Joy and Pain

I have to speak with utter joy regarding my youngest. Don't get me wrong -- I honestly have no favorites. Each child of mine is precious to me and has a special place in my heart -- conversely, each child has their own unique habit that drives me nuts! I call each and every one "my favorite." With this last child, who I know is my last (unless God Himself wishes to reverse effects of surgery), I've learned to grasp and cherish every nuance.

For instance, this past Sunday, I was teaching Kid's Church. My youngest goes with me almost everywhere, and as per his custom, he came to class with me. At the beginning of the class, he somehow fashioned a dog out of flat pieces of sticky foam. He proceeded to disrupt the class by continuously saying, "Arf, arf, arf, arf, arf...", well, you get the idea. The other children were giving this little bundle of MY joy "the eyeball".

I looked at him and said, "Oh, puppy's asleep." He flipped the "dog" down onto the table and proceeded to make a snoring sound! Everybody started laughing -- he found his audience, and played it up to perfection. Suddenly, he made another sound, then started it all over again: "Arf, arf, arf, arf,,,," well, again -- you get the idea. I looked at him, gave him a look and said, 'Puppy REALLY needs his sleep, honey."

Down went the "dog", cue the snoring, and then, I finally got a grasp of the sound he made: "Ir, ir-ir, ir-irrrr!" What a rooster! What barking that followed! I asked my favorite child (the second born one) to let me borrow a specific toy of his. I proceeded to make my own noise: that of a race car, as I ran over the "dog". "Uh-oh, doggie's dead."

My favorite child (the babe of the family) looked at me amidst the laughter of the children, looked at the children, and then he looked at me again. I braced myself for the sound that only competes with that of a siren. That didn't happen, thank God! No, instead we heard yet again: "Arf, arf, arf, arf....", well, yet again, YOU get the idea!

As I write this, he has placed his bicycle helmet on his head, and has been using a plastic hanger from Wal-Mart as his handlebars, as he's riding an imaginary MOTORCYCLE, while forcing my favorite child (my daughter) to hang onto him, and run behind him as he VROOM-VROOOM'S all over the house. Earlier today, he placed a washcloth on his head and exclaimed that he was a "PIRATE". Following his time of conquering the stuffed animal shark which sat in the middle of the living room, he became a monkey, pointed to my favorite child (my first born) and said, "You a tree, I a monkey!" The other day, he "drove" to work in the back yard; he made a point to kiss me good bye, tell me he was off to work and that he loved me. He "worked" in the sand box for a time, and then burst through the door, shouting, "I'm HO-OME!"

I rushed up to him, gave him a big kiss, and said, "I've missed you!" He glanced up at me, wiped off the kiss and said, "I a dog -- arf, arf, arf,,,," well, you,, uh ,,, know by now.

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Now onto the thing that pains me. I cannot get over how vicious the attacks are hurling during this recent election. Now, I know that political insults have occurred since the early days of politics: a prime example is when Grover Cleveland was running for president, and it was discovered that he fathered a child out of wedlock. The cry during the campaign was "Maw, Maw, where's my Paw?" The Cleveland Campaign was no less discreet, and spread the word about a controversial statement that his opponent's friend had said. Because of gossip, he almost did not win the election; however, because of innuendo, Cleveland won the election, and the answer to the call, "Maw, Maw, where's my Paw?" was "He's off to the White House, haw, haw, haw!"

In another thought, everyone should know that actors involved in politics can be a lethal mix: just look at John Wilkes-Booth, the actor who assassinated President Lincoln.

Now, let's move forward. I don't know about most people, but I've heard nasty stuff on both sides. I honestly don't know what Sarah Palin has done to arouse the complete and utter hatred shown by the Entertainment set, and it pains me that people can be so outright vicious to someone who by all appearances is an honest and decent person. First we have Whoopi Goldberg stating on a site that she's "afraid" of Sarah Palin. Then we hear how Matt Damon is "afraid" of a woman who believes in a young earth. SO? To most people who study science and the Bible, that makes total and utter sense. I'll have to write a future blog on science and the Bible. Then, we get Tina Fey (I have to admit, that I laughed hysterically during the last sketch featuring the Palin/Biden "debate".) with her thoughts on Sara Palin.

