Teaching Point: Making Room for Jesus

Imagine it: Mary – fully pregnant – traveling on a donkey to her husband’s ancestral hometown. Why go to Bethlehem? It was a political decree to return to the family’s home to be counted – a census. Not too different from the census our own government makes today, but nowadays we can stay in the home we own! Back in the days of Jesus, they had to return to their ancestral home. Joseph was a descendant of King David, as was Mary, so they had to travel back to Bethlehem to be counted for the census. God used this royal decree to fulfill the prophecy written in Micah 5:2, “But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” When the three wise men came to King Herod, this was the verse the scribes recited to King Herod to substantiate what the wise men were saying.

From what I've read, the houses in Bethlehem are built on the slope of a limestone ridge. Many of these have a cave-like stable hollowed out in the limestone rock under the house. And…the rest of the story is familiar to us all: Joseph and Mary try to find a place to stay but there literally is “no room” for them anywhere, so they settle on a humble cave, where the homeowner’s animals were kept, to sleep and ultimately to give birth to the Savior of the world. What can we learn from this?

1. No person is too lowly or too “dirty” with sin for Jesus to come to. No matter how dark a persons’ past or how cold and unfeeling his heart is, Jesus will come into his heart, forgiving and cleansing him of all sin.

2. No matter how impossible our situation may be and no matter how unlikely we think it is for Jesus to show up, He will come to us and help IF we make room for Him.

I’ll be praying for each of you this week as you, like myself, busy yourself with the activities of Christmas: the shopping and wrapping; the school programs and church responsibilities; the stress of money, or expectations, or relationships. It’s all so “busy” and "crowded" and we sometimes don’t have room for Jesus, or worse don’t make room for Him. Allow Jesus to enter into all your Christmas activities this week and celebrate His birth with overflowing Joy that God is with us! Jesus is Emmanuel – literally “God with us”.

Teaching Point: Day - or maybe a week! - of Rest

This Sunday’s teaching: Genesis 2:1-3 (quote from a commentary): “When the Lord looked upon the completion of His creative work, He was moved with an emotion of deep delight and personal satisfaction. The phrase ‘it was very good’, Genesis 1:31, might be translated ‘completely perfect’. Everything in the universe from the smallest blade of grass to the largest star brought intense joy to His heart. The cosmos was harmonious and perfect with His beauty clothed upon it. The meaning of this passage is that God did rest from His work of creation; for the present He will refrain from creating anything new.”

I will be traveling to NW Indiana with my hubby & boys this weekend, visiting and celebrating Thanksgiving with my extended family. We leave Wednesday morning around 4 a.m. and will return Sunday evening. This is the first Sunday I’ve missed since early June and I confess it’s not easy for me to be gone. But it’s time I take a few days of rest from the work here so I can be renewed and refreshed upon returning. A day of rest is so important in the life of the believer.

I believe that as the Good Lord looks down upon you, His creation, He smiles and says, “Yes, it is very good!” Everything God creates is good and brings intense joy to He heart. He worked and worked and worked, for 6 days straight, then took a “day off” to enjoy all the beauty of His creation. Yes, it was completely perfect when He created it, and we are a far cry from being completely perfect today, but I thank God for His Gracious Son, Jesus Christ, who IS completely perfect, yet died with the weight of the world’s sin, my sin, upon Himself. The Bible teaches us that the Lord Jesus intercedes right now for us, an unholy people, to a Holy, Just, and Forgiving God.

I’ll be praying for each of you [my teachers & leaders] this week and especially Sunday morning, but I know God holds you all in the palm of His hand to care for you, love on you, and satisfy your every need. These children that come Sunday morning belong to Him…we’ve been entrusted with their care for just a few short hours (although it feels like a looooong morning!) each Sunday. Please don’t ever underestimate the difference you are making in the lives of these kids! I thank God for you, your supportive families, and the wonderful service you provide week after week, month after month.

