"Your greatest contribution to the Kingdom of God may not be something you do, but someone you raise." ~Andy Stanley

May 31, 2017

Wednesdays in the Word

Today, I was reading in Daniel. The famous chapter about the lion's den.
And I was struck with the fact, that this man of God was not delivered at any point BEFORE this, but DURING.

Then I thought about Joseph. He wasn't delivered out of the pit by an angel before he was sold into slavery. And he wasn't delivered before he went to jail for a false accusation.

Then I thought about Daniel's three friends, whose names I probably can't spell. ; )
They weren't delivered from the fiery furnance before it was turned up seven times hotter. They didn't get to avoid being thrown in.
But He did join them there! Amen?

He didn't deliver these people FROM the crummy stuff, but He was present DURING!
What have you been asked to walk through?
Following Christ doesn't seem to mean getting to avert the really hard stuff. But He does come!
He definitely comes!

"My God sent His angel and shut the lion' mouths so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. So now it wasn't you who sent me here but God and He made me a father to Pharoah, and lord of all his house...and lord of all Eygpt." 
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Did we not cast three men bound into the fire? Look! I see FOUR men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. 

~Becky

May 30, 2017

Class of 2017

Graduation weekend happened! And by God's grace, it was perfect!
So many things could have gone wrong and none of them did! Hooray!
Lots of love was poured out on my sweet graduate and he was blessed! 

One night before the fun started, I gave myself permission to cry about my hubby missing this and I think that helped somehow. Then I asked dear friends to keep us in prayer for the weekend ahead. And it did feel like he was 'with us in spirit.' 

Thursday night my bestie and her son flew in! Hooray! 
Friday I worked and then she and I cooked for a houseful of precious kids and went shopping and did party prep. And we stopped for mini-donuts without all the kids, because we could! LOL 

Saturday, we did more cooking and then drove Andrew and his friends to the hotel where the ceremony was to be held for the home schoolers  in our state. He attended the 5 hour practice (yes, you read that right!) and his friends enjoyed the hotel's water park. One of his 'gifts' was to stay there over night with his friends since the ceremony was in the morning. -I'm happy to say, no lamps were broken in the process! 
When I saw how nice their room was, I kept wondering why I was letting a bunch of boys stay THERE when I was driving all the way back home. LOL





Lots of decorating and the frosting of cupcakes happened late into the night.  
The next day these sweet friends and lots more, missed church and came to the longest ceremony ever. : )  


J made this shirt with Andrew on it! LOL


After he walked across the stage and received his diploma, I got this sweet text from him, which totally melted my heart on the spot! 

Somehow we were the only family out of 300 go to the nearest Cracker Barrel when it was over!  (they were literally at Chili's) This was much to M's delight because they don't have CBs in CA. ; ) 




Then we rushed back to throw Andrew's grad party! Both events were just a few hours apart. What was I thinking? ; )  







Eating and game-playing happened. Then the  kids ended the evening playing guitar and singing worship songs, which was the perfect way to end such a special weekend! PTL!



I'm happy to say that I've now accomplished 19 years of homeschooling! Whoo-hoo!
And in August we will go away to a cute cabin in the GA mountains and celebrate that fact. 

But now, I need a nap! LOL

~Becky

May 24, 2017

Wednesdays in the Word

"Through God
we shall do valiantly,
It is He 
who treads 
down our enemies."
 ~Psalm 108:13

This verse encouraged me so much this week! 
Because of God we are valiant!
 (showing courage, determined, lionhearted, brave and fearless)

And it is HE who treads down our enemies!
What enemies has He trampled for you? 
Maybe not the literal enemies that David faced, but the kind that can war against your spirit and your soul. Enemies like fear, doubt, despair, depression, etc...

He's trampled so many enemies for my family in the last year and a half and I'm so proud of us for letting Him (Amen) and just so very grateful! 

Through God we are made valiant! 

~Becky

May 21, 2017

Casting and reeling

My grandfather loved to fish. He taught all of us grand kids how to fish and took us on lots of fishing trips in his boat out on the bay.
I remember learning how to cast my line into the water and wanting to leave it there once I'd done it, like I had accomplished some big thing and I was done.
But that didn't seem to be how it worked.
Whatever type of fish we were fishing for, required that we constantly cast out our line and then reel it back in over and over again. I wasn't a big fan.
(and in all those years, I only caught one fish! ;)

In the arena of prayer though, it really is a big accomplishment to just "cast." We really are done then! How great is that?
No "reeling" is required! It is actually very ineffective to cast and then reel it all back in.

