God works, even when we don't see it.

We recently moved into our new home.  A home, hand-picked by God, where His love and peace abound.  Our first full week here, I noticed an odd smell.  I kept questioning the boys, and others who would visit, but I seemed to be the only one who noticed.  So, I chalked it up to being simply the smell of a new home, a different environment.

Last Thursday, a friend of the family came to visit, and said that he smelled gas outside by the driveway.  When he came further into the home, he reported smelling it even more, and suggested we contact the gas company.  So, I finished making a classroom cookie tray with Matthew (my youngest), while Stephen (the teenager) pulled-out the last batch so I could retire to bed.  I was simply exhausted from the move, and had no idea of the jeopardy our lives were in, until later the following day.

As it turns out, we had a faulty riser (which is located outside the home, before your gas meter).  This riser was allowing natural gas to flow out, around the home, to the opposite side, and was so strong that it infiltrated the entire house.  When the gas company arrived, Stephen was there to let them in for their investigation.  Stephen said that the man found the leak outside, and walked casually as he prepared to enter our home (not expecting a problem inside due to the location of the gas leak).  To their surprise, the gas detection meter began making all sorts of noises as soon as it crossed the plain of our front door.  The man directed Stephen to back away from the home, our gas was shut off immediately, and our house ventilated. 

No one can explain why we survived this experience.  Four homes in Mansfield have exploded in the last month, due to the very problem we faced.  The gas level alone, should have killed us in our sleep.  Yet, even our cat survived unharmed.  As it turns out, Stephen did remove that last batch of cookies...but forgot to turn off the oven.  It had been burning all night, as well.  With lights going on and off, a garage door opening and closing, candles being lit, and an oven on...all while excessive amounts of natural gas were flowing, there is not one reason we should be alive - not one except Jerimiah 29:11 (God had a better plan for us - to give us a future)!

Please, join me in thanking the Lord for all of the provisions He afforded our family.  We don't deserve to be spared anything, we are nothing without Him.  Yet, He continues to provide, constantly demonstrating His love toward us.  I am humbled, still shaking my head in disbelief, as I wonder:  How much provision does God afford each of us every day, in ways that we neither know about or see?  God kept my family healthy, and alive, for an entire week of inhaling natural gas.  Not to mention that He saved our home, and prevented the explosion that others have have experienced these past few weeks.  Please keep this area in your prayers, as another home exploded just a couple of days after our leak was found. 

All I can do is thank Him.  (Still shaking my head.)  My God spared my children, when I was too ignorant to protect them.  This is one of the most humbling experiences I've ever embraced.  As a mother, I should have acted sooner.  In ignorance, I chose to keep us in this house, and make that call "tomorrow".  How do you thank God, for the life of your child?  For the freedom that comes with not having their death on your hands.  There are no words for this right now.  None except:  In my weakness (ignorance), He is strong (provision).  His grace is sufficient for me.  (Tears)

Scientific Evidence of Healing - NASA Works with Local Doctor

Same-Sex Partnerships...Now marriages?

OK, I have to ask the question...the one I'm likely to regret, but seek the honest answer to regardless.  "Why do same-sex partners want to carry the 'married' label?"  Someone, please tell me this.

Marriage was created and defined by God.  The prerequisites, in part, being that you have a man and a woman, uniting themselves as one.  Same-sex partnerships do not meet God's criteria for "marriage".  It's like an atheist demanding the "Christian" label.  A Christian, by definition, is one who follows Christ.  If you don't meet that part of the criteria, you're out of the classification as a whole.  It's not unfair.  It's not cruel, nor unjust.  You (under the above scenario) are not a Christian.  Plain and simple.

So why do people insist that we label them something they aren't?  I just don't get it.  If anyone wants to fight against discrimination, go for it.  Want to fight for equal benefits? Go for that, too.  Not that those causes wouldn't have their own string of debates, but don't mislabel yourself while you do it.  I'm sorry.  If you are not a man and a woman, you aren't married.  Not by my definition, but by God's. 

If you don't like the definition you've been given, then why fight for that label?  Continue under the label of a civil union.  It's accurate.

OK - Tons of Posts, and all worth of sharing.

If you want insight, visit revelife's site.  This one has a lot to say, and everything worth saying.  Great thinker.  Simple expressions (something I have yet to learn...he he he, giggle and snicker).  And valuable information that you;ll actually enjoy getting. 

I'll get you started with this link...the rest is up to you.

I'm Chiming in With My Viewpoint on Sarah Palin's Daughter | revelife's Revelife Site - Weblog
Powered by ShareThis

Does God exist? And can you prove it?

My anwer is:  Yes, God does exist, but I won't prove it, He will. 

