Have you missed us lately? We'll be honest, when we don't have any comments, it makes us feel like we have been forgotten which in turn does not motivate us to post anything. While I know that is not true (because several of you have told me in an email that you're still checking it), it still makes us feel that way. Sorry....my "thinker" has been all messed up these days anyway!
I have been really struggling the past week (or past 3 months!) with all the changes in my life. I have so much free time on my hands that I am bored a lot and the fact that this house I am in is so small doesn't help. I really know what cabin fever is! I actually miss working which surprises me. My visit with Mom was such a "high" that I fell way down in the "valley" so to speak, when she left. I'll admit that there are days that I am just mad at God for sending us out here. Do you ever get mad at God when He's doing things that your flesh disagrees with? I hope I am not the only one! When we moved to Cullman, as hard as it was to leave Pickens Co., I knew without a shadow of a doubt that that was where God wanted us to be. He confirmed it in so many ways that it was so clear. Here, I haven't felt that....it's been hard but yet I am more spiritually mature than I was then so God knows that I can handle the challenges of being here. Anyway, because I have been focused on myself instead of God's purposes, I really didn't want to read His word. I wanted to "woller" in my own self pity. However, with some encouragement from a special mentor of mine, I have dove back in His word as a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. I started in Psalm 1 and read it over and over and over. It's short but boy was it talking about me! It says "Blessed (or Happy) is the one that delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it" for the ones that don't are like "chaff that the wind blows away". If I am not meditating on His word...His promises....I will stay defeated. I will stay unhappy. I will not be the wife, mother, and pastor's wife He has called me to be. I know that there are so many situations in the lives of my friends right now that are worse than what I am experiencing, but whatever your situation, that is real for you and BIG for you, even if others may not think so. Get in His word and meditate on His promise and He will carry you through it......
We have an offer on our house. Why there is no exclamation mark is that it is below what the payoff to the house is and because Mike wants to get out from under the debt, we will probably accept it and still owe to pay the realtor's commission. This is also hard for me to understand and I cried as I asked Mike "where is our blessing in obedience?" I loved that house and that town more than anything and sacrificed it to serve here and why can't we even break even on it? Of course Mike reminded me of Matthew 6:20-21 that says "But store up yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not detroy". I am so fleshy and I know that! Ok, this is a sacrifice of praise as I say "Thank you God that we have any kind of offer in this economy, thank you that we will be out from under a huge debt and into a smaller one that's more affordable, and thank you that we didn't have to go into forclosure which is what many people are having to do due to job layoffs."
I sure hope all my confessions will help at least one person who reads this! I am such a weakling but where I am weak, He is strong....Praise God!
So....here's whats been going on....
I have people that I can actually call friends now...Kyle and Sandi who both come to play group. Sandi is my exercise partner so I thank God for her because she has kept an extra 10 lbs off of me from being so lazy! Kyle is so opposite of me but has an outgoing personality and has really reached out to me and empathized with me being new here. We had a spiritual discussion the other day and I am positive now that she does not have a personal relationship with God. However, she does not recognize that (yet) and says she is at peace with God. God put us together to help each other in different ways so please pray for her and for me as God uses me to witness to her. She has been coming to church for a month now but still remains skeptical of "church". I love her to death though and can't wait until she recognizes her need for God!
We are starting a women's bible study tomorrow on Zecheriah. It's going to be very challenging for me to enjoy. Pray for me through this and if you want to know why...you'll just have to call me to ask me!
The boys are done with their basketball in Ignacio now! Whew...that's a relief! Now Mason is playing in the Durango league with the Bayfield boys on Saturdays and enjoying that. Landon still prays for God to send him a friend at school. He has been getting to swim at Ignacio everyday for the past two weeks for PE so that has been exciting for him. Haven is obsessed with Spongebob right now and is maturing so fast. She cleaned her room the other day without being asked for the first time and boy was it spotless!! She was so excited! I really build her up now and she loves to help Mama clean! She had a little accident the other day....Mike was pulling the kids on their sleds behind the snowmobile and went a little too fast around a curve and Haven fell off onto her face....bless her heart...it looks pitiful.....
