Everything

Sent to me by a friend today... I get goosebumps even after the third time watching it. Don't we all feel attacked and trapped sometimes by the darkness of Satan's world? Thank you Jesus for fighting for me and my heart every day.



http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=ee73e63418003b47d7d5

The Pastor's Life

I found this picture in a magazine. It was entitled "The Pastor's Life". Wow. It said more to me than a thousand words; at least any I have read to try to explain my husband's life. Every hand in this picture has been a part of 20 years of ministry. There have always been more offerings fragrant roses, praying hands, and others holding him up. I would always prefer the hands clasped in love or the hands reaching out for help, but sometimes the fist or the pointing hand come. Those are the most painful, the hardest to accept, the most difficult to forgive, and most heart wrenching to let go of. These hands have always been a chance to learn from, and the most difficult to discern. I must choose to stay focused on the most precious times of ministry, but recently it has not been easy. Tears come easily when I think of those I have loved and prayed for, served and shared life and laughed with who have left. I am learning (after 20 years!) that I must make the choice to find life's lessons through these times, not to become embittered, which by Satan's hand is too easy. I will follow the path of God's leading, focus on the love I am surrounded by, not by what I have lost. I don't know that I will ever have a grasp on the Call to Ministry. It is a mystery infused with great joy, great heartache, great adversity and a heart full of love, even those that the world would call unlovable. Jesus would call me to give grace, find the best in every person and situation, (especially my husband!) and most importantly, count the blessings. I have seen my husband bring hope to those in situations that would seem hopeless, bring more joy to a beautiful moment in time, and comfort to those whose grief feels unbearable, and share the beginning of a New life in Christ that was once lost. Not by himself, but Christ working through him. I will continue to abide in Christ for the courage to live and learn as I walk this imperfect path of an imperfect life. Tears also come easily also when I think of the miracles, the sharing and sacrifice of others, and the hearts that love purely that I have been privileged to see with my very eyes, and experience even for myself because of The Pastor's Life.

Extreme Hide and Seek

These are the shoes that play Extreme Hide and Seek. It was the hit of the summer with Andy and his friends. They played it at least twice a week before the bugs got bad. They played it out in the dead of night at a friend's property with 2 acres, and they played it on the concrete wth lights at Atwater High School. They fell through plastic covering feed for animals, fell into bogs, and ran into trees. There are rules. ....The rules are:
Two people are it. They have to count to 100 before searching for everyone . Everyone hides. If you are found you can run. You're not it until you are tagged.
The game is over when two people have been tagged.
Sometimes we set up boundaries. It struck me as curious how much this "game" describes a lot of us. While hiding, the kids get dirty, afraid (it's hecka dark out there), and the adrenaline is pumping like crazy. They become paranoid at the smallest noise, fearing they have been discovered. When we hide our feelings, our comings and goings, our inner thoughts, it can be dangerous. When our hiding becomes a dark secret, we feel dirty, and if it becomes apparent our hiding is going to be discovered, paranoia and fear set in. We sweat. Why? Because from the beginning of time, hiding has never been a positive experience. Think about Adam and Eve. They hid from God. They hid so that He would not discover their disobedience to Him. When we try to hide from God and others our darkness or hurt, our past, even our dreams, it is almost certain we will hit an unexpected force, that compels us to be found. When someone discovers us, someone who is safe, and we are caught, we shouldn't keep running until we have to be tackled or pinned to the ground, we should give up and allow ourselves to be found. The One who always knows where we are hiding desires us to be found. On the other hand, seeking can be good. We were never meant to hide in a muddy bog or exhaust ourselves trying to find a better hiding place. When we seek and find out the truth, in ourselves and others, we break the bonds of fear and darkness, and when Light reveals the hiding places, it can be embarrassing, but don't we always feel better? The game is over, we can rest. We feel good when we are not the ones hiding anymore. We always given a new chance to seek. Hide and Seek was always a nervewracking game for me, unless I was the one who was found and was given the chance to seek. THAT was always pure relief to me. Take a chance. Stop hiding. Be the one seeking the Truth that will dissolve our fears, release us from darkness, and keep us out of the mud in the dark.