Stamp out the Lies, 2011, #2

Jim and I were married for a long time before I heard this come out of his mouth.  I'm not sure what we were talking about.  Maybe I was whining, most probably I was whining:)  He said, 

Nobody loves me, everybody hates me,

I think I'll go eat worms!

I'd never heard it before he taunted me that day!  I don't know how many times I've used it since then on my own kids or the kids I work with at school.  

Satan whispers that in my ear sometimes. 'Nobody loves you, Laury.  You're nothing.  Nobody.'  And when I'm hurting or lonely, I listen to him, especially when the atmosphere I'm surrounded by seems to give testimony to those words.  'You're nothing.  God doesn't love you.  If He loved you, wouldn't you be healed by now?'  Right now, I'm crying while typing these words.

Even though I don't really believe the words, I may nurse them in my heart a little and then I get mad and other thoughts rise up that aren't true.  It starts with a little lie and it grows to something major until satan doesn't even have to whisper it anymore.  It's all me, baby.  His dirty deed was done, probably right after he said, 'Nobody loves you, Laury.'  I took over after that.

I grew up hearing the words, 'I love you.'  My mom said it to us lots.  Jim doesn't say it much.  He's a show-er of his love.  That's fine if that's the kind of love language I operate in, but it's not.  I want to HEAR it.  I want, I need to hear those three small words. 


Let me back up here for a second.  I know KNOW Jim loves me and he proves it every day and when he says, I love you, to me, it's especially meaningful.  I don't think it was said much in his house.  It's a difference in how we were raised.  My childhood home was much more demonstrative than his, for sure.  

Power house words that packs a MAJOR punch!

I love you!

Especially when we aren't feeling so lovable.

Just like last week in church, God met me again.  He especially chose a song just for me -- I'm sure of it!  Phooey on all those hundreds of others:)  It was just for me.  Well, anyway, as far as I was concerned, I was the only one in that sanctuary and God spoke to me and the tears streamed down my face.  The lights had just been dimmed and we sat in the short rows on the side so I wasn't too much of an embarrassment to Nik, I guess.  Jim Coonce, our worship leader, listened to God and chose a worship set that ministered to all our souls and helped us connect with God in worship and praise.  


We sang this song, Oh How He loves Us... and I heard, Oh how He loves you, the exact words I needed to hear at that moment, at this time in my life.

Such simple words with such big implications!

Oh how He loves us! 

When deciding what verse to use to back this up from the Bible, I came across an awesome website.  I hope you visit it often.  I know I will when I hear satan whispering lies in my ear again about my insignificant worth in this world and how unlovable I am.  It's a love letter from God.  This site shares fifty verses to prove that love.  Press those blue letters above.  Close your eyes and listen. Feel God's love.  He's with us.  His love is tangible.  He loves us so much.  He knew us before we were born.  He's preparing a place for us to live with Him forever in Heaven.


Hundreds from my church are doing the B90X and Satan's spitting mad.  He doesn't want us spending time reading the Bible.  When we know KNOW KNOW that God loves us, we want to spend time in His Word.  We want to read what He has to say.  We want to sit at His feet.  We want Him to dry our tears and comfort us.


I'm determined to not listen to satan's lies this year.  I'm going to do all I can to recognize those lies and stamp them out!  


Stamp out the Lies, 2011, #1

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B90X - Week 1

This is the day that my church, First Christian Church of Clinton, Illinois is beginning the B90X!

I've tried this challenge before but I went about it the wrong way.  This time I'm committed and will be doing it alongside so many of my church family.

This time I've downloaded a dramatized audio version of the Old Testament so I can listen instead of read when I want.  That will be different for me.  I tried listening in ITunes but it loaded the chapters backwards.  I figured out I can listen in the Windows Media Player and it will read to me from the first to whenever I tell it to stop.

I'm excited to be starting out the new year with a whole church challenge.  Our Pastor, Greg Taylor, will keep us encouraged and moving towards our goal, both in church each Sunday and through his brand new blog:)

B90X is an intense workout.  Week 1's reading is Genesis 1- Exodus 29.  There is nothing like jumping into God's Word with both feet and letting His Spirit splash all over us and inside us!

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Stamp out the Lies, 2011, #1

Today was the first I've been to church in a long while.  Between sickness and ongoing pain and fatigue, it's easier to stay home; especially when I'm working and have to push each second.  I even declared that to a friend one day.  I get fed in other ways.  I missed going yet I wasn't harboring much guilt about it, except that when Mama doesn't go, the rest of the family tends to do the same.  (Can't you just see satan whispering all that in my ear?)


