Scatter Christ

Messy is a Good Word

2012-02-10T08:30:00.000-06:00

A man recently mentioned that ministry is most difficult when it is up close and personal. It is messy. It is diffucult. But ultimately, we must be thankful that Jesus Himself did ministry up close. He did messy ministry. As His followers, we are called to do the same. Thank you for partnering with us to minister the the "least of these"!

Scattering Christ together!

Yes Ma'am!

2012-02-07T08:30:00.000-06:00

There are the “Yes, ma’am” moms, and then there is everyone else. I hear immediately when a kid answers "what" or "huh". As a child, I was not allowed to say "what" without a spanking or harsh scolding. “Yes, ma’am" or "Yes, sir" was the only response. My dad was definitely the leader in this parenting with my mom. Therefore, our children had no choice and grew up and still to this day, say ma'am and sir. Our rule is respect for anyone who is your elder (any adult, a teacher, a coach, etc] The "yes ma'am" kids are usually very disciplined and respectful of others and things [like furniture, toys, etc]. For the most part, they adore their grandparents and looks out for siblings. The "yes ma'am" kid is the same as all the other kids - the words they use are different. It is a learned behavior that you carry with you throughout your life. Today, my 77 year old dad still says "yes ma'am" to those in authority.

Some people have trained there kids to say a full “yes” – no “yeah” or “uh-huh.” Others have rationalized the most important thing is eye contact and attitude…not necessarily the words they use. The most important issue here is the YES Ma'am attitude. Don't just talk the talk, walk the walk.

Usually a late-game change will not work in this situation. My family being from Alabama, Ma’am-ing and Sir-ing was the way of life: It’s what southerners do, right? Sir-ing. Is it worth it? Does it show respect? Is it a robotic antiquated answer? Is this a geographical mannerism? Do northerners think it sounds crazy? Did you have ma’am-and-sir parents? Are you a ma’am-and-sir parent?

A parallel thought: Have you noticed ma’am-and-sir parents commonly insist on formal surnames for all adults? Like children referring to someone as “Mrs. Lisa.” or "Mr. Rick" or "Uncle Johnny" or "Aunt Louise".

Join me as a “Yes, ma’am” moms AND watch friends and family roll their cultural modern day eyes. My young men ARE yes ma’am-ers!! and I love it.........

Tebow

2012-02-06T16:25:00.001-06:00

A Maze of Grace by Trish Ryan

Before last week, all I knew was that Tebow is a Christian who’s exceptionally open about sharing his faith. I was surprised by how much attention this received here in Boston because in this town, it takes a move of God to divert the sports media’s attention away from Tom Brady. So if Tebow was getting all the press it was clear something BIG was happening. As I witnessed the hoopla, it opened my eyes to some cool aspects of how Tebow lives, and how he illustrates what is possible with God. Not just in football, but in any life of faith.

Three things in particular stood out:

1. Tebow works really hard to make the most of his talents. He is diligent.

2. He responds to the unique opportunities God makes possible via his talents to love people, share what he knows about God, and bring encouragement and inspiration to those around him. He’s alert and resourceful. (Not to mention bold!)

3. He stays in his lane. He doesn’t seem to talk much about other peoples’ choices, or whether he agrees with them. He’s busy doing his own thing. Which appears to give him a rather happy experience of life, whether his team wins or loses. He’s reverent.

In this, I saw things could be possible in my life: not pro-football, obviously, but a way of living where I’m working at full capacity to make the most of the talents and abilities God has given me, sensitive to the unique opportunities He provides to use those gifts to love people, happily staying in my lane rather than swerving in reaction to the cars around me. That sounds like a fun way to live. - Trish

What if we were all as bold as Tim about our faith? -- How many people would turn their heads or at least contemplate the possibility of a relationship with our Creator? Think about it!

Messed UP Society

2012-01-07T18:55:00.001-06:00

PeasGreensCornbread

2012-01-01T11:36:00.001-06:00

If you are planning to celebrate the New Year in the Southeast USA, it is most likely that you will be offered black-eyed peas in some form, on New Year's Day. According to Southern folklore, these beans are to be eaten on New Year's Day for luck and prosperity throughout the year ahead.

The practice of eating black-eyed peas for luck is generally believed to date back to the Civil War. At first planted as food for livestock, and later a food staple for slaves in the South, the fields of black-eyed peas were ignored as Sherman's troops destroyed or stole other crops, thereby giving the humble, but nourishing, black-eyed pea an important role as a major food source for surviving Confederates.

Today, the tradition of eating black-eyed peas for the New Year has evolved into a number of variations of the luck.

Including:

Served with greens (collards, mustard or turnips) the peas represent coins

and the greens represent paper money.

Cornbread, often served with black-eyed peas and greens, represents gold.

Yep, all three (greens, peas and cornbread) made the menu today at our house, but only because we live in the South. Our daily lives and heartbeats are controlled by our Heavenly Father, our Creator, our King, our Redeemer, our Protector, our Everything!

This Southern Tradition sure was good! Lord, direct our minds, hearts and paths as we begin this New Year following You.!

Welcome 2012!

2011-12-31T23:04:00.000-06:00

2011 was a blessed year for us, with many changes! We started the year with our 26 yr old, 2 Sudanese, and an Ethiopian living with us and ended with none. Wesley got married in March, our Sudanese sons moved to Troy University for college and our Ethiopian son moved to a neighboring city. A young family friend was found dead from a drug overdose and three days later our youngest son was in the F5 Tornado in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but he ended the semester accepted into the UA ATEP Program for the fall. Spencer was home for four months due to the tornado damage and school schedules, which made his departure back to school even harder. August brought an empty and filthy house. We began a marathon painting season and have completed all but the kitchen. Rick started a new job and loves it. If any of my readers need anything printed or any promotional items, please let us know, we would love to serve you. Thanksgiving was spent at Orange beach with our children - what fun memories. Christmas and the Holidays brought the kids home from school and the flu! Thank you Jesus for a wonderful 2011. Welcome 2012!

KArthur America

2011-12-18T05:46:00.001-06:00

Is America Lost Forever?…

"People are lost—and don't know it. Not knowing TRUTH (Jesus) for themselves, they are deceived. They seek relief and answers from the lusts of the flesh and the idols of the heart. They exalt man and his accomplishments instead of God—and think it is man who saves us!

Countless Americans have turned their back on God! Far too many are choosing the broad path that leads to destruction. Our country desperately needs a great awakening: an awakening to our sin; an awakening to righteousness; and an awakening to the unfathomable Word of God. Kay writes:

Beloved, until the Lord returns, it is never too late to turn to God! And, unless we do, the America we know is gone. Think about Nineveh—when the people repented, the Lord relented (Jonah 3:10).
There has never been a greater need for God and His Word in our nation and world! Kay shares her burden for America."

ScatterChrist Christmas

2011-12-17T11:51:00.000-06:00

Wheres the LINE?

2011-12-16T07:09:00.004-06:00

May we all remember the true meaning of Christmas.

This song does a great job of reminding us.

About the Song

While at the mall a couple of years ago, a four year old named Spencer, saw kids lined up to see Santa Claus. Having been taught as a toddler that Christmas is the holiday that Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, he asked his mom, "where's the line to see Jesus"?

His grandfather upon hearing the news immediately became inspired and jotted words down to a song in just a few minutes. After putting music to the words, and doing a quick recording at home, he received a great response from friends. He sent the song off to Nashville without much response, except for a Christian song writer who suggested adding a bridge at the end of the first chorus. My dad then asked if I wanted to record the song to see what we could do with it. I listened to the song, made a few changes to the words to make it flow better, and we headed to Shock City Studios.

It was at the studio where Chris, owner and producer, rewrote the 2nd verse and part of the chorus... with goose bumps and emotions high, we were all hopeful and felt like we had something special. The demo was recorded in just under 2 hours and sent off again to Nashville... still no response.

Then 2 weeks before Christmas last year, my cousins Greg and Robbie decided to do a video to see what we could accomplish on YouTube. The first day we had 3000 hits and it soared from there. We received e-mails, phone calls, Facebook messages from people all over asking for the music, CD's, iTunes, anything... we had nothing. After a couple of meetings with Chris following the amazing response, we got serious. We headed back into the studio this past spring... this time with guitars, drums, bass, pianos, choirs... the real deal.... and here we are today.

Getting iTunes set up, a website put together, and loving that thousands upon thousands of Christians have come together... remembering the true meaning of Christmas. Out of the mouths of babes come profound truths that many adults can not understand. Hopefully Spencer's observation will cause people all over to reflect on the love of Jesus, and that one day we will all stand in line to see Him. We are most thankful to our Heavenly Father to have this chance to share our music with you. Merry Christmas everyone.

MERRY
CHRISTMAS

Christmas time was approaching
Snow was starting to fall
Shoppers choosing their presents
People filling the mall

Children waiting for Santa
With excitement and glee
A little boy tugged my sweater
Looked up and asked me

Where's the line to see Jesus?
Is He here at the store?
If Christmas time is His birthday
Why don't we see Him more?

As I stood in amazement
At this message profound
I looked down to thank him
He was no where around

The little boy at the mall
Might as well have had wings
As the tears filled my eyes
Thought I heard him sing

Where's the line to see Jesus?
Is He here at the store?
If Christmas time is His birthday
Why don't we see Him more?

Where's the line to see Jesus?
He was born for me
Santa Claus brought me presents
But Christ gave His life for me

In the blink of an eye
At the sound of His trump
We'll all stand in line at His throne
Every knee shall bow down
Every tongue will confess
That Jesus Christ is Lord

(Repeat Chorus)

Where's the line?
Where's the line?
Where's the line for the Lord?

M.N.C.!

2011-12-15T13:22:00.002-06:00

Moses Nowamani Caldwell

Today it is official - God has given an orphan a new name!

This precious child of God was left by his birth mom in a box at a school in Uganda. God knew him by name and God knew the hearts of this sweet couple and their call to adopt and love, just as He adopted and loves us. This adoption process was not an easy road, but one that God put together. All of us involved on this Continent and in Africa were allowed to watch Him show His sovereignty.

Early reports from the orphanage told of this little boy being afraid of light-skinned folks. Little did he know that God was about to give him light-skinned parents. Many prayers were lifted to our Heavenly Father requesting a natural bond for this sweet baby and God answered this prayer with abundance. He orchestrated it perfectly by leaving the three of them in Uganda for 13 weeks instead of 6.

This sunset in Uganda is a small glimpse into His Glory!

Here is a sign that adorns the trees in Ibanda, Uganda about the babies home where Moses lived the first three years of his life.

Lord, Thank you for this sweet nun who cared for this child until his forever parents could come and get him. We are so grateful for Your provision. We give You all of the glory, honor and praise for this blessing of Moses Nowamani Caldwell.

We love you Caldwell's - LaLa and Pal

Adoption!

2011-11-27T19:05:00.001-06:00

Read David Platt's blog from China

RTR 42-14

2011-11-26T20:11:00.001-06:00

The above has been posted as a reminder of the 2010 Alabama vs Auburn game. Players for the University of Alabama looked at this until TODAY! The Tide rolled over Auburn 42 to 14 in a very exciting game.
Roll TIde.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T17:45:00.000-06:00

GIVE THANKS WITH A GRATEFUL HEART
GIVE THANKS TO THE HOLY ONE
GIVE THANKS FOR HE'S GIVEN
JESUS CHRIST, HIS SON

AND NOW LET THE WEAK SAY I AM STRONG
LET THE POOR SAY I AM RICH
BECAUSE OF WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE FOR US

GIVE THANKS...

As we finish our big meal, including a 20lb moist turkey, cornbread dressing, green bean casserole, yams, cranberry sauce, rolls and pecan pie, I am reminded of the wonderful blessings my Father has given to our family. Watching the waves roll onto the shore at Orange Beach is a great reminder of our BIG God and how He created ALL is our All!

