Ladies Link

Who in the world is Boaz?

2010-02-10T14:51:00.000-06:00

I have to admit right off the bat that I grew up going to church EVERY Sunday and on Wednesday nights so you would think that I would know a thing or two about the Bible...you would think! Don't get me wrong, I know the basic stories like Adam and Eve; Noah; David and Goliath; Joseph and his coat of many colors, etc, etc. You know, basic stories that give you the basic idea of God and basic Christianity. But I have to admit that the story of Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz (found in the book of Ruth in the Old Testament) was not a story that came across my path, at least that I remember. I do recall hearing the name Boaz in church but it was referring to a city in Alabama that was known for some great outlet shopping back in the day. That's about the extent of my past with Boaz.....there is none!

So let me just cut to the chase here and tell you that Boaz has officially found his way into my life! (Thanks to Kelly Minter's study Ruth.) And he is not any ordinary guy by any stretch of the imagination!!
He's actually kinda dreamy, in a very respectful kind of way....

Let me introduce you to my new found friend/crush/role-model for my sons/ take your pick..... He is the knight in shining armor that comes to redeem Ruth and Naomi from their collective pits and distresses (such a chick-flick story line). He is a man that is not found too often in our present day world or maybe we're just too skeptical to notice.

Boaz was quite a bit older when he met Ruth. By today's standards, it would have been very similar to a 55 years old man crossing paths with a woman young enough to be his twenty-something year old daughter. (So many directions I could go here but I won't....) He actually assumed that she was married when he first laid eyes on her until he asked his foreman about her. Again, this could go in so many different directions here.

Moving on...

When Boaz greeted Ruth for the first time he was very gracious and greeted her respectfully going as far as to acknowledge their age difference in the way the he addressed her. Showing that he was not attempting to pursue her in any way. As if that was not enough, he then offered her immediate physical protection by telling her not to work in anyone else's field but his. This sounds quite antiquated now but in those days he was extending her his full protection against the threat of rape that was common against women working in the fields during the harvest season; the fact that she was a foreigner would have increased the odds of this happening as well. Again, he had not met her until this very first conversation and didn't really know much about her but yet was so kind. He had no agenda, no ulterior motive; he was just genuinely kind. Refreshing in a way...

May my two sons learn to be so kind to the girls that cross their paths, not for something in return but because it's the kind thing to do. Especially this day in age where making the unwise choice is running rampant in our schools and in our society as a whole.

Ruth continues ,for the next seven weeks, to work in Boaz's field under his protection during the harvest season. She would gather what she could carry on her own, eat at Boaz's table during "lunch break", drink from the cistern of water that was meant for the workers and then take her barley home to Naomi so that they could eat.

Eating at Boaz's table and drinking from the water cistern was another huge deal for Ruth. The field owner's table was not meant to be shared with workers or gleaners (those that picked up what the harvesters dropped while in the fields).
This simple act of kindness by Boaz on Ruth's behalf meant that she fell under his provision and protection. This act was also a public announcement to his workers as well. He used this time to tell the workers that they were not to touch her physically or reprimand her verbally again, something that being a foreigner may unfairly bring about.

Again, he did it out of pure kindness.

There's nothing profound in these scenarios it's just pure and simple kindness that we don't see much anymore. He's a strong man not ashamed of his values as you see in the beginning of the 2nd chapter of Ruth:
"a man of standing, whose name was Boaz." In this verse, standing refers to: wealth, social status,respect according to Holman. He was well know in town probably because of all three of those qualities. Sure, he probably could have gone a long way without the respect part but would he have been any different than any other land owner in Bethlehem? Who knows...but the respect is for sure an added bonus because it's not something that you just have it's earned.

He's admired by his field workers:
"Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, 'The Lord be with you!''The Lord bless you!' they called back." (Ruth 2)
His greeting to his workers shows his commitment to the Lord because it's the first thing he speaks of when he addresses them (Holman). When you look at the conversations that he has in this book, they either mention the Lord or reflect the love he has for the Lord. He's the epitome of treating others the way you want to be treated, something that Jesus lived while here on this earth.

I could talk about Boaz for hours, there's so much more I could say about him....
He's just an amazing example of what I ultimately want my boys to be and the husbands that I want for my girls.

I encourage you to get lost in the pages of Ruth, it's truly a girls story as I said it's a basic chick flick story line. As my friend puts it (so well I might add!!!): "God knew he needed a story that would help women "get it" when it comes to Jesus and what He has done for us. I do not think this was written for men. It was for all the ladies out there." I think she hit the nail on the head! It's truly a story for EVERY woman no matter the age or stage of life. So grab a cup of coffee, get comfy and enjoy!!!

Been Gone A While

2010-02-03T19:34:00.001-06:00

Sadly, I have been away from the blog for a while. I don't really want to go into detail because that's not what this blog is about. Let's just honestly say that my very self-centered attempt at putting God in time out didn't work nearly as well as it does with my kids. He came back with a smack down that I'm still trying to recover from. This was not my first attempt in doing this hence, the smack down. So needless to say, I didn't think my heart was in the right place to post anything. I hope you'll forgive me.

Anyway, I wanted to catch you up on the Ruth study that we're doing, she has such a story to tell!! We're now 2 chapters in and loving it!!! Ruth is such an amazing woman for ALL of us regardless of our age and stage of life. She is for EVERY woman whether you are married with children, no children or single.

Last week we incorporated the movie Step Mom with Susan Sarandan and Julia Roberts into our opener. It was my attempt at bringing you a modern day example of Ruth and Naomi and I really hoped it helped you as much as it helped me. If you haven't seen this movie, you need to rent it at some point during the course of this study. I think you'll be surprised at the resemblance in characters be it ever so loose a resemblance.

We talked about the importance of having "gracious and bold speech" in hard situations that we sometimes find ourselves in. We coupled this along with the idea of weeping forward, such an amazing concept that doesn't lend itself to just one chapter- it appears again later!

Our speech....

It was gracious and bold speech on Ruth's part that kept her with Naomi on the path from Moab back to Bethlehem. Naomi tried and tried to get her to go back to Moab but Ruth just wouldn't budge regardless of what Naomi said and the tears that were shed. She finally, with gracious speech told her "Enough already!!! I'm sorry you're bitter but that's not going to keep me from caring for you and staying with you until the very end!" (These are totally my words...) It's in this instance, that Ruth looked Bitter (this is what Naomi willingly changed her name to) in the eyes and loved her despite the unlovable spirit that she exuded from every pore of her body. This is what gracious and bold speech will do for ya...it will begin to crack the bitterest of people. And then the tears will flow......

Weep and pick a direction....

Weeping is just not something that women do well at all. Often times it renders us nothing more than a heap on the couch or in a dark corner unable to do anything else but eat chocolate (or ice cream in my case) and think about the bad in the situation. "Crying and walking in a forward motion" as Kelly puts it would never cross our minds while in this state. But the more that we study and learn about Ruth and her circumstance, we learn that it is possible and is healing for so many different areas of our lives.

So the bottom line is: the next time you weep you have a choice; are you going to weep forward or weep going backward. When you weep forward with bold and gracious speech as Ruth and Naomi did, you realize that some situations require tears but they don't have to keep you from experiencing the opportunity which lies ahead for you. When you weep going backward as Orpah (she was easily convinced to go back to Moab and end her journey with Ruth and Naomi) did, you realize that some situations require tears but you would rather cry over what may be lost and allow that to keep you in the place where you currently are thus shying away from any opportunities that may come your way. Make sense?

Read Ruth chapter 1 for yourself it will help you to make sense of it all. There was so much discussed and learned from this first week that I couldn't put it all in this one post!

The Church Lady Recommends...

2010-01-23T09:32:00.000-06:00

There wasn't a whole lot posted on the blog this week due to a crazy week with 4 kids and all that comes with that!!! Some weeks are definitely better than others for sure..

So, for Saturday's recommendation it's just one thing (drum roll, please!).....

Get a copy of Kelly Minter's study Ruth: Loss, Love & Legacy.

I know you're probably sick of this one, but I promise it's that good! It is packed full of passion, romance, hurt and healing; in short, it's truly a study for every woman regardless of your stage of life. It will speak to you in whatever circumstance you find yourself in at the moment. It is life changing if you will allow it to be!!!!

Bottom line: It will make you jump on your bed with the same excitement that you did when you were a kid! If it doesn't, you let me know.

Happy reading and check the blog from time to time as I will be posting some of the highlights of our Thursday night Bible study discussions on Ruth.

Thursday, January 21st!!!!

2010-01-19T11:14:00.000-06:00

Bible study starts this week!!! We've got quite the little crowd forming...so exciting!!! This study is going to be one that is sure to top your favorites list, it has romance and passion for starters and a daughter-in-law who is not afraid to tell her mother-in-law to stop nagging her (I'm just sayin'!). All that to say that it grabs you from the beginning! Can you tell I'm really excited about this one?!

So, if you can join us come one come all; the more the merrier and all that stuff. We start this week at Cumberland Church at 7:00 on Thursday night. We won't discuss homework this week, it's strictly social to make sure everyone is on the same page and to meet your small groups. Oh, and it won't cost you too much, only the price of the book that you need to purchase on your own.

Email if you need any details or have questions. If you can't join us, get the study and do it on your own because it's that good. If you choose this option, check out the blog because I'll be updating it to go along with what we discuss on Thursday nights.

The Church Lady Recommends...

2010-01-16T11:29:00.002-06:00

As I was looking back over the last week of posts, I realized that I threw a lot at you guys (actually vomited might be a better word). So, I've decided to make my Saturday posts something called "The Church Lady Recommends". This will be a listing of all the resources that I suggest each week. Some weeks may be a lot and some weeks maybe one or two items just depending on what was posted that week.

So here goes....

1. Pick up a copy of Ruth: Loss, Love and Legacy by Kelly Minter If you can join us at Cumberland for Bible study on Thursday nights we'd love to have you, if not do it on your own because it's a GREAT study!!!