 "Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you." 1 Pet 4:7

Learning just to cast,
~Becky






May 18, 2017

Wednesdays in the Word

The other day, I mentioned Judah Smith's teaching on How's Your Soul?
Week 6 is rocking my world so I can't think of a better thing to share in the Word than what he said.
Here is the link. Watch week #6, if not all of them. 😀


~Becky

May 16, 2017

Missing the fun Anne with an 'e'

My sister and I faced-timed each other while watching the first episode of Netflix's Anne of Green Gables remake! We just had to be 'together' to watch this childhood favorite of ours and this was the only way. : )

I'm glad that I didn't know before I watched it, that it has been called the 'dark and gritty reboot.'
-It is definitely not as fun as Disney's version in the 80's. I kept thinking this Anne was in serious need of counselling or therapy. "The poor dear!"
But it was still fun to hear some of our favorite lines!

 Too bad this favorite didn't stay as humorous and lighthearted as it was.

~Becky

May 14, 2017

Happy Mother's Day

I'm so grateful to be their mom! 





Feeling very blessed!
~Becky

May 12, 2017

Doing life together

Last year, one of my friends took me to lunch and told me about her vision for pouring into womens' lives through a regular Bible study. Her desire was for this group of women to become close friends, who do life together and encourage one another.
I remember not being sure if I wanted to 'do life' with a bunch of women because of some past experiences I've had with friendships with women who were competitive. Blah!

God was surely in this idea and it has been a wonderful year.

Most of the ladies in this group are my age or younger. Some of them have kids the same ages as mine and some have little ones. Most are married but hanging out with them doesn't remind me that I'm a widow, just that I am a Christ follower. Praise God!
Some are new believers and some aren't.
We are big Judah Smith fans and have done several of his Bible studies this year, the latest being "How's Your Soul," which was really good.

We pray for each other in person and whenever needed. We've seen each other through some really BIG things. (good and bad) And we always cheer each other on!
Being with them has certainly been good for my soul! They have seen me through a lot of tearful evenings this year and they make me laugh until I almost cry!
Love them!

~Becky

May 10, 2017

Wednesdays in the Word

Love this:
"But now, once at the end of the ages,
He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.❤️
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgement,
so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.❤️
To those who eagerly wait for Him,
 He will appear a second time,
Apart from sin,
For salvation." ❤️

Heb. 9:26-28

Eagerly waiting,
~Becky


May 7, 2017

When Mother's day came early

Two of my kids wanted to know if Mother's Day could be early this year. They wanted to buy tickets to see a concert that happens to be on Mother's Day and I said I was totally fine with that. -I don't mind what day I get celebrated. LOL

To my surprise, it was on Thursday night after work!
I came home to find out that they had bought two tickets to The King and I at the performing arts center! They let me know that they weren't cheap, which is why they bought two tickets instead of three. : )

They had everything all thought out! Such a creative gift!
Joy had all my fanciest dresses laid out on my bed to make it easy to choose one and then she did my hair! Such luxury!
 Andrew was my date and a perfect gentleman, who wouldn't let me pay for things.
Since we didn't really have time for dinner, we had a quick little picnic outside the theater, which made the whole night even more fun.
It was so special to be out, all dressed up enjoying something cultural. It was Andrew's first play ever and I"m so glad that I got to experience it with him!
The play was really pretty funny. -We will probably be saying "Etc, etc, etc..." for many days to come. : )
We were totally enthralled until intermission. And then the second half seemed very L O N G.
So long in fact, that he doesn't think he ever needs to see another play. LOL





It was the loveliest of Thursday nights and wonderful "Mother's Day."
~Becky

May 1, 2017

Anne with an 'e'

When I was in high school, Disney made the Anne of Green Gables series and I was smitten for life! : )  When I got married and moved away from home, I took the VHS tapes with me!
Then I raised my kids on them. Even my hubby could quote lines from it.

My sister and I recently spent next door to forever trying to hook up an old VCR so that we could watch those exact VHS tapes at Thanksgiving when she was here. It was so much fun!
So, for Christmas I bought it for her on DVD. -bless God! I can't believe how long rewinding used to take! ; )
And guess what she got me for Christmas? The very same thing! LOL 

The other day when I was at the library, they were having a book sale and I found the first book on CD for one lovely dollar! I was so excited!
Joy has it in her car as is listening to it now. -"Train up a child in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it." LOL  ; ) 

Mark Twain called Anne of Green Gables "the sweetest creation of child life yet written." : )


~Becky