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Laying Hands=Praying Hands

Do you lay hands?  Do you pray over your family and friends?  No?  Then keep reading...

My first real experience came when I was in Peru for the first time.  We were hiking through the Andes Mountains when we came across a small mud hewn hut.  There were three women standing out front.  Two of them were probably in their mid 30's.  The other woman was in her late 60's.  In the yard was a little girl no more than three playing in the dirt.  As we walked upon their little house the older women ran to meet us.  She had tears in her eyes and she began to speak.  Her words were quiet and soft, but full of intention.  She spoke in Quechua to our translator.  We had no idea what she was saying, but we felt it.  One by one, each of the members of our team started to surround the woman.  The other women in the yard came and joined us.  We quietly stood and listened as the translator spoke to the women.  Then, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, we reached out and touched the woman.  We prayed.  She prayed.  Neither one of us understanding each other, but spiritually speaking, we were completely in sync. 

No one walked away from that experience with dry eyes.  The Holy Spirit was among us.   And not one walked away feeling the same.  Here we were a bunch of Americans walking through the mountains, and there God found us.  God met this lady right where she was.  Broken, desperate, and yearning for more.  More of Him. 

I have learned that laying hands is a gift that God has given us.  Laying hands when people are sick.  Lay hands when people need comfort.  Lay hands when people feel weak.  Lay hands when people are afraid.  Lay hands when people are hurt.

Laying hands is powerful.  I have felt the Holy Spirit’s presence.  His overwhelming power.  Once while riding in a van in Peru a friend had an anxiety attack.  There was no stopping the van.  After all, our driver didn’t look more than 15 years old.  The only thing we could do was pray.  We laid hands on her and prayed like never before.  We prayed for comfort and peace, and stillness.  Jesus showed up, my friend felt relief and comfort. 

My mom recently had surgery.  Before she went into the operating room, I laid hands and prayed.  The Holy Spirit showed up. 

We’ve laid hands on expectant moms and prayed them into their new adventure.  Prayed for a safe delivery and a peaceful motherhood.

I have laid hands on my sick children, my husband’s business trip.  You can lay hands on your teenage drivers car.  Lay hands on a physical building, a church, your home, and a new business. 

Sometimes at night I tiptoe in my kids room.  Quietly, sneaking through the strewn Legos and monster trucks.  I walk up to their bed and gently lay hands on my sweet kiddos.  I pray over them.  I pray for the day and their attitudes.  I pray for their futures and their wives.  I pray that I can be the best mommy I can be for them.  I pray that they show me grace and I show them the same.  Laying hands is powerful. 

My Quechua women had been praying for help to happen upon them.  Their tiny little village was under a dark spirit.  There had been much destruction and killing in her village.  She had been praying for help.  She just didn’t know that help showed up in the form of white faces and hands.  The power of prayer does not have a language barrier.  The power of prayer has no borders. 

I do not have a special power, or claim to be a healer of the sick.  My hands are no more special than your hands.   But I also know, that when we pray, the Holy Spirit shows up.   I believe that Jesus can do anything!!

Will you be so bold in your faith to lay hands?

2 Timothy 1:6

For this reason I remind you to fan into the flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands

Words for Thought

Words.
Lets play a little game.  I say a word and you think of the first thing that comes to your mind.  Ready...Ok...
Love.
Peace.
Joy.
Hate.
Anguish.

With each of those words, you probably felt something.  Maybe a distant memory came to the forefront.  Maybe a recent incident was rehashed.  Maybe you felt warmth.  Maybe you felt pain.  Maybe you got a mental picture.

Words make you feel, good or bad.   They have the ability to make you who you are.   Words can define you.  They can cut you down or raise you up. Words speak truth and words tell lies.

Have you ever had someone tell you your outfit looks great?  Wow, I love your necklace!  Or my personal favorite, Have you lost weight?  These are all things that make us feel good.  Lifts our spirit.  Puts a spring in our step.  Then we feel more inclined to pay it forward.  Give someone else a compliment.  Words are encouraging.  Words are powerful. 

