Dedicated to my Grandy

Cheers to my Grandy... a man who stood for Jesus, integrity, considering others above himself, love, kindness, laughter, hug-erugerugers whenever you came in the room, crepes with marshmallows and chocolate chips, tire swings, fishing, games, reading to his children and grandchildren, prayer, church, singing, ladies first (even on the fishing boat!), fixing problems, finding solutions, faith, joy, forgiveness, God, truth, wisdom, family, speaking life, creating, giving, living...
 I am so grateful for... my Grandy...
helping me build a lazy susan for my college class...
making us Grandy Breakfast... yum!
treating me like a princess...
helping me build a mail box for my family...
showing me that love looks like something...
loving his wife so dearly, and talking about her so sweetly...
taking me fishing and giving me the first shrimp, and letting me pick where I wanted to cast from on the boat...
helping me build and cut frames to put canvas over...
asking and giving me so many hugs and kisses...
for showing me what integrity looks like...
I am most grateful and thankful that Grandy led me to receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior when I was 10 years old.
Father, please tell Grandy thanks for me=) So glad he is with You and Jesus!

12/5/1927- 10/6/2011

To see a slide show click here.

Beware of a fence between you and Heaven...

Ok, so the title is a pun=) Oh puns! =) Anyhoo...
The Lord has been impressing upon me these last couple months the importance of repenting for taking an offense, in addition to forgiving people.
I don't know if it has ever happened to you, but I have forgiven someone for something, released them to Jesus for judgment and then still feel pain if the incident comes back to my mind. I started feeling the weight of offense a couple months ago, and so I repented for taking an offense.

Then I went to a prophetic teams meeting at my church and this lovely lady C. M. was talking about something someone had did while she was on teams that really hurt her. She walked through forgiveness, but she was still very hurt whenever she would think of it. And many times when she was trying to enter into God's presence during worship she kept thinking about this person and what they did. Finally, she mentioned it to some leaders and someone asked if she had forgiven the person, and she said yes. And later she had the revelation that she had taken up an offense with this person. So she quickly repented (Father, I repent for taking an offense and I ask for forgiveness). Then she thought there were probably a bunch of people that she had taken an offense with, so she asked the Lord to bring people to her mind and they did! And she repented! And she said she has experienced the greatest open heaven and joy in her life ever since!!! Glory to God, who wants so much for us to know Him intimately!!!

So needless to say, hearing this was very encouraging, because it was exactly what the Lord was taking me through as well!!! Yee haw!
So what is offense?
skandalizō - Greek - Strongs 4624

1) to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way, upon which another may trip and fall, metaph. to offend

a) to entice to sin

b) to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey

  1) to cause to fall away

  2) to be offended in one, i.e. to see in another what I disapprove of and what hinders me from acknowledging his authority

  3) to cause one to judge unfavourably or unjustly of another

c) since one who stumbles or whose foot gets entangled feels annoyed

  1) to cause one displeasure at a thing

  2) to make indignant

  3) to be displeased, indignant

Used:

Matthew 11:6: "And blessed is he who does not take offense⁴⁶²⁴ at Me" - Jesus is speaking

Matthew 17:27: "However, so that we do⁴⁶²⁴ not offend⁴⁶²⁴ them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me ." - again Jesus is speaking 

pasha - Hebrew - Strongs 6586

Proverbs 18:19: A brother offended⁶⁵⁸⁶ is harder to be won than a strong city, And contentions are like the bars of a citadel.

One thing I conclude from the definition, is that we don't want to be offended with anyone, especially Jesus, God, Holy Spirit=) I have found that some of the veils spoken of in 2 Corinthians 3:18 are offenses with God, veils that we have where we do not see God as He truly is...

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

When we behold the face of the Lord, we are transformed and veils between us are removed!!! 

Father, I ask for myself and everyone who reads this, that we may encounter You and see Your face. I ask for more interactions with Heaven. I pray off veils and scales in Jesus' name from our eyes, that we can see clearly. I praise You and I thank You so much for all You are working and doing. I bless You Abba, I bless You! 

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

And so, Beloved ones in whom God loves, loves, loves. Let us continue to forgive and release people to Jesus for judgment and to change them, and no longer hold them  in bitterness and offense. Repent if needed and listen to the Robinson's - KEEP MOVING FORWARD into love!!!!

Birthday at Lazy 5 Ranch

Turning 27 in about 2 hours here=) But today we went to celebrate at the Lazy 5 Ranch. Had a great time, it is always such a blessing to be with wonderful people and see God's beautiful creation.

