Let it Go!

Over the past couple months, I must admit, God and I have had a few more heart to hearts than usual. I find myself in the middle of the night, waking to speak with him. And the hardest part about talking with Him, is most of the time I have to wait a day, a week, a month, a year or 2 to get an answer. He tells me to wait, alot more than I like(Psalm 33:20). There have been times in my life when I have cried out and he has answered me quicker than normal either in a voice from inside, a dream, His AWESOME WORD. I know He understands, I know he loves me and he gives me the privilege to pour into others lives because I have walked in their shoes in some way or another. But it is still hard. Standing in the battle gear on the front lines is hard and you must truly know that you are only there because God chose you and will equip you(Ephesians 6:13-17). You must stay there in the midst of your fear(2 Timothy 1:7) or doubt, knowing that He will give you the strength to do the job. You must realize that this is not a game, this is a real battle of love versus hate. I KNOW HE ordained mine. I KNOW because he promises that all the pain that we endure is not for nothing, it is to be used to help another(Romans 8:28). I KNOW because HE is FAITHFUL, and he has always been there to see me through. When I begin to worry or doubt, I can always claim ALL the many times He has been there. And so many times, He was just waiting for me to humble(James 4:10) myself and surrender, to let it go, give it to him. I hold onto it and it wracks my brain. I cry out only to Him, and finally hand it over. What do you need to surrender? What are you holding onto? Remember you are not your own, you were bought with a price(1 Corinthians 6:20). If you keep it, whatever it is, ask yourself, will it be worthy enough to place at the feet of the King? OR by giving it to Him, can he create something worthy of His Kingdom, covered in His love to place back into your life! Let it Go! Trust(John 14:1) that He knows what is best for you and me!

Only one King, per kingdom

Starting out always seems to be the hardest place. God has been nudging me to pass on the truths I have learned as a parent. Part of me feels that I should wait til my children are totally raised and married before I share. But I do talk and meet with lots of parents who are dealing with issues I have survived. So I am going to make a 2008 commitment to at least once a month try and share an "empowering parent" thought or lesson. And please understand, I do not have all the answers, I have just survived the "teenage" years with my 1 of my own, still living through it with another and get to send the other teenagers I do life with home to their parents each week. This lesson below I observed and learned when my son was between the ages of 14 and 17. I call it "Only one King, per kingdom":


When my son was between the ages of 14-17, the testerone levels in my home were very high. For some reason, teenage boys feel the need to challenge the kingdom at this age. What they tend to forget is that in the home if there is a father present, he is the king. They will never have the throne in that kingdom. That is why they must go out and venture into the world and set up there own kingdom. There were many times that my son and husband would meet each other with puffed out chests each demanding the role of king. What my son got to learn early on was that his father would always win and remain king. Corey had this unrealistic strength (and immature stupidity) that made him feel like he had a right and ability to challenge the king. My husband on the other hand could not understand why his once loving, sensitive son would feel the need to even attempt to take on his dad. I usually felt like the referee. I saw both of them become people they really did not want to emulate. It brought the worse out in both. I would take Corey to the side and let him know that he may not always agree with his dad and I, but God asks him to honor us. He could one day go out and set up his own kingdom with his own set of rules, but that would never happen here. And no matter how big or how old he got, his father would always be his father. My lesson in all this: Support my husband as the authority in the home, be the reasonable voice to both dad and son, pray for both, and help my son understand that yes he was becoming a MAN, but he was not the Man of this house.
I know there are many homes that do have a father present and this means a whole different set of obstacles. I feel that is why boys tend to try and prove their independence and
masculinity in social environments. Sports are a good way of release, going to the gym, having them find something they are good at, getting a job, a place to call their own. Something they can be proud they have accomplished. Knowing they have a Heavenly Father who is proud of them. I think they evaluate their manhood against the role model of thier dad and really all they are trying to say is, Dad, are you proud of the man that I am becoming? We need as parents to work real hard to give positive reinforcement to our teenagers, especially from dads!
Note: Since Corey has left and gone into the real world, his relationship with his father is moving from dad as authority to dad as friend. Corey has to now realize God is his ultimate authority. I think as parents that is one of our main jobs, leading them from our arms into God's arms!

