It's Morning Somewhere....

I got up this morning and the pastor of the church I have been going to had on his Facebook page, "His mercies are new every morning."  I clicked 'like' because well.. it's true.


I got dressed, even put on a skirt and a cool scarf.  Hubby had a meeting at 10 am on the phone which is rare on a Sunday and when he does have to work it is important.   I had taped Air Bud and thought...Super!  I can put the kiddo on the TV, I will sneak out and all will be well.


Keys in hand... I turned on the TV.  There was a commercial about bullying and he lost it.  I should have said he LOST it.  Big time.  I could tell after about 20 minutes that there would be no leaving.  I dashed out a note on Facebook asking for prayer that I maybe get to church but it was not to happen.  And I was angry and sad and disappointed.  It wasn't 'just' about going to church.  I know many of you understand that... it was 'one more thing.'


I rarely write about the 'hard stuff' that we deal with.  Just this last week a Christian magazine wrote a very detailed piece on how difficult it is when you have autism in the family. (They even put the 80% divorce statistic for those with autistic kids in there.  That is a lie from the devil.)   It was depressing to read.  One friend said it was good because it brings awareness.  I think that is true but HOPE is important also. One book I love is Dancing with Max by Emily Colson.  It is written like a Psalm.  It tells of the hard times she has endured but as I read (and as I have heard her speak via the internet) it is apparent that she knows the Lord and sees the joy in life...even in the hard times.   That is the type of writing I am drawn to.  It is the type of life I want to live.  


So for the next hour or two, I sat and listened to the kiddo, tried to calm him and buried myself in a Christian novel I am reading...just to escape.  Then when hubby got off the phone I did a bit of retail therapy.  (Not too much damage.  Heck, one store was the Dollar Store!)


When I arrived home all was well.  But I had been stressed the whole week.  It wasn't until I went for a walk that I realized that all the weight of the last week had been lifted off of me.  And the reason for that is because of the prayers of the saints (friends) that went up for me this morning as I sent out that SOS.  Even though I have lived in isolation with regards to church the last 10 years, I have met an incredible crowd of individuals via cyberspace that lift me up when needed.

There is a verse in Joel that says, "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten."  (2:25).  I think this is true even for a day.  "I will repay you for your lousy morning."  I felt free, fresh, new and peace filled as I went on my walk.  So his mercies are new every morning...and it is morning somewhere.





I'm filing this under "Hear it on Sunday, Use it on Monday" because even though I didn't make it to church, I will be using a message directly from Him all through the week.  The message is peace and it was opened up for me because of the friends praying.

As Paul Harvey would say....

here is the rest of the story.

Kiddo spent another sixty to ninety minutes finishing this story he started yesterday.  Although he did not wish to do paragraphs, he decided to color code them so that when I read the story to his buddies, he could show the appropriate Resurrection egg.

I need to have full disclosure here because as many of you know we have our share of challenges.  So in the interest of transparency, in addition to doing the following, my child ALSO tried to teach another kiddo at the Easter party how to flip the bird.  Although 'bad' it reminds me of James 3:10; Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.  My brothers this should not be.  I think we all struggle with that but in our own adult way it is excused....

And on that note..and being thankful for God's grace and all that Easter is about...

