through a week were I had the "pulled in a million directions" feeling. Tonight was a wonderful reminder that I am a Child of God. He will take care of life when I focus on my relationship with Him instead of the little things (and big things) of life.

Graduation Cake Ideas

Well I am trying to figure out what to make for our friends graduation from a tech college near here. He is studying in HVAC. Heating and Air units, things like that. I thought I'd do a 3D air conditioner but that seems a daunting task at this junction of my life. So while I was browsing pictures I cam across this cake. Our friend is a candy person so I am thinking of doing something like this using his school colors and favorite candy to do the boarder. Not sure if I'll put the year, name, or congrats on it though...



I also found these little guys. I am going to use this on the cake somewhere. They are so cute and made of one of his favorites! 



Well that is about all tonight. I had my glasses adjusted because they were not fitting right so now my eyes have been readjusting all day making it hard to focus on much. Hope to get some reading done, but we will see. If you have any creative thoughts for a cake pass them on. Brainstorming is one of the fun parts!

UPDATE:

Here is what I actually did after looking at several different Graduation Cakes. I am supper excited at how these turned out! Enjoy!
 

How do you Hear God?

So I am reading this book, Danzig Passage and there is a part in there where Theo and God have a seemingly audible conversation going on. This made me think to ask, how does God talk to me, do I listen/hear Him? How does He talk with you?

I've heard Him different ways through out my life. Sometimes I hear Him as the "red flags" we all know. You know the ones I am talking about. You are about to do something/go somewhere and all along you sense these "red flags" with every decision you make about his and when it comes crunch time you suddenly feel strongly that this is wrong and so you back out. Why do we wait until the last minute to listen. It's like we as humans are that way. I mean look at kids:

Parent: One....Two.....Two and a half
Child: Staring at parent to see if they will get to three, then decide to listen.

Lots more times in my life I sense that He talks/directs me through people I encounter. Right now I am going through a discipleship study with a wonderful women. They way we were brought together was a God thing. Learning from/with her has brought a huge growth in my spiritual life and I think I am a better mother/wife because of it. I have a bit of a problem with blowing up, having a short fuse, ect. Well I had already taken and anger resolution class which worked for a bit, but there were so many rules and things to remember that I just stopped practicing what I had learned. Because of and event that happened I decided that I should see a counselor. When I went to see him at the appointed time I had planned everything I was going to say, I had it all ready to lay out. He was double booked! Well now I have all this built up and no one to talk to. So I called a dear friend and we visited that night after I got home. She recommended that I get in contact with her aunt who disciples people. Well a few Sunday's pass when I finally caught her after church. She said that it be wonderful to start studying and asked which one I'd like to start on. I said, "Do you have anything on anger?" She laughed and said no but I have some on being still and knowing God. So I said "Yes!" It's been great too.

With that said she loaned me a book titled "Conversations With Jesus" by  Herold Fickett who talks of his own trip in discovering Jesus again after a rough life with drugs and such. He rights of Jesus' parables what they meant to the locals back then and writes his own version of the parable for today so that the point is more poignant. This gave me insight to the fact that Jesus talks to me through His stories even now. Sometimes it just takes a little digging to get the point. I recommend the book to anyone curious about the meanings of some of Jesus' parables and what they mean to you today.

The thing that amazes me is that even when I have a hard time hearing and even sometimes outright ignore Him, He never stops trying to whisper to me. The Creator of the Universe cares enough about me to keep trying. I love that! If He does that for me and I am His child who want to "Be like Daddy" shouldn't I also learn to listen. Not just to my kids but to other people. People in the church and people just standing in the grocery line. Taking time to listen...this is a lesson I will have to work on practicing. If I remember I'll keep you posted!

Well I am going to go back to reading Danzig Passage, have a wonderful night and have an open heart to hear your Lord speak to you.

Rest

I got my new glasses yesterday evening. I am totally excited to see again! Last night I was dealing with nausea because of the new glasses. I am feeling much better.

I have been working on reading through the Book of John. I came to the account of Jesus over throwing the changing tables in the Temple because they were cheating the people out of their money when they bought their sacrifices. At the end of the account He said that he performed few signs and this...

^{Chapter 2:24} But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people ²⁵ and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

So what is in man that made Jesus not get close? This was the question I thought of when I read it. I don't have an answer. Share your thoughts in comments. Maybe it was that we are not as faithful as we think. I have felt the sting of someone betraying me. So that is why I thought of that, also that I have not been most faithful in keeping my own promises. I see that Jesus was very careful with whom He trusted His heart with.

Last post I talked of resting in Jesus. I haven't been doing this lately, but usually I start my day of with prayer. Prayer to be a mother and wife who takes teaching/learning moment with response rather than reaction. I pray for the ability to forgive. I pray that I remember things I need to do for the day and to remember that my life is not the list I have made for the day but as a Child of God and to accomplish my list with the thought of doing each activity and any "interruption" as an opportunity to show His love to my family/friends/and those I run into. I want to flow with situations rather than ram my head into them and making things fit in my time scheduled. Since I haven't been very regular saying my prayer my days have been VERY disorganized in that I feel that I have no goal except for my list and even that is not very organized right now. When I realize my goal is to flow with what God wants for me each day, my day flows much less stressful. Starting tomorrow morning I am going to start saying my "get this day started" prayer. How do you start your day?