2. Love Talk for Families by Gary Chapman and Ramon Presson
It's great for dinner time conversations and helps calm the troops as well. You can purchase this online at Christianbook.com

3. Start a daily quiet time. Some very manageable suggestions are:
Believing God by Beth Moore
Whispers of Hope by Beth Moore
No Other gods by Kelly Minter
Me, Myself and Lies by Jennifer Rothschild

A note about the Beth Moore selections, many of her studies have been published in 90 day devotions which is a great way to try one of her studies without the hour a day commitment. While the devotionals can be purchased on her site, the in depth studies, if you choose that route, can only be purchased at LifeWay stores or on their online site.
If you choose to purchase from living proof, click on the store tab on the homepage and then click on the specific category that you need.

4. Donate to the relief efforts in Haiti. There are organizations listed under the Haiti link on the sidebar of the blog.

5. The Power of the Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian is a fabulous resource for praying for your husband!!! In addition to the book, you can purchase prayer cards that have specific topics and corresponding verses already printed on them. Click here to go to Stormie's site.
When you go to her site you will need to click on the bookstore tab, then click on the products tab which will pull down a menu. On the menu, click on the books tab then prayer.

I have personally used all of these resources and they are fabulous!!! They have all been valuable to me at different stages of my life.

If you can't find what you're looking for, please let me know so I can fix my mistakes!! Happy shopping!!!

Simple...

2010-01-15T10:07:00.000-06:00

OK, today it's simple. Ladies, if you're married or are in a relationship, this is for you. Times are tough these days and stress levels are high for everyone it seems. SO.... pray for the man in your life!

This is something that I usually do for my husband but never with so much intensity as I have over the last few months. To put it simply, things have been a little crazy stressful at the Brady house.

Depending on the temperature of your marriage at the moment this will either be an easy task or an extremely difficult task. Trust me, I know some days are easier than others. But do it anyway, you'll be glad you did!

At the bottom of this post are the scriptures that I am currently using for my prayers for my husband, please feel free to use them if you want. If you can,find some that are more specific to what your husband is dealing with at the moment, that will make it more meaningful for you.

If you need some help in getting started go to BibleGateway. There is a search bar at the top of the page. Type in a phrase and it will give you Bible references that you can read that pertain to that particular topic. Once you find what you're looking for memorize it and pray it over your husband. Write it on the bathroom mirror or on an index card, basically where ever you'll see it and remember it!

Here are my verses:

"Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men." Proverbs 22:29

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as for working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ that you are serving." Colossians 3:22-24

Good luck and know I'm on my knees right along side you!

Cheerful givers NEEDED!!!!

2010-01-14T10:51:00.001-06:00

I am in the middle of previewing Kelly Minter's study on Ruth for the Bible study that starts on January 21st, (shameless plug, I know!). Anyway, something caught my eye this morning that goes hand in hand with the disaster that has just rocked (no pun intended here..) Haiti.

I have hit the part in Ruth's story where she is gathering grain from Boaz's field so that she and Naomi can have food to eat. This passage hit me in a "punch me in the stomach" kinda way on many levels. So here goes....
"Up to this point we've seen Ruth as committed, loyal, hardworking, and gutsy, but she was very much at the mercy of Boaz and Naomi." In other words, Ruth is poor and doing all that she can in addition to what Boaz has provided her so that she and Naomi can have food. In today's language: they didn't have two pennies to rub together! Go with me here it's kinda complicated but stay with me...

Kelly continues...
"We've focused on the generosity of Boaz who gave of his wealth, but now we see Ruth giving out of her poverty! ...this means we all have something to give even if we're broke or broken." Ruth had brought home the grain that she had gathered PLUS her leftover grain that she didn't eat from her afternoon meal. If that doesn't hit you where it hurts, there's more...

2 Corinthians 9:7-8
"Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."

Here's my tie do everyday life here....

So, I know that things are tight these days especially coming out of the holidays. I get that, I'm living that to be perfectly honest with you. But that being said, please pray about giving to the people in Haiti. That may not be what you want to hear from me right now because you've already heard it from countless sources already. But just hear me out for a second!!! It may be that you can only do a $1 and if that's your case then give it but don't give it out of compulsion or because it looks like the right thing to do. Do it because in your heart you know that "God loves a cheerful giver" and in the grand scheme of things we have been blessed with far more than what we need (we're all busting at the seems with all the things that we wanted or "needed").

One of my friends commented on his Facebook page that if "we donated $10 to the American Red Cross that is the cost of two Starbucks lattes" (thanks, Heath!). That puts it in perspective. Brew your coffee at home for a week instead of making your Starbucks run and donate that to Haiti. That's hard 'cause I LOVE me some Starbucks!!!! If you're one of my Sonic tea drinkin' friends...go without your happy hour tea for a week (I can feel the stares right now!!!) Every little bit helps!!! You don't have to donate wads of cash to make a difference.

So pray about it, decide your amount and then give it away!!! I've posted some links that are taking donations if you need somewhere to give. They're legit, we donate to these organizations as a family.

YOU CAN DO IT CHEERFULLY!!!!! I'll be praying for you!!!

Practice makes a habit

2010-01-13T21:54:00.004-06:00

I am sitting at my daughter's gymnastics practice watching them stretch, hold the "superman pose", and do some killer Pilates core strengthening exercises among other things. They do this each week all to get their bodies warmed up to practice their budding gymnastics skills. This goes on for the better part of 30 minutes before they ever get to the fun parts of getting on the beam, and swinging on the parallel bars. The class is an hour and a half, quite a long time especially when the coach yells: "no sitting down!!"

This stretching and learning, I believe, is the beginning of what a gymnast must endure if she or he desires to be the best. She must practice daily in order to move up in the ranks; to improve enough to move to the next level and that only comes when your coach approves and recommends it. (I am learning all of this as we are new to gymnastics so if you have any input on the gymnastics world please leave me a comment so that I know exactly what this insanity is that my kids have gotten me into!!) Anyway, so the quicker a gymnast improves the quicker she moves up and then the higher she moves up the more hours per week she spends at the gym perfecting her skills. So eventually to be among the best, she is spending the better part of her life at the gym and she's committed to this sport in a way she probably never thought was possible. Quite the commitment if I do say so myself!

Practice makes perfect....or does it? How about practice makes a habit that gradually ebbs and flows into a routine or a way of life? That's essentially what she's done, right? She's made gymnastics such a vital part of her life that it has become more of her life's daily routine instead of just a simple practice session that she attends each day or week.

That's kinda what God wants... He would rather you strive to practice more not to be perfect but to eventually come to the place where your practice has ebbed and flowed into a heart felt daily routine. A routine that does not have you concerned with striving for perfection but instead with sitting at the feet of true perfection! His feet.

I had a friend comment this week that she knew how to pray but didn't know how to have a quiet time. I am beginning to find that some people have been led to believe that these two things are one in the same. In my opinion, they are not. The way I see it is that there is a prayer time and a quiet time (some people may also refer to this as their devotional time). Prayer time, for me, is strictly what it sounds like, a time of prayer. But we'll discuss this later!

For me, a quiet time and how I explain it to others is this, it's a time to get into your Bible whether you pick a book to start with or you have a devotional book to guide your time. This time is going to require some effort on your part. You have to open the pages of your Bible and begin to explore what's on the inside. The pages are full of stories that you wouldn't believe unless you read them yourself! Once you begin to read it you begin to see the way that God desires for us to live out our lives. You begin to see that He had a plan when He created each one of us and that we weren't just dropped here on Earth to fend for ourselves. Isn't that a relief?! It's amazing the things you'll find when you finally pick it up and begin to read.

So how does gymnastics relate to a quiet time??

They both require practice and this practice can produce some pretty amazing results over time. Just like a beginner gymnast can't do a full layout (I don't even know what that is but it sounds really hard!) her first day in the gym, we can't experience everything there is to know about God the first time we open our Bible. It's simple, the more we get into God's Word (practice) the more we learn (or move from level to level). The more we learn scripture the more we are able to pray His words (scripture also called the written word) over the situations that are going on in our lives and the lives of those people around us. Someone once said that there is power in the spoken Word and during this season of my life I have never believed it more!

So how do I get started?

It's easy, I promise! First, find a time in your day that you can be alone without distraction. It may help to put it on your daily calendar for a while until it becomes a part of your daily activities.

Bring your Bible, a pen/pencil and a notebook (a good cup of coffee is an added bonus if you can swing it!). I would start with the Book of Proverbs because it's very easy to understand and it's divided up into 31 chapters. With 31 chapters, you can do a chapter a day for a whole month which is just about how long it takes to incorporate something into your daily schedule.

From there, read a chapter a day and as you come across bits of scripture (I call them treasures, corny I know!) record them in your notebook. You may even want to include the date that you found it as well as the chapter and verse. From there take the treasures that you found during that time and gradually incorporate them into your prayer time, again another discussion for another day.

Hope this helps, if you want more recommendations there are many suggestions online that you can look at. There are also Bible reading plans listed in most Bibles, so you may want to check yours to see if you have one.

Find your place and time of day and get started! It's too simple not to do it, if you've got 15 minutes you can do it!!!

Dinner Time Conversation

2010-01-11T20:37:00.000-06:00

If your house is anything like ours then you know dinnertime can be CRAZY!!!! Our conversations frequently consist of: "PLEASE, sit in you seat the right way!!! Please eat your dinner!!" "Stop messing around at the table!"
Sound familiar??

To put it lightly, dinnertime is one of the most stressful parts of the day for me. Partly because I spend all this time cooking and preparing dinner that may or may not be eaten but more than that is the chaos that ensues when we actually sit down to eat it. It would get so crazy some evenings that our kids would actually have to get up from the kitchen table and run the stairs. Yes, you read that correctly, we would make our kids run the stairs to get out all of their extra energy so that hopefully they could sit and eat!

Don't think that this is some inhumane punishment that we inflict on our kids they actually really like it and there's laughter and craziness the whole time, so in other words it totally backfired! Nuts, I know! Clearly it became a game the very first time we did it because the next night they actually asked if they could run the steps in the middle of dinner. Brings new meaning to the term "the witching hour."

