northern apostolic mom

DISTRACTION!!

2011-07-16T21:33:00.004-04:00

Facebook. Can I just say? I love it! My family is all over the map... Colorado, Maryland, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont. It is hands down the quickest way to keep up on family STUFF! But it is NOT conducive to the deeper things that are in my heart and on my mind. I love the way I can communicate my heart here on the blog.. but FB is such a distraction to me! We are a "fast food" people! We want everything RIGHT NOW, and facebook offers information in that fashion. But to craft a blog entry takes a little more time, a little more thought, and a little more work. I want to slow myself down and take a detour from FB and get my thoughts organized HERE. The summer is rapidly slipping away from me, and soon we'll be back to the crazy, fast paced, stressful routine of school, where blogging will be more challenging, and FB will be MUCH easier! So during these last few weeks of the lazy hazy days of summer, I will be forcing myself to slow down and blog.

I have reached a breaking point that has needed reaching for many years. I finally got so upset and stressed out about my weight that I have actually put ACTION to the problem and have begun a plan for losing the weight. Walking. Water. Less soda (very minimal... just an occasional reward now and then). Better choices for food. Portion control. Did I say walking and water? Yeah. It is time to drop the pounds. Like I said, we are a "fast food" mentality people. I want to go for a one hour walk and come home to find I've dropped 5 pounds! Grrr. Going to be a LONG, SLOW process. But I must. And I will. Please pray for me not to lose momentum and not to be distracted or discouraged.

I mention this weight loss thing because tonight, my husband and I went for a LONG walk together, just the two of us. Holding hands... talking..... not talking.... just enjoying being together. It has been a very stressful week for us both, and this time together was priceless. You know you have a great relationship when you can just BE together without talking, and feel so content and happy, just to be together! My love is leaving to go to Denver for a visit with his family next week, and I am going to miss him terribly. But it will be a good break for him. He's been through a lot this week, and stress relief is just what he is needing. Besides, he will turn 40 years old while he's out there, so...... change of scenery is probably a good thing! :)

Well, time to go drink a gigantic glass of water.... AGAIN. Thanks for listening! Will be back soon, I promise!

Vacation is GOOD.

2011-02-22T13:12:00.002-05:00

Downtime. I love it. Life always seems to be moving at breakneck speed. This break from school is MUCH needed for our family. Things slow down. There is no pressure to get homework done. My goal, by the end of this week, is to have my boys talking peaceably to one another... totally destressed. Tonight is a family game of Taboo! Looking forward to the laughs. Vacation is GOOD. :)

Question regarding Leviticus Chapter 5

2011-02-18T20:57:00.004-05:00

Hey, it's Bible study time! I am reading my Bible while the BOYS are in the basement having male bonding time. I am reading in chapter 6 of Leviticus, where the Lord is spelling out what the acceptable sacrifices would be for a sin offering. Verse 6 says

And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord for his sin which he hath sinned, A FEMALE FROM THE FLOCK, A LAMB, OR A KID OF THE GOATS, for a sin offering

(yes, the capital letters are mine for emphasis)

Verse 7 says

And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass which he hath committed TWO TURTLEDOVES, OR TWO YOUNG PIDGEONS, unto the Lord

Verse 8

And he shall bring them unto the priest...

Verse 9

And he shall sprinkle of the BLOOD of the sin offering upon the side of the altar, and the rest of the BLOOD shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar; it is a SIN OFFERING

Then suddenly, in Verse 11, there is this VERY confusing contradiction...

But if he be not able to bring two turtledoves or two young pidgeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering THE TENTH PART OF AN EPHAH OF FINE FLOUR for a sin offering.

Now, I have a lot of questions about that! How can this be? God requires a blood sacrifice to cover sin. He established that principle in the VERY BEGINNING in Genesis 3:21 when he killed animals to make coats of skins to clothe Adam and Eve in the garden. He went on in Leviticus 17:11 to say

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the BLOOD that maketh an atonement for the soul.

And again in the book of Hebrews 9:22 the writer says clearly

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood: and WITHOUT SHEDDING OF BLOOD IS NO REMISSION (of sin).

And obviously... Jesus Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for sin by shedding His own blood to cover our sin.

So, how does God say a sin offering should be a lamb, a kid of the goats, two turtledoves or two pidgeons, and then contradict it all by saying OR... if you don't have that, then bring a tenth of an ephah of fine flour?? This is not a blood sacrifice offering!?!? If this is the case, then WHY was Cain's offering not accepted in Genesis 4:3-5? If a tenth of an ephah of flour is acceptable in lieu of a blood sacrifce, then why is Cain's offering of the fruit of the ground not acceptable? I am sure there is an answer... I just don't know it yet. This is going to require some thought, prayer, and study. Any ideas from you all in the gallery? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thanks!

Christianity on the job, and awesome Bible study!

2011-02-16T22:44:00.003-05:00

I am finding out that I am not alone on the job. When you think you are the only one trying to live for God, you are in for a surprise. Elijah, after his big showdown on Mount Carmel, complained to God that he alone was the only one living for God. God revealed to Elijah that he still had 7,000 prophets who had not bowed the knee to Baal. It is refreshing to find out there are people on the job that love the Lord and are willing to talk about God with you!!! Thank you Jesus for bringing me such people! I am so thankful!

Tonight at church, Bro. McAllister continued his teaching from Gen. 6. A little hard to explain here... very detailed and involved. But if you want to hone your Bible study skills, read Gen. 6:1-8 and then ask yourself the following questions:
1. Who were the "daughters of men"?
2. Who were the "sons of God"/
3. What did God mean when He said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever"?
4. What was the "wickedness of man" that God saw as "great in the earth"?
5. Was God going to destroy all mankind from the earth?
6. Was Noah BETTER than any of the others?
7. What does it mean to find "grace in the eyes of the Lord"?

Tough questions to answer. Our entire bible study last week focused on just the first two questions. What we came up with was... The sons of God were the men in the line of Seth. The "daughters of men" were the daughters descended from the line of Cain. Tonight's lesson focused on verse 2 which says "that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose". We studied the names of the children descended from Cain and looked at what their names meant... Enoch means "initiated", Irad means "fugitive", Mehujael means "smitten of God".... all these names show the separation of the ungodly line of Cain from the godly line of Seth... then all of a sudden, there is a son of Cain named Methusael, which means "man who is of God". This name crosses the line of separation. Could it be that with THIS descendant of Cain is where verse 2 takes place? Tough questions... EXCELLENT bible study time! I love being challenged in the Word!! Thank you Bro. McAllister!

423 days

2011-02-15T23:46:00.003-05:00

That's right. It has been 423 days since I have posted anything on this blog. I have to admit... I have a FB account. FB is good for the moment. It keeps you connected. But really, it is brief and impersonal. My status is limited to a certain number of characters. Writing "notes" just isn't the same as this. The other day, I was at work, and needed a picture of myself for a project. The one I wanted was on FB, which of course is blocked from school computers. But my blog was accessible. So I went on to hunt for a picture of me. I ended up having to go WAAAAYYY back to find one (because most of the pictures on here are ones I have taken, so I'm not IN any of them)! But something happened as I browsed through my blog... I missed it. What a wealth of memories I found! It is literally a diary of my life. I can say what I want without people spazzing like they do on FB. I will never forget being "scolded" on FB when I was having a really rough day. I posted a vent. And someone had the nerve to tell me that no one on FB wants to hear your complaining. This is a light-hearted place. Whatever. I was hurting. I needed a friend to talk to and did not have one. I needed prayer. All I got was scolded. You cannot be yourself on FB. But on my blog, I can be who I really am. I can write whatever I want. It is MY PLACE. It is what I am choosing to come back to. I have missed you, NAM! Thank you, blogger, for giving me a place in cyberspace to call home.

I'm BAAACCCKKKK!!!!!!! :)

God brings life to comatose baby!!!!!

2009-12-26T14:10:00.002-05:00

I cry and praise God every time I see this amazing miracle! JUST HAPPENED December 19, 2009 in Durham, NC. My God is real, and powerful, and totally awesome!!!!!

2009-07-22T02:33:00.000-04:00

Happy 5th birthday, Henry Keating Scheck.

The enemy has been defeated!!

2009-07-07T17:55:00.000-04:00

Can't help it.... this song is my victory chant! JESUS! WE LIFT YOUR NAME UP!!!!!

Goodbye

2009-06-25T00:21:00.002-04:00

Hello all (although I'm not sure there's anyone left out there reading this blog).

In case you haven't noticed, I have not been here at NAM lately. I am struggling with this a little for nostalgic reasons, but really the course has been set and it is pretty clear. I need to take a sabbatical from the world of blogging. There are a variety of reasons. Some are pretty clear. The computer is clearly a self control issue for me personally. I seem unable to walk away from this blasted thing once I sit down here. The only real reason I want to keep the internet is for church reasons (planning Sunday school lessons, watching church services, learning new songs to play at church for worship service). And email for communicating with family and my kids' teachers. It is the other stuff that side tracks me.... blogging, face booking, email conversations with friends, surfing, my ridiculous obsession with BAD NEWS on CNN, on and on and on. I will never ever get my prayer life and my relationship with God where it needs to be if I don't lick the computer issue. I must discipline myself, and this is where it starts. Facebook is next. I have to!!! I'm a little sad about stopping my blog after 5 years, but my relationship with God FAR FAR outweighs the value of this blog (DUH!!!). So... until further notice, I will be leaving this site and drawing closer to my wonderful Savior Jesus. No comparison!! I'm excited! Please pray for me, okay?? Thanks for reading! You are faithful, and I pray you have been blessed!!

Hot Pursuit

2009-06-11T00:37:00.003-04:00

God is in hot pursuit. He's been after me for a long time, but the pursuit has heated up in recent weeks. He is wanting me to spend more time with Him. I, however, have been dodging the bullet, and catering to this relentless flesh that seems to have FAR too much control over me. In my spirit, I DESPERATELY want to spend intimate time with Jesus in prayer. I WANT IT! And I spend lots of time listening to and singing and playing worship music, listening to apostolic preaching online ALL THE TIME, and listening to CDs of preaching from my own church. Plus I spend time studying for Sunday school lessons. But the call to prayer is loud and relentless, and I long to answer it. I just don't know how to crucify this flesh. Every time I try, I fail. Does anyone have any suggestions? JUST DO IT won't work, because I have tried that and failed. Please help!

Living for God in Bangladesh

2009-05-11T00:05:00.005-04:00

Okay... the bunny is no longer the top post! Yes, my blog has been sitting idle for a while. I have actually been trying to spend my time on more worthy tasks, like... my prayer life! And like practicing worship songs on my piano, and learning new songs. I've also been spending time trying to be a witness to my neighbors, building relationships with them and trying to talk about God with them whenever the opportunity avails itself. I'm sorry for not posting more. However my pastor challenged me this evening after church to post about our missionary service we had this evening. It was a tremendous service.

First, I must begin by telling you how much I love missionary services! It's so cool to see what God is up to all over the world! I get to see pictures of my brothers and sisters in the Lord whom I will eventually meet in heaven. I like that! And it always manages to put my life back in perspective when I hear what the missionaries are up against. No joke. My attitude always needs a huge adjustment after I hear them preach.

Anyway, this evening, we had Bro. and Sis. Corbin and son from Bangladesh. They are the ONLY resident missionaries in a nation of 14 1/2 million people. Yeah... that is totally overwhelming. And Bangladesh is one of the three poorest nations in the world, with an average wage of about $1 per day. How would you like to end your labor intensive work week with a paycheck of about $6 or $7?

The nation is 83% muslim, 16% buddhist, and 1% hindu/other religions. Bro. Corbin wrote a VERY GOOD bible study that compares and contrasts the religions of Islam and Apostolic Christianity, and how to reach the muslim people with the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. It is a very thorough study... I'm already 10 pages into it.

In his message tonight, Bro. Corbin used hurricane Katrina as a mental picture of the lost in Bangladesh and all over the world. He talked about people smashing through the attic roof and climbing up onto the roof in hopes of being rescued by the many helicopters flying overhead. But 1, 836 people who cried SURELY someone is coming to save me were in fact never saved. He compared them to the lost souls in our dark world. People are desperate to be saved from the hopelessness of life. We are the ones with the lifeline! But will we be willing to reach out to them? Will we get there in time, before they slip away from us?

Bro. Corbin and his wife and son began their work in 1993, learning the language and praying for God to open doors for ministry. They moved to the largest city, Dhaka, in 1997, with just 7 people in their church. Today in 2009, they have 107 churches/preaching points, and over 13,000 souls in the church! It brought such conviction to me! I haven't personally won anyone to the Lord in years! I've taught lots of Bible studies...but no one is in church because I told them about Jesus and they responded. He is facing all kinds of opposition from the enemy, and I am here in my comfy little life, complaining about things that don't even matter! Yeah, I was at the altar tonight, repenting about just about everything in my poor excuse for a Christian life. I intend to change that. God sees my heart and its sincerity and desire to do right in God's eyes. He sees my desire to be an effective and powerful soul winner in the kingdom of God. And so the bunny will remain..........
The flesh must be crucified and submitted to the will of God. Prayer is the vital link to my Savior. His Word must be read every day (NOT as part of the BREAD program, but just to be read) to remake my mind... refocus it daily on the will of God in my life. Fasting is one thing I've NEVER been successful with, because my flesh is in total control of my life. James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed. Yes, I'm confessing my faults here so you will PRAY FOR ME!! I really need and covet your prayers. My mind is focused on God daily, but time spent in intimate fellowship daily is lacking. I love the Lord! I love to worship and praise Him! I love to be in His presence at church and at home. I love His Word. It is the flesh I fight. And so I will fight! And I will be victorious! The enemy shall not prevail against me. In Jesus' name. Good night.

