{HIS Umbrella (banner) over me is Love}

Protecting us from the storm's of life, God's umbrella performs an inverse in our experiences by exchanging biting rain for showers of love.  Enamored by His goodness, it invites, envelopes, and sustains us from all that dares to dissuade us from true happiness and joy.

God is Love

My life does not depend on whether or not I perform a bunch of good deeds in order to make God happy. The essence of who He is....is simply love.

No matter what the world does, thinks, acts or commands, without the expression of love....they have failed in their mission.  True love is not self seeking.  BUT, it is always seeking the greater good of others.  The purest most perfect form of love is God and His son Jesus fulfilled God's mission by dying to redeem mankind, not dying to kill mankind.  What happens if you die, gain the whole world and lose your soul?  No prophet can save you, no religious teacher is willing to take your place.  Our lives are but a little breath of passing air, yet God cares enough for you to create you and love you with all of you imperfections. Radical behavior is loving in a world full of hate and revenge.  Holiness is modeling your imperfect life after God's.....knowing you are imperfect, yet He still loves you perfectly.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.....I Corinthians 13:4-8

Perfect Peace

Isaiah 26:3 You (God) will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

Another base was attacked tonight in Afghanistan. There is nothing like the awareness of friends stationed all over the place, which leverages an attitude of prayer in response. I worry for the safety of our Warriors over there, and pray for the peace of their families.

My heart also goes out to the precious people of Afghanistan who have known nothing but war. Imagine if the United States had something like the Taliban attempting to rule. Right now the Taliban are stopping at nothing to mandate rules and regulations to snuff out the sweet essence of freedom for the Afghani people.

I often speculate the people of Afghanistan have the same fears we do about war, death and dying, yet we sit here relatively safe and they are more alert to the dangers around them. In some ways I envy their position.

Think back to the tragedy of 9-11. As the towers fell, a horrified nation wept for the invasion which had taken place within our borders, and our conscience was raised to do something in retaliation. Months later the opportunity arose as we massed a force and did the best we could to chase Osama Bin Laden somewhere into the mountains of Bora Bora. As we launched rockets, mortars and air strikes, many Americans sat glued to their chairs watching the news to learn of his fate. Even now we wonder if he is dead or alive, but nontheless our cry of freedom has been cauterized by politics and fear of the unknown.

With Ben overseas, the pain of being separated by duty is real, yet we are united by love. I for one remain at peace and rest under the comfort that no matter what happens, my God has him in the center of His perfect will. Are we a nation of passion or passionate people driven by purpose? Whether we like it or not, we are at war and fight we must until somebody wins. I pray our hearts and minds stay focused in on God so His peace swaddles us despite the storm brewing around us.

My guy bucket list

I have to brag on my husband a little bit.  Of all the guys in the world I have dated, this one takes the cake.  You see, I am a hopeless romantic who drafted a bucket list back in 2006 of what I wanted in the man I married.  You are probably thinking I am a bit unrealistic for having done so and there is no denying the fact I went through my fair share of heartache in order to find him, but nonetheless he managed to surpass all of my expectations.  Here is a snapshot of what I asked God for…

 

6-1, blue eyes, outdoorsy, love his family, loves me, loves God, romantic, creative, etc…..the list goes on and on and on.  He surpassed my expectations.  Ben is 6-1 with piercing blue eyes, a shock of platinum white hair, loves to be out and about out in nature, loves his family, loves me to the depths of his core and loved God with all of his being.  He has a passion for photography and loves taking pictures of everything.  I love how unafraid he is to express his feelings, yet he is all guy. He gets along with everybody and I love experiencing his zeal for life.

 

I can let my hair down around him and he never stops telling me how beautiful I am to him.  Without fail he tells me that even though neither one of us are perfect, we are perfect for each other and in his mind that makes our marriage perfect.  He fits me like a glove and I thank God every single day for Ben.

 

Even in the midst of this deployment, I am grateful for his love and affection and am even more amazed at his growth and commitment to God.  He epitomizes the grace and love of God and for me there is no better guy I could have ended up marrying. My bucket has overflowed, my expectations exceeded and i am humbled because of God’s provision in my life.

