Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so much to be thankful for!

First, I am thankful for the mercies of God and salvation through Jesus Christ. I am thankful that He wants to have intimate relationship with me. It blows me away that the God who created all things chooses to love me!

I am extremely grateful for my husband and children! God is so good to give me such a precious family! My husband is my best friend! I pray that my girls will be able to find a man who loves, cares for, provides for, and cherishes them like Brad does me. My children... oh, where do I start? Abigail is so much fun to be around! She cracks me up! I love to watch her take the stage in her theater productions. When she is singing and dancing, she is in her element and she shines! She is a friend to many! I love and cherish our special time together in the mornings drinking coffee! She is so precious! My sweet Allison is such a joy! She is a hard worker. You can give her a task and she is on it, and you can expect it to be done correctly! I love to watch her serve others! Whether she is cooking, working backstage at the theater, or serving at church, she is in her element when she is serving others! I love when we get to spend time together in the kitchen. She makes my heart smile! Andrew is so much like his daddy, which is how I have prayed for him to be! He can say the funniest things and make me laugh! He is so tenderhearted. He amazes me at how well he memorizes scripture for his AWANA class at church. It is a cool thing to know my children are hiding God's word in their hearts! I love to watch him play football, baseball, and basketball. He loves to ride his skateboard, too. I love going in his room each night and spending a few special minutes praying with him. My son is an awesome kid! I am so blessed by my family!

I am thankful for my godly heritage! My parents are my example of what it looks like to live for Christ. I can't even begin to say how awesome they are! My grandparents loved the Lord and always had the Word of God on their lips! I remember my 90 year old grandfather quoting scripture after having a mini-stroke. I asked him then, "How do you know the Bible so well?" His response to me was, "When you have read the Word as much as I have, you will know it, too." What an example of feeding on the Word of God! I miss them greatly!

I am grateful for the friendship I have with my mother and sisters! These ladies are a part of who I am! We have so much fun together! I know that they love me no matter what and I love them deeply! I can't wait to do our traditional Good Friday Shopping with my two sisters!!!

I am also thankful for my church home! Worshiping together with other believers is such a joy! Being led by a team of pastors who teach the Word of God is a blessing. I am so grateful to be a part of a body of believers who encourage and love one another. I am grateful that it provides a place for me and my children to make strong friendships with people who have the same core values and beliefs.

There is so much more...

I am overwhelmed with God's goodness! Thank you, Lord Jesus, for blessing me beyond measure! 

Lacking wisdom? Ask God - not Google!

James 1:5-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.


Why is it that so many times, I change verse five to say, "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should google it!"? If I am not careful about this one, the first place I look for answers to life's questions is the internet. We live in a time where we can google any question we have and find thousands of answers. Most of us don't even have to wait until we get home to get online; we can now use our smart phones. I am asking the Lord to help me with this.

I want to seek Him first! Not google! I am not saying that googling my questions is all bad. I am just saying that it should not be my first place to seek wisdom! If I seek Him first, He may lead me to the exact website I need to find my answer - He has done that before!  He may choose to use a different means altogether to provide wisdom for me. I believe his answers can come from His Word, my husband, my parents, my children, church leaders, godly friends, doctors, etc. His means are limitless!

When we ask for wisdom, we have to believe that He is able to give us that wisdom. We must trust that His ways are far above our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Therefore, we must believe and not doubt Him. We have to remember that His love for us far outweighs any other love for us. Jesus loves us so much that he bled and died for us. If He is willing to do that for me, why should I not trust Him?

I don't want to be double-minded and unstable. I want to be solely focused on Him so that Christ is the solid foundation of all that I do!

Join with me in seeking God's wisdom first. Then have the freedom to google your questions, or ask for wisdom and counsel from others. Remember that God's wisdom is holy and righteous. He will not lead you away from His teachings. Let the Bible be your measuring stick. Does this answer line up with the Word of God?

Psalm 8:17
I love those who love me,
and those who seek me find me.

James - Consider it Joy!

James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.


Two years ago, I was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. This is a chronic illness, meaning there is no cure. My symptoms have been extreme fatigue, muscle and joint pain, sun sensitivity, and the most recent is sores inside my mouth. Thankfully, these symptoms are not always present! I am on medications to help the symptoms, but I still have flares periodically where I feel really bad. Currently, I am on the up swing of one of these flares. I have had many people praying for me and I am so grateful, because this past flare up was extremely hard for me!

This is my trial that I am to consider pure joy. Wow! It seems crazy, but God commands it. I know that the suffering I may have in my body is NOTHING compared to the suffering that Christ endured for me on the cross. God has been reminding me this week to put my suffering into perspective.

