What are you afraid of

Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

You have nothing to fear so why are you so afraid? Seriously, what is the worst that could happen. If you were to step outside of your comfort zone, what would really happen?

In Acts in the bible the apostles were BOLD. They acted with confidence and without fear. Even when faced with death they stood boldly in faith teaching about Jesus. God empowered them to do something. To be BOLD. Yet here we stand afraid to get out of the boat. When confronted with those who choose not to believe. What do you say when your beliefs are challenged?

Acts 4: 8-10 ⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people, ⁹ are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? ¹⁰ Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead.

Jesus's name was so controversial back then. This very statement was BOLD. This was a pretty crazy thing to do. What's the worst thing that could happen? Well they could have been killed. They could have been imprisoned indefinitely. These men didn't care they new Jesus and that made them BOLD.

2,000 years later his name is still controversial. Everything about him is still controversial. For those of you who are Harry Potter fans we all know the He Who Must Not Be Named. Lets not make the mistake of turning Jesus into that! Think about it in our effort to trivialize everything and be wonderfully politically correct what is the first thing we remove? That's right the name of Jesus. He is at the heart of it all. His name is Bold because what he did for you and for me is Bold.

"American Atheists sued New York state arguing that they oppose the placement of the steel beam cross in the 911 museum because they believe it is the only religious article getting special accommodation there."

While allowing other groups to limit their membership according to shared values, university officials had refused to recognize BYX as a registered student group because the fraternity limits its membership to Christian men.

Earlier this month, the Arizona Civil Liberties Union demanded that the state remove the statue from Wesley Bolin Park or be faced with a lawsuit. The challenged monument is one of twenty similar monuments that celebrate Arizona’s history, culture, and diversity.

On Aug. 9, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit denied the asylum application of Xiaodong Li of Ningbo, China, effectively requiring his deportation to China, where he faces two years of imprisonment, for being a Christian.
American Atheists sued officials of the Utah Highway Patrol and the Utah Transportation Department in 2005. The group claimed that the roadside memorials are a state establishment of religion, even though the memorials are fully funded and maintained by a private organization, the Utah Highway Patrol Association.

Times are not so very different. We are not so very different today. Be BOLD, do not stand back and wait for others. God has called us, called you. If you open your ears, your heart, your eyes; you can see where he will lead you. The more you know him the BOLDER you will be. That BOLDNESS will change the world. This is your life. What are you waiting for?
Acts 4: 20 ²⁰ We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”

Some things are worth dying for

Isn't it amazing that we live in a world where we have enough to eat. Clothes on our back, roof over our head, more than enough of all the necessary things. Do you ever just stop and praise God for toilets, or toilet paper, bras, socks, carpet, or maybe air conditioning? What do you take for granted?

We live in a world of plenty, but not so far down the road are people who live in a world of deprivation. It is unimaginable to some that anyone would die fighting, or even choose to die for something we take for granted. Yet every day people are dying for things we take for granted. It has been going on for a very long time. In fact some of those people have died for you.
Mathew 25: 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

No gift is too small in the eyes of God. When you look to your heart what are you doing for the least of these? Mark 12: 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on. She gave all she had some coins that were worth only a few cents. Look at all we have, no gift is too small , except the gift you never give. With all that we have our massive riches we must not forget that deprivation is just a little ways away. Jesus gave his life that we might live, what will we give?

A breath and a prayer

Chris Tomlin Everlasting God

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord

I just got back from the longest vacation known to man! Seriously it was sooo long! I am so happy to be home and after 33 degree weather you won't hear me complain about 105 degrees, well at least not a lot! Of course coming home means unpacking and trying to prepare for the mad dash of back to school!This is exhausting for both the kids and me!

In addition, I spent three days in a row at doctor's offices just to be scheduled for both the EEG and the next Ortho appointment on August 9th! Please pray for me as I will only be allowed 3 hours of sleep, since he will only be allowed 3 hours of sleep! Don't they know that sleep deprivation for my kid means sleep deprivation for me! If it all goes smoothly then we can hurry our sleep deprived whiny bottoms across town to the ortho to check out how he is walking without the cast and boot! So of course after all of this planning and doctoring I was tired! I needed a little nap, as we all do at times.

No sooner had I laid down but my door bell was rang three times quickly! This can only mean one thing, UPS or Fed EX. Sure enough UPS guy hands me an envelope and says have a great day. I am thinking WT-Heck I will never get a nap now! So I trudged my way into the kitchen and opened the envelope to find.............................a publishing contract for my book.

That's right after 6 months of writing, letters to publishers and agents alike, as well as countless waiting, and a lot of rejection I had in my hand a contract. Of course I have looked it over and am thinking I will proceed with it, although that doesn't mean a whole lot because it could take a while in finishing, but my book will be published.

So don't hold your breath, and please pray that everything will go off without a hitch! It still amazes me that a year ago as I was praying and reading my bible I found myself led to write this book. It amazes me that even when I told God I like Jeremiah was not worthy, he pushed me on. God gave me the strength in my rejections, the patience in my waiting, and the joy in what will come!
Psalm 27: 14 Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!

Time Waits for no one

My baby will be 1 year old tomorrow! A year ago today I was going crazy waiting for her to get here! A year ago today I was wondering when she would get here and hoping it would be tomorrow. From the moment she was born till today a lot has changed. I am reminded of one of my favorite reflections on time:

To realize the value of one year:Ask a student who has failed a final exam.
To realize the value of one month: Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of one week: Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of one hour: Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of one minute: Ask the person who has missed the train, bus or plane.
To realize the value of one second: Ask a person who has survived an accident.
To realize the value of one millisecond: Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.
Time waits for no one.

You realize the Value of 4 days when your baby is in the NICU. I learned the value of an hour when it came to sleeping for the next few months. The value of a month is obvious in the milestones they reach, and now I can see the value of a year. Little ones are pretty amazing and Miss Hailey never fails to impress. We treasure her.

Recently a friend of ours from college told my husband you never really think that playing catch with your child, teaching them to ride a bike, seeing their first tooth, first step, first love, or first anything will really impact you that much until you face missing all those firsts. Life is scary and hard every day, but when you sit facing tomorrow realizing that all your dreams for your child might never come true life is impossibly hard. He said, " Treasure every moment, every milestone, and every day because when you sit facing the last that is all you have.

Hailey is quite the treasure. She can crawl and is starting to pull herself up. She only has 3 teeth and they are soo darn cute. Her favorite foods are cheerios, Nilla Wafers, and pretzels. She doesn't eat fruit unless it is pureed and mixed with baby cereal. She cries when you feed her ice cream, but then she wants more. She smiles at everyone and laughs at her siblings.