Forgive and Love one another

These are things I have written down in the back of my bible, you know, those pages that say 'notes' and are sometimes left empty...well here are a few I want to share.

*The act of forgiveness is the consummate expression of Christ-likeness.

*What we do and what we say divulge who we really are!

*We need to be held accountable for loving each other.

A sermon from Ephesians 4:25 - 32 "Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another. "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."

1. vs. 25 We are members of the same family (the body of Christ) we have a kindred spirit - us together as the family of God

2. vs. 26 Don't be controlled by your emotions - there's no place for this in the family of God. The world will know us, Christians, by the way we love one another. *sometimes we have to overlook things & not be offended, it's God's job to change people.

3. vs. 27 Don't become a tool in the devil's hand - don't give the devil an opportunity to bring disgrace to God and to divide us - the body of Christ!

4. vs. 28 Be purposeful in doing good things for people - return a kind word when you are treated harshly.

5. vs. 29 Be purposeful in building one another up! Don't say things that run someone down/look for good points in people's lives and emphasize it!

6. vs. 30 Don't offend the person of God - it hinders God's work/the Holy Spirit

7. vs. 31 & 32 Don't hold smoldering resentment - have a soft heart/be gracious

I will praise You in this storm

I have never been through anything like this before, and I feel I really can't explain what that is. I have been wounded, deeply hurt but can't really say anything because I feel I am doing the right thing. Regardless of how other people are behaving or talking, I refuse to do so, I will not gossip about this or anything else, although I think people think I have been, but my good and wonderful Father knows I haven't and that is good enough for me. He is all we need.

I have been reminded of the Casting Crowns song "Praise You in this Storm", the thunder and lightning are all around and that's what I'm doing, praising God, for what He is teaching our family through this, how He has walked with us all the way, and loved us every moment. Thank you Jesus, for your grace, love, and mercy. I can do all things through You!

Never a bridesmaid...

I had such good intentions to blog about this sooner but you know how it goes...anyway, the old saying goes "Always a bridesmaid, never a bride" but for me it has been the opposite but that doesn't really make sense because I've only been a bride once, ha but you catch my drift.

So when my dear friend Kristina asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding I was overjoyed! I was so honored to stand up with her. There was really something special about the entire thing, and I had never thought about it before. The bride and all her bridesmaids were 'semi' secluded to a sunday school room in the church to help prepare the bride for the big event. Helping her with her gown, so that it looked just right, and whatever she needed. A young woman getting ready to enter into a union with the man God has hand picked for her, to make a life with him, to share every part of their lives together.

I thought I was really doing quite well with holding it all together but then I just sat and looked at her, really looked at her, and the tears began to well up, (I don't think I have ever cried at a wedding) but I've known this young woman for a while and knew how she has longed for this day and how amazing this moment really was and how God had worked to bring it about. This was the most beautiful wedding I have been to and I've been to plenty but mostly singing at them, I would take this bridesmaid gig any day of the week! It was incredibly special, the whole day was, from her walking down the isle to the sound of her groom serenading her with a song written just for her, to the vows spoken with love and confidence and the song they sang to each other about how God had each of them in mind when He made them, to the end of the night when they held each other in their arms on the dance floor.

Thank you, Kristina, for letting me be a part of your day, I will cherish it.

God's Splendor

What's so wise about 'em anyway?

I am in pain! My wisdom tooth is giving me fits, it is in the back corner of my mouth cockeyed and barely poking through and it hurts! I went to the dentist yesterday and he gave me antibiotics, pain meds, and "black licorice" mouth rinse. I know, it's weird, but it really does taste kinda like black licorice. I have been hurting all this week and didn't sleep hardly at all on Wednesday night. Thursday evening (last night) I attended a bridal shower for a friend that is getting married Saturday and I wasn't in pain, what a relief, I made it through the night with sleep to boot! Well this morning it's back to throbbing and giving me grief, I feel like Tom Hanks in Cast Away when he pulls his own tooth with an ice skate...believe me, I have considered it. I go to the oral surgeon in two weeks to have it cut out of there. For now, I will suffer because I don't like taking pain medicine unless I absolutely have to and the dentist told me not to drive if I took it. Wedding rehearsal tonight and a wedding tomorrow, I want to be somewhat pain free so I can enjoy it, I'm in the wedding party after all and I want to have a legitimate smile on my face. I'll post pics and you can guess...