This is the first Sunday of the new year and I'd been off work for several weeks so I really felt it was the time to go.  I'm so glad I did.  So very glad.  Standing there beside my husband praising God is an awesome experience.  Standing in a sanctuary full of people doing the same is right, it's what we need to keep encouraged for another week. 


When thinking about this, I thought of trees so I researched a little about the giant redwoods.  These trees can grow up to 350 feet.  With something that tall you would think the root system would go down deep but I was wrong.  The roots only go down between 6-12 feet, not much compared to the 350' height. 


The reason they can stand tall and proud is because they are surrounded by a grove of trees just like themselves.  Alone, they would crash down at the first big wind, but together they stand strong through the worst storms.  Their roots intermingle together and give them strength.  

We need the strength and support and faith of others to stand tall as the storms blow in our lives.  Because of this, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching."  Hebrews 10:25.

Let's don't believe this lie of satan, that we can worship on our own at home and don't need the fellowship of our church family.  It took a wonderful Sunday at church praising and worshiping God and being challenged in my faith by our pastor, to be reminded of this truth.  


Once each week I'll be blogging about satan's lies that we tend to fall for all too often.  Let's try to block his evil ploys together.  I want to live in the year 2011 with my eyes wide open.  Sounds like a plan, yes?

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Blind Hope, An Unwanted Dog & the Woman She Rescued

Blind Hope by Kim Meeder and Laurie Sacher is my second book to read and review from Multnomah Books.  I was drawn to this book because the cover was so adorable and I knew the perfect friend who would like to read it when I was done.

Most of this book is a conversation between the co-authors, Kim and Laurie.  Kim is the owner of the Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch in Colorado, a ranch that takes in horses they have rescued.  Volunteers come to help and in the process, many breakthroughs are made in their lives spiritually, mentally, and physically.

Laurie comes to the ranch as a volunteer.  She rescues a dog who she renames Mia.  In her care, she takes her to the vet and Mia is diagnosed with diabetes and eventually loses her eyesight.  As Laurie attempts to befriend this dog and teaches her how to function in the world without sight, Laurie learns many lessons that brings her closer to God and helps her see how blind she has been for years.  She says, "My dog was blind...but now I see."

One of the last conversations in this book is very profound about hope, "Mia taught me that blind hope doesn't grope around in the darkness trying to find the way.  Blind hope doesn't depend on what it can feel.  Blind hope depends on what it knows!  Authentic hope depends on what is true.  Hope that is real doesn't come from what we can see --it comes from our heart, from the inside out.  It comes from Christ alone."  (Pg 170)

I loved when Laurie shares about Mia's rescue and how she teaches her to navigate in the world.  The antidotes were very good and held my attention.  From a writer's standpoint, though, there is much telling in this book and not enough showing.  Every time Laurie switches from talking about Mia to how her little blind dog has taught her more about God, my eyes rolled and I skipped paragraphs and skimmed pages.  It was very good stuff but all so predictable.  Nothing was left to the reader to grasp on her own.  Everything was spelled out in a way that began to annoy me.

Kim has written more books about the happenings of her ranch.  I imagine they are wonderful and would love to get my hands on a couple of them.  The ranch sounds like an awesome place and God moves big in their midst.  I do appreciate the spiritual truths in this books, don't get me wrong.  I hope that people who love dogs and/or are young Christians will take hold of this book and be blessed.

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Christ is Come! Christmas, 2010

Christmas 2010 has come and gone.  It seems like I have time to breathe now and catch up on rest before school starts up again in January.  Jim, Nik, and I got together with Jim's side of the family on Christmas Eve.  It's so hard with Ruth gone.  It's funny how the mom is the glue to a family.  She certainly is missed, especially by her two granddaughters, Kristen and Jenna.  I think they truly feel it more than anyone, or at least express it more than anyone else.

Christmas day was spent with Ryan, Kristen, and Nik.  It's so different now that they're older.  We didn't buy one toy.  How sad is that?  It was good to get together with our little family. Kristen made it from the south on some slick roads.  It took lots to get Ryan home from the north.  He went into the ditch twice, requiring two tow trucks and after the second time, he parked it and rode home with Jim.  That was an expensive trip home and puts a whole new spin on, I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas.  Whoever dreams that certainly isn't waiting for family to come through the bad weather!

When we were on our way to town to do our last minute Christmas shopping (our shopping was last minute from the very first, by the way), I heard this song, Christ is Come, and it really made Christmas come alive in my heart where Scrooge's bah humbug was lurking. Christ did come and He is alive, making each day worth living, even though it gets very hard at times.  Christ is come and He will come again.  I look forward to the days ahead in 2011.

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