Let's always have fun!

January of 2007 Bill and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary! It was also Bill's 10th anniversary as pastor of First Baptist Church. Our wonderful congregation and deacons surprised us with a special recognition of this occasion. They gave us a trip to a place of our choosing! We chose Disney World in Orlando because we love the golf courses, spas, shows, and the parks! We had taken the kids there in 2005 and that was the first time Brad and I had ever been. Melissa had been once with my brother Blake and his family. Bill had been once as a college student with his brother Keith. We loved our time there with our kids and stayed off property in 2005. This time, in 2007, just the two of us, we wanted to stay on property and enjoy the perks that go with that (early and late park hours, Disney Dining packages, bus transportation, etc). We found a special at the Saratoga Springs Resort for a week. This resort is right on Lake Buena Vista Golf Course and has it's own first class Spa on site. It is also within walking distance of Downtown Disney. The weather was perfect all week, and in January! We had just called a new minister of Music and a new Youth minister and things were finally settled down, peaceful, and truly "fun again" at the church and in the ministry. We had endured several difficult challenges over several years, very stressful, yet we never doubted God and His purpose throughout the ordeal. The timing was perfect! We were truly ready for a much needed get away to relax, reflect, and recharge. My darling Mom came and stayed at our house to be sure Brad was fed and the house was watched etc. We had an absolutely wonderful, magical, time at Walt Disney World with lots of golf, spa, shows, Disney Dining, Parks, recreational walking, (we love to walk and walk! Seriously!), and just time together. We went to the Disney Vacation Club sales presentation just to get our reward and guess what! We bought in! When Roland Lammers, our sales associate, said to Bill that there were golf and spa perks for members only, we were sold! When we returned home all refreshed and renewed and ready to plan our next trip, Melissa, our tax accountant daughter, looked at our paperwork and Disney Vacation Club points and she said, "this is the smartest thing yall have ever bought!". Now we have to make ourselves take a vacation regularly and we can even treat other family members as well! We took my Mom on one trip along with Melissa's now husband but was fiance at that time. Then we took all Bill's siblings and kids and had a family reunion there! Such fun we had! We had tried to get Bill's father to join us but he felt he just wasn't up to it. His brother, Marty came to Cottonwood, AZ to stay with him so Becky could leave and go to WDW with us all.

We were so glad we took Mom and even did the "behind the seeds" tour with her so she could see all the specifics of the property flower works and gardening. She was diagnosed with Leukemia shortly thereafter and we had to say goodbye to her in November of 2008. Then a bit sooner than we expected Bill's father, who was on dialysis, took a turn for the worse and we had to say goodbye to him that December of 2008. It was strange to both become "orphans" but yet we knew we had a heavenly Father who would sustain us and help us grieve and keep living for Him, even though our earthly parents were all gone now.

We were next able and delighted to take our Education Minister and his wife for a trip just the 4 of us! Then last December before Christmas, and after Melissa's wedding we took a trip there with Melissa and her new husband, his parents and Bill and Brad and me! We got to be there for all the Christmas decorations, shows, and parades! What an amazing blessing God allowed us to add to our list of unmerited but much appreciated and unexpected things!

We look back over the last decade, since we moved here in 1999, and we see how hard and extremely stressful the first 5 or 6 years here were. We can see now, in retrospect that God was at work and all the trials we endured were necessary and a part of His plan to get us to where we are now. I can truly say, it was worth it all and i did not doubt God nor lose my "joy" even in the darkest, toughest moments. God is so good.

Last summer we used our Disney point to spend a week in Sedona, AZ at a golf resort an spa. We made some wonderful new friends, Ken and Ronna Sorenson, from California. We shared a jeep when we did the "Pink Jeep" sunset tour there in the beautiful red rocks. We got to spend time with Becky, Bill's baby sister, and her family. We had planned to have time with Irv, Bill's dad too, but the Lord had already taken him. We decided to keep our plans the same and go anyway. We had the best trip ever! We even got to see the Grand Canyon for the first time for each of us! (Our kids are too grown up and busy with their own lives to join us on all our trips now, but that's ok. We include them whenever they can fit us in! Lol! That is the goal, right, parents? )

Bill and I learned together that we chose to "always have fun", that's what we say alot to each other, but deep down, we each know that really means, we are making a conscious choice to "choose joy" even when in the midst of a tough trial. We can do that, you can do that, God will give you the Grace, Strength, Reassurance, and under girding "joy" that keeps you hanging on until it gets fun again. I promise! He promises this in His word! Isaiah 60: 7 ,"...Everlasting joy will be yours".

Make a choice to always have fun, be joyful, be positive, allow God to work in you and through you and trust Him to bring you through trials you may face. You will have victory and wisdom gained after you endure whatever you may face.

