Dog Gone Surprises

The title says it all. Our dogs took off again this weekend. We were all having fun in the back yard on Saturday when the lawn guy showed up to do his thing. We cleared on into the house and began the nightly routine of shuffling the kids to bed. We had already fed the dogs so they were set for the night. Our lawn guy finished and took off. He didn't come to the door to collect his money. That was a bit strange. Maybe he had some place to be. Sunday morning rolled around, and we were pressed for time. Our schedule was different today because I had nursery duty in the second service so we were in two cars. When I got home, David was grilling lunch and the kids were playing. No one was paying attention to the sleeping dogs because you can't when you're watching both kids by yourself. Later in the day we took out the garbage and found that the dogs were gone. How long, we don't know. I hopped in the car - not pleased to be looking for them AGAIN. I was mad at Matty. I was mad at the lawn guy (probably for no reason). I was mad that I wasn't heartbroken that they were gone. By the time I got back home it was too late to get signs. I posted a lost and found for them on the neighborhood web site and we headed off to bed frustrated. Monday I got up and went about the business of finding lost dogs. I put out some signs and within an hour we had the dogs back! That was a great surprise in this whole surprise me experiment. Thank goodness God concerns Himself with the little things!

Maria Chapman

I have been so sad about the Chapman's loss of their little girl.  I went to a blog that is set up for her and watched some video footage that was taken on a recent vacation and at home.  breaks my heart.  I tried to post this poem on their blog, but for some reason it didn't go thru.  So I thought I'd post it here.  

I've used this format for several poems.  It comes from a story that I heard from a Sunday School teacher a long time ago.  She told how her little 6 year old daughter was killed in a car wreck and how her husband, at the funeral said that even if God had said, "you can have this little girl for only 6 years" he still would have said yes.  That stuck with me all this time.  I have written several poems for my own kids and others using that phrase...."I would have said yes".  Not because they died, but just thru the hurdles we all go thru with our kids.  What if God told us about those before he gave us those children, would we have still said yes?  hmmm???  Anyway, here's the poem for Maria Chapman

I WOULD HAVE SAID YES!

Looking back

on 5 short years

Thru all the joys

And all the tears

I thought about

How life might’ve been

Had God not brought you

To us back then,

My reflections of

All the “what ifs….”

Filled my mind

With thoughts of this….

What if God asked

Our permission

To give us this child

he had envisioned

To be our child

To have and hold

To teach his ways

As they grow old

If God had said,

“knowing your child

as you know her

would you have said “yes”

If I had conferred?

If God had said

I’ve got a girl

Who came from 2 people

Somewhere in the world

Though not from your womb

But still from my hand

Do you want her to love

Do you think that you can

Love her so much

There’ll be no division

Between those you’ve birthed

And the one you’ve been given?

Will you love her when

She jumps on the bed

splashes around

And dresses up instead

Of going to sleep

When night becomes late

Can you show her my love

While you patiently wait

For her bedtime prayers

That turn into songs

And you’re tired

but you stay

cause it’s where you belong

And when she is five

And outside to play

As I’m watching and knowing

That this is the day

That she’ll come home

Just as I planned

Do you still want her

For such a short span

Yes, God,

you know what’s best

If  that is the cost

I would still say yes

Knowing Maria

For such a short time

was still worth it all

to watch her light shine

and even though

we cry with pain

We know  in our hearts

Maria remains.

Yes, Maria, we would have said “yes”.

 

 

Even Job knew about surprises

For God speaks again and again though people do not recognize it.  Job 33:14

Julie Sparks-Results

The sono went great. The baby looked perfect(as perfect as they can tell you based on a sono). The perinatologist felt very confident that we fall into the "false positive" range on the AFP test. 3 main indicators are often associated with Spina Bifida(at least 1 typically will show) in the brain, and none of those were there. The baby's spine looked fantastic, as well as everything else. Baby was measuring about a week ahead of schedule, again another wonderful indicator that leads them to believe the baby is healthy normal baby. Of course there is always the unknown, but both the specialist and my ob(after seeing him today as well) felt that we are no more at risk than anyone who came back with "normal" range results from the AFP test. 
We are thankful. He is faithful! Thank you for praying for us!