Words can be harmful.  They can cut us deep.  A simple statement can rip us to the core.  I have recently felt this, like I had been punched in the stomach, the wind knocked out of me.  Words can hurt.    Some blurt out of hate, some blurt out of anxiety.  Some just don't get "it" at all.  Words can stay with us a life time.  We can hang on to the words someone said and the feelings linger.  Words can change us.   

What we do with our words are what is important.    We should speak truth out of love, and compassion.    The old saying,"what would Jesus Do" comes to mind.  How would he react to a situation, to hurt feelings, or miscommunication?  Life is too short and too precious to leave with words unspoken.  Listen to the tug in our heart to speak words.  The Holy Spirit prompts us to speak.  There is already too much negative in the world, why add to it.  Speak life.  

This little blog is a way for my words to be heard, and be used.  I started this to bring words of encouragement to others.  I want God to use this blog as His voice.  I want Joy to come from my words.  I want moms everywhere to know the Joy that God has given us.  

Lord,  I pray that my words are love.  I want to speak life.  Lord, help me speak truth.  Help me obey your tugging on my heart to speak to someone.  Help me obey your still, small voice.  Allow me to be your instrument and flow from my lips.  I pray that whoever reads this, that their words will be used in love, truth and grace.  I pray that we not only become your hands and feet, but also your voice for the voiceless.  I praise you with my words.  I praise you with all my voice can muster.  Thank you Jesus, for giving us the ability to love with words.  

Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God.

(Referring to John the Baptist) Luke 1:64

The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.

Proverbs 15:4

Listen to my Four year olds favorite song.  We should all keep this in our hearts.  Speak words of Love.
Words, By Hawk Nelson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anVweXDcxhA

Would Jesus dress up for Halloween?

Ok.  Here I go! What is the deal with Halloween?

I have always loved Halloween.  I get totally into dressing up.  My family has always dressed in theme.   For example, a circus theme, shark attack, farmer, cowboys and Indians, robots, peter pan... I love to get super creative and plan out the costumes.  My mom is an incredible seamstress, and she has made all of our costumes.  She even made a great shark costume for the boys from scratch.  Amazing!

My husband has been a great sport in my Halloween madness.  I made him wear an Elvis costume one year!  Ever since we were pregnant with our first, we have dressed up together.  (BTW, we were the baker and the bun in the oven).

Since we have had kids, we started hosting a Halloween party at our house.  Costumes are a MUST.  The kids go trick or treating, while the grown up sit by the fire eating chili.  It is always fun! Some years I have created games and crafts for the kids, best costume awards and creative sweet treats.  Safe family fun!

This year is a little different. This year I have felt a little more convicted.  I have scaled back.  I did not put out all of our decorations, I did not go over board with our costumes.  I even bought some of our costumes this year, which I hardly EVER do.

Why is this year different?  This Halloween I have been trying to figure out the "WHY" behind the costumes, candy and decorations.  Why has Halloween been so much apart of our Fall celebrations?  Is it biblical?  Would Jesus dress up in a costume and go trick or treating?  What is the harm in participating in the great candy hunt?  Does it make me less "Godly" if I enjoy putting on a costume?

So I reflected...
Our kids have a place in the playroom devoted to dressing up.  They love to wear fireman's hat, Spiderman, pirate clothes, and space suits.  Sometimes they put on all of the costumes at once.  They play super heroes, and "save the day".  In August they go around the house hunting bad guys to save the princess.  In July my boys can be found in their pirate hats steering their ship.  In  January they are running around wearing capes.  Not just on October 31st.

Why does October 31 have such an impact on what they wear, when they are playing dress up through out the year.  October 31 is just another fun day to dress up, I mean come on, even the grown ups participate.  What kid wouldn't love it?