Spring Cleaning.......

Springtime hit me like a ton of bricks and I realized my goal of being in pre-Ben/wedding shape would not be realized if I didn't make some sort of concerted effort to watch what I eat, take care of my body and more importantly protect my health. My back has been in alot of pain off and on over the past few months and I was forced to go to Physical Therapy in order to address the spasms. I also have been fighting Plantar Fascitis, joint issues and decided that not only did I need to fight through the pain, but I needed to make sure that I was eating as healthy as possible.

When I bring food to the homeless at Forsyth Park every week, my labor of love is in cooking them food that will nourish and sustain them for a period of time. Every week without fail I see people who either through choice or no fault of their own suffer the consequences of their actions and it saddens me to realize how much trauma their body is experiencing because of their situation. Women who are in their early 30's look much older and those who abuse drugs and alcohol look like train wrecks.

Do I want to treat this temple of mine in the same way? I cannot effectively minister to those around me, if I am not taking care of myself first. So, being the extreme person that I am, I started logging every piece of physical activity I do during a day and carry the mantra with me that "if i bite it, i write it." No more excuses. Just like somebody who carefully notes and audits every financial transaction in their banking, I too must note every deposit or withdrawal I make when it comes to feeding the body and making it strong.

I found a website to track everything and being the numbers cruncher that I am, it has nifty little charts that track my progress. Better yet, the entire thing is free. It's kind of like salvation. It's free, but you have to make an effort to interact with God in order to experience growth and change. Here is the website: http://www.fitday.com Try it out...you might just like it!

Out of the Ashes

Something inside of me happens when I prepare food for the homeless.  I find myself wondering if they are going to like iit and I do all I can to make a meal for them that warms their belly, warms their heart and fuels them for a few days.

 

Today was no exception.  Earlier on in the week I had committed to making dessert for 125 people and spent most of Saturday night and the early part of this morning preparing it.  I get a sense of satisfaction out of giving to others and with Ben deployed it fills up the time for me in a way that is beyond measurement.  The separation has been difficult for me to contend with sometimes and I will confess I have struggled with periodic bouts of depression.

 

My golden retriever Sara almost wouldn’t let me out the front door.  She has begun to connect large quantities of food I take out the door with going to the park and she was not about to let me leave without her.  So I hooked her to her leash and took her with me.  She has become a tool I use to reach out to the homeless, since her friendly demeanor and constant demands for affection prove too irresistible to the average person and it opens the doorway for communication with them.

 

As the homeless cycle through the food line, I like to stand a few feet down from the food tables and try to greet each person with a warm smile and friendly hello.  Well into the time of serving, I noticed a couple standing in line for a second helping of food.  I started talking to them and found out their names were Todd and Tammy.  Two weeks ago they had lost everything and had been living on the streets.  She told me that our food was the best meal they ate every week and with tears streaming down her face she conveyed to me how hungry she was and how mad at God she was for having to go through this.  I gave her the biggest hug because at that point I didn’t know what to say.

 

What do you tell somebody who has lost everything, used to have faith in God and now feels abandoned by Him?  She is hurting badly.  Even though I know God is in control of the situation, I almost feel as though I would patronize the situation by relaying that to her.  So instead,  I told her that I enjoyed making the food for them and that it was prayed over each week.  I also told her that I would be praying for her and her situation. 

 

I believe the answer lies in relationship.  Regardless of the tragedy, the pain or the hardship in life, I do know that God wakes people up to serve or be served. I have seen that In the midst of tragedy He does his best work restoring lives and mending hearts.  Tammy may not understand all that she is going through right now, but I do know that having crossed her path I am challenged to stay consistently focused in reaching out to those God is restoring and to pray for their freedom.  She may not see it now, but out of the rubble of tragedy and the ashes of despair, the tapestry of her life is being woven out of the fibers of her experiences.

 

So I leave you with this.  How are you weaving the fibers of your life?