Follow Up- 13 Trees

After one day of tree chopping here's the first picture of how things are shaping up....I will be glad when it's done and we can put an in ground pool in get some order to the back yard! They will be back on Thursday to finish up. 

13 Pines

When we bought our house, one of the things we loved most was the somewhat wooded lot. We had 18 pines in our backyard that provided shade in the summer, pine needles for mulch in my flowerbeds and an overall cozy feeling to our backyard.  Well, after the horrible drought of 2011, 13 of these tall pines died. Talk about sad....

So, tomorrow the tree service will start cutting them down. It's going to take a few days but by the end of the week, my backyard is sure to look nearly bare. It will definitely take some getting used to.

Dead things are dry and brittle and ugly. I've watched these trees die. It's been a slow, gradual death on the outside..but the roots have been dead for a while. In fact, before I ever knew the trees were dead...they were.

Living things are so much more appealing. They're fresh and green and provide beauty for us to enjoy.

Isn't that how we, as Christians should be. We are ALIVE. We aren't dead...except to sin and the bondage of it. We are alive in Christ. Shouldn't we be vibrant and beautiful and life-breathing? The Living Water is available to nourish our hearts and souls - to take a dead, brittle life and make a strong and powerful life.

I choose life....the beautiful life that Christ offers...abundant, full, rich and free. Thank you Jesus!

The Increase

She was in my preschool class the first year I taught. From the first moment I saw her, I knew she was different. I had seen her paperwork and I knew that she came from a troubled home. Mom had abandoned her, dad was in prison and her grandparents were raising her. School started and she was the one who came in with cigarette smoke on her clothes and backpack...she was the one with the hesitant look in her eyes, but always a smile, always.

In October our church hosted a "Friend Day" and I invited all my students to come. But guess which one came? She did. She looked so pretty all dressed up in her cousin's dress that day. She went to Sunday School and Children's Church and then enjoyed a big meal in our Family Life Center. She heard more about Jesus and I wondered if any of it would stick with her.

Christmas came. For the Christmas program a few of the teachers got together to be sure she had a pretty dress for the Christmas program at school. This girl had stolen our hearts. She looked so pretty the night of the program and you could tell she felt special in her new dress.

Christmas went. And she didn't show back up for school. One week and I called her grandparents. No answer. Two weeks...no answer. Then one day the grandma showed up at the school. Mom was back in the picture and wanted her back. I was devastated. Grandma knew this was a bad idea, but the girl wanted her momma and after all momma's are important. The girl moved back in with mom a few towns away.

Living in a small town you run into people at the grocery store, gas station, hair salon. I saw Grandma a few weeks after and not to my surprise the girl was back with her. I was so glad. I knew this was the safest place for her. She didn't come back to school but started kindergarten in public school and finished the year in May.

She was walking down the hall at church yesterday when I spotted her. I had to look twice. Was that really her? I saw one of the bus workers walking with her and then, she spotted me. It was like a scene from a movie...we were running towards each other with arms opened wide. This little bit of a girl had been recruited to ride our bus for church. She had even brought her cousin. We took a few minutes to catch up about how kindergarten had gone and how excited she was about first grade and then she went to class. Smiling.

I walked down the hall with a stray tear or two streaming down my face. One more opportunity to minister to a little girl who has had a rough start. One more chance for this body of Christ to embrace a wounded family. One more time to share love with the fatherless. One more story about Jesus for her to hear. One more answered prayer...

I'm thankful for the bus workers who brought her in, for the Sunday School teachers who always have something for the children to eat in class so they aren't hungry, for the Caraway workers who have their lessons prepared and for Jesus, most of all, for Jesus who welcomes little children to come to Him. In a world where there is so much rejection and family heartache, it's good to see God's family reaching out in Jesus' name. Some plant, some water, but God gets the increase.

I like this...

God doesn't waste anything. Every experience that He gives us is a chance for us to grow closer to Him, to experience more of Him and to hold tightly to Him. That's what I've been learning.

Yesterday Bruce accepted the call to become the pastor of the church we've been working at for the last three years. Six months ago our pastor announced his plans to retire/resign by the end of June. He's served faithfully for 29 years. He leaves quite a legacy. 

Six months ago when we began earnestly seeking God regarding our purpose in this town God began to make it clear to us that Bruce was to submit a resume for the pastorate. He had pastored before for 14 years and we began wondering if that was what God was preparing us for now.With lots of nervous energy and midnight prayers Bruce and I committed to take this one small step towards what we believed God was asking us to do. What we learned...small steps can be hard steps too. But, God doesn't waste anything. For four months the search committee met, sorted through resumes, checked references, narrowed down the list of many to a list of a few, and in that waiting, we learned a lot about ourselves, each other and God. 

To make a very long 5 month story much shorter, I'll just tell you that yesterday Bruce accepted the call to become the next pastor of our church...the church where as a sixteen year old young man he came to know Christ, the church he surrendered to ministry at, the church that supported us in our very young ministry days in SE Texas. 

There's lots of very cool details that I'll be blogging about at a later date, but I know some of you didn't even know this was in the making and I wanted to let you know sooner rather than later....God hasn't wasted our last three years ...he wastes nothing. We've grown in ways that we didn't even know we needed to, we've learned to serve God and love people in a way that was refreshing and rewarding and risky and in the end, we hope has brought honor to God. And we know we've got lots more learning and growing and stretching ahead. Hopefully I'll hold tight to what I've come to know as Truth. 

