Wrennie Wednesday on Thursday

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Today, we are giving a big shout out to MODESTY!

One of Faith Wrenn's favorite ways to study her spelling words is to write them in shaving cream. We usually put the shaving cream on a baking sheet to make it easy to write on. To avoid the usual mess, I decided to use the bathtub this time since it can be cleaned up easily. As you can see in this picture, Faith Wrenn sometimes gets a little carried away with the shaving cream. She got really creative this time and covered herself and the bathtub. Then, she literally started skiing back and forth in the tub.

She had so much fun and it was absolutely hilarious! So, naturally I wanted to take a picture of her skiing. Faith Wrenn agreed but said that I could only take a picture of her feet. The 1st picture that I took (which is NOT shown) included her knees. When she saw it, she got upset and asked me to delete it. I completely respect Faith Wrenn's modesty. It makes me smile!


And what does our laundry area have to do with modesty??? Well, the day we had Faith Wrenn's birthday party at our house, she told me at least 3 times that I had to be sure to put away all of our clothes, both clean and dirty. She said she did not want any of her friends to see her clothes like that.

Give me a M. Give me an O. Give me a D. Give me an E. Give me a S. Give me a T. Give me a Y. What's that spell? MODESTY! You go Faith Wrenn. Stand firm.

Oh, and just in case you thought I was exaggerating, this picture is for you.

A Few Steps Forward On My Journey

"Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart....." Proverbs 3:5

Today is actually Wrennie Wednesday. However, I was so tired (I'm still not 100% after the flu last week and a very busy schedule this week) that I decided to do that post tomorrow. So, I went to bed early and waited for sweet sleep to come. It didn't. Instead came this post.

I've learned that when God begins to compose, I must be willing to transcribe, despite my plans or the time. So, I've left the security and comfort of my warm covers to openly bear my soul to you out of obedience to God.

God is doing a mighty work in me. He has the roots of my trust issues in His righteous right hand, and He has started pulling. The ground is loosening.

So far, here is what He has revealed to me: (Disclaimer - the roots are 25 years old. It seems quite strange, rather juvenile, to be talking about these things now. But, I'm finally at a place in my walk with Christ that I can understand the extensive impact of these events in my life. Not only understand them but also be completely healed and freed from them. And just for the record, my husband is aware of everything, and them some, of what I am going to share.)

When I was a teenager, I put a lot of faith and trust in my boyfriend C. He was a top priority for me for about 3 years. We were both Christians, and we primarily saw each other at youth group at church. We were both bold in sharing our faith in Christ at that time. Then, things changed, and my world was on very, very shaky ground.

What I learned from that experience was to always choose your friends over your boyfriend because friends will last forever, boyfriends won't. Unfortunately, this new truth didn't remain true for very long in my life! I was deeply hurt by some close Christian friends who were also in my youth group.

Fortunately, God wouldn't allow me to be bitter or to harbor unforgiveness. So, I moved on and eventually began dating again. Enter boyfriend D, someone new to my church youth group. Within a year, the same exact betrayal happened again with D and with the same Christian friends. Lesson learned....it is not safe to trust others so protect your heart and keep people at a safe distance to avoid being hurt again.

So, I began building the protective wall around my heart. Over the years, there have been times when I actually removed some pieces of the wall. But then, I would realize what I was doing and quickly put them back in place.

In the last month, God has really shown me what this wall has done to my life. My mistrust has managed to rear its ugly head in my relationship with my children. Not to mention the impact its had on my marriage. I'm sure my husband has felt like he was on an emotional roller coaster blindfolded - not knowing what was coming next!!!

This past Sunday night in our small group (that is doing the "Fireproof" marriage study), we were talking about addictions/parasites in our lives that can and will destroy our marriages. One of the ladies said that most people think of alcohol, drugs, pornography, etc. when talking about addictions. But she wanted us to think about ANYTHING that prevented us from giving our hearts COMPLETELY to our spouses. Immediately, God convicted me of the wall I had built around my heart!!! I never, ever thought of my trust issues in this light before! WOW! This was huge for me.

Unfortunately, I must also admit that my apprehension to fully trust has even spilled over into my relationship with the Lord.

But, God has brought us to "Nineveh" for healing. He's already started. The mere fact that I'm blogging about all of this is evidence of that.

I feel the need for a third dose of Beth Moore's "Breaking Free" Bible study coming on. (It's about breaking cycles of sin in our lives.) And wouldn't you know it, Beth has been working on an updated version to be released in just a few months. God's perfect timing. He and I have some serious work to do on my journey to learn to trust Him completely, and it's going to require access to my whole heart. So please excuse me. I've gotta run. I've just taken a new construction demolition job and I've got a pretty big wall to destroy.

T-Man Tuesday

"For God did not give us a spirit of fear (timidity), but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline. " 2 Timothy 1:7

BEFORE

AFTER

Brave! Very, Very Brave!

My Top 10 Blessings From Being Sick This Past Week.....

10. I didn't have to wear make-up;

9. It was the middle of the month, and I was all caught up at work - I didn't get behind either;

8. I've gotten more sleep in the last 5 days than I have in the past 3 months;

7. I was able to conserve my favorite perfume because everywhere I went, someone was spraying Lysol all around me;

6. I haven't cooked since LAST WEEKEND;

5. I was "complimented" often. Here's a few: "Mom, are you feeling better because you look a little bit better today?!!" Said with a look of shock on his face, "Mom, you got dressed today!" "Honey, can I get you anything? I know you feel really bad. You look like death warmed over!" It's a good thing that my love language is NOT words of affirmation, huh??!!!

