Saturday, August 30, 2008

A little note on proper dress for ladies...

Good evening everyone,

I wanted to share something that God has been dealing with me on, and it is on the subject of proper dress for ladies. Now I know if I share this with you I am subjecting myself to upholding that of which I write, and in a way, I am doing this so I will be subjected. It will keep me on the right path so to speak...

I was reared by my parents with good moral fiber, except when it comes to this one area of the Bible. I was a rare child in the 70's and 80's. With divorce rampant and all my friends experiencing the pain of going through a divorce with their parents, I was blessed enough to have both parents rear me, and they are still together today after 33 years of marriage!

Anyway, back to my point...

When I was 13, I had some great lady-like influences in my life; Janet Bingaman, Pastor Froelke's wife Connie, among others. They always held feminine modest dress in the highest standards and taught me that girls should not wear things boys wear.

As I got older, The "know-it-all" gene kicked in and I ignored this instruction. On an added note, my mom says to this day- "God looks on the heart, not the outer body." While this may be true, God does explicitly instruct what we ought to wear. He even instructs us not to wear wool with other woven fibers (Deuteronomy 22:11). I am not sure why this is, but I believe it is something to do with the purity of the symbolism of a lamb (the lamb of God-Jesus, ect.) If anyone knows anymore on this, feel free to comment, because I would love to learn!

I wore slacks and pants as recently as earlier this August. I was so backslidden, I couldn't see that I was so in the wrong, not only that, I always felt fat, and my self image suffered tremendously-Until God convicted me of my dress. That first Sunday I went back to church for the first time in a year, I was so convicted on a lot of things. The Holy Spirit had a hay day with me let me tell you! I am glad I decided to go back to church! Not only do I feel more feminine in dresses and skirts, but since I have started wearing dresses and skirts, I feel a confidence I haven't felt in a long time in my self image! God is good! I now need to deprogram my girls on what is proper and what isn't. Abby is very eager to wear dresses and skirts all the time, but Lauren is a more difficult one to get through to.
I will be working on her over the next week or so.

UPDATE 9:24 pm My daughter Lauren just hugged me and said" I am glad you are wearing skirts mommy." Wow! I am not fooling...I said to her, "Well my darling, what about you?"
She looked up at me and smiled...Maybe this will be easier than I thought...Pray for her!

Well, I need to get children to bed and do some things before sleep can occur, so I will wrap this up for now. May God bless you and than you for reading.






Friday, August 15, 2008

A little reminiscing on a great preacher gone to Heaven

One of the sweetest memories I have a child was listening to the late Dr. Jack Hyles preach at teen conference or at our church when he was in town. I decided to check into youtube to see if they have any good ole down home, nitty-gritty hard core preaching from ole Brother Jack, and sure enough I found some! It's a 4 part sermon called "The Old Temple" and I encourage you to listen to these clips! It will touch your heart as it has mine!









Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

A Boy and His Boat...

Hello everyone,
I have just a few minutes to write. I accomplished a lot today with ALL the kids being at their first day of school. I will post some pictures later.

I was touched by a wonderful story I heard on Through the Bible with Les Feldick this afternoon about a boy and his boat. Here's the story:

One day, a boy decided that he was going to build his very own boat. He gathered up everything he needed to make this boat. All Winter long he laboriously put pieces together, detailed, painted, waterproofed and literally loved this little sailboat.

The day finally came that his parents took him to the beach, and he took the little sailboat to the beach. He was so happy with his creation as he sailed it floated on the water; but as little children do, he decided to leave his toy for just a few minutes and he went off to explore another part of the beach. When he came back to where he left his boat, the boat was gone!

The child cried bitter tears for his boat. He worked so hard and long on his little sailboat that he ached with sadness. He lost the sailboat that he created.

Days turned into months, and one fall day, his mother and he were walking past a pawn shop and to his surprise, he seen his sailboat in the window! He ran fast to the store, dragging his mother behind him. He barrels through the door and exclaims to the storekeeper, "That's my boat! I would like to have it back please." The store keeper said "No son, I bought it. It's mine until you pay for it." The boy asks the store keeper, "How much is the sailboat?" The storekeeper tells him the price and the boy leaves.

All Winter long, the boy shovels snow, and does extra chores in hope that the sailboat will still be there in the Spring so he can purchase the boat from the storekeeper.

Spring comes, and the boy has the amount the storekeeper asked for, and the boy says to the store keeper, "I saved my money all Winter long, and now, I finally have the amount of money you asked. I would like my sailboat back please." The boy gives the money to the storekeeper, and the storekeeper hands the boy his boat.

The boy proudly clenches his sailboat and exclaims, " I don't know how you came to be in this shop, but you are mine once again! I bought you back!"

I told this story today because this is a perfect example of how GOD repurchased us with Jesus Christ. We were lost, doomed for eternity in Hell with no hope of salvation, kind of stuck in that musty shop like the sailboat; but GOD found something that would REPURCHASE our souls and bring us back into his presence, and that was with his only son's blood. His son's blood is payment in full, past present and future, and without it, people are destined for eternity in Hell.

Today, thank GOD for what he has purchased YOU with!

