Vote!

I voted yesterday. In the great state of Georgia, we have early voting. Since schools are closed on election day, I decided to take advantage of standing in-line by myself versus standing in line with two children for who knows how long!! Thankfully I had a short adventure; I waited about 90 minutes. My husband went on Monday and he waited...3 hours and 45 minutes.

It really didn't matter to me how long it took, because I am thrilled to have the opportunity to vote. I stood in the booth for a minute and just thanked God. No matter who wins the election, history is made. To be a part of that is an honor.

So no matter where you are, don't miss the opportunity. Go vote!

United Tour

Last Friday my husband took me to see the United Tour for my birthday. The Tour is a combo of Steven Curtis Chapman (SCC) and Michael W. Smith (MWS). Since the day I heard it was happening, I had been anxiously awaiting the night they would come through Atlanta.

We have been fans of their music for quite some time and as fellow 40 somethings, it was fun to see them on stage together, FINALLY!!! The night left me with a lot of thoughts and brought back some great memories of my days volunteering at their concerts. Steve and I actually got engaged one Saturday afternoon in Chattanooga and then volunteered at an SCC concert that night. Good times.

SCC was awesome and his message was such a living example of Philippians 4:13. "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." (NIV) My hope is that I never just rotely sing along with Steven's music again. The words have so much more meaning now for him and his family; I want to respect that, to honor God and His provision for them.

MWS blew me away! First what an incredible friend he is to SCC. I'm sure it's a mutual friendship. He was so gracious and supportive...it just left me with the impression that he would take care of his friend. Hard to explain it here...guess you had to be there!

Secondly, MWS shared about a transition in his life that occurred when he began to see God as his Abba Father. I actually pulled out a pen and started writing this down in the DARK! Thankfully it was legible.

Galatians 4:6,7 says "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but a son..."(NIV)

MWS talked about realizing how much God, his Daddy, loved him, liked him, and was even fond of him. This allowed him to stop performing for God and to start responding to God. And then he sang some amazing new songs off of his new album, "A New Halleighlujah!"

It was a fun night and my favorite moment was seeing SCC and MWS on the stage together, playing each other's instruments, singing each other's songs. Amazing talents, amazing gifts. Thanks God for giving them a platform to share it with us.

Showering me with Love!

Hannah, our daughter, went on a 5th grade trip this past week, 3 days/2 nights. As I said in the last post, it was a trial for me, MOM! Hannah knows I get crazy when she's away, so she decided to show me some love. Tuesday morning we got a message on our machine. Don't miss it; it's short and sweet!

"HELLO...o-k, good bye."

I had to listen to it twice, to even realize it was her! She's not the "showering with love" kind of girl...a sprinkle at most. My husband and I cracked up. Hannah is true to her motto, "You get what you get and you don't pitch a fit!"

Mighty Warrior

One afternoon last week Joshua was out playing with some other neighborhood boys. He came home and I noticed he was upset. As I asked him what was wrong, I could see his lips quivering and he was holding his arm. During a Star Wars light saber fight, one of the boys had hit him several times on the arm and left quite a mark. The mother instinct in me, o-k animal instinct, came out and I lost it. Immediately I yelled out the front door for the kid, as he ran home. My son needed to be comforted, so I came back inside. But I couldn't let it go.


We sat down for dinner, and I was still fuming. How could someone hurt my son? When the other kids said to stop, why didn't he? Where was my daughter and why hadn't she defended her brother? Why wasn't my husband calling his parents? As you can see, I went a little crazy.


Later that night I was reminded of a verse I had studied earlier in the week.

"The Lord your God is among you, a warrior who saves. he will rejoice over you with gladness. He will bring you quietness with His love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy." Zephaniah 3:17 HCSB

In my notes I had written, God is with us, He is not on the sidelines. He's a mighty warrior in the battle, fighting for us. He will also quiet us and calm us with His love. I began to realize that as much as I trusted God to fight for me and to comfort me, I didn't trust Him to do that for our children.