As for me and my family, after careful prayer and conversations, my husband and I have decided to continue to celebrate.  We like the playfulness that Halloween brings.  We enjoy creating new memories with our boys.  We like to participate in dressing up with our kids.  We do however, limit what they can wear and keep each costume modest and age appropriate.  We do not allow our boys to wear masks.  We do not allow them to wear scary or violent costumes.  We talk to them about the things that they may see on Halloween, the scary, scandalous, and inappropriate.  
I have researched the origins of Halloween, I have seen through history where groups have turned it into a pagan celebration.  It was originally practiced as a day to prepare for the cold, dark winter months.  (Have you researched the origins of saying "God bless you" when you sneeze?  What about Christmas trees?  Google it.)  We have decided that for our family the way we celebrate Halloween does not alter our relationship with Christ.  We surround ourselves with friends that have our same beliefs, and we teach our children to live a life that is glorifying to God.  

So, to answer my question.  Would Jesus dress up for Halloween? I'm still not sure, but, probably not... But Jesus did hang out with the undesirables, the lepers, and the mentally ill.  Did His example on how to love change lives?  Yes! Can we be His example every where?  Yes!  Even wearing costumes....

Disclaimer....I know for some of you Halloween is a hot topic.  These are decisions my family has made.  Every year, we may have to stop and reflect again.  I am not defending Halloween.  I am simply suggesting that you evaluate for your family the "why" of Halloween.  

Dirty, Washed, Folded, Put Away

I do not like to put clothes away.  I will wash, dry, fold and then, that's it.  Our clean clothes sit in the basket for days, maybe even a week.   Or if I am motivated to actually sort the clean clothes, they then stay in piles on our bed, on top of the dresser or on the floor.  Hanging up clothes, forget about it! That's why we have a chair in our bedroom, right? They can lay in piles on the chair for weeks.  This drives my husband CRAZY!  I try to do better each time.  I like having my clothes in the drawer and on hangers, I just don't like doing it.  If only there was a machine invented...

Wouldn't it be AWESOME to throw dirty clothes in the washer, then the same machine dries them, then folds them, then puts them on hangers.  That would be the best.  I would pay good money to have my socks sorted, matched and put away! My poor family never has matching socks to wear, literally  never!

Why stop at laundry?  Why can't the dirty dishes get from the sink to the dishwasher to the cabinet.  I mean, really? Why do we even need plates?

Life can make messes.  I have three little boys and everyday is messy.  Every day there are Lego's all over the floor, super hero costumes hanging on the banister and monster trucks strewn about.  We've even had toothpaste hand prints on the wall. Don't even get me started on the baby powder explosion in the play room.  (I can't make this stuff up, folks!)

I am going to be honest.  I do not always keep myself "clean" in the dirty situations.  I yell, I get frustrated, I cry, I wanna pull my hair out.  I want to blame other people for my misfortunes.  I want to criticize when I am the one that needs to reflect.  I don't confront when needed, because I want to keep the peace.  I will take the blame to keep someone else happy.  The messy grown up stuff in life is hard.  No one said that growing up was easy, I just don't want to always act like a grown up.  Why can't a 33 year old have a tantrum in the middle of Target because they don't have my size?! Why can't I break the rules and go through the 20 items or less line at Walmart with a buggy full of stuff?!

Why can't someone invent a machine that can take all of OUR dirty?  Wouldn't it be great to throw all of our anger, anxiety, temper, depression, fears, worries into a big machine that took it all away?  All of the dirty would be washed, dried, folded and put away neatly in our drawers.  We would be cleansed of  all of the things that hold us down.  All of the things that crowd our hearts and minds would be washed clean.  We would come out on the other side 'smelling like roses'. 

Sometimes the process is not desirable.  Feelings get hurt, and hard life changing decisions have to be made.  The process is what we learn from.  The process is when God can change and grow us.  It is often the time when we are at the end of ourselves, so God can pick up the pieces and help us get to the clean other side.

 JESUS is our machine!  He is the one that will cleanse us and make us white as snow.  He is the one that will wash away our sins, press us into His purpose and fold us inside His presence.  I love that our God is a God that forgives, grows, and carries us along the way.  