So the other night, I tried something new. Instead of trying to get them to settle down and eat, I began to ask them questions. The key was that they couldn't answer unless they were eating and they had to wait their turn. A friend had given me a book of questions called "Love Talks for Families" by Gary Chapman and Ramon Presson. It had been sitting in the top of my closet for years waiting for the perfect opportunity to make it's appearance. To be perfectly honest, I think it moved with us from Atlanta to Dothan and then from Dothan to Franklin. The copyright is 2002 so I have clearly had this treasure for quite some time!

So last week it made it's debut at the Brady dinner table and it was quite the success. It was such a success that they have asked for it each night. We ask two questions a night and everyone has a turn to answer each question. The questions have for sure sparked our creativity and imaginations and have made for GREAT conversations that all six of us can participate in.

Everyone is sitting in their seats, no one is getting in trouble and everyone is eating their dinner. It's total dinner bliss to say the least! Who knew something like this could restore such order?! Amazing!!!

Here's just a sample of what you'll find in this little book:
"If you had to give up sight, hearing, the ability to speak, or the ability to walk, which would you choose?"

"If at the end of every day you were granted an extra hour to do anything you wanted, how would you regularly spend that hour?"

There are so many more questions, 101 to be exact, these are just a few that we have talked about so far. The answers have been anything from funny to totally creative in explaining why they would give up the ability to speak (shocking because they are constantly talking ALL the TIME!).

If you can get your hands on this book, I highly recommend it! It could be just what your family needs to make it through the chaos of dinner and who knows what you might learn from your kids in the process. They're sure to blow you away with the things they say and this book has the questions to make sure they do!

2010-01-09T16:17:00.001-06:00

Let me take a moment to explain before I get on with my post. Church Lady is not a name that I gave myself, it's one that a friend of mine gave me a little while back. She referred to me in a conversation as "the church lady" one afternoon when we were sitting on her front porch and she now calls me that from time to time. I think she meant it in a good humored way, at least I hope she did! Anyway, so that's where the name came from just in case you were thinking that I had a strange connection to the character from Saturday Night Live (is that showing my age?!).

So here's the confession part....you're hoping for something dark and scary aren't you? Something that you would want to run and tell all your best girl friends I'm sure. So here goes....I have had a cleaning lady for the better part of my almost 14 year marriage. Riveting and shocking I know..... I have loved each one that I have had; yes there have been many over the years. So many in fact that I cannot name them all.

For years, I attributed the importance of a good cleaning lady to the fact that it would give me time to play with my kids and do the other things in my life that were more important than taking responsibility for the mess that I would make in my own home. Besides, it was providing someone with much needed income and in each case it did. So for years each week or every other week, what ever the case might have been, I would have someone come to clean my house. It was fabulous to say the least!!!!

So what's the big deal???

I gave up my cleaning lady habit!!!! I confess that it was a little emotional for me (yes, you read that correctly!). But I did it. Why?

For a couple of reasons and for one that I didn't realize until I was cleaning my house myself the other day. For years my "weekly habit" was enabling me. It was enabling me to make a mess and not worry about totally cleaning it up (after all "E" would be here in a few days); it was enabling me to nap each day (yes, I nap!!!); but worst of all was what it was teaching my children! Let's stop here for a moment....

If you have a cleaning lady, I am happy for you and glad that you have one. I am not judging you or trying to put the cleaning business out of business. Heaven knows we all need work right now and if this is your way of making ends meet, then you go and clean to your hearts content for any family that will have you! Let me reiterate my point from earlier, I love me a good cleaning lady!!!!!

So back to my discovery....
My kids are at the ages where they began to realize that if they made a mess, our cleaning lady "E" would clean it up for them because she would on the days that she was here. I then discovered that they didn't know how to clean, short off putting clothes in the hamper and making their beds. Why should they? They rarely saw me do it! (No wonder my sisters think I'm the prissy one!) A stark contrast to what I saw growing up...we had a period of time where my mom cleaned houses (how's that for irony?!).

So the change....
I would LOVE to say that I voluntarily did this but that was not the case. It was something that I felt was the right thing to do for my family and my husband happily agreed if not encouraged. So, I canceled my service at the beginning of the year (I know that was only 2 weeks ago!).

I now clean my house and the kids clean the upstairs with me since this is their territory. We dust, change sheets, clean bathrooms and floors together and it is so rewarding!!! We have a system and thankfully everyone truly has a favorite job that they like to do. When it's finished, we've accomplished something BIG together and the kids have learned a new skill! The help actually makes it less of a burden and not so stressful.

If you haven't involved your kids in the cleaning process, I urge you to do so before it's too late and their brains turn to mush (ours were on the verge!). Or even worse, they think there will always be someone there to clean up after them! I may have lost some time with my oldest but hopefully there's still a small glimmer of hope there (the same grip that you have with a Wii remote can also be used to grip the handle of a vacuum cleaner!).

So to those that have always cleaned their own houses, "you go with your bad selves!" I have now joined you and hope I'm better for it, if not me then at least my kids will be for learning the simple art of dusting.

If you are in this same situation and need help recovering from your cleaning lady addiction I am totally with you and here to help :-) .

Bible Study is starting soon!

2010-01-07T20:48:00.005-06:00

If you live in the Franklin or surrounding area we would love for you to join us!!!!

We are going through Ruth: Loss, Love and Legacy by Kelly Minter starting Thursday, January 21st. We'll meet each Thursday evening from 7:00 until 9:00 at Cumberland Church on Franklin Road for seven weeks.

All you need to do is grab a copy of the book from either a LifeWay store near you or Kelly Minter's website and show up!!! There's no outside cost this time around, and registration is simple. Send an email to kristen@cumberlandonline.org to let me know you're coming just so I have an idea of how many women to expect. Please feel free to invite your friends, this is for ALL women, not just those that attend Cumberland!!

Need Your Help!

2010-01-06T08:24:00.000-06:00

Good Morning!! I have been continually reminded over the last two days of how unique and different all of my "little snowflakes" are. Hope you have as well!

Anyway...I'm working on something and I'm in need of some help. Many of my friends have approached me about Bible studies for their young girls. So in an effort to help them but not let too much out of the bag at the moment, here's the questions that I want to ask.....

1. What do you know about God now that you wish you knew when you were a kid (say between the ages of 8 and 12)?

2. What do you think is the biggest struggle for girls in this age range (day to day not necessarily spiritually)?

3. Do you go on "dates" with your daughter? If so, what do you guys enjoy doing the most?

If you don't have any answers that's not a problem, I just thought I'd ask.. Please let me know if you have any additional questions or comments that I haven't thought of yet. You can comment on this post or send me an email!

Thanks for your help and I'll continue to "spill the beans" a little bit more each week!!!!

Have a great day and enjoy your snowflakes whether it be your friends or your kiddos!!!!

Snowflakes....

2010-01-04T09:37:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year(as if you haven't heard that 5 thousand times all ready!!). As you can tell, I took some time off but I'm back...

The morning sky is spitting snow flurries today, which my children excitedly take for snow flakes. Two totally different things to adults but to kids they're one in the same. But none the less, they bring excitement and the hope that school will be canceled.

So my daughter, Claire, and I were looking out the window into the backyard this morning looking at the snow falling. When she made a very simple but profound statement. She said:"Mom, do you see the snow on the top of the thing that holds the hose? If you look very closely at the snow flakes (that have landed there), you will see that they are all different."

They are all different....

Now Claire has not realized the profound statement that she has made to her mother, nor did she have any idea that it would end up as the start to a blog post! But here goes...

God used this moment for me to remember that though women may appear similar on the outside they are a total "one-of-a-kind" on the inside. In ministering to them whether it be through coordinating Bible studies, bringing a meal, or just being a friend they all require a unique and specific approach. There is no "one size fits all" mentality here, there can't be! We were all fearfully and wonderfully made by God with qualities unique to how He made us for the purpose that He has called us to.

Think about your friends... Do you interact the same way with each friend in your circle of relationships? I thought I did until I really started to think about it... See what you find to be true for you.

There's more.....

My kids!!! For so long I've wanted them to be predictable (you know you want that to, otherwise we wouldn't try so hard to get babies on a schedule!!!). How much simpler would life be if your kids (in my case 4!) were predictable like the snow flurries (flakes, if you're a kid at heart!!). When they begin falling down you pretty much know that they're going to land on the ground somewhere. They look pretty similar to one another in size and shape on the outside. They'll generally last as long as it stays cold enough and then they'll melt when it gets warmer. Again, don't you wish your kids were that predictable?!

OK, maybe not that predictable....

Claire's profound statement rings true again. While my kids appear very similar on the outside (have you seen my kids?), the truth is is that they're totally different on the inside. There's for sure not a one-size fits all category for parenting this crazy brood of kids!! So I'm reminded again, that when I look at what's on the inside (figuratively speaking of course because my 7 year old would totally want to do that!!!) my four are completely and totally different. They're created with different talents, goals, tastes, dispositions, and range of emotions just to name a few. For instance, my "spicy" one is also my most nurturing and caring while my laid back one is the most imaginative. So the best plan of discipline for Tucker is not the best for Jack nor the best plan for Claire nor for Ellie. The talents that need to be nurtured in one are not the same for the others. You get the picture here I'm sure!!! Do you have some "snowflakes" at home that you need to reexamine? I know I do!!!

So snow flakes are beautiful falling from the sky together but they're extraordinary when you stop to look at how different they truly are!

The Gift

2009-12-25T13:42:00.000-06:00

As I'm sitting here, the frenzy of wrapping paper and gifts has subsided and the excitement has quickly passed. The buildup of the season has hit it's pinnacle and is quickly rushing back down to the common everyday run of things. The things that were highly anticipated are now tossed aside on the floor...it's Christmas afternoon.

How different this must look in comparison to the days when Jesus was born. His purpose was true and lasting and His gift has endured the test of time.