Next, we get inundated with Sara Berhardt (I thought she fell off of the face of the earth), who says that Sara Palin should be "gang-raped" by guys in NYC. Now, we have Madonna, who changes worse than a chameleon to fit her purpose (does anyone remember her matching drapery-inspired dress and shoes complete with an up do and glasses to read her children's book to the children?), yelling that if Sara Palin comes to "her city" (which one -- London, New York City, or the town she originally hailed from) that she will kick a certain part of Sara Palin's anatomy. Sara Palin's accent, her mothering abilities, her intelligence, and so much more have been attacked to a degree that far exceeds normal politics.

I find this talk completely unnecessary and only divisive to our country.

I keep wondering, how can Matt Damon, Madonna, and all of these types tell ME what is best for me? If they want to do something to help this country, then why don't they give back ten million bucks a film to their adoring public, instead plopping down 200 dollars for a onesie?" When did being pro-life and being a Christian become a point of being a detriment to getting elected? We were founded as one nation under GOD. It pains me to see that those who love life -- all life -- are getting raked over the proverbial coals. The normal person cannot afford botox, private jets, private nannies, et al. Celebrities don't speak for me. And I wish they'd stop.

IF these politicians want to help the deficit, then why don't they stop spending money tearing each other down, and use those hundreds of millions of dollars raised to help out those in need? Hillary Clinton is 50 million dollars in debt due to her failed election bid.

The internet is being used as a battlefield, where rumor and innuendo are treated as fact. There's something wrong, here.

Personally, I think that instead of hearing all of this garbage by famous people who wouldn't know the price of a gallon of gas if they rode past the gas station in their limos, and extra commentary by pundits who are clearly in favor of one particular candidate, each candidate should be able to to have a certain amount of time on national television to make their case for why they should be elected WITHOUT any attacks on the other person. There should not be any extra commentary restating what that candidate "said", and why we should or should not believe that candidate. All that should be stated are facts, not this extra garbage -- when I learned about news, it was stressed that we needed to be balanced in our reporting -- we were not allowed to air our personal views.

Obama has stated from the beginning that electing McCain would be like electing Bush for four more years. Anyone who knows about McCain and Bush know that there is no love lost between the two, because they are so different. Now questions are being brought up about Obama's past associations, and the "FOUL" cries are going up left and right. I guess it depends upon who is making the accusations.

You know what I really want from these candidates? I just want to know where they stand on the issues -- I want them both to cut through the rhetoric, the name calling, the bashing, and to finally state in exact terms what they wish to do to try to improve this country -- without playing the "blame game". Instead, everyone gets their idea of politics from Comedy Central and Saturday Night Live, and rely upon other people to do their thinking for them.

Too bad that no one is calling upon the name of the LORD.

What a Clean House you have!

I teach the teen class on Wednesday nights, and the teen room was cluttered from the Fall Fest that our church recently had. So the teens and I played some music and cleaned it out. Why is that important? It happened to fit in perfectly with my lesson with the teens: Make room for Jesus.

I asked the teens to compare their regular house with their "house" -- their bodies, the temple of Christ. There was the typical joking, but then I hope I touched them with this illustration as to why you should fill your life with things of Christ.

I somehow brought up the story in the Bible where Jesus talks about casting a demon out of a person. Well, that demon just hovers around, looking for a body to inhabit. No luck, so it goes back to its original house and discovers that house empty. It goes out and gathers seven other demons and inhabit that empty house.

When I first read that in the Bible, I explained, I was upset, because I didn't understand the use in casting a demon out of a person or asking sin to leave my life, if I'm only going to end up worse! Then God pointed out one... important... word... in that teaching by Jesus. The demon found the house EMPTY. That means, plain and simple, that the person did not fill up the house with Jesus; so that means there was no one to guard the door of that person's heart.

