God wants to kill me...

I read that line in the article below. ...God wants to kill me... He wants to kill the "self" in me. He wants me to let go of "I want...I need...give me...I should get..." He wants to raise His glory in my heart and life. He wants His character traits to be the thing that others see in me...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness. He wants it to be ALL about Him and less about me.

It's easier to write about than it is to live. God please kill me and raise Yourself in me. Cause me to look like you. Mold and shape my personality, my giftings, my desires, to bring honor and glory to Your name. Make Your name famous through me!!

Come Live Die

Below is a quote from Elijah Company http://www.elijahcompany.org/elijah/p4.html on their mentorship page, about Missions

Come Live Die

“Brokenness gives first, heals first, repents first, hopes first, loves first.

She intercedes instead of accuses, covers instead of reveals,

gathers and does not scatter, builds and does not destroy.

Brokenness promotes others,

she herself hides from the notoriety and clamor of the public eye.

She does not parade her riches and her intimacy before the world,

who will only use her secretly

and discard her when the cost of embracing her is truly understood.

She reserves herself for God alone.”

Don Nori

Oh that I would live like that!!

another great quote from the same article...

I'm just a nobody

excited about telling anybody

about somebody

who can save everybody.

The late Tom Petty, staff member at Columbia International University.

Poems from my mother

My Mom sent me these poems in January and I was just re-reading them again today and I was so blessed by my mother. Blessed not only by her love for me, but by her vision for my future, by her encouragement in my present, by her faithful friendship to me.

There are so many wonderful things about you, my daughter.

But I think the loveliest thing of all, at least to me,

is that you do the things you do....with love.

You give life a gleam that most people only carry a glimpse of.

Laurel Atherton

She found life interesting and wonderful from the very beginning.

Her positive attitude and friendliness

make her a natural magnet for others;

family and friends know they can count on her

for comfort, support, and a great time.

She has brought me more smiles than anyone else

and fulfilled my life in a way only she can.

Barbara Cage

God grant that I can live up to such high expectations.

Don't waste your pain...

John Piper recently had surgery and wrote this article that I feel like really expresses what we should do whenever we're faced with yucky news. I hope you'll take the time to follow the link and read it.

http://www.desiringgod.org/library/fresh_words/2006/021506.html

James..a poem by Kerry

The following is a poem written by one of my sons about the other. And I thought it was rather cool. My son Kerry's blog page is full of other awesome writings and poems. Check out his blogspot... http://yerrik.blogspot.com/

Friday, August 19, 2005

James
(Note this is about and describes my younger brother. He really is a tiger among men. Every time we go out people notice him and I -swear- that he looks like a stalking panther as he walks around.)

James
Who is this tiger?
Young and sleek,
Swift and powerful.
He stalks among the young men,
The young women stop and take notice.
In anger a fierce storm.
In solitude a sleeping kitten.
Warn him, Warn him,
Let him seek his Master
Let him hunt his Lord’s game
Lest strangers come and bind him,
Lest hunters take his fur.
Aha! On his master’s leach he is without equal
At his Master’s side who can restrain him?
He curls around the weak as a guard.
He stalks the enemies of his Master and rends them without mercy.
A tiger in prayer.
A lion in love.
Loyal and bold,
A panther among men.

The Happy Way Is To Obey

We used a curriculum in kindergarten with our sons that had a little ditty that said, “The happy way is to obey.” (Kindergarten is a very foundational time ;) And oh how much happier we all were when they obeyed! Obedience… it’s what Samuel talked about to Saul when he said…

…Obedience is far better than sacrifice…
1 Sam 15:22-23 NLT
The Bible tells us to…
"Honor your father and mother.
Then you will live a long, full life
in the land the LORD your God will give you.
Ex 20:12 NLT

Children, obey your parents …
This is the first of the Ten Commandments that ends with a promise.
And this is the promise:
If you honor your father and mother,
"you will live a long life, full of blessing."
Eph 6:1-3 NLT