Thomas Ken

2011-11-17T08:05:00.031-06:00

Tonight, I sat and listened to Kay Arthur teaching the Bible. In Ephesians Chapter 5:18-21,

¹⁸ And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit;
¹⁹ speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;
²⁰ giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;
²¹ subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.

We are given a command from the Lord to be filled with the Spirit, speaking in psalms, hymns, and songs.

Over three hundred years ago - WOW! - THOMAS KEN wrote this hymn at a time when the established church believed only Scripture should be sung as hymns - with an emphasis on the Psalms. Some considered it sinful to write new lyrics for church music. Ken wrote this and several other hymns for the boys at Winchester College in 1674, with strict instructions that they use them only in their rooms for private devotions. The last stanza "below" has come into widespread use as the Doxology.
To see the whole hymn go to Awake, My Soul, and with the Sun.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav'nly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

Bromeliad

2011-11-16T07:37:00.002-06:00

This is my favorite kind of flower! It is beautiful and so easy to care for without a green thumb. Plants do not live very long at the Mitchell house, especially if I am in charge of it. I either water it too much or not enough. When we lived in South Florida, bromeliads came in every color and size. The smallest was about 2" tall and fit perfectly in my antique sugar mold by my sink. God, You make the most amazing things! Blessed be Your Name in all the earth!

Marching!

2011-11-15T08:23:00.020-06:00

I left this apple on my desk yesterday and when I returned the ants had arrived. They marched under the baseboard, across the floor, up the side of my desk and to the apple. The inside of the apple was missing and the phone base was filled with ants. God made these teeny tiny insects hard workers. I know they must have worked all night to complete this project. Unbelievable!

Red Elephant Story

2011-11-14T08:23:00.001-06:00

Alabama's red elephant
By Alex Laracy
ABC Sports Online
It is understandable for one to feel confused when catching a glimpse at the red elephant mascot at the University of Alabama. With a nickname like the "Crimson Tide," one can't help but conjure up images of a more aquatic, perhaps crustaceous creature as opposed to a 5-ton circus animal to represent the school's athletic spirit.

Much mystery surrounds the origin of the Tide's red elephant. So why does a red elephant prance up and down the Tide sidelines, revving up the Tuscaloosa faithful on game day? Well, no one can really say for sure. School historians verify that the red elephants have been associated with 'Bama football since 1930, however, theories on the tradition's origin have varied over the years.

One account of the mascot's derivation began in 1930, when Rosenberger's Birmingham Trunk Company, whose trademark is a red elephant standing on a trunk to signify the luggage's durability, presented red elephant good luck charms to members of Rose Bowl-bound Alabama.

When the team, composed of predominantly large men, emerged from the train in Pasadena with red elephant trinkets suspending from their luggage, reporters were awed by the players' mass and quickly seized upon the insignias on their baggage. Thus, the connection was born.

But perhaps the most widely recognized story of the red elephants' origin at Bama is that of the field official and part-time sports columnist for the Atlanta Journal, Everett Strupper.

This adaptation also goes back to the 1930 season when Tide head coach Wallace Wade had assembled a powerhouse of a football team that would eventually post an overall 10-0 record, win the Rose Bowl and the National Championship.

On Oct. 8 of that year, Strupper wrote a story on the Alabama-Mississippi game he had witnessed in Tuscaloosa four days earlier. In that article, Strupper marveled over the sheer mass and power of the Bama juggernaut:

"That Alabama team of 1930 is a typical Wade machine, powerful, big, tough, fast, aggressive, well-schooled in fundamentals, and the best blocking team for this early in the season that I have ever seen. When those big brutes hit you I mean you go down and stay down, often for an additional two minutes.

"Coach Wade started his second team that was plenty big and they went right to their knitting scoring a touchdown in the first quarter against one of the best fighting small lines that I have seen. For Ole Miss was truly battling the big boys for every inch of ground.

"At the end of the quarter, the earth started to tremble, there was a distant rumble that continued to grow. Some excited fan in the stands bellowed, 'Hold your horses, the elephants are coming,' and out stamped this Alabama varsity.

"It was the first time that I had seen it and the size of the entire eleven nearly knocked me cold, men that I had seen play last year looking like they had nearly doubled in size."

Strupper and other Atlanta newspapers grasped onto the term, and continued to refer to the Alabama linemen as "red elephants," the color referring to the crimson jerseys.

In following years, various fight song lyrics and fan chants featured the reference to the red elephants. While attempts to establish other team mascots such as the mythical god, Trident, and a giant wave crashed miserably, the mysterious elephant fetish somehow stuck firmly.

The school still refused, however, to acknowledge the elephant as an official mascot. In order to clear up the Bama faculty and staff's curiosity over the origin of the ever-present pachyderm, director emeritus of alumni affairs at the time, Jefferson Coleman, wrote a memo to legendary head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant in 1977. In that memo, Coleman confirmed the authenticity of the "recently uncovered documentation" that supported the Strupper theory.

Hence, in 1979, the Alabama Student Government Association asked the University to legitimatize the elephant as an official school mascot and give him a name. Thus was born Big Al, the instantly recognizable sideline icon of the Crimson Tide.

Coleman has since maintained his obsession with the "Strupper Commission," most recently in June of 1993, when he "uncovered" that Strupper was actually an "insurance agent-salesman" who only "wrote one story a week about the football game he had officiated in during the past Saturday." Coleman also insists that it was a man named Borden Burr, who was holding the chain for Alabama, and not fans, who yelled, "Hold your horses, here comes the elephants."

While the elephant lore that has surrounded Crimson Tide football has generated a little more controversy than it has deserved over the years, it has certainly provided Bama faithful with an amusing anecdote about the mysterious land creature that has symbolized a team with an aquatic moniker.

IDOPrayer

2011-11-13T08:35:00.012-06:00

I invite you and your small group or Bible study to join World Help and others as we lift up our fellow brothers and sisters around the world on Sunday, November 13, the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

Pray for the wisdom and perseverance of Christ followers in Pakistan, Egypt, Sudan, and Somalia where Muslim extremists are arresting and prosecuting converts for blasphemy.

READ THIS STORY about SUDAN

Crimson Tide?

2011-11-12T09:50:00.003-06:00

Why 'Crimson Tide'?
The Origin of "Crimson Tide"
In early newspaper accounts of Alabama football, the team was simply listed as the "varsity" or the "Crimson White" after the school colors.
The first nickname to become popular and used by headline writers was the "Thin Red Line." The nickname was used until 1906.
The name "Crimson Tide" is supposed to have first been used by Hugh Roberts, former sports editor of the Birmingham Age-Herald. He used "Crimson Tide" in describing an Alabama-Auburn game played in Birmingham in 1907, the last football contest between the two schools until 1948 when the series was resumed. The game was played in a sea of mud and Auburn was a heavy favorite to win.
But, evidently, the "Thin Red Line" played a great game in the red mud and held Auburn to a 6-6 tie, thus gaining the name "Crimson Tide." Zipp Newman, former sports editor of the Birmingham News, probably popularized the name more than any other writer.

11.11.11

2011-11-11T13:10:00.000-06:00

Fall is Here!

2011-11-08T01:48:00.001-06:00

God is amazing!

Let Us Not Forget ~ Orphan Sunday

2011-11-06T23:21:00.003-06:00

Ordinary Hero Blog: Let Us Not Forget ~ Orphan Sunday:

Today is Orphan Sunday. Let us not forget the orphan.

Ordinary Hero~ The Orphan from Kelly Putty on Vimeo.

Click on the link above to watch

Family Name Meanings

2011-10-25T07:16:00.001-05:00

Richard Edwin Mitchell

Brave Power, Rich Friend

Lisa Anne Murchison Mitchell

My God is an Oath

Richard Edwin Mitchell, Jr.

Brave Power, Rich Friend

Leslie Anne Wheeler Mitchell

Garden of Holly

Joanna Lynn Mitchell Cox

God is Gracious

David Eugene Cox

Beloved, Well Born

Jonathan Wesley Mitchell

God has Given, West Meadow

Ashley Fay Lingo Mitchell

Ash Tree Clearing

Spencer Eston Mitchell

A Steward, Giver, East Town

Mission!

2011-10-24T07:14:00.001-05:00

"Mitchell Mission"

We are on earth as sowers to scatter The Seed;

as ploughmen to break up the fallow ground;

as angels always near giving everyone love;

as messengers sharing salvation.

We are here as the “salt of the earth,

to be a blessing to the world.

We are here to worship and glorify

Christ in our daily life.

We are here as workers for Him, and

as “workers together with Him.”

Let us see that our life answers its end.

Let us live obedient, dedicated, useful, holy lives,

to praise the glory of His Grace.

Pass the Salt!

2011-10-23T07:04:00.003-05:00

PASS THE SALT

Scatter Christ

Mitchell Family Verse!

2011-10-22T07:05:00.008-05:00

deuteronomy 6:4-9

The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! 5 You shall love the

LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and

with all your might. 6 These words, which I am commanding you

today, shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to

your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and

when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when

you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and

they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9 You shall write

them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Do you have a family verse to teach to your children and grandchildren!

Book of Acts in 3 Minutes!!!

2011-10-21T22:29:00.000-05:00

Birmingham, Alabama!

2011-10-20T08:32:00.000-05:00

Katie Davis "Amazima" Promo

2011-10-18T05:22:00.000-05:00

AMAZIMA is Amazing

Katie Davis visited The Church at Brookhills this past Sunday and Rick and I were able to hear her story as she was interviewed by David Platt. I have been following her blog for over two years now and it is truly amazing. Just Listen and be obedient to Jesus!

Water Crisis in South Sudan!

2011-10-17T11:01:00.003-05:00

South Sudan has my heart and is the homeland of two of my adopted children. The crisis for water is a story that can't be explained in words - the long term effects are devastating - and the water-born illnesses it causes on a daily basis is so sad.

Please read this Article from a team that was on the ground in South Sudan and see a few pictures that try to describe the situation.

These organization below are Scattering Christ and Providing Water!

Click on the picture to go to their websites and learn more.....

Cute Pics

2011-10-16T09:11:00.000-05:00

It's Never About....

2011-10-15T09:15:00.006-05:00

It is never about where you go SERVE ... just go !!!
It is never about how much you GIVE ... just give !!!
It is never about how you LOVE ... just love !!!
It is never about the kind of TALENT you have ... just use your talent !!!
It is never about ONE people group ... it is about all God's children !!!

The serving, giving, loving, using your talent, or helping people is ALWAYS ABOUT YOUR HEART! GOD measures our hearts and how we use all HE has given us to the glory of HIS KINGDOM !!!

Thanks Gwen from 147millionorphans.org

Twinkle in your Wrinkle

2011-10-14T09:02:00.000-05:00

God is Perfect & Amazing!

2011-10-13T09:35:00.003-05:00

Fascinating, I've never given most of this a thought!!!!

God's accuracy may be observed in the hatching of eggs!

-the eggs of the potato bug hatch in 7 days;

-those of the canary in 14 days;

-those of the barnyard hen in 21 days;

-the eggs of ducks and geese hatch in 28 days;

-those of the mallard in 35 days;

-the eggs of the parrot and the ostrich hatch in 42 days.

The numbers are all divisible by seven - the number of days in a week - Perfect

God's wisdom and perfection is seen in the making of an elephant!

-the four legs of this great beast all bend forward in the same direction;

-God planned a huge body, too large to live on two legs;

-He gave it four fulcrums so that it can rise from the ground easily.

The horse rises from the ground on its two front legs first.
A cow rises from the ground with its two hind legs first.

How wise the Lord is in all His works of creation!

God's wisdom is revealed in His arrangement of sections, segments & grains!

