God gave me a little adventure yesterday morning. I dropped the boys at school a little before 8am and stopped into the counseling office to check in on boys weekly reports. As I was leaving that office and entered the hallway, I felt such a burden for the school and the students. Everywhere I looked, it looked bad. I kinda wandered down the hallway and towards the front door beginning to pray for the school and asking the Lord for guidance. I looked into the front office and Leanne, the secretary, was standing at the front desk. I went in and told her I had Thursdays off work and was wondering what I could do to help the school, but not sure what that "help" was. She smiled at me and asked if I was familiar with 'Moms In Touch.' I wasn't so she went on and explained that they met weekly, thought it was Thursday, and gave me the leader's name and phone number. I asked if I could call before leaving there, just in case they met early morning. So...
I spent the next two hours praying and visiting with two other moms at Ruth Anne Dean's home in south Albany. It was a wonderful prayer time and I knew I was in God's will. Also, the two women were so happy and said I was answered prayer. They had been praying for more moms to join their group. It was a God Thing, for sure.
I will be researching the web link for Moms In Touch International. They used to have a Lebanon group, but that has disappeared, but would like to start one again. It is great for moms wanting to intercede for children and schools. It is an opportunity to do something so worthwhile. Thank you Lord.
Hope your week has been a good one; I'm looking forward to this weekend. See you Sunday, sweet sisters.
Friday, February 25, 2005
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
The Real Egg
This August will mark our 2nd anniversary of farm living. Having lived in the same house in the same small town and then moving to the ultra urban environment of Portland for a 13 year stint does not adequately prepare one for the experience of life on a farm. Last Spring, I decided that all small farms are not complete without the presence of chickens. So, like any knowledgeable city person, I went to the store to buy some. I ended up at our local feed and ranch supply store. I told the nice young man behind the counter that I wanted to buy some chicks, to which he replied, "what kind?" I stood there for a moment, perplexed. Thinking to myself...What kind? The kind that lay eggs! I answered back, "what kind do you have?" For about five minutes I was inundated with more information about chickens than I ever cared to know. After careful consideration, of about 45 seconds, I decided to buy five baby chicks from the Barred Rock variety. (Don't ask me why they are named that I didn't retain that information.) They were about 2 1/2 inches high mostly comprised of black and grey fuzz. I decided to go with five because that's how many kids I have and I figured they could each name
one. We set up the heat lamp, feed, water and waited. And waited. And waited. They grew and grew and after several months they looked like chickens. Although, it became very apparent that naming them was an exercise in futility. (To this day, you can't tell them apart!) Eventually, we built a nice pen for them complete with lovely nesting boxes in the hopes that they would get inspired to start, doing what they were supposed to do, lay eggs. It was like Christmas Day, every day, at our place. Every morning I would go out and look in their boxes hoping to see an egg. Day after day, my hopes, dashed. My Dad, thought that providing a visual aid might help. He placed a few white golf balls in a couple of the boxes. Now, keep in mind, that whenever I would visited my local feed store, I would ask them about my chickens and bring up the possibility that they were defective. To which, I was assured that they would start laying, eventually. Finally, that much anticipated blessed day arrived, we got an egg! I carefully carried it into the house (after all five children had to look at, hold it and smell it.) After a few days, I had enough eggs to cook up and eat. I remember very vividly the first time I cracked those eggs and put them into a pan. The yolks were thick and BRIGHT yellow. I am talking....florescesnt! I proceeded to scramble those eggs, wondering the whole time, if they were safe to eat because they were so o-r-a-n-g-e- in color! Let me tell you, every shred of skepticism and doubt were erased with that first bite! Farm fresh eggs have such flavor! There is no comparison! Farm fresh eggs have such flavor that I am amazed that the stores still sell "store bought" eggs! The secret must not be out. Otherwise, there would be revolts and protests staged in our grocery aisles! The average consumer would never settle for such widely accepted counterfeits if only they knew the truth. How many of us go through life believing in counterfeits that have been passed off as the real thing? Psalm 34:8 says, "taste and see that the Lord is good." God wants us to give him a try. "Taste" him and see how he measures up to what the world has to offer. The world offers only empty promises, fakes, that in the end only lead to disappointment and want. Just like I discovered the truth about "real" eggs I hope you experience the real Creator God in your life. By the way, I am planning on buying some more chickens this Spring. If you want some good eggs, look me up...I 'ld love to share. Afterall, as my Dad once noted, "who knew nightcrawlers tasted so good, run through a chicken?"