So this week, I have round two of this lesson! My daughter is on a 3day/2night school trip and I'm not with her. Thankfully, she and our son know God and He is with them. He is their mighty warrior! Is he yours?

Worship

Worship- do you get distracted when you're worshipping? I do; either by my preoccupation with something or by someone else. Over the past several weeks at church I've experienced some interruptions during our worship time. It didn't occur to me until this week that this has become somewhat of a pattern when I attend church. So now I'm a little annoyed because we have some incredible worship music at my church and I really enjoy it. And when I miss it, I feel like I've been robbed.

Here are a few examples:

• Person in front of me kept turning around. (I thought maybe I forgot to put on a shirt-my husband assured me that was not the case!)


• Lovey-dovey couple sits in front of me (They probably should've stayed home, if you get my drift.)


• Person next to me starts texting on their phone (Could it really be that important?)

Now before the two people who read this send me a note, I realize that at any given point in my life this could've been me distracting someone else. Except the text messaging part...I'm not that cool!

But really, how do we keep our focus on God, on honoring Him, on worshipping the one we came to worship? I have a tiny bit of a clue about what it takes to put together a "table of worship" and so I want to come prepared on Sunday mornings to enjoy it with my church family. So how about you-how do you keep your focus during worship time?

September Sprint continues

This week was crazy! It started with softball, baseball, practice, games, batting cages, uniforms, hitting, not hitting, pitching, not pitching...it was all quite exhilirating really! I love watching my kids connect with these sports. I'm competitive and love me some good sports...too old to participate anymore, but I can definitely cheer them on.


Our kids also decided to take on some new activities this week. Our daughter tried out for the school chorus and made it. Go girl! Our son wants to join the Cub Scouts...go daddy! I'm sure that the male half of our house will enjoy some camping and cookouts, but not the girls.


Wednesday my Gather and Grow group met and we discussed our first lessons in Can We Talk by Priscilla Shirer. We had a few new people and God is just blowing my mind with these ladies! Each day covered a different relationship and how our words affect those we converse with. Our spouses, our children, other family members and friends, God, anyone we come in contact with can be affected by our words. We need to make the way we speak to each other worthy, not worthless.

Thursday I participated in probably my favorite event that our church does. It's called The Clothesline and we give away gently used clothes. I helped to sort some of the clothes for a few hours Thursday morning. I heard today that Saturday morning when the doors opened, it was packed. How awesome to see God's love at work. Makes me proud to go to NorthStar.

Saturday was my Mom's birthday. It had been a tough family week for us and we did not get to be together. We lost a very young family member to Tropical Storm Hanna earlier in the week, and everyone was just holding on. Apparently this was the only known US casualty from that storm, so it brought about some extra attention. Really could have done without that.


Today I helped present a seminar at church on Quiet Times. Mainly we dealt with how to have that daily time with God. It is such a humbling experience to think that God would use us to help further someone's walk with Him, to strengthen His Kingdom. I am honored and privileged to serve with Randy Elster, the pastor of the GrowthStarts ministry. Check out the blog...Randy always has some good information and encouragement for our faith journey.


Lastly, I attended the 11:00am worship service. Today's sermon was about finding the greatest treasure, becoming part of the Kingdom of God. I was left speechless, amazed by the grace of God. It was an incredible way to start this week.

September Sprint

O-K so my church just finished a series called August Rush. And now I think I've entered the September Sprint. School started, baseball and softball started, my Gather and Grow group started and life is just busy. Not out of control, but definitely takes some organization with all the tests, practices, games and meetings.
The challenge is to not forget the lessons learned in August Rush. The biggest one for me is to not let my relationships go in my haste to get things done. Not with God, my family or my friends. Keeping my quiet time with God a top priority is a must when things get crazy. Also, having dinner with my family. This is our one time of day to connect and catch up. Our kids are still young, so while we can keep this habit we are!

How about you? How do you handle the September Sprint?