Some else's kids

        I once head someone say, "There is no such thing as someone else's children. When they are in my arms, they're my child."  

      I work with children every day, all day. I see the good and the bad, I've changed more dirty diapers than I count, have wiped more snotty noses and have cleaned more accidents off the floor than can be counted. I've acted as peace maker hundreds of times and have disciplined many a tantrum laden child. But at the end of the day when I am lying in bed, it is not those things that I remember. Rather, it is the memory of that sleepy child waking up from nap and crawling into my lap- of his sweaty head tucked beneath my chin while I rubbed his back. I think not of the screaming tantrums but of those rare moments when they just want to be held; of that child running to show me the mud pie he made, or the picture she drew for me. I smile as I remember the funny conversations I overheard and laugh when I remember the way they tobogganed down the dirt hill because the snow was gone, but they still wanted to go sledding. 

       I am with these kids more than even their own parents are during the week. I am the one (or rather, one of the people) who gets to train these kids- to teach them- to love on them all day-to calm their fears, quiet their tears and comfort them when they're hurt. From the moment I walk through that door each day, to the minute I walk out, these are not someone else's kids, they're mine. No matter how tired or frustrated I am at the end of the day, or how dirty and gross I have gotten, I will never regret working with children. I may not have a college degree or child development credits, but to me, my job is just as important as that of a college graduate's. And while I may not make as much money as they do, there is nothing in the world that I would rather do than this!  I get dirty, I get tired and worn out (I have a whole new level of empathy for mom's! lol),  I laugh and cry with these kids; I pour my heart into them and at the end of the day I get to go home knowing I made a difference in their lives; in the lives of "my adoptive children." <3

"For the glory of God!"

    

       

A fearful lamb

     This is a topic that has been on my heart for some time now. The image of Christ as our Shepherd, as my Shepherd, is sweet beyond words to me! I saw this video  on Facebook last night and was struck by the beauty and the truth of this man's words.  (Blogger wouldn't let me post the video, so here is the link)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-P0S0XDazA

    "Sometimes we are rejected because the Shepherd wants to come along and pick us up Himself." I love this! I have the unfortunate character flaw of chronic fearfulness, which  makes the imagery of Christ as my Shepherd all  the more beautiful. When I am struggling with my fears it is a vast comfort to know that He is only one whisper  away from being at my side, staff in hand to pluck me from the mire.

"He looked very kindly at the little shepherdess...  but also with full understanding. He knew her through and through, in all the intricate labyrinth  of her lonely heart, far better than she knew herself."                  - Hind's Feet on High Places

      How sweet this quote is! That even when my pitiful flesh is quaking with fears and anxieties, He looks not on my cry with distaste or judgement, but with love and tender compassion. What a blessed relief it is that He understands and knows my heart better than I do. For when I am fearful of things I can't even explain, He knows what is causing that anxiety and how to stop it. His whispers of love pour into my heart,  into my spirit, reviving and rejuvenating me in His presence. Flooding my being with love and thankfulness. Without Him I would be a wreck. This journey to hind's feet might not be easy, but through every moment of each day I know that my Shepherd is guiding me with precision and love, ever onward to the high places!

 "He makes my feet like hinds’ feet,
         And sets me upon my high places.
He trains my hands for battle,
         So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
         And Your right hand upholds me;
         And Your gentleness makes me great.
You enlarge my steps under me,
         And my feet have not slipped."
-Psalm 33: 33-36 
"For the glory of  God!"

A heart of trustful stillness

It is still dark when I rise. The house is quiet as I pluck my Bible from it's resting place and take my seat near the window. I sit in the light of the lamp as dawn's first light peaks over the neighboring hills. All is still. I am still.
     

     "Be still." The continual cry in my heart this past year; the whisper of the Father to His child. As each day rolled around last year, I knew that this reminder, this command, was going to show itself in some form in my life that day. 365 days; 365+ times I saw or heard that verse. As the year progressed He got more and more obvious about His desire for me to learn the lesson He was yearning to teach me. Try though He might to teach me, I just wasn't getting it. Until last week.. then it hit me. I was reading Hind's Feet on High Places, where the Shepherd was scolding Much-Afraid for being impatient with Him for not doing what she wanted Him to do in her life. I was convicted by His words:

~*~"When you wear the weed of impatience 

in your heart instead of the flower of

Acceptance-with-Joy, 

your enemies (fear, pride, anxiety, worry)

will get an advantage over you."~*~

 

            You see, I had become so obsessed with my dreams and hopes for life that I had started trying to control the path my life took. Instead of praying that His will would be done in my life, all my

prayers had become about me: "Help this to happen," "please do this," "I want this to occur.." etc. But who am I, who sees only as far the days end, to dictate how my life should go? The rest of Psalm 46:10 says "..know that I am God." HE IS GOD. He sees my future as far as there is to see. So better to lead my life than Him? It is time that I stop trying to control things that are out of my control and to truly quiet myself before Him, believing that He knows best so that I might come to say: "You choose, my Lord, and I will obey."

"Be still and know that I am God."

Psalm 46:10

For the glory of God!

Orphan Sunday 2015

   Some people say I have the hardest job, others say I'm crazy to enjoy this kind of work. But they couldn't be more wrong! It's true that childcare isn't always easy, and I won't pretend that I enjoy changing diapers and wiping noses. But there's no job more rewarding, more fulfilling, than childcare. Every child that comes through that door each morning has a story, and while I don't always know those stories and am often unable to help them, the one thing I can do is love them.
 You see, that's what childcare is all about: providing a loving and stable environment for those children each day. The love that you give those children makes all the difference in their lives.