Working on this...

2009-04-21T00:31:00.001-04:00

Frustrating day to be a Vermonter....

2009-04-07T21:10:00.003-04:00

Well, it is pretty much world wide news about Vermont legalizing same sex marriage. I am nauseated and heartbroken. And angry. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Montpelier is one of those high places where spiritual wickedness has a STRONG foothold. I am not so much angry at the people who voted this sick law into existence, although I am very disappointed in them... but it is SATAN and his stupid imps who USE these people to destroy the Godly institution of marriage. I was reading devotion to my son this evening, and the story for April 7th had these verses attached:

Psalms 5:4-7
O God, You take no pleasure in wickedness;
You cannot tolerate the slightest sin.
Therefore, the proud will not be allowed to stand
in Your presence,
for You hate all who do evil.
You will destroy those who tell lies.
The Lord detests murderers and deceivers.

That, my friends, is straight from the God who created everything, including people!! He created us, and knows exactly HOW He created us to live... and you will find NOWHERE in the Bible where two men got married, or two women. I am doing my level best to keep my response of anger directed at THE DEVIL, not the people. But I will stand up and draw the line, because I KNOW the devil is not going to stop, but will continue to use people to push this outrageous sin into our schools to corrupt our children. I WILL STOP the devil in his tracks IN JESUS' NAME if he thinks he can get the minds of my children. He will not. My boys are following this whole process, and think it is totally sick. They have both told me they will stand up and speak out if confronted. I am so proud of them! Jason and I have worked hard and prayed even harder to raise our little men with GODLY morals and principles. It is working. They are mad, too!

I am rambling, but I must vent. Vermont is full of good people with Godly values who HATE this ruling that has been FORCED upon them. Our government failed us. Our elected officials voted the will of the aggressive minority, NOT the will of the majority of the citizens of Vermont. Our governor is a courageous man who took a stand against evil, and took a TON of heat for it. The "loving" homosexual community showed their true identity when the fangs came out and they spewed their hateful venom at our leader when he said he would veto. They DID the very thing to him that we are accused of doing to them. Our state is totally polarized. The atmosphere is very tense in Vermont. People are afraid to talk about it at work for fear of being austricized. I am finding shelter from the storm in the presence of God. He is the peace-speaker. He will be the final judge on the Day of Judgement. Jesus himself said in John 12:48 "He who rejects me, and does not receive my words has one who will judge him: the WORD that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." They will be judged by the Word of God on the last day, which clearly condemns homosexuality. I am so looking forward to Heaven! There is NO SIN there! This world is so sick and twisted and morally bankrupt, I can't take much more of it. Heaven is my reality! I'm going there, and it will be worth the wait!!

Interesting video

2009-04-07T21:07:00.003-04:00

I popped over to Sister Sunshine's blog today, and found this video on her blog.... it is very interesting...... the guy is making a smoothie the whole time he's on his soapbox, kinda funny... but he is SOOOOO RIGHT! You just have to watch it to see what I mean.

Special time with Nick

2009-03-30T22:02:00.003-04:00

I just want to share the wonderful moments I just shared with my youngest son. He is about to turn 10, and hasn't yet committed his life to Jesus... although I know he wants to! Anyway, he was just getting out of the shower, and I was RE-watching an amazing sermon from last night in Maryville, TN called the focus factor (I highly recommend it... click here and go to archives... Sun. evening service 3-29-09). Anyway, the message caught his attention and he sat down beside me. Mind you, it's after bedtime.... but he said, No mommy, I want to hear it, I'm interested in what he's saying. So, we watched. He was CLEARLY being dealt with in his spirit, and processing this message. I had to push pause a few times as he asked questions and posed "what if" scenarios... too bad there is not a PAUSE function during live preaching so you can process what was just said!! Anyway, he was so open and sensitive to the Spirit... I am excited to see God at work in our youngest son's heart!! Maybe soon he'll be able to call himself my "rapture buddy" as the preacher mentions in the message! Praise God!!!!

Infuriating!!

2009-03-28T20:29:00.002-04:00

To my Vermont readers...

PLEASE watch this video!!! And then call our VT legislators and tell them to vote NO on the same sex marriage bill.

If this bill becomes law, it will mandate that schools teach children that the union of two men, or two women is completely equal to the marriage of a man and a woman, that there is no difference between these three distinct family types, and that dissent is bigotry. This has already occurred in Massachusetts, where a father of a five year old kindergartner was jailed for objecting to blatant indoctrination of his child, incurring $200,000 in legal costs to defend himself and his family. I personally don't want to have to go through all this, just because the special interest folks are pushing this bill through at lightning speed to avoid a referendum, which would clearly reveal that the majority of Vermonters do NOT support this bill.

Sincerely....

2009-03-27T00:07:00.002-04:00

Okay... tonight was mid-week Bible study. I cannot go to bed without blogging about part of tonight's lesson. We are doing a series on the Tabernacle, and it is really good (the Tabernacle is one of my FAVORITE Old Testament topics of study). However, in the middle of his lesson, Pastor made a very powerful statement that I just have to share before going to bed... because I know I won't sleep tonight if I don't "get it out there". He was talking about the brazen altar and made reference to altars that were not built according to the way the Lord wanted the altars built. And then he made an incredible statement....

It doesn't matter how sincere a person is about serving God. If they are doing it the wrong way, then they are SINCERELY WRONG. They may be the nicest person in the world, the most spiritual person in the world, etc. But if they are not doing it (serving God) according to the Book (the Bible), then they are wrong.

Wow... that was serious meat to chew on... but then he went on!! He said,

This whole concept that we can be approved by God because of our sincerity is a relatively new notion. These days, it doesn't matter if you get the right answer, as long as you feel good about it and you tried your best. That doesn't fly with my stats professor! I can "feel good" about my answer, and sincerely believe I got it right, but if it's not right, he marks it off 5 1/2 points!

Anytime we begin to judge what is true by how we feel about it, we are setting ourselves up for the distinct possibility of being deceived. Deception is one of the major spirits in this end time age.... and NO ONE IS IMMUNE! If you think it could never happen to you, then you are in dangerous territory! It is a very dangerous place to be when your feelings become the barometer of what IS truth and what IS NOT truth. I hope you don't always feel good about the truth! I hope it cuts a little, I hope it stings a little, it's supposed to !! The lies and deceit will BIND you, but the truth will SET YOU FREE!!!

There. It's out. I want you to think about this! The Bible says that those who are deceived DO NOT KNOW they are deceived. How scary is that? We need to be praying, "Lord, please do not let me be deceived!" I love the Lord, and I love His truth. Lord, keep me in the light. Amen.

A cool little moment!

2009-03-26T07:42:00.003-04:00

Our family has been having some fun this past week, going outside in the evening to watch the visible passes of the Internation Space Station over our house. It is amazing to think that this bright "dot" that looks like a star is carrying human beings at speeds of 17,000 mph around our globe. And to add to the excitement, the space shuttle was docked there, bringing the total number of people aboard to ten. Anyway... last night, we went out to view it one last time. We spotted it, and then Nick said, "Hey, there's another satellite traveling right in front of it." I said, "Quick, go ask dad to look on the NASA website and see if the space shuttle is detached from the space station yet. " Sure enough, it had detached just 4 hours earlier. We could clearly see BOTH the shuttle and the ISS, travelling separately in orbit. It was just a neat thing for us. The little things you aren't expecting keep life fun and interesting.

Thank you Lord!

2009-03-22T23:27:00.002-04:00

Despite my emotional upheaval of a week, God is still awesome, and tonight at the end of our church service, God filled James (a young man at our church) with the Holy Ghost, speaking in tongues and overflowing with joy! It was the coolest thing, because in my rejoicing with James, the burden of my week was lifted from me, and I just feel so refreshed! I love living for God... in the tough times as well as the good times. There's no better way to live. :) Thank you Jesus for the newest member of the body of Christ! You are awesome!

abundant life revisited

2009-03-21T18:44:00.002-04:00

Well, back in October of 2008, I created a post entitled "abundant life". You should click here to review the little diagrams I created so you will understand what I am about to type. Click on the "abundant life" link below:

Abundant life

So.... this week has been a week of incredibly abundant life, so much so that I have wondered how I would survive the mental stress of the week. My husband was in a car crash that totalled his vehicle and sent the lady he hit into the hospital. We had negative equity in the truck, and after all our VERY HARD WORK over the last year and a half to pay off over $10,000 in debt so we could go for a mortgage, in one moment of time, we found ourselves back in debt $7,000 the DAY BEFORE our meeting with the mortgage officer at the bank. I cannot tell you the weight of discouragement that overcame us that day. We have been reeling for the past few days, coping with the consequences of this accident, and wondering where we go next. Therefore........ I cannot tell you how much I have LOVED this day!! It started with humble service to my fellow man...serving at the local community food shelf that my husband and I are involved with. I talked with people there who had situations that were far worse than mine, and I was able to encourage them and lift their spirits, if only a little. Then, I gathered up my son and his friends (churched and unchurched) and we headed up to our church for youth fun day. We played board games, ate pizza and m&ms (oh my word!!!), jammed on the keyboard and drums, and THEN....... we sat down and watched Louie Giglio on the BIG projector screen give his message about the enormity of God and his intense love and care for us.... and it ministered to me so much! I have it posted on my blog, and to watch it you can click the LAMININ link below... you REALLY SHOULD watch it... even if you've already watched it! It blessed me so much.

Laminin

And the cool thing? Adam's best friend from school was describing it to his mom when I dropped him off, and he was pointing to his heart and saying, "Yeah, it does something to you deep down inside when you listen to him." PRAISE GOD! He was feeling the tug of God on his heart, and that is exciting!

So...... I have a big God who loves me and knows my needs. He knows my heart, and will give me the strength to face this new uphill battle. None of this takes God by surprise, and He has a plan that will put us right where He wants us to be. Thank you Father for your incomprehensible, mind-blowingly intense love for me! I love you more than words can say!!!

This is great!

2009-03-09T17:04:00.002-04:00

Ok, I just had to share these with you! This is my brother... his department purposely burned a barn down, and there were many photos taken. But the next one is my favorite....

This is my brother in a recliner, watching the remainder of the barn smolder. HA HA HA! Tax dollars at work! Just kidding, he's doing exactly what he's supposed to be doing! Just thought it was funny, and wanted to share. I am VERY proud of my brother! He's an excellent firefighter. GO TIM!

In the studio

2009-02-27T12:51:00.003-05:00

Nick was given a unique opportunity today by his Aunt Jennifer. Jen works at a local TV station selling advertising, and arranged for some 3rd and 4th grade students to come in and film a spot for the weather (a weather promo). My neice Laura told Jen, "Nick would be PERFECT for this!" It's true... he is all about drama. So, in we went this morning. First, they went into the audio studio to record the "weather rap". Then into the filming studio where they filmed all the sections of video that would go along with the rap. It was hilarious to watch! As the producer, Dave, would explain about the shot, the kids would be all into it and super dramatic, but as soon as they were in front of the camera, all the drama went out the window, and they were timid and SOOOO funny!!! I can't wait to see how it comes out! We'll know in about 2 weeks when the DVD arrives in the mail. Here are a few pictures from the shoot.....

The gang, with Adam the weatherman

Nick and a couple of the kids filming the umbrella scene.

Nick and two others pretending to "rock out" in the headphones to the weather rap. (Actually, not filming yet in this picture).

The crew. They did so great! Congratulations, TV stars!

NOT MORE SNOW!!!!! ACK!!!

2009-02-21T23:08:00.004-05:00

Ya know... I am just totally sick of winter. Check this out... (grrr.....)

A *WINTER STORM WARNING* is in effect for the Champlain Valley and Vermont from 7 AM Sunday until 7 AM Monday. Snow will begin around daybreak Sunday, and become heavy at times Sunday afternoon and Sunday night, as a storm system quickly strengthens off the coast. It will become windy Sunday night, causing blowing and drifting snow. The snow will taper to snow showers Monday afternoon.Total accumulation will be 6 to 12 inches for the warning area, with 12 to 18 inches possible for the Green Mountains.

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

I found this awesome cartoon on another blog, and find it so appropriate that I must share....

At our school last week, we did a musical called "Follow the North Star Home". It was really great! And the opening song has become my theme song! The words say...

I'm so tired of snow, I wish that it would go
I never thought I would see the day
When I'd wish the snow would go away.
It would be such fun, just sitting in the sun
I'm tired of looking at all this snow
And I really truly wish that it would go!

Man... I wish I had the money to just take off and go to Florida or someplace where it is in the 70s for about 2 weeks. I am longing for the day when I can leave my house in just my clothes... no coat, no boots, no hats and mittens, no fleece pants under my skirts, JUST REGULAR CLOTHES! *sigh*.

breaktime

2009-02-17T19:48:00.003-05:00

Hello all...

Well, I've been here, but I have not been posting. I have been busy, but the things I have been up to have been too personal to blog about. I am feeling a need to step back from NAM and just take a little break unless I feel led to post something important. Don't worry. I'm not getting "done". Just taking a little break. I am focusing on some things that are really important right now, and do not want to be distracted. You are all great! I will pop on every once in a while to say hi, I promise!!
And whatever you do, DON'T STOP PRAYING FOR HENRY!! He needs the miraculous hand of God to deliver him!! I love you Henry! And your family!

God bless you!
Michelle

When I Speak Your Name

2009-02-07T22:21:00.001-05:00

Okay, this was probably my most favorite song we sang at Winterfire... it has penetrated my soul, and I just sing it over and over in my mind. What a blessing!

Winterfire, Day 3

2009-02-07T21:24:00.003-05:00

Okay...it's a good thing this conference ended today, because if it didn't, I may have exploded, or gotten raptured, or something! It just got better, and better, and better, as the Spirit of God moved deeper, and the people of God worshiped more fervently, and the praise became literally explosive! New England is ripe for a massive outpouring of God's power!