What Matters Most

Sometimes we look at ourselves

And wonder why we’re here

We see the image in the glass

And wish it were more clear

What did God think on the day

That He created me?

Here is a child, a boy, a girl

What are they meant to be?

Or did He say, “I just got bored

And had time on my hands

So I made this one

For no reason at all

I hope they understand.

Is the image I see the same for Him?

Does He wish I had been more

Have I fulfilled His creation plan

Is this what He had in store?

And though I try to do it all

I don’t seem to have a clue

All I know is that with Christ

My life comes into view.

When I look in the mirror

The reflection I see

Shows nothing I can boast

Not I but Christ and Him alone

Is what matters most.

From Julie Sparks

I wasn't going to say anything until Monday, but I just need to find peace about this. I was pretty peaceful yesterday, but woke up this morning feeling like train had hit me. I know there are such worse things in life....
but...
I'll start with this:
First, PT(praise the Lord), he is so good to me..
My sister recently sent me an email that had this in it, 
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13

I love that verse and it is so true. I prayed this more in about 5 minutes yesterday then I have in a long time...

So, Corbin and I get to the girls school, yesterday, around 1:45, about 15 minutes early today.
We play, get the girls, play some more.. I didn't take my phone in, just one more thing to loose with all the kids running around.

I parked illegally right in front bc I was so darn tired from a crazy busy yesterday and today. All the moms have left and we head to the car. I about have everyone in the car and Fred comes walking up. Ok, he works far away form here. I don't notice that he is whiter then normal or that he is not smiling..I simply say, "What are you doing here? Did the house sell?" Kids are screaming bc they see daddy! So happy they are.
Then he says, "Teresa called." I said, "Teresa who?" He said, "From the dr's office." Duh, this is my nurse I adore and am close to. I said, "Why". He said, "She said their might be something wrong with the baby." I say, "Very matter of factly, "What baby, I have the babies" as I wave my hand toward my small daycare center of children in the car.

He said, "The test you took yesterday came back and shows there maybe some type of spinal problems." Finally I clue in. I did the AFP blood test yesterday. I had already forgotten about it. It was a standard 16 week blood test on me, I did it with all the kids. I always forget about the test results....
So, he goes on to say they want us in for a sono asap. Sounds pretty serious to me. I look at him like, what about the kids. He said Teresa said she would watch the kids. Ok, are you kidding. We are on a starburst high bc that was the bribe of choice to get everyone in the car, and we are about to have a seriously drop in energy bc it is nap time. I call mom and she races over to the drs to sit with the kids. Then I look at him and say, "Well what do they want ME to do about it. I can't change it or do anything about it." Poor Fred and his overly practical wife!
You have to understand, it is all but a 5 minute drive from the school to the drs. That 5 minutes it hit me. What that might mean. I call Emily and ask her to pray and cry. Apparently the score we got back put us in a 1 in 15 chance of this diagnosis. 

I realize in that first 2 minutes of thinking of the baby and my family and trying to understand from Emily what it even is(She has a friend who's son was born with this) that I need to stop thinking and be praying. So that is what I did. So, fred waits for mom, about 7 minutes, while I go on in the office. I get my nurse and am so...bottom line with her. She had been crying, I could tell. She was honest with me. The Dr. comes in and we are waiting on Fred. I make him talk bottom line with me as well. I finally start crying. I think that was the 4th time he ever saw me cry, first 3 when we had the other kids(L&A are a package cry) 4th with my miscarriage. He was concerned and didn't soften the situation, but also said it could easily be a false +. Fred gets in there...Finally we do a sono, the dr stays in there during the sono. All actually, by the grace of God looks normal. 
The grace of God. I will come back to that. 