Once upon a time there was a king. He was destined to become the king of kings. People awaited this coming. When he came on a donkey, they rejoiced him like a hero had come(in fact he is a hero but we’ll get to that later). they laid their clothes and waved palm branches. everybody was happy. well, almost everybody. the Pharisees were mad about this king. each time, they tried to prove jesus was a quack. and each time they failed. this was because jesus knew everything(he even knows your concealed sins. please ask for forgiveness). but one day, a disciple named judas iscariot came to the pharisees temple. He was offered some cash to betray jesus(yup, its true). very sad indeed(but don't worry, good things will come out of it). a while later, jesus and his friends were having dinner(including that betrayer, judas). jesus held up some bread and broke it. “this is my body it will be broken.” then he got some wine. “this is my blood. you shall have it.” what does it mean? you shall find out, my friend…oh! by the way, jesus mentioned somebody betraying him(judas, obviously). that night, jesus went to the garden of gethsemane. on the way there, peter said: “lord, i will do anything for you, i will even die for you!” but jesus responded, “you will say 3 times that you don't know me before the rooster crows.”(peter may have thought jesus’s brain was grilled. however, jesus was right!) when they got there, jesus prayed while he sweated blood(something that doesn’t usually happen to people). the disciples were in a major struggle to stay awake. but jesus said “wake up and pray for me.” so they did(or at least tried). then… soldiers came! they got jesus! peter counterattacked by slicing a soldiers ear off! but jesus said he shouldn't do it and healed the soldiers ear. they put him in a trial and did cruel mocking. they blindfolded him and whipped him. “if you are really the king of the jews, tell us who is hitting you!” they did many cruel things to this innocent, innocent, man. :( meanwhile, peter was walking around town. he went to warm himself by the fire. a woman saw him and said: “hey, you're that guy who goes with jesus!” peter blurted, “what!?!?! no i’m not!!! i don't even know jesus!” a man said back, “yes you are! i’ve seen you before!” peter said back, “I AM NOT PETER!!! AND I DONT KNOW JESUS!!! NOW GO AWAY!!!” another man said: “YOU ARE PETER! I CAN PROVE IT!” peter said one last time:”I AM NOT PETER AND I DONT KNOW JESUS!!!!!!” then the rooster crowed. peter had remembered what jesus said and wept. tomorrow, the pharisees told caesar about jesus, but he could not find out any guilty parts. he took jesus to the angry mob and said, “shall i crucify jesus and set barabbas the murderer free? or crucify barabbas and set jesus free?” the crowd did not care that barabbas was a killer. they wanted to crucify jesus. “CRUCIFY JESUS! CRUCIFY JESUS!” and so it was. all friends of jesus mourned. the soldiers beat him cruelly and put a thorny crown on him and jesus was called “king of the jews”. then they nailed him to the cross. they gambled with a die to see who got jesus’s clothes. They also pierced him with spears. a about-to-be-crucified criminal said: “lord, forgive my sins!” another criminal said “forgive me and bless me!” jesus said, “you two shall both be with me.” then jesus said:”i am thirsty.” a soldier gave him a sponge soaked with vinegar. then jesus said:”FATHER, I GIVE YOU MY SOUL!” then he said: “IT IS FINISHED!” then he died! the earth shook! the curtains of the ark of the covenant ripped! a day later, some men come and got jesus’s body. they wrapped it in linen. it was a sad day. they put him in a tomb and put a rock in the entrance. soldiers guarded it. then… a angel came and rolled away the rock! the soldiers fainted. that day, 3 women came to the tomb. to their surprise, the rock was rolled away! jesus’s body was gone! a angel appeared to them and said “DO NOT WORRY. HE HAS RISEN.”(angels have holy voices, so this is why i put on the “caps”.)the women were excited and told the exciting story to the disciples (everybody but judas. according to acts 1:1-10, judas bought a field, but he died and his body bursted open and his intestines poured out[if this makes you feel uncomfortable, i am sorry]). that day, the disciples were having dinner. thomas was not there. then jesus appeared! “PEACE BE WITH YOU.”(holy voice again! :D) the disciples were amazed! later, thomas was dining with them. jesus appeared again! “PEACE BE WITH YOU.”(i like this “holy caps” business! :D) thomas said, “i wont believe it!” jesus replied, “touch my hands and feet.” thomas touched them and he believed that jesus rose! jesus said, “anybody who believes in me will truly be happy.” later, the disciples went with jesus. “the holy spirit shall be with you.” jesus said. then something happened! jesus was lifted to the sky on a cloud and went to his home - heaven! the disciples kept looking up! two angels appeared and said, “why are you staring at the sky? jesus will come back someday.” so you see, its not about the so-called “easter bunny”, its about jesus. jesus died on the cross to forgive our sins - even the easter bunny’s.