1. Again, we walked into the sanctuary, and the presence of God at 8:55 am was so thick that I began to weep immediately. Now, normally, the Friday evening service is packed out and the Saturday morning service is noticeably less in attendance. Not so! The place was PACKED at 9am with people hungry for more and more of God. The worship was amazing. And then, Dr. Gerald Jeffers came to the pulpit and ushered the people into the presence of God with an amazing 15 minute message on restoration.

He discussed, as most of the previous speakers had done, about how 2008 was a year of unprecedented attack by the enemy on our relationships, our finances, our minds, and our bodies. It was widespread throughout the body of Christ. We won many great battles in 2008, but they left us wounded, weary, and, like Samson after killing 1000 Philistines with a donkey jawbone, dying of thirst. Ps. 23:3 says, "He restoreth my soul". But over in Ps. 29: 10-11, the Lord speaks of the floods that come against us, like the ones we have faced in 2008. It says, "The Lord sits upon the flood. The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace." The reason God wants to restore us is because He does not intend to stop the floods. Instead He will give us strength to rise above the flood and have peace in the midst of it. There was more to the message, but that was the main point. The altar again filled with souls hungry for the peace of God in the midst of their own flood.

2. THEN.... Bro. Steve Willoughby, a missionary to the nation of Singapore, got up and just blew us away!

This man is an apostolic hero. If you need someone to model your life after (other than Jesus, of course), look to this man right here. He is a spiritual giant in my eyes, and he showed me exactly what kind of a Christian I want to be. This man has stage 4 cancer, and so does his wife. They have 3 children (2 who are still at home), and I have NEVER NEVER seen anyone worship and praise God with such passion and fervor, and reckless abandon!! He preached about fear. His scripture was from 1 John 4:17-18 Perfect (mature) love gives us boldness before God. There is NO FEAR in love. Perfect (mature) love casts out fear. Fear hath TORMENT! In the Strongs... torment means dwarf, curtail, restrict, minimize, diminish. Fear minimizes your impact and effectiveness in the kingdom. He gave his testimony and the people just BURST into incredible praise and worship that couldn't be stopped! I am so excited that we bought the DVD set of all these messages! I will share them with EVERYONE!!! And I will watch them over and over as well... gleaning all I can from these great men of God and what the Spirit speaks through them.

Finally, Bro. Morgan from San Francisco gave the closing message, entitled "The Tale of Two Trees", referring to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the tree of life. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents the wisdom of man... the fruit of that tree is is contentious and selfish. The tree of life represents the wisdom of God, and the fruit of that tree is peaceful, full of purity, and easily intreated. Those who are not born again eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Those who ARE born again eat from the tree of life. BUT, there are those who eat from BOTH trees, and they are the CARNALLY minded. They eat from the tree of life on Sunday morning, but Mon-Sat they eat from the other tree. James says that a double minded man is unstable in ALL his ways. You can't lead double minded people into revival. And also, you can't have carnally minded people trying to LEAD the church into revival... because you never know which way they are going to go.

By the end of his message, I was so drained and so overwhelmed, that I just sat. It was too much to process. We heard NINE preachers in 3 days, and it will take some time to digest all that we heard and experienced. All I know is that we DEFINITELY intend to go next year, because it will be the 10th anniversary of the Winterfire Conference. We intend to be part of what God is doing in these last days!!

If you would like to see pictures of what the facility we worshiped in looks like inside and out, click here to see the facilities brochure.

Winterfire Update

2009-02-07T00:24:00.005-05:00

Here we are at the end of day two of this incredible conference. We have worshiped God with depth and fervor, and we have truly heard from God, and seen mighty things come to pass. The worship here is on an intense level. The people of New England are so hungry for a move of God and so desperate for revival, that they worship without being told to do so... it's kind of funny... these preachers are from areas to the west and south, and are used to preaching for response. So they come here with the mindset that they need to "jumpstart" the saints. Well... really, they didn't need to. The response to the Word of God has been absolutely phenomenal. We have felt walls come down, we have done major battle with the spirits of darkness and torn up their kingdom, and the liberty has been something I have never experienced before. You can FEEL the difference! Here are some of the topics we have heard about today.

1. Bro. Sam Emory preached "consider the calling".... and talked about the difference between being called and being chosen. The difference is in the process. He encouraged the young ministers to stop before saying "I have a ministry"... and consider the call of God on their life. He used Paul as an example. Paul considered the cost of his calling, and God CHOSE him to impact the kingdom. I can't really do the message justice here.... I have heard 3 other messages since then, and don't remember all of how it went. But the altar was flooded, and the Spirit was in operation.

2. Bro. Steve Warman from Detroit spoke next. He preached on the topic of... AGAIN. It was pretty good, encouraging the saints not to quit, and to press on... not letting anything keep you from serving God. No matter what happens, get up AGAIN, never letting the enemy have a toehold on your life. Even Jesus gave us the "AGAIN" example when he prayed for the blind man once, and he said, "What do you see?" and the man answered, "I see men as trees walking." So Jesus prayed for him AGAIN a second time, and then the man saw clearly. If JESUS can go back and do something AGAIN, then who are we to think, if it doesn't go how I think it should go the first time, I'll just quit?

3. The final morning preacher was evangelist Greg Godwin. That man is a fireball of a preacher! His message was a confirmation of the previous message.... DON'T QUIT! BE APOSTOLIC! His message was kind of all over the board, in true evangelistic style, so I can't really give you a "main point", but it was very encouraging as well.

Worship from beginning of evening service

4. Tonight's message from Bro. Mangun, however, was the one that really hit home, at least for Jason and I.... Matt and Emily too. His message was on sacrifice, and how if the devil can get you to stop sacrificing, then he can destroy you and make you desolate. It was actually a warning to the church as well, stating that if your church stops giving and praying, it will become a desolate church. Jesus said "My house shall be called a house of prayer". Not a house of preaching, not a house of good singing by the choir, not a house of good works. A HOUSE OF PRAYER! I just told Matt and Emily today that I am not reading my BREAD this year. Because I have read it through 7 times already, and I'm not interested in doing it again to add another notch to my belt of "spirituality". I will definitely still be in the Word, but my focus this year is on my prayer life. Because the ONLY way we are going to make a difference in these endtimes is if we are CONNECTED to the power of God in prayer. And that was totally confirmed to me tonight in Bro. Mangun's message. We had such good conversation with Matt and Emily about it all, and we are just so encouraged about what God is getting ready to do!

Altar call... young men being prayed for, ages 15-30... God's army!

On a much less spiritual note, we went to IHOP for a late dinner after church tonight (10:30), and had a real life C*O*P*S* experience. Our poor waitress got all tied up with this obnoxious table of people refusing to pay their bill blah blah blah blah.... I won't get into it, except to say that the cop in Jason wanted to go buckle her up in cuffs for disorderly conduct and causing a public menace. The police showed up, yada yada yada... it took us a LONG time to get our bill... but we blessed our waitress with kindness, patience, understanding, smiles, and a BIG tip. Pray for her, her name is Linda.

Well, it is almost 1 am. Time to hit the sack. We have three more speakers tomorrow, and then we head on home to the kiddos! I sure miss them! God bless you all!

God is here

2009-02-06T07:42:00.003-05:00

Hello all! This is a quick post to tell you that we are having an amazing time here at the Winterfire Conference in CT, and GOD IS HERE in a powerful way! Last night, on top of just seeing so many of the saints of God that we know and love, we heard two incredible messages from the Lord, one delivered by our General Superintendent Bishop Kenneth Haney, and the other delivered by the General Foreign Missions director, Bro. Bruce Howell.

Our superintendent, Bishop Kenneth Haney

Bro. Haney's message was about having passion and zeal for the Lord and for reaching souls. His point about "entitlement" was a powerful eye opener, and his encouragement to find your passion was so uplifting!

Bro. Bruce Howell's message was equally powerful, and it was simply called "UNTIL". Really, I don't have time to explain that message this morning, it was so incredible.... maybe if we have some down time this afternoon, I'll be able to explain it out to you. But MAN it was powerful!!!!!! I believe cancers were healed in Jesus' name, and ministries were birthed or renewed as well.

One of the coolest moments last night was reconnecting with an old old acquaintance of ours, Bro. Owens. He came to our church as an evangelist 14 years ago (Jason and I had been married less than a year), and he stayed in our apartment with us. We have never forgotten him, and talk about him every so often with others. I never imagined we'd see him again, and BOOM! there he was last night... we got caught up on family life and such, and then during service he came over and prayed with us. God is so cool how he orchestrates our every step.

I'd love to write more, but it is almost 8am, and church starts at 9.... I'm not even close to ready to go! This morning, we are slated to hear from Bro. Sam Emory, Bro. Steve Warman, and Bro. Greg Godwin. I will let you know what God does in these meetings! I am expecting God to show up and do something great in me! Praise God!

Almost reached the top

2009-01-29T08:09:00.001-05:00

On the days when you feel overwhelmed and you just don't think you can make it, this song is a great reminder.... we're almost there, folks! Jesus' return is right around the corner!!! Halleluia!

Look what the Lord has done!!

2009-01-22T23:42:00.004-05:00

Congratulations to my amazing husband, the REVEREND Jason Ziter!
Monday, he and I went before the district board (mostly him!!!) to interview for his local minister's license. It was a nerve-wracking day, but well worth it in the end! I am immensely proud of him for answering the call of God on his life, and I know that God will do amazing things through Jason. Way to go, Jay!!!!!

Introducing...... TUCKER!!

2009-01-07T07:27:00.004-05:00

Here he is... the newest member of the family.... FINALLY!!!!! LOL! He is absolutely perfect!!!

He arrived by C-section at 3:30 am on Jan. 6th.... 7 lbs 14 oz. A loooooong night for mom and dad. But everyone is doing great! Welcome to the family, Tucker!

UPDATE!!!!! MORE PICTURES!!!!

George prepares for Tucker's arrival...

Proud dad!!

I love this picture... George and Tucker.

Brand new family!

Tucker James Mitchell.... you are so adorable!

Waiting on baby....

2009-01-06T01:22:00.003-05:00

My brother-in-laws girlfriend Laurel has been in labor since noon-ish today... it is now 1:30 in the morning.... and she's been pushing for way too long... a couple hours. If baby doesn't arrive in 10 minutes, they will do a C-section. I am tired, but determined to wait this baby out!! I'll post pictures once they are available!

How Great is our God

2009-01-05T18:49:00.002-05:00

Sometimes there just aren't words to express the mind blowing concept of our amazing God. But Louie Giglio does a pretty exceptional job getting the point across in this incredible message, dripping with the anointing of God! My boys were blown away by the bigness and majesty of God, and how HE cares for US....

Go ahead and watch these five segments (about 42 minutes total). You will be changed forever in how you look at God.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Teach me to pray

2009-01-04T18:55:00.002-05:00

My God is faithful. My God WANTS me to draw close to Him. He sees my desire to deepen my relationship with Him. In my last post, I told you that instead of reading my Bible through beginning to end for the 8th time, I was going to work on developing my prayer life. My youngest son Nicolas and I stayed home from church this morning as he is just 4 days post-op, having his tonsils and adenoids removed on New Year's Eve day. He's still really sore. So... because of this amazing thing called the internet, I went to church with my in-laws in Denver this morning instead.

Oh my word! What an amazing God I serve! The worship was powerful and the Spirit of God was moving in an amazing way. Then, Pastor Haymon II got up and preached a dynamic message that I felt was directly targeting my heart here in VT, all the way from Denver, CO! The title of his message was "Lord, teach me to pray". I am telling you.... once they archive this message, you should go listen to it!! Click here to go to their website. I'm not sure how long it takes them to upload the message to the archives. But I feel like the Lord was answering my prayer. Pastor Haymon was looking at the Lord's prayer and showing the principles of how to approach the Lord in prayer. Here are the 10 principles he mentioned:

Approach Him with tenderness
Approach Him with reverence
Approach Him with NAME recognition (Jesus)
Approach Him with boldness
Approach Him with humility
Approach Him for what you need (not want)
Approach Him with forgiveness for forgiveness
Approach Him for security
Approach Him for help
Approach Him with appreciation and affirmation.

And at the end, when it says Amen, he told us to replace the word Amen with the word YES! Total agreement! And the entire prayer is one that is about ATTITUDE and RELATIONSHIP. If you don't have the right attitude in your prayer, you can't expect your relationship to grow.

I just can't say it the way this guy said it! ARGH! I can feel the power as I type the words, because I HEARD and EXPERIENCED it. But I'm not really saying it effectively ( how frustrating!).

So... I feel like I am on the right track. I am going to BE the change our church needs. I am going to BE the one who fills the prayer room. I am going to BE the one who fills the pews by inviting people. Like I said in the previous post... I am going to BE a revival of ONE. And I am going to pray that others catch the vision and jump on board! Thank you Jesus!

Happy New Year to all!

2009-01-01T18:37:00.006-05:00

I found this wonderful poem online, and just had to share it with you!

A New Year With The Lord

A new year is about to unfold
With new opportunities to explore
Doors will open for new experiences
New adventures with the Lord

Remember not the former things
The things of this past year
The Lord will do new things in us
Much more than we are aware

For He will make a way for us
As we put our trust in Him
And He will guide our every step
By His presence we have within

What God has placed within our hearts
We find we’ll be able to do
If we look for the opportunities
We’ll see the door to go through

We mustn’t let anything hold us back
But rise up and take our place
And be all that God wants us to be
With a fresh touch of His grace

© By M.S.Lowndes

The author of this beautiful poem has a website called heavens inspirations. I encourage you to check it out.