We go into his office, and he goes through all the 30 things it could mean. Some really bad, some not. One was un diagnosied twins! No worries...they looked:)
Some things he knew off the bat from the sono where not the case.. Others it could be...but like I could with the lottery kind of thing.

He is having us go to a specialist on Mon just to feel better. But was very reassuring that all was ok.

So, we leave there, lots of hugs and kisses. But still sick to my stomach.
I feel very at ease that this baby is ok. In the end it is how God designed this baby. I will feel better on Monday. But I am not stressed about it. Like I said, If something is wrong, what can I do. Nothing, but pray.

So, please pray for us as well. My appt is at 2:15 mon. 

The Grace of God...
Chloe is dancing to Amazing Grace in her ballet recital. We have been learning the words, verse by verse every night. Then we talk about what they mean. Explaining Grace to a 5 year old has been challenging. But now I understand it better today, then yesterday. The Grace of God. We don't deserve it, we shouldn't ask for it, but He gives it to us. For me, the Grace of God has been Him allowing me to hear such good news after such a sickening scare, allowing me to rely on Him before I knew anything other then the worst, allowing me to have faith that no matter what Monday brings, it is in His hands and not mine.
The Grace of God. Can you have a better gift? 



Thanks,
Julie T. Sparks 

rotated your crops lately?

  As I was listening to our Bible teacher Sunday talk about doing things, like evangelizing outside of our comfort zones, I thought about how incredibly smart God is.  Now I know that’s no big surprise to most of you, but I’m always amazed at really how simple God tries to make things for us. 

I know that probably none of us were/are farmers, but some of our parents or grandparents may have been.  So maybe we’ve never used the terms fallow ground or crop rotation in our everyday conversations.  A quick explanation, fallow ground is land that is usable but is left to lie dormant for a period of time to give it a chance to build the nutritional value back into the soil.  Crop rotation is another way that farmers do this but just planting different plants in the same soil.  They found that planting the same plants over and over in the same soil causes the plants to eventually become weak or not grow at all.  Just by changing the crop, say from corn to beans, it causes the soil to re-energize, if you will. 

As David was teaching yesterday, I thought about how God lets us go “fallow” or “rotates our crops” sometimes.  Things that used to get us fired up aren’t as exciting.  Things that used to work every time we witnessed to someone, don’t work quite as well.  We may feel like we’re just not being used like we were before.  Or that God isn’t listening to us anymore.  Or even that we’re past our prime and unusable.  No, I think that sometimes we get so used to planting the same seed in the same soil that God is trying to shake us up a bit.  So things that used to work don’t work anymore.  Maybe it’s time to give it a rest. This is when we perhaps move out of one type of service to another. Or we just begin to soak in the word for a while without “giving it all back out”.  

Your fallow or rotation and mine may be different.  I may need to take a year sabbatical to recharge.  You may just need a weekend retreat to get alone with God and see where he’s taking you.  Or maybe it’s not rest that you need but a change of service.   You may decide that foreign mission work is your new soil.  I may feel that teaching 3 year olds is mine. 

Now of course, we can take this concept to an extreme and never get back into service, but if your heart is right, you’ll be looking for the next place that God wants you. We must be careful about how long we lie fallow, because weeds love fallow ground.  Also fallow ground can become hardened.  We don’t want to have to do a lot of “tilling” or hoeing to get back into service.

The point is that fallow ground is usable.  It’s just a matter of using the rest and/or being willing to accept a new “crop” so that the value God has instilled in you is used again for His purposes.  

HOT HOT HOT

I was listening to Dr. David Jeremiah and Chip Ingram today and they were both talking about how God speaks to us.  One thing that was said was that if you want to hear a word from God you have to be where God speaks.  Now of course we know that God can speak to us anywhere, at any time, for any reason, thru any means.  But what he meant was it is difficult to hear a word from God if we’re not in a place where God’s word is heard. 