Eland - type of Antelope

G. M.

J.J. and A.J.

Don't' remember what these are, but love the baby=)

Grandpa Giraffe - check out those wrinkles!

Cuteness Z=)

Strong like OX...

Mama Llama

Here's a few photos from today's adventures.

Monkey H.G.

Mi Amor

What a good daddy=)

Cute Family J.

B.R.

   Hope you enjoyed the photos, have a fabulous day!
Blessings to you! If you want a beautiful and inspirational song I just heard this one today and LOVE it. John Waller- Bless us and Keep us

Doing things WITH God

I have heard it said and agree it is best to do things with God rather than for God.
This is the essence of the "Mary Martha" story. The best thing we can do is to find out what God is doing and join Him in that work.
Read Luke 10:38-42
There are many layers of lessons in this story, I am merely highlighting one.=) 
You notice at the end Jesus says to Martha, " Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
Many have interpreted this to mean we shouldn't be busy serving and just sit with Jesus all day. I challenge you that perhaps it is because Mary chose to be with Him when Martha was serving Him.
In other words, many of us after being getting saved strive to do everything possible to serve Jesus. He gave His life for us, so we work and work and work to try and please Him and Father God. When in fact He doesn't love us anymore today than before we were saved. So if you are reading this and are not yet saved, God loves you too!!!! Whoo hoo! The favor with God will change as we learn to be obedient to Him, but not His love. I strove to get God's attention and love because I couldn't feel Him tangibly like it seemed so many of my friends did. But the reality is that He was with me all the time. Which He has shown me.
What God desires is a relationship with His creation, you and me. And the thing that will never be taken from us are the times and things that we do with God, not necessarily for Him. God has works He has written in the Volume I perfect will for your life and mine. Jesus did what He saw the Father doing. Jesus had visions, we can have visions. Lord sanctify our hearts and minds and imaginations in Jesus' name. We can ask Abba what He is doing and join Him in what He shows us or tells us, then we are doing it with Him. There are times God leads us with the still small voice, thoughts, impressions, feelings, and more and when we follow we are joining Him too.
Feeling example:
One day while I was at Morningstar Church when they were having Break Out meetings my right ear began to get VERY warm. A few moments later a family of 4 walked in front of me and I just knew what I was experiencing was for 1 of them. I followed them and tapped the Dad on the shoulder and asked if anyone was having ear troubles. He said, "Yes, my ear has been in pain for a few days." So I prayed with the family and agreed for his healing and voila! Holy Spirit healed his ear with us.

Impression and Thought Example:
I was praying with a dear friend of mine who had been experiencing EXTREME pain during her monthly visit. So much so that she would actually scream in pain. She knew it was demonic and had prayed about it, but it was still happening. So we sat down and asked God to show us what was going on. We both got the same picture in our minds' eye. So we asked for further revelation and got what each meant. We prayed it through, and then I thought of a man's name. It is an unusual name and I didn't think she knew anyone by that name so I ignored it. We prayed through some other things and I said, "Lord is there anything else?" The name came back to my head. I thought, well I suppose I better give it a shot. I asked her if she knew anyone named _________. Her eyes got real big and she told me a story related to this person that was VERY significant. We broke off ungodly souls between her and her family and the gentlemen and we both felt something tangible happen in the room. She felt a weight lift off of her, and she hasn't ever had any episodes again. Praise You Father for revealing to us the keys for her healing!!!!

Both instances are examples of joining with God. So let us do that today!!! Father what are You doing?

Funny Chicken Story

This happened over last Christmas (my first Christmas with my husband's family- who have a little farm)...
I REALLY wanted to pet a chicken, so...

With my chicken hat on, I open the gate...

I squat down out front and patiently wait...

They are not coming out, for I am too near...

So I wait, and wait, for them to appear.

Finally, a brave hen emerges...

Oh boy! My energy surges!