-each watermelon has an even number of stripes on the rind;

-each orange has an even number of segments;

-each ear of corn has an even number of rows;

-each stalk of wheat has an even number of grains;

-the waves of the sea roll on shore twenty-six to the minute in all kinds of weather;

-all grains are found in even numbers on the stalks;

and

-the Lord specified thirty fold, sixty fold and a hundred fold - all even numbers.

-God caused the flowers to blossom at certain specified times during the day;

The lives of each of you are ordered by the Lord in a beautiful way for His glory, if you will only entrust Him with your life.

Only the One Who made the brain and the heart can successfully guide them.

Realization of Time

2011-10-12T11:59:00.000-05:00

Never look down on anybody, unless you're helping them up.

To realize the value of a sister/brother

Ask someone who doesn't have one

To realize the value of ten years

Ask a newly divorced couple

To realize the value of four years

Ask a graduate

To realize the value of nine months

Ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn

To realize the value of one year

Ask a student who failed a final exam

To realize the value of one month:

Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby

To realize the value of one minute

Ask a person who has missed the train, bus or plane

To realize the value of one second

Ask the person who survived an accident

To realize the value of a friend or family

Lose one

Time waits for no one

Treasure every breathe you take


John 15:13 –

Greater love hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends

~~author unknown~~

Communion on the MOON!

2011-10-10T08:22:00.000-05:00

Communion on the Moon I love this!

How many of you knew? Too bad this type news doesn't travel as fast as bad news. Communion on the Moon: July 20, 1969 (This is an article by Eric Metaxas)

Forty years ago two human beings changed history by walking on the surface of the moon. But what happened before Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong exited the Lunar Module is perhaps even more amazing, if only because so few people know about it. "I'm talking about the fact that Buzz Aldrin took communion on the surface of the moon. Some months after his return, he wrote about it in Guideposts magazine. And a few years ago I had the privilege of meeting him myself. I asked him about it and he confirmed the story to me, and I wrote about it in my book "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About God (But Were Afraid to Ask)". The background to the story is that Aldrin was an elder at his Presbyterian Church in Texas during this period in his life, and knowing that he would soon be doing something unprecedented in human history, he felt he should mark the occasion somehow, and he asked his minister to help him. And so the minister consecrated a communion wafer and a small vial of communion wine. Buzz Aldrin took them with him out of the Earth's orbit and on to the surface of the moon. He and Armstrong had only been on the lunar surface for a few minutes when Aldrin made the following public statement: "This is the LM pilot. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way." He then ended radio communication and there, on the silent surface of the moon, 250,000 miles from home, he read a verse from the Gospel of John, and he took communion. Here is his own account of what happened: "In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the scripture, ' I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing. ' I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but at the last minute [they] had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O'Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly. I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. It was interesting for me to think: The very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements. And of course, it's interesting to think that some of the first words spoken on the moon were the words of Jesus Christ, who made the Heavens and Earth and the moon.

Sudan Stats

2011-10-08T18:05:00.000-05:00

Please continue to pray for our Christian brothers and sisters. We would like to share some information with you so you can know how to specifically pray:

Pray for Sudan:
Southern Sudan has the highest infant-mortality and maternal-mortality rates and the lowest education indicators in the world.

Currently, 75% of South Sudanese do not have access to basic healthcare.

School dropout rates in South Sudan are the highest in the world, with less than 25% of children in school.

The citizenship of South Sudanese living in the north has now been revoked and thousands of Southern Sudanese civil servants working in the north had to leave their jobs. Thousands of displaced people are moving into the south, further burdening the underdeveloped system.

Go to Sudan: Join a team from Four Corners Ministry Www.4cornersministries.com

Rob Bell according to Platt

2011-10-07T21:11:00.000-05:00

NEWS BRIEFS: David Platt weighs in on Rob Bell controversy; Colo. civil unions advance

Posted on Mar 24, 2011 | by Staff
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP)--Pastor and author David Platt, on a mission trip in India, has weighed in on the controversy over Rob Bell's latest book by saying "intellectual universalism is dangerous" but "functional universalism is worse."

Platt, author of the New York Times best-selling "Radical" and pastor of the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala., recorded a four-minute video that was posted at Vimeo.com and at the church's blog (http://bhglobalblog.org).

Bell, in "Love Wins," affirms a form of universalism and denies there is a literal hell.

"If we believe that everyone is going to be OK in the end," Platt said, "[and] if we embrace universalism however it is cloaked, then we're free to live our lives however we want, to sit back as easygoing Christians in comfortable churches, because in the end all these masses are going to be OK."

But if there is a literal hell and people are perishing without the Gospel, "we don't have time to play games with our lives," Platt said.

"I hope that no one who knows me as either pastor or person would question or wonder where I stand on this issue. The crux of the Bible is clear and the story of redemption is sure.... [I]ntellectual universalism is dangerous, thinking that in the end everyone is going to be OK. But functional universalism is worse, living like in the end everyone is going to be OK. So let's fight them both -- in our heads, in our hearts, let's hold fast to the truth of this Gospel.

"And in our lives, let's sacrifice what we have -- our possessions and our plans and our dreams, our safety, our security, if necessary our own lives, to make this Gospel known among all peoples. That is the only possible response for people who really believe this Book."

Chick-fil-A

2011-08-08T23:48:00.000-05:00

Now the Socialists (AKA Obama Democrats) have targeted Chick-Fil-A. A Southern based company with the below resume..

Chick-fil-A is an American success story. Founded by Georgian entrepreneur Truett Cathy in 1946, the family-owned chicken-sandwich chain is one of the country's largest fast-food businesses. It employs some 50,000 workers across the country at 1,500 outlets in nearly 40 states and the District of Columbia ... The company generates more than $2 billion in revenue and serves millions of happy customers with trademark Southern hospitality.

So, what's the problem? Well, Chick-fil-A is run by devout Christians who believe in strong marriages, devoted families, and the highest standards of character for their workers. The restaurant chain's official corporate mission is to "glorify God" and "enrich the lives of everyone we touch." The company's community-service initiatives, funded through its WinShape Foundation, support foster-care, scholarship, summer-camp, and marriage-enrichment programs. On Sunday, all Chick-fil-A stores close so workers can spend the day at worship and rest.

Over the past month, several progressive-activist blogs have waged an ugly war against Chick-fil-A. The company's alleged atrocity: One of its independent outlets in Pennsylvania donated some sandwiches and brownies to a marriage seminar run by the Pennsylvania Family Institute, which happens to oppose same-sex marriage.

In the name of tolerance, the anti-Chick-fil-A hawks sneered at the company's main product as "Jesus Chicken," derided its no-Sunday-work policy, and attacked its operators as "anti-gay." Petition drives on websites are demanding the company change and disavow their standards. Facebook users dutifully organized witch hunts against the company on college campuses.
Progressive groups are gloating over Chick-fil-A's public-relations troubles. This is not because they care about winning hearts and minds over gay rights or marriage policy, but because their core objective is to marginalize political opponents and chill Christian philanthropy and activism. The fearsome "muscle flexing" is being done by the hysterical bullies trying to drive them off of college grounds and out of their neighborhoods in the name of "human rights."

TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE: HTTP://WWW.NATIONALREVIEW.COM/ARTICLES/258646/CHRISTIAN-BUSINESS-LEFT-S-CROSSHAIRS-MICHELLE-MALKIN

IN GOD WE TRUST'

Honey Hole!

2011-07-09T14:16:00.002-05:00

July 9, 2011

New Nation Song!

2011-06-30T22:16:00.003-05:00

South Sudan National Anthem
The dawn of the new nation is nigh. The national anthem is ready. South Sudanese at home and abroad are learning the song that will soon embody their unified resolve to defend and support the sovereignty of their country. The lyrics and music is hereunder. Please, learn and circulate it to fellow compatriots. God bless South Sudan!

Oh God
We praise and glorify you
For your grace on South Sudan,
Land of great abundance
Uphold us united in peace and harmony.

Oh motherland
We rise raising flag with the guiding star
And sing songs of freedom with joy,
For justice, liberty and prosperity
Shall forever more reign.

Oh great patriots
Let us stand up in silence and respect,
Saluting our martyrs whose blood
Cemented our national foundation,
We vow to protect our nation

Oh God bless South Sudan.

Millions need Jesus

2011-06-25T22:57:00.001-05:00

PHOENIX (BP)--Pastors are responsible to lead their churches to engage the world's unreached people groups with the Gospel, David Platt said in the convention sermon at the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting June 15.

Platt, pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala., noted that people groups by the thousands worldwide are unreached for Christ. "This is not a problem for the International Mission Board to address," Platt said. "This is a problem for every local church in this convention to address."

Platt emphasized that he was not advocating the neglect of local ministries and missions but added that "at the same time, global mission is tragically neglected."

He pointed to an example from northern Yemen, which has a population of about 8 million people but only about 20-30 Christians.

"That is a problem," Platt said. "Masses of people groups. Millions upon millions upon millions of people who do not have access to the Gospel."

Preaching from Matthew 24:14, Platt said Christians are often confused about their message, their mission and their motive. Christians' message, Platt said, is that God is King and that He rules over all.

"Our God is sovereign over all nature," Platt said. "The wind blows at His bidding. The sun radiates with heat from His hands. Every single night, our God brings out the stars one by one and He calls them each by name."

In addition to being sovereign over nature, Platt said God is sovereign over nations and holds the rulers of the world in His hands. The good news, he continued, is not just that God is King but that the King has come in the person of Jesus Christ -- and all who believe in Him and trust in His name will be both children of God and heirs of God's Kingdom forever.

But the church, Platt said, is guilty of minimizing and maligning that good news.

"We have reduced Jesus the King to a poor, puny savior who is just begging for people to accept him into their heart or invite him into their life, phrases that are never used in the Word of God," he said. "We have reduced the Gospel of the Kingdom to a shrink-wrapped presentation that if we can get people to say and pray the right things back to us, we will pronounce them fit for heaven and free to live their life on earth however they desire.

"Not true," he continued. "Our King is not a savior who is begging for anyone's casual approval. Our King is a sovereign who deserves everyone's eternal praise."

Platt took aim at author/pastor Rob Bell and others who have questioned the reality of hell, warning Southern Baptists to "be very cautious when anyone says, 'Did God really say this? Would God really do that?'

"This is the question that ushered sin into the world in Genesis 3," Platt said. "Our ways are subject to His judgment, and He has appointed a day when every man and woman will die and face judgment."

The message of good news, that God offers eternal life to those who trust in Christ regardless of their station in life, works anywhere in the world, Platt said, and Christians' mission is to proclaim that news throughout the whole world, to all of the 11,627 people groups that the IMB has identified, more than half of which remain classified as "unreached."

"When we say 'unreached,' we're not just talking about lostness. We're talking about access," Platt said. "Unreached means that you don't even have access to hear the Gospel. There's no church, no Christian, no Bible available around you."

If Christians and churches are not intentionally going after those unreached groups with the Gospel, Platt said they are disobeying the Great Commission -- because God's command was not a general one to make disciples among as many people as possible, but to make disciples among every single people group.

The motivation for Christians to pursue such a mission, Platt said, is their desire that God be praised and to complete the task He has given them.

"What drives passion for unreached peoples is not guilt. It's glory," Platt said. "Glory for a King, for a King who deserves the praise of every people group on the planet."

Platt said that pursuing that goal will come with a cost, because Satan is opposed to God's people reaching the world with the Gospel. Some people will hate Christians for their message, and some may even kill them. But Platt reminded Southern Baptists that the reward is worth the sacrifice and challenged them to be bold and intentional in their efforts.

"Let's do it all with our eyes fixed on the sky, where one day the Son of Man is going to come in clouds of glory and power, and His angels are going to gather the elect from the four winds, from every tribe, tongue, people and nation," Platt said. "We will see His face, and we will see our King, and we will reign with Him forever and ever and ever and ever."
--30--
Tim Ellsworth is director of news and media relations at Union University in Jackson, Tenn.