Teaching Point: A Prepared Place

Genesis 2:8 says that God planted a garden in Eden. God created a beautiful park-like environment and there He put the man and woman he had formed. Lots of trees of varying types grew. Trees beautiful to the eye; trees with pleasing fruit to eat. Rivers ran through this garden so you can imagine the place being green, lush, rich, and vibrant! Vs. 15 says, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” God created the garden and put Adam in the garden, and Adam had a job to do…to work it and take care of it. In the Hebrew, this reads “to cultivate and care for it.” God is very specific in man’s location. You see, God purposefully places people where they will grow. Adam’s environment was planned and planted by the Lord…and so is yours!

Be blessed this week, my dear friends! God has created you in His own image and has placed you exactly where He wants you to be! God has a purpose for placing you here and now. What work has God given you to do in your home, church, community, and world? Take care of and cultivate the environment God has placed you in – with your husband, children, family, church, and community.

Before Jesus left this earth, he spoke to his followers these words: I am going to prepare a place for you. You cannot come now, but you will follow later. Jesus is now in heaven, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and He has prepared a place for those who love Him and believe that He is God's one and only begotton Son! Just the like the Garden of Eden that was prepared for Adam and Eve, heaven has now been prepared for us.

“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” Psalm 8

Semi-Homemade Cookie Sandwiches

Here's my version of a semi-homemade dessert:

1 package of Keebler Fudge Stripe cookies
1 jar of creamy peanut butter

Take two cookies. Spread peanut butter on one, top with the other to make a fudge stripe cookie sandwich, and eat.

Delicious!

As close as my own breath...

I heard a sister-in-the-Lord say once long ago: she prayed that God would be as close to her as her own breath. I've not forgotton these words over the years, as I wish that for myself - that God would be as close to me as my own breath...that I would FEEL Him and be aware of Him as I am my own breath!

I'm always a bit concientious about my breath. I keep peppermint gum nearby to cover the coffee breath that comes late in the morning. Who doesn't? The check-out lanes at any store are filled with all sorts of gum and mints to cover bad breath. Even Starbucks sells a breath-freshening mint. It's a part of life! In fact, I realized we've become so preoccupied with our breath when a friend offered me a mint one day. I paused, covered my mouth and said, "Do I need it?" She replied, "It's a mint, not a hint." Ok. Got it.

As I prepared for Sunday's teaching this week, I was again reminded of just how intimate breath is. This Sunday as the teacher's open God's Word and teach the children, the kids will learn that God breathed His own breath through the nostrils of Adam and brought him to life. Adam was just a life-less shape formed from the dust and mud of the ground, UNTIL God breathed life into Adam by breathing into Adams nostrils (Genesis 2:7). Using a Strong's Biblical dictionary, this verse can actually be read: "and Jehovah Elohim molded, as a potter, a human being from the powdered dust of the soil and puffed/inflated into his nose the puff or wind/vital breath of fresh, strong life and ruddy human being became a fresh, alive breathing creature." Wow! God's breath was so close to Adam it filled Adam's lungs and brought him to life. THAT's pretty close! It teaches me that only God's breath can bring to life those things that are life-less!

Read Ezekiel 37. Verse 5 says, "Thus says the LORD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live." And they did!

Jesus breathed. John 20:22, "And saying this, He breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit is given by God and through the Bible has been called by many names: Counselor, Living Water, and many more. To me, here in this passage, I see the Holy Spirit as being, or coming from, the Lord Jesus. He breathed on His disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." Now, the Holy Spirit didn't actually came into the disciples until Acts 2, but this act by the Lord Jesus Christ in John 20 shows me that God's breath equals the Holy Spirit. God's breath brought life to Adam. God's breath brought life to the dead, dry bones in Ezekiel. And God's breath brings life today, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Joyce Meyer says, "You may feel as if your life is no better than the dead, dry bones described by the prophet in Ezekiel 37:1-4. Your circumstances may be so dead that they stink. Your hope may seem lost, but God has a way out. As this passage continues, the prophet does as God instructs, and he sees God totally revive and bring breath and spirit back into what once were dead, dry bones (37:5-10). The same can happen to you. God can revive things that have been dry, brittle, and dead in your life."