Since I've gotten my glasses I have been able to ready my book. Danzig Passage is a gripping book. Right now Theo who is a continued character from the other books, is fleeing for his life from Berlin because the Nazis have started burning Jewish places in every city they occupy. Theo and his family are wanted for helping Jews escape. I am in chapter seven. I have also been introduced to a new character named Lucy. She thought that a captain in the Nazi army actually loved her. When she told him that she was expecting he told her that he will send her off to Lebensborn. A place where "little cows" are kept until the Nazi baby is born. She was devastated.

Well that is all for tonight. Back to reading, time with hubby, and sleep! Have a good one!

Cakes and Books

So, I've talked about life in my last few posts. I thought that this one I'd talk about books and cakes.

Books. Love them. Read a lot. All kinds. More fictional than non-fictional. Though I do pick up one every once in a while (The Jesus I Never Knew). I've read most of Lori Wick's books, several Oaks (can't remember how to spell her first name). I love to read older books as well: Scarlet Letter, Sherlock Holmes, Little Women, etc. I read a lot in High School too so I've read like Where the Red Fern Grows, The Face on the Milk Carton. I enjoy a good detective/mystery once in a while too. I don't like the racey romance novels or horror novels. They make my stomach turn.

Cakes. Love decorating them, hate cleaning up! The shortening is so hard to clean without getting it on other cooking tools. I started decorating cakes though a Wilton sponsored class at a community college. I was looking for something creative to do after our second child was born. When I talked about it to my husband he thought I should go for it. So once a week I drove to the city next to us to take the class. It was so much fun to do something without two little ones hanging on me. I love them, but at that time in my life I was ready to do something I would enjoy as an adult. This was it. I learned how to make icing, borders, flowers, and how to outline a picture on paper with pipping jell and then place it on the cake. Shape cakes are fun too!

Well that is about all tonight. Short and sweet. I can't always be talkative. I hope you have a great night and leave you with the chorus of "I Need You Jesus" by NewSong

I need You Jesus to come to my rescue
Where else can I go?
There's no other Name by which I am saved
Capture me with grace
I will follow You

My heart is Yours for life
I need Your hand in mine
No one else will do
Lord I put my trust in You

Read more: http://artists.letssingit.com/newsong-lyrics-rescue-bwfl15r#ixzz28lFyw0AE
LetsSingIt - Your favorite Music Community 

What's In a Name?

I didn't post last night and probably won't on most Saturday nights because my husband uses the laptop at night for his work. I didn't however write things down most of the day so that I wouldn't forget them by the time came for me to write. 

I was thinking about the darkness I feel sometimes (post one). It comes in different forms for all of us. When do you feel darkness and how do you deal with it? I usually have seen it in my life when I choose not to forgive someone that has wronged me. Maybe my kids for disobeying me, or people offending/hurting my family. When I hang onto the anger, hurt, and that fact that maybe we were wronged in something I become the one lashing out and hurting others. My husband told me a saying he heard "hurt people hurt people". It took me a minute to get it but when it sank in it made a lot of sense as I see it in my own life at times. So when (I don't always) I see this coming I like to turn to Matt 6:14 where it talks of forgiveness and how the Father has forgiven us and how we need to forgive others or He won't be able to forgive us. I don't think this is something He just chooses to do to be mean, I think that in our dark times we won't allow God to come in and heal us with forgiveness. Sometime I feel that I have some sort of control over the situation when I am angry when in reality, it is only hurting me. The person who has done the wrong probably doesn't even remember the offense, so I am only hurting myself and those closest to me. It takes His strength and power in us to be able to truly forgive and when I do let go of the "right" to be angry and actually allow His forgiveness to flow through me to the other person I find healing and peace. I can't even begin to describe how awesome it is to work so closely to the God of the universe, my Lord, to come to this freedom. 

On that note, what names do you describe God with? I was thinking of this the other night as I was putting the kids to bed. It started with the prayer I pray with/over them (with some regularity). Our daughters name means "close to God" and so that is my prayer for her. Our son's name means "certain/aware of God and defender" and so this is my prayer for his life. So it made me think of what my name meant "beloved one", my sister's "brave one", and my husband's means "courage/strength". I thought of our lives and how much they reflect what our names mean. Here are some names I ascribe to God: Alpha/Omega (beginning/end), I AM, King, Saviour, Immanuel (God with us). These names describe to me One who is always there, has been, and will be. They tell me that my Lord is with me (and you), He is also the One who lays down the laws (nature, physics, and otherwise). They also bring me peace knowing that He has come and saved me (and you). Because if we can feel and experience the darkness mentioned above (brought on by the choices we make that break His laws) how in the world are we going to ever have peace without Him? There has to be more to this life than that and I believe that God brings it.

Also, I am slowly reading at the moment because I am waiting on new glasses. Very stressful to the eyes right now. I can't wait until they come in! I am slowly reading Danzig Passage by Bodie Thoene of the Zion Covenant. Last post I incorrectly said it was a part of the Zion Chronicles. Those were the first set of her books I had read, also good. If anyone ever wonders I am using the ESV (English Standard Version) or NASB (New American Standard Bible) for my Bible verses.