But alas, the chicken was too fast.  At least my Beloved was there, to comfort my loss and give me some care=)

But, a day or so later I did get to HOLD a chicken!!! Which was so great, she was so soft. Sadly, the reason I got to hold her is because I witnessed the neighbor's dog attacking her and ran outside to save her and she had gone into shock. So I picked her up and brought her inside. We spoke life over her, and live she did=) Hurray!!! Sorry I didn't think to get pictures of her=(
Hope I made you smile=)

Gettin' Ready

Well, after the very strange hail storm a couple days ago I am really motivated to be prepared to leave in disaster or stay in disaster. Before I continue let me say, whatever we do (preparedness-wise) we do by faith, not fear. My faith is not in the stuff, but in Yahweh Jireh - the Lord our Provider... the one who made me and takes care of the sparrows. I was not given a spirit of fear, but power love and a sound mind.
So when struggling with fear, let us go further into God's love and who Jesus is, who Holy Spirit is. Today I was reading in Matthew about Jesus healing ALL the sick who came to Him. The compassion that He walked with. I tell you, friends, the more time we spend with Jesus the more perfect love casts out fear.
Brad McClendon spoke at Church Sunday a REALLY good message. Today is the last free day to watch it on http://morningstartv.com if you are interested. He starts about an hour into the service. He was talking about how he used to read the bible to get something, an answer, or such... But he asked the Lord to deliver him so that he can read the Bible to be with Jesus and find out who He is. I love that. Let's get to know Jesus.
My friend was given the task of reading Leviticus and Deuteronomy while at IHOP in Kansas City and seeing how each rule represented the love of God! She saw amazing things in the scripture she never noticed before.
Anyways... ha ha, the tangents... So my point is, when preparing, which is wisdom- unless God has specifically told you not to prepare, let us do so in faith and love, not fear. Hurray! Exciting times ahead.

I am making a list of what I would need to go and stay and getting it together. I already have a nice backpack I used for hiking that I will turn into our "go" bag.
I am using the options from http://www.zebgear.com/catalog/zeb-gear-products/be-prepared-to-leave-gear/zeb-gear-go-bags/build-your-own-go-bag to help design what I need.

I'm also going to get food grade 55 gallon barrels. There is a guy on craigslist.org (in the Charlotte, NC area) selling them for $22 a piece if you buy 3 or more. That is cheaper than anything else I have found online. To store things in, and rain.

We have also started a garden on our porch. =)
Bren found a video on how to make a rocket oven from adobe bricks How to Make Your Own Rocket Stove...
Although, I really like the idea of a solar oven. This is a how to make video also. Solar Oven from cardboard and AL

Spending time listening to the LORD would be very good, b/c only He knows what you need=)Aw, for shalom=)
Shalom to you!

Our Story Part III -first date and the Christmas Party

...but, I convinced myself to start walking down the stairs. I smiled cheerfully, hoping he didn't feel my mixed feelings, and gave him a hug. We got in my car and headed to Best China.
The 2 things I noted from this date, my first official date of my life (excluding school dances), was that Bren ministered to the waiter before I did, and he prayed that the Lord would give me the desires of my heart. Of course I was thinking, and you think that's you buddy boy, don't you...=)
We came home and I flipped out and emotionally told my roommates I knew who my husband was and I cried from distress. It doesn't really make a lot of sense friends, but that is the thing about fear, it usually isn't in line with reason.
We continued hanging out weekly, but didn't have anymore official dates the next couple weeks. Then the Morningstar Staff Christmas Party rolls around. Bren had recently become staff for this ministry but I was hoping he was not going to be there since he wasn't terribly social. I asked a friend of mine to take me as his "date" so I could go and dance. I love to dance. =) And he said sure, and picked me and my roommate D.B. up to go.
We arrive and behold, Bren is there. He comes over to me smiling and excited saying, "I didn't know you were staff."
I said, "Oh, I'm not, I just came as [so - in so]'s date" - I said "date" as I physically made the quotations signal... That didn't seem to help. I could' ve just punched him in the gut and it would have been better. Oh, his face showed such hurt=(
Now, dear reader, keep in mind that I knew it was the wrong thing to do to ask my friend to take me. Inherently I do not think it is wrong to take friends out as a date, but I knew when I asked my friend it was not the right thing to do...

Bren went back to his seat and I went to mine. I confided in a leader at my table and his wife and told them I did a bad thing and he told me to calm down and it wasn't that big a deal.
I glanced back to see Bren... he was gone.
Oh, no... I tried to push it out of my head, said a little prayer for him and "participated" in the games.
About 30 minutes later I got a tap on my shoulder, it was him! I smiled, as if everything was right as rain (Oh drama person that I am), hello=)
"Could we talk outside for a minute?" -Bren
I agreed and went outside.
He then asked me if I disliked him, but using a much stronger word.
I felt so bad, "No, no, I don't dislike you. It's just that my whole life if a man liked me or pursued me I would run, or avoid, or push away until they changed their mind. It isn't as much you as it is you being a man that likes me that is the problem..."
We were out there for probably another hour and a half and essentially he told me he loved me. Yes, dear friends, he said, "I love you"! After being on 1 date with me! But I had a peace inside of me, Holy Spirit telling me everything was going to be alright during the whole thing. Bren said he hadn't changed his mind about pursuing me, I told him I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to him, but did NOT have the feelings to go with it. He said that was fine...!?
I went back inside and he went home. I went to my guy friend and D.B. crying because I had hurt Bren, and he said it would be fine. We went home and I kept crying because I wanted to face my fears, but it was so hard. I went inside with D.B. and cried some more because I knew who my husband was.
As I was going to sleep I complained to the Lord: he is just doing this because You told him to! He doesn't even think I'm pretty or beautiful, he didn't say a word about it on our first date...! Read Part IV
Read Part I