Pointing around the room, I said, "You can clean up this entire room, take out the seats, the tables, the wall treatments -- even the electrical outlets and lights. And that room will be clean -- spotless, even. But -- that clean, empty room will not be of any use to anyone. That's the same with your personal house. If you turn your backs from doing the wrong things, and clean all of that out of your lives, but don't fill it up and make room in your heart for Jesus, then what use are you to the kingdom of God? I urge you to fill up your lives with Jesus, and He'll give you a purpose, and He will protect you from the one on the other side of the door, knocking to try to get you to do what you should not be doing."

I had them pretend our classroom was a "cleaned house", but one that has Jesus living in it. I pretended I was Jesus at the door, while they knocked on the outside door. I wouldn't let them in. I hope they got the point. So,,, what state is your heart in? Personally, I'm praying to help me take out bitterness, unforgiveness and replace it with love, gentleness, true forgiveness and more of Him.

Sacrifices of the heart

I took a few days off of blogging, as Sundays are busy for me, and yesterday, I got caught up playing a game on the internet. I do that sometimes to shut down my mind. It's always going with different ideas, and so I'll play a game on agame.com to wind it all down.

So I get back on and hear such horrific news about a man in Los Angeles who shot and killed his entire family -- mother-in-law included -- and himself. He's been unemployed for some time, and I guess became despondent over the recent financial difficulties facing the country. Another man in Nebraska gave up his NINE children at a hospital so that they could be taken care of. My heart cries for these poor souls who feel as though there is no hope!

It reminds me of stories my mother and grandmother told me. My mother's father died when Mom was young, yet my Gram kept the house running and everything together. Numerous people -- even Gram's own sisters - told Gram to give up my mother and her underage siblings to an orphanage. Gram refused and said that she would trust the Lord would help her, as long as she'd try her best. He provided for Gram and her family. My grandmother came from a wealthy family with a maid and all, yet she learned to plant gardens, to can, to sew and to work jobs that her sisters thought were beneath a woman of breeding. My grandmother always told me what ever I faced in life, that if I did my part, God would do His. I learned tenacity from that woman, and even though she died at the ripe old age of 95, I miss her every single day.

At any rate, my mother used to tell me of a family that lived down the street from them who faced similar circumstances. The father of the family died, leaving the lady of the house alone to take care of her children. She later gave up the children to an orphanage, but not before getting an assurance that she herself could work at the orphanage; the children all grew up and understood the sacrifices their mother made.

To get through this hard time for the entire world, we must all make some sacrifices; HOWEVER, I urge anyone who may stumble upon this blog to NEVER GIVE UP. Please, do not think for one millisecond that suicide is the answer to this problem! NOTHING is so bad that you have to consider suicide as the answer --and I know, I've been broke, forsaken, unloved. You name it, I've been through the gamut. Even as a pastor's wife, it gets so very lonely. HOWEVER, I am NEVER alone.

And if you're reading this, and am downhearted, then my friend, I urge you that instead of giving up, give it all over to the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in His word: "Take my yoke upon you, for my burden is light." And He's so right. I've lived without Christ, and that's when life seemed the least worth living -- even though I had money at that time. Do I face troubles? Every single day. However, knowing that everything comes together for good to them who love the Lord, knowing that NOTHING shall separate me from the love of Christ Jesus, knowing that there's a better day coming if I trust that He will give me what I need, all helps me to keep strong in the turmoils that beset us all.

We need to stop thinking that money is the answer to our problems and realize that money is just a tool to help us help others. In the words of Corrie Ten Boom: "There is no pit too deep that God is not deeper still." God WILL help you out of the pit -- you must dare to have hope in the midst of hopeless times.

My little business

I'm having fun writing a blog... I never thought I'd get into this, but I've been pushing that little button at the top of the blogs - "next blog", and I've discovered some cool places. There's somebody who's a "scrabookaholic" and there's a wonderful photographer out there in blogger space, whose brides end up getting pregnant -- must be in the water, he says. It's amazing how many different ideas and how much creativity is out there! Wow!

