Pearl of Great Value.....

A pearl....Isn't it amazing that something so beautifully formed is hidden inside a shell at the bottom of the ocean? Someone has to carefully select and open just the right oyster to discover the treasure inside!

You, my friend, are like an oyster....you too have a beautiful treasure hidden deep inside of you....a pearl of great value that is waiting to be discovered!

Your life has a specific purpose and all of your talents and life experiences have been given to you for a reason. We aren't just put on this earth to eat, breathe, sleep and work. There is more....much more....

God knit you together slowly and carefully with a very specific purpose in mind for your life. 

Those clear, round pearls are not formed overnight....they take time to grow within the shell. Time is also required to create things inside you that are both beautiful and valuable. Things like patience, joy, peace, self-control....Your hidden potential is truly amazing....but will take time to discover. 

Oysters don't make pearls by choice....they are formed because something out of the ordinary has slipped into their shell. God has put something out of the ordinary in you too and he can't wait for you to discover what it is!

45 “...the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. 46 When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!...."  Matthew 13:45-47 (NLT)

You are the treasure! God paid the ultimate price for you by sending his own son, Jesus to die for you. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life; no one can come to the Father except through Him. By believing you truly need Jesus, through faith....your pearl of great value is opened out of its shell! Your beautiful purpose can be discovered as you spend time reading your Bible and talking to God in prayer. Knowing God is another part of the treasure and He is your very great reward!

The layers of the heart....

"Ogres are like onions...oh, they stink?

No...Layers....

Onions have layers, ogres have layers. 

You get it? We both have layers."

I believe our heart has layers as well. 

Some of these layers are old....formed many years ago...

...like a protective shield around our heart....

A heart that was hurt from a cruel comment...."you can't do anything right", "you're so stupid"...."you're ugly"....

Another layer formed when a relationship ended and they 

chose someone else instead...

Another layer formed from bad habits....

....eating habits that ran to the pantry when things were too stressful or too noisy....chocolate helps, right?....

....spending habits that ran to the store when I was bored or

 needed to feel better....can money buy happiness?

Underneath all the layers is something 

beautiful and fearfully made.

So, my job was to strip the old wallpaper off the upstairs hallway walls last May in our "new" home that was built in 1957. There were actually three different layers of wallpaper on these walls from a variety of decades past. 

Needless to say, it was time for a clean start so I got out the water and a scrapper......and I scraped....and scraped...and scraped.... 

What I discovered was very interesting....

...some layers came off quickly on the first pass of the scrapper....

...others I had to get wet first and let them soak in the 

water to loosen it's grip... 

...Then the next pass of the scrapper pealed the wallpaper off the surface of the wall to freely fall onto the floor....

....Revealing a smooth, flawless surface beneath....

I noticed though, if I waited too long to scrap once the water had soaked in, the paper dried up again and the opportunity to easily remove it was gone. 

I had to add more water again to see if this time, the wallpaper would drink in the moisture and let go to be removed.

Our LORD is the healer of our hearts and can 

transform your life, one layer at a time. 

I have lived out a number of layer peelings over the past two years and the process was painful and beautiful at the same time.

He removed my pride first....

...then my lust....

...then my anger....

(this was a more stubborn layer that required some "water" to remove)

....then my habit to eat when stressed or bored....

(this removed 25 lbs from me in just 4 months which was amazing!)

....then my love for my house and possessions...

(this one hurt....deep...but my contentment now is priceless)

...then my desire for control....

(learning to trust and wait....I think one might have multiple layers!)

...then my money....

(letting go of what really isn't mine anyway to be used in a better way)

I know there are even more layers of my heart yet to be peeled. 

Thankfully, the LORD is patient and gentle and has 

been walking me through each and every day. 

This new life is a journey that requires me to peel off the old self and be transformed into the real me that lies just below the surface. 

Who knew Shrek was so smart?!!

A season of making lists.....

Tis the season of lists....

....the daily "to-do list"....

....the grocery list to get ready for Thanksgiving.....

....the Christmas wish list....

....the wish list of things we'd love to do if only we found the time....



Okay, I will admit this straight out....I LOVE LISTS....yes, I'm a list girl.  

I feel very good in a little part of me to "check off" the box and see an accomplishment. 

However, I changed my attitude towards my lists a few months ago and it has made a profound effect on what I view as the important things to get done each day.....

I started a new list.....I call it my "spirit list"....

It is filled with the quiet thoughts that come from my heart...little things that could be done with my time....things that can help, that can heal, that can love and that can make a difference.

Things like calling that friend that has been struggling a bit lately....

....like returning that book that I borrowed so many months ago....

...like apologizing to a cousin that I should have been there for so many years ago and selfishly didn't travel to see....

...like inviting over neighbors for a meal even though that is out of my comfort zone....

...like painting out my faith tree on a canvas....

...like calling my parents when it is just easier to email....

You may have those little ideas as well. Those small whispers of love that speak to your heart and ask you to step out to help in this world....

I ask you in the season of lists to consider sitting down and trying to write a list from those heart whispers....things you could spend 15 minutes working on today....

