History has been Made . . .

It didn't matter whether the Democrats or the Republicans won the election, history would be made either way. The first African American president or the first female vice president - either outcome, historical.

This year, history was made by Barack Obama. Our first African American president-elect. There is some pride I feel that our country has evolved far enough that we've now removed the lid as far as possiblities go. No more can anyone say, "it can't be done" because it has indeed been done.

There is also some sadness I feel. I was not an Obama supporter as I felt his policies didn't line up with my conservative beliefs. For that matter, much of what John McCain stood for didn't line up with my conservative beliefs - they were closer, though. I have to admit I'm a bit nervous to see where President-Elect Obama will take this country. I fear it will lead to bigger government and less individual responsibility and ingenuity. This is not what our Forefathers envisioned.

I was reading an article the other day that Dennis showed me. I'd like to share it:

Alex Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh at the time of America's birth, wrote a warning to America in 1787. He observed that the average age of the world's greatest civilizations was about 200 years, during which they inevitably progressed through the following sequence:

- from bondage to faith,
- from faith to courage,
- from courage to liberty,
- from liberty to abundance,
- from abundance to complacency,
- from complacency to apathy,
- from apathy to dependence, and
- from dependence back to bondage.

What is the problem with this? According to Professor Tyler, the next step from dependence is back into bondage. It's like the proverbial frog in the pan of water. Initially, he could easily leap to freedom, but if the water temperature is incrementally increased, the frog will eventually be boiled alive without even realizing it.

Consider the history of America as you look at the above cycle. I think this day and age, as a whole, we are in the "apathy" stage. Because of our apathy, turning from God, removing morals, lack of work ethic, and not fully educating ourselves on the current issues at hand, we are now headed to a government run, welfare program that will send us to the "dependence" stage and ultimately back into bondage.

With that said, though it's time for conservatism to make a unified comeback to break this cycle!

God, please help us turn our hearts back to You. For in You, we find our true freedom!

Present . . . Present . . . Present

God gave this line of thought to me the other morning . . .

As a former educator, words tend to fascinate me.

Take a look at this word: PRESENT
What is this word? How do you say it? What does it mean?

Actually, depending on how it’s used, it has 3 different meanings and can be 3 different parts of speech.

adj. Now going on – not the future, not the past, but the present
v. to introduce or to give – to present
n. a gift – a present

Ex. On this present day and time I am going to present you with a present.

Now, let’s take a look at this scripture:

"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship."
Romans 12:1 NAS

This scripture uses the word “present” in the verb form – to introduce or to give. We are to introduce (or give) our bodies as a holy sacrifice that is acceptable to God.

But, what if we took it a step further and thought of our bodies, talents, and sacrifices as a “present” in the noun form – as a gift. Shouldn’t our spiritual service of worship be a sacrificial gift or a present to God?

And why do we often feel like we have to wait until “perfect timing” (which never happens) to do what we know we’ve been called to do; shouldn’t we do it right now – in this present time – not wait until we are better at something or the timing is more right etc.

Now, I am not trying to add to the scriptures, so please don’t read more into what this scripture is really saying. But, what I want is for you to remember when you see the word “present” next time you read or hear this Bible verse, remember the 3 meanings of the word “present”
ie – Give your gift now!

Remember, what we are doing today (in the present) is giving or presenting ourselves as a living and holy sacrificial present, acceptable to God, which is our spiritual service of worship.

See and value yourself and your abilities that God gave you as He values you and your giftings. Don’t look at what you do as small, but as a magnificent present of worshipful service to the King.

Give your gift now!

Sad

I'm struggling today . . . Caleb came home with quite a few papers that he had flunked - twice! There has been suspision of dyslexia since the end of kindergarten and now that he's in 2nd grade, he is officially struggling quite a bit.

Over the years, Dennis and I have been praying and believing for him to "grow out of it", but it just hasn't manifest itself yet. Today his teacher officially started the paperwork to have him tested. Part of me is relieved and the other part is saddened. No one wants their child to struggle - especially with school. Caleb LOVES to learn. He is inquisitive and has a lot of knowledge in his brain, but getting it on paper and trying to do anything that has more than a 2-step process is painfully difficult for him. Homework often involves tears on his part and lack of patience on mine.

