bread and water

We just got back from a great vacation! I am so thankful and blessed! We have been saying for years that we needed a whole month off in the summer. Being in the ministry is draining in a way that you donʼt understand unless youʼve been there. This was only the second summer we have taken that much time off after 15 years of doing ministry as a married couple. In those early years we didnʼt feel like we needed a break because we were super young and excited and not very busy. As we began to have children we got tired a lot easier and as they got older we got busier. As we moved, traveled, had more children, planted two churches from scratch, and started a Christian school we were really needing a vacation. The church we were at at the time told us we could not take a month off. So we didnʼt. Iʼm thankful the church we are at now allowed us time off. If your Pastor asks for some time off please support him in that. They carry a great burden 24/7 and need time to rest and reflect. ...

Iʼm scared of the waves. I donʼt venture out deep and only like getting my feet wet. But my older boys have been enjoying boogie boarding in the ocean while we are on vacation. Just a little while ago my hubby took our eight month old baby without floats into the ocean and I stood and freaked out as they got hit by two waves. I looked like a crazy lady on the sand waiving my arms and yelling. A younger guy was laughing at something as I turned around (probably me). But our baby wasnʼt scared at all. He wasnʼt crying or afraid. He was safe in his Daddyʼs arms. After our baby sat in the shade with me awhile I walked him back down to the ocean and dipped his feet in the shallow water and he started fussing like he was afraid of the oncoming waves. It hit me that he was afraid that time because his Daddy wasnʼt holding him and he thought I was going to sit him down in the waves all by himself. I quickly picked him up and thought about how we can face storms in our life bravely if we re...

Do your children have your heart? What I mean by that is do you love being with them...leading them, discipling them, loving them? God gave you your children to disciple. If we serve everything else and neglect our children we are failing. Malachi 4:6 says: 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Loving our children doesnʼt always come naturally. If it did God wouldnʼt have put it in the Bible in Titus 2. His Word says: Titus  2:4-5 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. My children havenʼt ALWAYS had my heart fully. There was a time that I was pursuing money and taking things in my own hands instead of trusting Godʼs provision and making sacrifices financially. When money was my...

What do you do when God says no? I donʼt know about you but I donʼt like to be told no. Especially if itʼs something I really want. But recently God has been telling me no about a certain thing...a big thing. I canʼt understand why He is shutting the door in certain ways when it seems to me like it would be a perfect thing to do or to have. Those are the times when I have to trust Him. Have you ever had to trust the Lord for things in your life? We sing about it in church...”Trust and obey for thereʼs no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.” Trusting someone is hard sometimes. But the more you know the person the easier it is to trust. The more youʼve seen that persons character and how they have proven themselves in the past the easier it is to trust them. God has proven Himself faithful in my life. He is faithful and true and He loves me more than anyone else does. He really does know what is best for me even if I donʼt like it in the beginning. The Bible sa...