There's a verse that is so commonly used throughout the year but not one that you necessarily connect with the Christmas season. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16. This is the essence of Christmas. God gave his Son ,Jesus, as a small baby. He didn't give him to just Mary and Joseph to raise as their own son to do ordinary things. He gave him so that the whole world may come to know the love that God has for us, as sinners, through His extraordinary actions.

The world was in great need of a savior, one that would be strong enough to carry the sins of the world on his shoulders. So on that night in Bethlehem so many years ago, that's exactly what God did. He sent his son as a gift for us that we may live eternally with Him. That is a gift worth receiving.

2009-12-25T13:00:00.001-06:00

Spread the News!

2009-12-24T09:22:00.000-06:00

"As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over.
"Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us."
They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child.
All who heard the sheepherders were impressed." Luke 2:17-18 the Message

On November 27, 2002, I gave birth to my third child, Jackson Benjamin Brady. We didn't find out the sex of the baby before hand so we were all excited to see if we would add one to the boy side or the girl side because we already had one of each. We were so blessed to have a whole waiting room full of friends and family waiting on this news at the hospital. So when Jack was born, our two kids, Tucker(4) and Claire(2), came back into the delivery room to see the new baby. Once we looked him over and they saw every inch of his little body, they got the honor of going into the waiting room to announce the birth of their new baby brother. Usually this announcement would come from Bruce, my husband, but not this time. We wanted to include them in a very special role on this happy occasion for our family. The picture is forever etched in my mind (this is before iPhoto and cataloging pictures on your computer!), Tucker and Claire all smiles and so excited and Bruce standing behind them with nothing but a smile on his face as he watches them spread the news.

Rewind a few thousand years to the birth of Jesus. I'm not saying that my son's birth is anywhere near the same category as that of Mary's so please don't let your mind think that. What I do want to link is the spreading of the news.

The shepherds were the ones that the angel first appeared to and sent them to see the baby that had been born. No one else but Mary and Joseph had laid eyes on this baby. They were the first. These shepherds were not the kind of men you would want coming to visit you. First of all, they were considered to be very lowly people. They were the people that would never be allowed in the temple because they could never be clean enough (reminds me of my kids at times....).

They did however, have an interesting job considering their lowly status. They were in charge of keeping a special flock of sheep that were most likely used for the Temple offerings. These sheep were considered to be perfect offerings and were the private flocks of the Temple authorities. But yet these shepherds were considered to be lowly.....go figure.

But here's the real similarity between my kids and the shepherds: pure joy and excitement! I just have to believe that the excitement and smiles that were on my kids' faces when they announced the birth of their new baby brother had to be just a fraction of the excitement that these shepherds had when they went and told of the birth of Jesus. And Bruce's smile just a fraction of the one on God's face as he watched in excitement as the birth of His son was announced to the world! It's not everyday that these shepherds had the opportunity to announce such an incredible event. This was it for them, this was their time to shine and to have people take them seriously. They must have done an amazing job spreading the news because Luke 2:17,18 says "they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them."

Glory in the highest!

2009-12-23T09:12:00.000-06:00

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Luke 2:14

Their was a custom back in the days when Jesus was born that is very interesting to me. When it came time for a pregnant woman to give birth people would begin to gather outside of her home in anticipation of the baby's arrival. This is probably not much different than when your family gathered for the birth of one of your children, if your a parent. I know for my kids we were blessed with a crowd each time one of our children came into the world.

When the baby was born, one of two things would happen. If the baby was a girl the people would go back home. (In today's world this would not set well with the hormonally charged exhausted mother that just endured hours of labor and delivery....I'm just sayin'.) If the baby was a boy they would sing and celebrate and the mother would be considered blessed. Even today, what woman wouldn't want that, I mean look at all you have gone through! At this point I'm sure you're wondering why this was and you may be a little offended, especially if you are the mother of girls.

Without getting to deep into this discussion the bottom line is that in those days people were looking for the Messiah, their Savior. They had heard prophecy after prophesy of a coming Savior so, in their minds, if they gave birth to a son it would bring them that much closer. It's a lot to digest and would probably take lengthy verbal conversations to fully understand it all but just go with me here.

So here's the interesting part. Go back to the last post about Mary's journey and we see that she was in labor and there's no place for them to stay. They find a stable, which was probably more like a cave but no one knows for sure, and Jesus is born. There was no one gathered outside her door waiting for the baby's arrival and I'm guessing no one was there to help her in the birthing process. Which keep in mind, she had never been through before. I'm imagining this is probably a pretty stressful and scary situation for her. Not the most ideal for your first birthing experience for sure!

So once again, this is all a part of God's crazy plan for Mary. He knew that she would have to make the hard 3 day journey on the back of a donkey when she was way too pregnant for words. He knew that the delivery would take place in a seemingly awkward setting with no one to attend to Mary except for Joseph (and keep in mind this is all new for him as well!) Talk about being up the creek without a paddle! And on top of that, there was no one waiting with baited breath in anticipation of the news that the baby had been born. (Again, see the note about the hormonally charged exhausted woman. That's enough to send you over the edge!)

God did something better. He sent an angel to a group of lowly shepherds that happen to be watching their flock of sheep as they grazed in the fields. This angel was to let them know that a child had been born in Bethlehem. So the angel took the place of the person who would have announced the birth to the people waiting outside. God had a plan...

Once the announcement was made, the Message says: "At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises." Mary deserved something better than neighbors and bystanders gathered to sing songs of celebration. She deserved an angelic choir that sang the songs that could only be sung at this particular birth and that's exactly what she got! They didn't sing any ordinary song they sang one that had been written and arranged by God himself..

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Luke 2:14

God and his crazy plans!!! Crazy they may seem at first but how awe struck we are at the result.

Decorate an Angel

2009-12-22T10:17:00.001-06:00

In the following post called The Journey Begins.. I talk about the angel, Gabriel, that appeared to Mary and then later to Joseph. One of the most amazing things that Gabriel says to Mary is found in Luke 1:26-28. It says,

"Good Morning! You're beautiful with God's beauty,
beautiful inside and out! God be with you."

What an amazing way to be greeted! This made me think of my own daughters. Do they know that they're beautiful with God's beauty or do they think they have to live up to the world's beauty? This is something that I battle daily and have for a very long time. Let's just say I don't remember a day that I haven't battled it. Anyway, this is where the activity comes in.

Take a cut-out of an angel, you can find templates on-line to print. Get one for you and one for your daughter and make plans to decorate them together. Talk to your daughter about what she thinks beauty is. Use this time to explain to her that the beauty found in this world is conditional and tiring. You will also want to share your own thoughts on this, and be honest. You can't expect her to be honest with you if you're not honest with her. Remember, don't be shocked by her answers she's more likely to share her true opinions if she doesn't feel as though your judging her.

Next, consider sharing the entry about Mary with her. Most girls don't realize how young Mary really was when God revealed His plan to her. You may also choose to share the verse from Luke 1 with her concerning God's beauty along with the idea that Mary was a very ordinary girl. Really emphasize the fact that God uses ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things for him. Enjoy this time with your daughter, you may learn something in the process!

One last thing you might consider doing. I took Luke 1:26-28 and wrote it on my 9 year old daughter's bathroom mirror for her to see each morning and each night. I used window markers which will wash off without leaving any residue behind.

Enjoy and remember, "your beautiful with God's beauty both inside and out!"

The Journey Begins..

2009-12-22T10:09:00.000-06:00

As this week started I was, and continue, to be reminded of Mary and her journey. This doesn't seem any different than any other Christmas season except for the fact that I've been reminded that her journey doesn't end with the birth of Jesus. I think this is really the beginning of the journey for her and for her baby.

So many times we look at the birth of Jesus as the end result of Christmas but there's so much more to the story than that. There's 33 years more of the story! But let's start at the beginning.

Gabriel, the angel, appeared to a young Mary who was probably only 12 or 13 years old (if she was older it wasn't by much). She most likely came from a poor family that resided in a town that had a population closer to 100 than 1,000. There was nothing great about her. To the people around her, she was nothing special to look at. In a word, she was average. But to God she was beautiful, maybe even breath taking.

When Gabriel first appeared to Mary to let her know of God's plan for her this is what he said:

"Good Morning!
You're beautiful with God's beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you." (Luke 1:26-28 from the Message)

He told her how beautiful she was before he even let her know God's plan for her. The first words out of his mouth were how beautiful she was; pretty stark contrast to how we greet those around us. Would you agree? I know I'm convicted...

Let's fast-forward a little bit. Joseph accepts Mary's pregnancy probably a little bit like any man would accept that "his woman" was pregnant and he was not the father. (Put your husband in Joseph's place and you might have an idea of what Joseph's reaction was. Not pretty, huh?) He had the legal right to divorce her or have her stoned but that wasn't a part of God's plan. So Gabriel shows up again so that Joseph would believe Mary and the plan could go as it was supposed to. Such a crazy plan, wouldn't you say?!

To make the plan even crazier, just days before delivery a VERY pregnant Mary is put on a donkey to make the 80 mile trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem with Joseph. Did I mention she was on a donkey just days before delivery?! Who plans something like that??? CRAZY!!! As any pregnant woman knows that's the LAST thing you want to be on, unless of course you're over due then you'll do anything!!!!

Maybe a very pregnant Mary on a donkey for three days navigating through rough terrain was part of the crazy plan. It only gets crazier!! After the journey, I'm thinking the last thing you want to hear is "sorry, no room." Having been pregnant four times, I know that's the last thing I would want to hear because no room means no bed- you get the picture!. So the plan goes on and there is no room available for them.

The impending birth is upon her and there's no privacy. No where for her to be alone with Joseph and the baby. So she ends up in the stable, which in those days could have been a cave, not the most comfortable place to have a baby. But the plan moves on and the baby is born. And with this birth we begin to see that a baby will soon change everything.

Cookie Time!!!

2009-12-19T08:52:00.000-06:00

Sorry for not posting yesterday but I was swamped with school parties, play dates and a haircut! But I'm back with a new activity for all to enjoy! Today's activity is a family favorite for sure and it can be done totally from scratch or you can go the easy and convenient route of store bought. It's time to make Christmas cookies!!!!!

