Pain

There is always pain with sin and it's consequences. I am just curious....when does that pain stop? Is there ever a time that the Lord takes it away? If not, then why? As I continue to experience pain from past sins....I have ask when will it not hurt? When will the healing be complete?

Mercy

The prophet Micah lived during a dark time. The children of Israel were following false idols and even sacrificing their children to them. They were doing all of this during the reign of King Ahaz. This was when the Lord spoke through Micah to tell them of the judgement that was coming. Some wanted to turn from their evil ways and follow God. They pleaded with Micah to tell them how to win God's favor once again. The Lord had one answer:

Micah 6:8 (NIV) He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

To act Justly
To love Mercy
To walk humbly with your God

How do I do that? I have been thinking about this a lot. Justice, Mercy and Humility are BIG things with the Lord. Do I have a sense of justice for all the atrocities that happen to the poor, the hungry that have no food, the women that are sold, the children that are dying of AIDS? Does my heart jump to help and have compassion for the widow in assisted living with no one? Do I cry when I see the orphans that desperately want to be loved?
Do I want to show the mercy that the Lord has shown me? The mercy that He showed when he took my sins from me and took them upon Himself so that I may have a HOPE beyond this world. Am I willing? Willing to go the AIDS patients and tell them that there is someone that cares and that loves them. Willing to go to the addicts and tell them that there is a HOPE that is beyond all hope and can help them. Willing to talk to the stripper that is just trying to feed her children. Willing to talk to the Illegal that is just trying to make a better life for their family....and their children's family ... and their children's children's family.
And where does the humility fit into all this? Or does it even work at all without the humility. How good do I think that I am? I can not even imagine being able to get off the floor when I am face to face with the MOST HIGH GOD one day. And yet, we are to be like HIM. Treat others as He would treat them. Which is what? to serve them. We are to serve the ones that need him the most. Serve them with Love and show them the mercy of GOD.
Now, can God do all these things without us??????
The answer is yes, BUT I sure don't want to miss it!

Why?

All I can think about is the tragedy that has taken place at Virginia Tech. I was talking with some of my friends and they are all saying "How can GOD let this happen?" Can we really answer this question? In the book "When Bad things Happen to Good People" the author Harold S. Kushner says:

God does not cause our misfortunes. Some are caused by bad luck, some are caused by bad people, and some are simply an inevitable consequence of our being human and being mortal, living in a world of inflexible natural laws.

The painful things that happen to us are not punishments for our misbehavior, nor are they in any way part of some grand design on God's part. Because the tragedy is not God's will, we need not feel hurt or betrayed by God when tragedy strikes. We can turn to Him for help in overcoming it, precisely because we can tell ourselves that God is as outraged by it as we are.

I can only imagine how much God is hurting with the families of the VT victims now. Are we as Christ Followers showing the same love to them as He would?

HE IS RISEN!

Easter is a time of Celebration in our home! We had a wonderful Church service on Easter morning even though it was less that 30 degrees outside! Thank the Lord that it warmed up outside during church and was warm enough to get a few pics of the kids before we went to lunch. I am constantly overwhlemed at how fast the kids are growing up. It forces me to realize how quickly my time with them will pass and too soon they will be on their own. Yikes!

Falling Apart

Our Oldest, Haven, just lost her two front teeth! Too Cute! She actually pulled them out herself...unbelievable! She is so much braver that what I was at her age! She looks so much older for some reason. I'm not ready!

Beauty

Why is it that we think that the way that we look on the outside tells people what kind of person we are on the inside? What does our hair color or the size of our jeans tell someone about our character or our integrity?? I know that this comes from the world that we live in since I can find nothing in the bible that tells me this is true! How do we live in this culture obsessed with beauty (whatever they think that is) and apperence without allowing it to affect our heart? our inner being? our soul?

Perception