Bible Vitamins

2011-06-25T13:05:00.001-05:00

Anxious? Take Vitamin A.

All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Blue? Take Vitamin B.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name. (Psalm 103:1)

Crushed? Take Vitamin C.
Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

Depressed? Take Vitamin D.
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. (James 4:8)

Empty? Take Vitamin E.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. (Psalm 100:4)

Fearful? Take Vitamin F.
Fear not, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God. (Isaiah 41:10)

Know nothing? Take Vitamin K.
Know this that the Lord is God, it is He that made us and not we ourselves. (Psalm 100:3)

ATEP Acceptance!

2011-06-17T16:35:00.004-05:00

Athletic Training Education Program (ATEP) - University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa!

Admission

Selection for admission into the ATEP is made each spring. To major in athletic training, students must be accepted into the Athletic Training Education Program from the General Health Studies major within the College of Human Environmental Sciences.

They must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 and achieve a grade of C or higher in HHE 270, ATR 272, ATR 257, ATR 258, BSC 114/115, MA 112 or higher, EN 101, EN 102, NHM 101 and PY 101. ATR 258 must be taken at The University of Alabama.

Formal application involves the completion of a program application, submission of official transcripts of all high school and post-secondary academic work and three standardized recommendation forms. An interview with the selection committee and a practical test are also part of the application process. The selection committee is comprised of ATEP faculty, clinical instructors, administrators, and several graduating ATEP students.

Students must also meet specific written technical standard prior to admission to the ATEP.

On average, twenty students gain admission to the major each year. The mean GPA of students admitted in 2010 was 3.51.

TODAY!!! Spencer E. Mitchell was selected and accepted into the ATEP program. He has worked so hard these past two years to accomplish this goal -- following what he felt God leading him to do.

When our children graduated from High School, Rick and I gave them a paperweight with a "motto/quote" to remember. Spencer's was:

How appropriate this has been today.

Spencer is so smart, but does not always apply himself to the fullest unless it is absolutely necessary. This time last year (2010) Spencer knew that getting into this program would be very difficult, but he waited just a bit too late to begin hitting those studies and ended the semester with a 2.89. His acceptance letter never came. Spencer spent the 2010 summer reflecting, praying and sorting through what he felt he should do moving forward. Upon returning to school in the fall (2010), meeting with counselors and searching for God-given life skills, Spencer decided to Try Again!

This task was (IS) not going to be short, easy or cheap. He must bring his GPA above a 3.0 or higher, he will have to fund his last year of ATEP school, he will have to gather additional references and wrap every body part perfectly.

I am such a PROUD mama to say - my baby DID IT! He finished this year with a 3.89, made the Dean's list for the first time, made two perfect grades (A+) in his Athletic Training classes, buried a best friend who passed away from a drug overdose and survived an F-5 tornado that was so close his body could feel the pressure as he ran for safety. Now the journey begins and he is so excited to start this three years of AT!

Our family is so thankful to our Heavenly Father for His Grace and provision, to all of our friends and family for your prayers and to those special adults, Wayne Kendrick, Wanda Brooks, Tammie Lantrip, and Dr. James Andrews, who gave Spencer (our son) a personal reference for acceptance.

Lord, may we glorify YOU in all that we do with our lives!

26 Guards

2011-06-14T13:37:00.000-05:00

Here's a message that will bring you chills. Have you ever felt the

urge to pray for someone and then just put it on a list and said, "I'll pray
for him or her later?"   Or has anyone ever called you and said, "I need you to pray for me, I
have this need?"

Read the following story that was sent to me and may it change the way
that you may think about prayer and also the way you pray.

You will be blessed by this story.

A missionary on furlough told this true story while visiting his home
church in Michigan.

"While serving at a small field hospital in Africa, every two weeks I
traveled by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies.
This was a journey of two days and required camping overnight at the halfway
point.

On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to
collect money from a bank, purchase medicine, and supplies, and then begin my
two-day journey back to the field hospital.

Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting, one of whom had
been seriously injured. I treated him for his injuries and at the same time
talked to him about the Lord.

I then traveled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without incident.

Two weeks later I repeated my journey.

Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated.
He told me that he had known I carried money and medicines. He said,
‘some friends and I followed you into the jungle, knowing you would camp
overnight.   We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs.

But just as we were about to move into your camp, we saw that you were
surrounded by 26-armed guards. At this, I laughed and said that I was certainly all-alone in that
jungle campsite.

The young man pressed the point, however, and said, 'No, sir, I was
not the only person to see the guards, my friends also saw them, and we all
counted them. It was because of those guards that we were afraid and left you
alone.'

At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the congregation jumped
to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him
the exact day this happened.   The missionary told the congregation the date, and the man who
interrupted told him this story:

"On the night of your incident in Africa, it was morning here and I
was preparing to go play golf. I was about to putt when I felt the urge to
pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong; I called men in
this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you. Would
all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?"

The men who had met together to pray that day stood up. The missionary
wasn't concerned with who they were, he was too busy counting how many men he saw.

There were 26.

This story is an incredible example of how the Spirit of the Lord
moves in mysterious ways. If you ever hear such prodding, go along with it.
Nothing is ever hurt by prayer except the gates of hell. As
the above true story clearly illustrates, "with God all things are
possible". More importantly, how God hears and answers the prayers of the
faithful. Give God thanks for the beautiful gift of your faith, for the powerful gift of prayer, and for the many miracles He works in your own daily life.

UPS angel

2011-06-13T13:51:00.005-05:00

There are so many stories to share but this story from a girl named Anna really touched me. Her dad drives a UPS truck.

"On the day of the tornado (4-27-11) he got a call to leave his route early and come back to Tuscaloosa because the weather was getting bad. As her dad got into Tuscaloosa he noticed how much the wind was picking up and things were flying around the interstate. He called Anna's step mom to figure out what was going with the weather. She calmly told him a tornado was heading straight for him.  Anna's dad knew he didn't have time to get to a secure building. He parked his truck under an overpass and ran up the cement hill. At the top of the hill he found a homeless man. Her dad told the man that a huge tornado was heading straight for them. The only way they would survive was to "hug" a cement pillar of the overpass. The pillar was too big for one man to wrap his arms around it. Anna's dad said they would have to hold hands and not let go.  The two men locked hands around that pillar. Wind and debris flew around them, putting gashes in his back and head from the flying metal and wood.  As the tornado was passing over the men, Anna's dad looked down at the interstate below. He saw a woman running up the hill toward them. The wind was too powerful, so she ran back down and crawled under her car. The tornado picked up the car and slammed it back down on top of the woman. He saw another woman get sucked out the back window of her car. And worst of all was a person who lost his head. When the tornado was for sure past, he and the homeless man let their hands go. Her dad leaned from under the overpass and took a picture of the tornado in the distance (see above) with his cell phone. As he turned around to check on the homeless man, he was gone. Anna's dad looked all around his makeshift home and where they had been standing and couldn't find him. It was as if the homeless man vanished.  Her dad wouldn't have survived if that homeless man wasn't under that overpass. It took two people to hold onto that pillar. He never spoke a word."

We can all draw our own conclusions / thoughts on the homeless man. The bottom line is God is in control of the weather, tornados, the number of hairs on our head and the number of days on this earth. So whether God used this homeless man or WAS this homeless man, we will not know this side of heaven. We do know Mr. UPS was spared for God's glory and I pray this has changed his life and drawn him closer to our Heavenly Father.

More important than Furniture!

2011-06-12T15:57:00.000-05:00

Recently, I read some words (literally, just six words) from Keith Thompson, veteran foster parent, that sounded very familiar. Here's what he said:

"Children are more important than furniture."

I know this is not some huge, earth shattering truth. It's something that should have been pretty obvious to me already. But I'm sinful, and I'm fallen. And I admit it... We worked hard for our stuff and I like to take care of my stuff. And I want my stuff treated with respect and care.

If there is one area where I struggled with my new life as a global houseparent to twentysomethings -- this is it. I try not to care about my stuff -- my furniture, my house, my car, my things... but my wicked little heart wants to fight for all of it.

Sure, I can lie to myself and slap a pretty Christian title on this love-of-stuff. Sometimes I call it "good stewardship." You know -- we take care of our stuff because God gave us our stuff and He wants us to be good stewards of the things He entrusts to us. And there is some good, biblical truth to this idea of stewardship... but stewardship should never come at all costs. It definitely shouldn't come at the cost of another's heart or spirit. Because children (Birthed, Adopted, Grandchildren, African, African-American, Ethiopian) are more important than things. Period.

I should back up and explain that before we became Houseparents, people told us to beware of all this. They told us to batten down the hatches in our home. To prepare for every thing in our house to be broken, cracked, stolen or destroyed. We have always responded, we understand, IT ALL belongs to our GOD. I do believe this and try each day to walk through showing and sharing everything in our home, but sometimes it gets the best of me.

We know that God has called us to share life daily and build relationships with those who were not raised with the blessings that I was afforded. But I have to say.........They weren't just kidding.

Logically, it makes perfect sense -- I mean why would a child/person who has never purchased or owned any personal possessions know how to care for things? Why would a child/person who is accustomed to living in day-to-day survival mode for food and other necessities suddenly grasp this crazy western concept of stewardship?

Over the last two years---I'll give you a glimpse. Knobs have been literally ripped off the cabinets, A fist has cracked and destroyed the soap pump on the cast iron sink. A whack to the wall has sent a glass gift from Rome sailing into pieces. A daisy yellow -cutesy fabric rocker now adorns black food stained arms. Ants now march through our bedrooms and mice hide under our refrigerator. Our washing machine has not stopped running like the energizer bunny. Four tires have been flat spotted and one car's undercarriage destroyed. Grease circles now reside on my high back chairs where their sweet black heads rested while playing wii. This list could go on and on, but I'll spare you the details. Almost all of this destruction is purely innocent -- it happens out of curiosity and honest ignorance. But it happens. A lot.

Everytime one of my boys displays one of these acts of "sinful and careless stewardship," I am tempted to display one of my own acts of sinful and careless anger. I am often tempted to scream "WHY would you do such a thing? How could you possibly think this was ok??"

And the Lord speaks to my heart and reminds me that I know perfectly well why they would do these things... They are broken and hurt and they've never had stuff before so they don't know how to take care of it. And frankly, it's just stuff.

For so many reasons, I am thankful to live a life that daily lends itself to these struggles. Each day I must intentionally choose... what's really important to me?

"For where your treasure lies, there your heart will be also." -- Matt 6:21, NIV

Coffee well

2011-06-10T22:00:00.009-05:00

This is a recent photo of the well that was being drilled while I was in Sudan in October. Notice anything different? Of course there's a new school up now. So this hand pump serves the community, the school and Coffee's church...I'm sure Coffee's church is being built now too. Especially after Jimbo preached about giving and their name being written in the Lamb's Book of Life

Anyway, thought you all would enjoy this! Independence day coming JULY 9!

MIRI KaLANGA

PAID~

2011-06-09T14:40:00.001-05:00

Job's Compliment!

2011-06-07T14:38:00.000-05:00

Although many people have not read the book of Job, many know one thing about the main character because of a common phrase [compliment]—"He has the patience of Job"—echoing James 5:11. The compliment, however, emphasizes only one of Job's spiritual qualities. Job was not only patient in his circumstances—but also faithful to God and God's revealed truth.

In spite of the absolutely horrible set of calamities that occurred—the loss of possessions and children—Job did not sin or blame God. How many of us have this kind of faith? How do we react when we lose possessions or family members? Does our relationship to God include patient faith?

