Friends for life

I've been thinking recently, what a blessing it is to parent children who eventually grow up to become some of our own best friends. How awesome is that?! We get to raise our future friends!
-It takes a long time, though! LOL
Hang on, you parents of middle schoolers! They will think you are awesome again by the time they are about 20!

Can I brag about my 'friends' for a minute? They are hilarious, so kind, brave and determined. They are deep thinkers, who challenge me spiritually and inspire me. And they are a whole lot of fun!

A thankful mom,
~Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

Boldness is apparently a by product of being in the Lord's presence. ♡

In Acts 4 we read that when the people "saw the boldness of Peter and John...they realized that they had been with Jesus." I love that!

The prayer of the believers who were gathered with Peter and John when they had been released from prison was "Now, Lord, look on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word."

The answer to that prayer happened when "the place where they were assembled together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God with boldness."

Boldness in these passages means "a cheerful courage." I really love that!
It isn't a pompous or loud thing.

I'm so glad that His "cheerful courage" is available when we ask!

- I asked for it a lot this week when I had the chance to do some public speaking. Even in a casual setting, it freaks me out!  I was walking around beforehand quoting to myself that "The righteous are bold as a lion." (Prov. 28:1) And that "God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and a sound mind."  (2 Tim.1:7)  LOL
And, hey, I didn't pass out! ; )

"When I called, You answered me, You made me bold with strength in my soul."  Ps. 138:3


~Becky

All the happy happenings

I was blessed to do lunch with these cuties a few weeks ago. Love them!

Last week my Bible study "tribe" got together because one special friend is going to give birth any minute now and we wanted to enjoy one last Girl's Night Out with her before the big day! 

Speaking of these ladies, the Bible study we are doing now, isn't actually in person! Since everyone is so busy, we are doing a study of the book of Ruth together on the Bible App on our phones! 

How techie is that?!

 We read a daily devotion and then post our thoughts on it for only our group to see. It is pretty neat. It has been a great way to stay in the Word together and stay connected.

Friday night I did some painting! This is how the bar to our kitchen used to look: 

And here it is after I white washed it:

Yay! I love it! It brightens up the room and makes me feel all accomplished! LOL

Last night this FUN bunch of ladies got together for a game night. And we literally laughed for HOURS and HOURS! 

That has to be good for a person! LOL Love them!

My baby is turning 19 on Saturday! How can that be? 

His sweet friends and fam have big plans are in the works to celebrate this special guy!

-And it only took a whole year, but I'm happy to say that his cute senior picture is finally up on the living room wall with his 3 siblings! LOL

That's it for now. 

~Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

I'm sure that all of us have had times in our lives when things have not turned out the way that we prayed they would or thought they should. Maybe there is a chapter or two in the story of your life that you feel you could have written better than the Author of Life.
Sometimes we have unmet expectations of God. All these these things can cause us to have moments of doubt and disillusionment.

In Luke 24:13-33 we have what I feel is a comforting account of two of the disciples who felt a bit like this as things had not turned out like they thought they should.
These men had followed Jesus and they had seen his miracles and heard His teaching. They witnessed the crucifixion and His burial and were in the upper room on the third day. They'd even heard the women describe their trip to the tomb and how they found it empty and were spoken to by two angels. So, whatever they thought the resurrection was suppose to look like, this didn't measure up! They were disappointed and they decided to hit the road! Literally! LOL
They left Jerusalem and starting walking the seven miles to Emmaus.

While they were walking, Jesus appeared to them but they didn't realize who He was at the time.

I love that verse 15 says that He "drew near and walked beside them."
This is something that I have come to realize about the Lord. Though, He may not come miraculously change the outcome of a situation,
He always draws near to walk it with us.
 It is who He is. Emmanuel, God with us!

And as they walked along He asked why they were so sad. They were surprised that He didn't know what had been going on in Jerusalem and He asked them about it. They told Him about Himself ; )
 and how they "had hoped that He would redeem Israel." 

They obviously had a different picture in their heads as to what redemption looked like. And then Jesus gave them the greatest Bible study ever! He revealed from Old Testament prophecies everything that was spoken about Himself years and years beforehand!
Basically, He appeared to them and showed them how every single thing that happened, was suppose to happen just the way it did!!!
Wouldn't it be great if He did that for each of us during our difficult situations?

He does still point us to the Word and reveal Himself to us there. 

When they arrived at their destination, they talked Him into staying to eat and we know that He was suddenly revealed to them through communion and the breaking of bread. I love that too.