As you bake together,or do any of these other activities, you'll begin to see that you have created a time for conversation. A great time to talk about what happened at school this week or what their favorite part of the Christmas season is..the topics are endless! Having something to do while you talk takes the pressure off and allows for easy conversation.

If you are not the patient type of you just don't have the time or energy to get out the mixer and sift the flour no sweat!!! Go to your local grocery store and get the refrigerated cookie dough, ready made frosting and some sprinkles. In about 30 minutes time you'll have decorated cookies and hopefully you would have made a memory.

For all of you ambitious baker types, start your mixers!!!! This is probably your VERY favorite thing to do and no doubt you have some traditional go to recipes that you like to use. So you probably need little encouragement if any! So for you guys, I have included a few of my favorite cookie recipes that I have gotten from some of my best girlfriends.

The first is Oreo Cookie Truffles (they are to DIE for!!!)

1 package of Oreo Cookies, crushed
1 8oz. block of Cream Cheese
1 package of white chocolate chips
1 small package of chocolate chips

Mix the two together by hand.
After they are mixed well, roll them into balls.
Melt the white chocolate and dip the balls into the chocolate.
Refrigerate for about 5 minutes then drizzle with melted chocolate chips.

The other recipe is for Praline Bars (these are amazing and addicting!!!)

1/3 of a 16oz. box of Graham Crackers
1 cup of butter (no substitutions!)
1/2 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of chopped pecans
1 package of chocolate chips (optional)

Break the graham crackers apart into 3 sections and line the bottom of a 10"x15" jellyroll pan. Bring butter and sugar to a boil and boil for 3 minutes and stir constantly. Pour evenly over crackers and sprinkle with pecans. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan (this is where you sprinkle with chocolate chips if you like). Lift out with a spatula onto wax paper or foil to cool completely.

These are great recipes to wrap up in tissue and share with your neighbors unless you want to eat them all yourself! These are also great to take to a cookie swap at this time of year!

Happy Baking!!!!

Let's go to the movies....

2009-12-17T20:00:00.000-06:00

OK, so far all of my posts have been of the craft variety.... Well today is different (partly because I'm a little late in posting!!!!).

It's MOVIE NIGHT!!!!!

You're probably thinking how lame this idea is right about now. If you're anything like me, you probably put your kids in front of a movie to get things done. Besides, if you had the time to watch a movie (a pure luxury at this time of the year) you probably wouldn't pick one of the kid persuasion.

I'll be the first one to tell you that watching a movie is totally NOT my thing, I don't even like going to the movies all that much. So trust me when I say, this is an effort for me. So why do I do it? Because I'm learning that time truly flies when you become a parent. So if this is one small thing that I can do to make a holiday memory with them then that's what I need to do. So come on, you can do it!!!

Pop some popcorn, throw a Christmas movie in the DVD player if there's not one on TV tonight and get cozy with the kids on the couch! My kids like to throw in some hot chocolate as well, my guess is yours will to. One last suggestion: turn the lights out,the kids say it makes it look like the movie theater.

Need help with a movie, here's a few suggestions....
The Polar Express
The Grinch either the cartoon or the Jim Carey version
Jack Frost with Michael Keeton
The Santa Claus movies with Tim Allen
Elf with Will Ferrell
Charlie Brown Christmas

If you want to go out to the theaters, there are plenty of holiday movies out right now. Check out plugged in online for movie reviews and if your movie choice is appropriate for your kids.

Activity #3

2009-12-16T11:09:00.000-06:00

Here's a great one that never gets old!!

GINGERBREAD HOUSES!!!!!!!

You can go about this in a couple of different ways. First you can go the quick route which is going to the grocery store and buying one that is pre-assembled and all you have to do is put the decorations on. This is great for younger kids or if you don't have a lot of time or patience (which is common this time of year!!). Grocery stores usually carry the small ones while Costco or Sam's Club will carry bigger ones. These kits can also be purchased at Williams-Sonoma at a few different price points. The general rule is small one for one kid and the bigger one for multiple kids. My four worked on a Costco one and had it finished in about 30 minutes with very little help from me! They had an absolute blast and each had their own part to work on.

Another way to go is the Martha Stewart way, you go girl if this is how you roll!!!! Bake gingerbread and cut out each individual shape. Once they've cooled you can assemble and decorate it. You can purchase a Gingerbread House mold on-line to bake your batter in (if some of you Martha's don't already own one!) that will leave it with lots of detail for you to use as a guide when decorating. You can also use graham crackers held together with frosting but these tend to be a little flimsy and hard to decorate.

Then finally, if you have a budding little artist in the family like I do there's this option!!! This one will take the course of two days...yes, you read this correctly 2 days. So if you have no time or patience, this is NOT the option for you :) !!! My daughter, Claire, did this in her art class. They cut out pieces of cardboard and hot glued them together in the shape of a house, complete with chimney. Once they dried really well they decorated them with real royal icing and candies. She had a blast doing this and did the majority of it on her own. If you choose to go this route, I highly recommend parental supervision on the cutting and hot gluing. You may want to have your child draw out the shapes for YOU to cut out. Do these steps the night before you want to decorate so it has a chance to sit for awhile and let the glue dry completely.

Suggested materials to use for decorating:
Big Marshmellows
Red Hots
Peppermints
Icing (ready made in the tub or make your own royal icing)
Butterscotch rounds or any other solid color round candies
Starburst candies, they can be stretched and rolled out to use on roofs
Ice Cream Cones can be placed upside down and used as Christmas trees
Gumdrops
Food coloring to tint your icing if you like
Candy Canes

I'm providing you with links for the Williams-Sonoma houses, the molds and the icing. I have not used the molds or the recipe for the icing so if you go this route, let me know how it goes so I can do it next year.

Have so much FUN!!! Enjoy this time with your kids because as I'm finding the time goes by fast. My oldest is already 11 years old!

Christmas Activities...

2009-12-15T15:42:00.000-06:00

Here we go with day 2 of Christmas activities!!! This one I put together last night for my own bunch to discover this morning with their Elf on the Shelf, named Buddy.

I searched "fun Christmas facts" and jokes on the internet last night and read through some of them and then picked ten that I liked. The cornier the jokes and facts the better! I put together a ten ring paper chain that I made from scrapbook paper. On the inside of each ring I wrote a fun Christmas fact or a joke for them to read each day as we count down the last 10 days before Christmas! It must have been a hit because they all fought over who got to tear the piece of chain off and read it. Or I guess they may have been fighting just to fight.. Anything goes at this house!

For younger kids who aren't that interested in crazy jokes and fun facts, you can go to DLTK's Printable Crafts for Kids. Print off a different coloring sheet for your child to color for the last 10 days until Christmas. This can also be done as a coloring book, adding a new page to a binder ring each morning. You may consider making duplicate books (if you have that kind of time) to take in the car as you travel over the holidays. Throw in some crayons and you are all set!

Enjoy!

Christmas Activities...

2009-12-13T21:42:00.000-06:00

It's the time of the year when a few crafts might actually be your saving grace!!! Kids will be out of school for the holidays at the end of the week and it won't be long before you hear those famous words: "I'm bored!". So I thought I would give you a few activities each day that may come in handy.

Painted Glass Ornaments
This is one of my kids' all time favorite Christmas crafts! We learned this from a great first grade teacher that my daughter had when she was in first grade and now my youngest son has the privilege to be in her class as well. My kids range in age from 11 years old all the way down to four years old. So this is truly a craft for any age!!! The only help you need to provide is with the four year old and younger crowd. You will need to pour in their paint and help them roll it around. This can be done in about 15 minutes or less!

Supplies:
Clear glass ornaments
Acrylic paints in assorted colors
A place-mat or other material that can get dirty
Sharpie marker

Take the top off of the ornament and choose 3 paint colors. Squirt a tablespoon or so of paint into the bottom of the ornament. Do the same with the next two colors. When you have completed this part, begin to roll the ornament on a hard surface. This will begin to swirl your colors and create a design. When you're finished rolling place your ornament upside down in a plastic cup so that the excess paint can drain out. You will want to check on this periodically throughout the day to make sure that paint has not dried over the opening of the ornament. If it has, simply remove it with a damp paper towel and continue with the drying process in the plastic cup. After about two days you should be able to put the top back on. Use the Sharpie to label the ornament with your child's name and the date. Finallly, hang it on your tree!

Alternative to paints:

Use the Sharpie marker to create designs on the outside of the ornament. Then to add color on the inside, shred some tissue paper or any other filler you may have on hand.
Enjoy!

Hopefully this will help in the creating memories side of the holidays. It's totally low maintenance and can be done in as little as 15 minutes, it's totally up to you and how long you want to spend!

Beth Moore study...solo

2009-12-05T16:47:00.000-06:00

I'm doing The Advent by Beth Moore as a Bible study over the next few weeks. This is a 3-part DVD on the events coming up to the birth of Jesus. It has been simply FABULOUS!!!!

I watched the first part this past Monday and have been using this week to read and study further the events described in Luke 1:5-22. It's been so interesting to see how God sets the stage for His divine plans. Only God could do what's been described through these verses. You gotta read this stuff and if you can, order the DVD from Living Proof, Beth Moore's website.

She starts with the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth the parents of John the Baptist, the forerunner to Jesus. The story has gotten my attention on so many levels this week. Did you know that God had been silent for over 400 years when Gabriel, the Angel, appeared to Zechariah? It gets better, lots were cast to see which priest would go into the the innermost part of the Temple of the Lord to pray and burn incense. Some priests would serve as priests their whole lifetime without ever getting this privilege!! If the lot fell on you it was the best day of your life and that is what happened to Zechariah. No one other than God could make that possible. Some people may call it luck but for me, as a Christian, it's nothing but God!

Zechariah and Elizabeth were old in age, way past child bearing years. Something that in their culture was grounds for divorce. But history tells that they were a devout Jewish couple keeping with all the laws and practices. They were a devout couple keeping with the love that they had for each other, in my opinion, because he could have divorced her for being barren. He didn't divorce her but prayed for her and their barren situation even in old age. In those days a pregnancy was something to be celebrated (a status symbol) and the birth of a son something to actually throw a party over.