As I am aware of my own breath, I pray that I also will be aware of God's breath - the Holy Spirit living within me. As I breathe each and every day, I pray that God will use me to be a source of life and encouragement to others who are hurting; to those who feel like the walking dead; to those who just are too tired, too weary, and too burdened by the trials and temptations of the world. May we all feel God's closeness, His breath, as close as our own breath.

"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!" Psalm 150:6

Happy Birthday, #91!

Dear Grandpa:

I wish you a happy 91st birthday today - Saturday, November 8th!

Born in Joliet, Illinois in 1917. Who was president back in 1917? Were you born at home? Who was there to help take care of you and your mother, Great Grandma Buehler? How old were you when your parents divorced? Tell me the story again of the time when you were a hard working 8-year old, taking a bucket of water to the workers building a high bridge, tripping and falling? Somehow, praise God, you caught yourself on the side of the bridge before spiraling to the bottom of the pit where death awaited.

I see you in this picture, ducking so your photo won't be taken. That's not like you. You've never hidden from the camera. In fact, you've always been very photogenic, especially when Grandma was standing next to you. I actually have many pictures of you, but this one is the only one I could find on my laptop. Aunt Diane and Isaac are very handsome behind you, and Uncle Jack is busy at the grill. This familiar backyard in Crown Point, Indiana is full of green trees, geranium flowers, and many Buehler family members.

I have many fond thoughts of you and your home, Grandpa. As a child living in central Indiana with my family, I loved visiting you and Grandma, falling asleep as we travelled and waking up to see the telephone lines above the train tracks along Highway 231. That's when I knew we were almost there! I always cried when it was time to leave, but Grandma would give me a little bag of candy and I'd stop crying. Funny - chocolate still comforts me today when I'm sad. I loved the big back yard with all the tall trees. Loved walking through the tall grass and wild Black-eyed Susans, down the long path, to the pond where my dad would tell me stories of riding his horse, or ice skating on the frozen pond in the winter. I got stung in the eye by a bee when Tim and I and Brian (from next door) were messing around on the side of the garage too close to a bee hive. But the bees next door offered delicious honey for our toast, and honey candy for our sweet tooth. It was this same garage that burned down from lightening, taking the life of our station wagon, your truck, and the precious pet, Dutchess.

I fondly remember watching television at your home in the evenings. You'd finish your meal with a familiar dessert: jello topped with a little milk. Before letting me turn on the TV to watch the Donny & Marie Show, you'd make me have a bite of your jello & milk. Never been one of my favorites. But then you'd shower me with compliments telling me I was more beautiful than Marie Osmond, and I would grow up to be more successful than her. Although I was in a difficult transition at that time of going through puberty and losing my mother to cancer, you were the one who saw through the present and into the future. I haven't forgotten your encouragement!

You were so in love with Grandma and weren't shy to show it. What a wonderful example of love that endures. You gave Grandma a kiss when you woke up...when you left for work...when you came home...when you went to the store to buy some milk...when you got out of your leather recliner for any reason, you planted a kiss on Grandma and never complained about kissing those big lips with the Mary Kay orange lipstick.

You love oreos and milk; pot roast and potatoes; leftover chili and turkey salad; spaghetti and meatballs; late night popcorn and pepsi. You mastered the art of having heated political conversations then agreeing to disagree and parting as friends. You have always been financially generous, even paying for part of my wedding in 1987 when Greg and I didn't have any money.

One tradition we carry through today is playing games with our kids and extended family. When staying with you, I loved searching through the game closet and finding a familiar game we could all play together, sometimes staying up till midnight to finish the game. No television or electronics of any kind - just food, fun, family, and fellowship.

Coming to stay at your home as an adult with my own family has always been such a pleasant and comforting reminder of everything good. You're home has been the one place I could come home to where there was no strife, anger, or ugliness. Although the loss of Grandma still threatens me when I come through the door, I savor the familiar smells and sounds of your home that remind me of many precious memories!

