This is a ficticious story that My pastor shared this past weekend.
There are a group of construction workers sitting down to break for lunch. One man opens his lunch pail and sighs...."Peanut Butter and Jelly...I don't really like Peanut butter and jelly"...
On Tuesday they sit down for lunch again and again the Man opens his lunch pail..."UGH Peanut Butter and Jelly..Man I HATE peanut butter and jelly"...geeesh!
On Wednesday...You guessed it...PB &J AGAIN! He is NOT HAPPY and he lets everyone know it! Three days IN A ROW..PB&J..COME ON!?!
So Thursday rolls around and the crew are hoping that this poor guys gets something in his lunch other than a stinking PB&J...1, because they feel kinda bad for him..and 2, they are tired of hearing him complain! BUT yet again....PB&J on Thursday so the man storms of and doesnt eat his lunch!
The guys all chat about having some kind of "Intervention with this Guy the following day"...if he gets PB & J again!!
Friday afternoon when the man again opens his lunch pail and he has PB&J..for the FIFTH day IN A ROW...everyone pipes up before he can speak "Dude if you don't like PB&J..why don't you just ask your wife to make ya a tuna sandwich..or turkey or something?"
To wich the man responded "I Live alone..and I pack MY OWN lunch...thank you very much!"
HOW Often do we do that?!? We are the ones who choose what we have each day..by our actions, our words, our thoughts. But then when we open up our "Lunch box" we are surprised that its the SAME stinkin thing that we don't like!
IF you want something different...you have to change what you put in the lunchbox!!
Thanks Pastor Buddy for delivering Gods word in a relevant way!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
16 Weeks..the countdown is ON!
Seriously....16 weeks until we leave for UGANDA!!!! Oh my goodness! I am so incredibley excited, and nervous, and humbled that I have the ability to GO!! Now Im going into "list mode" what do I need to do in the next 16 weeks ...and when is it "due".
Change name on Liscense
Pray...
Change name on SS card
Pray...
Get Passport
Pray...
Figure out where I get my yellow fever shot..and how much it is.
Pray...(cry...i dont like shots)
Get a script for malaria preventative
Pray...
Collect 450 lbs of donations (yes..we can take 3 bags each..and that makes 9 @ 50lbs/bag) and we intend to use every single inch of every bag!)
Pray...Praise God!
Begin our foster/adoption class
Pray...Praise God!!
Christmas
Pray...Thank you for sending Jesus!!
Newyears
Pray...2011 is going to be Our Year!!
Kaiden's Developmental Assesment
Pray!!!
First Valentines Day as Husband and Wife <3
Pray....thank you God for my amazing Husband!
Kaiden's 6th birthday
Pray...Thank you God for my Son!!
Complete our homestudy (and the foster/adoption class)
Pray...God guide us to the children you will add to our family!
Kamerons 4th birthday
Pray...God Thank you for my Son!!
Pick up Jessica (an amazing 16 yr old who is flying to NY to follow her heart and come to Uganda with us)
Pray that she would be at Peace and confident in her walk with you Lord!
Drive to NYC...JFK Airport
Pray....Thanks for Driving us Down Andrea!!
LEAVE for Uganda on March 27th!!
Pray..PRay..PRAy...PRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Praise...PRaise..PRAise...PRAIse...PRAISe...PRAISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Change name on Liscense
Pray...
Change name on SS card
Pray...
Get Passport
Pray...
Figure out where I get my yellow fever shot..and how much it is.
Pray...(cry...i dont like shots)
Get a script for malaria preventative
Pray...
Collect 450 lbs of donations (yes..we can take 3 bags each..and that makes 9 @ 50lbs/bag) and we intend to use every single inch of every bag!)
Pray...Praise God!
Begin our foster/adoption class
Pray...Praise God!!
Christmas
Pray...Thank you for sending Jesus!!
Newyears
Pray...2011 is going to be Our Year!!
Kaiden's Developmental Assesment
Pray!!!
First Valentines Day as Husband and Wife <3
Pray....thank you God for my amazing Husband!
Kaiden's 6th birthday
Pray...Thank you God for my Son!!
Complete our homestudy (and the foster/adoption class)
Pray...God guide us to the children you will add to our family!
Kamerons 4th birthday
Pray...God Thank you for my Son!!
Pick up Jessica (an amazing 16 yr old who is flying to NY to follow her heart and come to Uganda with us)
Pray that she would be at Peace and confident in her walk with you Lord!
Drive to NYC...JFK Airport
Pray....Thanks for Driving us Down Andrea!!
LEAVE for Uganda on March 27th!!
Pray..PRay..PRAy...PRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Praise...PRaise..PRAise...PRAIse...PRAISe...PRAISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
God...My Daughter..and Bulldozers!
So what do Bulldozers...My Daughter..and God have to do with each other?
Everything :)
Tonight as I was tucking in my overtired, sleepy, silly, 8 year old daughter Hailey...and as we read her little princess Bible....and talked and chatted about how it applies to us. My daughter said "So kinda like construction workers..they build buildings and stuff to build up the earth so God doesn't have to come back and build it up again"...I said..Hmmm...not really what I was getting at. LOL.. I was trying to explain how we need to live our lives in such a way that other people will see and KNOW that something is DIFFERENT in us. They would be so moved by the way we live that they would just Have to ask us WHAT is different and that will lead them to God.
So I stuck with the Construction theme and this is what came out.
Construction vehicles are used to build things. BUT they will not move or do anything unless there is a person in the seat moving the levers and knowing where and what to do. Picture this...EVERYONE in the world is sitting in their own seat of their own Construction vehicle.