The burning question in circumstances like these remains: "Why? Why, God?" Job never gets an answer. Job doesn't know that this is God's way of proving to Satan that faith exists independent of worldly prosperity and endures in times of loss. Nor does Job know that God knows he will not fail the tests.

The book of Job never answers the question, "Why do we suffer?" The way to cope with suffering is not to find out the immediate cause but to find out who God is. A deep, personal knowledge of God, our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer is what we need to handle the stress of suffering. We need a relationship with God that enables us to endure suffering without losing faith, without cursing God, and without blaspheming God's name in actions and words.

Quiet and Loud Book

2011-06-06T14:40:00.004-05:00

There are many kinds of quiet--from first one awake quiet to top of the roller coaster quiet. Quiet can be peaceful, ominous, or exhilarating. Renata Liwska's adorable animals perfectly capture the variety of quiets.

Just as there are many kinds of quiet, there are lots of louds--everything from dropping your lunch tray loud to fireworks loud. Come along and experience alarm clock loud, thunderstorm loud, applause loud, and even deafening silence loud!

This delightful children's books can be found HERE by Deborah Underwood

Pencil Points

2011-06-05T20:42:00.001-05:00

JUST BEFORE PUTTING the Pencil IN THE BOX remember this:

1. Everything you do will always leave a mark.....

2. You can always correct the mistakes you make....

3. What is important is what is inside of you....

4. IN LIFE , You will undergo painful sharpening, which will only make you better....

5. To be the best..You must allow yourself to be held and guided by the hand that hold you.

We all need to be constantly sharpened. This parable may encourage you to know that you are a special person, with unique God-given talents and abilities. Only you can fulfill the purpose which you were born to accomplish. Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your life is insignificant and cannot be changed and, like the pencil, always remember that the most important part of who you are, is what's inside of you and then allow yourself to be guided by the hand of God.

Eyes

2011-05-16T21:40:00.002-05:00

Do you know what the relationship is between your two eyes?
They blink together,

they move together,
they cry together,

they see things together,

and they sleep together,
but they never see each other!

Mississippi Flooding

2011-05-10T22:23:00.011-05:00

Mississippi Flooding

Right now the south is facing another crisis. The Mississippi River is higher than its been in over 75 years. Today it crested at 47.8 feet, leaving a trail of destruction up and down the border states of Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. My heart just aches for them. Many families are faced with the loss of property or worse, life.

The reason I wanted to add this is for another keepsake and part of history taking place on this Earth.

Join in

2011-05-07T07:35:00.001-05:00

I am humbled each day as I realize that we are all a part of what our God is doing in the world. He is the GoD of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The same God who parted the Red Sea, the same God who fed millions of people with manna from heaven, the same God who gave water from the rock, the same God who spoke this world into existence.

When we join God in His work, it is a guaranteed victory! It should cause us to put aside the trivial and live, not for this world, but for the world to come. It should cause us to spend our lives being obedient to Christ's command by taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

Share the Gospel.....
by showing compassion to others
by building a relationship outside your box
by feeding the hungry
by giving clothes to those without

"whatever you did for the least of these brothers you did for Me!

Many people are impoverished beyond our understanding, living in conditions that we are not able to comprehend, eating items we would not call food.

Share Jesus and your LIFE! with someone....anyone.....TODAY!

No Point!

2011-05-06T08:58:00.000-05:00

Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil...

It has no point!

What you are?

2011-05-05T20:55:00.003-05:00

Remember...Just going to church doesn't make you a
Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car or going to McDonald's makes you a hamburger.

Bin Laden News

2011-05-01T23:39:00.002-05:00

Like many American moms and dads, I called my children [Bullen, Andrew and Kennedy] to hurry to the family room as breaking news hit the television. We all rushed to watch the big screen as we heard the news that Osama Bin Laden was killed and in US custody. We were switching channels to watch the best coverage of ensuing history.
As we sat in front of the television – thoughts raced ..... Was he really dead? Would we see his body? What would the President say? More than 5,000 American families have paid the ultimate sacrifice since Osama bin Laden “masterminded” the 9/11 attacks, with more than 40,000 suffering wounds.

We stayed up just long enough to hear the President’s speech before reconciling the excitement with the sad reality that we all had to get up the next morning for school and work.

A Hobbit's Tale

2011-04-30T16:16:00.006-05:00

This is the account of a young man that was in the tornado. This is amazing! Thank God for this guy who protected them! She is alive and so is the child! They were treated and released from DCH. It takes a while to read this, but it is worth it. Praise God!

There and Back Again. A Hobbit's Tale... [4/27/2011]- please take this with a sense of humor and recognize God's influence. by Randy Robbins on Saturday, April 30, 2011 at 1:00pm

This is my experience during the tornado that swept through Alberta and Tuscaloosa in as much detail as I can muster with the medication I am on. I need to put this down for therapeutic reasons and for others to read because I can't keep re-telling this story. If you are to take anything away from this story it is two things: 1)God saved so many people that day including me and 2)disasters bring out the absolute best in some people...and the absolute worst in others. I am going to write down the events exactly as I remember them while I still can. I will add details that I have gathered from accounts by my neighbor and judging from materials stuck inside my body. I would also like to point out that any person I don't reference by name (such as neighbor) I had not really met before. Here goes:

At roughly 4pm on April 27, 2011, I was sitting in FI 414 class listening to presentation on industries and the severe weather alarms went off and the University cancelled classes for the rest of the day. I considered staying on campus, but I saw everyone else leaving and decided I would be fine going to my apartment (face palm). This is probably my biggest regret of my life purely for the fact that I let the actions of others sway my opinion and nearly kill me. I walked to my truck that was parked roughly a mile away near the Coliseum. I knew we were in for a storm when the wind knocked my backpack off my shoulder halfway there. I made it to my truck and drove to my apartment that was located at the intersection of University Blvd. and 25th Avenue East in Alberta City, AL. During my drive, I received several texts from both my older and younger sisters warning me that some severe storms were heading to my area. Naturally, I discounted them as hysteria and paranoia and continued on my merry way. I got to my apartment at roughly 4:30pm and popped a frozen pizza in the oven for dinner. I turned on my computer and pulled up my assignments for the night. As I began working through my homework, I got some more texts from friends warning me of the weather. I assured them all that I would be perfectly safe in my sturdy apartment. The timer for the pizza went off so I got it out of the oven and took two slices to my room. I hadn't eaten much for lunch so I was ravenous. I ate nearly the entire pizza. This small detail probably saved my life. More on that later.

The power in my apartment went out at roughly 5pm and so I opened the shades on my window to read and look outside. I noticed the trees behind my apartment swaying at a steep angle. Then I decided I should probably close all windows and doors. I did so. Just then my buddy Sean Philips texted me that I should find cover. I was coming up with a clever retort about how paranoid he is being when my ears popped really hard and I heard what sounded like a train outside my window. I had watched enough news to know this meant a tornado. I jumped into my closet and slammed the door shut. I felt the whole building shaking so I grabbed the door knob and held it shut with all my strength. Then I heard tearing and ripping noises which had to be my back wall tearing away. At this point, I wanna point out that if any of these events had occurred slightly differently or in a different order, I would have been buried. Anyway, the back wall tore away from the building and the door to my closet began shaking open and I kept pulling it back closed. After a couple seconds of this struggle, the door and I were sucked out of the closet and through the back wall. I never rose more than a couple feet off the ground but, judging from memories of where things were, I flew about 40 feet total. The winds flung me from the back wall into the chain link fence 10-15 feet behind my apartment with enough force to leave bruises of the chain links in my side. It then flung me back into some piles of rubble where I was then rolled around on the ground for about 15 seconds before it subsided slightly. I looked up from my prone position and I was lying on tile floor and I could see my neighbor lying on top of her baby trying to shield her. I also heard myself screaming and realized I had been screaming the entire time but hadn't noticed.

The winds were beginning to pick up again so I ran over to my neighbor and threw myself on top of them to try and shield them. Somewhere along the way I stepped on a piece of wood with enough force to shove a 3-inch piece through the bottom of my foot. Please take note, this was not an act of heroism, but desparation. As far as my concussed mind could think, I truly believed during that split second that we three were the only beings left in a world that had dissolved around us. I acted to try and preserve the only other people left in this Hell so I wouldn't be alone if I survived. I laid on top of her and immediately the winds picked up again. I was bombarded with (judging from wounds and what is still imbedded in my back at the time of this writing) glass, roofing shingles, pieces of wood, and a Bic pen. LOL. I know this for sure because I pulled it out of my side when I stood up. The storm finally dissipated after roughly 10-20 seconds and slowly stood up. Due to adrenaline and shock, I did not notice any of the injuries I suffered. However, I did notice that I could barely hear anything and my ears were bleeding from the pressure of the storm (the earlier popping that alerted me of the tornado). Everyone's ears were. The poor baby's ears were pouring blood. At this point, I surveyed my body. My jeans, watch, glasses, and shirt had been ripped from my body.Somehow, I was still holding my iPhone in my right hand. Just then a call came through. It was my older sister, Christina. I could only stare at it in disbelief before answering. I don't remember our conversation, but she later relayed it to me. Here it is as she remembers it:

Christy: Randy??? Randy???

Me: Kiki! My apartment; it's gone. The baby is bleeding. I lost my glasses. My foot is bleeding bad. There are people stuck. I have to go.

I then hung up the phone because people were screaming from within piles of rubble. I limped over to the nearest pile where one of my neighbor's head was sticking out from beneath a section of roof. I pulled off a couple small pieces of wood before collapsing. I think I blacked out for a couple seconds. Next thing I remember, he is digging himself out. He comes to check on me and almost slips in the puddle of blood and water at my feet. He tears off his shirt and ties it around my foot (I had no shoes or socks on before it hit). He helps me stand and we look around at the damage. I see my childhood friend Austin and his girlfriend Mary and their dog that live six doors down from me. They are standing in their bathroom. I yell to them and then begin trying to crawl out. At some point I believe a neighbor (maybe Mary) throws me a woman's loafer which I put on my left foot to protect it. It was a left shoe that was about 2 sizes too small but I barely noticed. I can't walk because of my foot so i throw some sections of my couch across the short wall of sharp debri between me and what's left of the parking lot and begin crawling on my hands and knees across. Due to the composition and layout of the debris, I am forced to crawl on my belly under my truck to get out (it was then parked in my living room and totalled).

I finally reach the parking lot covered in blood, dirt, oil, and sheetrock dust. I lend a neighbor my phone and then I spot my friend and neighbor, Brandon and hobble to him to check him out. Amazingly, he is unhurt. We both hear someone yelling that another storm is about to touch down in the area so we immediately take off to find shelter. I lose track of everyone else. Austin and Mary help dig out some neighbors. Brandon lends me his shoulder and we begin walking (me hopping) to the Piggly Wiggly down the street. We hear that they are not letting people in so we detour to the local Save-A-Lot and ask the manager if he is letting people in. He lets us in. I sit on the nearest checkout station while Brandon runs to find first aid supplies. He finds peroxide, paper towels, and scotch tape. I use what little Spanish I know to try to cheer up a small hispanic child that was crying near me. I begin to feel very faint from blood loss so I start chugging as much Gatorade as possible to keep blood sugar up so I don't pass out. The pizza I ate earlier also probably kept me awake and alive. Brandon begins cleaning and wrapping my foot. We then see that there is still wood sticking out. We wrap paper towels and tape over it to try to stop the blood loss.