Happy 91st Birthday, Grandpa! I love you! See you in a couple weeks for Thanksgiving!

November 4 - Election Day

I read an appropriate quote in my Barbara Johnson daily calendar today: "Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday - but not nearly enough."

We have all been affected in some way over the past two years as we prepared for this 2008 Presidential election. We've all had conversations with our families, spouses, and dear friends. We have forwarded YouTube videos, cartoons, and letters from leaders we respect. We've seen the television commercials, watched news coverage, and maybe even some of us have had heated discussions with the other side as we passionately express why we will vote for the man we believe will be the best leader for America over the next four years.

We've worried about what will happen today - Election Day. But does that worry in any way help the results of this election?

God's Word says,

Psalm 75:6-7, "No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another."

This Election night, many of us will celebrate. Many others will be sullen and downcast. Us? We're having a party for five: grilled steaks, pasta with a mushroom and gorgonzola sauce, romaine salad, and apple pie for dessert. I've cast my vote already, as has Greg. Whatever happens tonight will be what God has allowed to happen. I'm not worried; I trust in God and God alone for my future and my family's future, no matter which candidate will be celebrating.

We live in a great country where this day, November 4, is a celebrated freedom we have been privileged to participate in for greater than 200 years. May God continue to bless these United States of America!

We've all said it: "I'm so tired!"

So the expression goes. We're all familiar with it; we've all used it!

I arrived at church yesterday afternoon to finish getting materials ready for Sunday morning and then attend the evening worship service. I asked a co-worker how she was doing and she responded with a variation of "I'm so tired!". I encouraged her and then moved on about my business not thinking of it again.

This morning I was back at the church getting ready for the crazy morning, and I heard another co-worker ask this same person how she was and she again responded with the same variation of, "I'm so tired!" Hmmmm.

There have been many responses I have wanted to respond with when asked, "How are you?". Here are just a few:

"I feel like crap!"
"I'm frustrated that more people don't volunteer!"
"I have severe cramps and hurt in this entire general area."
"I'm emotionally drained!"
"How can you ask me that when you're walking away?"
"Do you always wear your hair like that?"
"I'm worried about my son."
"I don't want to talk about it!"

but instead...I smile and then usually respond with a variation of: "Doing well!" Yes, it may be stretching the truth a bit at that moment, but will it make any difference if I tell them I ache, or I am sad, or I'm tired and really didn't want to get out of bed this morning??

Below are a few Bible verses that I desperately need to memorize (again) and repeat about every 20 seconds throughout the day:

"Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch at the door of my lips." (Psalms 141:3)
and
"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good report, if there is any virtue, and if any praise, think on these things." (Philippians 4:8)

Maybe the next time I'm asked, "How are you?", and I'm tempted to reply in the same way as my tired coworker, I'll instead reply like Greg's Uncle Tom:

"Thankful!"; "Forgiven!"; "Outstanding!"; "Better than I deserve!" ...ESPECIALLY when I'm so tired!

Praying for a "D"

We really aren't asking for much...just a passing "D" grade on Lewis' report card. He really cannot afford anything less than a "D" or he runs the risk of not graduating next May, the end of his senior year.

It's been a very long 12 years in school for Greg, me, and our oldest son. Classroom settings are uncomfortable and boring for many children, especially boys - so during the school year, at semester's end, report cards have caused a lot of friction, lectures, meetings with teachers, but also words of encouragement to try harder.

Grades are all these kids are measured on; and not everyone is cut out for the typical school schedule with long hours in chairs and multiple-choice test questions.

I believe Lewis will one day be a very accomplished hard-working adult, but for now we're just pray for a "D"!

I HATE SPIDERS!

I sent my husband a text message today even while I knew he was in staff meeting: "I admit it: I ABSOLUTELY HATE SPIDERS!"