Oh, Elizabeth...how many pregnancies you must have witnessed and how many births you must have wished were your own! How many nights did you cry yourself to sleep in the arms of your husband or alone in the silence? How many times did you smile for someone else's baby and offer congratulatory hugs and words that at the same time tore your own heart apart? Oh, Elizabeth...She sounds so much like me sometimes. Does she sound anything like you?

Elizabeth and Zechariah had a "profound disappointment." My notes say this: "what do you want that you still don't have?" What a great question to ask at this time of year. The time of year where we fall into the gift trap. The time of the year when our kids get a case of the gimmies like nothing we have ever seen before. I, by no means, am immune to this. Buying and giving gifts can be, and sometimes is, my biggest weakness and I take full responsibility for the case of the gimmies that my children seem to get at this time of the year. But let's look deeper than that. Are you hurting and the holidays make it worse? If the answer is yes, Satan is robbing you of your joy. He's creating obstacles for you that are keeping you from seeing the potential for God's hand to move and move BIG in your life.

That's what has happened for Zechariah and Elizabeth. Their eyes were opened to see the supernatural hand of God move in their lives. Please read the rest of Luke 1 for their full story, this is your spoiler alert!! In the end, Gabriel delivers incredible news to Zechariah in the Temple that day. God would bless them with a son even in their old age....nothing is impossible with God! In my notes I have this quote from Beth Moore: "blessed are you when what comes naturally for others HAS TO come supernaturally for you." The other quote that I would like to share with you is this: "what happens naturally for others but supernaturally for you shows that you are picked for a God show."

Elizabeth was picked for a God show. In her barren old age God is the only explanation for her pregnancy. Yes, it came through the joining of her egg and his sperm but it was God who made it possible.

"It wasn't long before his wife, Elizabeth, conceived. She went off by herself for five months, relishing her pregnancy. 'So this is how God acts to remedy my unfortunate condition!'she said." The Message Luke 1:23-25

She went away to relish her pregnancy, the answer to years of prayer. The supernatural answer to what could not happen naturally. This Christmas season, what disappointment do you need to lay down so that He can perform a God show in your life? What answer are you celebrating that could only have come from God?

Be Still!

2009-11-25T19:15:00.001-06:00

The holidays are upon us which means that the madness will soon begin if it hasn’t already. This is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year according to a popular Christmas song but is it? We spend so much time, myself included, looking for that perfect gift to give. (Like my 5 year-old nephew is really going to stress out if my gift is not the most perfect one!) Oh the pressure!

Or maybe you stress way too much over the way your house is or isn’t decorated, again myself included. I mean, how many Christmas trees do you really need to put up each year?! (At the Brady house we have 2 but have done 3 in the past…can you say over done?) And if you can’t decorate with as much fanfare and beauty as the cover of your favorite magazine’s holiday issue would you rather not decorate at all?

These are exactly the things that seem to plague my holiday season each and every year! It all starts at the beginning of November, I can almost set my watch by it…for real! First, it’s the dreaded Christmas card picture followed by the Santa list (which is it’s own burdensome task…how much junk do 4 kids need anyway?) then onto packing up for Thanksgiving then coming home to wrap gifts like crazy only to pack them up 3 weeks later to go out of town again for Christmas. When it’s all said and done, I have invested 2 months of my life into what ends as a frenzy of torn through wrapping paper, empty boxes, and toys that were so passionately wished for that are now strewn on the floor like yesterday’s news. Sound familiar or is it just me?

So as I’ve approached this season, God has continued to bombard me with a particular verse found in Psalm 46. It’s probably the easiest verse to remember but the absolute hardest to apply. The verse is this, “be still and know that I am God.” I found it in another translation and it says it differently, maybe even better, “cease striving and know that I am God.”

Isn’t that what we’re all doing, especially at this time of year: striving ? Striving for that perfect gift, perfect decorations, perfect Christmas card and sometimes even the appearance of the perfect children and family. Maybe that’s why I’m so tired during the holidays. I spend all of my time striving and very little time being still and just taking in what it is that God longs to give me each year. Such a special time of year to enjoy family and friends and most of all to think about the promise that we don’t have to do anything but know that God is God. What an incredible time of year to be still.

So that’s what I’m going to try to do this year. I’m going to be still and quiet the stress that says I need to do it all and instead enjoy the true gifts that this holiday has to offer. The gift of stillness.

Definition of an idol

2009-11-13T09:10:00.000-06:00

You may want to read this before you move to the next post on Broken Glass so that you can better understand what I mean by idols.

We're coming to the end of a Bible study called No Other Gods by Kelly Minter and she defines idols this way.
"It is something other than God that we set our hearts on, that motivates us, that masters and rules us, or that we trust, fear or serve. An idol can also be referred to as a 'false god' or a 'functional god'." The things that become our idols start out, sometimes, as things that are not necessarily good or bad but have become "detrimental simply because you desire it too much."

Mark Driscoll defines idols this way...
"Take everything that you hold dear and let it go. What would bring you the most pain if it was taken away from you? That is your idol!"

Pick which ever explanation makes that most sense to you and remember that as you read the references to idols in the next post.

Broken Glass

2009-11-12T20:40:00.000-06:00

We have one week left of Bible study and I have to say that I'm going to miss these girls when it's over! I have had such a great time and have learned so much during these times together. We started a project last week that we finished up today as it pertains to the idols in our lives.

Each person chose something to bring in last week to break. Now I would love to say that I came up with all of this idea on my own but I didn't. I got the breaking idea from another blog that I follow called Bring the Rain the Story of Audrey Caroline but the application I did come up with myself (technically it was God but that's a whole other story for another time!). Anyway, the idea was to break something as an act of walking away from your idol. Think about this, women + breakable object + hammer= really cheap therapy!!!!! It was actually quite fun...

Anyway, so last Tuesday and Thursday that's what we did. We spent time pounding on breakable items as we committed to give those areas of our lives over to God. The broken pieces that resulted from our hammering served to represent what our idols can do to us if we allow ourselves to continue to live for and worship them. We end up in pieces not quite sure of how to put everything back where it needs to go. Essentially, our idols will break us if we're left in their hold long enough.

So this week, we took our pieces and began to glue them together. We pieced them together not to put our idols back together because the pieces aren't the idol. The pieces are us and the glue that begins to fix the mess of pieces is God.

So to help you get the full picture of what we did, I thought I would share my object with you along with a story that I put together in hopes of bringing this whole project full circle. So here goes.....

Psalm 130:

“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord;

O Lord, hear my voice.

Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.”

So the process begins, He sorts through the pieces and decides just where to begin.

“But with you there is forgiveness….and in

his word I put my hope.”

He finds two pieces and glues them together.

“with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.”

Another pieces is added.

We begin to slowly see what is happening and we want so badly to turn from our idols and never turn back. God has different plans; to turn away would be too easy. Why?

As women, we’re usually pretty good at masking what’s going on inside by making the outside look pleasing for a time. After a time though, you begin to implode, sending pieces of yourself crashing to the floor. What looked perfect on the outside is now in complete shambles leaving us with little idea of how it got that way. So God gently guides us to face our idols with a change of heart.

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean:

I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all of your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

A few more pieces are picked up and glued back into place.

The journey is long and we’ve become weak and would like nothing more than to throw in the towel. This is painful, this is work, this takes perseverance and some patience on top of that. I can’t do this anymore and for sure if I knew it would be like this I wouldn’t have signed up for it!

It’s OK! He says.

Jesus says:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

1 Corinthians 12:9

Again, more pieces get added.

Just trust in Me I will help you in this. Let’s start with baby steps because I can see that trusting is not easy. Trust me in the small things and you’ll soon see that you can trust me for the big things too.

“I lift my eyes up to the hills-

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip-

he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you-

the Lord is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm-

he will watch over your life;

the Lord will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.”

Psalm 121

So piece by piece it goes, the One that created you in your mother’s womb to begin with does it again. With a mighty but gentle hand He puts you back together again, according to the plan that He has for your life. He continues carefully and diligently piece after piece until “you are His new creation, the old has gone and the new has come.” Yes, there are cracks and divots but in His eyes you’re perfect just the way you are. He made you and He doesn’t make mistakes. Yes, we make mistakes and we screw up but He loves us with an everlasting love.

It’s at times like this, Satan would want us to believe there’s no possible way that God would put us back together and then use us for his glory. After all, we’re cracked and broken. Brittle to the touch! Who would want to use a girl and her ugly story for God’s glory? So in those times (and they’ll come!), pray in the same way that the man in Mark 9:24 did:

“Everything is possible for him who believes. Immediately

the boy’s father exclaimed,

“I do believe! Help me in my unbelief!”

It IS the little things....

2009-11-04T21:00:00.000-06:00

I LOVE my couples small group, if you're not in one I HIGHLY suggest that you join one!! (Go to cumberlandonline.org click on small groups and go from there!) Bruce and I are truly blessed to be surrounded by 4 other couples that we get together with on a weekly basis to talk about God and do life together. We have such unique personalities that make up our group as well and it makes for a fun and eventful time when we get together. Right now, we're going through The Story of God by Tommy Nelson, which sparks some seriously interesting conversations at times. Last night was one of those nights.

We approached the end of our discussion time when I brought up this interesting line from The Story of God: "Living for God means that little things count: stopping at stop signs, being completely honest on your income tax, and voluntarily limiting your legitimate freedoms to avoid conflict with someone who might be offended by such behavior."

In my opinion, we live in a society where we're encouraged to take short-cuts and cut corners when we feel pressed for time or because of a lack of convenience for ourselves. How many times do you catch yourself cruising through the stop sign (since it was one of the examples listed) instead of coming to a complete stop like you're supposed to? I do it daily depending on how late I am for an appointment or for picking up carpool. Or what about obeying the speed limits either on the regular streets or the highway? Again, I'm totally guilty depending on the situation but none-the-less, guilty. Yet, I don't exactly feel guilty about doing these things as I'm sure many other people don't either. But clearly I should feel convicted and as a result want to change my ways. Why? Because, as a Christian, I am called to obey those that are in authority over me and those are the ones that put these laws into place. Do I have to like it? No, but I do have a responsibility to obey them.