For some reason, when I check off a box from that list versus my own "to-do"list, there is a deeper sense of satisfaction....

Slowly, I have enjoyed going to that list for ideas for what the day should really have in it instead of what I feel needs to happen. The chains from my lists are being broken, one at a time, and I am living each day a bit more free and full....



(Yes, blogging this today was a thought from my spirit list written just this morning....So, CHECK....complete!!!  YES!!!  Feels so good!)

The Steps of Discipline.....

My steps have become my place of discipline. 

For any behavior the kids are having trouble with, I make a step for it. If they are told to stop the behavior, they have a choice. Stop or if it happens again, they go sit on the corresponding step for a time out 

(length = # of minutes they are old; ex: Our 10 yrs gets 10 minutes on the step)

Here are the current behavior issues we are working on:

This is my catch-all spot....if they are just being naughty or mean-spirited....the time out spot is where they end up.

While the kids are sitting on their step of discipline, I borrowed an idea from my friend, Tija Young, to put a Bible verse that relates to the reason for their behavior correction.

For example, the "tame the tongue" step has Ephesians 4:29 by it....

This is by the whining step.....

This is by the disrespect and defiant step.

These are by the "scaring others" and "making fun of" steps.

Having a consistent consequence for a behavior we are trying to improve on has worked very well. The kids don't have to sit on them much anymore and when they do, they know the drill. The other rule is no one else in the family can speak to or even look at the person that is on the steps of discipline during their time out. For some of my kids, that is the worst part.

Wish I would have thought of this system years ago....

Your tree of choice....

We all have choices that we make each day. 

What do we choose to eat for breakfast? What do we choose to wear? 

What do we choose to do with our free time? Do we jump on Facebook or do we pause and read that devotional that is sitting on the counter?

What music do we choose to listen to?  What television programs do we choose to have on in our home? What movies do we choose to watch or let our children go see?

Oh so many choices.....and those choices define your life.

Adam and Eve had a choice......

....you see there were TWO trees in the middle of the garden. 

We always hear the story of the one tree...you know, the one with the forbidden fruit...but there was another right next to it....

Genesis 2:9

The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A tree of life....and a tree of death (spiritual that is)

Adam and Eve were allowed to eat from the tree of life and live forever.....God told them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That was the only restriction in the garden.....the only choice that they were to avoid.....

Things went well for a time....Adam and Eve took care of the garden....ate from the trees they were suppose to and were able to walk in fellowship with God each day. That was the blessing of their good choices.

Then....the "sneaky snake" comes on the scene.....he tricks the woman to take and eat the fruit of the tree of death. She gives the fruit to Adam and he makes another bad choice and their choices bring sin into their lives...

SIN.....an ugly word....darkness....disconnect from the spirit of God and the spirit within us....  

You have choices every day that can bring life to yourself and others around you (you know....those decisions that match up with your values and God's commands).....

.....so, I encourage you to stand firm, choose wisely and live well!!!.....

Grass and weeds....

It's that time again....the yard is turning green.....

....green with grass and weeds....

Sometimes it seems that the weeds are taking over and just will not go away! 

We spray them....we pluck them....yet they still return....

To invade the "perfect" sea of green grass we all long for....

Sometimes our lives as Christians may seem like a blade of grass...

....growing in places that have weeds to our left and to our right...

We feel outnumbered and wonder if we can keep up this difficult walk....

The mighty prophet Elijah felt overwhelmed and outnumbered...

....as the feelings of defeat consumed him....

1 Kings 19:14 - He replied again, "I have zealously served the LORD God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too."

The LORD then told him of 7,000 others that still served the living God. 

1 Kings 19:18 - "Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him!"

So, fellow blades of grass.....never give fighting the good fight! 

1 TImothy 6:12 "Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

For when we stand together....

....firm in our faith....

...shining God's love by the actions of our lives...

...we can overcome the weeds and spread the Good News to all around us....

Labor of Love....

Baseball season has begun....

 

The pitcher throwing his heart out....for the sound of the ball 

hitting the catcher's glove....STRIKE! 

How sweet the sound!

A new band of brothers....all together fighting for a victory....

After the hard-fought battle, there are stains....

....grass and orange dirt rubbed deep into the uniform pants... 

....WHITE uniform pants....

I love the color white...but on baseball pants....

...what a labor of love to scrub out those ugly orange knees after every game. The sick, imperfect look of the dirty pants...stained and soiled...

They remind me of how imperfect and dirty I look 

in my sin to my heavenly Father.... 

....His perfect creation....made in His image...now dirty...

...Oh how far from glory we fell...

.....I don't really grasp just how far until I gaze upon these dirty pants.... 

....the glory I once had, never to return without a sacrifice....

....The love GOD poured out to wash us clean again....

...through the blood of His son are my sins washed as white as snow....

Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, let's settle this," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow."

His patient and tireless effort to continually make me clean again each day....

 Lamentations 3:23 "Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning."

And so, I scrub...

...and feel so grateful that though I am a dirty sinner, 

my Redeemer loves me enough to wash me clean each and every day!