I have been thinking a lot the past couple days. I am in charge of recording attendance at our church, and with 2008 behind us, I had to tally up the averages and report them to my pastor. I was disheartened to see that the numbers stayed pretty much the same throughout the year. And I KNOW beyond the shadow of a doubt, that until our church becomes a church that really PRAYS and really touches God, we will remain status quo... in maintainance mode. I do NOT want that!!!! Therefore, instead of committing myself to an 8th year of reading my Bible through cover to cover, I intend to work on the spiritual discipline of PRAYER... my prayer life has lots of room for improvement, and I so desperately want to know Jesus in an even more intimate way. I am a revival of ONE. Lord, if it's going to happen, let it start with me. I pray for the courage to boldly share the truth of God's Word with those who do not know it in the year 2009. Help me to look for those opportunities and walk boldly through the door! I trust you Jesus.

Goodbye, Grampa....

2008-12-26T17:41:00.003-05:00

Varrell Wakefield
10/23/17 - 12/26/08

My grandfather was a great man! He was selfless, generous, outgoing, kind, and always putting everyone else first. And his mood was ALWAYS upbeat, with a wisecrack that would make the grouchiest person crack a smile! I love you Grampa, and will miss you so much. Thanks for being the best grandfather ever, and for making my life so much more special. I am so blessed!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T02:17:00.003-05:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Our children are loved by so many... a million thanks to all who made this Christmas special for them this year! We are extremely grateful. Our friends and family are the best of the best! We love you all more than you know!

Our Christmas eve was such a nice time. We spent the morning/afternoon finishing up last minute shopping. Our candlelight service at church was great... I played Christmas eve service for the first time in my life, and I gotta tell ya... CHRISTMAS CAROLS ARE HARD TO PLAY!!!! Lord have mercy! I made it through, but it was not without a large share of mistakes! But it's okay. After church, my brother came over for our traditional Christmas eve gathering, complete with bacon wrapped scallops (a tradition for us, started by my mom). Sandy was here also, as was a new friend of Jason's from the fire department, Steve Pettite. Our neighbor Chris came over for a little while too. It was funny to watch Tim and Jason boxing on the Wii! LOL! We had a great time hanging out!

The presents are now wrapped and under the tree. It is 2:30 am... I can't sleep. Not sure if it's the excitement of the evening, or the medication I am taking (probably both). But nonetheless, I am not sleepy at all. Bad. This will surely catch up with me tomorrow........

My oldest son is currently awake and trying to sneak a peek at the tree... uh-uh!

Speaking of tradition, here is a picture of our traditional "first ornament" on the tree...

It is a spike, symbolic of the nails that pierced the hands and feet of our Savior. The red ribbon is symbolic of His blood that cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Really, the miracle of Christmas is only the beginning of the story. The stories of Christmas and Easter are inseparable. We never want to forget the real meaning of this special season.

Well, I should really head to bed. I love you all! Have a great time with your families and friends! God bless you, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

First day of winter

2008-12-21T17:00:00.002-05:00

Winter arrived today with all the pomp and circumstance that winter brings....
LOTS OF SNOW! Check out these pictures of my family in the white stuff...

Yeah, they're dark. I waited too long to get out and take pictures. I mean, here in Vermont, winter means it's dark as night by 3:45 in the afternoon! However, take heart, Vermonters!! Today is the SHORTEST DAY OF THE YEAR! Starting tomorrow, the days get LONGER each day!! YAY!!!! Bring on the daylight! Those of us with SAD (seasonal affective disorder) crave the sunshine........ the snow I could DEFINITELY do without!

New Rank in MGD

2008-12-20T13:41:00.002-05:00

Well, here he is! Sporting a new RED belt! Woo hoo!

This picture shows all the belts (starting at the bottom) he has progressed through, up to the red right on top of the brown. He has one belt left (the top red belt, or 1st red) and then the black belt in CA.

Our son has given us so many reasons to be busting with pride! He received the Holy Ghost in June of '07, he is very close to obtaining black belt status in a martial art, he is an amazing trumpet player in the band, and he is an Honor Roll student in Middle School! Add to that - he is just so pleasant to be around... kind, responsible, respectful, happy, etc etc. I LOVE YOU ADAM!!!!!

Bustin' proud mama!!

2008-12-20T10:01:00.001-05:00

I have no words to tell you how I'm feeling! I'm so proud of my son, I could just bust!

End of year "catch up"

2008-12-15T20:38:00.007-05:00

So, as we approach the end of 2008, there are a few very random pictures that I MEANT to get on the blog, but never managed to. So.... here in no particular order, are the random, non-related pictures....

Pumpkin carving contest.... one family night just before halloween, we had a contest... Nick and Mom vs. Adam and Dad.....
Cross and Bible ....................................... Storm Trooper

Adam's new suit.... VERY sharp!

Adam's 12th birthday party with A-Train and Ian... they had a blast!

A beautiful sunset out in my backyard.

So there we go... I feel like my "loose ends" are all tied up now. I know they aren't so exciting, but they are part of my "northern apostolic mom" existence!

Christmas traditions... the stuff memories are made of.

2008-12-13T22:10:00.006-05:00

I love the Christmas tree farm in our town. It brings back such great memories of my childhood days when MY family went and "tagged" a tree at a tree farm in Maine. We are passing that tradition down to our own children... they couldn't wait for this day! Here are some pictures from the "2008 Christmas Tree" experience!

Trees, trees, everywhere!

Nick proudly points out the winner!

Dad does the honors...

Adam, working on his manly skills, uses the saw to cut off bottom branches.

Adam and Nick carry the tree to the truck.

More manly skills... I would have no clue how to attach the tree to the roof of the truck... that's what guys are for! LOL!

This is a favorite part of the tradition... the hot chocolate with candy cane!

Adam is totally into the Christmas spirit!

Adam putting the ornaments on "just so"...

Nick putting ornaments on....

Voila! A beautiful tree! Thanks for sharing in our special day!

God is...

2008-12-13T09:03:00.003-05:00

Okay... I haven't posted a praise/worship video on here in a while, but I found one (thank you Jason) that is just way fun to praise God to! I do believe I will be introduing this one to our church! Click play, turn up the volume, and praise Him at the top of your lungs!

4 years....

2008-11-30T01:46:00.002-05:00

One week ago, on Nov. 22, marked the 4 year anniversary of my first blog post.
Wow. I've covered a lot of ground in 4 years. Also, in just 20 more posts, I will reach the 500 posts mark. Wow again. I must say that I have met lots of nice people in my four years on blogger, and have become quite close to some in prayer. I love this blog!! And I love my readers! Thanks to all of you who make this little project of mine worthwhile!

Crazy Friday

2008-11-28T22:41:00.003-05:00

Proverbs 17:22 says, "A cheerful heart is good medicine". Tonight was one of those magical family nights that only my husband can create. He has a unique sense of humor, and once he gets on a roll, your gut hurts from laughing so hard. We were on our way to Friendly's Restaurant to meet Aunt Carol for dessert... she is over visiting from St. J to do the "Black Friday" shopping thing. Anyway, on our way there, a commercial came on the radio for a store that we happened to be driving by at the time. The main line was "You can feel good about Lenny's". Yeah. That's what did it. As we drove past Lenny's, Jason rolled down his window and HOLLERED, "WOOOOO! I FEEL GOOD ABOUT LENNY'S!!!!!!! WOOOOOO!!!" It was all over. The boys were cracking up so hard, and the poor waitress at Friendly's just had no idea what hit her! We left her a really good tip, because she put up with our craziness, and even joined in! There was Christmas music playing in the restaurant, and we started singing... we even got some people to join us! Good grief... I'm sitting here at the computer STILL laughing as I recall it all! Sorry I can't explain it better.... it's one of those "you had to be there" kind of things. Anyway, my husband is the great "memory maker" in this family. My boys will have LOTS of interesting things to pass down to their children about their crazy grampa! LOL! I love you honey!!!

Great Christmas card!!

2008-11-28T15:45:00.001-05:00

I must thank my good friend Bekah for this one... LOL!!!!

Click on the image to make it larger.

Thankful for family!

2008-11-27T19:54:00.003-05:00

I love my family! And today, we were blessed to spend the day with this wonderful family! My brother and his awesome girls! Tim hosted our dinner and cooked the bird... *sniff sniff*... mmmm! Smelled so good at his place!

We had 7 people, and enough food to feed about 20! Holy smokes! Anyway, I inherited a long-standing "title" today from my Aunt Judy... of "weird aunt". Yup. Aunt Judy was always the weird aunt in our family growing up. And one thing she did to earn that title was to make purple mashed potatoes one year for Easter dinner (which is very "interesting" looking with brown gravy on it, btw). So Tim threw the food coloring at me and said, PURPLE.

You should have seen the kids' faces when they looked at them! It was hilarious! Sarah says, "Are these supposed to look this way???" Adam refused to eat them! ROFL! It was priceless. We shared the Aunt Judy stories with them at dinner, and they assured me they would tell their children about Aunt Michelle... the "weird aunt". :) I called Aunt Judy later on and told her and she laughed so hard! It was great!

Now...... for more "thankfulness".... my dear grandfather in Maine fell yesterday and broke his hip (on his and Nana's 66th wedding anniversary). I was so worried, knowing that his surgery was this morning, and he was not the best candidate for surgery at age 92 with a very weak heart, etc. Well, he came through the surgery with flying colors.... he is tough as nails, that guy!! Thank you Jesus! Here he is, just 6 hours after his surgery... getting ready for some turkey with the fixin's! Amazing!

I am so thankful!!!! I know I will be traveling to Maine soon to visit him and Nana. But today, I am just thankful he is still with us!

That is all for now. I hope you counted your blessings today! I know I did! Have a great weekend!

Not to be outdone!

2008-11-25T22:36:00.003-05:00

Well, a couple posts back, I bragged on my oldest nephew in Maine about getting his first deer. Well... little brother Mark has followed in big brother's footsteps and gotten his first deer as well! It was 10 days ago, and I apologize for not getting this post up sooner. Here are pictures of Mark and his deer (and proud Papa as well.... who has yet to get a deer this season!) *update! A call to my sister's house Thanksgiving Day revealed that Dad did in fact get his deer that morning... the last day of deer hunting season in Maine! He got a 5 point buck... way to go!*

Mark.... Uncle Jason, Aunt Michelle, Adam, and Nick are very very proud of you! Wow! 11 years old, and got your first deer! Way to go!

Lost

2008-11-22T23:35:00.003-05:00

Where have I been? Well... I don't have an answer for that. I have been lost in thought... my mind ever wandering. I have much on my mind... much on my heart. And every time I log in to post on my blog, I have nothing to say, because I can't seem to organize my thoughts. My heart is aching.... only prayer relieves the burden. Only worship gives my mind and thoughts order.

I was going to write that only worship lifts my spirits, but that is not true. I spent time with my family this evening, and my sons made me laugh so hard! They are a tremendous blessing to me. And my husband?? He treated us to dinner, he helped clean the house, and he is just the most amazing husband a woman could ask for! We watched a movie last night with our next door neighbor Amanda, and it was a very emotional movie (yes, of course I blubbered like a baby). But my husband is very sensitive and shed tears as well. How many women can say their husband does that???? The sensitive type is hard to come by, and I SOOOO lucked out! I love you honey!

Anyway, I am trying to get ready for church in the morning, but I'm having trouble staying on task. I sat at the piano to worship, and it felt soooo good. I was hoping it would put me in the frame of mind to put together a song list for the morning, and help me put the finishing touches on my Sunday School lesson on holiness for tomorrow, but alas..... please pray for me.

Hope all is well with you all. I have been keeping up on other people's blogs. HI BETH!!!! You haven't posted in forever, either. Also, to Henry's family, I am so moved by your strength! The post about Henry's magical day of fun and laughter made me smile! HI HENRY!!!!! :) Julie.... you are turning out to be a more faithful blogger than me lately! LOL! I miss you so much! Thinking of you every day! Sister Sunshine..... VERY COOL video of you in the car! How did you do that??!!??!!?? You are amazing!

Love to all of you! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

MY AMAZING NEPHEW!!!

2008-11-01T13:49:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to my amazing nephew ALEX for bagging his first deer this morning!!!!!!!! It is a 118.5 lb. doe.... not bad!

Here is the proud dad.... about ready to bust!

Alex, we are so very proud of you!!!! Looking forward to hearing the story of the amazing first deer!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM!!!

2008-11-01T13:42:00.003-04:00

Just sending a shout out to our fabulous son Adam, who turned 12 today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ADAM!!!!!!

There will be pictures later, but I had to get the wish out there!

I gotta tell you, though... we went to Sears today to buy him a suit (pinstripe) for his birthday, as that was what he wanted, and he had to be with us to get it. We found one for $64.oo, marked down to $44.95. Sweet price for a suit. Fit him perfect, so we took it to the register....... guess how much it rang up for?????

$16.99!!!!

Yes, you read that right. He got a beautiful pinstripe suit from Sears for $16.99! God is good! This morning, we took him to Libby's for his annual birthday breakfast. He got his annual strawberry belgian waffle, and the entire restaurant sang to him! Tonight is a pizza party with two of his best friends. One more year.... he'll be a teenager. Yikes.

Urgent prayer request

2008-10-21T15:59:00.002-04:00

Please be in prayer for Henry and his family. Go to www.henryschallenge.blogspot.com for details of how to pray. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much! May the Lord's will prevail.

New Pictures of the guys

2008-10-20T20:37:00.005-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, Here are the latest school pictures.....

Original photos for family will soon be in the mail, but I just couldn't WAIT to show them off! Aren't they great??

Also, tonight was Nick's football awards ceremony, complete with pizza, popcorn, soda, and ice cream (can you say "healthy"?? NOT!) He got a really cool football trophy and we received the team photos tonight... here is Nick's..... (click on image to see it larger).