Yes, I know this confession is not an emergency 911 call for many of you, causing you to stop, drop, and roll, but for those who don't know me very well, here's the news flash: I am absolutely, confidently, and certainly reliably freaked out over SPIDERS - not the tiny ones, but the big fat fast wolf spiders!

I've not always been this way. When the boys were young and watching me ever so closely, I was cool about spiders and would gulp down my hesitency just to make a good impression on the boys. I'd kill the darn ugly thing without them ever knowing my inner caution, but now that they're older and I can simply call for any of them to come to my rescue, I hardly ever kill a spider! There always seems to be someone available to rescue me!

Well...not today. Before getting showered and dressed for the day today, I ventured down to the basement to make sure the sump pump was working properly after all the rain we've had over the past two days. I bent over, touched the tip of the plunger that rises and then causes a trigger to empty the sump, but the tip of this lever suddenly moved, startling me. It was a small wolf spider trying to get out of my way, and I screamed! I decided to just let the sump pump do it's thing, turned around to exit the small unfinished part of our basement, and there was another spider, a bit larger than the first. Startled, I screamed again. Then - the monster of them all - a ginormous wolf spider right near the door where the baseboard meets the wall. It was huge! I screamed yet again, performed a little temper-tantrum, tried to think of a way to claw through the wall board to the room next door so I didn't have to get so close to the darn ugly thing near the door, then called for the dog who likes to bite and kill the spiders. Jacki-wacki didn't see the stupid arachnid despite all my pointing ("No, not my finger...Over there, dog!"), so I ran through the door. It definitely was less painless to run through the open door then to stand there watching the gross thing and yelling at the dog to turn around and sniff higher (as if she understand English!!!) AGH! I wasn't wearing shoes to stomp on any of the spiders. I was alone so there was no boy to help me kill 'em.

Once safely back upstairs, I wrote Greg the confession over a text message and reminded myself that the pest control sprayer was coming later in the week.

When Cameron, my 15-year old, got home from school, I bribed him with money to go back down to the basement to find any and all spiders and kill them ($.10 per spider). He and my nearly 13-year old son, Isaac, did just that. I think I talked my way out of paying him money by agreeing to make his favorite dessert. Haven't heard what that dessert will be but it's gonna be extra sweet for this precious boy who isn't afraid of spiders, and loves to protect his momma.

BTW - after I encouraged the boys to move all the furniture in the basement to make sure no spiders were lurking underneath, waiting to come out when we're down there watching movies, he did find a small, dead brown recluse. YIKES!

I don't use the word hate very often...but I definitely, absolutely, confidentally HATE SPIDERS!

Blast from My Past

Wow! Who would have thought!?!

Greg went to the Wichita airport last Saturday night to meet and greet Team #1 as they arrived from Uganda, Africa after a 2-week long missions trip. As he was leaving, he turned around when he heard his name called. There, calling his name, was Amy Murrey (pictured with me on the right).

Amy and her family were stationed in Stuttgart, Germany with the Air Force when Greg and I and boys were living on the Germany economy as American ex-pats from August 1997-February 1998. We met Amy and her wonderful family at the only English-speaking church in the area. She became my instant friend. She became my link to speaking English, eating poptarts and Kraft macaroni & cheese (military commissary), watching Young and the Restless, and playing as well as shopping with friends. They were and continue to be wonderful people!

Amy and her family relocated to Memphis, TN 9 years ago and have lived there ever since. Amy and her son, Joseph, were on the same flight from Memphis to Wichita, KS with our Team #1 just returning from Uganda, having had a layover in Memphis. As Greg greeted and meeted the team, Amy saw Greg and made contact.

Greg called me as he went to get the car and said, "You're NOT going to believe who I just saw!" (How do you answer that!!!!) When he said, "Amy Murrey", my mind began to turn and move through the past and quickly remembered the face with the name with true amazement. It has been 10.5 years since we embraced and hugged goodbye, yet one does not forget the face nor the person. Amy became my best friend - my sister in Christ - when we lived 5000 miles away from everything familiar. Amy was a gift from the Lord to me when I grieved for everything American.