I then begin to feel a slight itchy, burning sensation on my back so I asked him to take a look. He says that I have a few cuts on my back. I'm glad he didn't tell me the extent to which it was messed up. We stay in the store and wait for the next tornado to touch down. I sit on a rolling cart so that Brandon could quickly wheel me to the back if it came. We were all getting ready to run to the back and lock ourselves inside the freezer. I tell Brandon to gather some food and water in case we are trapped inside the store. I feel prepared, so I try to slow breathing and heart rate to slow blood flow. Some time later (I began losing track of time and events) we see people run into the bank to steal money and cops arrest them. This pissess us all off for obvious reasons. Brandon and I walk (and hop) up to the Texaco because we hear they have set up a triage center there. We get there and they turn us away so we go back to the store. I am exhausted from blood loss and hopping everywhere. I should point out that I am hopping down the street wearing only my silver cross necklace and boxers and the homemade bandages on my foot. It's funny now, not so much then.

We stay in the store for a while. A woman who was in the store earlier comes running back and leads a cop to where I'm lying. I owe her and Brandon both my life. I would have bled out within a couple hours if that cop hadn't found me. He calls in a truck and I jump in the back and they drive me to the hospital. I ask for pen in the bed of the truck so I can write my name and medical info and mom's phone number on my body in case I pass out again and can't talk to nurses. We get to the hospital and I am assigned a radomized name for legal reasons (Raja Ed Downtime). I ask over and over again for them to call my mom to check on Jessica because she is home alone in Homewood and I heard a storm passed by there.

I will never forget the nurse who helped me, Nurse Jackie. She checked up on me throughout my X-Rays and CT scans and stitches over the next 6-8 hours. I felt like I was her only patient although she likely had scores of them at this time. I plan on thanking her personally as soon as I can travel.

This is where the story ends. I am just one person among hundreds, possibly thousands of people hurt in a city where neighbors and strangers alike risked their own lives to save each other. I tried to help who I could any way I could and I owe my life to many others. Thank you, Nurse Jackie for consoling me while I was alone for those many hours. Thank you, Brandon for lending me a friendly shoulder and thinking only of others. Thank you, Lady from Save-A-Lot for finding me a ride to the hospital. Thank you, Mom for forcing Delta airlines to let you off of a plane preparing to take off. Thank you, Jimmy and Jessica for looking throughout hospital (and morgue) for me for hours before finding me. Thank you to the men and women of the National Guard, fire departments, and police departments around the state. Many of us wouldn't have made it without yall. And, of course, thank you, GOD. Even as the clothes and material possessions were ripped from my body, your symbol stayed fimly around my neck and in my heart.

It is long, but I can already feel a massive weight lifted from my chest. This note has done its job. If you are reading this, you are my friend and share the honor of calling me "pal". ;)

Tuscaloosa Tornado

2011-04-27T22:37:00.000-05:00

4-27-11 Tornado Tuscaloosa, Al from Crimson Tide Productions on Vimeo.

Tuscaloosa’s tornado last week on April 27th, 2011 eclipses all the storms that came before it. The Weather Channel is calling it possibly “the most dangerous tornado on record.” The footage of the tornado and its aftermath is jaw-dropping. Tentatively labeled an EF5, it leveled a six-mile swath of the city, beginning on the outskirts at a roofing manufacturing company, brushing by the true heart of the city, (the Bryant-Denny Stadium), past the still-standing Druid City hospital, and out of town, where it destroyed a railroad trestle. Almost nothing stands in its path. This same tornado went on to level parts of Birmingham, large areas of Northeast Alabama, and finally hit south of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

2011-04-13T22:52:00.000-05:00

"One of the greatest gifts you can give your husband is your own wholeness."
[The Power of a Praying Wife] Loving this book and it saved my marriage 11 years ago!! God's Word never grows old!

Joy in Adoption

2011-03-28T13:39:00.000-05:00

One of the joys that comes with adoption is the excitement of the first time for so many things. The first grapefruit, the first beach trip, the first boat ride, the first time using toothbrush, toothpaste or listerine, the first times are so much fun as a parent. Remember when you had this little baby and it took its first step or ate its first cheerio. It make my heart sing!

God has known throughout our entire lives what we would do in response to His offer of adoption as children. He has orchestrated every detail of our journey to draw us to Himself. Now, I am not sure how I would respond if I were the one coming from another country to live with white people in America.....but I do know how hard it can be to recognize their hurts that lie within. I do know the days of concern when the glimpses of their past peel through and they give you small snippets of their memory and then explain that they never ever thought they would share this.

It is during these days of building a relationship that I see and remember how little I responded to my Heavenly Father with love, respet and commitment. You see, it is only after seeing the fatherless respond with unhindered love that I see clearly the gift I have received. It is this side of life that I see His Love for me and my desire to please Him clearly. It is for this reason, love for the Father who has given me everything I need, that I respond to this lost and dying world with the same love offered to me. The motivation I need for reaching the world is found everyday inside the walls of our home. Our lives with those from another culture drives me on to share the Good News of the Father who wants to adopt us all. We go so that all will know the love of the Father. We serve so that His ways are proclaimed to every orphan on the earth. We teach His word because it is truth and brings Hope to those who have no Hope and a Father to the fatherless.

Go and be His hands and His feet to the world Go to the orphans with the message of HOPE that a Father wantes to be his forever! As a former orphan - lets go and lead other orphans to the adoption place called eternity, so we can sit before the throne of this world's Creator and Priase Him forever!

Fight for your Marriage

2011-03-27T19:15:00.001-05:00

Many of you know our story. It was stressful to live, stressful to tell. But with great pain, there is an opportunity for great healing. And with healing there is testimony.

Through the process of nearly losing my marriage, I learned to fight for it.

With my 18 year marriage dangling by a thread, both of us broken, angry, afraid, not communicating, and many other adjectives that would require more processing, I remember declaring that I would not give up easily. I threw out all my preconceived ideas about marriage counseling, not having enough money in savings to afford “help” and I went to battle, not against my husband, but praying for him and for God to "change ME Lord".

The very fall of man, put husbands and wives at odds with each other. Marriage is not easy. At it’s best, it’s difficult. No bed of roses and the warm and fuzzy lasts a short period of time. But don’t be fooled: Satan wants your marriage to fail. He is a vicious opponent without mercy. If you won’t fight for your marriage, he will. I believe every marriage is worth fighting for and while some have Biblical reasons for divorce, I still believe God can rescue every marriage-
IF- there are two willing people and sadly, that’s often not the case.

But if you are married-whatever condition your marriage may be in today-you need to fight for it.

How to really fight: [there are so many ways you can do this, here's what has helped me]:

Ask hard questions-Is there intimacy in our marriage? Are there secrets? Are your expectations to high? Are you following God's design for marriage-and fulfilling your part of the design? Are you demanding? Does God come first and then your spouse or are your children given rank over your spouse?

Prepare yourself for unexpected answers-don’t rule out counseling. It’s not just for broken marriages, it can truly make your marriage better, especially Christian Counselors.

Trust -Believe in your spouse. Choose to trust. It is earned but Satan will temp you to read between the lines of truth.

Pray-simply said, hardly done. Pray for your marriage and your mate. If you need some direction - Stormie O'Martian's Power of a Praying Wife / Power of a Praying Husband it absolute Great!

Eliminate distractions-turn off cable if it’s unhealthy, throw out edgy movies, only accept purity in your marriage.

Don’t condemn-this only causes strife.

Submit your marriage and your life to God. We have found the closer we are to God, the closer we are to each other.

Forgive-some things seem unforgivable. But in the end, we must forgive. (This doesn’t mean we have to continue to live in abusive, dangerous or unfaithful marriages), but grudges have to go.

Let your husband lead your home, submit to him on the big stuff. If you doubt him, pray that God will speak to him.

If you have an unbelieving husband, practice I Cor. 7.

Our marriage is not perfect and it never will be, but it’s real and it’s good and it will last.

Secret or NOT?

2011-03-26T17:32:00.001-05:00

Desiring God Blog Post .... talked about a question that Rick and I have discussed many times over the past few years..... To tell or NOT to tell.... To share or NOT to Share......

Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16 ESV)
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:3-4 ESV)

A friend recently posed these two verses to me and asked, “So when do you tell others about your good deeds and when do you not?”

It’s a good question.

I believe the contexts of these verses give us the clues. Jesus is addressing the two-sided coin of human pride.

In Matthew 5:16, Jesus is addressing our fear of man. The context is that we are blessed when reviled and persecuted (v.11). The good works Jesus has in mind here are the kind that the prophets did (v.12). They testified to God’s word openly. In other words, don't be ashamed of the gospel (Romans 1:16) or any acts of love that testify to it, even when the threat of persecution is present.

In Matthew 6:3, Jesus is addressing our selfish ambition. The context is people (in this case, the rich) who were marketing their acts of charity to enhance their personal brand. In other words, they were seeking human admiration. That's not love of God or the poor. It's self-worship.

So a rule of thumb in shining and hiding: good works we are tempted to hide for fear of man’s disapproval are likely ones we should let shine. Good works we are tempted to do publicly for man’s approval are likely ones to keep secret. Both kinds of good works encourage humility and kill pride.

The Gospel is for REAL!

2011-03-25T17:14:00.002-05:00

Do We Really Believe What We're Saying? from The Church at Brook Hills on Vimeo.

With My Soul

2011-03-24T17:04:00.002-05:00

The Light of God surrounds me.
The Love of God enfolds me.
The Power of God protects me.
The Presence of God watches over me.
Wherever I am, God is, and all is well'; with my soul.

Be Blessed, Be a Blessing!

2011-03-23T21:36:00.001-05:00

When I say that 'I am a Christian', I am not shouting that 'I am clean living. I'm whispering 'I was lost, but now I'm found and forgiven.'

When I say 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride. I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong. I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success. I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect. My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain. I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou, I'm just a simple sinner who received God's good grace, somehow!

Be Blessed, Be a Blessing.

Haiti

2011-03-21T15:30:00.000-05:00

Several years ago, the Lord placed Haiti on my heart via a translator in Guatemala. The earthquake there broke my heart as I watched daily the disaster taking place on this little island. The numbers of orphans increased and many adoptions were stopped and many new ones started.

Donna and Butch Kendrick, my dear friends in Birmingham are in HAITI! They were given the opportunity to go there with Compassion International to share Christ and give Hope to the people in this country.

Brenda Brown, our small group leader reports: "Here are pictures of Donna & Butch as they minister in Haiti. Let's continue to pray as the Lord uses them. Both have had the joyous privilege of leading others to Christ. Praise the Lord !!!!

Brenda

"Establish Your Word to Your servant,as that which produces reverence for You." Psalm 119:38

Dresses to Africa!

2011-03-20T15:33:00.002-05:00

The sweet ladies of the "Branches" small group at The Church at Brookhills have these dresses ready for the orphans in Africa! Thank you for giving of your time and talents to help these little children. They are beautiful!

"Super" Moon

2011-03-19T22:26:00.002-05:00

Bigger, Brighter Moon Tonight! March 19, 2011

   Some have dubbed tonight's full moon a "super moon" because it will be bigger and brighter than usual.
   Our moon orbits around the earth, a trip that takes roughly a month to complete. This is, in fact, the origin of the length of a month.
   What some people may not realize is that the path it takes around the earth is not a perfect circle, but rather more like an oval. (The technical term is ellipse.) As such, there are times when it is closer to the earth.
   When perigee (that is, when the moon is at its closest monthly approach) coincides with the full moon phase (when the moon is at its brightest), the so-called super moon will appear to be bigger and brighter than normal. Such an event happens about every 18 years.
   But just how much bigger will it be? Compared to the average full moon, the super moon will be bigger by about the thickness of your fingernail. It will be brighter too, although, because our eyes are poor detectors we may not be able to tell unless the average moon is standing by for comparison.
   The moon illusion has fascinated mankind since ancient times. Info By: Elizabeth Jeffrey

A full moon is always a spectacular sight, one that we often take for granted. Fortunately, there are times when things align just right and grab our attention and remind us of the majestic light that our GOD created.

Genesis, Chapter 1:
¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

Here are some shots my hubby took tonight - I am so reminded of our "Super God" while gazing at the "Super Moon".