Easter Story Narration

Today we are going on an egg hunt with some friends.  I asked the kiddo to give the Easter story with the Resurrection Eggs.  He wanted to write it down and print it out.  He quickly booted me out of the chair and started typing himself.  OVER a page.  Took him an hour.  And it was detailed to the point that I had to look up a few things to see if he was correct.  (He was.)  I can't ask for this type of work but when given freely it is amazing.

When I was pregnant I recall thinking,... how do kids learn language?  I was thinking how kids hear words, process them and then learn them.

Then he was born deaf and I wondered, HOW will he learn language and how will he hear about Jesus.  (And then all the other stuff that we have worked through as well...) Although there is still some internalizing that needs to be done, I think he 'gets' it quite well.

He needs to finish this but he stopped at the Good Friday part of the story and I think that is a good point to post it here.  I wanted to note that obviously he needs to work on capital letters (I did the first few sentences), but he can write!  I don't think you can teach a kid to write with all the different inflection and vocabulary that he uses.  He did spell check but there wasn't much to check.   (I know it is a tad hard to read but wanted to post it in the raw form.) And he really understands the people in the Bible story.    This passage is a whisper from God.

Once upon a time there was a king.  He was destined to become the king of kings.  People awaited this coming.  When he came they rejoiced him like a hero had come(in fact he is a hero but we’ll get to that later). they laid their clothes and waved palm branches. everybody was happy. well, almost everybody. the Pharisees were mad about this king. each time, they tried to prove jesus was a quack. and each time they failed. this was because jesus knew everything(he even knows your concealed sins. please ask for forgiveness). but one day, a disciple named judas iscariot came to the pharisees temple. he offered some cash to betray jesus(yup, its true). very sad indeed(but don't worry, good things will come out of it). a while later, jesus and his friends were having dinner(including that betrayer, judas). jesus held up some bread and broke it. “this is my body it will be broken.” then he got some wine. “this is my blood. you shall have it.” what does mean? you shall find out, my friend…oh! by the way, jesus mentioned somebody betraying him(judas, obviously). that night, jesus went to the garden of  gethsemane. on the way there, peter said: “lord, i will do anything for you, i will even die for you!” but jesus responded, “you will say 3 times that you don't know me before the rooster crows.”(peter may have thought jesus’s brain was grilled. however, jesus was right!) when they got there, jesus prayed while he sweated blood(something that doesn’t usually happen to people). the disciples were in a major struggle to stay awake. but jesus said “wake up and pray for me.” so they did(or at least tried). then… soldiers came! they got jesus! peter counterattacked by slicing a soldiers ear off! but jesus said he not do it and healed the soldiers ear. they put him in a trial and did cruel mocking. they blindfolded him and hit him. “if you are really the king of the jews, tell us who is hitting you!”  meanwhile, peter was walking around town. he went to warm himself by the fire. a woman saw him and said: “hey, you're that guy who goes with jesus!” peter blurted, “what!?!?! no i’m not!!! i don't even know jesus!” a man said back, “yes you are! i’ve seen you before!” peter said back, “I AM NOT PETER!!! AND I DONT KNOW JESUS!!! NOW GO AWAY!!!” another man said: “YOU ARE PETER! I CAN PROVE IT!” peter said one last time:”I AM NOT PETER AND I DONT KNOW JESUS!!!!!!” then the rooster crowed. peter had remembered what jesus said and wept. tomorrow, the pharisees told caesar about jesus, but he could not find out any guilty parts. he took jesus to the angry mob and said, “shall i crucify jesus and set barabbas the murderer free? or crucify barabbas and set jesus free?” the crowd did not care that barabbas was a killer. they wanted to crucify jesus. “CRUCIFY JESUS! CRUCIFY JESUS!” and so it was. all friends of jesus mourned. the soldier beat him with whips and put a thorny crown on him and jesus was called “king of the jews”. then they nailed him to the cross. they gambled with a die to see who got jesus’s clothes. they pierced him with spears. a about-to-be-crucified criminal said: “lord, forgive my sins!” another criminal said “forgive me and bless me!” jesus said, “you two shall both be with me.” then jesus said:”i am thirsty.” a soldier gave him a sponge soaked with vinegar. then jesus said:”FATHER, I GIVE YOU MY SOUL!” then he said: “IT IS FINISHED!” then he died! the earth shook! the curtains of the ark of the covenant ripped! a day later, some men come and got jesus’s body. they wrapped it in linen.