After staying up late with Amy and her son in our home, here in Wichita, Kansas, last Saturday night, and another day together on Sunday, it truly was a blast from my past. The voices are the same. The laughter is the same. Our values and politics are the same. All that shows that has changed are more wrinkles around the eyes, gray hairs on our heads (just me...Amy looks just as young!), and the children being taller and smarter than we are!

God is just SO good to arrange such a supernatural reunion. To open our eyes and ears to see and hear the blessing he wants to give us. I thank Him so much for my friend, Amy, whom I've not seen for 10.5 years. (Read back through my posting on going to Paris...Amy and her family took care of Lewis while we were away.) Never did we think God would arrange a reunion in a small airport in the middle of the United States on a late Saturday night.

Simple Blessings

A shipment of Colorado peaches came into the church not too long ago. Someone had ordered them and couldn't pay for them, or maybe they changed their minds. I don't know the story. What I do know: there were some peaches from Colorado that needed to be bought, taken home, and eaten.

I REALLY wanted to buy some of these AMAZING peaches, but really didn't want to spend any money. They're not cheap. So I didn't respond. Even my husband was pleased that I didn't buy any. Local peaches are much cheaper, but not nearly as juicy and delicious! I would settle for what we had.

A couple nights ago as I was leaving church, my friend Debbie had a tray of these peaches. She walked by me and I secretely began drooling over them. I stopped, gasped for breath, and said, "Peach Pie!". It was a reminder to an event that happened about a year ago when we came to visit the church. I brought a peach pie made from Colorado peaches to Wichita to share with Debbie and her family. Yes - it made the long trip on the interstate even with me constantly whining to my family - "Watch out for the pie!".

Debbie hadn't forgotten about that pie from last year, so she turned over to me the complete tray of peaches and encouraged me to make a peach pie. Debbie had a lot on her plate and the last thing she needed to do was take time to prepare the peaches for pie. I had the time to clean up and prepare the peaches, so the exchange was made and I walked out of the church with a tray of large, colorful, juicy Colorado peaches.

I made the pie the next morning and took it to work to share with Debbie. I froze 8 cups of prepared peach slices for Debbie to use in the future. And we got to enjoy a couple peaches for breakfast.

God is so good to me to allow me to still have some peaches after not paying for them. Debbie got her peach pie, with another potential pie in the freezer, and she didn't have to take the time to prepare the peaches. We all got what we wanted.

The point is I knew I wasn't supposed to spend the money, even though I really wanted to. God blessed me and gave me my heart's desire to have just a few of those yummy peaches, and I was able to help a busy friend in the process. God is just so good to us! When we give up what we want God offers us simple blessings in exchange.

Thank you, God!

Looking Back

Reading about Abraham in the Old Testament is a favorite story for me. I love Abraham and his amazing, incredible faith in what God would do for him and his family. Here God calls him out of his homeland and tells Abraham to go to a new, foreign land he'd never been to or seen before. Abraham had no map, but He had God.

I've caught myself twice in the last 24 hours saying something about my "homeland" (Colorado). As I've said before, when we tossed around the idea of moving to Wichita, Kansas, I had to look on a map just to see where Wichita was! I had no idea where this new land was that God was calling me to. I had lived in Colorado 12.5 years and it had definitely become my "home"land.

Yesterday I jokingly confessed to my friends that I still had my Colorado driver's license, just in case I was called back home. Today, I told a friend that I still have my cell phone number as a Fort Collins, CO number (970 area code) because it's the one thing that still helps me feel connected to Colorado.

Can you imagine Abraham living in Canaan, the land God had called him to, the Promised Land, yet he still sighs, looking back towards the land of Ur, wondering what life would have been like "back home"? Ludicrous! I believe Abraham would have been dishonoring to God by not appreciating the present. What makes Abraham's testimony so strong is that he DID NOT look back!