   Every child deserves a chance to be loved, but not all children get that chance. Orphan Sunday is an opportunity for Christians around the world to stand up for the orphans and advocate their cause. There are many different ways we can help a child in need. One of those ways is sponsorship. I personally sponsor two young girls in Africa. Yes, it can be a sacrifice, but let me tell you first hand, it is so worth it!

    There are millions of innocent children around the world with no home, no family and no food. Many of these have never even known what it was like to be loved. They struggle for survival, desperately seeking out stability and love. We may be the only voice those little ones will ever have. We cannot remain silent! We must speak up on their behalf! I beseech you to be praying about how you can help these little ones this year!! If you'd like to learn more about Orphan Sunday and how you can help, you can visit http://orphansunday.org and http://every orphan.org/sponsor-an-orphan/. "You're not just sending money, you're raising an orphan to life!"
   

    One day. One voice. One purpose. Orphan Sunday!

   "Religion that is pure and faultless is this: 

to look after orphans and widows in their distress...."   

James 1:27

"For the glory of God!"

 
 

 
 
 
 



   



 
 

 
 
 
 

A most beautiful journey

"Life ain't always beautiful but it's a beautiful ride." 

-Gary Allan 

    Let's face it. Sometimes it's really hard to give God control if our lives, especially when things aren't going the way we planned. As humans it is in our nature to want to control our life. We dream, we plan, we progress. All to ensure things go according to plan. OUR plan. But sometimes it's not our plan that needs to be happening. It's His.

   If we had our way, life would always be easy. Things would always go the way we'd planned and nothing unexpected would ever happen. But then we'd never grow, or learn new things, and we certainly wouldn't need God because we would never be in a situation we couldn't handle. Which is exactly why the Sovereign God allows hardship and confusion into our lives: to  show us that we are not in control of our lives and to teach us more about Him.
 
  In every season, whether painful or joyful, there is a beauty of it's own, hidden withing each moment. The beauty of hidden blessings, the beauty of seeing God's hand at work. There is even beauty in a broken heart, for it is within such a state that the soul cries out to God with yearnful longing. When the heart of the Father breaks for His children- when tears run down the face of the Divine- that is when our hearts are touched the most. Only when we have learned to see through the haze of pain and confusion, to see the Sovereign hand at work, will we see the symphony of beauty exploding within our lives: the beauty from the ashes.

    God has a beautiful journey planned for each of us. To see heaven and earth collide in a glorious display of love and splendor, we have only to say, "Let Thy will be done, not mine."

"For I know the plan I have for you," declares The Lord, 

"plans to prosper and not to harm you.

To give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

"For the glory of God!"

LOVE will prevail

  "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports.... And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a Nation with its virtue."" 

-George Washington

~*~*~*~

   Oh America, how far you have fallen this day!! Can it be that you would  dare abandon morality and virtue for "love?" Have you no dignity?? What a disgrace you have made yourself in the eyes of our brother nations. When our forefathers founded this nation they built her upon two things: faith and morality. Without these our nation would be stripped bare of all that makes her revered of the world. Without these we shall no longer be, "one nation under God."

" If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth." 

Deuteronomy 28:1 

                                ~*~*~

   America is in hot water with God! We have forsaken nearly all of His commands, and for what? Lust! "Freedom!" "Pride!" We have taken something as beautiful and precious as love and stripped it of all it's fundamentals, to turn it into something corrupt, something that allows us to pursue the darkness of our hearts. Satan is working overtime to destroy all that represents God and because love is of God (1 John 4:8), it too must be dismantled before Satan can further discredit God and His love. 


    My friends, we are called to love our neighbors no matter what lifestyle they live. We are all sinners in God's eyes, just because we are not into this lifestyle does NOT make us better than those that are. We are not to judge them (that if for God to do) but to simply love them. Now, don't get me wrong, loving them does not mean we support their lifestyle. It just means that we love them for who they are in Christ, despite what they've chosen to do here. (Who knows, maybe our love will change their hearts?) I know this is hard. Satan has worked very hard to discredit God's love, so it is up to us as His followers to REDEFINE what love is, according to the Word and example of Christ. 

 "And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you.....for all generations to come: I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember My covenant ... Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” 

Genesis 9:11-16

"For the glory of God!"

Is this the day?

 Imagine waking up in a crowded safe house where you and your fellow believers are in hiding, fearing for your lives and those of your loved one. Your first thought when you opened your eyes was, "is this the day I die??" As you get out of bed you offer up thanks that He has given you one more day. You pray for strength. For faith. You tremble in fear lest ISIS or the government discovers you, knowing it is only a matter of time until you are found out and captured. Each day you walk a fine line between discovery and safety, begging God to keep your family safe. Such is the life of our persecuted brothers and sisters. Every day may very well be their last, and still they press on in the good fight, willing to lay aside their earthly lives for that of eternity.

   
  

  "Is this the day I die??"





        It is easy for us here in America, to distance ourselves from what's going on in the rest of the world. After all, that's happening over there, not here. So why worry, right? Wrong! My friends, do you really think this madness, this EVIL, is going to stop at the middle east?? Too many times I have heard people say this! Satan is at work in this world, spreading his darkness like a plague, across the planet. We know that God shall ultimately win the battle, but until that glorious day we shall be hard pressed to defend our faith. We need to stand with our brothers and sisters. It does not matter how far away we are, we are all family in Christ. Remember them in your prayers, lift up your voice on their behalf.

"I have learned that God is always on the winning side.

Even in the midst of horrific persecution,

 He is glorified." 

-Bekah Joy 

 

"Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, 

and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering."

Hebrews 13:3

"For the glory of God!"