"...taught me how to praise my God and still play rock'n'roll..."

Some friends shared this video with us and I thought I'd pass on the humor.



And that video reminded me of this one...



Hope this gives you a good laugh today!

Tragedy.

John Piper has written another powerful blog post on the horrific tragedy of abortion. His description of an 8 week old fetus again broke my heart for the unborn who are being murdered by the thousands each day.

"[An 8 week old fetus] with beating heart, EKG, brain waves,
thumb-sucking,pain sensitivity, finger-grasping,
and genetic humanity..."

That IS a human being; just as much as I am a human being and just as much as you are a human being. You can read Piper's post here. I pray that these words and these deaths break your heart as well.




"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

Your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be."

Psalm 139:13-16

Discipline as the Lord does

"No father chastens always: your Lord hates the rod as much as you do; he only cares to use it for that reason which should make you willing to receive it, namely, that it works your lasting good." Morning and Evening, Spurgeon

My hope and prayer is that I may discipline Aiden as the Lord disciplines us. Each time I discipline Aiden I want it to be with the intention of working his lasting good. And his lasting good is for him to come to know and love Jesus as his Lord and personal Savior. I often fail at this by disciplining out of frustration or anger or impatience. I need to learn to hate the rod (or time outs or whatever form(s) of discipline are used) so that in the times when it is used I am only using it to point him to Christ and the Father's discipline of us.

A bit of humor

Through one of my favorite blogs, 22 words, I discovered that one of Sean's friends has a blog that is absolutely hilarious. You should check it out, www.tendigitlumber.com!

Helpful Mommy Tips

I have recently discovered two VERY useful "Mommy tools" and I thought I would share them with my blog readers.

#1- Printable weekly planners and/or printable meal planners. Sean and I have started writing out a family schedule and being able to print a weekly planner has been great! Just google "printable weekly planners" and you will get a lot of options. Personally, I like this simple one.

#2- Thomas the Tank Engine Series 1984 on YouTube! I don't let Aiden watch videos very often and I don't like the fact that kids videos are 45 minutes long or more. Thankfully, I found the entire TTE series on YouTube. These videos are great because they are only 5-6 minutes long and the older series were written by a Christian. There may be more series of other shows but I've just found this one so far.

If you have any helpful mommy tips of your own, please share!

"I know I got life, matter fact better man, I know I got Christ"

My soul was rocked today in church. The hectic schedule I have had for the last couple of weeks has left my spirit feeling weak and dry. Unfortunately, in all the things to get done, places to go, plans to make I have spent very little time focused on Christ. When Christ is your center and you are not focusing on Him, nothing else goes right. Spiritually I have barely been making it lately. Last night God lead me to my Morning and Evening devotional by Charles Spurgeon and to this week's fighter verse, James 4:7-8b. Those two things greatly encouraged me and I prayed that God would refresh my spirit. As He always does, God answered in a big way. The music today in church was exactly what I needed to hear. Before the first song was finished I could feel my soul drinking once again of the living waters.

But God did not stop there. Lecrae, a Christian rap artist, gave a special performance at our church this morning. He performed his song, "Don't Waste Your Life," which is based off of John Piper's book by the same title. The lyrics of this song brought me to tears. Seeing that God has taken rap music (which so often is full of sinful ideas) and made it his own was amazing. God has truly given Lecrae an incredible gift.

Finally, the sermon was exactly what I needed to hear. A powerful, insightful proclamation of the gospel, true to God's word! (I will put the link up for the sermon sometime Monday, Lord willing.) What an amazing answer to prayer! Thank you, Jesus, thank you!

"Don't Waste Your Life" Lecrae

Single Moms, Pt. 1

I've only attempted one other series on this blog and it did not last very long. In spite of that, I am going to try to do another series. The topic of this series is very close to my heart as I have been a single mom for 2 1/2 years. During this time, God has blessed me abundantly with friends (and strangers) who have been incredible supporters and encouragers. I thought I would put together a series of things that we can do to be a blessing to single mothers and also to help others understand what it is like to be a single mom.

Next Sunday, May 10th, is Mother's Day. Although like most holidays, Mother's Day has become quite commercialized it is still great to have a day to celebrate and appreciate mothers. Especially in families where there are young children, the responsibility for planning the Mother's Day activities tends to be the husband's job. So, in families with a single mom, nothing may be planned for Mother's Day.

This is were we come in. Do something kind, special, etc. for the single moms in your life! Here are some ideas of what you can do:

• Write a card
• Give her a quick phone call
• Invite her and her kids to lunch, dinner, dessert, etc.
  
• Bring a meal
• Arrange to help her kids make her something special
  
• Even something as small as wishing her a "Happy Mother's Day" in church will make a big impression!

Most of these suggestions can also be done throughout the year to encourage single moms.



Disclaimer- I am in no way trying to make someone feel like they have to do these things. The purpose of this post is to give ideas to people who want to reach out to single moms in some way.