I have been really struggling the past week (or past 3 months!) with all the changes in my life. I have so much free time on my hands that I am bored a lot and the fact that this house I am in is so small doesn't help. I really know what cabin fever is! I actually miss working which surprises me. My visit with Mom was such a "high" that I fell way down in the "valley" so to speak, when she left. I'll admit that there are days that I am just mad at God for sending us out here. Do you ever get mad at God when He's doing things that your flesh disagrees with? I hope I am not the only one! When we moved to Cullman, as hard as it was to leave Pickens Co., I knew without a shadow of a doubt that that was where God wanted us to be. He confirmed it in so many ways that it was so clear. Here, I haven't felt that....it's been hard but yet I am more spiritually mature than I was then so God knows that I can handle the challenges of being here. Anyway, because I have been focused on myself instead of God's purposes, I really didn't want to read His word. I wanted to "woller" in my own self pity. However, with some encouragement from a special mentor of mine, I have dove back in His word as a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. I started in Psalm 1 and read it over and over and over. It's short but boy was it talking about me! It says "Blessed (or Happy) is the one that delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it" for the ones that don't are like "chaff that the wind blows away". If I am not meditating on His word...His promises....I will stay defeated. I will stay unhappy. I will not be the wife, mother, and pastor's wife He has called me to be. I know that there are so many situations in the lives of my friends right now that are worse than what I am experiencing, but whatever your situation, that is real for you and BIG for you, even if others may not think so. Get in His word and meditate on His promise and He will carry you through it......
We have an offer on our house. Why there is no exclamation mark is that it is below what the payoff to the house is and because Mike wants to get out from under the debt, we will probably accept it and still owe to pay the realtor's commission. This is also hard for me to understand and I cried as I asked Mike "where is our blessing in obedience?" I loved that house and that town more than anything and sacrificed it to serve here and why can't we even break even on it? Of course Mike reminded me of Matthew 6:20-21 that says "But store up yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not detroy". I am so fleshy and I know that! Ok, this is a sacrifice of praise as I say "Thank you God that we have any kind of offer in this economy, thank you that we will be out from under a huge debt and into a smaller one that's more affordable, and thank you that we didn't have to go into forclosure which is what many people are having to do due to job layoffs."
I sure hope all my confessions will help at least one person who reads this! I am such a weakling but where I am weak, He is strong....Praise God!
So....here's whats been going on....
I have people that I can actually call friends now...Kyle and Sandi who both come to play group. Sandi is my exercise partner so I thank God for her because she has kept an extra 10 lbs off of me from being so lazy! Kyle is so opposite of me but has an outgoing personality and has really reached out to me and empathized with me being new here. We had a spiritual discussion the other day and I am positive now that she does not have a personal relationship with God. However, she does not recognize that (yet) and says she is at peace with God. God put us together to help each other in different ways so please pray for her and for me as God uses me to witness to her. She has been coming to church for a month now but still remains skeptical of "church". I love her to death though and can't wait until she recognizes her need for God!
We are starting a women's bible study tomorrow on Zecheriah. It's going to be very challenging for me to enjoy. Pray for me through this and if you want to know why...you'll just have to call me to ask me!
The boys are done with their basketball in Ignacio now! Whew...that's a relief! Now Mason is playing in the Durango league with the Bayfield boys on Saturdays and enjoying that. Landon still prays for God to send him a friend at school. He has been getting to swim at Ignacio everyday for the past two weeks for PE so that has been exciting for him. Haven is obsessed with Spongebob right now and is maturing so fast. She cleaned her room the other day without being asked for the first time and boy was it spotless!! She was so excited! I really build her up now and she loves to help Mama clean! She had a little accident the other day....Mike was pulling the kids on their sleds behind the snowmobile and went a little too fast around a curve and Haven fell off onto her face....bless her heart...it looks pitiful.....