Wisconsin Recall? Money Now...

I'm not sure why, but somehow I got on a "Bold Progressive" mailing list and I received an e-mail about a victory in Wisconsin. I looked at it and saw it was something against budget cuts in the school system. $425,000 had been raised for this campaign.
Beloved people of the United States of America, we NEED budget cuts, or we are TOAST. If we keep spending the way we are spending and don't turn things around there will be a collapse of our entire economy. The education of our children should NOT be the governments job and expense. That $425,000 could have been used towards the actual school system in Wisconsin-  instead of attacking the people that are trying to save our country from economic destruction. There is a SERIOUS problem.
One of the Senators for my state is downright scared at the numbers that have been disclosed to him. If we want our children to be educated, we can invest in the schools as we can. If we pull together we can get through. Public School is not bad, but it started with the COMMUNITY coming together to pay the town school teacher to teach their children. This is our responsibility, not the government's.
These 5 or 6 Republicans in Wisconsin fighting to keep America afloat are NOT saying education is not important. They are looking at the grave situation at hand and trying to make a better USA for our children.


Here is the article by Mick Mulvaney:

"Telling the Truth

What is Washington doing with our money?  This is one of the most basic – and important – questions that folks have asked me since I have been in Congress.  It’s also one of the most difficult to answer.
  Of course, we always hear a lot of quick answers:  “They’re wasting it!” or “They’re throwing it away on earmarks!” or “They’re giving it away to other countries.”  And to a certain extent, every one of those statements is true. 

But those explanations don’t come close to telling the whole story.  That’s because the federal government has gotten so big that it literally spends more money than any person can comprehend.
  Consider this, if you were to spend a million dollars every single day – from the birth of Christ until today – you still would not have spent one trillion dollars.  (In fact, you would still have almost $300 billion left over.)  This year, the federal government will spend about one trillion every 120 days. 

More discouragingly, the country has fourteen times that amount in national debt.  It’s an absolutely obscene amount of money.  But this still doesn’t explain what the government is doing with all the money.  It only explains how much money is being spent.
  To explain where all the money is going, it’s easier to at least start the conversation if you take the numbers down to something that makes more sense.  For example, if our nation was just one family, then, as a family, we made around $43,000 last year.  But we spent $69,000.  That means we had to put $26,000 on the credit card.  And the big problem with the credit card is this: its balance is $284,000.
  Using that example, if Washington were to save all the money that was wasted last year (wouldn’t that be nice!) out of next year’s budget, we would save about $1,300.  That’s nothing to turn your nose up at, but it’s a far cry from the $26,000 we need to save for a balanced budget.

•   How about all the earmarks?  Suppose we were to eliminate all funding for earmarks – something else I completely agree with.  Some reports estimated that Congress spent $16.5 billion on earmarks last year.  That saves us $330 out of the family budget example.  Still a long, long way to go before we make up the $26,000 that we borrowed. 

As for all the money we give away to other countries: using our family budget example, eliminating all Foreign Aid would only save us about $920.

But my favorite example is the $35 million that Congress cut from our own budgets this year.  Yes, it was a 5% cut for us, and it is important to lead by example, but that $35 million represents less than one dollar out of the $26,000 we need to save.

So right now, after taking out all waste, earmarks, and foreign assistance, we have cut the amount we borrowed down from $26,000 to about $23,449.  As you can see, digging ourselves out of this spending hole will not be easy.
  Both parties like to talk about saving taxpayer dollars, but when it comes down to actually reducing what we’ve been borrowing, the “quick fixes” that are thrown around don’t even come close.  The fact is that we are past the point of just saying no to bad programs and wasteful spending.  At this point, we have to say no to some good programs too. In fact, we probably have to start saying no to everything, at least a little."

 
Father, give us wisdom in Jesus' name.