looking more like Jesus

It's crazy how fast life moves.  It has been over 2 years now that we have been +4 more :)

It has been the hardest and best years of our lives.  its been 8 months since i even had time to sit down and blog a thought :(  but it has been awesome.

another summer has come and gone:

additions have come along:

new road warriors have taken their place:

and another one leaves the nest this week (college bound):

Our life is chaotic and full... but always open to God's prompting of change.  

on saturdays i don't have to sneak up early to have my date with my daddy because everyone is dispersed.  this morning some were at work, some were at haircuts, and some were still in the bed... so it was quite. 

i was sitting in my chair savoring my moments alone with Him when i read these familiar words: Jesus said "For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many."  Mark 10:45

my heart hurt as i let these words sink in. Jesus was walking with His disciples, who knew and loved Him, yet still misunderstood His calling and ultimately their own at the moment. when two of them began to ask for special recognition and positioning.  So the other ten were naturally upset. Jesus had to call them all together and remind them of their roles and His... to give His life as a ransom to pay for everyone's debt of sin. 

this sounds alot like the same world we exist in today: alot of self appointment and jockeying for position.  often spending less time on others because quite frankly it would get in the way of all eyes and attention on me!

what if we really took this story and Jesus' words to heart today as a personal challenge...

serving others as opposed to looking to others to serve us;

actually caring more about others situations than our own comforts;

and behaving as if we believe what we are saying from our mouths.

the world we exist in today really could look different...

 if we chose to invest our lives as Jesus did...   Giving of our lives as servants for others!

 Just maybe... if we were willing to try a change in behaviors

more people would be interested in knowing about the One we are trying 

to look more like.  i think it is worth a try?!

A New Year...

last night i laid in bed tossing and turning until sometime after 3 a.m.

i was assaulted again and again with my failures as a parent.

at one point i left the bed and hit the floor face down before the Lord...

begging for His guidance and relief. 

we have faced so many "NEWS" this past year in parenting.

i cannot count on fingers and toes how many times we have said...

"did that really happen?"

nothing prepared us for the trials we dealt with behind the doors this past year...

but God faithfully walked us through it. 

this year we got a front row seat to the fact that as faithful as our God is... 

the enemy is as equally relentless.

he just keeps shooting arrows in the shadows, hoping for a chance to bring us down,

to tire us out, to bring us low on our belief of a better day.

and for some reason... last night he seemed to have gotten my number. 

how is it you can go from a Christmas morning overwhelmed with gratitude

for all that we have been blessed with: (sorry for the blur)

to laying in bed unable to sleep overwhelmed by failures???

A very real enemy that loves to prey on us.  

God specializes in making beautiful masterpieces out of our messes,

failures and weaknesses.  

and the truth is: the enemy has no real power over me, except what i allow him to have.

i have the chance every second of every day to choose God's voice,

over the world, other people and certainly the enemy. 

Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. 

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

Maybe you don't need a reminder but i sure did as i rolled out of bed this am...

GOD IS ON OUR SIDE.

as we enter into this new year, we can enter it with complete belief that 

He is on our side.  we can cast our burdens onto Him and He will carry them for us!

That is enough to excite me about this brand new year...

 and help me ride the waves of trial as we journey through it :)

Happy 2015!