So, what darkness do you have, how do you deal with it? What do the names of people in your life mean? What do you call God? Share in comments if you like! Have a wonderful night/day.

My Faith

Today I realized that my last post just kinda jumped in my life with two feet. Perhaps a more of an everyday happenings post would be more appropriate and then bring in what I have learned from studying the Bible, wisdom from close friends, and just seeking Jesus. Because really this is all I have to offer. What my Lord has taught me through my life. I guess that is really what I'd like to share. 

So on to life. Today I was reminded again of 2 Corinthians 12:1-12 where Paul is talking about a thorn in his side and how he has come to understand that God provides His strength in Paul's weaknesses. A lot is going on right now that I just feel inadequate to accomplish. Kid's Club is an after school program where I am the director. Still trying to get advertising out and it is starting on Oct 16th. Also I am not the greatest organizer or one to be on top of finances. I should probably say that I didn't exactly want the position. I turned it down once because I felt that it would take away time from being with our son, I am not organized and would be without an associate director for quite a bit of the time. Well it turns out that God provided TWO associate directors allowing the time I desired to have to train our son. Also my husband believed that I should take the position. So I took it. Reminding myself all the time of 2 Corinthians 12. It is not all bad and I think once it actually starts I will not struggle so much. At least that is what I am praying. With that said I say train our son because he is the youngest of two. His sister just started Kindergarten and is in much need of one on one. He is a bundle of energy and needs to be directed in ways of using said energy constructively ;) ! Wow when I type it out it doesn't seem half bad.

I've also been reading "The Jesus I Never Knew" by Philip Yancey. This book is a real eye opener on how Jesus would have been perceived by his fellow countrymen. Something I think we don't think about much. I just got done reading the section over the beatitudes Jesus talks about on the Sermon on the Mount. I've never thought that they might be offended by the things he said. At the end of Philip's journey to understand these cryptic saying he sums it up in a way I had never thought of these before:

 "For years I had thought of the Sermon on the Mount as a blue-print for human behavior that no one could possibly follow. Reading it again, I found that Jesus gave these words not to cumber us, but to tell us what God is like."

 God's character is merciful, perfect, He loves foes and friends, He promises (and keeps those) to care for us so, no worries. It was really a comfort to me because I had always seen the Sermon on the Mount as a list too, rather than and insight to what God is like. We can never reach these do's and don't's on our own. The distance between us and God is great and can only be spanned by His ability to forgive us even when we don't deserve. This is achievable because Jesus died on the cross and came back to life to bring us this forgiveness.

In other news a friend of ours is graduating from college and is going into HVAC. air conditioning unit . This is a cake I found. Thinking of trying it for his graduating cake. If anyone has done something like this or maybe a different idea I'd like to hear about it in the comments. Always open to new ideas. 

Well that is about all I have tonight. God is stronger than our strongest strength and even more so in our weaknesses!

A Beginning

I am new to the blogging area of life, but I hope to share with and inspire other cake decorators.  I have not made many yet, but it is something I totally enjoy. I've created a Cowboy Boot Cake for a little boy's birthday, also a Train, Heart, an X-Box 360 controller, and a couple of wedding shower cakes. I enjoy doing more of the creative "out of the box" type cakes as opposed to the flowery type cakes. I'd have to say that the boot has been my favorite so far. Other pictures can be found on my facebook page: wedding shower cakes and baby shower cakes.

I also hope that I will be able to freely talk of my experiences in life as a mother, wife, sister, and friend. To share what I learn as an avid book reader, and cake decorator. Forgiveness is also very important to me. God had taught me a lot about practicing this as well as how it can heal. I learned a lot about forgiveness because myself and someone very dear to me was abused and I felt that it was my fault and I was very anger at the person who had done this. The hate and bitterness I felt was mostly toward what happened to her (it was more severe) and the fact that I couldn't have done anything about it due to our ages.

It has taken me years to overcome the hate and bitterness I had built up. Not to mention the guilt. I am not perfect and still struggle. Thankfully I had a husband who was supportive. I didn't even know there was a problem with me until our first child was almost two years old. Suddenly there didn't seem to be a thing she did that made me happy or satisfied to be a mother. Everything got on my nerves. I went from being a pretty patient mother and wife to someone who would explode at the slightest mistake or the smallest suggestion. There was a black, life sucking, hole in my life. I leaned on everything I believed to be true...family, love, wisdom of those older than me. Nothing I did seemed to take that black hole away. I held onto Bible verses that I knew. I read from the Bible things suggested to me. This seemed to keep me surviving, but I just couldn't seem to find the answer at the time. Through it all my faith in God is what kept me going and gave me answers.

I love reading books as well. Learning from fiction and non-fiction books. Right now I am reading through the Zion Chronicles by Bodie Thoene. They are set in time during the Holocaust. These books have also shown me a lot about forgiveness. I'll be starting Danzing Passage as I have finished up Jerusalem Interlude. More details on this one to come.