For example if we are in the habit of reading God’s word each day, going to church regularly, being around Christian influences, prayer, radio, friends, etc., we are more likely to hear a word from God than if we’re not. Right?  When we are out of fellowship with Him; when we aren’t reading the Bible, we’re not spending time in prayer; we lose touch with those friends who encourage us and keep us accountable, we are more likely to seek answers from people or things that are not of God. 

Now, again, let me say, that God can use any means necessary to speak to us.  I cannot limit God.  However, I don’t want God to have to yell to get my attention.  There are things that God can say so plainly and quietly when we are in His presence and in fellowship with him. 

It made me think about Krispy Kreme doughnuts.  I have a friend who is pregnant.  For any of you who have ever been pregnant, you know that there are these overwhelming urges to eat things that you may never eat otherwise.  My friend has had the urge to eat Krispy Kreme doughnuts.  She liked them before but now it’s an obsession.  She calls the store to see when they are going to be HOT and then goes to get one (or two). 

Now she could just go to the grocery store and pick up a box of Krispy Kremes. Or, she could just get a box of those little powdered doughnuts or the glazed ones at the bakery.  A doughnut’s a doughnut right?  WRONG!  Not if you’ve had a HOT Krsipy Kreme.  Not if you’re in the state of mind that nothing will fill that hunger and taste like a HOT Krispy Kreme. 

I think that sometimes as Christians, we don’t want to wait for the right (HOT) answer from God.  We’ll just go to Oprah, or a magazine, or Dr. Laura, or whatever and take the answer that we most like that will “fix” the situation temporarily.  The problem is, it doesn’t fix it.  We still have a hunger and an overwhelming need for the real thing, like a HOT Krispy Kreme.  If my friend went ahead and even bought a box of Krispy Kremes at the grocery store, she would still deep down, wish she had a HOT one right out of the oven dripping with that icing.  A powdered doughnut wouldn’t even come close to satisfying that urge. 

Let’s quit taking the substitute answers.  Let’s stay plugged in to God’s word to get our hunger met.  God’s word is HOT.  Accept no imitations.

But You are Lord

I was reading in your word today

How your children always fell away

Why couldn’t they see that you were always there

Holding out your hand telling them you care

But are we that different than children of old

We have more than ever yet our hearts are so cold

Why can’t we see that you are still there?

Holding out your hand telling us you care.

 

Just give me a job, Lord.  It’s all that I need.

I’ll praise your name if you’ll help me succeed. 

Yet I go to work while my family sleeps.  

Returning home to say, “sweet dreams”

But you are Lord, Lord.

 And the Lord says,

“Come to my table.  Eat ‘til you’re full

The cup’s overflowing. The banquet goes on

I made every planet; the sun moon and stars

Don’t you know those are trinkets

compared to your heart.

I am the Lord your God, I am the Lord your God.

 

“Lord, one more thing and then I’ll be done

There’s this house behind those gates

It’s the perfect one. If that were my house,

No one could deny --Jehovah Jireh

The God who provides.

 

If I can have that house, then I will know

You are the Lord. My giving will grow.

 Thank you Lord for a great place to live

As soon as it’s furnished, I’ll start to give.

But you are Lord, Lord

And the Lord says,

“Come to my table.  Eat ‘til you’re full

The cup’s overflowing. The banquet goes on

I made every planet; the sun moon and stars

Don’t you know those are trinkets

compared to your heart.

I am the Lord your God, I am the Lord your God.

 

 

I’m at the end, Lord. I shouldn’t be dying.

Life goes so fast. I thought there was time.

I’m sorry for always shortchanging you Lord.

For saying the right things but not doing more.

The things that I thought were going to last

Have all gone away so there’s nothing to ask.

 

Lord, are we like your children of old?

We ask, beg & plead for blessings untold

Why can’t we learn from your words in the past?

That only the praise we give you will last.

 

And the Lord said, Come to My table.