Lorlee
one. We set up the heat lamp, feed, water and waited. And waited. And waited. They grew and grew and after several months they looked like chickens. Although, it became very apparent that naming them was an exercise in futility. (To this day, you can't tell them apart!) Eventually, we built a nice pen for them complete with lovely nesting boxes in the hopes that they would get inspired to start, doing what they were supposed to do, lay eggs. It was like Christmas Day, every day, at our place. Every morning I would go out and look in their boxes hoping to see an egg. Day after day, my hopes, dashed. My Dad, thought that providing a visual aid might help. He placed a few white golf balls in a couple of the boxes. Now, keep in mind, that whenever I would visited my local feed store, I would ask them about my chickens and bring up the possibility that they were defective. To which, I was assured that they would start laying, eventually. Finally, that much anticipated blessed day arrived, we got an egg! I carefully carried it into the house (after all five children had to look at, hold it and smell it.) After a few days, I had enough eggs to cook up and eat. I remember very vividly the first time I cracked those eggs and put them into a pan. The yolks were thick and BRIGHT yellow. I am talking....florescesnt! I proceeded to scramble those eggs, wondering the whole time, if they were safe to eat because they were so o-r-a-n-g-e- in color! Let me tell you, every shred of skepticism and doubt were erased with that first bite! Farm fresh eggs have such flavor! There is no comparison! Farm fresh eggs have such flavor that I am amazed that the stores still sell "store bought" eggs! The secret must not be out. Otherwise, there would be revolts and protests staged in our grocery aisles! The average consumer would never settle for such widely accepted counterfeits if only they knew the truth. How many of us go through life believing in counterfeits that have been passed off as the real thing? Psalm 34:8 says, "taste and see that the Lord is good." God wants us to give him a try. "Taste" him and see how he measures up to what the world has to offer. The world offers only empty promises, fakes, that in the end only lead to disappointment and want. Just like I discovered the truth about "real" eggs I hope you experience the real Creator God in your life. By the way, I am planning on buying some more chickens this Spring. If you want some good eggs, look me up...I 'ld love to share. Afterall, as my Dad once noted, "who knew nightcrawlers tasted so good, run through a chicken?"
Lorlee
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Morning already?
Another hearty welcome to all our new readership of women. We look forward to hearing from you in the comments area. Be sure to check around our blog for interesting stuff - more to come! Thanks, Lorlee, for the fun game link. BTW, have you seen the Gospelcom site with all the great devotion links. There's the Daily Bread which we have available at church, there's Keys for Kids, the Van Essen children grew up on those - in fact they're pretty sure they could write them by now, and much more. Let us know which are your favorites.
Speaking of devotions, that is always a struggle; no, more like heavy artillery. But last night I had another one of those golden opportunities to put a great idea into practice. I had to drive to Portland in the evening to pick my daughter up from the airport. Already when I entered the freeway from Hwy. 34 I heard on the radio the gridlock there was in Portland. And sure enough when I got there it was still ugly and ended up taking me an extra 45 minutes of stop and go. Then to grab the girl and the bags and head right back down the road; well, needless to say, I came home weary. I had to grab a coffee just to stay awake.
So I finally collapsed into bed and then of course, the caffeine really kicked in. So as I lay there I decided to put into practice my thankful routine. This is nothing new, just going through your day and remembering what good the Lord brought to you and thanking Him for it. Usually I don't get very far because I can fall alsleep faster than anyone, even in the middle of a sentence. But that caffeine kept me thanking long into the night! In fact, I had prayed for something just that morning - a conflict at work that needed to addressed - and the Lord had melted it away by noon. Yay, this is very good. Try it sometime and see!
Speaking of devotions, that is always a struggle; no, more like heavy artillery. But last night I had another one of those golden opportunities to put a great idea into practice. I had to drive to Portland in the evening to pick my daughter up from the airport. Already when I entered the freeway from Hwy. 34 I heard on the radio the gridlock there was in Portland. And sure enough when I got there it was still ugly and ended up taking me an extra 45 minutes of stop and go. Then to grab the girl and the bags and head right back down the road; well, needless to say, I came home weary. I had to grab a coffee just to stay awake.
