shootin' the breeze!

I'm reading a book that we may be doing a girls' Bible study on and I gotta tell you, I can't seem to put it down!  The title is "Lies Young Women Believe, and the Truth That Will Set Them Free". 

I've been reading it for just a couple days, but it's amazing how on the mark the author is about what girls think.  I LOVE the fact that she backs up each Truth with scripture and then challenges you to commit it to heart so that you can bring it to mind when the "lie" resurfaces.  

Lately there have been quite a few "lies" that have reared it's ugly head in our girls.  I want them to be Godly, strong, confident ladies who know the Truth!  I don't want them to go thru years of questions & lies that so many women I know (including myself) have.  

You know, the girls of today may be struggling with the same GENERAL issues that we as adults struggled with, but with one major difference.  Satan is running out of time and he has to destroy and ruin as many lives as he can before the Lord comes back.  He's making a last stand to bring as many young girls down as possible.  My prayer is bold...I'm pleading with God to protect our young ladies until they truly understand that satan is a LIAR!  He will stop at nothing to ruin them.  Once they get that, then the Truth of Christ's love will be all they need to fight.

OK, now I will get off my soapbox and go back to some reading/studying!

There are times, believe it or not, when I am not sure what to say to people.  

When someone tells you that they almost always feel like they are on the outside looking in, what do you say?  

When someone tells you that it hurts them when others pick on someone that they care about and they can't understand WHY people just can't be kind and loving, what do you say?

When someone tells you that there is an issue going on that HASN'T been taken care of (and I thought it had), what do you say?

I'm at a loss.  I can only pray and cry out to God to show me how I can be a better example to those around me so that I CAN ANSWER these people, if not in words, in actions.

It breaks my heart to know that these folks are struggling with these specific things.  

I can relate to the first scenario because there have been times when I have felt like the outsider looking in.  So, I cry with them and silently ask God to help them see just how special and unique they are.

I am not as tenderhearted as I want to be so the second one is harder for me.  If it were me, I would want to fight!  I do occasionally get angry enough to cry, but not with such unselfish love as this person had for their friend.  So, I lovingly tell this person how much I envy her sweet, tender heart.  It truly is a gift from God.   

I am truly frustrated with the issue that has risen it's ugly head YET AGAIN.  I can't stop thinking about it.  The fighter in me wants to tackle it head-on.  Yet, I keep hearing my mom quote the scripture "Be still, and know that I AM GOD".  So, for now, I am praying and listening in hopes of hearing the Lord's voice telling me what I need to do (or NOT do!).

I am praying for guidance on how to better do what He has called me to do.  Please pray with me.

feeling behind

Ever since we got back from FL, I've felt like I will not be able to catch up on all the things that didn't get done while we were gone.  The church things don't bother me because I know I can pace myself and it will just happen.  It's the house stuff that frustrates me.  

The inside needs a thorough cleaning (3 weeks of no cleaning is NOT good for my sanity!).  There is junk EVERYWHERE!!!!  Mail that need to be gone thru, dog toys all over the floor, clothes that need to be washed, bathrooms that need to cleaned, floors to be mopped, and don't get me started on our lack of groceries!  I haven't been to the store yet.  All our regular groceries were no good after 2 weeks (eggs, bread, milk, etc).  Poor Claude has been sweet about allowing me to work around our limited food supply!

I need to get outside and pull weeds from the front yard.  Trim bushes and mow it.  (BTW, a HUGE THANK U to John Calhoun!  He mowed our front yard while we were gone!)    The backyard was so high that I had to set our mower on the highest setting (the grass reached the seat of our rider!).  Our raspberry bush has taken over the back of the house!  I need to trim it.  I need to trim the tree that hangs over our swing.  The branches are sitting on the top of the swing!  

There are quite a few events that are coming up in the next couple months.  I seriously need to get myself focused so that I can get everything done!  I hate feeling behind!!!!

Shoulda stopped while I was ahead!

OK, I don't know why I go to this man's blog.  Apparently, it's the fighter in me!  I get riled up reading his "rightly divided" truth.  So, I'm reading his blog and find that he has a tendancy to contradict himself and use scripture quotes to suit him when needed.  For instance, this is a quote from his post on August 1st:

This, like every responder so far has defended the Pastor and not, the doctrine. I know, it's not popular to actually be a Bible believer, or use the scriptures as they are intended to be used as 2ND Timothy tells us in....

• 
  2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:


• 2 Timothy 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Doctrine, reproof, correction, for instruction in righteousness. Doctrine schmoctrine. Reproof, can't have that. Correction, no way, we can't offend the tithers. Instruction in righteousness, that one's okay as long as we follow Jesus. Burger King was not the first to offer a "have it your way" menu, churches have been operating that way for way too long. Perfect, furnished unto all good works cannot be accomplished until you get the doctrine right, and that requires reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness. But who cares about the doctrine? Do you?

Then, his response (on August 5th) to comments made on this quote:  

If you misunderstand 2 Tim 3:16 in thinking all scripture is OUR doctrine, you have made an egregious error. All scripture is inspired by God, but not all scripture is our doctrine. It is so obvious if you compare and contrast doctrine for Israel and dcotrine for us in this present dispensation of the grace of God. 

 

I must say, reading his stuff confuses me and in no way is profitable!  Not for doctrine, reproof, correction, or instruction in righteousness!  I just need the simple truth of Christ, his love, his mercy, and the salvation He's provided to EVERYONE...including this man who is seriously lost in his interpretation of scripture.  