Again, the individual photo of him we got in wallet size, and family members will be receiving theirs in the mail soon.

Now that football is over, we can focus on NORMAL life again. Phew!

Have a great day y'all!

Technology makes for a "small world"

2008-10-12T23:18:00.002-04:00

I am excited! I love technology! When my mother-in-law and her husband moved away to Denver 3 weeks ago, I was really bummed. Now, I know that they are in the Lord's will and that makes me happy. But I miss them!

So, Julie and I can easily keep up on things by cell phone and email, and we also both have a blog... hers is on my sidebar... Grammie Betimes! So we can share pictures and such. I just posted wedding pictures for her to see, and she has been posting pictures of her new apartment, the Denver area, Jack's sister, etc. It's been really cool.

But the very best thing was tonight! The church they attend has a live stream webcast of their services. SO... being 2 hours behind us here on the east coast, we came home from our evening service, and found an email from Julie with a link to the church's website. We clicked on it... it's only 7pm out there.... LOOK!!!! Service is going on RIGHT NOW! They have a fantastic choir, and the preacher is preaching along similar lines to the message we heard in Vermont this evening! The Holy Ghost is MOVING! Then suddenly, THERE'S JACK! Where's mom? THERE SHE IS! It is like being in service with them! It was exciting for us. :)

Back before the invention of the automobile, families stayed close. Now we are spread out all over the globe, but technology has made a way for us to "be there" nonetheless! It truly is a "small world". Thank you Lord for affording us the opportunity to worship you with the saints in Denver! YOU ARE GREAT, JESUS!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

2008-10-12T16:32:00.000-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN!

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, MOM! HOPE YOUR DAY WAS GREAT,
JUST LIKE YOU!!!!!!

Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married!

2008-10-11T22:15:00.004-04:00

What a fun day! Our longtime friend Ruth King got married today to a dynamite guy named Ben, and the wedding was so wonderful! Here are some pictures of their big day.

The wedding was co-officiated by our pastor and Ruth's uncle from Missouri.

The bridesmaids were beautiful... Kelly was emotional...

Dad made it down the aisle with Ruth on his arm, but the tears flowed after he sat down. :)

This picture of Ben and Ruth doing the unity candle is blurry because I zoomed in too far.

You may kiss the bride!

I LOVE this picture... it is the true Ruth! She looks soooooooo happy!!!

Ruth's mom Karen looked absolutely beautiful as well!

They did an excellent job decorating a gymnasium for a wedding! It was very nice!

Kissing after sharing the wedding cake.....

Don't they look terrific????

Here's dad... chillin' now that it is all over. A very proud papa. :)

And the coolest thing??? For their honeymoon, they are going to GENERAL CONFERENCE in North Carolina! That is totally cool! I'll be watching online in my living room... maybe I'll see them....? Or not... :)

Fireproof and football

2008-10-11T00:15:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone! I ask your forgiveness, as I have not been in much of a writing mood lately. My energies have been spent in other areas of life, and trying to focus on writing has just been too much.

Hmmm... one thing I would love to share with you all is the AMAZING movie our family went to see called "Fireproof". Anyone who frequents my blog has heard about it or clicked on the banner to see all kinds of information and trailers. I have to tell you... the movie FAR EXCEEDED our expectations! It was a tremendous testimony to God's amazing ability to use ordinary people to get out HIS MESSAGE to the people who need to hear it! There is no question that the reason our nation is in the mess it's in is because of the breakdown in the basic family unit. Marriages are crumbling all around us every day, and it weakens society to the point where immorality and sin prevail, destroying God's model of how we are to exist in this life. Marriage between one man and one woman until death do us part is a model of the relationship between God and his people! Jesus Christ and the church! OF COURSE the devil wants to attack and destroy this Godly institution!

Anyway, suffice it to say, it is an adult topic (divorce) and there are no children in this movie, and yet my 9 and 11 year old sons walked out of the theater saying it was the best movie they have ever seen! TRUE!!! Jesus Christ as Lord of your life and Lord of your marriage was the central theme of the movie. And it was #4 in the box office opening weekend, and #8 the following weekend! It opened on 839 screens, compared to Hollywood's offerings, opening on 2500-3000 screens each! God is amazing! If you have the chance, I URGE you to drive to the nearest theater to see it (which for us was a 3 hour drive, as it did not open anywhere in Vermont). It will be soooooo worth the drive!!!! AND... we will be owning this on DVD the second it is available!

What else can I share with you? My job is proving to be very challenging this year. I come home physically, mentally, and emotionally drained most days. I have discovered that this particular child I am working with will require much prayer. Only God can give me the strength required to do my job. That way, HE gets all the glory, as it should be!

Football is just about over! This Thursday's game was a really exciting one, and Nick's team did win! They have had a great season, and learned SO MUCH! The mighty green team has outstanding coaches... the BEST! They teach the love of the game, not the competitive "out for blood, win at all costs" mentality. The boys just LOVE playing! And at age 8 and 9, they can run complicated plays like reverse sweeps and such... successfully!!!! And they have some amazing passing/receiving players as well, and some kids who are just natural born football players... all-around amazing!

Hmmm... what else? I don't know. There is a ton of other things I could tell you about, but my writing mood just isn't there, and it would probably bore you to tears anyway. Here are the only 2 facts that matter right at this moment...

1. Jesus Christ is Lord and coming back soon (THAT is exciting news!!).

2. Red Sox just won Game 1 of the ALCS against Tampa Bay, and it was exciting!

I am rambling because I am so tired... 12:37 am! AH! Time to hit the sack. Take time to thank God for His faithfulness to you today! Bye!

Abundant life

2008-10-02T01:26:00.004-04:00

In John 10:10, Jesus said, "I am come that they may have life, and that more abundantly." Here is my take on that...

Life is full of ups and downs; it's just the way life is, whether you are a Christian or not. Now.... a non-believer has a life that looks like this...
But because the Christian believer has been promised life MORE ABUNDANTLY, they have a life that looks more like this....

That is very much how my day was today. Extreme highs and lows. It is exhausting, actually. But God is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. He never has "bumps" in the road like we do! Nothing takes him by surprise. God sees everything like this

___________________________

So, I will not bore you with the details (many of which are confidential anyway). I'll just let you know that I went grocery shopping at 1am to relieve the stress in my mind. And it's pouring rain....

Too lazy to think of a good title for this post...

2008-09-18T23:13:00.003-04:00

Greetings from sick bay. Yes, it is that time of year again... I'm back in the classroom, and sick already. Just a rotten cold, mind you... but enough to make me feel like death warmed over, so I stayed home today. I got up just long enough to get the kiddos on the bus, then went back to bed and slept until 1:00 pm! I still feel like crud, but not as bad as last night. I will probably go to work in the morning, although it won't be a "high energy" kind of day for me.

And to top it all off, Nick had a football game this afternoon/evening in a town almost 1/2 an hour away! And it was NOT warm. I had on layers... and fleece pants under my skirt... and a winter coat... and a blanket. However, my son and his team did an awesome job! They got 4 touchdowns and won the game. Nick got his first ever "flag" (tackle), and was so proud of himself! He came away from the game feeling quite confident. I must say, I exerted NO energy during that game except when he got that flag! Proud mom moment.

Ok... time to hit the sack. I've only been up for 10 hours, but if I don't turn in, I'll have a heck of a time waking up in the morning.

HERE COMES THE BRIDE!! updated with new pictures!

2008-09-06T14:30:00.005-04:00

Today was such a wonderful day! My friends Christine and Andrew tied the knot, and it was a beautiful service! This is Dad walking her down the aisle...

Do you, Andrew, take Christine to be your lawfully wedded wife?

I DO! You may kiss the bride!

They look sooooooooooooooooooooo happy!!!!!

Bustling up the train...

The rain held off until MOST of the outdoor pictures were done. Now we are off to the reception... I may edit this post and add a couple of reception pictures later.

Challenge

2008-08-24T15:01:00.002-04:00

I love when God uses multiple people to bring me a message personally designed to target my heart. My pastor preached this morning about our personal responsibility to grow in the knowledge of God, by taking action and working out our own salvation with fear and trembling. He preached from 2 Peter 1:5-8... it is OUR job to ADD to our faith, ADD to our virtue, etc. etc. THEN , I listen to Pastor Terry Black ADD to that message by challenging us to serve others as a means of growing in our relationship with the Lord. He challenged us to let God be the potter, forming us to fulfill our original purpose of being a servant. He told of a man who had only been in the church a short time. The church was teeming with people, and they were short on Sunday School teachers. The pastor handed the man a Bible and said, "See that room of young 11 year old boys? They need a teacher today. Would you do it?" The man was stunned. TODAY? NOW? But but but but.... there were many excuses, but the pastor simply said, "You'll learn." The man was challenged at that moment to GROW into ministry. If we could all desire to serve in whatever capacity God chooses... He formed us... He's the Potter... He knows what purpose we were formed for. Although I do not feel I am "called" to be lead musician at our church, I have been gifted with the talent to play and sing. I could make a dozen excuses to avoid being behind that piano service after service... but really, when I serve in that capacity to fill a need, I grow spiritually, because God touches me and ministers to me every time I play. When people come to me to tell me a certain song I played targeted their particular situation and blessed them, then I grow spiritually and I am drawn to the Lord in a spirit of thanksgiving. Our church is currently experiencing a shortage in Sunday School teachers, and I am thinking about the challenge. Praying about the challenge. If I wait for the Spirit to "move me", I may miss out on an opportunity to grow. Pray for me as I pray about this new challenge in my spirit. God will put me where He wants me. I trust Him completely. I desire to grow closer to the Lord, however He sees fit, and however hard I am willing to "work" at it. Thank you Jesus.

Posts added

2008-08-24T14:35:00.003-04:00

Hello! Take a moment to scroll down through the page and see some of the posts I have added or updated. I don't want you to miss the video of the world's youngest preacher (hilarious) or pictures of Adam's most recent belt ceremony. Thanks for stopping by!

Michelle

VICTORY... by hook or by crook....

2008-08-23T23:46:00.005-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen.... you really have to know all the tricks to get around Blogger's major quirks. THANK GOD for the Picasa program! There's more than one way to skin a cat, and thankfully more than one way to post pictures to your blog.

HERE are the pictures of the Chargers in action! They played the Patriots first, then the Buccaneers. What a fun day!!! (You can click on the pictures to see them BIGGER).

We also took some amazing video footage... I SO wish we could post it on here. We didn't use a digital recorder... just a regular one. So I'm not sure I will be able to put anything on here. Oh well. Trust me when I say that this is going to be a fun football season! GO CHARGERS!! GO NICK!!

blogger is sooooo aggravating sometimes...

2008-08-23T22:46:00.003-04:00

Well.... to my family and friends who have been waiting all day for pictures from Nick's first football game.... you will have to wait longer. Blogger absolutely refuses to let me upload any pictures. I've been trying since 2pm this afternoon... it is now 11:30 pm. Hmmmm.... I am totally frustrated. AND THE PICTURES ARE AWESOME! He did such a great job today! It was really exciting. But.... you will just have to wait until Blogger decides to cooperate with me to see that for yourself.

Sorry.

GO CHARGERS!!!!

2008-08-22T20:27:00.002-04:00

My oh my.... my baby is a football player!

And Dad is all proud because Nick is playing center, just like he did in high school! Tomorrow is our first actual game. We will be taking the video camera, and hopefully a few pictures with the camera to post here on the blog.

I am feeling my age... one son entering middle school, and one playing football. Wow. Slow down! LOL! Anyway, just wanted to share this "mom moment" with you all. Being a mom never has a dull moment!

Train up a child in the way they should go.......

2008-08-22T01:50:00.000-04:00

This is so adorable! This is the grandson of a preacher in Mississippi.... PREACH IT!

Getting closer to black belt

2008-08-16T20:30:00.001-04:00

My goodness... it has been exactly 17 months since Adam started this martial arts path. And now he is at the rank of Brown Stripe. What's left? 2nd red, 1st red, and BLACK. Yes, we are getting close! Here are a couple pictures from today's belt ceremony.

Now, granted, these last senior belt levels are TOUGH and take a long time to complete, and he has to do a black belt project before heading to California, but really... we couldn't be prouder of him! GO ADAM!!!

A call to deep prayer

2008-08-16T00:08:00.004-04:00

Children. They have a special place in the heart of God. Jesus told his bickering adult disciples that whoever did not humble himself as a little child could not enter the kingdom of heaven. Those who stand in the pulpit and point at our young children saying, "They are the church of tomorrow" are sadly mistaken. They are the church of RIGHT NOW! Just listen to these children intercede with gut-wrenching prayer! Our children have been born into a dark world where, outside of Jesus, there is NO HOPE. None. They are told they are worthless... evolving from hydrogen gas, with no purpose for living. They are told life is cheap. Suicide. Shooting up their friends in school, killing their parents... no hope. But the children being raised in the church? They KNOW who their hope is! And their prayers are EXCEEDINGLY POWERFUL in the sight of God. Give a listen......

Holy Spirit filled Praying Children

Our church will shortly be entering a time of prayer and fasting. I want my prayers to be effective and pleasing to God. I want to move His hand in this last hour, bringing a sweeping revival that no man can take credit for! Today in our nation's capitol, thousands of children will be gathered at the mall to PRAY for our nation and for an end to abortion. Their prayers WILL be powerful. Their prayers WILL be heard from heaven. Will God hear YOUR prayer? Will you join your voice with theirs? I intend to! Take the time today to lock yourself away and cry out to God as passionately as these incredible children! I don't know about you, but I am sick of apathetic religion, and ready for a white hot move of the Spirit of God in our churches and our nation!

Jesus is the Reason Why I Sing!!!!!