How is it that honoring our moms and dads is THE only commandment with a promise? Why not “love God with all your heart, soul, and mind…so that you will live a long full life?”
There are some differences between obedience and honor, but not much
Definitions of honor
· a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction
· bestow honor or rewards upon;
· show respect towards
Definitions of obedience
· dutiful or submissive behavior with respect to another person
· the trait of being willing to obey
· Obedience is the willingness to follow the will of others.
Note: obedience is NOT just doing what the other person tells us to do. There is an agreeing on our part to become a part of the problem, the process, or the solution.
Still, we can’t get away from the fact that God says honor/obedience is the key to living a long, full life. So, even after we are past the age of having to obey our parents we still have to honor, IF we want to live a long, full life.

Why?
(Have you ever noticed that we never seem to get past the age of three when it comes to doing something that we’re not really keen on doing, or something that doesn’t make sense to us? We still want to know, Why?)

Why? Because, “Obedience is the opener of eyes.” says George Macdonald. The training that we receive from our parents is invaluable. Pretty much regardless of the kind of parents we had. This training, or raising, opens our eyes to the great big world of ‘not me.’ When we’re tiny we live under the delusion that it’s all about me. But gradually, thanks to our parents, we learn there are other people out there who sometimes take priority over our time, attention, and love. God knew who we were going to have as parents and He knows what kind of parents we will be. And somehow it is His divine plan, His purpose, that we learn from our parents everything that we need to learn to have a long, full life. What is it Jesus says…

My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.
John 10:10 NLT

What is a full life? I think it’s going to be a God-filled life, a life of purpose and direction, full of laughter and tears, gladness and sorrow, challenges and accomplishments, defeats and victories. It will be a life where God never leaves us, doesn’t abandon us, doesn’t forget about us, or reject us. But calls us His very own sons and daughters. And is always working for our good, because He is good!

Honoring/obeying is not a feeling that seems right, or something that we need to pray about whether or not we should do it. It’s just one of those things that we do, because God said so! Honoring/obeying is all based on trust. Do I believe God when He says that if I will honor then I will be honored and receive the promise? Do I trust God to know what is best for me? Do I believe that He really knows who my parents are and how hard/impossible it seems to be to honor?

Ok, so how do we teach honor/obedience to our children? We model it. That’s what Jesus did.

Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.
Luke 2:51 NIV
Then He said,
"If you love me, obey my commandments.
John 14:15-16 NLT
And we train/disciple it in. We gently tell them to hush so that we can speak to them. We remind them that we love them and that we are going to do whatever it takes to comfort, care, and provide for them. We do what we say we will do. Therefore we don’t lie and say that we’re going to stop loving them if they don’t stop doing such and such. We don’t threaten them with days of sitting in the corner when we know that we’ll only supervise 30 minutes of it. We don’t throw fits and scream and yell at them trying to intimidate them into doing what we want them to do. We don't ignore them and their behavior, deluding ourselves into thinking that it doesn't matter what they do. Nor do we lazily ignore the whole situation and focus on our own interests and desires.

Instead, we think about the outcome, the result, the finished product. What is it that we want to see our children doing and saying next year? When they are 10? 20? When they are parents? What does God want our children to know? How does He want them to behave? Then we set clear and defined rules that they can understand and that we are willing to enforce. (More than a handful is too many.) Then we obey our rules, and we all suffer if we disobey them. We suffer because it means we have to do the dirty work of discipline (sometimes in the form of corporal punishment – which is always painful, but often in the form of practicing – which is really almost more difficult for us as parents) And they suffer, who wants to be disciplined? However, we can all be like Christ when we submit to discipline.
...Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered ...
Heb 5:8 NIV
After disciplining our child, we should remind them of our love for them, of our plans for their future, plans that will prosper them and not harm them, plans to give them a hope and a future…Where have we heard that before? Hmm…;) (Jeremiah 29:11)
Really and truly, the happy way is to obey!