Kindergarten Graduate!

Our youngest daughter graduated from Kindergarten on May 24, 2007. I'm so happy that we made it through the year together. I enjoyed working on a weekly basis with her class and will miss all of the boys and girls there. They all have a special place in my heart. Thanks to everyone who helped us make it through this year and especially to her teacher, Mrs. Marini. We love you guys!

Calling All Warriors

I am so blessed to have so many friends in my life who spur one another on to love and good deeds. My friend Laurel sent this timely little piece to me yesterday and I asked her permission to share it here:

Hi Friends,
God wove some interesting Scripture together for me today. I thought I'd share... I praise God that His word is timeless. The same verses are just as applicable to me today as they were x number of years ago. His Word seems new every day... The beauty of what God showed me today is that it isn't specific to any one situation. It covers a whole lot of "shtuff".

I Thess. 5:23-24 says, "May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who called you is faithful, and He will do it." Observation: it struck me for the first time the progression of "parts" in that verse. It starts with the spirit--the part of us that has the capability of knowing God and having relationship with him. Without this, we are just bones, flesh, and parts. Then it moves on to soul--the seat of the emotions and personality. Then body--the physical part of our beings. Isn't it interesting that it starts with the core, our spirits, and works its way out? I know him and am sanctified in my very inner part first, and then my personality and emotions will follow and then my physical body.

So how does that work? How does one overcome difficult situations and circumstances (thereby showing proof of the sanctification of the parts)? Eph. 1:19-20 says, "I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms." Just before that, Paul calls that power our "inheritance". We automatically "get" that when we belong to Christ. God pointed out to me that we get it, but we don't always use it. His power can be alive in us. What is it that you struggle with? I know what I'm struggling with. I had my whole list of excuses for it too. Does God understand our weaknesses? Sure. But, sometimes we use our weaknesses as an excuse to keep us in a place that is not overly affective in the Kingdom. If God wants to sanctify my whole spirit, soul, and body, then I want to love him with my whole spirit, soul, and body. That means getting rid of some of the junk that would keep me from being able to do that. I've tried to get rid of the junk on my own. It doesn't work. My power is NOTHING. His power is EVERYTHING. His power is what raised Christ from the dead! Could there be a more HOPELESS situation???

II Cor. 10:4 says, "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have diving power to demolish strongholds." Something struck me. It's not that I haven't wanted to battle the strongholds. I've just been using the wrong weapons. The world offers many of them. But none of them compare to our spiritual weapons. THOSE weapons have the POWER to DEMOLISH strongholds!! What do I mean? Here would be a "for instance". Let's say that my stronghold is my overeating. (I'm really reaching here... Wait, no I'm not!) =) I can determine in my heart to battle that. I can be all ready to "start Monday" with my new plan. I've got the best diet available; I've got my exercise regiment all mapped out; I've got my veggies and fruit all ready to consume at a moment's notice. Those will work OK. For awhile. But then comes the "I don't want to do this anymore. I'm tired." So then what? Have I demolished any strongholds? No, I've simply given my colon something to think about. But, if I were to pick up the spiritual weapons like prayer, perseverance, sanctification, etc., THEN I've got some serious armor.

Don't think prayer works very well? Have you "tried" it and found it to fail? Or, have you, like me, hidden behind the excuses and allowed God's power to go unused? Gear up, dear Warriors! Tap into the real power. It's there no matter the situation, no matter the stronghold.

Love you,
Laurel

Thank you for sharing this with us Laurel!

In His Love,
Niki

Update on my nephew

It's busy times here as we are preparing to go on our annual family vacation to Puerto Penasco, Mexico. I'm especially excited this year as our 10th wedding anniversary falls on the day we travel down there. We will be having a celebration and a vow renewal ceremony on the beach that night! I have been having so much fun planning and preparing for it, that I haven't updated on my nephew.

