Stinkin' Thinkin'

"Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." Philippians 4:8

I don't know about any of you, but so often I find myself dwelling on the negative. It's not any surprise then that its hard to find good in anything when all I fill my mind with is negative negative negative. There is a book that I've read ("Created to Be His Help Meet") that has a chapter on this very subject. I wish I could just copy the whole chapter here because it is filled with so much truth. A couple of quotes that I underlined..."Your reactions break you loose from your social inhibitions and manifest who you really are inside and what you really believe at your core level....the way you think everyday determines the way you feel, and it will determine how you will react in stressful situations...the heart is filled with thoughts, and it is out of that reservoir of thoughts that the mouth speaks words of praise or bitterness." Talk about a kick in the gut! I remember struggling the day I read this with having pleasant thoughts toward Austin. I was quickly convicted and began to ask the Lord to help me "take captive those thoughts" (2 Cor 10:5) and replace those negative thoughts with positive ones.

Even the last few weeks while we've been on this roller coaster waiting to go and get Ada, the negative has been looming over me and I've had to constantly go back to this passage remembering to "DWELL ON THESE THINGS!" As we were reminded yesterday through Brody, the war that rages around us is very real. I have been quite aware of this truth lately and refuse to let the enemy into this camp to destroy what God has already redeemed and conquered!

Hope this post makes some sense...I'm writing on adrenaline as we just found out we'll be leaving this week for Ethiopia!!! Our embassy date will be one day next week...imagine that we still don't know details for sure. All I know is that THIS Sunday I will be holding our daughter and joy has filled my heart! Thanks so much for your prayers for us. Can't wait to get her home to meet all of you!

Keri

Finding Acceptance in an Unaccepting World

Romans 15:7, "So accept each other just as Christ has accepted you; then God will be glorified."
This was a verse we memorized in Sunday School in the Romasn study. Romans is such a cool dictionary of the road for a believer to travel. I just love instructions, routines. If you have ever met my middle son, Brent, you know he does as well. Brent is a highly functional autistic child. We are so blessed with Brent. He often says inappropriate things, has absolutely no pride, doesn't get embarrassed (which is a bad thing when trying to potty train,) and just basically tries to emulate whatever he can to fit in. Brent watches others and mimics what they do and holds on tight. If Brent is watching the right people, this goes smoothly, if not, watch out. Brent has a cousin who he has favored above all else since he was born. Sam loves Brent and Brent loves
Sam. Sam is very smart, well versed, mature. Brent is not. Brent has a light that shines from within that seems to infect all he encounters. Brent loves life and openly loves Sam. This relationship works because Brent never judges, just accepts. Sam chooses to love. For Brent, love is easy, he just does it and does it completely. He loves fully about 5 people in the world, knows he likes a few others. Imagine if everyone loved like Brent and chose to love like Sam what the world would be like. If we loved more like Christ and enveloped everyone's faults, idiosyncrascies, character traits. Everyone would have a relationship like Brent and Sams and we would all be able to accept the full love of Christ and the way He loves us. I think of Brent and Sam and how much Glory He receives from those two and it makes me want to be more like them both. God didn't design us all to be a cookie cutter of the perfect person, he gave us differences so we could work to love like He does. I challenge you to find that someone different and radiate God's love to them!

The Fast Lane

Be still and know that I am God;
I will be exhalted among the nations,
I will be exhaled in the earth. Psalm 46:10


Give me a B
Give me a U
Give me a S
Give me a Y
Whatcha Got
Busy
Whatcha Got
Busy

Beginning August 25, 2010 life began to get busy. Of course, this was due to school starting. This was not too bad. It was something I knew was coming. However, it just did not seem to stop. Out of nowhere, life was no longer life. It has changed it form and I did not even recognize what it was anymore. I kept going, sometimes not even knowing how I made it through the day because the days were just coming so fast and never seeming to start or end. I have always been busy, especially with 3 kids, but it has been managable. This time however, the business controlled me and I lost focus of my priorities. This is not to say that I did not keep trying to do something to fix it myself. Of course I did because I am such a practical person. I just knew I could figure out how to make life slow down. Practicality was not the answer. Who would've known? I kept hearing this voice say,"Be still." "Be still." "Be still!!!" Was God crazy? How could I possibly BE STILL. "I" had too much to do! Then, not surprisingly, came the shear exhaustion. It was then that "BEING STILL" felt like heaven. God, the Father of the universe, had been trying to get me to rest in Him for months and I totally ignored Him. I am praying now that my life will not become USELESS because of business, but USEFUL because of resting in HIM.