2008-08-13T17:07:00.000-04:00

Fireproof

2008-08-12T23:59:00.002-04:00

Just wondering... how many of you who read my blog have clicked on the banner at the top of my blog regarding the new movie "Fireproof"? How many of you are planning to go see it on opening day? Well, if you live in Vermont, you probably are NOT planning to go see it.... unless you plan to drive 3 1/2 hours to Manchester, NH or Albany, NY. It is opening in 44 days. It is showing NOWHERE in Vermont. Vermont is one of only SEVEN states nationwide that is NOT showing this movie about godly marriage between a man and a woman. Could it be that the liberal, homosexual spirits have such a stronghold on Vermont that this movie cannot even be shown? My God is bigger than that! Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world. Please pray for Vermont (and RI, ME, NJ, SD, UT, and WY). Those are the other 6 states not showing this incredibly important movie. The devil wants nothing more than to destroy the institution of marriage, because it is the visible model of the relationship between Jesus Christ and His church. The devil hates that. We MUST get this movie in a VT theater! There is great power in unified prayer!

VICTORY REPORTS!

2008-08-10T00:16:00.004-04:00

Although very tired, I must post! Today was our youth yard sale, and although only one teen and my two boys and three adults showed up, we had a marvelous time of fellowship with each other, and made over $200 in the process! God blesses your effort if it is for His purpose.

Okay, time for TWO praise reports!

1. My brother's best friend had a small stroke (TIA) and ended up in the hospital for an MRI. Although he suffered no lasting effects from the stroke, the MRI showed a sizable mass in the center of his brain (obviously in an inoperable location). He called me to tell me and I promised to pray. First brain biopsy came back inconclusive. More prayer. Second brain biopsy.... NO mass, NO cancer, NO infection, NO anything! My God rocks!!!!

2. In case you haven't noticed, my blog has a short list of other blogs I read consistently over on the left. One is called "Henry's Challenge". My dear "mom" Winnie (Jason's dad's wife) in Maryland asked me to put Henry on my prayer list. Her ladies' prayer group has been praying for him since he was diagnosed with medulloblastoma (a cancerous tumor in the cerebellum of the brain) on October 13, 2007 at the age of 3. Well, this past Thursday, Henry had another MRI, and this one was CLEAN! No sign of brain tumor at all!!! What an amazing God! Two brain tumors in one week!! YAY! Nothing is impossible with my Jesus!

So when you are done reading this post, please stop and take a moment to rejoice and thank God for His goodness and faithfulness. He is WORTHY of ALL our praise and thanks!

Good night to all!

Steeple Chase -pushing the limit

2008-08-05T23:48:00.000-04:00

Greetings one and all! Today, Adam took on a unique challenge called the annual Moo Gong Do Steeple Chase. As in the famous horse racing, it is an afternoon/evening of 3 hour long MGD classes in a row, where the students go from school to school. The first class was in Shelburne and Master Allen worked them hard from the get go! They trained out in the field house where they did lots of running, kicking, and even an obstacle course! I don't mind telling you they all worked up a sweat! :)

Next, it was on to the Essex school, where JGN Allen gave them another major workout, complete with extended warmups, lots of sparring and double time hand techniques, and a cool down consisting of tight fist knuckle pushups and situps.

By the time they got to the South Burlington school, they were looking quite fatigued.... but Master Nerbak worked them hard with one steps and more sparring.

They ended with a sharing session about what it means to use MGD to "find yourself", which was an excellent discussion about using life's experiences to discover things about yourself you never would have known if you didn't have that particular experience. I am not sure Adam heard much of it... he was so wiped out that he looked as if he was totally "checked out" during the discussion! LOL!

This is Adam smiling because HE MADE IT!!!!!!

Those who participated in the steeple chase went out to Pizza Hut to celebrate surviving three grueling hours of workout.... they ate, let me tell you! Adam ordered a meat lover's pizza!

I am very proud of Adam... he's not sure he'll try it again next year, but he said perhaps once he is a black belt he'll give it another go. Even so, great job, my son!!!! (My guess is he will sleep until about 10 tomorrow! hee hee hee!)

Something I am considering...

2008-08-02T00:50:00.002-04:00

Not that this is really blog worthy information... but in my desire to become closer to the Lord, I am drawn to the book of Proverbs. I think that next year when I do my BREAD, I am going to read 2-3 VERSES of Proverbs a day, and seriously ponder them, figuring out how they can apply to my life. I counted 915 verses total in the book of Proverbs... divide it up by 365 and you get 2.5 verses a day. SO... some days 2 verses, some days 3 verses. That is my plan. PERHAPS it will even take the place of the BREAD program for one year, so my study and reflection can be all the deeper. We shall see. Time for bed! Peace!

A small rant...

2008-07-29T23:01:00.005-04:00

This quick post is to inform you that summer vacation is TOO LONG. My children are beginning to do the "I'm bored" thing, and expecting me to entertain them (not happening... when I was growing up, we entertained OURSELVES). I haven't had a paycheck in 6 weeks, and I need a part-time job. Fast. Here's what I think.... Since the children can't seem to handle more than 4 weeks off without wigging out... we should have 4 weeks off in July, 4 weeks off for the Christmas holiday, and 4 weeks off in March for spring break. The rest of the time, they should be IN SCHOOL! Period. That is Michelle's solution to everything. Then, I only miss two paychecks at a time. And everyone is happy. *sigh* I wish I could make it happen. Oh well. Only 29 days till school starts... only 22 days until I go back to work. YAY! I can't wait!

Excitement at the in-laws

2008-07-21T19:21:00.002-04:00

We had a very interesting day at my in-laws house today, and it was all thanks to this little guy right here.......

Yep, this little acetylene torch caused quite a commotion today. :)
I went up to help my sweet mom-in-law sort through her hundreds of books in the basement, as they are selling the condo and have to be out in less than 3 weeks. So, she and I were sorting the books into several boxes, while Jack was packing up his instrument repair tools, also in the basement with us. Suddenly, the CO/FIRE detector over our heads begins to beep, saying "WARNING: CARBON MONOXIDE. WARNING: CARBON MONOXIDE." So.... Julie begins to fan the detector, hoping this would clear it out and make it stop, like when you fan the smoke out. No. It keeps going and going. I say, "Julie, we need to leave the basement." After much coaxing, she finally agrees. We call the fire dept. They send the fire truck (see below...)

They bring in the meter. The reading (which should be ZERO) begins to beep like crazy. The reading is in the 60s ppm... not so good! The fire chief tells us, "You can't be in here." So, we stand around in the pouring rain for a while... then decide we are actually really hungry, as we have not had lunch yet (3:00 pm). So we go out to Zachary's for lunch. YUM! While we did not get the basement cleared out like we had hoped, we did have some adventure, nonetheless. The torch is now looking for a new place to be stored... NOT in the basement! Julie, it was fun , and I look forward to coming up again next week! LOL! I love you!!!!

a future for our children REVISED

2008-07-19T22:49:00.003-04:00

I have been thinking a lot about our youth group. It's small. It's VERY small. In fact, it consists of 4 girls. And of those 4 girls, only 1 is totally serious about living for God.... maybe 2. That is disturbing. Disturbing because my son is about to turn 12, and I was really wanting there to be a vibrant and active youth group for my son to move into. However, it appears that God has other plans. It appears that the "up and coming" youth (those who are currently 9-12) are going to have to be the ones to BECOME the vibrant and active youth group. And that is not bad. I am praying that God gets ahold of them and they surrender themselves to Him and allow Him to use them to reach their friends for God, and ignite a revival in our church that is so desperately needed! During camp meeting, we had a tremendous move of the Spirit one night through the children and youth... ages 4-18! Yes, 4! THEY were the first ones to the altar... during the FIRST song of the service! And the Holy Ghost exploded in that place, and the preacher lined these children/teens up on the platform, and had all the ADULT ministry pass in front of them as the youth laid hands on them. I WANT THE ANOINTING THESE YOUTH HAVE! I am not afraid to admit that the young people have something we adults don't have. And I WANT IT! God is moving in our young people. Apathy is a troubling sin of the 21st century church, and many adults I know are struggling with this in their lives. I pray that the Lord will use the younger generation to shake them up!! This is the last wave of revival, and we cannot afford to miss it! I had a discussion with a couple of young people in our church today. We talked about making a decision to be "sold out" to Jesus and choosing to live for Him and serve Him NO MATTER WHAT EVERYONE ELSE AROUND US THINKS, SAYS, OR DOES. Our youth need to get the mindset that, even if NO ONE lives for God, I WILL! Because He is WORTH IT! And heaven is WORTH IT! And peer approval doesn't matter AT ALL! I have discovered this first hand. Since I was put back in the position of worship leader at my church (which, by the way, was NOT where I wanted to be!!!!), I have tried to play music I thought the congregation wanted to hear. I have tried to "please" the people. But they just sit there and stare, as if challenging me.... "entertain me.... make me want to get up and clap my hands and sing." I'm not afraid to tell you it was becoming a salvation issue for me. But when I finally surrendered that thinking to Jesus and said, "I am here to please YOU, not them... then suddenly, the worship just came so much easier! I don't even LOOK at the congregation when I lead service... it can become very discouraging for me. But they are not the main reason I am there behind the keyboard. Jesus is! If our youth could just grasp this concept........

Guilty!

2008-07-17T20:41:00.003-04:00

waiting....

2008-07-17T16:47:00.002-04:00

What a long 2 weeks it has been in northern Vermont for so many people. Today, the jury was handed the case of Christopher Williams in the double murder /attempted murder trial resulting from the shooting rampage in Essex two years ago. With a blogger inside the courtroom, MANY people were glued to their computers, following every detail. We now wait. We pray for a swift verdict of guilty. We want justice served. We want closure for the families, for the school, and for the communities. He needs to go to prison. For life. Period. He killed my son's 2nd grade teacher, and nearly killed his 1st grade teacher, who survived by a miracle from God alone. He killed innocent people who were deeply loved by their families, friends, and co-workers (and students!)

Yet I am struggling. There are passages in the Word of God that are going to "spoil my party", so to speak. One is Prov. 24:17

17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;

What does a Christian do with that when wanting this justice to be served so desperately? He deeply wounded so many lives... when the guilty verdict comes back, how do I NOT rejoice? Another one is Matt. 5:44

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

I am commanded by Jesus himself to love him, bless him, and pray for him. Wow. My stomach churns every time I see his face. I have not forgiven him. THAT is the issue. Hard to love, bless, and pray for someone you have not forgiven. That is MY issue.

So, when the guilty verdict comes in, as I know it will... pray for me, ok? Thanks.

What to say.... overcoming my writer's block

2008-07-14T15:52:00.006-04:00

So... I keep logging on, staring at the blank white box where I am supposed to type text, and logging off. I am having a bit of trouble with my writer's block.

Actually, there are only a few things to report on. First and foremost, my hubby preached away again last night in Rutland, and did a fantastic job. His message? I am not ashamed of who I am in Jesus! Was very encouraging and uplifting. :)

Second, we had a terrific time on Saturday at my mom's and Ray's camp. My sister and her family were up from Maine, and my brother and his family came up as well. It was fun to have the whole family together for a day. The kids all had fun playing, swimming, fishing, etc. The grown-ups had fun getting caught up on life in general. Family is so important. It is the building block of society. Families need to stay healthy. Without them, society falls apart.

Third, last week and this week is the trial of the man who shot and killed my son's second grade teacher two years ago. Here is a link to the live blog that is occurring from inside the courtroom. The guy is an amazing reporter. I do believe justice will be served. I have followed the trial very very closely this past week.

Finally, I got a new (new to me anyway) car!

No more Volvo... no more one-car family. We got an amazing deal...it is a 2000 Chrysler Cirrus with only 39,800 miles on it. Runs beautiful! Marty's prices are very reasonable... .here is his website if you want to check it out.

So, that is all for now. Time to take Adam to Moo Gong Do class. Sorry this post is not so exciting or spiritual or anything else like that.... I'll get back to you on these matters. Have a nice week everyone!

Jesus loves the little children.... and so do we!

2008-07-05T23:12:00.002-04:00

OK... as promised, here are some pictures of the incredible fun we had at camp, working with the precampers, ages 4-8. Here's a picture of the entire construction crew...

We had a tight schedule for 2 1/2 hours. We began with a fun greeting, then spent time singing and praising God! We also had a fun skit about the theme of the day, and then a lesson, followed by a time of prayer and worship. Then they went here to the building center, where they could build using colorful cardboard building bricks, legos, lincoln logs, magnetix, and play tools and scrap wood. This was their favorite place!

Here's a picture of some very proud crew workers who used incredible teamwork to build amazing things!

Of course, "breaktime" was a favorite too.... SNACKS AND DRINKS!

Here they are... singing a song in front of the entire congregation on the last night of church camp... in full attire. They sang "He's Still Working on Me" and did a fantastic job!!!!

These are my amazing soloists, who sang the verse on their own. YAY!!

Check out the little dude in the middle... he's only 3 years old, but he is a ball of fire! He looks like the job foreman, doesn't he??? LOL!

We get the privilege of handing out trophies to the boy and girl precamper who really went the extra mile in their worship and their kindness toward others. Handing out the trophies is fun, but what you get back is priceless!

We were so proud of them!

The district took a minute to recognize us for our work with the children, but I'm telling you... we do it because we love the children! Sometimes it seems that "big people" don't really want to be bothered with the little ones, as if somehow they have nothing to contribute to the Kingdom of God. But our little precampers were THE FIRST ONES TO THE ALTAR EVERY NIGHT OF CHURCH CAMP!!! And those kiddos can pray and touch God better than a lot of adults! They are a powerhouse, and Jason and I love to teach them that they truly matter in the Kingdom! It's nice that we have our way paid to camp, but we don't do it for that as much as for the reward you get in your spirit when children surrender their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ in your class! Praise God! You can't put a price on that!!!