Starting out Organized!

Everyone works together to clean out the garage:
What we have to sell at the Garage Sale: After cleaning and organizing the garage:

I have started out 2008 and already able to check off one of my goals for the new year! Thanks to our church having the World's Largest Garage Sale (Feb. 16). We have been wanting to clean out the garage and now we had purpose and a timeline to get it done. Tim lead the charge and made sure we did it while Corey was home to get some muscle from him and some of his guy friends. So during the Christmas break, he had us all working as a family cleaning out and re-organizing the garage. Who really likes cleaning out the garage? It takes time and it requires letting go of items that are not needed or haven't been used in a long time. And when the whole family does it together, everyone has their own agenda of what to keep and what to get rid of. Why is it that we hold onto stuff? Stuff we can't take with us in the end. Why is it that we feel that by accumulating a lot of stuff we are successful. Can't we have a little and still be successful? I am learning that less is better. I am learning that ALOT about life is letting go (and trusting). I am learning that the relationships that I invest in go with me way past the dash in my tombstone, can't say that about the stuff in my garage. So join me and my family, and get to cleaning and letting go...bring it to Flamingo Road Church on Feb 16 and help raise money for the American Cancer Society. And you can even join us beginning Jan 26 or 27 as the new teaching series, "Garage Sale" begins!

Loving Students!

One of the perks of leading teenagers are the special relationships you make along the way. Each year, I shed tears as that special group of seniors leaves the nest of Student Ministry to find their place in the world. The cool thing is they come back and share the ups and downs of young adult life. About 6 years ago, at a summer camp, I met a group of teenage girls that the most important thing in their life at the time was how they wanted to stay up all night and talk about guys, prank their roomies, and decide what outfits they would wear each day at camp. As 10th grade turned into 12th grade, the group of girls grew as they lived out their walk with God at school and invited their friends to Student Ministry. These girls are all now in their junior year of college. Most have gone away to school, some are close to home. We try and hook up each Christmas and Summer break to get together, share memories, laugh, touch base with how they each are doing. We are still trying to get everyone together at the same time, hopefully one day we will have that reunion. I am really proud of all of them and the choices they are making to follow Christ with their talents, their choices, their lives.
This weekend, I was given the privilege of speaking to the High School students with the first lesson in our "Me, Myself, and I" series. The topic, "It's All About Me!". I asked some of the girls that would be in town this weekend to share. At first they were like, what can we share. I expressed to them how I have seen in their lives how they have matured and their world is not just all about them. I wanted them to share how God has taught them that living for Him, is less about what can they get from this world, and more about what can they give to this world.
We are all in the battle of selfish flesh versus an unselfish heart. What better way to learn than from one another. Teenagers listen more to their peers, than they do to adults. And tonight was awesome. Jenna and Patti, I am very proud of you. I know you may have been nervous, but it did not show, I believe because you made it more about Him and less about you. You were transparent and true leaders to teenagers trying to find their way in this journey we call Christianity. The students in our ministry each have a special gift God has given them, a special calling. But many of them struggle with whether it is "cool" enough to step out and use that gift. Right now it may just be kindness to a hurting friend, a smile to a lonely person, standing for what is right in the midst of peer pressure, finding a way to meet a need. I pray that tonight a high school student is thinking about how they can live out the Christian walk, not by a set of do's and don'ts, but by making a sacrifice for someone else, even if it means coming out of their comfort zone, to greet a stranger, to invite a friend to church, to....whatever it is that God is nudging them to do. :-)


Come check out the rest of the 4 week series, Student Service times at Cooper City campus are: Middle School - Saturday at 5pm and Sunday at 9:30am, 11am and 12:30pm
High School - Saturday at 6:30pm and Sunday at 11am
Check out www.therd.org for the other student services at our multi-sites!