In my sister-in-law Jen's words..."God love her!"
I'll wait and let Mike blog about church happenings! I have talked to 4 friends this week who are being attacked by Satan and worldly issues. Hang in there and run to God's word for your guidance(I certainly had to!). It's your only armor.....don't let Satan win. Love you all!
I'll wait and let Mike blog about church happenings! I have talked to 4 friends this week who are being attacked by Satan and worldly issues. Hang in there and run to God's word for your guidance(I certainly had to!). It's your only armor.....don't let Satan win. Love you all!
6 comments:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for you comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is fimly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.
2 Cor. 1:3-7
hey girl!! I am definetly continuing to pray for you.
I love you so much and God will bring you through this. Continue to stay in His word and as I am beginning to discover, He is ALL we need. I love you!! I'm always here if you need me.
Hey girl, hang in there.. Your blog this last time hit home.. It may have been your thoughts but it is exactly how I am feeling right now.. You are such a blessing to so many people, it maybe hard to for you to see that. But God has not forgotten it. You and your family are in for great reward..
I am praying for you and for Landon. I know God has a special friend that is just perfect for him. We love you, Sandi
You're such an inspiration to me, even from so far away. We should all be so faithful! No doubt you are storing up many treasures in heaven. And it is plain God is using all of you in CO. We love you and miss you more than I can say.
Wow!! I don't even know where to start. I am sorry that I check the blog almost every day but fail so many times to respond. Please, please do know that you are not forgotten and that we still do miss you!! I am still encouraged by your obedience and know that God is doing and going to do mighty things through you guys. I am learning so much lately that if the devil isn't attacking you, then you must not be a threat to him. He comes to steal, kill and destroy. I put my faith in so many things besides God sometimes and I don't even realize it. Dawn is right, He is ALL we need. Keep that chin up!!
Love you both,
Chantelle
Well Lori, once again YOU amaze me! If only you could see the woman I see, the one with the crown of beauty and the wife of nobel character! You think of yourself as weak, but yet all I see is STRENGTH! Your honesty is something many of us need to learn to share with others(& ourselves)!! Too many times people put the pastor and his wife on a pedastal and expect perfection,all the right answers and we forget you are human too! Sharing with all how you truly feel is such a help to many! I know that you even feel guilty for feeling "down"! I know, by God's grace, I have never experienced the loss of a child, which to me seems like the ultimate!So how can i get so down with no money, no job, loss of wordly possessions,moving away from home,that all seems petty! But i feel like any sadness or circumstance that breaks our heart also hurts our Father in Heaven! He hurts with us and for us and just like sin is not measured to HIM neither is our heartaches!He hurts for us and HE is the only one who can put the bandaid on the boo-boo! HIS arms are the ones you crawl into and let HIM give you your peace and strength! Nothing we go thru can we NOT defeat and come thru because Jesus Christ has conquered the grave, and has already WON the battle and WE have VICTORY!!We all need encouragement,love and understanding while in this world, so let me say I am sorry for getting so caught up in my own mess that i forget to do those things for you! Do stand firm in HIS word and hold on to HIS promises and know YOU are NEVER forgotten!!Myself and my family will forever be changed because of you and Mike and no matter where life takes us we WILL NOT forget that! "The Lord is faithful to all His promises&loving towards all He has made." You are such an inspiration to me & I know to so many others too. Just hold on & take comfort in your heavenly "Daddy" He will get the snakes out of your boat!! Good memories!! Love YOU BIG!! Becky
Mike and Lori, I (Kay Perkins) am trying to get Ms. Kaye set up using my password. I hope this works and for what it is worth, we all miss ya'll and are so proud of you doing God's work so far away. Please take care and know that we all love and miss you.
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