He is doing fantastically as well. He might be released in the next week or two, which would still be about 4 weeks earlier than his due date. He is up to 4# 7oz. as of Sun. He is feeding on his own regularly and was moved out of his incubator to a nursery bed last week, so he is holding his own body temperature. He is still on a canula for breathing and despite several bad apnea episodes, a transfusion and meds for anemia, and a now "minor" PDA (a valve in his heart did not seal completely-very typical in premies), he is doing incredibly well. They are talking about sending him home on oxygen. The completely amazing thing in this is that they are certain, based on his development at the time of his birth that he was actually more than 13 weeks early and not the 12 weeks that they had calculated prior to his birth. He responds to his mommy so much and always watches the nurses. They have affectionately nicknamed him "Curious George" because he is constantly watching them with his big soft brown eyes! (Can you tell I'm a proud auntie?)

I also got to be blessed enough to meet him for 5 minutes on the last day of my trip to visit and take care of my sister. It was truly a miracle and a blessing, since NO ONE except mom, dad, and grandparents are allowed in the NICU there. But the head nurse heard that I had flown out to take care of my sister and had been sitting in the waiting room all week while she visited him and told my sister I could come in for 5 minutes as a going away gift. I almost missed my plane, but it was so worth it! It was amazing. He is amazing. God is so amazing. Despite all the pictures and videos, it's too hard to understand exactly how small he was. It's like trying to imagine and comprehend how big the Grand Canyon is. God is so great and mighty. Wow!

So, now I looking forward to seeing him again on May 29th! Thanks for sharing this journey with me and for continuing to keep them in your prayers. I know my sister and her husband are getting really nervous now that their son is about to come home. They are also very anxious about RSV, since he will be high risk. Thank you in advance to all you prayer warriors.

In His Love!

