Liena's Prayer

Powerful video created by Voice of the Martyrs ~ Liena's Prayer. Viewer Discretion Advised. 

Published on Sep 18, 2014

Liena and her family turned down offers of asylum in Western countries after civil war broke out in Syria. They knew the cost that might be required, but they chose to remain as witnesses to their Muslim neighbors and as an encouragement to other Christians.

31 Day Challenges

I found these challenges on Facebook and wanted to share them here in case anyone would like to join the challenge...

31 Days of Prayer for Your Husband


31 Days of Prayer for Your Children
31 Days of Prayer for Your Pastor
31 Days of Prayer for Your Pastor's Wife
31 Days of Letting Go

Don't Compare & Rest in Jesus

I shared this on a friend's FB page when she shared struggles with being a good mommy to her two young children. I decided to share it here also so I could find it again and eat my own words when I need to remember...

"I feel your pain. Don't beat yourself up. I've had times of comparing myself to others who have more children and realized that I need to look at what I'm dealing with and try to do the best with what God has given me. Each of us have different challenges and if one of us tried to step into someone else's life we would realize that even someone who seems like they have less on one level has more to deal with on another. Take time to be with God and hear what He wants from you each day. Rest in Him... I need that advice probably more than you. Pray for me and I'll pray for you...we will make it by the grace of God."

McGruff House

Has anyone heard of the McGruff House Program? Recently we went to National Night Out in our city and learned about the McGruff House. After being interviewed by the police and having a criminal background check you are given a sign to put in your window identifying your home as a safe haven for children who are lost or in danger. Read More

McGruff House — National Crime Prevention Council

Moms in Touch

I just found out about a new prayer group called Moms in Touch. Check out their website for more information about becoming a part of a worldwide community of mothers praying for children and schools. They have tons of resources to guide women as they pray for children.

Letter to Senator Obama

My friend, Tiffany at Tea with Tiffany posted a letter to Senator Obama on her blog and she said it would be fine if others shared it too... so here it is:

Senator Obama, abortion is not a healthy choice for Americans. I am begging you to reconsider your position with this moral topic should you become our president.

I will try my best to put words to my "choice." Nineteen years old, I chose abortion. Sure, I could blame my boyfriend for not wanting the baby, but ultimately it was my choice. The worst choice I’ve ever made. I was too afraid to walk alone—pregnant.

In order to step into a cold, sterile abortion clinic, I had to emotionally die first. I don’t care what a woman’s beliefs are she cannot go through this procedure with a haunting that follows.

I know.

Sure, I tried to forget and move on with my life, but inside I couldn’t shake the reality of choosing death.

Death carries a sting.

Like a branding iron to my heart, I was wounded and forever scarred. Marked by my so called “choice.”

Senator Obama, you have two girls, can you honestly look into their eyes and say had they been conceived at a time other than your preferred choice that they don’t deserve a chance to live? a chance to change the world? to make a difference?

Senator Obama, have you ever sat through an abortion procedure? Have you seen the graphic images? Do you know how women are treated? Have you heard the moaning of a mom-to-be who sobbed for hours afterwards? What words could you possibly say to comfort her? None. The river of regret and shame runs too deep for words to penetrate.

I know.

Senator Obama, are you aware of Post-Abortion Syndrome(PAS)? Are you willing to comfort your girls should they decide to choose abortion someday? Because should abortion still be legal and an option, they will suffer. Even if from the outside she appears like she made it through unscathed, she is not okay. Something is bleeding underneath the surface.

I know.

My decision from almost two decades ago affected my marriage bed and relationship, my emotional well being every fall (the time of year I had my abortion), my ability to look deeply into the eyes of a newborn, and the way I morally view myself. It's a choice that keeps on giving. Giving death!

This “choice” comes with a price tag. A price tag I don’t want one more woman to pay.

Every woman who has had an abortion will one day have to look honestly into her reflection of her choices. Choosing death is not an image she should have look at and carry in her heart.

Choosing life is an image worth gazing at. Watching a baby grow up is an amazing experience.

I know.

My two children, Justin and Hannah, are nothing but gifts to me. Not mistakes. Not punishment. Nothing can replace their faces, voices, words, tears, smiles, giggles, songs, talents, or their caring hearts. Their lives are impressed deeply into my heart. And so is a baby who never had a chance. A baby I love and will never forget. A baby named “Grace.”

Tiffany Stuart

Thank you, Tiffany for sharing your heart so openly. You are brave and I appreciate your honesty and vulnerability! Thank you!

Choices

Watch this powerful video that shows how a single choice ripples and can destroy a family... - (Thanks Lisa for emailing the link to me.)