Hebrews 9:12
Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

NEW PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION

NEW PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION


This is probably the best emails I've gotten in a long, long time. The
following has been attributed to State Representative Mitchell Kaye from GA.
This guy should run for President one day...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


'We the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help
everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid more riots, keep
our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of
debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby
try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the
terminally whiny, guilt ridden, delusional, and other bed-wetters. We hold these
truths to be self evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill
of Rights and are so dim
they require a Bill of NON-Rights.'




ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any
other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no
one is guaranteeing anything.




ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is
based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone -- not just you! You may
leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc.; but the
world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.





ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a
screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful; do not expect the tool
manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.




ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are
the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but
we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of
professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of
another generation of professional couch potatoes.

(This one is my pet peeve...get an education and go to work.... don 't
expect everyone else to take care of you!)





ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free health care. That would be
nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in
public health care.





ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you
kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the
rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.





ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you
rob, cheat, or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be
surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you
still won't have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.





ARTICLE VIII: You do not have the right to a job. All of us sure want you to
have a job, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to
take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid
before you to make yourself useful. (AMEN!)





ARTICLE IX: You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means
that you have the right to PURSUE happiness, which by the way, is a lot easier
if you are unencumbered by an over abundance of idiotic laws created by those of
you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.





ARTICLE X: This is an English speaking country. We don't care where you
are from, English is our language. Learn it or go back to wherever you came
from!
(Lastly....)




ARTICLE XI: You do not have the right to change our country's history or
heritage. This country was founded on the belief in one true God. And yet, you
are given the freedom to believe in any religion, any faith, or no faith at all;
with no fear of persecution. The phrase IN GOD WE TRUST is part of our heritage
and history, and if you are uncomfortable with it, TOUGH!




If you agree, feel free to share this with a friend. No, you don't have to, and nothing
tragic will befall you if you don't. I just think it's about time common
sense is allowed to flourish. Sensible people of the United States speak out
because if you do not, who will?

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Our new house!



Hello all,

A lot of you have been asking for updates on our move. Well, we are finally settled in, and here is an update: We moved in officially Early Monday morning July 28th at 12:30 am. I learned a few very important lessons during this time:

LESSON ONE-If you are GOD'S child, GOD moves you where he wants you regardless of how hard you try to go your own way.

Josh and I so much wanted to move to Pennsylvania, but like any loving father, he steers in the direction HE wants you to go. We came up in front of brick wall after brick wall, and we finally gave up. I remember one night, I just looked up and said "God, I quit, you lead..." I repeated this for about 10 minutes. I really thought Pennsylvania was GOD'S will for our family--I would be closer to my family, the countryside is beautiful, and it would give Josh and my kids a fresh outlook on how a family is supposed to function.

GOD showed we this week that we are meant to be where we are in a mighty way. We have been searching for a new church to attend since we are 150 miles from the last church. Well, a few days ago, our neighbor comes over and asks if m if he could trim the brush around our house. Now picture this, he has his hip boots on and a weed whacker in hand with a straw sun hat. I said Thank you and sure! He began trimming around the house and when he was done, Josh and I greeted him with a tall glass of Iced sweet tea, which he gladly accepted. Now, I knew he was a preacher, but I didn't know where he stood, and what his faith statement was. As he sipped his drink Josh, Preacher Matt and I chatted. I asked him if the sweet tea was sweet enough, and he said it's fine, Preacher Matt said you sound like you are from Tennessee. I said , no, but I have been there a few times for a Bible camp called Bill Rice Ranch. He became pale white in amazement and said "I used to work there! That's where I met my wife!" I said "Have you ever met the Umsteads?" He again, turned white and said "YES, I KNOW THEM VERY WELL!" I told them that the Umsteads use to attend Victory Baptist church in its early days and were the Junior church leaders when I was a little girl.

Anyway, long story short, we come to find out "Preacher Matt" who lives right across the street, is a KJV preaching, fundamental, Bible-believing Baptist church preacher!~ HALLELUJAH! We are going tomorrow to check the church out! Preacher Matt also said he now has enough people to run the bus his church owns...Can you believe that? Because we moved here, their bus ministry may now have a better chance of taking off! Tell me this isn't God's will...

LESSON TWO: Satan will attack you at your most joyous!

Last night, my best friend Angie and i were talking via Live messenger, and i was telling her all about the good things that are happening with us. She seemed very happy for us, and we even spoke on the phone while we chatted on the computer. Because of a mis-communication, Angela who has been my friend for nearly 28 years, flipped what seems like an mental switch and started typing some horrible, hateful words to me. Was it jealousy? Was it something I said? Who knows, because after she typed out her hate, she went offline and would not answer the phone.

****************************************************************************

The switch flipped like a light...Satan somehow took a little joke and literally destroyed a friendship. Satan knows how happy I have been, and he caught me by surprise that's for sure! I was hurt and my mind raced last night a lot, and I said "GOD, you need to quiet my mind so I can rest." He gave me Proverbs 18:24-"A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." That friend is Jesus! I meditated on that verse and closed my eyes, and before I knew it, I was asleep.

It is also noteworthy to mention Proverbs 18:7 as well, which GOD just gave me -"A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul."o please, keep Angela in your prayers. I probably will not be close to her ever again, but I do forgive her. I will never share my heart with her again, but I have Josh, and other Godly friends GOD has put in my midst that will be there for me.


ANYWAY, on to the pics of the house!

The front....

This is a side view of the house.






The kitchen...








This is one angle of the family room...








Lauren in her new room

I will add more later.

Take care!

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