His teacher also asked me today to do some extra work with him at home for practice. Of course, I have to come up with the stuff to do. I spent some time online trying to find pre-made worksheets on his level for extra practice. The trick is to get normal homework finished and then practice the extra stuff without having a nuclear overload meltdown. Oh yeah, there is the issue of the number of hours in a day too. If I had wanted to homeschool, I'd have chosen to do that!

Next comes the guilt because I'm trying to figure out how to fit in time for my son! How horrible does that sound!?!?! He should be #1 priority, yet there's work, church stuff, I'm trying to increase my exercise routine to be more healthy, keeping up the house, regular homework, taking care of the other two kiddos, being a good wife to my husband, trying to have an occassional moment to myself, and now extra studying. Can anyone tell me how to add an extra 2 hours in the day? There goes that guilt again . . .

Please be praying for us. I want Caleb to have the best possible chance for success. . . and I need to keep my sanity! Calgon - - - take me away!

What I need to remember: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

FIREPROOF

Is your marriage "fireproof"? If you don't know what that means, let me encourage you to go see the new movie, Fireproof. Dennis and I went a couple of weeks ago and it is quite a testimony to the changing power a decision has along with the powerful hand of God working together.

This movie is made by the same group of people that made The Flywheel and Facing the Giants. If you liked the other two movies, I believe you'll like this one too. Part of the movie discusses a "Love Dare" that the husband goes through (watch the movie and you'll know what I'm talking about). You can actually get this book, The Love Dare, at Scripture Haven in the mall. I haven't read it yet, but I'm sure it will be fabulous!

Sarah, if you're reading this, it may be an idea for our next book we do for book club!

That's it - just wanted to plug the movie and the book. I know I want my marriage to be Fireproof and I want that for all of you as well!

Work

I’ve been reading about work lately and would like to share some thoughts with you. These quotes come from, "Top 10 Qualities of a Great Leader."

“The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich” Prov. 13:4
pg. 153 – Diligence is completing what we begin with steady, continuing commitment to the task.

p. 155 – Luke 12:24 tells us that God gives the birds their food, but we also know He doesn’t throw it into their nests.

p. 154 – Work is its own reward. God didn’t offer Adam a thousand dollars a week to be the gardener in Eden. To work the garden and reap its fruits were enough. Work is something to love. Work isn’t something to avoid. It is something to embrace. It’s a therapy all of its own. To work – and to work well – and to complete the job properly, and to feel the pride of a job well done all feed positively into the self-worth of a person’s life. The lazy person whining about how the government doesn’t do this and that for them, complaining that they’ve never had a break, sitting around all day doing nothing is slowly destroying his soul. The great life we all crave comes simply from working. Work is not something separate from God. Work is a calling.

p 153 – Yes, the wise work, and they work hard. Therefore, their achievements are not small.

I don't want my achievements to be small. I think deep down inside, we all want to be a part of something big, something great, something inspiring. What the problem seems to be is that so many people these days want the limelight, but they don't want to roll their sleeves up and work. I also think too often, we want that limelight for our glory, not for God's. When our motivation is wrong, or we are too lazy to even try, it affects our soul.

I want it to be well with my soul. I want to leave a legacy that is inspiring - for God's glory, not mine.

Thought for the Day for my Children's Ministry Team

Every Sunday, we have someone within the Children's Ministry give a devotion or a thought for the day before we serve. I gave it this week and below are my thoughts. You may not be expanding your church, but odds are you are battling something. I hope this helps someone!

I have been reading Top 10 Qualities of a Great Leader, and as I was reading last night a couple of paragraphs really hit me.