Check out this link! Great song! Jesus Paid it all!

Love, Loss and Faithfulness

Today is a day of remembrance. A day of mourning.  A day of gratitude.  Today is a remembrance day for miscarriage and loss of pregnancy. And here is my story...

My husband and I were married for almost three years when we decided to start having children.  We already had the obligatory dog, so we thought, why not start trying to have a baby.  We were thrilled when the pregnancy test came back positive.  We told everybody; family, friends, even my class full of second graders. We were so overjoyed with love for this little baby.  We bought baby clothes, toys and a jogging stroller. 

Then it happened... I started bleeding. I was 12 weeks pregnant and the heart beat stopped.  Even now, 8 years later I am still mourning the loss of that first child.  We never thought this could happen to us.  At the time, we did not know any one who had experienced the loss of a miscarriage.  To say the least, we were devastated.  I asked God why he would take such a precious gift away from us. We were good people, went to church, lived our life genuinely, and Christ like.  Why would he 'punish' us? 

After a few months we decided to try again. Again we were overjoyed with the positive pregnancy test.  We prayed, we cried, we laughed.  We told our family and only our closest friends.   Although, we were very cautious. So much so that I didn't eat lunch meat for fear of bacteria, I gave up coffee, I limited sweets.  Whatever the baby books said do, I did.  After nine hard months our beautiful baby boy was born.  (His delivery is a whole other post).  We felt God had reward us.  We finally had a little trophy bundled up in blue!

When our little guy was 7 months old, we decided to start trying again.  I wanted 4-5 kiddos, and we wanted them close in age.  

I had another miscarriage. 
We tried again, again another miscarriage.  
I had an ectopic pregnancy. 
We tried once again, and again another miscarriage.  

At this point I was very bitter.  I was angry at God.  Why did we have to go through this?  Lots of my friends were getting pregnant and having babies, why couldn't I?  It was so hard for me to attend baby showers.  It was hard for me to feel happy for my friends.  I made harsh comments to my pregnant friends.  That is when God again stepped in.  Enough was enough.  I needed counseling. 

 I learned alot about myself through my counseling.  I learned a lot about God's character, and His forgiving nature.  I consumed scripture, and devoured God's presence.  I became content with God's plan for our family.  I learned that I was not broken.  That is what I thought, that if I couldn't have kids, then my body was broken.  

God is always good.  I know now, that if I hadn't humbled myself  I would not have opened my eyes to adoption.  I had to realize that adoption is not a confession of a broken body, but a profession of faith.  God showed up in a big way! My husband and I adopted our second son in 2009.  God literally hand picked him out for us and placed him perfectly in our family.  

While adjusting to a life with a three year old and a new born, we did not think about having any more kids.  We were completely happy and content with our family of four.  But God wasn't done.  When our second was only 3 months old we found out I was pregnant! (God answered our pray of having our kids close together).  They are 11 months apart, born in the same year!  God always answers our prayers.  He always has a plan.  It brings me great joy knowing that back in 2005 when we had our first miscarriage that God knew about our precious boys.  

Miscarriage and pregnancy loss is heart breaking.  I went into a very dark period.  Through out the years I have experienced 4 miscarriages and an ectopic pregnancy.  Through out the years I have also always experienced God's faithfulness and love.  He is good all of the time! I pray that if you are going through this same loss that you seek help.  Seek out a friend who has been through it, seek a counseling service.  But above all else, SEEK GOD! He has you in His great big hands, holding, loving, and guiding you.  Always protecting you and placing you in His big plans.  For me, I find peace in knowing that I have 5 babies waiting for me to hold them in heaven! I wanted 4-5 babies, God gave me 8!! His plans are always bigger and better!

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.

Jeremiah 29:11

Spreading PB and Joy: My mini mission trip

Spreading PB and Joy: My mini mission trip: Today I am going on a mission trip. I am  packing my bags.  I have my suitcase open.  I am throwing in movies, nebulizers, Tylenol, and lots...