Little Steps

2011-03-19T15:52:00.000-05:00

all i know is that injustice can be overwhelming at times,

but i have to remember that He is bigger than injustice

i have to remember that stepping out in fatih..in action...

is the only thing that we can do.

a little step at a time

Plant a Tree

2011-03-18T10:26:00.002-05:00

I love thee quotes from Bonair Daydreams cards!
Just wish they were Bible verses.

The meaning of life is to plant a tree, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.

Nothing is hidden and everything is seen by my Lord!

Gratitude dances through the open windows of our hearts.

One kind word can warm three winter months.

St. Patricks Day

2011-03-17T23:55:00.000-05:00

March - What you don’t know about St. Patrick

Leprechauns, four leaf clovers, and donning something green… that’s the traditional St. Patrick's Day celebration style and thoughts. Learning the true story behind St. Patrick’s Day was not quite what I expected. St. Patrick was not a fictional leprechaun, nor did he wear a little green hat or chase pots of gold at the end of rainbows. That may not come as a huge surprise, but did you know St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish? The historical story of Patrick may not be widely known, but it is extraordinary, and he poured his life out for God’s purposes changing the course of Ireland’s history.

In the 5th century, Patrick was born into a Christian family on the island of modern day Britain. However, his personal faith in Christ didn’t mature until his teens and only through extremely difficult circumstances. At age 15, Irish raiders kidnapped him and forced him into slavery in Ireland. The Celtic people of Ireland were well known as savage, animistic people. Yet it was in this spiritual atmosphere that Jesus Christ became the Lord of Patrick’s life. For six years, Patrick tended sheep for his master and spent hours on the Irish hillsides with God. One day, Patrick sensed a voice telling him that a ship was waiting to take him home. Remarkably, he escaped toward the coast and boarded a ship that sailed to his homeland.
Back home and a free man, Patrick joined the clergy and spent years in a monastery. In what some compare to the Apostle Paul’s “Macedonian call”, Patrick recorded having the following vision:

I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: "The Voice of the Irish". As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea—and they cried out, as with one voice: "We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us." 1

God called Patrick to return to Ireland and bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Celts. Patrick was convinced of his calling, but spent many years studying in preparation. He was in his forties when he stepped back onto the soil where he lived in captivity as a young man.

The Celts were stubbornly resistant to the gospel, and Patrick was not well received at first. Being familiar with the culture, Patrick became as “Celtic” as possible without contradicting his devotion to Christ. As Paul was all things to all men, Patrick became Celtic to win the Celts, yet still faced death threats and kidnapping. Patrick himself said, “If I have any worth, it is to live my life for God so as to teach these peoples; even though some of them still look down on me.” As Patrick labored for God, the truth of the gospel slowly penetrated hardened hearts, and the seeds of the church took root across Ireland.

This St. Patrick’s Day let us take time to remember the sacrifice and suffering of Patrick, the power God displayed through one surrendered life, and billions who still have yet to hear the good news. Patrick was a simple man used for extraordinary work. What can God do with your surrendered life?

For more info on St. Patrick, check out these resources:

Tucker, Ruth. From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biological History of Christian Missions. Grand Rapids:
Zondervan,1983.

Bercot, David W. Let Me Die in Ireland, The True Story of Patrick. Tyler, Texas: Scroll Publishing, 1999.

1 De Paor, Liam. Saint Patrick’s World: The Christian Culture of Ireland’s Apostolic Age. Dublin: Four Courts, 1993.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

2011-03-02T22:06:00.012-06:00

America’s love affair with Dr. Seuss is not going anywhere. I mean, who can match the cleverness found in his writing?

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go..."

-- Dr. Seuss (Oh, the Places You'll Go!)

"From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!"

My Many Colored Days. Each page portrays a vibrant water color painting in a different color and uses it to simplistically describe a common human emotion.

Kids and adults alike can relate to the description of these days:

Gray Day… Everything is gray.
I watch.
But nothing moves today

Then comes a Yellow Day.
I am a busy, buzzy bee.
Today, was one of those days swirling with color for me just as Seuss describes,
Then comes a Mixed-Up Day.
And wham!
I don’t know who or what I am
Who knows what colors tomorrow will bring?
The Bottom Line:
It’s Dr. Seuss. Can you really go wrong with a book that gets the complexities of life – some days are gray and some days are pink. Need we really say more? Volumes and volumes have been written to say what Seuss said magically in a child’s picture book.

MWP CongoPeru

2011-01-02T20:24:00.003-06:00

God opened the door 90 days ago for me to work with Make Way Partners. I started on October 1, 2010 as their financial secretary. My heart is so drawn to Africa and orphanages (orphans). My heart also has been broken and filled with love from Africans and the fatherless. As I look back to 2004, when I heard a radio commercial driving to work in Ft Lauderdale, Florida about sharing the gospel in the Sudan, I can see how the Lord's been at work to glorify Himself. Today, as we opened AL news - here is a story about the organization MWP.

1.1.11

2011-01-01T20:36:00.001-06:00

1.1.11 - Wow!

This is a new year and God makes all things NEW.

HNY!

2010-12-31T23:41:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year

Thank you Lord for our many blessings and we live to glorify Your Name!

Sweetness

2010-12-08T20:10:00.001-06:00

... that you will feel better if you notice the sweetness of life. Notice the smiles of children, the songs of the birds, the caress of the sun's warmth and the cold wind. This sweetness is for you. Allow it to soothe your soul and bring a smile to your face.

C.T. Studd - AMEN!

2010-11-01T20:13:00.004-05:00

Encourage others when fault is found at every turn, especially those from 3rd world countries. Throughout the ages there have always been folks who "strain out a gnat and swallow a camel". The gnat being the smallest "unclean" creature and the camel the largest. I'm very familiar with the failing of not viewing matters through the lense of grace. All that can be done when folks stumble and criticize over some point is forgive them, release them and move on.

Remember the miller’s donkey.

The miller, son and donkey went to the market. The miller rode the donkey all the way and people exclaimed, “Cruel man, riding himself and making his son walk.”

So he got down and his son rode; the people said, “What a lazy son for riding while poor old father walks.”

Then both father and son rode, and people said, “Cruelty to animals, poor donkey.”

So they got down and carried the donkey on a pole, but folks said, “Here are two donkey slang’s carrying another donkey slang”

Then all three walked and people said, “What fools to have a donkey and not ride it.”

So lets go ahead with our work for God and not care what folks think or say.

C. T. Studd, early missionary to Africa

True Living Water!

2010-10-25T19:53:00.002-05:00

My husband is on a mission trip in Mundri, Sudan. Here is the report that I received today from the wife of the team leader.
Mark Whitehead (team leader) was really excited when he called today. He said he could tell that family and friends were praying for the team.

Today Events:

- Mark took the guys and drove to Mundri where they were beginning to drill (above) in the village. The well will be located between a church and a school in the area. He said the guys loved seeing this process.

- Spencer (team leader) stayed in Lui (above) with the girls. They were able to teach the women in the village about community health. But, their main focus was on the gospel. Mark said the teaching time went great and that the ladies in the village loved it!

- Spencer also took some guys into 2 other villages today.

From being there 2 years ago, I (Sherri) know how exciting it is to teach the women in a community. They have such a loving spirit and are so eager to learn. I also understand what a joy and excitement it is to see a whole village come out to say thanks for providing them clean water. It is at that time, that the teams are able to teach the village about the True Living Water!

Let's pray that John 6:35 would become a reality to many this week.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."

A short message from my hubby: A long day, but a God day. ILUwamh.

Imparting Hope!

2010-10-07T20:55:00.002-05:00

Go to this blog, IMPARTING HOPE, and check out the crosses being handmade

to raise money for Sudan. Purchase these items to give Hope 4 1.

World Class

2010-10-06T17:24:00.000-05:00

Becoming a World-Class Christian

The Great Commission is your commission!

“Jesus said to his followers, ‘Go everywhere in the world, and tell the Good News to everyone.’” Mark 16:15 (NCV)
You have a choice to make. You will be either a world-class Christian or a worldly Christian.
Worldly Christians look to God primarily for personal fulfillment. They are saved, but self-centered. They love to attend concerts and enrichment seminars, but you would never find them at a missions conference because they aren’t interested. Their prayers focus on their own needs, blessings, and happiness. They want to use God for their purposes instead of being used for his purposes.
In contrast, world-class Christians know they were saved to serve and made for a mission. They are eager to receive a personal assignment and excited about the privilege of being used by God. World-class Christians are the only fully alive people on the planet. Their joy, confidence, and enthusiasm are contagious because they know they’re making a difference. They wake up each morning expecting God to work through them in fresh ways.
Which type of Christian do you want to be? If you want to be like Jesus, you must have a heart for the whole world. You can’t be satisfied with just your family and friends coming to Christ. There are over 6 billion people on earth, and Jesus wants all his lost children found.
The Great Commission is your commission, and doing your part is the secret to living a life of significance.

40 days of purpose - The Church at Brook Hills

Sharing

2010-10-05T17:21:00.002-05:00

Sharing Your Life Message

Colossians 4:5 (NIV) Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.

“Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word … The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore – you’re the message!” 1 Thessalonians 1:8 (Msg)

A testimony of grace by Angela Ventry, Child of God
A facilitator in Purpose Driven Parents RBF

I have spent many years of my Christian life in a cold, dark box. The perception of Christ as an instrument of grace was a completely foreign concept to me. My life consisted of “faith rituals”-sitting in a pew, singing hymns, having a daily quiet time, and maintaining an image of perfection to mask the pervasive feelings of shame that were ingrained in my spirit since childhood. On the outside of my box there was a pretty bow and a neat package. On the inside, there was gnawing emptiness and a thirst for something that was more tangible than my weekend rituals.
When I could no longer bear to live in the filth and darkness of shame, I decided to reach my hand out of my box. If the God whom I claimed to believe in was real, I had to trust Him and allow Him to see all of me-my pain, my self-rejecting behavior, my legalism, my shame. That was the moment a nail-scarred hand embraced my own. He lifted me out of my shame and allowed me to see His face. This was not a countenance filled with judgment and rejection. It was a face that reflected love, forgiveness, and complete acceptance. The woman who once considered herself a slave fell into the embrace of Christ. I will never be the same. I am a picture of grace, a reflection of the love of my Father and my Friend. I never have to run or hide. I stand blameless in the shadow of the cross.
It was never about who I was. It is about who He is. It was never about what I had to offer. It is His offering to me. The message of my life is grace.
Father,
You are everything that is beautiful and whole in my life. Every breath that I take is the gift of your grace. Thank you for loving me enough to allow me to see you for all that you really are. You are my life and purpose.In His grace, Amen.

40 days of purpose - The Church at Brook Hills

Monday Monday

2010-10-04T20:54:00.000-05:00

Its been ten days since Rick's back surgery and guess what came out! The 13 staples and they removed them like this - Ouch. The pain was described as a quick deep sting on each side of the staple. The wound looks great and is healing. Thank you Heavenly Father - our Great Physician.

Still no driving for another two weeks. Whew! A job, four men and no drivers - I am so thankful, Lord, to be the wife and momma of this house - they all make me feel so loved and we will serve You all of our days.

Mission

2010-10-04T17:17:00.001-05:00

Made for a Mission

You were made for a mission!

“In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world.” John 17:18 (Msg)
God is at work in the world, and he wants you to join him. This assignment is called your mission. God wants you to have both a ministry in the Body of Christ and a mission in the world. Your life mission is both shared and specific.
Jesus clearly understood his life mission on earth. At age twelve he said, “I must be about my Father’s business,” and twenty-one years later, dying on the cross, he said, “It is finished.” Like bookends, these two statements frame a well-lived, purpose-driven life.
If you will commit to fulfilling your mission in life no matter what it costs, you will experience the blessing of God in ways that few people ever experience. There is almost nothing God won’t do for the man or woman who is committed to serving the kingdom of God.
If you want to be used by God, you must care about what God cares about; what he cares about most is the redemption of the people he made. He wants his lost children found! Nothing matters more to God; the Cross proves that.