Someone told me last night when she walked through the line to greet us after church "I like this, I like this a lot". Yes, me too.

Beautiful Day

Yesterday the weather was uncharacteristically cool and a little overcast....really beautiful considering we are already experiencing the typical Texas summer heat. We had previously arranged a short trip to Winnsboro to pick fruits and veggies and feed the chickens for a family in our church who are cruising the Alaskan shoreline. We enjoyed the beautiful property and the gorgeous fruits of their labor. Here are a few pics I snagged while there:

Tucker enjoyed throwing seed and bread.

This tree had 100s of plums on it.

Savannah enjoyed the taste of her first plum,

Tucker liked that the branches we overloaded....that way he could reach the plums.

We dug up potatoes...and picked black eyed peas and tomatoes, onion, squash and zuchini

Fun Day!

Answered Prayer

I think the prayer I've prayed most since becoming a parent was that my kids would know Christ at an early age. I didn't have a magic age figured in my head, I just hoped and prayed that the Holy Spirit would speak to them sooner rather than later -realizing that the stats tell us that it is much more likely that someone accept Christ before the age of 16 than after.

To be honest, whether I prayed the prayer out of fear that my children never call on the name of the Lord or out of genuine concern for their eternal soul and a life surrendered here on earth, I can't tell you. Maybe it was a little of both. Thankfully God saw my heart (which I sometimes have a hard time adequately putting into words) and He welcomed them both into His "family" early on in life.

For Savannah it was right before her fifth birthday. She had been asking questions about sin and eternity and living for Jesus. She knew she was a sinner. She knew she needed a Savior. I remember sitting in the living room of our home in Gunter, Texas, rejoicing that she had accepted the precious gift of Jesus (Romans 2:8-9). And now, our prayer as parents is that we lead her in discipleship, so that she in turn can disciple others.

Tucker made a very confident decision regarding Christ on April 15, 2012. At six and a half years old, and questioning for months and months, we knew the time was getting near that he would be ready to begin his relationship with Christ. Bruce and I were careful not to push him into making a decision and relied on the Holy Spirit to prompt Tucker's questions. Savannah on the other hand had other ways of making sure Tucker knew he needed Jesus. She offered him bribes if he would accept Christ...things like, I'll do your chores for 2 weeks if you get saved, or if you will go talk to mom and dad about Jesus, I'll give you a dollar. Needless to say her enthusiasm was stiffled when we got wind of her tactics! Even so, she was genuinely concerned to the point of putting him on her Sunday School prayer list in October of 2011(thanks to Linda Baker and Linda West for encouraging her over the long months of waiting for her prayer to be answered and for praying with her) So, on Sunday afternoon of April 15, when Tucker approached me with what I knew was an attitude of true concern and repentance, I was excited for both my kids. For Tucker...beginning his walk with Christ....and for Savannah recognizing the power of prayer.

I'm thankful God answered my prayer of salvation for my kids. I know they will have questions as they grow in their walk with the Lord. I know that they don't understand fully what Christ has done for us (but really, do any of us??) I know that at their ages they couldn't possibly know the depth and breadth of His love and forgiveness for them....but again, do any of us really understand that?

So what's my prayer now? There are many....that Bruce and I would demonstrate Jesus to them daily, that we would disciple their very teachable spirits, that they would share their faith with others as opportunities arise and that they would follow God all the days of their lives. I'm grateful for a God that can accomplish all these things through them.

Thank you Lord...for answered prayer.

Listening

I was reading a book the other day and I guess Tucker had called my name a couple of times, when he climbed up on the arm of the chair, cupped my chin, turned my face toward himself and said, "I've been calling your name". Ouch...what a way to get my attention. I didn't purposefully tune him out or ignore him. The fact is, I just wasn't listening.

There have been other times when I should have listened to those around me....like the time I colored my hair maroon, or the time I bought the make money from your home kit off TV, or the time spent way too much money on a pair of shoes that were a 1/2 size too small because I just thought they were soooo cute and I could break them in, stretch them, right?.  I think you get the picture. Each time I had someone whispering in my ear (sometimes loudly), don't do it!


But each time, I did my own thing. That's what we're good at, isn't it? Doing our own thing. It's in us to go our own way, seek our own will and satisfaction. It's what we're made of...our flesh..our sin-infested flesh. And each time we do our own thing....there is a voice...a spirit saying....don't do it.

Unfortunately, we're not naturally good listeners. So, like Tucker on the arm of my chair, God sometimes has to get our attention. He gently calls our name...and when we don't answer...sometimes He cups our face and says..."I've been calling your name". He wants us to be in tune with His voice. Always listening...waiting to hear Him calling our name. No, it's not always purposeful when we don't hear Him. We aren't necessarily ignoring Him, fact is....we just don't listen.

Lately this is a lesson I've been reminded of. Sometimes I get so involved in my book, or life, or parenting, or church or ministry or work, that I miss His voice...the only voice that matters at all. I'm reminded that it's the meek and quiet spirit that God desires (I Peter 3:4) and that He cautions us to be still and know Him (Psalm 46:10). In all that quietness perhaps it will be easier to hear that most important voice of all.

Thanks Lord, for being patient with me....and for speaking to me in the stillness, for cupping my face when I've been to involved in other things...for even calling my name at all. Those are the moments I want more of....more moments with you.