So that was Monday morning and it's now Wednesday evening, guess what I've been doing?! I have been putting my self to the test so to speak. I have taken these two instances of obeying stop signs and speed limits as I've driven around Franklin over the last few days. And the results? It's definitely not the funnest thing I've ever done that's for sure!

If you have been stuck behind a LONG line of traffic over that last few days, you can thank me! I have been that car that I have been trapped behind more times than I would like to count when I've been late for an appointment. At one point, I looked in my rear view mirror to find a tail-gating police officer and 3 or 4 more cars behind that! I was waiting for her to turn on her lights just so she could pass me!!!! The worst ones, I have to say, were when I had a few of my friends stuck behind me. (This happened a couple of times! How embarrassing to be known as the "slow driver"!!!)

I have to say that my stress level went up a lot because I was worried about what the drivers behind me were thinking/yelling towards me as I slowly made my way down the street going no more than 3 miles over the speed limit at times; I did reach 7 over the speed limit as I went coasting down a hill but that's about it. Who knows how many people were late to appointments because of my experiment! So if a Yukon made you late this week, I totally apologize!

The idea of stopping completely at the stop signs wasn't too hard. After all, how hard can it be to stop when you're not going that fast to begin with?!

Will I continue to follow the speed limits and the stop signs? I'll try as frustrating as it is at times. Will I fail? Of course!!!! God doesn't call me to be perfect, He just asks that I simply try my best to follow the rules that have been put in place by those that are in authority over me. To be honest, that goes against my selfish spirit in the biggest of ways because I'm not one that likes to be told what to do. Couple that with the fact that no one is really going to notice that I'm obeying the traffic laws and if they do it won't be with a positive sentiment! But it's really not about that, it's just simply about obedience.

Tommy Nelson goes on to end this paragraph that has sparked such discussion with these words: "God is honored just as much by the little things we do for Him as He is in our great proclamations about Him." So it is the little things....and that makes a lot of the difference!

How Did Sarah feel about it?

2009-10-28T16:08:00.000-05:00

So, I'm at my Tuesday evening Bible study last night. We were continuing in No Other Gods by Kelly Minter when we came across an interesting topic of conversation. In fact it was so interesting it left some of us speechless! We were discussing the chapter on saying good-bye to our idols and had reached the last day of that week's study. This particular day focused on Abraham and his son, Isaac, as they went on their three day journey to offer God a sacrifice (to put it ever so lightly!). Abraham knew that Isaac was going to be offered as the sacrifice even though God had promised Abraham he would be the father of many nations and this was his only son born from he and Sarah in their old age. (Read their story in Genesis chapters 12 through 23. You can also learn more about Sarah and Abraham in Beth Moore's study The Patriarchs.)

Anyway, the discussion was this: Did Sarah know what the plan was or did Abraham keep it from her? If Sarah did know the plan, as a mother, how do you let your only son walk out the door to that fate? Then, if you're Isaac what are you feeling when you realize that you're the sacrifice?

Some of us wanted to believe that Sarah was left in the dark so to speak because no woman is going to allow her only child to walk out the door to that kind of fate. Which I guess is a great reason that I, nor other women in that room, was not chosen by God to be Sarah or even Mary, the mother of Jesus, for that matter! If so, things would have been all screwed up for sure! There would be NO WAY I would be sending my child out to be the sacrifice, I would have told my husband that he had lost his ever loving mind!!!!! " Do you know how long it took us to get this precious boy and you want to do what with him?! You have got to be kidding!!!!! NO WAY!!"

And so it goes with us.....everyday that's what we say to God. "No way can I do that!" "You have got to be out of your mind if you think I can change my ways now..." So on and so on. Think about those questions that were sparked from those events in Genesis between Isaac and Abraham that came up in our discussion. Fast forward through a couple of lineage lines and hundreds of years and we see the same story.

The part of Abraham will now be played by God, the part of Isaac will now be played by none other than Jesus and the part of Sarah is now Mary. The difference, a ram caught in a thicket took Isaac's place so that he was spared death. Jesus had no one or animal to take his place, He was the sacrifice.

Mary knew the fate of the child she would bear.....what if she had said no? What if God, after writing Jesus' life story changed it because it was to much for him, as a father, to bear? Jesus knew from the beginning what would transpire, what if he said it was just not convenient for him to do that, it just wouldn't fit into his schedule?

What would it take for us to change our point of view and say "yes" to God instead of "that's really not what I was thinking, what if we do things my way instead?" Or instead of saying "that's not convenient for me" we said, "God, I'll schedule a time for you daily."

Thinking back over our discussion, I have to believe that Sarah was a yes woman. I think that she said yes to Abraham's plan to take Isaac with him as a sacrifice because she trusted God no matter what. She knew that God had plans for her family that were from a God that loved them with an everlasting love. For her, that made all the difference. I believe when "her boys" returned that she hugged them harder than she ever had and loved them more than she ever had and her faith in her God was stronger than it had ever been. She was the woman of God, the wife and mother that each of us has the chance to be in our own lifetimes and in our own families.

What's Worship?

2009-10-18T13:02:00.000-05:00

We had a great Sunday morning at Cumberland today! Michael Olson talked to us about worship and what that really is as we finished out the series Soundtrack. He raised some very interesting points as he taught from Luke 7:36-50. If you're not familiar with this passage it's about the sinful woman that washed Jesus' feet with her tears and then wiped them with her hair. I know, not what comes to mind when you think of worship. For many of us I think we connect worship with the music and songs that we sing at church. I think that's correct to a point. Worship, I have learned, is much more than that which is the point that Michael laid out for us.

In a recent Bible study that I did by Denise Glenn called Keeping the Secrets of Jesus for Women, she along with Betsy Brown discuss this topic of worship. In both the study by Denise Glenn and Michael's sermon this morning they both delve into the real meaning of the word worship. The Greek word that worship comes from is proskuneo, which means to show reverence to; to kiss ( and Michael expanded on this to mean the way a dog would kiss the hand of his master). No where in this definition does it say anything about music. Which is so interesting since we call our time of singing praise and worship! So is worship not about singing? Is worship actions or things that you do?

I think it's an "and both" situation. Meaning, it's a time of singing but it's not a time of singing for singing sake. It's a time for singing to the one who is our Creator as we show reverence to our King. The King who sent his son to die for us, not because we deserved it but because of his love for us. His Son that shed blood for us who are not even worthy of carrying his dusty sandals. It is something that you do in response to what Jesus did for you and for me. That is why we sing. That is why some raise their hands or even dance. It's even why some people fall to their knees in earnest prayer.

Now, have I always felt this way about worship? Uh, no. I did not even know the true meaning of worship until I did this study by Denise Glenn and I've been a Christian for most of my life!!!! I thought worship was just something we did before the preacher stood up to give the sermon. You know, a time to stretch your legs before you had to sit for 45+ minutes or so.

So, do I feel differently about it now that I have learned the true meaning and heard the sermon this morning? Absolutely!!!! Now I know that there's a true purpose for this part of my Sunday morning, not just something that's a part of a routine. I also learned that there's a time for individual worship and a time for corporate worship (Sunday morning/church body). It really makes a lot of sense once you begin to take the time to learn and understand it piece by piece. I, by know means, am finished with learning about this great topic because I'm so sure that I have so much more to uncover and learn about this. So don't take this as your education on worship. This is just simply where I am and what I've learned this far on my own journey.

If you want to learn more about worship, I HIGHLY recommend Denise's study. You can order Keeping the Secrets of Jesus for Women from her websitewww.motherwise.org.

As I said, I'm still learning so if you have recommendations for me please shoot them my way!

Food and Friends

2009-10-16T17:51:00.000-05:00

So we're about half way through the study No Other Gods by Kelly Minter and have had an amazing time so far in both of our evening and morning groups. It's funny how different the groups are from one another, they are literally as different as night and day (pardon the pun!).

The evening girls are working women some with families and some that are single. They are a get to the point bunch that grab some coffee and a little dessert and they are ready to get started! The daytime group are all stay-at-home moms who like to come in and get their coffee and chat for a while before they get down to wanting to start the week's discussion. The daytime girls are also not afraid to get up and get something to eat in the midst of our discussions, something rarely done in the evening group! Two different groups of women that foster two different atmospheres.....I love them both!!!!!

So with all this talk about food, I wanted to share with you two recipes that we have enjoyed together so far during this study. They are fabulous!!!!!!

Butterfinger Cake (from the evening group)

1 box Devil's food cake mix
10 oz. cola or diet cola
1 egg white
7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
2 T. peanut butter
8 oz. frozen whipped topping, thawed
7 Nestle fun-size Butterfinger candy bars

Combine cake mix, cola and egg white. Bake accordingly to cake mix instructions in a greased 9x13 pan. A few minutes before the cake is to be done, combine sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter in a saucepan. Cook and stir on low to make creamy and warm.

When cake is done and still hot, poke holes in top of cake with a knife and pour peanut butter mixture over top of cake. You may have to spread the mixture a little to help it go down into the holes. Sprinkle top with half of the chopped candy bars. Cool cake completely.

Cover with Cool Whip and sprinkle remaining candy bars over top. Keep in fridge until ready to serve.

Becker's Pasta
(from the daytime group)

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 lb. bowtie pasta
2 pkg. sun-dried tomatoes,
softened according to package instructions and cut into strips

1 garlic head

1 can pitted black olives, chopped
16 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 c pine nuts, toasted

Slice chicken in bite-sized pieces and saute with sun-dried tomatoes and minced garlic until the chicken is cooked through. Cook pasta according to package directions. In a large bowl, mix crumbled feta, pine nuts, and chopped olives. After the chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, and garlic have been sauteed, add them into the bowl of dry ingredients and toss thoroughly. When pasta is cooked, add it to the mixing bowl and toss again. The pasta is then ready to serve.