BTW, reading his "teaching" makes me think about Catholicism and the priority they put on Mary over Jesus...Paul over Jesus...get my point!?!  They may have great intentions, but can still be completely WRONG!

Back in the rythm...sorta

We got back home to NC Monday night around 7:30pm.  It was a LONG trip home.  Once we landed in NC (around 3pm), we had to grab lunch, then drive 2 hours to New Bern to drop Claude's mom off, then another hour to get back to Greenville.  WHEW!  I am sooooooo happy to be home!

Yesterday,  I spent the morning catching up on the financial stuff for church.  It was a long day there too!!!!  Then, last night, Claude and I went to ECW's (local wing joint) for his birthday dinner.  It's fairly cheap and he had a surprise waiting there for him!  The teenagers wanted to surprise him by coming to dinner too!  I think he really enjoyed it!  We had to say goodbye to 2 of our graduates who leave this weekend for college in Raleigh.  I was sad.  I love these girls.  Well, at least it gives me a GREAT reason to go "shopping" in Raleigh now!!!!!

This morning was HEAVEN!  Claude and I got up and went to the gym!!!!!  I know, I know! That sounds ludicrous!  But, it's been almost 3 weeks since we'd been able to work out and I really missed it!  We had a special bonus when we weighed in too!   Claude is down to 214lbs!  He lost 1lb while we were gone! (I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but considering how and what we ate while we were in FL, it's an absolute miracle!!!!)  I was nervous about getting on the scale, but I lost weight too!!!!  I am down to 172lbs!  I only have 7 more to go to reach my original goal!  NOW, my new goal is 155lbs.  It seems a bit out of reach, but hey...so did 165 when I started this!

Claude left today around 12:30pm.  He and Jason are now in Anderson, SC for a 1 day seminar at New Spring Church.  The pastor, Perry Noble, is one of my FAVORITE speakers!!!  He's a good ol' boy with a heart for Christ and he doesn't mind "telling it like it is"!  I hope they enjoy themselves and get alot from the seminar!  

Getting ready for bed now.  I want to get up early and head to the gym!  

A long 2 weeks...

It's been a long 2 weeks here in FL.  Claude's brother, Tony, is showing small steps of improvement.  We were told last nite from the neurosurgeon that he is pleased with the signs of progress he's seen.  We are still waiting for the drs. to put a trach in so that they can take Tony off of the meds that are keeping him in the coma.  He's opened his eyes a couple times, he's smiled and cried a couple times.  We are so grateful for the prayers that everyone has been sending up on his behalf.  Keep praying.  The waiting game is hard to do.  It's normally hard for me because I am NOT one to sit and do nothing!  It's really hard for Claude because he IS one to sit and wait, but he wants to fix this and he can't.  We are needing to wait on God's timing and when a loved one is involved, that's very hard!  

We miss being home.  We miss our family here, but our hearts miss our home and friends in NC.  It's nice to see old friends here and they have been coming out of the woodwork to see us. We just know that God MUST HAVE called us to NC because that is where our hearts are now.

My parents have been so great!  They haven't put any pressure on us as we come and go.  My mom has been my "Calgon"...you know, "Calgon! TAKE ME AWAY"!!!!!  She's pulled me away just enough so that I don't go stir crazy sitting in the hospital!  She's taken me shopping (which anyone who took my quiz about me knows is my FAVORITE way to relax!).  She's made sure that there's been food here for us so that we spend as little as possible financially.

Speaking of that, just be praying for our finances too.  We had money set aside for our "anniversary trip" at the end of August.  Well, obviously that's not going to happen!  We've used it for this trip.  Thank God that we had it!  Money is pretty tight.  We know that the Lord provides so we aren't too worried.  It's just one less thought to deal with!

One last prayer...my eyes.  They have been giving me some trouble over the last week.  They are puffed up and hard to open (especially in the morning).  I know it is due to stress and lack of sleep.  However, there's not much I can do about it down here.  I have some salve that I am putting on the lids to keep me from scratching/rubbing them.  It helps to some extent, but it's just VERY annoying!  

Thank you all for the prayers and the love!  We are so blessed to have the family and friends that we have!  We love you guys.  There really are no words to say how much we appreciate everything that's been done while we're gone!

interesting thought process...

Folks follow my blog, folks follow Claude's blog, folks follow Jason's blog, etc.  Well, I was reading Jason's blog and the follower that "pushed my buttons" was Dean.  I clicked on his blog to read the stuff he'd written recently.  He said something that made me think...

This, like every responder so far has defended the Pastor and not, the doctrine. I know, it's not popular to actually be a Bible believer, or use the scriptures as they are intended to be used as 2ND Timothy tells us in...

• 2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:


• 2 Timothy 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

This is interesting to me because he's claimed that Paul's "gospel" is the gospel truth that we should be following and that basically the 4 gospels are "old testament" preaching.  

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that contradict itself?!?  You can't quote 2 Timothy 3:16 that states ALL SCRIPTURE is given by inspiration of God and then turn around and say that Paul's teachings are what we should be following.  Paul's teachings are inspired by God, however, so are the other parts of the Bible!  You don't get to pick and choose what you want to believe. If we claim to be followers of Christ (NOT PAUL!), we must accept the Bible in it's entirety.  

I know it sounds simple-minded to some, but that's what I am...simple-minded.  The gospel truth is easy and simple.  Christ came and was born sinless, died, rose again, and is the only way to God the Father.  It's THAT SIMPLE!

And BTW, in Paul's words:

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.   Romans 15:4