There's so much more I could say, but I will leave it at that for now. I will save the messages from the evening services for another post. God is AMAZING! And He's COMING... SOON!!! I intend to be ready!! And I intend to make sure those precampers are ready too!

Unexpected turn of events

2008-07-05T17:13:00.003-04:00

Greetings! I bet you were expecting to see me come back on this blog after church camp and post amazing pictures and wonderful testimonies about the amazing move of God... well, God is sovereign and so very good, in both the good times and in the storms. This week at camp, we encountered a bit of a trial. Take a look at this picture of Nick's right ankle....

This is a very bad case of cellulitis, which landed him in the ER up in church camp territory Tues. evening, and then promptly admitted to the hospital here at home Thursday evening. Poor kid... he couldn't even walk, and just cried and cried.

Here is a picture of Nick on the 4th of July being such a good sport about missing the parade and the fireworks. Dad bought him this big flag balloon. Nick is watching cartoons.... you know... the kind that lower your IQ just by nature of watching them....

The worst part of the hospital stay was Nick's wretched veins. He had 3 of the best IV nurses in the hospital trying to establish an IV for his antibiotics, but it took them EIGHT sticks to get one, and they got it in the worst location possible for a clyndamycin drip...that stuff burns terrible going in, and the location of his successful IV was on the part of his wrist where you feel for your pulse. OUCH. Needless to say, my little drama king who is terrified of needles did a lot of screaming and crying. At one point, his face was PURPLE as he screamed, "Don't touch me! Get away from me! I am running away! This is the worst place on the face of the earth! Blah blah blah......." SO, we decided to put this shirt on him for the benefit of the nurses....

Of course, he ultimately was NOT in charge, but it made him feel better, anyway.

The Great Sandini, aka Big Sister, was a tremendous blessing!!!!!! She came over and brought him a dart game, and ended up playing PlayStation 2 video games with Nick for a couple of hours. Sandy did SO much for us during his stay. And even before we got home, she so sweetly offered to sit with Nick at camp for 2 hours while Jason and I packed all the precamper stuff and all our luggage back in the truck and trailer. Also, Jason's mom was a tremendous blessing...not only did she bring the boys home in her vehicle and take Adam for the night, but she did a bunch of our laundry! WOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!!!! We're not worthy! Thank you so so so so much, Julie! We love you to pieces!

So... we are now home from the hospital, and the "unpacking" from camp begins. I will post some pictures and testimonies from camp later tonight. We really did have a magnificent time in the presence of Almighty God! Talk to you soon!

Brown belt

2008-06-21T23:25:00.003-04:00

Adam began this Moo Gong Do journey 15 months ago. Belt rank in this martial art is as follows:
White, Yellow, Orange, /Green, Purple, Blue, /Brown, 2nd Red, 1st Red, BLACK.
He really loves doing this art, and is very good at it. Notice the slashes dividing the ranks into jr. belt, intermediate belt, and senior belt. Adam is now in the senior belt division. More is expected. Curriculum and testing become more difficult. Rank advancement slows down a bit. Once he moves from brown to 2nd red, he essentially "starts over", going through ALL curriculum again from white on up to brown. Then they receive 1st red, and begin working on a black belt project, and preparing to travel to CA to test under Grand Master Kim to receive their black belt. These are exciting times! Here are some pictures from this round of testing (Thur.), and from the belt ceremony which was this morning.

Adam sparring with Juliette

Extreme air during sparring! (I believe I can fly......)

Ready stance in front of head table during testing.

Adam receiving his certificate from Master Allen for brown belt.

Adam receiving his brown belt rank.

Looking good there, Mr. Senior Belt! Woo hoo!

Group photo of all who tested this cycle.

The 3 musketeers, as I like to call them... this is Patrick, Adam, and Stephen. They all started about the same time (Adam is senior of the 3....) and have advanced in rank together since the beginning. It's been cool to watch them all grow together!

Thanks for sharing in the excitement with me! I am very proud of my son. BTW, his first HOLY GHOST birthday is in NINE DAYS! How cool is that? Talk to you all soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE GREAT SANDINI!!!

2008-06-20T00:03:00.000-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE MOST AMAZING FRIEND EVER IN THE WORLD! WE LOVE YOU SANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love, The Ziters.... your adopted family!

Mamadoodle, Papa Z, and little tykes 1 and 2

The volvo is no more...

2008-06-07T19:18:00.003-04:00

Yes, it's true. Cars are inherently evil. A "necessary" evil... which is really an oxymoron, because evil is not necessary in the life of a Christian. However, life happens. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. I blew up my car today. I fried it. It overheated to the point of boiling... and I just can't put one more dime into this wretch of a car. It has a dozen things wrong with it... but it's one redeeming grace was that it still ran. Past tense. It no longer runs. Let's see...

The odometer doesn't work
the a/c has never worked since I bought it
the heat works when it wants to (which is usually not when it's -10 degrees)
the trac braking system is failing, which is a scary feeling when it slips, and you want to STOP
the radiator has sprung a big fat leak
The gas tank cover fell off the car
the side is smashed in from hitting a deer at 50 mph, so door opens hard
the power seat adjuster on the driver's side doesn't work properly
the seat warmers (although a luxury I could definitely do without) do not work
the stereo has a short in it, and when you try to adjust the volume, it just turns off
the speaker covers just won't stay on anymore
it is rusting everywhere!
the back hatch doesn't stay open unless you hold it open... otherwise it crashes down on your head while you're trying to get the groceries out of it.
It is almost 15 years old and just plain tired and ready to give up the ghost. Heck, in 5 more years, it will qualify as an antique!

So, that is the story. This is going to be a most difficult summer logistically. I was going to work part time OPPOSITE my husband because we can't afford a sitter for the kids. But with only one vehicle... that will not work. Please pray for us... we really need a break. We need an inexpensive used car... in a hurry.

Eggs in a basket

2008-06-04T16:56:00.003-04:00

Put all your eggs in one basket, then give
the basket to God.

When life is overwhelming in too many areas, just take everything and throw it in one basket, and let God help you sort it all out.

For Julie

2008-06-01T23:44:00.002-04:00

Hey Julie.... regarding the insert for our bulletin about Bible Study promotion... this is the picture I was talking about. It is far better than the one you used in the "idea" bulletin... I just like this one because my hair is down... I look practically bald in the other one... LOL!!!!

Hard preaching to youth... thank you Jesus!

2008-05-31T00:11:00.004-04:00

I found this message posted on a blog I read, and it blew me away! This man is a youth evangelist for the baptist church, and this message is delivered under a heavy anointing of the Holy Spirit. EVERY SINGLE TEEN and young adult needs to hear this message... in its entirety. Wow.

Rev. Paul Washer

The Love of the Word

2008-05-30T21:46:00.004-04:00

The Bible. God's perfect, holy WORD. A love letter from Jesus to each of us.
I listened to a message my pastor preached while we were away in St. Johnsbury. In fact, I have listened to it over and over. It impacted me deeply. The title of the message was "Whatever Happened to the Word of God?" In it, he speaks of a man who preached the word of God in Underhill, VT during the time of the Civil War. He spoke of how this man saw GREAT REVIVAL in his time of ministry. The man? Rev. Mark Atwood. The reason my pastor even knows about him? His grave is in the cemetary directly behind our church. His tombstone is in the shape of a pulpit with a Bible carved into the top of it. A memorial of this man's love for the Word of the Lord. Here is the part that hit my heart like an arrow in a bullseye...
Rev. Mark Atwood died 66 years before my pastor was even born. God, who is omnipresent, looked ahead in time and caused the Rev. Mark Atwood to be a silent witness to my pastor 108 years AFTER his death. This man's love for God is a memorial.... YEARS after his death. That is more powerful than ANY WORDS you could write on a tombstone... more powerful than any eulogy that could be given... HE LOVED THE WORD OF GOD. Period. And the way I see it, John 1:14 states that the Word of God became FLESH and dwelt among us. Jesus Christ our Savior is the living Word of God. You cannot separate the two. Don't try to tell me you love God if you don't love His Word.

EQUALS .

It is a very powerful thing to think about my own life and the impression it will leave for those who come after me. Will they look at my grave and think, "Wow, Michelle REALLY loved the Word of the Lord!" Will the person who gives my eulogy say anything at all about my deep love for the Lord and His Word?" I feel deep conviction when I think back to my earlier years as a Christian... the HOURS and HOURS I spent with my nose in the Book, doing my own Bible studies. I still love the Word and I have read it cover to cover 7 times (currently on # 8). But I am only reading it. I haven't thrown myself into deep STUDY of the Bible in far too long. And I believe my life shows that. Which reminds me of the question my pastor posed to us two nights ago at mid-week Bible study... Who do people really meet when they meet me? Is is Jesus? Or not? Pastor, thank you so much for preaching your heart and the heart of Jesus. I have been deeply moved by your messages of late, and am making some changes in my life as a result. I want to draw as near to Jesus as I can in these last days!

Proud Mom moment

2008-05-27T22:58:00.002-04:00

Ok... I have to admit I have been struggling with blogging lately. I've been struggling with some things and feeling very discouraged the past few weeks. Every time I try to blog, I stare at the blank box and .... well.... sign out. Because I don't feel like writing about all my troubles and stressed out feelings for the world to see, basically.

Well.... tonight is a very different story. Tonight, I am a bustin' with pride mom who WANTS to tell the world about her amazing son!

Tonight was Adam's band concert. Actually, he is in TWO bands... the regular concert band and the jazz band. Both played this evening. (Actually, he is in THREE bands, because he is also in the 6th grade band, which performs next week). Now mind you... they are not the Royal Philharmonic, ok? But for 4th-5th graders , they were pretty incredible. And the cool thing is... the jazz band learned quite a few songs (that I heard Adam rehearse at home a lot), but I was unaware of the fact that they were focusing primarily on IMPROV during their band practices... feeling the music inside you, and just playing what you feel within the confines of the key the band is playing in. Wow.... there were several members of the jazz band that played IMPROV solos tonight... totally unrehearsed... and ADAM was one of them! I had no idea he would be playing improv solos! That fact alone blew me away, because that takes a level of self confidence that he quite frankly did not possess at the beginning of the school year. And jazz rhythms are quite difficult, so I was duelly impressed.

Then the concert band played, and those were the really fun songs! The theme to Star Wars, the Pink Panther, the Olympic theme song, Doo wah diddy diddy dum, diddy doo, among others... and an amazing song called Clouds that had a really neat thunderstorm in the middle of it, complete with gongs, cymbals, and drums for thunder and lightning! Way cool! They finished off with Let's Go Band, a rousing finish!

But that is not the best part of this story! Here is the best part. After the concert was over, I went up to Jeremiah, the band director, and gave him a big hug and congratulations for an amazing performance. He told me that he was GIVING Adam the school trumpet he has been using all year, because he earned it. He told me that watching Adam's confidence level soar on the wings of the music, and his high enthusiasm, helped make the decision easy. He told me, "Adam is the only trumpet player in this school who can hit a high 'C'... I can't even hit a high 'C'!! He definitely deserves it. It's his to keep." I was blown away. When he told Adam, Adam's eyes got wide and his mouth dropped open. Adam was definitely not expecting that! Made him feel pretty darn good about himself!

HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

So... there you have it. A POSITIVE post on northern apostolic mom! Been a while, I know. But I sense a change in my spirit for the better.... I hope not to be gone so long from now on. Blessings to you all!

For better or for worse...in all areas of life.

2008-05-20T16:56:00.003-04:00

I am challenged. This blog is here to display the life of a Christian mom... for better or for worse. But what do you do when the worse is private? When you CAN'T share what you are experiencing because to do so would violate confidences? I find myself wanting to blog... sitting down, logging in... and then logging out because I can't really express what I am feeling and going through.

So, I will focus on the little things. The things that bring me joy in the midst of the storm. They may not seem exciting to you, but to me, they are an oasis... a place of rest from the oppressive feelings of frustration.

My husband. He is my number one joy (next to Jesus, of course). I love him so much... there just aren't words. It thrills my heart to hear him preaching the gospel from church to church! It thrills my heart that he preached his message this Sunday twice... once to the church, but FIRST, to his 87 year old grandmother who isn't well enough to get to the church, in her kitchen! He's my hero. And probably hers, as well.

My children. They are such a blessing! My oldest went away on a field trip to Old Sturbridge Village and Plimouth Plantation in Mass. for three days, and I never knew three days could feel so long! I really missed him! He went down with $18 in spending money. He bought a girl he has liked for two years now an indian bracelet (which she wore to school today, I might add... that thrilled Adam to no end) and the rest of the $18 he spent on ...................................

Candy.

Yes... candy. Over $10 worth. Because Mom wasn't there, and that is what children do when the parental authority isn't there with them... LOL! Oh well.

Work. I really enjoy my job, and I wouldn't trade it for any other job! Today, the first grade classes were abuzz because today was chick hatching day!!! By day's end today, we had 6 chicks hatched, and many many eggs with pipp holes and tiny beaks poking out! Cute! By tomorrow, we should have a grand host of chicks peeping and being adorable! The 2nd graders (whom I work with) are green with envy! LOL!

My friends. I don't have a ton of them, but I have to tell you that Sandy is someone I can just hang with and relax and be myself, good or bad, and she is not even bothered by it. You are wonderful, Sandini!!!! (Don't stress over school decisions right now... take it one moment at a time, ok?)

So, now that you know the good parts of my life, you can pray for me and my family regarding the rougher areas of life. I appreciate every one of you out there in bloggerville!! Feel free to leave a comment! Peace out!

Perilous times and hope in Jesus

2008-05-12T21:55:00.003-04:00

I have come to the conclusion that the last days are not really the most "fun" days to be living in. Just one look at the news headlines screams 2 Timothy 3.