Eat ‘til you’re full.  The cup’s overflowing.

The banquet goes on.

I made every planet; the sun moon and stars

Don’t you know those are trinkets

Compared to your heart.

I am the Lord your God

I am the Lord your God

 

 

and the moral of the story.....

I have been reading thru the Old Testament since January on my way to reading thru the Bible this year.  I’ve attempted this many times in the past, but as with most disciplines, like dieting and exercise, I have given up by about Mid-March.  It’s mid April and I’m still going.  I’ll take that as a “surprise”. 

Over the last week or so, I’ve been so convicted and amazed at the patience and complete willingness to forgive that God has for His people.  If I’ve read once, I’ve read a thousand times, “and the people turned away from God and did what was right in their own eyes.”  But God….every time they prayed to him and asked for His help, He gave it.  Every time they said, “I’m sorry.  I promise not to worship other idols again.”  He forgave and granted their request.  He never said, “Nope, too late.  That was the last straw.”  Did He allow consequences to their sin?  Yes.  Did He allow them to go their own way? Yes.  He is not a dictator.   He is a father, who though He loves His children, will not force them to love Him back. 

While reading all of those stories of rebellion and repentance, I thought, how stupid can the Children of Israel be?  Can’t they see that when they worship the one true God, things go better and when they worship idols or allow their people to worship idols things go down hill fast. 

Then I thought about my own life.   How many times has God wooed me back to himself only to find me 2 months later back to worrying over a situation, wondering how we’re going to get thru this one; thinking those “if only “thoughts.  If only we had a better job.  If only we had a better house.  If only my kids were perfect.  If only I had more time.  If only my husband would pay more attention to me.  If only I had more money, more friends, more stuff, more, more.  Aren’t those the same as idols? 

Any time we take our eyes off of God and His provision we are looking at an idol.  Not saying we don’t have to work or provide for our family or even be concerned over a particular situation.  It’s when we let those things consume our every waking moment.  Many times it’s late in the game before we look up and say, “Oh yeah.  I have a heavenly Father, who already knows this outcome.  He already has a plan for me.”  Sometimes, because we wait so late to come to that realization, we have suffered many consequences that could have been avoided.   Just like the children of Israel. 

I’m learning that God’s word is not just a storybook.  It is a lesson book for us….TODAY.  Sometimes we can hear or read those Old Testament stories so much that they just seem like something from Grimm’s Fairy Tales with a moral at the end.  These are not fairy tales and it’s more than a moral at the end.  The point of these lessons is that God is still God and people are still free to love Him or not.  But we have the truth in writing in every one of our homes to remind us of the limitless power of our Father.

This is nothing new

I found these verses that reminded me that even Paul dealt with the Oprahs of the world.

"Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.  Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.  On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.  And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.  The god of this age, has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake.  For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness" made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."  2 Corinthians 4:1-6

This is soooo where Oprah and her followers get lost....We are not God.  We are only the reflection of His Son.  It's He who shines thru us, not ourselves.  

Oprah vs God

Someone sent me a link today.  I know that some of you are huge Oprah fans.  I believe she is one of the most, if not the most powerful woman in the world and has done some incredible things in the name of humanity.    Someone suggested she run for president.  I believe she would lose some of her power by doing that because she would be restricted by the constitution and the people.  Right now she has free reign to not only believe whatever she wants, but espouse whatever she wants.  Of course, we feel that everyone has that right.  The problem is because of her power, she is leading millions of mostly women off a cliff.  Please watch this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW4LLwkgmqA

 It is not only scary, but sobering.  What are we as Christians doing to counter these beliefs that are permeating our lives?   By doing what we, as Christians are supposed to be doing, helping the downtrodden, the lonely, the unlovely, Oprah and people like her...the "Brangelinas" of the world are taking credit for what we were called to do.  I'm talking to myself here.  I am guilty of living in my own comfort zone, just turning Oprah off.  Turning her off is no longer enough.  We, the followers of Jesus Christ who say that He is the only way and that He died that we might live eternally, must stand up.  