Sometimes that is what it takes! When we commune with Him, He makes Himself  known,
to us and we find out that He was actually beside us all along. ❤


~Becky

Facing our fears

My family has recently had to walk down a road very similar to the one that changed our lives in 2014. Back then my late hubby was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and for the last several months, one of my kids has had some of the very same symptoms he had. Talk about scary!

This has led to lots of doctor's appointments and the need to tell their dad's story.
The painful part of that journey for us back then and now, is hearing doctors (again) say that my husband was too young for esophageal cancer. (we know!)
And their next questions were always to ask him if he drank or smoked, which would have explained everything -except that he didn't.
(ouch, that always made it feel like we got dealt a really crummy fluke)

During this time  I kept thinking 'Am I really reliving my worst nightmare?!'
Having been here before, I thought I was giving all of this to the Lord, and then I found out I wasn't. The stress caused a muscle spasm near the wall of my chest that pinched a nerve, and oh my stars, that is the closest I ever want to come to finding out what a heart attack might feel like! I had to have an EKG done just to confirm that it was only a pesky pinched nerve and the doctor came back and told me that I have "a beautiful heart." LOL ❤ Yay!

A few days later, a fellow mom and friend prayed for me to surrender my son to God the way that Abraham did with Isaac. Having been a mom now for the last 25 years, this was one of many Mt. Moriah prayer times, so to speak. It is always sobering to remember that our kids belong to the One who loves them so much more than even we do.

A biopsy this week confirmed that this dear one doesn't have cancer, Praise God, and that what they do have is something that isn't life threatening.  Monday they had a procedure done which fixed the immediate problem.
For whatever reason, our family had to look some really ugly fears from the past, full in the face and throw ourselves once again on the One whose been faithful to us in life... and in death.


~Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

I keep thinking about Gen.15:1

God told Abraham:

"I am your shield and your very great reward."

Isn't that beautiful?
He protects us and gives us Himself as a reward.
It reminds me of the verse that says God couldn't swear by anything greater, so He swore by Himself. And there isn't anything greater that He can give us, than Himself!
He is Emmanuel, God with us!
I've found that to be true in the most difficult of times, when things have not turned out as I prayed for or ever imagined. He may not have made the outcome different, but His presence made all the difference!
He is our 'very great reward.'

~Becky

On repeat in my heart

This song!

It is about Lazarus but also about all of us!

I have it playing on repeat at my desk for literally hours!

-If anyone has noticed that they hear the exact same song EVERY single time they walk by, they haven't mentioned it. LOL

It blesses my soul every time I hear it!


~Becky

Chin up, Love!

As I mentioned the other day,
Daring to Hope: Finding God's Goodness in the Broken and Beautiful,  has been such a blessing to me!

❤❤❤

Maybe these excerpts will bless you as well! 

"My anguish and sorrow sent me to the Healer, who would mend all those broken places and put me back together more beautifully than I had imagined. All those cracks and holes and ruptures would be the places in my life that His glory would shine through." 

"It is a brave thing to hope, to continue in hope, knowing that God might say yes but that He could say no, and choosing to praise Him anyway!"

"The God of all mercy and compassion is using our heartache to draw us to Himself and transform us into His likeness. He will turn our sorrows into joy and use our suffering to display gifts of grace. He will turn our darkness into light and He will carry us home. Chin up, Love!" 

"There is always a ram in the thicket because there is always the Lamb on the throne."

  -Katie Davis Majors

❤❤❤

~Becky

Post Easter weekend

This weekend was absolutely beautiful! 

We had a Good Friday service, a Saturday night Easter service and two completely full Sunday morning services. So full, in fact, that the "overflow room" had overflow, as in every single lobby with a chair! It was just amazing! 

I decided Easter dinner would be a pasta bar because it sounded easy on such a busy weekend and everyone brought something to contribute. It was a really fun night even though we were all tired from serving in different areas of ministry. (a happy kind of tired!) 

I made a homemade red sauce and an alfredo sauce with two kinds of noodles for people to choose from and we had meatballs and grilled chicken for meat choices and then all kinds of veggies as topping options. 

Then we played a new game that Zac's mom-in-law brought over, called Left Center Right, which was fun and thankfully didn't take a whole lot of brain power beyond rolling the dice and knowing your left from your right. LOL 

The church staff was given Monday off, 

(how sweet was that?!) so I headed to the beach  

to soak in the sun and finish reading Daring to Hope: Finding God's Goodness in the Broken and the Beautiful. I highly recommend it!  (for those of you who read Kisses From Katie, this is the sequel)  

I'll post some excerpts from the book tomorrow, hopefully.

It was a beautiful day to be outdoors. 

~Becky