| This is my prayer that came from Psalm 90 when my husband was asked to teach on this chapter. Here's his sermon and my song. I pray that it will lift your heart to the heavens and enjoy the Father's love. It's His desire to satisfy us with His love every morning! Think of the context of the Psalm, whose writer is Moses. Read More... |  |
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 When disorder and distractions abound, it is hard to build.
PURGE. God gave me this first key word to focus my new year; but it is not the end. Having boxes piled high downstairs, knowing a pile of papers has buried in it some time-sensitive priorities, navigating carefully in the caverns of our garage...this is not how I want to live. These unfinished areas of our home keep me from being able to think well, move forward and build on important values, such as making bread with my 3 year old. I want to purge from my life all that isn’t useful, beautiful, purposeful, meaningful and godly. Once I finish going through our house to purge things from closets and move items into their proper rooms, I want go beyond our household items to explore what I can purge of the unnecessary in my life, globally. Read More... Everything has been changed in Christ! Let Sinclair Ferguson unfold the manifold riches of what it means to be united to Christ from Romans 6:1-11. Makes me bow low in awe of God in all that He did at the Cross. Such far reaching implications into every day until we see Him face to face!! See More...  God and Satan are after the same thing:
*What you will choose to believe* Satan, the father of deception, uses lies to draw us out of worshipping God, seeking to wreck our lives to ultimately attack God. Sometimes he does this subtly, sometimes overtly. God, on the other hand, speaks only Truth. All that is good and right come from our heavenly Father with Whom there is no shadow (James 1:17). He created us so that everyday we can experience eternal life, joy, purpose and peace (see Psalm 23, John 17:3). Experiencing the true love which we all seek can only be found in Him. Read More...  There is a reality, true and strong, all around us. Concurrently, there is a mask over our perception of this reality that keeps us from living in that which is solid and sure, beautiful and without bounds. This covering is contrary to the ways and truth of God and all that God has for us in this life.
God gave me an illustration of this once. Imagine walking into a small, efficient apartment flat. It was designed with an open concept with modern furnishings. You step in and see the kitchen. Moving forward, there’s the living room, the desk and the bedroom around the corner. The shades are drawn, so it’s dark in this room. You turn on a lamp of warm light, but it is not a natural light. Then to your left, you see a staircase. As you begin to take the flight, it begins to get brighter. Read More... Ephesians: Introduction
* reading Scripture, hearing God * Distinguishing Features of Ephesians
 I was quite surprised to find that so many of our friends liked tonight's soup at Life Group. It was one I fell in love with as an appetizer at an Indian restaurant years ago, but I didn't think most would like it since it had curry and cilantro in it... Maybe because the other soup offering was announced as being on the "spicier side" that the kids ventured to try my soup tonight. It's not spicy, but it's definitely full of flavor. A friend taught me tonight that it is considered an English soup with its origin in Indian cuisine; she looked it up... Read More...
 The Spirit planted some seed thoughts within me that blossomed into fresh, tangible lessons about prayer today.
As I hectically prepared to leave the house this morning, I remember wrestling through this question: How should I pray? I thought again about my friends who are also facing serious health challenges. Several I know have bleeding hearts as they pray for their unborn babies or care for their young infant who also struggles with birth defects or for their child who is fighting against cancer. How are they to pray? What are the biblical foundations to hold up our prayers? Read More...  I’m a little past the middle of teaching through a 12-week Girls’ Discipleship Group for my 12 y.o. daughter and her friends. Through it I am learning to articulate significant foundations I've come to learn in following Christ, things which I feel are essential in starting and finishing well. These truths have helped me immensely in my 28-year journey with Christ.
God is particularly teaching me new blessings through this study. God as my Father is the primary topic of upward ascent for me personally. John 14:6 breathes fresh meaning and hope into my spirit, knowing now that Jesus is the Way, but the Father is the Destination. So much in John 14 and 17 confirms that He came to reveal God as Father, as only the Son can. This sermon greatly impacted my view of Jesus' role of bringing each of us into direct relationship with God as our Father. Read More...  Our youngest turned three yesterday. It is with incredible gratitude and awe that we look to the Lord, for His plan for him through all of his many health challenges was not death but LIFE. He has allowed for us to be so very blessed to live with this bundle of joy and personality, every day. Though his care takes extra time with his gastrostomy tube, I am learning in the process and He often gives me help. And recently we have seen divine intervention! Read More...
There are various studies out there which seem to conflict with each other about supplementation. How does one decide on what to take and what to avoid? The following U.C. Berkeley study helped me answer these questions in the face of conflicting study results published in the newspaper.
In 2007, U.C. Berkeley epidemiologist, Gladys Block, Ph.D., published her findings about the longterm effects of supplementation in Nutrition Journal. Initially, she studied the health of two categories of people: 1) folks who took no supplements for 20 years and, 2) folks who took a Centrum Silver supplement for 20 years. She then decided to expand her study by asking Shaklee to participate, knowing that Read More...  Here are our group's topics for the next 12 weeks...
Wk 1 The Gospel - The Foundation of our Relationship with Him Wk 2 Intimacy with Jesus / Bride & Bridegroom Desire, Discipline and Devotions Wk 3 New Creatures with Redefined Identities Wk 4 Constant Communion with Him / Circle Illustration Read More...  When I came home from a conference where the main speaker referred to a challenging passage in the Proverbs about the poor, I was compelled to look for it. Here are several that I found...
Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him. Prov 14:31 Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered. Prov 21:13 Whoever gives to the poor will not want but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse. Prov 28:27 She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. Prov 31:20 Read More...  my dear friend, Jane Bridges, invited me to a Get Clean party back in 2007. i didn't have ANY interest in going natural with my cleaners because i thought that they don't work and they were too expensive. although i don't watch Oprah, hearing from Jane that Oprah was featuring the Shaklee Get Clean products on her show made me reconsider Jane's invitation. "hmm....if these cleaners are getting national attention, maybe there is something to them," i thought. i also had some tough stains on my kids clothes that i couldn't get out with traditional cleaners. my kids gave me wonderfully precious bouquets of dandelions from the backyard of our newly rented home that covered with them. i learned then that the cut stems ooze juice in nice little rings on kids' clothes. well, Jane had the Get Clean party and she gave me a sample of Nature Bright to try on those tough stains. to my surprise, they came out! hmm, i thought again. Read more...
written on Jan 18, 2015
Since about 2 years ago when crisis first hit our family and decided to set up camp, I have struggled in vain to overcome something. It’s as if something within my spirit died. Living in a long and sustained season of exhaustion and survival, I’ve grown numb in many ways with too many stressful tasks on my plate. Most profoundly, I’ve grieved the loss of spiritual vibrancy and the deep sense of connectedness I once had with Jesus. While He has remained faithful to me, I so long for that sense of being alive in Him again. Read more...
 written on January 25, 2015
Back in the thick of our trials many months ago, I walked around a nearby lake, crying out in anguish to the Lord. He gave me this verse. Psalm 27:13-14 (ESV)... I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! Hope against hope, He told me that I can ask for blessing in this life, not accepting our little one’s struggling health problems until we get to heaven where he will one day be healed. We had heard of others experiencing healing and I so longed for this for our sweet baby. I wrestled with this theologically, not knowing if this was what He meant. I wasn’t sure if what I understood was what He meant for me. Over the next many months, we prayed and prayed and prayed, while asking God’s people also to pray and lay hands on him. We did all that we needed to do medically/surgically. Months and months passed and I forgot about the passage. Then the day came. Read more... with how full my days are, i finally edited this post in order to share the great news... 12.13.14 - today began a NEW day. not just a great day, but an incredible one. 12-13-14: this date will only come once a century and one i will never forget. for curiosity’s sake, i calculated how long its been. 719 days of incredible stress. i was surprised by how high the number was and even had to recalculate it, just to double check. yep, it was right. it has been 719 from when i began to bleed heavily at month 5 of pregnancy and began bedrest. when i birthed our baby by c-section, he and i struggled for life. i began to hemorrhage and they couldn’t stop it. at the same time, when they gave our sweet one O2 in the delivery room, his stomach, and not his lungs, inflated. something was seriously wrong. the surgeon told my husband that they didn’t know whether our baby would make it and she rushed into surgery. we both walked on the thin border of life while the emotional weight of it all laid heaviest on my husband who was cognizant of the stakes. God answered the prayers of many and my bleeding stopped the following day after much blood loss. baby was in the NICU for 31 days with multiple major surgeries, chest tubes, a million tubes coming out of his body... without being able to be held by the aching arms of mama or dada for so long. in his little life, he has had countless surgeries, xrays, MRIs, swallow studies, cerebral shunt placement surgery, drugs, drugs, and more drugs, a tight schedule for gtube feedings, 25 plus doctors and therapist visits all year long… and this brings us to today. upon seeing that 719 number, my bones and spirit concurred, “yes, THAT’S why you’re so tired.” ha! why was yesterday incredible? it was page one of a new chapter. Read more...   oh Jesus, i am thankful that today we are brought even closer to Your return.
Your imminent return lifts my heart in hope. like an invincible train charging forward toward its destination, time propels us ever closer to that Great Day. being found in Christ, ours is a great hope in this sure promise. today my thoughts settle on future events described in Revelation, since … Read more...  So proud of my girl. She wrote a story and it was published online last week on Good News Now America. They had a contest for homeschoolers earlier this year and she shared about her foot surgery experience. I love that her spirit grew in trust of God through the difficult path she has had to endure, already at such a young age. Even though she had to pay a high cost for these lessons, it has been beautiful to see the Holy Spirit grow His compassion for others in her heart. Her story is the 4th one on the page.
 When I drive around town, I am often struck by how each car and home represents so many lives all around me. Each and every life is so very different in values, trajectory, happiness, faith, character, etc. How many of these lives are Godward, looking to live for Your worship? I wonder.
Oh, how I want to learn regularly to choose well. All day, everyday, there are countless choices we make and much of our lives can be traced to these choices. I want to be able to look back when I am near my life’s end and Read more... It’s been a long time to live in crisis--over 450 days, I guess. Right now, my husband is at our baby’s regular baby check up and I have some time to think again. It has taken this long to finally feel like I’m mostly adjusted to my new normal. Having our child struggle with major health problems every day has been the hardest thing I’ve ever experienced....harder than moving and living in a foreign land, harder than losing the comforts of one’s own country, harder than not being able to communicate well in a foreign tongue for 8 years, harder than being on bedrest for over 100 days with the possibility of losing one’s baby... Read more...
 when our little guy was in utero, i had to get face to face with my theology of healing and God’s will. i had multiple problems with my pregnancy and the ultrasounds were showing a developmental abnormality in our baby’s digestive tract.
had our son not been born in this first world country, he would’ve died a week ago. he was rushed into the OR for an emergency surgery of his trachea and esophagus that were malformed. right now he waits in the NICU for further healing until he is strong enough to have his next surgery, without which he will be unable to digest food. i am deeply grateful to God that we live in the US with all its advances in medical technology. had we both undergone his birth in a less developed country, we would have both died because i also had several life-threatening complications in surgery and in recovery. thanks to the sovereign will of God choosing LIFE for us, he and we now wait on the Lord for his healing so he can leave the NICU and finally come home to us. Read more...
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