So cool!

My husband is first a musician (hence the name Music Man!) but, to pay the bills, he is an auto technician. The other day we had some rain that froze overnight. I know, yuck! But anyway, when he went to get a car to work on it, this is what he found on the sunroof........

Somehow, the wind made a very, very, very cool pattern in the ice as it was freezing! He said the rest of the car had an equally cool pattern to it. It had been in the shade so he was able to see it but as soon as the sun hit it, it melted right away. Isn't God's creations cool? I mean, to be able to have the wind blow in just the right way, at just the right time, and not let it melt away before Music Man saw it.......WOW!!

God is more than good, He is wonderful!

Not Of This World

Philippians 4:8 

Finally, my brothers and sisters, always think about what is true.

Think about what is noble, right and pure.

Think about what is lovely and worthy of respect.

If anything is excellent or worthy of praise, think about those kinds of things.

Romans 12:2 

Don't live any longer the way this world lives.

Let your way of thinking be completely changed.

Then you will be able to test what God wants for you.

And you will agree that what He wants is right.

His plan is good and pleasing and perfect.

As Christians, we are to put aside worldly things and live for God. Sometimes this is easy, sometimes this is hard.....very hard. It may mean giving up that exciting or funny TV show that just doesn't share your values or not listening to that fabulous artist because the lyrics aren't quite pure. Satan likes to trick us by saying “Oh, it's just a song or just a TV show. It's not real” But whatever we put into our eyes, ears, and minds shows up in our lives. When we decide to fully live for God, as all Christ-followers should, we need to give up anything that does not glorify God. Now, I'm not saying that everything has to be expressly about God. Just make sure that it doesn't take away from God. There are many good songs out there that don't mention God but they don't take away from Him either. God expects us to have fun. Enjoy that song or TV show that is wholesome. If you find yourself making excuses for it, “Well, all the songs aren't like that” or “Yeah, the show isn't quite Christ-like but the main character is soooo funny!”, then you should let it go. Remember the old adage?

 

– Garbage in, garbage out –

 

How can you live your life full of purity and righteousness if you are putting something different in?

My husband is going through this right now. He is a singer/songwriter/musician. Music is his life. He has a very extensive CD collection that he has accumulated over 20 years. Most of it is heavy rock music. He was convicted earlier this year about having this music that does not glorify God. He knew he needed to get rid of it. But the musician in him had a hard time letting go. This is a major part of his life but he decided that God was more important and I am very proud of him. He is getting rid of most of his secular collection. By the time he's gone through it all, he will probably have got rid of over 150 CD's. In addition, he has decided to let go of his concert T-shirts and music magazines. If it is at all against God, it is going to be gone. This is very, very hard for him but it is necessary. He is currently building a new CD collection. All Contemporary Christian music. And he is finding he is enjoying it much more than he did his old collection. He is putting off the world and embracing Christ even more. I am so proud of him. God has great plans for him but he needs to fully commit to God. And he is doing that.

We need to no longer live the way the world lives and we need to put into our minds whatever is noble, right and pure. We need to live fully for God. And make the sacrifices we need to make. God will honor those sacrifices and our lives will be full of joy and peace of heart. We don't need the things of the world to fill our lives, only God. Only He can satisfy.

OCC Shoebox Time!

It's my favorite time of year!! No, not fall....

 

shoebox time!

 

 

Every year I look forward to this time, packing shoeboxes for children around the world. All year long we buy items to fill our shoeboxes....school supply deals in July and August, soap, washcloths, toys, candy deals in October, the fun lasts all year long.

 

This year we had a lot of fun taking old crayons and melting them down to make multi-colored crayons for the boxes.

 

 

We also made candy canes out of pipe cleaners and red and white beads.

 

 

We fill the box up with school supplies, toys, and much, much more!

 

 

This year we included blow up globes for their school!

 

 

 

This program is called Operation Christmas Child and is run through Samaritan's Purse. Samaritan's Purse president is Franklin Graham, Billy Graham's son. Our family has participated in this program for many years. They take these shoeboxes mostly into 3^rd world countries and distribute them to the children there. There is no requirement on the part of the children-they don't have to attend school or church-they just have to show up! For many of these children, this is the only gift they have ever received. It also allows some of them to go to school for the first time because some of the schools require the children to have school supplies and since their families have no money, they cannot afford school supplies. When they receive the shoebox with school supplies in it, they know they will be able to go to school! These boxes provide hope in hopeless situations, they provide a future, they show love.

 

And yes, Operation Christmas Child does talk to them about Jesus and God, BUT they do not pressure them nor is becoming a Christian a requirement for receiving the shoebox. Shoeboxes are given out to ALL children, sometimes they even take the boxes to the childrens house!

 

 

Collection week this year is November 18-25. You can go to www.samaritanspurse.org to find your local drop-off location. It also has all the instructions on how to fill a box and, if you would rather, you may sponsor a box. They request $7 for shipping but not everyone can afford that. You can help someone else ship their box and bring joy and love to child living in a refugee camp or extreme poverty.

 

Shoeboxes are distributed in 148 countries and 103,720,570 shoebox gifts have been shipped worldwide since 1993!

www.samaritanspurse.org

facebook.com/OCCshoeboxes

twitter.com/OCC_shoeboxes

New Beads! Yay!

New beads!! 

 

Guess what I'm doing this weekend? 

Yep, that's right, designing some new jewelry! 

Oooh, I can't wait! 

 I have glass beads, quartz, onyx, obsidian, labradorite, and agate! 

 

Yay!

Never-Ending Adventures!!!

Ok, so yesterday, my pretty little Princess brings us another "gift". 

This one was a little unusual though.  She brought us a baby bat.....that was still alive!! 

 

 

Its wings had been broken so it could not go anywhere, but it sure hissed at us!! 

 

This gift she did eventually eat. 

I know, eeeewwww, right! 

 

And then during the storm, we had gave her some food and we looked out at her and this is what we saw!! 

 

 

She has been known to eat toads but I guess this one was much too big for her

as she totally ignored it. 

 

The never-ending adventures in my little corner of the world!!

Prayers, please

This is a little different kind of post. I usually look for things in my daily life and use them as examples for our Christian life. It really is amazing how many things, that just happen daily, give us insight into being Christ-followers. Today is a little different though. I would like to ask for your prayers. Life is pretty rough right now. As you may know, I have 3 disabled children and my youngest is about to turn 13 so basically I have 3 teenage boys in the house. Because of the teenagerness (is that even a word!!) and their disabilities, it is a very hard time. We homeschool so I really don't get a break. Also, winter is a time that my husbands paycheck goes down and we sometimes can't pay the bills. There are also many other things weighing on me, but I won't go into detail about them. I am giving it all to God but life still sometimes weighs heavy and I covet your prayers. I ask for strength to bear this and wisdom for the right course of action. Thank you for your kindness and compassion.