The Confessing Lunatic

Verizon has made an impression on the world with their commercials with the guy saying "Can you hear me now?" I was thinking of my prayer life today and that phrase came to mind. Strange isn't it? I have this mental image of me going to place after place asking God, "Can you hear me now?" But I wonder...how often does God have the same response with us? He reveals Himself through Scripture. He reveals Himself in nature. He reveals Himself through friends and family. He reveals Himself in the messages and Bible studies in which we participate. Why then is it so hard to hear from Him? "Speak Lord, for your servant is listening." 1 Samuel 3:9b

I confess...I had an awesome experience in Sunday School and I just have to share it. I was supposed to start a study of Romans but my class was low due to sickness so I changed things up on the fly, which is kind of dangerous because I don't ever know if it will fly or flop. Fortunately God reigns and it turned out to be an incredible time that we later ended up sharing in the worship service. I've started reading a book during my quiet times called, "The Valley of Vision - A collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions (found this from a fellow blogger). So, since I needed something quick, I decided to choose one of the prayers, have one of my students read it and then we would re-write the prayer in our own words. It turned out that the two boys (one 7th grade, one 10th grade) really got into it and blew me away with their summaries. I thought I would share first the original prayer and then the prayer as we re-wrote it. This a long post but I think it is worth it! I hop...

I confess...the past couple of days have been very emotional and I'm not sure why. So this morning in the midst of lots of tears, I sent an SOS out to my closest gal-pals asking for their prayers. Within minutes, I had two emails from friends committing to pray. Within an hour, there were two other emails. One included a scripture that was just what I needed to read and it gave me comfort throughout the day. The scripture is Joshua 1:9 which says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." A couple of hours later there was a phone call asking me to go to the gym since some of the best therapy can be getting on the treadmill and running out the frustrations. By the end of the day there was a fifth email with an offer for some "retail" therapy or just some "girl time." It is indescribable knowing that God has placed women in my life that I kno...

I confess...I'm not big on Valentines Day. While I am a hopeless romantic, I do not like holidays that guilt spouses into action. I would rather the thoughtfulness of my husband come out of no where just because he loves me. I would rather surprise my husband with something special because I was thinking of him and couldn't wait until I got to be with him. It's interesting that some of the youth in our church have similar dislike for the holiday. Jake called it "Singles Awareness Day." To counter this attitude, Jim talked Wednesday about the history of Valentines Day. If you don't know how Valentines Day first came about, check out this site . Then Jim talked about changing our attitude towards Valentines Day. Instead of thinking of it as a day to think about what we can get and what we have to give our loved ones, think of it as a day for showing love to others out of respect and love for Jesus, who showed His ultimate love for us by willingly becoming...

If you're new to this whole blogging thing as I am, there is an honor that is bestowed upon bloggers who have blogs that are considered noteworthy. I'm not sure how the process works but today at lunch I was checking out the blogs that were listed and I was surprised at a couple. The first is called, It's My Mission . From what I gather from briefly looking at their website and blog, the blog is associated with Buckner Missions in Dallas, TX and Buckner International. The blog tells of the recent trips of musicians Geoff Moore and Susan Gray to a Honduras orphanage. This is indeed a Blog of Note. The second is called, Can of Worms . I clicked around this blog and immediately understood why it is a Blog of Note. The author, Cody Fisher is a 23 year old that has moved from the US to Iraq to work for an organization he and a friend created called, Buy Shoes, Save Lives. I was particularly interested in his post on Baseball and Kisses because of its connection to the US Army, w...

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. I found this scripture and a related sermon on a blog I came across while reading Average Girl's blog. Rather than re-post what was written, I encourage you to go here . There really isn't more I can say on the subject, except...amen.

Today we celebrated the life of our dear friend, Joy Marie Bales. Jim and I had the pleasure of singing singing at her funeral. I managed to hold it together before the service while Jim and I were warming up. I felt confident as we entered the chapel. But as soon as Jim's dad began to read the scripture that he had chosen, I lost it. Fortunately there was a 15 or so minute video that they played of pictures of Joy that had been put to music that provided me the time that I needed. The first song we sang was "Great is Thy Faithfulness." We chose it because it was one of the songs we sang at Joy's husband's funeral. Whenever we had a hymn sing at the church, Joy would choose that one so I could only believe it was her favorite, too. The second song we sang was "I Will Serve Thee." I love this song because the words really express Joy's life here on earth. Joy was a true servant and we will miss her greatly. The youth in my Sunday School class ...

"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:16b "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer..." 1 Peter 3:12a I confess...my faith has been tested this past week. My mother endured three surgeries in the span of a week, there was personal turmoil going on in the lives of my dearest friend and her children, and a dear friend is living out her final days on earth. God has granted me strength, wisdom and peace through it all and I have no doubt that it is because I had prayer warriors praying me through. If not for the prayers of many faithful friends, I would surely have not made it through the week. Thank you, Father, for these warriors and their prayers!

I am so excited! The boys had try-outs today in Burleson. There is nothing I love more about having boys than watching them play baseball. I love everything about it...the uniforms, the kids running in the wrong direction, keeping score...all of it. We've heard from both of the boys' coaches. Jaden will be on the Mets and Jordan will be on the Rangers. Jaden's coach called and wanted to talk to Jaden! It was the cutest thing. I'm just praying that now that Jaden is a year older and more mature he will be better than our first experience with him and baseball! Jordan is in Bronco this year, which is 11 and 12 year olds. For the first time I believe, he'll be the older age in his league since every other year we have played him with kids his own grade and not age. It's wonderful to see Jordan excited about starting back up; I think taking the fall off was a good decision. But above all, what I love about baseball is seeing God at work in my boys. Jordan,...

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 God's timing is perfect. I have been tempted this week to rush out and take action about a particular situation before being given the "go-ahead" by God. I was even angry that resolution to the situation wasn't coming fast enough. My husband gently reminded me that we need to listen to the Holy Spirit's leading and he wasn't being led to move out yet. Today as I was driving to the hospital, I listed to a CD that a friend had loaned me. I came to a certain song and I began to weep because the song was confirmation that Jim was right. I was trying to push him towards doing something that wasn't in God's timing. The song is called, "Prayer for a Friend." My listening to this song could not have been any more timely. So, this is my prayer for my friend, M. Lord I lift my friend t...

The lesson that I taught in Sunday School this past Sunday was on the same topic as the title of this post. Never in a million years did I think that this week I would experience some difficult storms myself. My mother had surgery to drain fluid from her brain on Monday and surgery to put in a permanent shunt Wednesday. Unfortunately, she will have an additional surgery Friday morning because the doctor wasn't happy with the placement of the shunt. What concerns me the most is that she has not really been up out of the bed but once yesterday and once today. This couldn't be a worse week for me to be out of the office, especially since I'll be traveling next week. To top it off, my dearest friend is experiencing a number of difficulties herself. I am so glad that I can be there for her. I hurt because she hurts. Jim and I have peace knowing that we're not alone in this matter, but is hard to convey it to my friend. And so, as I struggle to stay awake to finish this...