Always be on the lookout to reach “one more for Jesus” so that when you stand before God one day, you can say, “Mission accomplished!”

40 days of purpose - The Church at Brook Hills

God's Power!

2010-10-03T17:12:00.003-05:00

God’s Power in Your Weakness

Colossians 4:5 (NIV) Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.

God loves to use weak people!

“I am with you; that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people.” 2 Corinthians 12:9a (LB)
A weakness is any limitation that you inherited or have no power to change. Everyone has weaknesses. In fact, you have a bundle of flaws and imperfections: physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Usually we deny our weaknesses, defend them, excuse them, hide them, and resent them. This prevents God from using them the way he desires.
When you think of the limitation in your life, you may be tempted to conclude, “God could never use me.” But God is never limited by our limitations. Sometimes, however, God turns strength into a weakness in order to use us even more.
Jacob was a manipulator who spent his life scheming and then running from the consequences. One night he wrestled with God and said, “I’m not letting go until you bless me.” God said, “All right,” but then he grabbed Jacob’s thigh and dislocated his hip.
What is the significance of that? God touched Jacob’s strength and turned it into a weakness. From that day forward, Jacob walked with a limp so he could never run away again. It forced him to lean on God whether he liked it or not.If you want God to bless you and use you greatly, you must be willing to walk with a limp the rest of your life, because God uses weak people.

40 days of purpose - The Church at Brook Hills

Thinking like a Servant

2010-10-02T17:09:00.001-05:00

Thinking Like a Servant

Service starts in your mind!

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Philippians 2:5-7 (NIV)
Real servants serve God with a mindset of five attitudes: - Servants think more about others than about themselves.- Servants think like stewards, not owners. - Servants think about their work, not what others are doing. - Servants base their identity in Christ. - And servants think of ministry as an opportunity, not an obligation.
Henri Nouwen said, “In order to be of service to others, we have to die to them; that is, we have to give up measuring our meaning and value with the yardstick of others … thus we become free to be compassionate.”
When you base your worth and identity on your relationship to Christ, you are freed from the expectations of others, and that allows you to really serve them best.
Imagine what could happen if just 10 percent of all Christians in the world got serious about their role as real servants. Imagine all the good that could be done. Are you willing to be one of those people?

40 days of purpose - The Church at Brook Hills

Today!

2010-10-01T16:37:00.000-05:00

Today this is what I feel like! Screaming at the top of my lungs! Ever have one of those days?

Dresses for Africa!

2010-09-26T21:49:00.001-05:00

Heavenly Father,

Thank you so much for providing someone to sew these dresses for the orphans in Africa. I know that You have a special purpose and place for each one! Scattering Christ to the Nations.

Aug 24, 2010 A few women in my Small Group are interested in making the pillow case dresses, but we need to know the deadline for having them done and details on who we get them to. Carol Brown.

Sept 2, 2010 I've gotten some response, but plan to contact more in the next week. I believe there will be at least 4 or 5 ladies working on them. I believe we are just going to fund the pillowcases as well as make them. I will check, but I don't think we will need any materials. I'll get back with you.

Sept 3, 2010 Hi Lisa, We are going to get together on Friday Sep. 24th in the morning to sew. There are 9 women who are going to work on the dresses. We will also work independently. I have no idea how many we will be making, but we are going to start collecting pillowcases now. If you have extra pillowcases or ribbon that need to have someone working on them, let me know. Thanks, Carol Brown

Sept 4, 2010 Looks like I have 8 or 9 women now who will be starting on these dresses independently and then we are getting together to sew on Fri. Sep. 24th. I hope we get a lot done between now and the 24th, but who knows how fast it will go for them. I'll be in touch. Carol Brown

Sept 18, 2010 Lisa, Some of our ladies met Thursday night to get prepared for our big sewing day. Some have already started and we have 6 finished. We have about 25 pillowcases to do and twelve pieces of fabric. My goal is about 40 - 50 dresses by Oct 10th. Then we will keep sewing for the next group going in Nov.

I'm so thankful to the Lord to find something these women are excited about doing. I know young people don't understand, but some of these ladies are older, they have also lost their husbands and have health issues. They just can't go overseas for various reasons. They so desperately feel left behind when mission trips in foreign lands are talked about. Now, don't get me wrong, the women and men in the Branches class work locally in several different types of mission endeavors.

Just wanted to say, the pillowcase dresses give them a way to extend their hearts to the church in poor countries.

Another idea: My granddaughter had an idea about the little boys. She said, we could have t-shirts donated and just make colorful crop pants to go with them. If we had a few small groups bring solid t-shirts, maybe various color blues, then we could buy blue fabric prints for the crops and they would blend well together. Just a thought.

Also, I purchased a pattern from eBay,( which has not come yet) of children's scrubs. The pattern says it's sizes 2-8.

September Surgery

2010-09-22T21:14:00.016-05:00

Two years ago today, my nephew, Leeiii had brain surgery to correct Chari. Today, my husband had back surgery to correct a lumbar (L5) problem. We are home and he is resting comfortably - on drugs mind you and moving very very slowly. Thanks so much for all the prayers, calls and meals.

Sweet Couple

2010-09-20T21:13:00.000-05:00

Love this photograph

my sweet son, Wesley

and

his bride-to-be, Ashley

Is ROLL TIDE important?

2010-09-15T12:38:00.005-05:00

As I was blog rolling on my favorite sites, I ran across this POST from a girl who is attending the University of Alabama. Please read this view of Alabama Football.

I also had the privilege (America) of reading several posts from missionaries in Mundri, Sudan. Life is so Hard there in Sudan and I praise God that I have the opportunity love on and live with precious individuals from this little village in the jungle. Please read Bullen Timo's blog about ImParting Hope. Bullen wants to be used for God's Glory across the ocean in the jungles of Sudan where he lived for the first 20 years of his life. God lead us as we share YOU with the Nations!

Those Pants!

2010-09-13T13:04:00.000-05:00

As I was driving Bullen to school today, there was this very small girl crossing the street in front of us with pants on that were so tight (painted on) and thin legged.

Bullen said " Those pants are too young for her!".

The English language is so difficult.......

Youth Small Group!

2010-08-20T14:04:00.017-05:00

Heavenly Father, Thank you so much for a husband who wants to raise up a generation to glorify YOU!

Tell Rick Thank you again for teaching my kids! I got a note from one of Andrew's teachers. He did a report for English and his teachers were so impressed and pleased with how he stood up for his faith and how he wasn't afraid to let others know what he believed. Thought Rick would be proud of him. Becky Pitts.

Part to Whole Whole to Part

2010-08-18T10:26:00.003-05:00

Reckless Faith by Beth Guckenberger...... A must READ!

There are two kinds of learners

[1] Part to Whole [2]Whole to Part

Question: How many have no desire to volunteer for a committee or group project until you have established the purpose and final outcome?

Part-to-Whole's

Solve math problem meticulously leaving nothing undone & never reads the last page of a book first.

Whole-to-Part's

Wonder will I ever use this math in real life & will not read the book w/o strong recommendations and a sneak look at the last page.

Imagine a Whole-to-Part learner with these fact:

Having 'vision' means listening to the LORD and taking the next step in faith.
Vision is not knowing the end of the game ahead of time.
Having 'vision' means experiencing growth. In several years we will look back and think, "if I only knew then, what I know now".
Vision is listening to God and stepping out in faith on a path whose end I cannot see.
Vision is primarily seeing events and people from Christ's perspective. God sees people for who they are not what they are.
Vision is believing there is someone on the other side of the ceiling when we look up at night.
Vision is trusting that the call had a supernatural origin and not a logical explanation.
Vision is believing in the relationship we have with our Creator.

My life experiences are building within me principles that I need for God's next call.

Important Lesson:

I have learned ministry is not just your day job or mission trips. Sharing life with these guys has taught me that all my moments can be ministry; eating, cooking, washing, cleaning, and sharing every moment God provides us together.

Crazy Love!

2010-08-17T19:25:00.001-05:00

As I traveled to South Beach Miami two weeks ago - I took this book by Francis Chan with me to finish on the flight. On my return flight, I was on close to the end and a young individual [twenties] sat down beside me. What are you reading? Crazy Love. Is that a love story? Not between two people but a love story about loving God like crazy. The individual looked away. By the accent, I assumed I was sitting by someone from another country. ME: Where are you from? Guatemala. Oh Wow! I love love Guatemala and have traveled there 8 times to love on the Mayan Indians and orphans around Lake Attilan. This began our conversation about home, life, love, religion and who we worship. We talked the entire flight [I did not read the last chapter]. As our plane landed and was taxiing to the gate, I handed Crazy Love to this individual and told them to please please read this on your next flight to Connecticut.

Lord, Please use Crazy Love to bring glory to Yourself and draw this person close to You. I love You.

Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from the status quo? Are you hungry for an authentic faith that addresses the problems of our world with tangible, even radical, solutions? God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself. Because the answer to religious complacency isn't working harder at a list of do's and don'ts — it's falling in love with God. And once you encounter His love, as Francis describes it, you will never be the same.

Because when you're wildly in love with someone, it changes everything.

Praying the 6 D’s

2010-08-16T17:48:00.005-05:00

Whatever it takes, Lord, give me...

Delight in you as the greatest treasure of my heart.
Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

Desire to know you, be with you, and seek your kingdom above all else.
Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

Discernment that comes from a renewed mind that I might know your will.
But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:14)

Desperation because when I stop feeling my need for you I tend to wander.
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. (Psalm 119:67)

Discipline to plan for what I discern as your will.
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16)

Diligence to do your will with all my heart.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:5)

Billy Goat Ears

2010-08-14T07:21:00.001-05:00

In Alabama [the South], we have so many southernisms and we say them without even thinking. With two students from Sudan living in the house - they are so confused by these silly sayings. Several weeks ago, I had left them in the car while I ran into the store. When I returned to the car, I said "She talked the ears off a billy goat"! Bullen laughed and laughed at the saying. So several days later I went to pick them up from school and Bullen got into the car and stated, "that teacher has billy goat ears". I love it!

"He could talk the ears off a billy goat"

"Tighter than Dick's hatband"

"Fish or cut bait"

"Poop or get off the pot"

"Pot to pee in or a window to throw it out of"

"Beggars can't be choosy"

"He's about as useful as a tit on a boar hog"

"Took off like a scalded dog"

"Wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which one fills up faster"

"I've known him since he was knee-high to a coke bottle"

"Nervous as a whore in church"

"Colder than a welddiggers ---"

"Could break a steel ball with a rubber hammer"

"Queer as a three dollar bill"

Dumb as a box of rocks

"She is ugly as Homeade Sin"

"He's not the sharpest tool in the shed"

"Mad as a hornet"

"As cool as a cucumber"

"If you can't take the heat - get out of the kitchen"

Orphans

2010-08-12T16:41:00.000-05:00

What is happening to orphans right now as I write?

They are hungry.

They are eating trash.
They are chased away from the trash.

They are naked.

They are exhausted from running scared all the time.
They are tied up.
They live without shelter.
They live in fear of being abducted.
They live in fear of being eaten by wild animals.
They are raped.
They are prostituted.
They are beaten---in unimaginable ways.
They witness their friends being sold.
They live in fear being sold themselves.
They are forced to lie.
They steal out of necessity.
They are burned.
They are bruised.

Sometimes they wish they were never born.
They feel invisible.
They wonder why God doesn't like them.

They are crying out to the Lord because of their oppressor. Isaiah 19:20