Forgiveness

Have you ever been in a prison of bitterness and/or unforgiveness? Here is what I learned a few years back that helped me get out of that awful mindset and not ever get stuck back there.
Matthew 6:14 says, " If you forgive others for their sins, your Father in heaven will also forgive you for your sins." July 5th, 2006 this was the verse in my daily devotional reading in "Grace for the Moment" by Max Lucado. Max said in that reading that I could choose to chain myself to my hurt ... or I could choose to put away my hurts before they became hates... This started that day by getting my attention on a topic I was struggling with. Then that very night at Church Choir practice our director of Music shared a devotion that was on his heart. He quoted Colossians 3:13, " Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievance you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Choir members discussed this briefly and one of my close friends shared that she heard that carrying around unforgiveness was like drinking poison and then hoping that the person you refuse to forgive gets poisoned. I had an aha moment. I realized that was what I was doing.
The next morning I opened my devotion book and guess what the topic was! Yes, "Forgiveness, The Gift that Keeps on Giving"! As I began reading the attached scripture, " As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:12
It went on to say, forgiveness is the act of pardoning another in spite of his or her errors, shortcomings, or wrong actions. God forgives sin. He is a God of grace and pardon who sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to die for all humankind. Christ in His death and resurrection triumphed over sin. To be forgiven is to be identified with Christ in full victory of His Crucifixion and Resurrection. His forgiveness is complete. God promises if you confess He is faithful and just and will forgive your sins.
In the Lord's Prayer, you ask God to "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." though we are commanded to forgive other as we have been forgiven, sometimes we may have trouble moving from intellectual assent into true forgiveness. A friend can let you down, you can be a victim of crime or violence, or someone may betray your trust. It is hard to forgive when you are hurt.
When it is difficult to forgive, we have to come to God and ask for the ability to forgive. He will supernaturally give us what we ask him for in Jesus name and within His will. This kind of forgiveness becomes a healing gift. Forgiveness releases God to work in a situation and transform it. As long as forgiveness is resisted you stay locked in the same situation - one adversary facing another, waiting for someone to acknowledge wrongdoing. Forgiveness is an act of pardon. Forgiveness facilitates reconciliation and transformation turning a negative situation into an opportunity for positive change. Making a choice to forgive, even if the perpetrator doesn't ask for it nor deserve it, can release you from the cycle of anger, bitterness, wrongdoing, even sickness and elevated blood pressure! Forgiveness issued by you can free you from the psychological control you are giving to that other person over you. The other person may not even be aware of how you are feeling and have forgotten and moved on while you are still stewing in your anger. Choosing to forgive is a tremendous step toward breaking the chain of pain and entering into freedom.
Patsy Clairmont, at Women of Faith caught my attention when she said, "Forgiveness is a process and it comes off in layers". Yes! I could relate! When I was struggling through a particularly hurtful time and having to choose to issue forgiveness, it would tend to creep back up and I had to daily reissue that forgiveness. Like Patsy said, it came off in layers, every day it got easier and easier to say out loud again, "I choose to forgive" until one day it didn't creep back up and I was truly past it! Yes, we are human, and yes, we can forgive but we do have a memory, and we can't forget like God does. He is divine and He promises that once He has forgiven us, it is as far from His mind as the east is from the west! Isn't that just amazing! He remembers it no more! Wow! How wonderful! I wish I could do that.
I Corinthians 13:5 says, "Love isn't selfish or quick tempered. It doesn't keep a record of wrongs that others do." Lord, give me that kind of Love!
Matthew 5:7 " Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
That is my prayer, "Lord, give me your love and mercy for others. In my humanness, I cannot love, forgive, or be merciful, only through your gift of these characteristics to me and through me. Instill me with the traits I need to bring glory to you Lord. Without you, I am nothing. "
Things to do:
Go to someone you have offended and ask forgiveness.
Forgive someone you have been holding a grudge against.
Pray a silent prayer for peace, love, and wholeness for our country.
Send a thank you note to someone who helped or forgave you.
Let someone cut ahead of you in the line at the store or in traffic.
Make an appointment and talk to a counselor or your pastor if you are struggling with guilt, anger, and grief caused by the hurtful acts of others.

My cup runneth over!

A blog is where I want to be able to share more specifics on what God is doing in our lives and here in Grand Prairie. I think a blog will let me share even more and hopefully encourage others, make them laugh, and give glory and honor to God as He continues to work in our lives and where we live.

When we lived in Livingston for almost 10 years, I thought we had reached the pinacle of our lives. We had everything and more that we had ever hoped for. We had two wonderful children, a girl and a boy! We had jobs we loved and we had just bought our first house, a house we were very pleased with! Bill had a ministerial staff and their wives that we absolutely treasured and enjoyed! Like the Brad Paisley song, "It Did", we felt life could not get any better, but guess what? It Did!

We moved here to Grand Prairie in June of 1998. We love the DFW Metroplex! The church Bill was called here to pastor is First Baptist Church of Grand Prairie. Of course the transition of moving was rough, more on that later, but the outcome was even better than we ever dreamed! God is so good, all the time!

I hope to start blogging various events in our lives and our kid's lives if they give me their blessings on that ! I also, hope to share what God is teaching me and even hear back from you who wish to share.

Here goes....

I am officially now a blogger!