1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times.
2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred.
3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good.
4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God.
5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

It also proves what Jesus himself said in Matthew 24.

4 Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you,

5 for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many.

6 And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately.

7 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world.

8 But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.

9 “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers.^[b]
10 And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other.
11 And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people.
12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold.

Marriages and families are under attack like never before. Satan knows his time is short. He is attacking mercilessly.

However, I have determined that the ONLY solution for a Christian in these perilous times is to keep your eyes on Jesus! When Peter was walking on the water in the middle of the storm, as long as he kept his eyes fixed on Jesus he was fine. The second he took his eyes off Jesus and looked at the storm swirling around him, he began to sink. If I look only at the stuff going on all around me, I will surely sink and be consumed by the hopelessness and despair of this world. But Jesus is the peace-speaker in the middle of the storm. If I can get myself in a place of prayer, away from the storm, and focus on Jesus, He will speak peace and life and hope into my spirit. No, I don't like living in these perilous times.... but I know that there is a home waiting for me in heaven where there is no more sorrow or despair. Oh how I look forward to heaven, because JESUS is waiting for me there!

One of these days, I'm gonna see the hands that took the nails for me.
One of these days, I'm gonna hold the key to the mansion built for me.
One of these days, I'm gonna walk the streets of gold that were paved for me.
One of these days, I'm gonna see my Jesus face to face.... one of these days!!!
-FFH

Thankful for truth

2008-05-06T16:05:00.004-04:00

I just want to take a moment to say that I am thankful for truth. Especially THE truth... God's Word. But really, truth seems to have become quite an ugly word here in the 21st century. It seems that these days, truth is not defined as black and white. Truth is now "relative". If I look at a red apple and say, "The apple is red.", that is the TRUTH. But if someone looks at the red apple and says, "The apple is purple with green spots." just because that is what they want to say it is, that is not the truth at all... but for whatever reason, it seems to be the truth to them. Because it is what suits them. Really, people can "re-define" ANYTHING to make it suit what they want. If I want to redefine the word "marriage" because the current definition doesn't fit with the way I want to live, then HEY! Why not? Just because I create a new definition does NOT mean that the actual TRUE definition is now false.

The reason I am on this little rant is because of a news story I just read on one of my local news websites. It seems that Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH has decided to re-define the word GENDER. Okay. I looked it up in my Merriam-Webster Dictionary here at home. Here is what I found:
gender - 1. the condition of being male or female; sex. 2. Females or males considered as a group.
The American Heritage dictionary says this:
gender - 1. the sex of an individual, male or female, based on reproductive anatomy.
So... Dartmouth now has what they call a "gender neutral" dorm, where MALES AND FEMALES can both live and "discuss" what they think the word gender should mean (not what it actually means). They have a poster that is divided in half. One side says "GENDER IS..." and the other says "GENDER IS NOT...". Darmouth tells us that gender IS NOT 1. male and female, 2. a person's sex, 3. determined by a person's anatomy. They tell us that gender IS 1. feminine, butch, androgynous, 2. a social role expectation.

So, there you have it. The next time you fill out an application for your driver's license or whatever, when it says GENDER... you can put whatever you want, whether it is true or not. THAT MAKES PERFECT SENSE..... NOT!!!

Okay. So what does the WORD OF GOD have to say about this? Because the Word of God is TRUTH, no matter what anyone thinks.... God WILL have the last word on all things... guaranteed. People's lame definitions will mean nothing in the end. God defines gender in this way....
Gender - Genesis 1:27 - So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (NLT)

Hmm... let's see... who do I believe... mixed up people at a college, or GOD? I place all bets on GOD'S WORD being truth. The media and the colleges can say what they want, but I know in whom I have believed.
John 17:17 says:

Sanctify them by the truth, you're word is truth. (NIV)
Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. (NLT)
Make them holy - consecrated - with the truth; Your word is consecrating truth. (MSG)
Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth. (KJV)

Spoken by Jesus Himself!!

Okay... I'm done for now. When people read this post, they'll either shout AMEN, or they'll be deeply offended by my "intolerance" of their definition. Ya know what? If people want to justify their sinful lifestyles, go right ahead. I am not here to "be God". I love people. Just remember what I wrote here and what God's word has to say... because someday they will have to answer for their choices.

Thoughts about music

2008-05-03T17:49:00.002-04:00

After a day off from work and a visit to the doctor's office, I now have some prescription allergy medicine, and it is working pretty good (not great, just pretty good). At least I feel semi-human again, and can be somewhat functional around the house.

Speaking of my house... it is very quiet here right now. Jason and the kids (Adam, Nick, Josh, and Taylor) are at the pool and I am here enjoying the peace and quiet. God is good... he knows just what His children need. I have been listening to lots of new worship music the past couple days, trying to add to my songbook repertoire... but it is not as easy as it seems. Many of the new songs are guitar driven, and just don't sound right when played only on piano. My songbook is in desperate need of some upbeat songs! But without a guitar player.... I don't know. I'll give them a try. My church doesn't seem too receptive to new music... but I will press on. They DID like the new Clint Brown song I introduced, called "I Love You". It's a slow worship chorus. It's hard to find upbeat songs that please everyone... we have such diverse age groups in the church... oh well. I need to please ONE PERSON... and that is Jesus Christ. If He is pleased with what I play and sing, then the rest will take care of itself.

Well, I am going to take advantage of the quiet and spend some time with the Lord. I pray that you have a wonderful time of praise and worship at your home church tomorrow! Praise Him like tomorrow is the last day you have here! God bless you!

oh..... my...... goodness......

2008-04-28T18:45:00.002-04:00

ok... my previous post about my allergies.... I have had a really tough time this spring... worse than ever before. I was taking Claritin D... no good. I found the Zatidor drops.... pretty good for about 6-7 hours, then back to no good. So I spoke with my friendly and helpful pharmacist about a new recommendation... what seems to work for most people? He suggested Zyrtec. Great! Thanks! I took my first one this morning.... Whoa! I feel pretty good with regard to the allergy symptoms, but MAN! I have fought to stay awake ALL DAY!!!! Serious... I am so tired... trying to be productive at work was a major challenge, as was trying to help my kids with things like algebra and spelling homework, and cook dinner. I am totally going to be asleep before my boys are... guaranteed! I can barely think I'm so groggy......

vacation is over

2008-04-26T12:05:00.002-04:00

Well.... you know what they say about the best laid plans. I intended to do some major cleaning at my house during this week off from school. However, my allergies have been so severe, that I have had very little motivation to do much of anything! I did manage to pull off a birthday party for my 9 year old son on Saturday the 19th, and I dragged my self out on a couple family hikes, but other than that... I kept a very low (energy) profile this week, just resting... and sneezing, and blowing, and itching, and sneezing...... oh! I also helped the great Sandini move out of her apartment this weekend.

My husband preached two messages last Sunday, and this Sunday (tomorrow) he is preaching 3 services in one day... yikes! He's doing a terrific job, I am very proud of him.

My friend Emily had her baby yesterday, a little boy named Clayton! She ended up having a C-section (not planned), but baby and mom are doing just fine! I can't wait to see him!

Well, I need to go tend to a pile of dishes. I will come back later and try to address something a little more spiritual. This was your basic "catch up everyone on the week's events" post. I appreciate every one of you that reads this little blog of mine!

2008-04-24T15:28:00.002-04:00

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!!! WOW! I love the sun! Here in Vermont, we get an average of about 100 sunny days a year. Yep. That's it. Which means the other 265 days... not so much. Gray and yuck. And this week has been so beautiful... we've had 5 gorgeous sunny days in a row, which means we only have about 95 days of sun left (just kidding). I'll take it! Sun does something for ya! There is a condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) in which lack of sunshine brings on symptoms of depression, lack of energy, sleeping and eating too much, etc. The cure??? GOOD OL' SUNSHINE IN LARGE QUANTITIES! This is the reason people from the northeast retire to Florida! LOL! This is the reason my pastor heads to Florida for a well-earned vacation every year come February or March. Anyway, I love the sun, and I'm going to get outside and enjoy it! Lata!

no title needed...

2008-04-23T22:55:00.006-04:00

SAVE ME!!!!!!!!!!!

This is murder.... Yes, I wanted spring to come, because this was just such a long winter.... but my allergies have never been this bad...

Ever tried this stuff? It works pretty good... it gives you at least 6 solid hours of relief from the itchy eyes. Beautiful. However you can use only one drop per eye every 12 hours.... so... the last few hours before you can use it again are a little agonizing. But those 6-7 hours of relief are SOOOO worth it!!

words from the pulpit

2008-04-20T13:17:00.004-04:00

This morning's message at my church was such a good one, that I just have to share it here with you. It was about the breath of God, and it was excellent.

He began with the story of Ezekiel prophesying to the valley of dry bones. Most of you reading this know the story. If you don't, find a Bible and look it up in Ezekiel chapter 37. Matt spoke of how the breath of God was a "violent wind" that made a dramatic, instantaneous change. Now, the word violent did not have a bad connotation. Simply that it was not a gentle change... it was a forceful change. Then he went on to take us on a journey back to the days of Creation... when God created Adam, the first man. He had us imagine what it was like when God blew His own breath into the lump of clay and it came instantaneously to life... breath that penetrated the blood and in a single moment gave life to every cell... dirt came to life! That is not a gentle change... that is AMAZING and POWERFUL!!!

He did a word study on the Hebrew word for breath, and every time the breath of God was spoken of, it was the same word. Then he went to Joel 2:28 where Joel prophesied about God pouring out His SPIRIT on all flesh... and it was the same word... when God pours out His SPIRIT on us, he is breathing His eternal breath into us again so that we can instantaneously come to life spiritually! The only way to have eternal life is to be filled with that breath of God... His Holy Spirit.

Now, there are a lot of people who will immediately put up their defenses and say, "You are narrow-minded and intolerant... just because YOU think being filled with the Holy Ghost speaking in tongues is the only way doesn't mean you're right! There are millions of GOOD PEOPLE all over the world that are going to heaven."

Well, the problem with that line of thinking is that it goes directly against the word of God. Let me share some passages from GOD'S word. You can think about them, and then argue with God about it, because He said it, not me.

Romans 8:9 (NLT) But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to Him at all.

Isaiah 64:6 (KJV) All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

Here is the scoop... ALL good people would go to heaven IF anyone could be good enough. The problem is, NO ONE could ever be good enough... even if they were good their entire life!! The problem is the flesh we live in, and the sinful nature of that flesh. Even in all your goodness, you still need the blood of Jesus to cover your sins and His Spirit to make you "righteous" in God's eyes.

When we compare our lives to God’s holy standards, all our good works—our morality, religion, charity, pleasing personality—fall far short of His absolute righteousness. The truth is: “There is none righteous, no, not one…” (Romans 3:10). We stand condemned by a holy God who must judge our sin. We are sinners in need of a Savior. The only way to know for sure that you are going to live eternally in heaven is to get alone with God and lay down your "good life" in surrender to Him, and be filled with this BREATH of God, His Holy Spirit, which is still evidenced by speaking in other tongues, just like on the day of Pentecost over 2000 years ago! Don't let anyone sell you short! Don't let them tell you that speaking in tongues doesn't happen anymore (it does... all over the world!!!). A gentleman in our church started coming and initially thought the same way. Then he began to hear my pastor preaching the Word of God about the infilling of the Spirit of God. He wanted to experience it for himself, but was leary about it. So one day in November, he went hunting up at deer camp, and told God, "I'd like to have this Holy Ghost." And he was suddenly speaking in tongues in his deepcamp! All by himself!!! Don't let them tell you it's a cult thing, of the devil. It is straight from God. You can read in the book of Acts chapter 2 to find out how it all started. In John 3, Jesus himself... God in flesh... told a prominent religious leader, "You MUST be born again of the water and the Spirit, or you will NOT see the kingdom of God." Hear that? You MUST receive His Spirit!

It is impossible then for anyone to be good enough for Heaven. That is why the Son of God came to earth.

A near perfect day!!!

2008-04-19T21:16:00.005-04:00

First of all... let's just revisit this post for a moment... ok? That is the current state I find myself in physically. However, mentally and emotionally?? I am THRILLED BEYOND BELIEF that spring has finally arrived! It was 80 degrees here today! WOW!!!

Today was an exciting day, because our baby turned 9 years old today... half way to adulthood..... hard to believe. Let's compare...
Nick 9 years ago...

Nick today...

Amazing how fast time goes by. And while we're at it... let's talk about the oldest...
This is Adam's baby picture from 1996...

And this is him today receiving his BLUE BELT in Moo Gong Do martial arts! Yikes! Talk about growing up...

Yes, Adam is now on his 6th belt level. Today I invested about $20 and bought him some patches for his uniform (which he should have had from the very beginning), so now he'll look super sharp in uniform!

Other noteworthy news... Jason is preaching two services tomorrow... the morning in Burlington, and the evening in our home church. He is ready and excited to bring God's word to God's people! I'll let you know about it another time.

I'm really tired, gotta make a song list and hit the sack! Talk to you again when I am far more conscious!

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2008-04-15T20:43:00.002-04:00

Hello... to those of you who have been here in the past couple of days, you'll notice the change. I have deleted a couple of previous posts. I need to learn NOT to post when I am feeling the way I was feeling. The purpose of this blog is to show what the life of an apostolic Mom is like. It is NOT to air my frustration about things other than regular family life. No one really cares to read that... there is enough of that in our culture to gag a horse. So, my apologies to those of you who read my little rants... I have been overtired and short on patience, and that is not what I want to portray to you all. Things overall are really fine here!! Next week is school vacation, and I will have the opportunity to SLEEP IN EVERY DAY and get well rested. That should do wonders for my attitude! LOL! It will also give me much interesting material to blog about! Talk to you soon! Thanks for sticking with me!