I was thinking about how people talk about their business, so I guess I have that ability to speak about mine. I have a printing/tee-shirt printing and design business. It all got started not so long after 9/11.

A year previously, my husband got hit head-on by a person who was talking on their cell phone. My hubby actually died three times on the way to the hospital, ended up in the hospital for 28 days, and now cannot walk like he used to. He can't run and is in pain every single day. This all happened while I was pregnant with my beautiful daughter. It was hard, but our church where we were living at the time was absolutely wonderful, and through God's help, we pulled through it all.

At any rate, I was working as a pharmacy tech at the time, and not having a very nice time with the new manager, when 9/11 happened. A very frightening occurrence, being that we lived a mere hour's train ride away from the city, and I had close relatives who live in the city. It was a horrendous time for our country. I was glued to the television screen, tears streaming down my face. It was like everything was raining down at once: my husband's accident, the birth of our daughter, my having to work away from her to get a pittance of money into the home, then the attack on our country -- it all rained down hard, like a torrent that flooded my innermost being.

Even in the midst of our darkest sorrows, the Lord is faithful and just to shine through the darkness and shine the light to a better tomorrow.

In that moment of sorrow, I used some photos, used text of my own, and created a shirt to show our support and sadness about what happened at The World Trade Center. I bought a five-pack of tee-shirt transfer paper at my store, and ironed on the design with my household iron. I placed the design on shirts for my family, and we wore the shirts to church that week. Someone asked me where I bought the shirt. When I told the lady that I created the shirt, she said that maybe I had found what God had in store for me to do, so that I could stay at home to take care of my children and husband, and make money doing it.

I never sold that first design, as I would have felt horrible making money from such a disaster. I remember saying that if God wanted me to design shirts, He'd have to give me some ideas, AS WELL AS teach me how to be an artist, as I never considered myself to be an artist as much as I considered myself to be a writer and voice-over whiz.

Suddenly, ideas started coming to me -- waves and waves of ideas. Before I married my husband, I was a copywriter and a voice-over artist; I had never considered myself an artist -- besides, my sister could paint and draw circles around me, as she's a "real" artist. But there they were, what I believe were God-given ideas, so I started drawing those ideas, coloring them in on the computer, and started selling some shirts here and there. Most asked me to create something special for them. I've learned quite a bit, yet there's so much to learn.

Since 2001, I've added full-color printing, utilizing my high-end photocopier. I've done memory cards, business cards and brochures, letterheads, ticket books, Christmas cards, and so much more. Just this week, I got a spiral binder machine. I've still got a long way to go to get where I want in this business world (for instance, I'd love to have a web-site), but with God's help, all will work together for good.

I don't "excel" at some things

Sometimes, I don't like that Proverbs 31 woman. I try to be like her, but I don't quite get to be that woman of grace, beauty and brains. I write this as I sit in my sweat pants and bare feet. The Proverbs 31 woman would NEVER be caught at the computer in her bare feet! I bet if that Proverbs 31 woman were alive today, she'd be able to handle practically anything...

Have a dinner party for 300? No problem! The house is spotless, anyway, she's so perfect! I noticed in the Word why she's so perfect -- she has servants! One of my friends (I believe it was Marie) stated, "Don't forget, YOU have servants, too -- Whirlpool, Hoover, Frigidaire..." At any rate, I bet if that Proverbs 31 woman were here, she'd be able to handle mail merging with Excel - no problem at all!

My wonderful hubby is president of the local business chamber, and the secretary had trouble with mail merging from excel. My husband brought home the list, determining to help her complete the task. Hours later, he STILL hadn't merged anything. As a wife who tries to be a helper to her husband, I volunteered to find out more about excel. I looked up this wonderful little FREE course on the internet, and got to work. Nothing about mail merging. RATS! All the while, my children (who usually run as soon as I get a moment away from them during homeschool hours) wouldn't stop hovering around me. "Hey, Mom - I got done with my handwriting... what next?"