“Strength is not optional but rather imperative in leaders. People will not follow weak, uncourageous leaders. They line up behind the courageous, the strong, the warriors.” P. 40

“One of the great scenes in The Patriot is when the leader-warrior, played by Mel Gibson, sees his ragtag militia retreating back over the hill. He lays hold of the flag and begins racing to the crest, running through the troops in the opposite direction toward the enemy. At the sight of just one brave soldier refusing defeat, the militia rise with fresh courage. They turn and rush the enemy and secure victory.” P. 41

We all know that with growth, comes growing pains. Some people can’t handle the pain, so they quit, they give up, they lose heart. As Covenant Family is in a growing process, we are also feeling those growing pains. My question to you is, are you strong enough to “play through the pain”?

Even if you’re not ready to be the one to grab the flag and lead the charge, are you willing to rise with fresh courage, line up behind your strong, warrior leaders, turn, and rush the enemy so we can secure victory as a united team?

We are at war. We are fighting for souls. Even if we feel we are too weak to “play through the pain”, we must know and stand firm on the fact that the Bible is true and according to 2 Cor: 12.10 “…In my weakness He is made strong”.

So, if you are feeling weak, let Christ be your strength. We need to be courageous, strong, warriors running toward the enemy ready to attack. Neither retreat nor defeat are options.
I truly believe that when our team members see even one of us brave soldiers refusing defeat, our teams will rise with fresh courage. They will turn and rush the enemy and secure victory!

Wheat Free . ..

For the past few months, my oldest daughter Rebekah has been having breathing issues. I guess it started back in November with a cough that wouldn't go away. I figured it was a seasonal allergy thing because she and I both suffer from that, so I started her on Claritin daily and gave her some Robitussin to loosen up the chest congestion and that seemed to help somewhat.

By March, I realized we were still having an issue and the winter season was behind us, so the seasonal allergy thing didn't really hold water anymore. I took her in to the doctor to see what he had to say. We switched her to Zyrtec, he gave her a steroid to reduce the inflamation in her lungs and sent us on our way. She was better for the week she was on the steroid, but then everything started all over again, only worse.

I waited a few weeks, continued the Robitussin and Zyrtec, but then when I could hear her wheezing, I took her back in. The doctor listened to her, but that day she wasn't wheezing, so he gave her an inhaler and said to use it when she was wheezing. That was fine until we started needing it daily.

Back to the doctor we went. He began questioning about our family history. Is there a family history of asthma - no. Did she have pneumonia as a baby - no. RSV - no. no. no. no. no. I don't remember the series of questions, but the answer was no to all of them. He was stumped as apparently asthma symptoms don't typically "just appear out of nowhere". But, they had. He started her on a daily dose of Singular which is good for allergies and asthma as well along with the Zyrtec.

That worked wonders . . . for about 5 weeks. Then the cough and the tight chest started happening again - back to the inhaler, and then she randomly broke out in hives and itching all over. He sent her in to get a blood test for common food allergies as I do have a family history of food allergies on my mom's side of the family. Nothing really came up except a mild allergy to wheat. He though, didn't feel it was a high enough # on the ranking to be the cause of the issue she was having. Stumped, frustrated, and quite frankly - scared, I started searching for possible answers. I took her off of peanut butter before the food test because my mom is allergic, but that didn't show up at all on the ranking, so that wasn't it.

Someone I know from church overheard a conversation I was having regarding the issue and she gave me a book. After skimming the book and reading about a huge variety of issues we face this day and age that used to be so rare, I decided to take my daughter off of wheat just to see what would happen. She's pretty upset she can't eat a sandwich, but I told her oxygen is much more important. It's only been a couple of days, so we will see what happens. We also have an appt set with an allergist for next week. We'll see what my "in home" experiment turns up and I'll talk to the allergist about that when we go.

For now, please be in prayer for wisdom in this area. Going wheat/gluten free isn't an easy thing to do as my dear friend, Sarah knows. But, it is possible and if it works, so totally worth it. I know God's hand is right here with me guiding me and directing me in the right direction. I am praying and believing for complete healing for Rebekah. While I pray and believe, though, I'm going to do all I can to help her any way I can.

Thus is the life in a fallen world. Oh for Heaven when we can eat whatever we want - not be allergic and not gain weight! LOL