*These recipes are from the Bible study No Other Gods by Kelly Minter. These and other recipes are available on her website www.livingroomseries.com.

These are FABULOUS recipes and are perfect if you need something to make for your small group or of course, your family. They are easy to make and feed a ton of people! Grab the book for the great food and a great study!

The closet....

2009-09-27T14:22:00.000-05:00

So I took all 4 of my kids on a quick errand with me after church today and let me just go ahead and tell you that I was alone. So we go into one of my favorite shops in downtown Franklin in search of a certain pair of shoes that Claire wanted to buy with some birthday money that she got from her Gramma. Claire and I are in the front of the store while Jack, Tucker and Ellie had ventured to the back of the store because they like this stool that is shaped like a rock climbing wall in the shoe section.

As luck would have it, boys will be boys and that's exactly how they were acting towards their little sister. Jack decided to push Ellie into the store room (so I'm told) and when he did he closed the door to keep her from coming out which then caused the boxes and shelving that were being held up behind the door to fall and basically trap her inside. I discovered all of this when I went back to round up the troops to end what I thought was an uneventful trip for once! So I manage to get her out of the store room and put everything back the way it was before the Brady kids showed up and everything was calm and well with the world. I picked up Ellie, wiped away her tears, gave Jack "the look" and then quickly apologized to the guy running the store and we were on our way.

As irritated/angry as I was at Jack, God used this situation to remind me of the study that we began this week. I think for a lot of us, myself included, when we figure out what our idols are we begin to feel a lot like Ellie did.....trapped! She felt totally helpless and afraid that she wasn't going to get out of the store room, a place that she shouldn't have been in the first place but found herself none-the-less. She was helpless to clear out all of the junk that had fallen and boxed her in, it was truly to much for her to move on her own. Idols will do that to you and sometimes it's when you least expect it. We find ourselves trapped in the middle of the junk that our idols bring totally overwhelmed at what we have to do to get ourselves out. It seems easier to stand there and cry than to muster all of the strength that we have to move the junk out of the way.

It took a few minutes but I managed to get the door open and wiggle my arm in and maneuver some of the stuff and eventually get her out. I think that's what God does for us when we begin to realize that breaking away from our idols is way more than we can do ourselves. Yes, we got ourselves into the mess but he cares for and loves us so much that He comes in and carefully and methodically frees us from our messes. All we have to do is stand there and cry out for help.

Graceworks Donations

2009-09-02T12:14:00.000-05:00

Ladies Link Event
September 17th, 7-9 pm

I need to make a correction in the service project...
We are providing items for Grace Works not Safe Haven as I originally thought. Sorry for the misinformation on my part!!!!!

Here is a list of the items that they would like to have:
(*All items are full size, not travel size*)

Body wash

Toothpaste

Toothbrushes

Face scrubs

Face masks

Loofahs

Deodorant

Shampoo (not conditioner)

Body lotion

Nail kits

Tweezers

Nail polish remover

Bath salts

Face moisturizers

Preferred scents are berries, melons, vanillas

No candles

No bar soap

*By no means are we asking you to get everything on the provided list. We ask that you bring/donate ONLY what you feel comfortable. Feel free to bring 1 item or 20, either way they will appreciate it greatly!!!!

Girls Night- September 17th!!!!

2009-08-22T08:54:00.000-05:00

Kelly Minter is coming!!!!

Kelly Minter is the author of No Other Gods (the Bible study that we will be doing this fall) as well as an accomplished singer/songwriter and worship leader. I am so EXCITED that she will be joining us for our kick-off event on September 17th!!!! She will be speaking AND leading worship for us that evening. I promise that this is an event that you do not want to miss!!!! This is an event for ALL women at Cumberland regardless of if you're doing the study or not so please come and bring a friend or two or ten!!! *If you ARE doing the study, this is when you pick up your book.*

This is a FREE event the only thing that we ask is that you bring a donation for Safe Haven. This is an organization that helps women and children that are fleeing from their abusers/abusive situations. They are in need of personal care items (full size, not travel) so we would appreciate it if you would bring a donation for this organization as your admission to this event. We will have a complete list posted as soon as we get it from Safe Haven.

If you have questions concerning this event, please feel free to shoot me an email and I'll be more than happy to help in any way that I can!

"I wanna go to Afwica!!"

2009-08-13T12:25:00.000-05:00

Well, it didn't take long for my married life, my mommy life and my ministry life to come together all in one post! My precious husband has a heart for missions, he's been to Bolivia and he's been to Africa and I, on the other hand, have not. Let's just leave that for another post at another time!!

Anyway, he loves missions and really would like to nurture and grow that in the hearts of our four children. So he resigned himself to the fact that he would take each one on a missions trip once they turned 12 years old so that he could expose them to the world outside of our plush lifestyle. For Tucker that is only just over one short year away and he's totally on board with his dad's plan. Well for sweet little Ellie, that trip is a long 81/2 years away even though she's heard about the plan and has heard Bruce's stories about going to Africa last summer. Are ya trackin' with me????

So, Cumberland Church (where we are on staff and attend each Sunday) has recently partnered with an organization called African Leadership in an effort to serve African families that are seeking refuge here in Nashville. We just held a backpack drive for the children of these families and collected over 100 backpacks!!!! So in order to get them to these kids they had to be delivered to the apartments where these families are living. So for Bruce this made a light bulb go off in his "missions head" and he decided this would be a perfect service opportunity to begin to expose our kids to serving and missions. So the plans were made and the kids were ready!!

So yesterday, I get everyone fed and in the car to meet Bruce at the church for them to go up to Nashville. Well somewhere along the way no one thought to tell Ellie that she wasn't quite old enough to go. So from the backseat of the car I hear this little voice say: "I wanna go to Afwica!"
To which I say, "what?" and she says " I wanna go to Afwica to do the backpacks!" So Tucker pipes in and says "We're not going to Africa, we're going to pass out backpacks to the African children that live here in Nashville now." To which Ellie replies, "But I love Afwica!" (with as much enthusiasm as her 3 year old body can muster!).

As I think back on Ellie's words, the question that comes to mind is "why don't I feel that way?" Not that I don't want to help those less fortunate because I do but where's her fear? What is it in me that is keeping me from going to the ends of the earth to be Jesus to those that don't know? (And I'm talking about something as short as a missions trip not necessarily packing up and moving.) The easy answer, for sure, is fear on a lot of different levels!!!!

So what about you? What are you afraid of, what would you do if you could do anything in the world but like me, fear is holding you back? Send me your comments and we'll discuss them together.... What do you have to fear?

Everywhere-n-between.....

2009-08-11T13:58:00.000-05:00

Everywhere-n-between sounds like quite the fitting phrase for a mom of 4 kids and the path that I've traveled over the last four years. I've come to the realization through a good friend that many of you only know the Sunday morning side of me (crazy with four kids in tow all going to different places at different speeds!) and not the "everywhere-n-between" that has brought me to where I am today. So here goes....

When my husband, Bruce, and I got married we had both been born and raised in Atlanta and had no intentions of ever leaving the state of Georgia! For 11 years that's exactly how we lived and we were just fine with that. Our parents still lived there as well as our extended families and not to mention the great circle of friends that we had there. We were livin' the life we had always wanted for ourselves until God brought some friends into our life that had the courage to start speaking some truth into our lives. We began to see that we wanted more for ourselves and for our family than what the world and our current path could give us. We had always known God but we began to have a hunger to know Him more. So in March of 2005 after much prayer and discussion we started our journey.

We were attending North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, a northern suburb of Atlanta. They decided to plant a church in Dothan, Alabama (to see their story go to www.wiregrasschurch.org and click the "our story" tab), and as I'm sure you can probably guess, that was the first stop on our journey. Bruce left his successful real estate buisness and I packed up our family of 3 children 6 and under (and did I mention that I was pregnant at this point with our 4th child) and in June of 2005 we moved to Dothan! Now please know that this momma and her kids didn't go quietly! There were lots of tears and we won't even mention the fear! But that was what we were supposed to do so we went. So we lived in Dothan for a year and cut our ministry teeth so to speak. It was in this "foreign land", this is where I mean that it was different from where I grew up and lived for 30+ years, that God really introduced me to Sarah and what she went through when she followed Abraham down the path that God had chosen for them. I would sit in my quiet kitchen (during nap time of course) and do Beth Moore's study The Patriarchs, which I highly recommend if you have not done it yet!

Bruce and I welcomed Ellie to our family in November of 2005 and that completed our little Brady bunch. She was the only Brady not born in Atlanta at Northside Hospital, she's kinda like our "little rememberance stone" of Dothan, Alabama.

So fast-forward to June of 2006.... Pretty much a year to the day that we moved to Dothan, we felt like God was calling us to Nashville, TN to start yet another church plant of North Point. So in August of 2006, we packed up our house and now our 4 kids (7 and under) and moved to an apartment in Franklin, TN while we waited for our house to be built. Did I mention that we were a family of 6 living in a 3 bedroom apartment with all the stuff that kids and babies accumulate to function happily? We're spoiled...

February of 2007 Cumberland Church opened it's doors for the first time at 6 in the evening at the Marriott hotel. Since the opening I have been the Waumba Land Director (birth to preschool), the UpStreet Director (elementary) and now the Women's MInistry Director. I've experienced a lot and seen the good, the bad and the ugly of ministry. I've learned things about myself that surprised me and I've shed some stuff that used to weigh me down. I've laughed and cried but grown stronger through it all. So my journey everywhere-n-between I'm still on and will be until the day I die. I wouldn't change a thing that I've done or experienced on this journey. There's been a lot and much more to come!

Coming September 2009

2009-07-14T07:27:00.000-05:00

Looking for a relational yet deep approach to Bible study? Ready to merge Scripture with “real life”? Are you longing for something that will feed your soul and your body? Then No Other Gods: confronting our modern-day idols by Kelly Minter is for you!

An 8-week small group Bible study series offered both morning and night at Cumberland Church.

More details coming soon!