What you'll find here depends on what you're looking for.  Do you want truth, or mere debate?  Intellect, or insight?  The question I have for any who want proof of God's existence is this:  "Why do you ask humans, to convince you of God?  Are you willing to ask God, Himself, to deliver the proof you need?" 

Many of us humans have missed God's point, self included.  The point being:  God loves.  It's not about what we've done, or what others have done to us.  It's not about the weather patterns, Biblical evidences, nor other human interpretations of either.  While all exist, they are no more than details in a much larger picture.  Like a blade of grass, in the portrait of a scenic lake:  It's not meant to be the focal point, but designed only to enhance the image, as a whole. 

Too much detail can be distracting.  Some details of my life were ugly, painful, and seemed to only decorate my scene with gloom.  Being an intellectual, I studied those details.  I focused on the "blades of grass" by the lake side, only to find myself further distracted by "the dirt" in which they grew.  The more I focused, the more frustrated I became.  Things your typical passerby didn't notice troubled me daily.  I fought to erase them.  I struggled against them.  I tried to cover them.  All of my efforts so intense, that I was missing the artwork of the portrait, as a whole.

Then, one day, I saw a remarkable masterpiece painted before me.  There, beyond blades of grass and above that simple lake, was a sun - shining in brilliance through the tree tops.  God's love beamed down, penetrating every obstacle my mind would hold, until rays of light danced upon my watery surface.  As beams found their way down, each and every ripple they touched began to glisten - like diamonds thrown atop a sheet of glass.  Even blades of grass sprakled, as rays of light reflected from newly fallen dew.  God's love had caused every detail of my scene to have new meaning, greater significance, and more beauty than the object alone.  It was then that I realized:  The details that had once troubled me were part of a beautiful picture - one I never saw in the making.

I am not saying that painful memories and wounded hearts are simply "trivial" details.  Nor are weather patterns and Biblical evidences.  They are all important, and the effects they have are real.  I am saying, don't focus on them too long.  Don't let one detail, or even a collection of details, keep you from seeing God's portrait for life, nor the love He uses to paint with.  God doesn't start a life's portrait, only to stop after a few blades of grass on a mound of dirt.  He has more...more details to add.  Details that convert any life into part of a remarkable masterpiece.  He's experienced (He's been doing this for years).  Believe me:  God's not here to scribble on your artwork.  And I think we'd all fare better to stop scribbling on His. (Wink, and smile.) 

Why not take a moment, and ponder the portrait in your life.  What's missing?  What's needed?  What details have distracted you?  Where does God's light need to shine?  What doesn't make sense?  What do you need to be freed from?  Whether you need a few flowers, or an entirely new scene, God is the source of it all.  He has the answers you seek.  He has the solution to the problem you can't solve.  He has the strength you need to get through another day.  But more than anything, He has love to offer you.  Unconditional, un-ending love.  Love paints a precious portrait, my friends.  It's where all of the "Happily Ever After's" begin.

I'm not here to preach at anyone.  I'm here because I know the truth.  I've lived it.  I've made bad choices, faced bad consequences, and hurt those I love the most.  (Yes, I've spent my own far share of time scribbling on God's handiwork.)  I saw people 'like me', and felt sorry for the life they gave up to be "Christians".  LOL.  Now, I see people who live like I used to, and feel sorry for all that they're missing.  This life I lead isn't some sentence of servitude.  It's real, it's joyful, and full of hope.  Nothing in this world can fill your life the way God's love does.  No bar scene is cooler.  No sex is greater.  No high can closely compare.  You won't know it, until you've lived it.  All I can do is tell you:  I've been on both sides of this fence, and I miss nothing.  I have everything I need, and more.  I love my life, and I am thankful to the God who offers it to me.

So, how does this "prove" God's existance?  By itself, it does nothing.  The proof is in how it all began.  All I did was ask God to love me and to prove His existence to me, personally.  I got out a Bible, and I read.  Then, I asked Him for stories of victory - for His words to fill my own life.  I didn't deserve the blessings that God poured out in response to my quest of Him.  Not one of them.  I just have a redeemer who lives, and who loves me enough to prove it.  Like an antique collector at a yard sale - He took what this world had tossed aside as rubbish, He cleaned it up, and He made it worth something...something so great, this world can't afford to buy it back!

If you question the very reality of all I say, I understand.  I used to believe people like me were crazy, too - lunatics, so lost that they'd cling to anything to make themselves feel better.  But I challenge you:  Ask God to prove Himself to you.  Utter the words that your spirit fears to say.  He'll answer, and He will convince you beyond any human exchange.  (I swallowed hard, the first time I found enough nerve to speak to this enormous God - thinking myself insane for hoping He'd speak back...and even more terrified that He actually would.  But, I'm here, and all is well.  So, have no fear.)  Come to know God, I dare you.  He does speak.  It is truth.  And this God loves YOU.  He will prove it.

Are you willing to ask God, for the proof that you need?