I don't know of anyone who likes to have trouble come their way. However, if God allows it, there must be a reason! James says that one of the reasons is to develop perseverance, which leads to maturity and being complete.

Dictionary.com defines perseverance as "steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement".

What is my course of action? My course of action is living a life as a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ! My purpose is to love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. My goal is to consider it pure joy to suffer through this trial called lupus. I must look at the bigger picture! No, I don't think I will ever enjoy suffering. But in the deepest part of my heart, I must learn to consider it joy to be facing this trial.

I know other trials will come and go in my life. I will strive to consider them joy as well! Remembering God's purpose in them is to develop me into maturity.

James - the brother of Jesus?

I am studying the book of James with the teenagers at my church. I will be spending some time blogging about what the Lord is showing me along the way. 

James introduces himself as a "servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ." What an example of humility! It is believed that the author of this book is the half brother of Jesus Christ. If Jesus were my half brother, I would probably introduce myself by saying, "Hey, I'm Susan, Jesus' sister." But that was not James’ description of himself. He was extremely humble and called himself a mere servant.

This leaves me in deep thought and conviction as to where my heart is according to my position. How do I introduce myself to others? It is usually, as Brad's wife, my kids' mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend, or even a youth small group leader. How often do I consider my title to be a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ?

I do seek to serve Him. I talk with Him daily. I spend time in His Word. I teach my children about the love of Christ and how to seek Him. I honor and respect my husband as head of our home. We try to teach, nurture, and train our children in the ways of the Lord. I honor my parents. I love my sisters, who are my best friends. I am trying to help my small group learn more about Christ and His love for them.

Jesus said to his disciples, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

Because of this truth, I can say that I am serving Christ, when I am serving these others in my life. Therefore, I only need to see myself as James saw himself - a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

If I fix my eyes on Him and on serving Him alone, then I will be able to be a better wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, and small group leader. Then my thoughts and ways will stay pure and focused!

This is what I am meditating on right now. What about you? Are you willing to label yourself as a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ? Let's serve Him together!

And to think that this is only verse one of the first chapter of James!

15 Year Anniversary

I have now been married to my best friend for fifteen years! Wow! Time has gone by so fast! When we got married, I knew I was marrying an incredible man. However, over the years, I have realized that he is much more incredible than I could have ever imagined. Brad completes me! He is my best friend, my spiritual leader, my love, my companion, my defender, my strong rock. He is the only man for me! As I am looking at these descriptions, this list resembles the list of what my Jesus is to me. The Bible says that the husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church. Well, in doing that, Brad's attributes line up with those of Jesus. I am so blessed!

I sat in the living room tonight while playing a game (Would You Rather) with the family and was in awe of what has taken place in fifteen short years. I looked at how grown up my children are becoming. We now have a fourteen year old daughter, a twelve year old daughter, and a ten year old son. I just can't stop saying how blessed I am. These three children are an enormous responsibility and at the same time they are an enormous amount of FUN! We knew as soon as we got married that we were ready to have children, which was a good thing because the Lord saw fit to bless us quickly! Like nine months after we were married! I am so grateful!

I didn't understand at age 22 how the decision to marry my best friend would change my life. I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. I knew that I loved Brad and he loved me. I knew that he would work to provide for me and the family that we would some day have. I knew that we would serve the Lord together. I knew that God would bless us. I just had no clue what that was really going to look like. So now, fifteen years later, I sit here in awe.

No, we do not have it all together. No, we do not have all the answers. We have more questions than answers most of the time. I think that is what keeps us drawing strength and wisdom from the only One who knows the plans He has for us. I am looking forward to MANY more years married to the man of my dreams. My Superman!

Family Heritage

I am very blessed to have a godly heritage. My grandparents have been with the Lord in Heaven for 15 and 16 years now. My granddaddy died in 1995. He was 91 years old. My grandmother died almost exactly one year later at age 86. They were the most amazing people! I miss them an awful lot! By earthly standards, they didn't have much. They lived in a small town in Mississippi. When they got married, they bought some land from his daddy and he farmed that land. This was his trade. They raised five kids in a three room house. Not three bedrooms, but three rooms. There was the kitchen, a living room which had a bed in it, and one other room that had two full size beds. Oh and thankfully it had a bathroom inside, which was added on at some point. I loved this old house! It had a front porch where we could sit and watch the cows graze in the pasture across the gravel road and wave at folks as they drove by.