And MANY of them are moving the lever this way (left hand back, right hand forward..lol) and they are MOVING...but ultimately they are just going in circles...nothing great or grand is being built. And Sometimes they dont care..they just want to keep on going around and around...they are "comfortable" with that. Some see that all they are doing is going around and around and they decided they will CHANGE directions (left hand forward..right hand back)..but all that happens is the circle is in a different direction.
There are others...that have God in the vehicle..and HE guides them to pull BOTH levers back and move forward..and he teaches them to used bigger and better vehicles..to do grand buildings...in his name.
And when the people going around in circles see this OTHER vehicle ..the same one they are driving...but its DOING something...and it's not going in circles?!? They will ASK the driver of that special vehicle...WHAT is DIFFERENT with you?!? How do you know where to go..HOW did you LIFT that piece way up high and Build that grand structure?!? THAT is when we have an opportunity to share God with others. That is when they may turn to God and accept the gift of Jesus!
But what about the drivers who say..."we know God" and they still just drive around in circles. They do not seek him. They do not drive any differently from the ones who do not know God. They don't understand why they keep going in circles. There was that one day..one week..or maybe one year...of no circles!! Things were really happening! But now...circles again. HOW did that happen. It happened ONE decision at a time.
Every single day we are faced with hundred of decisions, pull this lever, raise this load, dump that one, demolish this building, begin new construction, these are TOUGH decisions to make...Lean into God...pray! We can CHOOSE at any of these...to just do the simple thing...pull one lever back and push one forward..and go around in circles...it's "safe"...You will never pull the wrong lever, demolish the wrong building....BUT you will also never get to BUILD AMAZING things either.
Thank You God for giving me the wisdom to explain things to my daughter in way she will understand. And I thank him that she is kind and compassionate. I have the most amazing daughter. Hailey I love you!
Everything :)
Tonight as I was tucking in my overtired, sleepy, silly, 8 year old daughter Hailey...and as we read her little princess Bible....and talked and chatted about how it applies to us. My daughter said "So kinda like construction workers..they build buildings and stuff to build up the earth so God doesn't have to come back and build it up again"...I said..Hmmm...not really what I was getting at. LOL.. I was trying to explain how we need to live our lives in such a way that other people will see and KNOW that something is DIFFERENT in us. They would be so moved by the way we live that they would just Have to ask us WHAT is different and that will lead them to God.
So I stuck with the Construction theme and this is what came out.
Construction vehicles are used to build things. BUT they will not move or do anything unless there is a person in the seat moving the levers and knowing where and what to do. Picture this...EVERYONE in the world is sitting in their own seat of their own Construction vehicle.
And MANY of them are moving the lever this way (left hand back, right hand forward..lol) and they are MOVING...but ultimately they are just going in circles...nothing great or grand is being built. And Sometimes they dont care..they just want to keep on going around and around...they are "comfortable" with that. Some see that all they are doing is going around and around and they decided they will CHANGE directions (left hand forward..right hand back)..but all that happens is the circle is in a different direction.
There are others...that have God in the vehicle..and HE guides them to pull BOTH levers back and move forward..and he teaches them to used bigger and better vehicles..to do grand buildings...in his name.
And when the people going around in circles see this OTHER vehicle ..the same one they are driving...but its DOING something...and it's not going in circles?!? They will ASK the driver of that special vehicle...WHAT is DIFFERENT with you?!? How do you know where to go..HOW did you LIFT that piece way up high and Build that grand structure?!? THAT is when we have an opportunity to share God with others. That is when they may turn to God and accept the gift of Jesus!
But what about the drivers who say..."we know God" and they still just drive around in circles. They do not seek him. They do not drive any differently from the ones who do not know God. They don't understand why they keep going in circles. There was that one day..one week..or maybe one year...of no circles!! Things were really happening! But now...circles again. HOW did that happen. It happened ONE decision at a time.
Every single day we are faced with hundred of decisions, pull this lever, raise this load, dump that one, demolish this building, begin new construction, these are TOUGH decisions to make...Lean into God...pray! We can CHOOSE at any of these...to just do the simple thing...pull one lever back and push one forward..and go around in circles...it's "safe"...You will never pull the wrong lever, demolish the wrong building....BUT you will also never get to BUILD AMAZING things either.
Thank You God for giving me the wisdom to explain things to my daughter in way she will understand. And I thank him that she is kind and compassionate. I have the most amazing daughter. Hailey I love you!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
My First Blog Post Ever!
WHY am I starting a BLOG?
I was talking to a friend of mine from church today and we discussed how it's crazy cool when God uses us to help someone and we don't even realize it at the time..but afterwards it's like....yup..that was a God thing! And that Got me to thinking...There have been SO MANY "Yup...that was a God thing" moments in the past year...and with my terrible memory....I had better get this down. So the question was..Journal it..or Blog it. And since I figured Id want to share with EVERYONE all the awesome things God is doing..I decided to venture into the world of Blogging. So here I am! If you are reading this Blog...please know that God sent you here...I really don't believe you would get this far into my post if he didn't :)
I was talking to a friend of mine from church today and we discussed how it's crazy cool when God uses us to help someone and we don't even realize it at the time..but afterwards it's like....yup..that was a God thing! And that Got me to thinking...There have been SO MANY "Yup...that was a God thing" moments in the past year...and with my terrible memory....I had better get this down. So the question was..Journal it..or Blog it. And since I figured Id want to share with EVERYONE all the awesome things God is doing..I decided to venture into the world of Blogging. So here I am! If you are reading this Blog...please know that God sent you here...I really don't believe you would get this far into my post if he didn't :)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)