It's Friday but Sunday's coming

I posted this last year but it was taken off YouTube probably because of copyright issues.  But I found this one.  It isn't Good Friday yet but a wonderful reflection for this Holy Week.   I find myself all year long in Good Friday reflection and I really want this year to KNOW and FEEL the Easter miracle that Jesus died for me to have LIFE here on this earth.  "On Earth as it is in Heaven."  (Matthew 6.)  This year I want to leave all that was done at the foot of the cross and to know that it is ALREADY finished!

Winners!!!

The Winner of the Woodcarver DVD is number 7 Penny!!

The Winner of the Vineyard CD is CHEF Penny.

Congrats!!!

That's My King

Posted this last year.  Love it.  I find myself sometimes when I am praying, having conversations with myself, or replaying previous interactions, or thinking about the future.  And this last week I stopped myself and said..I'm with the King of Kings right now.. why do I want to think about other things?  (It's a process eh?)   Maybe I should have posted this on a Monday vs. a Sunday when you need a pump up. Well here you go anyway.  Enjoy.

What is Easter?

I PLANNED on doing more blogging over Lent.  This happened last Lent.  Thank the LORD that God is a God of mercy.  Not even sure I need mercy for not writing in my blog except for the fact that my DESIRE is to be more in tune with God daily...more at peace.  And when I am those things, I sometimes hear from God more about what to write.


Yesterday we had our homeschool co-op.  We are really working with Andrew to not yell out things. I mean, is it OK for a child to say to a man walking on the street with a walker, "Be healed in the name of Jesus."  Maybe.   But what about when it is a four year old at our developmental pediatrician and she is in a wheelchair and her mom is Muslim?  (Yes I have experienced both of these with my son.)  Jesus and the disciples maybe asked before they healed.  I don't know but it is a fine line between quashing his faith and allowing it.  And WHY as adults do we believe that He won't do that?!  My kiddo 100% believed that that man would be healed right then and there.  So why wasn't he?  Kiddo had faith! And how do you explain that to him?  I have seen this sort of thing happen... so why not then?


So yesterday we were at the homeschool co-op.  (Did I say that already?)  The minute we went in he saw Easter baskets ready to go to those in the inner city.  And he couldn't put his brain around it.  He started yelling.."Easter is not about the bunny and the jelly beans.  You need to put something about the real meaning of Easter in those baskets." (They very well might do that and I told him that.  In addition I told him how doing that service was BEING like Jesus.)  And then that was the theme which he told EVERYONE.


And I held my breath.


At what point do I care about him telling people there is no Easter Bunny.  (Sorry did I ruin it for you?)  I hold no judgement.  But we don't do it. The kid is too literal.  Thankfully he never said that.  He only kept talking about the REAL meaning of Easter which I think is just fine.  But still he reminded me of the guy yelling on the Quad in college telling people about Jesus.


And then in our class he got specific.  He asked everyone ELSE if they knew the meaning.  And they did. But the teacher played along..."jelly beans?"... noooooo....  "bunny?".... nooooooo...  "flowers?" ..partially. (I guess the flowers are OK.)


And then he proceeded to say that NOW when we do something wrong we no longer have to go get our best cow and kill it to get forgiven for our sins.  I wish I would have had on the video camera for this vivid explanation.    


So that is Easter... and faith.. and I guess I am praying for a fresh revival for our family to SEE His miracles more and more daily.  And to recognize the small ones as well.  


As a PS..Although we are working on the appropriateness of yelling out things like this in public, I just went to google 'Easter' for some pictures for this post and maybe we do need to shout more because in ten pages of images I think I saw one cross.  