And why are wisdom teeth even called wisdom teeth? Why do we have them? Maybe in case the other ones fall out they will, in extreme cases, come in to replace them, ha sure! Well...I found an answer.

Why are they called Wisdom Teeth?

The last teeth to develop and erupt into the jaws are called the third molars. Third molars usually erupt in the late teen years, which coincides with passage into adulthood and is referred to by some as the age of wisdom; hence "wisdom teeth". Unfortunately, the wisdom teeth are now usually trying to erupt into a jaw that is too small.

Wisdom teeth used to serve a useful purpose, but are now considered vestigial organs. A vestige is a degenerative or imperfectly formed organ or structure having little or no utility, but in the earlier stage of development of a species performed a useful function. The reasons that wisdom teeth are now "outdated" are many. Until quite recently, our diet included mostly very coarse food, as well as impurities such as dirt and sand. This coarseness would abrade teeth so significantly that they would take up less space in the jaw. Permanent teeth were also frequently lost at an early age, which would create more space in the jaw. Because the diet was so coarse and hard to chew, the jaw itself would develop into a larger bone because of this constant workout. All of these factors would create more space for the wisdom teeth when they came in.

The heavily processed diet of today does not produce the tooth abrasion or jaw development that we used to see. Modern dentistry has pretty much eliminated significant loss of permanent teeth at an early age. This leaves us with too many teeth and not enough jaw. The wisdom teeth still develop as they always have, but they have no where to go. When this happens, the teeth are considered "impacted," meaning that they are not in normal position and function.

Besides serving no useful function, the impacted teeth will often cause damage because they cannot be cleaned properly and can collect food debris, bacteria and plaque around them. This can result in tooth decay, gum disease, infection and abscess of not only the wisdom teeth, but of the molars next door and of the surrounding gum tissue. The molars in front of the wisdom teeth are sometimes lost because of cavities and gum disease caused by the inability to clean the wisdom teeth properly. Cyst formation and other destructive pathology are also seen around impacted wisdom teeth.

Fun Fact Friday, woohoo, I can't believe you read that...

My Auntie Loves Me!

My Aunt Barbara made me this bag for my birthday! I was carrying my "church stuff" in it and a friend said "hey that's your..." People actually read this! Ha, who knew!?!

The Last Baby Tooth

Cameron: "I have one baby tooth left"

Me: "For crying out loud pull it out!"

Cameron: *yank*

Results! I tell you, if only kids were this compliant in other areas!

Parenting Tip #2

Don't allow your child to "date" or be "boyfriend or girlfriend" to a nonbeliever.

Nip this in the bud, we as Christians know that we should not be dating someone that doesn't share your faith (being unequally yoked). This has been a hard lesson for our youngest son and for us. We wanted him to make his own decision regarding this girl, they are only 13 for crying out loud, but he really liked this young lady and was determined to hold on to her. He invited her to church, she came a couple times, he talked to her about salvation - and he is really bold, he gave her a fire and brimstone message, he prayed for her. He kept at her and she told him she was a christian but her life has not reflected that decision and we knew that she just wasn't the girl for him (not that any is at this age but that is not the point for this particular story). We talked to him on several occasions about what God's word says about this but he was clinging to the hope that she really knew Jesus.

We prayed for our son to come to this realization, we really wanted him to make this decision on his own, wanted him to "get it". We were getting ready to attend a youth camp in Springfield and I was praying that God would speak to our son. The very first night both preachers spoke about this very subject! I was thrilled, thank you Lord! We could tell God was working on our boy's heart, the conviction was definitely there. James talked with him about what God was dealing with him about and he said he felt God was telling him that he needed to end his relationship with *said young lady*. We thought, yes, this is it! Not that she is a bad girl in any way, she is very sweet and likable. Well, unfortunately, Cameron did not follow through with what God had asked of him and their "relationship" continued.

After we got home from camp, we sat down with Cameron and talked about the week and what God had shown him about his relationship. Cameron said he wanted to give every area of his life to Christ and really do what God wanted him to do. There were tears shed, not telling who, ha and Cameron broke up with *said girl*. This was very difficult for him and we really recognized how hard this was for him.

To be continued...