So I finally collapsed into bed and then of course, the caffeine really kicked in. So as I lay there I decided to put into practice my thankful routine. This is nothing new, just going through your day and remembering what good the Lord brought to you and thanking Him for it. Usually I don't get very far because I can fall alsleep faster than anyone, even in the middle of a sentence. But that caffeine kept me thanking long into the night! In fact, I had prayed for something just that morning - a conflict at work that needed to addressed - and the Lord had melted it away by noon. Yay, this is very good. Try it sometime and see!
Monday, February 21, 2005
Just Do It
Hello Ladies,
I want you to know that I have been stressing about this for two days now! What should I write? What do I have to say? Shouldn't it be totally profound or deeply moving? I mean...Leanne's post had a point and Bethea's made me smile. I go to my computer, I log into this Blog and then I begin to hyperventilate while having a panic attack stemming from "preformance anxiety!" Before I know it, I am off to play another round of Bejeweled at www.popcap.com . It finally occured to me, that I just need To Do It! In fact, alot of things in life are that way. We need to stop worrying about what others may think! My Wedding Night came to mind. (Now, let me preface that by saying , the youth pastor inside of me is always looking for those teachable moments and that I ONLY condone physical intimacy in marriage.) If my memory serves me correctly, (somethings you never forget) I spent a fair amount of energy worrying about that night, only to realize, after the fact, that I worried.....FOR NO GOOD REASON! Philippians 4:6&7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
So, stop worrying about what may or may not happen and do what needs to be done or say what needs to be said. Whew! I did it....I wrote in this Blog! Now, I can add this to my list of First Times.
Lorlee
I want you to know that I have been stressing about this for two days now! What should I write? What do I have to say? Shouldn't it be totally profound or deeply moving? I mean...Leanne's post had a point and Bethea's made me smile. I go to my computer, I log into this Blog and then I begin to hyperventilate while having a panic attack stemming from "preformance anxiety!" Before I know it, I am off to play another round of Bejeweled at www.popcap.com . It finally occured to me, that I just need To Do It! In fact, alot of things in life are that way. We need to stop worrying about what others may think! My Wedding Night came to mind. (Now, let me preface that by saying , the youth pastor inside of me is always looking for those teachable moments and that I ONLY condone physical intimacy in marriage.) If my memory serves me correctly, (somethings you never forget) I spent a fair amount of energy worrying about that night, only to realize, after the fact, that I worried.....FOR NO GOOD REASON! Philippians 4:6&7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
So, stop worrying about what may or may not happen and do what needs to be done or say what needs to be said. Whew! I did it....I wrote in this Blog! Now, I can add this to my list of First Times.
Lorlee
Welcome to my week
Happy President's Day Everyone! This day is a little more special to me, because I have a patriotic follow-up on Thursday. I'll be celebrating becoming a U.S.A. citizen of ten years. Yes, (as I shared with my women's small group @ church) I am a relatively young citizen, but have enjoyed the privilege of voting these past ten years. By the way, that's what pushed me to complete the process (a long process) of becoming an American. I know that the Lord also used that somehow to move me along the path to becoming a citizen of Heaven that same year 4 months later. So, I'm thinking of the wonder that I live in a great country that was founded on the truth of God's word and laws. Today, I am thankful for the many blessings of what that means in my life. I can worship Him in freedom, live a life full of freedom and choice. And when I think about the majority of the world not even having an inkling of what that means -- it makes me angry. It also helps line me up with the real battle -- God's mission for each of us to spread His truth, His gospel. It makes me a more committed Christian -- to see past my nose and pray for the lost, pray for His victory across our land and the world. It is a great life that we have in Him, don't you agree?
I wasn't too sure how to begin my post, so peeked in on Leanne's set-up and profile. I was a little disturbed that the blog set-up folks take a person's birthdate and translate that over to an astrological match-up. Why would that concern me? Well, I know that the worship of the stars is in part the scheme behind the astrology junk found in newspapers and other sources. It is one of the idols of this world and I have learned never to read my "daily forcast" in astrology (put together by a medium-type warned about in the Bible) because I see no reason to give the devil a foothold in my life. I also don't need to give God reason to curse me by in any way worshipping a false idol. So, when you are asked to give your birthdate when you sign up on your profile, you could leave your birthdate blank (unless someone knows how to remove this altogether) and hence you won't be identified as a particular sign. Perhaps the blog folks could be talked to about this concern, also. If anyone knows how to go about doing that -- I would appreciate it. I'm sure that we will run into these kind of worldly stumbling blocks from time to time, so pray that the Lord will remove it from our paths. And we'll use this one as a learning and grow because of it coming into our lives.