The Woodcarver DVD and Give- away

I had the opportunity to watch and review The Woodcarver.  Here is an overview of the movie.

Matthew Stevenson is a troubled kid from a broken home. When he vandalizes the local church to get back at his parents, Matthew has to repair the damage to the church to avoid criminal charges. While working at the church, he meets Ernest (John Ratzenberger), an accomplished wood carver who created the intricate woodwork decoration that Matthew destroyed. Ernest has become something of a hermit, but reluctantly comes out of reclusion to help repair the church. Now Ernest and Matthew must work together to preserve the church's beautiful antiquity, and along the way, they also manage to restore their faith in God and in life.

Yes.. John Ratzenberger!  And he's in person.  He has done some great animation (in addition to Cheers) but this is him live in the flesh.   The movie is a sweet story of forgiveness, and what God's grace can do.  You can write the story line and it is a good family film.  The acting is very good and on point.  In a nutshell, Ernest takes the young man in and helps him to think about things in terms of What Would Jesus Do- the subtitle of the film.  I love when a faith film has some great well known actors in them.

One downside is that the movie is not captioned.  Those of you who read my reviews know that is a pet peeve because it leaves out a large portion of our society.  Cochlear implant kiddo watched with me but it was very hard for him to follow along.   Also the story, although sweet and good, was a bit slow moving at times and pretty predictable.

I would still recommend it as a family film however.  And I wish there were more of these types of flicks.

You can buy and rent the movie here.  The official trailer is below.




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Winner Might Macs

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Lent- Big Grapes

I listen to a lot quite a few different Christian speakers throughout the week.  When I was sick last week I was able to catch up on Dr. Charles Stanley.  I typically don't catch him but when you are lying in bed you get a chance to really clean out the DVR.  He had the last two messages in a series of Faith.  The one really caught my attention because it was regarding the grapes that the spies brought back from Canann.


The story can be found in Numbers 13.  In a nutshell, the Israelites had spent a couple of years crossing the desert.  They sent in twelves spies to see what the land looked like.  Two of them came back with the report that the land was flowing with milk and honey and they brought back a bunch of grapes that was so large that they had to carry the grapes between two men.  The other twelve said that there were giants and they should not try and enter the land.


But God had told them they would be victorious.... and they chose not to listen so they spent the next 40 years or so going around the desert, and the adults, except for Caleb and Joshua, did not enter the land.

Part of the reason this story caught my attention is that three days before I listented to it, the pastor at our church spoke on it.  And that, coupled with the fact that I probably would have never listened to this Charles Stanley, made me sit up and take notice.  


So I kept noodling all of this over in my feverish brain.  I started thinking about all the things that God has done in my life.  Maybe those were the grapes.  No... The grapes were a sign of the future.  So I just started drawing circles in my journal to represent the grapes and asking God to fill them in.  What are the grapes in my future?  I don't know if I have a prophetic gifting but I do know God has given me glimpses.  He says he gives us the desires of our hearts.. when we are in tune with Him, we have His desires.


So I started noodling on that.  It is SUPER hard when you have a child with special needs to really see into the future.  But even that is an act of worship... going to Him to fill in the blanks of what the grapes are..to TRUST in Him.  


When I was a young girl I read a book called Somebody go Bang a Drum.  It was about a family who had a TON of kids..like 10 or 20.  I have had that dream since then and I still do.  I do not think it will be filled the 'natural' way.  I have a friend who lives my dream.  Mine may look different but I still think somehow it will happen.


I still, as many of you may already know, have that dream to get in an RV and go on the open road.  I have one little man in the house on the same page but alas a miracle will have to happen for the big man to want to do this... but stranger things have happened.. it is still a dream.


I have a dream this summer to go to Chicago with the kid and the hubby and meet my sister there.  A smaller dream that is 'do-able.'   Kid has larger dreams... Disney, Atlantis, the moon....


So anyway...  I am really trying to fill in the blanks on what the grapes of the future might be.  As a reforming pescimist, it isn't easy... but with God, all things are possible.  God wants us to focus on the grapes and not the giants.