Like I said earlier, they didn't have much by earthly standards. But I am so glad that I was taught that those aren't the standards in which life is measured! My grandparents had the sweet love of Jesus. So by heavenly standards they were rich! They loved life and loved being with their family. My granddaddy KNEW the word of God. I asked him one time how he knew scripture from memory so well. His answer to me was, "If you'd read it as many times as I have, you'd know it too." What incredible advice that was! He knew the Bible backwards and forwards. Anytime he came to visit us, he would find any of our Bible study or Sunday school books and just sit and read. He was always reading the Bible or some commentary on it. He had a true hunger for the Word of God. Grandma was the type of woman everyone loved to be around. She could make anyone feel welcomed. She was so witty and loved to make people laugh. I cannot wait to be reunited with them one day! I am so blessed to have had them in my life for so many years.

Now that they have gone home to be with the Lord, I have adopted my husband's grandmother as my own. She turned 94 a week ago! Just like my grandparents, she was born and raised in rural Mississippi (not the same town, but similar in many ways). She is a precious lady and I love her very much! It has been years since she has been able to “go to church”, but she would always watch church on TV.

My wonderful father-in-law has done an amazing job taking care of her needs for the last 25-30 years since her husband died. For the past several months, he has faithfully gone to her home each morning and helped her get out of bed and into her wheelchair where she spends her days. Then each night he would go help her get back into bed. I cannot even describe to you what an incredible man he is. He is such a servant and has lovingly taken care of his mother. Unfortunately, because of her frailty and her complete inability to move from bed to chair or vise versa, she cannot continue to live alone. Sadly, she has just been moved to a nursing home. The fact that she has continued to be able to live alone and take care of herself this long is an attribute to her strong character. She has shown love to me and my children every time we come near her! She loves to remember stories from when my husband was young and would spend the night with her and her husband, their grandfather.

Again, my family is so blessed to have this heritage. I also am grateful for the example of my mother helping to take care of her parents in their final days as well and the example of my father-in-law taking care of his mother all these years. They have shown the love of Christ to their parents and in doing so have shown love to Christ.  Matthew 25:40 “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Let this be a reminder to talk to your kids about their grandparents and pass along the stories of their family heritage. Although my kids never had the privilege of meeting my grandparents, they know all about them because we talk about them all the time!

Modesty

I Timothy 2:9-10
And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do.

Modesty is a very touchy subject. I feel the need to discuss this topic is very important, especially as summer approaches!

Anything a Christ follower does should be Christ honoring. Right? Even the way we dress? The way we teach our daughters to dress? YES!

This subject is very heavy on my heart. As Christian parents, I believe it is our responsibility to teach our children to honor God with their bodies. I Corinthians 6:20 says, "for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body." This is from the Word of God! Before we go out the door, we need to do a self check and ask, "are we honoring Christ with the clothes we have on, or are we drawing attention to our bodies for our own purposes?"

Let's talk about swimsuits.  Parents, please don't let your daughters grow up wearing immodest swimsuits! Don't even start when they are little or the trend is likely that they will continue to wear that type of suit. If you wouldn't let them go around wearing their bra and panties in front of the world, what makes it alright for them to wear a swimsuit that looks like a bra and panties? And let's face the facts, it's not just seen at the pool or beach anymore. We are in the facebook age, where one day lasts a lifetime and can be seen all over the world through digital pictures. "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise.", Ephesians 5:15.

We are to please the Lord in all areas of our lives. This includes the way we dress and the way we teach our daughters to dress. What picture of Christ are we letting others see? Are we different from the world in the way we dress? Romans 12:1-2 says it this way, "And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

Growing up, I always had to make sure that my dad approved my swimsuits and, now I make sure my husband approves the ones that my daughters wear. This is because guys see something totally different when they look at girls than what we see when we look in the mirror. Dads have a way of knowing whether these clothes will send a wrong impression of their little girls to the boys who will be seeing them. The Bible teaches us not to cause our brothers to stumble. If we dress immodestly and it causes others to have lustful thoughts toward us, then we are indeed sinning and in some cases setting ourselves up for danger.

Mark 9:42
“But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck."

2 Timothy 2:22
Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.

I know for some of you, this could be a new battle. I encourage you to embrace it and help your daughters shop for a swimsuit that is modest to the eyes. They are harder to find, but they are out there! I'm not saying that you have to cover your whole entire body to go swimming, but I am challenging you to make sure that your daughters are covered enough so that they are not sending the message "look at my body" to the guys they will be with at the pool (or the world who will see their pics on fb!).

As a mother of two beautiful daughters, I am very cautious of what "image" they are presenting to the world. As a mother of a soon to be 10 year old boy, I find myself wishing that more girls would cover up their bodies to protect the images that are being sent his way. I know that the battle for his mind is approaching, and I am praying that God will protect his eyes, heart, and mind from lustful thoughts.

I am asking for you as Christian parents to make a conscious choice about what you allow your girls to wear. Let's be wise and honor Christ with our bodies and teach our daughters to do the same!