Merry Christmas #2

Here are some more photos from the day. Marcus also stopped by for Christmas breakfast and we opened gifts with him and all the kids. He is showing off his new jacket, while Amber shows off her new boots and my new sunglasses, (that Amber wishes were hers, haha). Corey and Amber love to pose for the camera. Corey got Jamie a really nice necklace. (This year instead of celebrating the 12 days of Christmas with Jamie, he decided to come up with 8 Crazy nights. He was very creative with evenings that included from riding the roller coaster at Boomers to Building a Bear to dinner and shopping at Target.) After breakfast, we went to visit my cousin and family. This Christmas was hard for my cousin, not only was she dealing with this being the first Christmas without her mom, but her dog had also died last Wednesday. I know how hard that first Christmas is and just wanted to be there for her. (I remember not even wanting to put up a tree, just wanting to go somewhere, anywhere but home; all the memories were in my home. 13 years have passed since my mom and dad have passed, but the holidays are always the time that all the memories just come rushing back.) Maddie was so happy to see Corey and to be able to play some football. She had missed out on the Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl. We ended the evening having dinner with the Watson's and watching Ratatouille.

We miss being able to be with all our family. If you are reading this know that we send our love and hugs your way(scroll down and read my Christmas letter). This Christmas was simple, simple in gift giving, simple in preparation, simple in the activities of the day. The greatest part of all, that we were able to be together...to laugh, to share, to build more memories, to celebrate Christ's birth! Thank you God for the gift of your Son!

Merry Christmas #1

Here are some photos from Christmas! The first one is Corey helping me get the tree off the car and into the house! We had a blast getting the tree this year. Corey helped me pick it out and Amber helped decorate. The other 4 pics are from today. Our day started with waiting for the kids to wake, watching the Disney parade, and opening gifts together. Do you see the excitement on Amber's face? She had just opened her gift from her brother, he bought her tickets to the Chris Brown concert. He is taking her tomorrow night to dinner and the concert.






After the kids opened their gifts, we headed to Jamie's house for Christmas breakfast. All Corey really wanted for Christmas was the ability to come home between his Interterm and Spring term in January. The pics are of him getting some help putting together the puzzle pieces of his gift. Jamie bought him a one way ticket home and his father and I bought the return flight. We each gave him puzzle pieces and he had to put the puzzle together to figure out the gift. (Thanks Craig for creating the puzzle) Do you see Corey's BIG smile, he loved the gift!

Christmas Eve

I can't sleep, no, I am not waiting for Santa. I am just in awe...of my Father! But before I move on to Christmas Day, I share with you some highlights from the past 5 days. I woke Thursday morning not feeling well at all. My body ached and I had the pepto bismal song symptoms. Lord, please, I can not get sick for Christmas. I made it to our Student service and was even able to sing and dance my way through the NSync song without heaving. After the service, Susan Marquez asked me to pray with her for her mother-in-law. She had just been diagnosed with needing open heart surgery. Susan and I prayed and I also shared with her how I felt terrible, she laid hands on me and prayed for me also. When I woke Friday morning, I felt good, like really good. I knew instantly it was the power of prayer. When I saw Susan tonight, she shared with me that at the moment we were praying, the doctors were telling her husband that they were only going to be putting stints and not doing the open heart surgery on her mother in law. They did the procedure and her mother in law is feeling better and recovering. The power of prayer.
Tonight my family and I all spent Christmas Eve serving at the church services, and having dinner together courtesy of Noreen and the Hospitality ministry. I sat with my family at dinner and was thinking how simple we were spending the evening, but it was what it was all about, giving. God gave. When I went back into the church lobby, I was told by a Pastor that they had seen some of my friends go into the last service. Wow, I was again, floored by God, so excited that they had come. Many years ago, their names written on the concrete floor of that building. The power of prayer.
I was given the privilege to stand at the alter and pray and assist those that heard God call their name. Some with such pain to give to God for Him to carry for them. I pray they awake tomorrow to celebrate the greatest Christmas they have ever had. I pray that this past weekend of attending a church service is just the beginning for many. That 2008, they will add that activity to their calendar and continue to walk through the doors to find hope, to find peace, to find unconditional love, to find the Power of Prayer!