4. Tanner completed his math project 5 days EARLY and WITHOUT me sitting right beside him cheering him on (HUGE PRAISE!);

3. Tanner and Faith Wrenn got along very well and rarely argued (either that or I slept through their arguments!);

2. I haven't cooked since LAST WEEKEND; and

1. When Tanner got home from school on Wednesday, he said "Mom, I asked Mrs. L to pray for you today. Are you feeling better?" WOW! He asked his Language Arts teacher (in a public school) to pray for me. This really did make me feel special, and I was very proud of Tanner for entrusting my health to God.

There are blessings all around us, even in strep throat and the flu! It's all a matter of perspective. So put on your spiritual glasses and look for God's blessings in your circumstances today.

Happy Birthday to you...

HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY WRENNIE!!!

Jesus said..."I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20

It was on a cold and rainy morning 8 years ago today that the Lord blessed us with our beautiful daughter. Her determination and strong will were obvious from the start - just ask the nurses at BMC!

The Lord has some amazing plans for you, Faith Wrenn, and He has equipped you with exactly what you need to fulfill them. My prayer for you is that you will love, seek, trust, and obey God with all your heart. What an honor it is to be your mom! I LOVE YOU SWEET GIRL TOMBOY!

Faith Wrenn celebrating at Chuck E. Cheese

*Faith Wrenn and I did spend part of our day today at an urgent care center - we BOTH have strep throat. We are on antibiotics now. You would never know anything is wrong with Faith Wrenn. As for me, I think I'm dying!!! Oh to be young again!

Tonight I feel...

beat up by the enemy! That's the only way to describe it.

Anytime that I lead a Bible study or share what God is doing in my life with others, I have this mental battle with the enemy afterwards. He tries to convince me that I should not have said certain things. He tells me that what I said was misunderstood or taken the wrong way by others. He tries to turn my peace into a pit of regret. He tries to discourage me from sharing Christ again.

But, today, I did not teach or "formally" share with a group. Today, I hosted my daughter's birthday party.

Instead of having sunny 80 degree weather like last Saturday, we had cold (low 40s) and rainy weather today. This of course meant that all 14 of the precious, energetic (that's putting it mildly) children were in the house. For whatever reason, God wanted us inside.

I'll be honest, it was loud, chaotic (at times), and exhausting trying to "entertain" everyone. But, just as the party was winding down, I sensed God reminding me that "Nineveh" is my family's mission field. We have been called to share Him with this community, which does include the new friends that Faith Wrenn has made this year in public school.

Then God also reminded me that the house we live in belongs to HIM. So the 14 children who were here today were not in our house, they were in GOD'S HOUSE! A place that some of them have never been but were able to experience today because God lives here.

Now, the enemy has me replaying everything that happened today. He is trying to bury me in condemnation for the things that didn't go as planned. For the arguments that occurred. For allowing the kids to take over the house at times. For being a little relaxed with a house rule or two. For being more patient with other children than with my own.

The Bible says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:1-2

I'm going to eject the enemy's tape from my mind now and go to bed! Please pray that I do not put that same tape back in when I wake up in the morning.

19 years ago today...

I was attending Cal State Northridge (CSUN - located in the Los Angeles area) my sophomore year in college as part of the National Student Exchange Program and planning to transfer there permanently. That was my plan until I received the news from over 3000 miles away that would change my life forever.

While at work. my stepmom Rachel was killed - brutally murdered. The events that unfolded over the next two years were like nothing I could have ever imagined. People in my family were falsely accused - they were only proven innocent after enduring a death penalty trial.

Not only were our hearts breaking over the death of Rachel, but our family was ripped to pieces by the false accusations. It took years before I was able to really mourn losing Rachel. She and my dad had been married for over 10 years, and we were close.

We all coped the best we could. Unfortunately, the grief, numbness (at times I could literally feel NOTHING), anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness that my heart harbored left no room for the Holy Spirit. I chose what the world had to offer as my remedy - not God.

In another post I'll have to share how God's hand of protection was on me and how He used this period in my life as preparation for what was yet to come. He allowed me 13 years later to be in a somewhat similar situation and to have another opportunity to choose Him, instead of the world. Ohhh what a difference doing life God's way can make!!!!!

On my birthday 2 years ago, I received the best birthday present ever. It was a letter from my stepsister Angie! We had not spoken to each other in 17 years. Angie was my stepmom's only biological child, and Rachel's death absolutely devastated Angie as you can imagine.

In the letter, Angie told me that she had just accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Savior while in jail, and He had changed her life!!! WOW! If I had not been living in "Nineveh," I'm not sure that I would have ever received that letter. You see, our county allows you to look up people on the internet who have been arrested &/or are serving time in the jail. Someone told me that Angie was in the county jail so I looked her up. Sure enough, she was there.

Now here is how God works. On my route to take my children to school, I had to pass by that same jail - at least 4 times a day. I felt convicted to pray for her, and I did every time I drove by. Then, the Holy Spirit prompted me to send her a card to tell her that I had been praying for her. After hesitating initially, I finally sent the card.

In her letter, Angie told me that since she had become a Follower of Christ, she had started praying for me and my brother. She wrote...

"God had put you and S. (my brother) on my mind a lot lately. Especially the last 3 or 4 weeks before I got your card. I had started praying to God right before I got your card and 3 nights before I got it, I talked to God about you and S. So you can imagine how it made me feel when I saw your name on the card. I was so amazed. After 17 long years of no contact and only 3 nights after I talked to God about it.

But you see I have not reached out to God until I came in here. I really had been mad at God all these years. But now I realize that my life was saved when I was brought to jail."

My God is the Restorer of Relationships!

I do believe that I had to do my part and obey God in order to receive this blessing in this special way. And my journey of obedience started when I moved back to "Nineveh" 5 years ago.

So whatever it is that you know God wants you to do, DO IT!!! No more hesitation or justification - JUST DO IT!

"I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears." Psalm 34:4