Well, sisters of mine, I pray that the Lord will BLESS you and shine brightly upon your day. I pray for protection around you so that your heart can be tender to His touch and leading in your life. Lovingly, Bethea
I wasn't too sure how to begin my post, so peeked in on Leanne's set-up and profile. I was a little disturbed that the blog set-up folks take a person's birthdate and translate that over to an astrological match-up. Why would that concern me? Well, I know that the worship of the stars is in part the scheme behind the astrology junk found in newspapers and other sources. It is one of the idols of this world and I have learned never to read my "daily forcast" in astrology (put together by a medium-type warned about in the Bible) because I see no reason to give the devil a foothold in my life. I also don't need to give God reason to curse me by in any way worshipping a false idol. So, when you are asked to give your birthdate when you sign up on your profile, you could leave your birthdate blank (unless someone knows how to remove this altogether) and hence you won't be identified as a particular sign. Perhaps the blog folks could be talked to about this concern, also. If anyone knows how to go about doing that -- I would appreciate it. I'm sure that we will run into these kind of worldly stumbling blocks from time to time, so pray that the Lord will remove it from our paths. And we'll use this one as a learning and grow because of it coming into our lives.
Well, sisters of mine, I pray that the Lord will BLESS you and shine brightly upon your day. I pray for protection around you so that your heart can be tender to His touch and leading in your life. Lovingly, Bethea
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Saturday, February 19, 2005
What's in a title?
A little explanation to begin with - why this particular title for our blog? I was impressed with this phrase several years ago while attending a wedding of some sweet, young friends of ours. It happened to be a VERY conservative denomination that emphasized only God in their service. There were no distractions of instruments, fancy hair, lace, candles or flowers. But as the bride and groom walked down the aisle, sat in the front pew for the sermon and then rose to their feet for the simple wedding vows, I heard this phrase, "do you take this sister by your side . . ."
I thought about that phrase and it got me to thinking on these young people - how they had grown up together in this church as part of a large, close-knit family of believers and how they considered each one a sister or a brother. Then as they grew up they eventually chose each other as life partners. And so the sister became a wife and their whole group celebrated. I was quite impressed with their community and it's strength.
So it's all about community. I was previewing our Bible study material tonite and it said we are called to hang out with one another. It's important! And being women we seem to always run out of "sharing" time in our groups. So consider this blog to be an extension of what you wanted to share but didn't have opportunity.
I also really like this title because I didn't have any sisters growing up. Just brothers who got to do all the fun stuff like drive tractors and I had to stay in the house and help mom in the kitchen. (I'm sure that's why I've never excelled in that area!) Anyways, I have invited some of my "sisters" to join me in authoring this page and get this thing going.
So for whatever is happening in your life, consider this your personal listening friend, your sister by your side. May it encourage you, inspire you, amuse you and most of all bring glory to God.
I thought about that phrase and it got me to thinking on these young people - how they had grown up together in this church as part of a large, close-knit family of believers and how they considered each one a sister or a brother. Then as they grew up they eventually chose each other as life partners. And so the sister became a wife and their whole group celebrated. I was quite impressed with their community and it's strength.
So it's all about community. I was previewing our Bible study material tonite and it said we are called to hang out with one another. It's important! And being women we seem to always run out of "sharing" time in our groups. So consider this blog to be an extension of what you wanted to share but didn't have opportunity.
I also really like this title because I didn't have any sisters growing up. Just brothers who got to do all the fun stuff like drive tractors and I had to stay in the house and help mom in the kitchen. (I'm sure that's why I've never excelled in that area!) Anyways, I have invited some of my "sisters" to join me in authoring this page and get this thing going.
So for whatever is happening in your life, consider this your personal listening friend, your sister by your side. May it encourage you, inspire you, amuse you and most of all bring glory to God.
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