Getting Back to the Basics

The minute you get away from the fundamentals the bottom will fall out of whatever you are doing. ~ Michael Jordan 

What made Michael Jordan such an extraordinary basketball player was his dedication to the simplistic essentials of the game. He understood that if he mastered them, he'd be almost invincible. So he practiced them, over and over again until they became natural. As followers of Christ, we too must have an intense dedication to the simplistic essentials of the faith. We must practice them over and over again, until they become natural. We cannot allow all the things of this life to cause us to move away from or forget who we are and Whose we are. Today, get back to the basics! Get your Word, pen and paper and find a place of solitude and silence and ask God to help you to refocus. Position yourself to receive from Holy Spirit and ask Him to guide you as you pore over the Scriptures. And then, get up and walk on the firm foundation which has been laid!

Wait

Sent to me by a friend during a time of great despair:

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;


Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.

I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate...

and the Master so gently said, " Wait."



" Wait? You say wait", my indignant reply.

" Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!"

Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?

By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.



My future and all to which I relate,

Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?

I'm needing a ' yes' a ' go-ahead' sign.

Or even a ' no' to which I'll resign.



You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,

we need to but ask, and we shall receive.

Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:

I'm weary of asking! I need a reply.



Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,

as my Master replied again, " Wait."

So I slumpled in my chair, defeated and taut,

and grumbled to God, " So I'm waiting... for what?"



He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine...

and He tenderly said " I could give you a sign."

I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.

I could raise the dead and cause the mountains to run.



I could give you all you seek and pleased you would be.

You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.

You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.



You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;

You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.

You'd not know the joy of resting in Me,

When darkness and silence are all you can see.



You'd never experience the fullness of love,

When the peace of my spirit decends like a dove.

You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,

But you'd not know the depth of the beat of my heart.



The glow of My comort late into the night,

The faith that I give when you walk without sight.

The depth that's beyond just getting what you ask,

From an infinite God who makes what you have last.



You'd never know should your pain quickly flee,

wait it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.

Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,

But oh, what a loss, if I lost what I'm doing in you.



So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see,

that the greatest of gifts is to truly know me...

and though oft My answers seem terribly late,

my most precious answer of all is still " WAIT."

A Load Too Heavy to Bear...

Lord, I don't know why, but I do know Who.
Lord,I don't know what, but that I can rest in You.

The load seems so heavy, and my heart is in despair,
But I am not cast down, because You continually show me that You care.

The situation seems insurmountable, and the path ahead is so dim.
but I take confidence in knowing that You are in control of both of them.

So today I rest in You and abide in the peace that only You can give
For You are the why, the what and reason...You are for Whom I live.

Trusting Him One Day At A Time

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen. --Reinhold Niebuhr

Alysa's 5th Birthday Party

Five years ago, we were blessed with a sweet bundle of joy, our Alysa. She has brought such joy to our lives and we celebrated this weekend with a Princess and Knight themed party.

The Royal Banquet Table

Thank you favor bags for the princesses and knights.

The Princess Beautification Station and Knights Table

A Basket of Kisses

One of our favorite stories: The Princess and the Kiss. This story teaches the importance of purity and saving the gift of a first kiss for one's spouse. I used baby food containers and gave each child two chocolate kisses. I told them they could eat their kisses today, but to save their real kisses for marriage. ;)

Each princess received a crown and tiara.

I made pink princess punch in plastic wine glasses from the Dollar Tree.

This was my first attempt at a castle cake. Everything except the pictures of the princesses in the windows is edible.

Alysa and her friends had a great time and it did this Momma's heart glad to see her little one enjoying her 5th birthday.

New Beginnings

1-1-11...The beginning of a new year. 

As I reflect on 2010, my heart rejoices over the fact that God kept me through all the major changes in my life and because of this I look forward to what the new year holds. New opportunity, new challenges, new growth, new relationships, new mercies.

God is our refuge and strength,an ever present help in trouble.Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah 

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,the holy place where the Most High dwells. ~ Psalm 46:1-4

No matter what you're going through or how bleak the situation or circumstance may seem, God is still God! He doesn't waver, falter or change. The same God who blessed you on yesterday, is the same one who can carry you through the storm of today. 

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of our God! It is the holy place where the Most High God dwells. Today trust Him for who He is!