* You may want to shield little eyes and ears from the start of this video *

Slow Fade by Casting Crowns

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. ~ Proverbs 22:6

As parents we are entrusted with precious treasures when God gave us our children. When they are young its our responsibility to be careful what their little eyes see and ears hear.

It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. ~ Luke 17:2

Pray for families. Pray for men and women, fathers and mothers that when they make choices they are choices that will positively effect their children and their world... Choices that make our Heavenly Father smile... Choices that lead others to HIM!

"Let no Christian parents fall into the delusion that Sunday School is intended to ease them of their personal duties. The first and most natural condition of things is for Christian parents to train up their own children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Vacation Bible School

My church is having VBS this week - the theme is Fruits of the Spirit! Please pray for the children that are attending (and those that have been invited, but not yet come) that they will feel the love of Christ and that they will come to a relationship with Him or that the ground work will be laid for them to come to the Lord. Pray also for the parents of those who may be un-churched that they feel comfort with our church or that they find a church somewhere that will meet the needs of their children and themselves.

Pray also for the children's ministers who traveled a great distance in an RV to share the love of the Lord with the children of our community and church. Pray that the workers from our church will sense God's presence in the work they are doing and that all the glory goes to God.

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."

~ Galatians 6:9-10

Looking for Love

March 26, 2007
Our family was leaving the gym and one of my husband's friends said something to us. My daughter (7) blushed and whispered to me that daddy's friend was cute and she wished she could marry him (not a chance thinks this mama he's in his late 30's or early 40's). Then we got in the car and my son says (with a straight face), "I'm never going to find a wife!" I was puzzled since he just turned 4. Has he been searching already??? I told him that I'd help him find a good wife. After a little while, my son asked, "How did Daddy get to be so lucky to find you for a wife?" That's my boy!

Yesterday (3-16-08) while I was making dinner, the kids were playing quietly...(every mother knows what that means)...

I'm sure you've heard of Superman, Batman and Spiderman, but there is a new Superhero in town...

My son (now 5) introduced me to Superloveman. Yes, I just typed what you read. My daughter (recently turned 8) drew a big heart on her brother's chest with a black pen and wrote LOVE in a all caps. The little guy made himself a cape out of a little blanket and went flying through the kitchen shirtless (so you could see his emblem I'm sure) to rescue the beautiful princess, his sister.

Oh my... this was while I was making dinner tonight...

Seriously, I want my children to live lives that are pleasing to the Lord and to find a godly spouses when the time is right. I want their lives to be living testimonies to God's grace, love and power.

Let's all pray for our children, regardless of their ages, that they find godly spouses one day and that we are able to impart godly wisdom to them during their formative years as they become men and women after God's own heart. If your children are already married, pray for them and their spouse that they continually look to the Lord for solutions to life's problems and that they become examples of God's unconditional love in a world in need of love - God's love.

Dear Lord,

Please protect my children from my mistakes and shower them with all of YOU and help them to become the mature, godly, responsible adults that YOU want them to be so they can have marriages, lives, ministries, etc... after YOUR plan. Amen!

Listen to this song and get your tissues ready just in case - Find Your Wings by Mark Harris

Little Missionary

Friday night, while I was typing up information about Work and Witness my seven year old daughter, B was telling her little friend about Jesus. The two little ladies came into my bedroom and my daughter had the biggest smile on her face and she told her friend to tell me her exciting news. B led her friend in a prayer of salvation. After they shared the news B told me to find some Scriptures on heaven so she could share them with her friend. Then a few minutes later I heard B reading the Bible to her friend. Later, B rushed in and quietly asked if she could give her old Bible (Gideon) to her friend. I assured her that we could do that. Unfortunately we couldn't locate it, but we are going to see if we can get her a Bible that will be easy for her to read. Pray for B and her friend as they both grow in the knowledge of the Lord and their faith.

What Have Your Kids Taught You?

I was cleaning out files on an old computer this evening and came across something I wrote when my daughter, B was 2 and 3/4 years old.

This morning as B and I were walking ouside to run some errands she exclaimed, "Look at the beautiful leaves that Jesus made." Then she stopped on the steps and said, "Jesus, thank You for the leaves You made and for this beatuiful day and all my friends. Amen!" Then she opened her eyes, raised her head and kept walking down the steps.

How many times do we stop in pure joy as we are scurrying out into the world and thank Jesus for what He has made? I'm guilty of not doing this enough, but I'm so thrilled that B's spirit is soft to things of God.

Another instance around that same time frame:

The other day B's eczema flared up again and I suggested that she pray to Jesus about it. She instantly stopped what she was doing and said, "Jesus thank You for my eczema." Hmmm - Are we adults so quick to thank Jesus for the pain that comes our way?