Loneliness

Loneliness...it's a funny thing. It can just sort of sneak up on you or it can hit you all at once. Have you ever been in a crowded place, maybe even one full of people you know, and you feel completely alone? You can't always explain it, but it feels so bad. That feeling makes me sick, literally. I usually want to run out and cry. That empty pit feeling in the bottom of my stomach hurts and often leaves me feeling short of breath, discouraged, and yes, even hopeless. Now, I'll admit, I do need alone time on a regular basis, but as a general rule I love to be with people. And it's not enough to just be with them but to be engaged with them on a personal level. I hate to work alone and have always preferred to work along side someone. My parents used to say, "One will chase a hundred; two will chase a thousand." I firmly stand by that and it can truly motivate me, but that's not always how the world operates.
So I ask, why, as a believer in Jesus, a new creation, filled and sealed with the Holy Spirit, can we feel such loneliness? God's Word promises us He'll never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5; Deuteronomy 13:6,8). But why do we choose not to believe the truth of His Word? Why instead do we choose to believe error, the lies of Satan? After all, he is the father of lies and would want to make us believe we are incredibly alone. I know the truth is that God is alive in me and that nothing in all creation can separate me from the love of God that is in Jesus (Romans 8:38-39) and yet I still struggle with that feeling of loneliness.
That's when I am reminded by the Holy Spirit that we are to no longer conform to the patterns of this world (that would be what Satan wants me to do, to believe his lie that I am alone), but we are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2). That means that if even in my physical circumstances I am alone or if I feel alone, to remember that I am not ever alone. God is with me always. God lives in me. I must choose to believe the truth. But then I feel that loneliness still and I want to get rid of it so desperately. It feels so real.
That's where faith truly kicks in; I must live by faith not by sight, or rather, my feelings (2Corinthians 5:6-8). Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1) It's believing Him, that He is in me, and that I can rest in Him. Am I going to choose to believe my feelings, what Satan tells me, or what God tells me? There's a reason that God, through Paul, is so adamant about guarding, renewing, protecting, and on what we set our minds (Romans 8:5-7, 2Corinthians 11:3, Ephesians 4:23, Philippians 4:7, Colossians 3:2). If the Holy Spirit resides in our hearts and we are a new creation with a new heart in Jesus (Ezekiel 36:26, 2Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15) and if the job of the Holy Spirit is to lead us to all truth (John 16:13-15), then it is not our hearts that are the trouble, it's our minds. And what controls our emotions? Not our hearts, but our minds.
As an example, try a little experiment on yourself. Remember the saddest time in your life. Think about it in detail. Recall all the events surrounding it. Who was a part of it? What happened? What were the results? I mean really think on this. Let these thoughts take hold of your mind....Are you feeling sad? I know for me I can totally fall apart thinking about things like that. Or what about the future? Who of us here worries or is anxious? What might happen tomorrow? What if I don't get this done? What if my child chooses to do this? What if someone I love gets really sick or does something unimaginable? And we could allow our minds, our thoughts to go on and on. What are your feelings telling you now? Are you sad? Worried? Anxious? Depressed? Now, think about the best moment of your life. Recall what happened in detail. Remember who was there, what was happening, every detail. What happened to your feelings now? Did they change as you thought on different things? This is to demonstrate to us that what we think controls what we feel and if we choose to not give that control to Jesus through His Spirit in us by renewing our minds with His truth, we will continue to feel such things as loneliness. Feelings don't change instantly. We truly have a physiological response to them, such as crying when we're sad (or even when we're happy, like me) or an adrenaline rush when we're scared or stressed. But, they feelings do change. They have their purpose, as God intended them, but they are NOT truth.
It's funny. I started writing this almost a month ago, but stopped due to a loss for words. I wasn't ready yet. God was preparing my heart in advance. He was bringing to my mind His truth so that I could choose to believe it in the upcoming times. These past two weeks have been a testing of my faith and my feelings. My sister delivered her first baby more than 12 weeks prematurely. She was admitted twice to the hospital and the second time they were unable to stop her bleeding and contractions. There was a time during all of this that we were unsure if she or my nephew would live through this. Usually I could have let me mind and thus my feelings run away with me. But God is faithful and because I He had already been teaching and leading me to His truth, I chose to believe Him. I chose to believe that His ways are not my ways (Isaiah 55:8) and that He is in all things working for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). I chose to believe that God is sovereign and that He knits each of us together in our mothers' womb and knew the number of our days before one of them came to be (Psalm 139). And because I exercised my faith in Who He is and I chose to seek Him and praise Him, giving Him thanks in even this circumstance, He truly guarded my heart and my mind in Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:18, Philippians 4:6-7) and I could praise Him and rejoice in Him through it all. And the best part is that I got to brag on my God to my little ones!
Lord, may I continue to grow in Your love. May I continue to grow in wisdom, in knowledge of You. Thank you for allowing me to exercise, and thus build, my faith in You. I praise You and thank You, my God, my Father for this test and these trials. I ask for perseverance during these trials to produce character which produces hope and to rejoice in You always.

In Jesus name I pray,
Amen

My New Nephew!

Praise God through whom all blessings flow...while my nephew was born more than 12 weeks premature, he is a fighter, like his Mama, and is doing well for his circumstances. He's had to have very little intervention and I can't wait to meet him.

Wordless Wednesday

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I love about Heather I'm just getting back from a long visit to my parents', so I'm picking up this tag now-a little late, but still heartfelt. This is a tribute to my dear friend who is battling cancer and in the midst of it has made a transcontinental move with her family. I miss her terribly, but know she is being taken care of by the best. She will beat this, and my prayers are with her. 1…. She is strong...in personality, in character, in faith, in love, in determination, and until recently, in health!. 2…. She is beautiful, inside and out, no matter what time of day, night, or life. 3…. She is a true friend. 4…. She loves the Lord Jesus with all her heart, all her mind, all her strength, and all her soul. 5…. She is intelligent. 6…. She is wise. 7…. She is amazingly energetic. 8…. She is generous with all that she has. 9…. She makes me smile and laugh. 10…. She is incredibly witty. 11…. She is a coffee and chocolate lover just like me! 12…. She can see the best in people and love them through the worst. 13…. She is dedicated to passing these traits to her precious family. I look forward to having her in my life the rest of my days here on earth and in heaven. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)


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