The only thing of importance I've figured out in this merging search is that the key to my children becoming eager beavers during school hours is to get busy on something important for either my husband or myself.

I did find out that I had to label the cells to create a mail merge, but that's as far as I could get; the pressure to have my daughter read to me and my son to stop digging into the potato chips outweighed the merging of the mail, and I apologetically passed the torch back to my hubby.

Within fifteen minutes, while my daughter was reading about a crying dog, fox, rabbit and boy, my husband burst forth from the office and proclaimed, "You almost had it, Becky -- the mail merge is now complete!"

Victory is ours! The potato chips were saved (only to be stolen later by the baby of the family), the children got their schooling in, and even though I didn't completely save the day (I forgot to put on my "Supermom cape"), there's a certain amount of pleasure in knowing that I had a small part in helping my hubby get the job done.

Chuck Bently has it on the money

As a homeschooling mother, I usually don't get to listen to the radio during the day. Goodness, I'll be lucky if I get to change into nice clothes, because I usually hit the ground running, because if I sleep in too late, my children, who could be named, "Brooding Storm", "Hurricane Category 4", "Ms. Tornado", and "Little Mister Typhoon" could make me rue the fact that I did so! But then, that's a whole other post for this blog.....

At any rate, I was on my way to my first ever appointment at a chiropractor's, when I turned on my radio. I was about to place my Newsboys CD into the player when I heard a person named Chuck Bently on the radio. He's on Crown.org. He took over for the late Larry Burkett's show, "Money Matters." What he said spoke directly into my spirit, and I needed to share it.

Did anyone notice that the major component missing in all of this trying to solve the whole economic disaster is the MAJOR component that we as a nation should come together to do: PRAY and seek God's face and wisdom in this matter.

I sure have, and so has Chuck Bently.

He said that we've omitted God from the equation, and we need to ask God to turn our hearts over to Him. Chuck stated that we as Christians need to run contrary to the world and form a grassroots movement to:
1) Turn to Him
2) Get our personal house in order
3) Create the "New American Dream" of LIVING WITHIN OUR MEANS.

Wow! Living within our means! What a concept congress, the country and the world has missed out on. It says in the Word that whatever we are beholding to is of what, therein we are slaves. We need to get out from under the bondage of credit card debt (and I don't mean by declaring bankruptcy), the bondage of wanting more and more and more, while having less and less and less to pay for these items. It means saying no -- to our children, the ads on the television and radio, and mostly to ourselves.

It says in the Word that God will take care of our NEEDS according to His riches in glory. Funny, I never saw anything about wants, although I'm sure He fulfills our desires beyond our wildest imagination. It also says that we as Christians are NOT to WORRY. We are not to worry about what we will eat, drink or wear -- that is what the world worries about. BUT, our FATHER in Heaven WILL take care of all of our NEEDS. What a wonderful Father!

We Christians have to step up and be the leading force, showing a world terrified by this economic disaster that there is NO reason to fear!

Chuck Bently has called for a fast from October 14th through November 23rd to ask for God's wisdom, Divine guidance, and Repentance. He's based that upon II Chronicles 7:14: "If my people, who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." My own husband preached that one verse for over a month -- God feels it's THAT important that we all humble ourselves. Anyway, Chuck also said that after the fast, that we should have a week of Feast and Thanksgiving for God's provision, followed by a National Day of Generosity on November 30th.

Chuck is right -- we need to stop waiting for someone else to help us -- Church leaders need to LEAD -- and by that, they need to point to our Father God in Heaven as the answer to our need. I plan on fasting and becoming humble before the Lord,,, I humbly ask that you do the same.

Support Your Local Pastor

The title of my blog is "Proverbs 31 woman... in training." From that title alone, one could surmise that I am a woman who is imperfect, yet striving to be a better person through Christ. I will share with you that I am also a pastor's wife. I strive to be as good a helper of the Lord, as well as my dear husband. I wrote my thoughts... I'm thinking of writing to the editor of my local paper with this one.