I know that we have many missionaries and lay people who are trying to accomplish extraordinary things in some incredibly dire straits.  What would happen if we gave them the support, financially, physically, prayerfully that we give Oprah?  I tell you what would happen.  It would soon be "Oprah who?"  

I know the missionaries and lay people are not doing God's work so that they can get the acclaim that Oprah does, I'm just saying can we help them do the work they have been called to do, so that GOD gets the acclaim that Oprah does?    

Remember Satan is not a scary, ugly monster.  He is beautiful and loves to imitate all the things of God.  The problem is it's only temporary, not eternal.  He is the great deceiver.  He wants the world to believe that Oprah and her followers are the "real deal".   Please stand up, turn her off and TUNE GOD IN.  

and the "TONI" goes to......

Well, what a weekend I had (and I hope you did too). We had our women's retreat at Prestonwood with Lisa Harper. Our Bible lesson Sunday was awesome with David talking about how evangelizing is really about building relationships. Relationship is the hinge that swings the door to the gospel. Pastor Graham then basically followed up that lesson with I Peter 2:1-12.
....abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God ont he day he visits us.

His point was and the title of his sermon : "living in HD" High definition. We live our lives in the real world for all to see and people see every flaw we have, because life is in High Definition like the new TV's we're all buying. 

As the pastor was preaching, my mind began to sort of extrapolate, which is a very spiritual word for wander, into what does it mean to live in High Definition and the controversy that we all find ourselves in as Paul did in Romans 7:15-20. I won't write it all here. It's that whole monologue Paul gives about the things I want to do I do not do and the things I don't want to do I do....

Well, that got me thinking about how much of our change when we become Christians is permanent. The word permanent when you look in the dictionary says: existing perpetually; everlasting; without significant change. But when I hear the word permanent and I think about my own life I think of a Toni Perm. 

For those of you over the age of 45 +/-, if you didn't have a Toni Perm growing up, you were one of the lucky few. Every summer from about 1966-1969, my mother would have my hair cut in a "pixie" and give me a Toni. Now my question is if permanent means everlasting, why did I have to get one every summer? Well, it's that old contradiction in terms. It's a temporary permanent. hmmm? I think that's what we are sometimes. We're "Toni" Christians. We try do what is right for a little while, but sooner or later, we go back to our old self and we have to have another "permanent" applied. For a little while, we're all curly and bouncy but pretty soon the roots start to grow which makes part of the hair straight because that part wasn't affected by the "perm". Eventually just the ends of the hair have a little bounce left, but they start to look pretty fried compared to the new straight hair. So people start to say, hmmm? I guess she has straight hair after all. 


What else are we applying a "Toni" perm to? Our marriage? our child rearing? our friendships? our relationship with God? We know that we will not be totally, permanently transformed until we meet him face to face, but can we strive to not let the permanent fall out? Can we at least not struggle with the same sin over and over? Don't I pray so? I'm afraid it's a root problem. . Can we permanently treat the roots so that when they start to show, they come in curly too? I think I would be a millionaire if I could come up with that one (including for hair color). Romans 11:16 says: If the root is holy then so are the branches. Holiness is what we must strive for in order for the roots to bring forth real permanent change.

I pray that our lives become permanently fixed on HIM. That's the only permanent we need!!!

Love you all,

Lisa

"People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated." D. A. Carson

The Inspiration

I am in the middle of reading a book called "Surprise Me God".  It's written by a man who decided that instead of giving God his grocery lists of needs and desires as usual, he would let God surprise him.  I have found this book fascinating and thought it would be fun and inspirational to do this with some of my friends.  

I would suggest buying and reading the book first "Surprise Me God" by Terry Esau.  I'd love for everyone to participate by publishing your thoughts here.  It'll will such a blessing to hear how God "surprises" each of us.  

Looking forward to hearing from you all soon,

Lisa