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SUPORT YOUR LOCAL PASTOR

October is officially, “Pastor Appreciation Month.” As a pastor’s wife, I can assure anyone that my husband does appreciate the beautiful cards that we have received through the years. However, let me state the ways in which most Pastors feel truly appreciated.

The first task of any parishioner is to pray for their pastor. Assuredly, your pastor prays for you. There’s a certain pressure on a pastor; eyes look more closely at pastors to see if they’re staying honest. A pastor needs prayer to rise above the temptations that beset every single human being on the planet. Pastors need prayer as they go into spiritual warfare for their sheep, and as they prepare the word to give to the flock. And while you’re at it, pray for your brothers and sisters in the faith; prayer truly changes things for the better.

Secondly, appreciate your pastor by reading your Bible. Quit expecting the pastor to spoon-feed you the Word. It has been said that “knowledge is power;” if you read your Bible every day, the power you will receive to live and function is this world will truly be powerful. Also, if you read the Bible, you will not be tricked into believing a false doctrine, and you will not get offended by the truth that pastors must sometimes mete out when they see a wrong being done.

Speaking of offenses, a really wonderful way to appreciate your pastor is to quit complaining. If you attend a small church, instead of complaining about a lack of children’s programs, youth programs, or a program that you feel your church should have, step up to the plate, dig in, and help make that program come to pass. If you attend a large church, quit complaining about how there’s no place for you. Make friends with those in the department that you’d wish to be a part of, be ready to volunteer, and with time, you will be trusted to take on more and more responsibilities. Quit complaining about the length of the service; if you’d go to Disneyland, you would be waiting in line longer than the duration of a complete worship service.

Another way that you can appreciate your pastor is to tithe. Yes, I’m talking about money, and no – that’s not all churches think about. But if you don’t tithe, then how in the world are those programs that you’d like to see at your church going to come to pass? When the church asks you to pay a tithe, they are not asking for all of your paycheck – they’re only asking for ten percent; Uncle Sam asks for more. And, in all reality, it is not the church that asks for a tithe; it is written in the book of Malachi. Besides, the majority of money that goes to a church pays for the electricity, the heat, the air conditioning–all of those wonderful items that help to make your time at church a more enjoyable experience, or to help someone who encounters a financial emergency.

Fifth, to appreciate the pastor, please respect the pastor’s family. Most times, your pastor’s spouse met and fell in love with the person behind the collar; most spouses did not go to Bible College. If the pastor’s spouse did not know Scripture before, they will definitely make sure they know Scripture almost better than their spouse within two years of the pastor’s tenure. Please don’t criticize the spouse if they work outside of the home, or if the house is not pristine. Please don’t criticize the pastor’s spouse if they stay at home and have a pristine home. Please don’t criticize the pastor’s spouse if the children are too perfect, or if the children are not perfect enough.

Come to think of it, the pastor’s children did not go to Bible College, either; they’re in the midst of being trained up in the way that they should go. So, please, do not judge the children if they belch or go to the kitchen to get a cup of water because they’re thirsty. They’re only children; and in small churches, your pastor and spouse no doubt could call your place of worship their second home. If your pastor and spouse are leading worship, don’t look condescendingly at the children if they don’t sit perfectly still; sit beside the children and help support the pastor’s family. Ask the pastor to watch the children so your pastor can get a date night with their spouse.

Lastly, pray some more. Your pastor is the one you call in the middle of the night when there’s been an accident or sickness or death. Your pastor is the one who will travel to the hospital at a moment’s notice to make sure you’re okay and comforts you as you shed tears of sorrow or joy. Your pastor is the one who stays up late in the night following your telephone call praying for you. Your pastor is the one who is trying to help you if you need a helping hand. Your pastor is the one who is doing more than speaking a few flowing words of encouragement and admonition on Sundays, your pastor is at the front of the spiritual battleground, doing battle on your behalf. Please help lift up your pastor so that your pastor – and the pastor’s family -- can stand longer and stronger on your behalf. If you follow these few instructions, then your pastors will truly know that you appreciate them.