I feel I am dishonoring God by looking back at what we left behind. I sincerely need to stop looking behind, over my shoulder at what I've left behind and keep my eyes on the horizon -the future! (Remember the story of Lot's wife who looked at what lied behind her? ... sure don't want that same outcome!)

God is going to do great things here in Wichita. I only need to thank Him for where I am and appreciate where He's going to take me next. With God, it's got to be a more promising future than the wonderful past I've left behind.

My Boy, Lewis - What I Want

All three of them are born from Greg and I, yet they are all so different.

Lewis - he has been texting me from school this morning.

"Can u call the school code tell them to tell ms zipfel that i can watch the movie?" (don't know what "code" means...)

I answer, "What movie?" (he obviously forgot to have me sign a permission slip....)

Lewis: "O the movie is kite runner" (so I check online to see what this movie is about...)

I call the school and leave a phone message for Ms. Zipfel. I write Lewis to tell him I took care of it.

Lewis: "Thanks mom love u!"

I write him back to remind him to go see his guidance counselor about a class he's supposed to be taking to graduate on time in May.

Lewis: "Ok o i got my school pictures!" (Do you think he'll remember to go see Mr. Burman, the school counselor?)

Lewis: "Ill show u when i get home luv v" (I think he means "u").

Lewis is a 17-year old sweetie. Has a great smile after getting those braces off. He's not on any organized sports team, but he's everybody's 1st pick on the open field. He is intently interested in geography, history, and now politics. He is NOT interested in homework, cleaning up after himself, and eating healthfully.

Back in kindergarten, Ms. Lauer said, "Lewis marches to the beat of a different drummer." How true. Spoken like a prophet. I know that God has a great plan for Lewis, and Lewis will do well in whatever area he decides to focus on. But I wonder if we, Greg and I, have created an environment where he won't want to leave? Have we made living at home so comfortable that he won't try life on his own? When I was his age I hated being at home! Lewis hardly leaves, unless it's for school or work.

The move to Wichita was a hard one for Lewis especially last year. He left behind quite a few (hundred) friends, as Greg and I did as well. I wonder if Lewis might still be trying to "find" himself here - which social circles he belongs and is accepted in, how far to venture in a city four times the size of the one we left, etc.

As a mother, I want what's best for Lewis. But also - I want Lewis to want what's best for Lewis. I want Lewis surrounded by friends that bring out the best in him. I want Lewis to ...

But it's not always about what I want... It's about what God wants and how Lewis, and his mother, will submit. The Bible tells me that God has great plans for Lewis; plans to prosper him, not to harm him (Jer. 29:11). The Bible says no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him (1 Cor 2:9). The Bible tells me that Lewis is wonderfully made...each day Lewis lives has been determined by God Himself in advance (Psalm 139). The Bible tells me that God has a job description for Lewis to do good things (Eph. 2:10).

I believe Lewis will always march to the beat of a different drummer, to a sound different and maybe unfamiliar to those around him. And I hope his dad and I will be right there on the sides of the parade encouraging him and spurring him on to be the best he can be, whether he's living at home or not. That's truly what I want...

The Annoying Head-on-a-Wall

The family dog - our sweet precious Jacki-Wacky. Seriously she is bored nearly all the time so she spins to catch her tail. She barks. She growls. She whines. She absolutely LOVES her kennel where she spends her time when home alone, and when we've all gone to bed. There is one thing, however, that drives her insane: Critters. Even BIG critters!

We have a deer head on the wall in Cameron's bedroom. It was killed by a hunter-friend of ours many years ago. The meat long ago ingested and digested. Because this friend has MANY trophy heads and body mounts, this one particular mounted head didn't make it into the trophy room so it was laid on the floor of their basement home office. While working for these friends in their home office years ago, I constantly and consistently tripped over this deer head over and over. One day, around Cameron's 13th year birthday, I asked my friend Randy if Cameron could put this head on the wall of his bedroom, to give it a proper home. Randy agreed as he loves all three of my boys (they call Randy "Uncle Fester"). The deer head was promoted then from Uncle Fester's basement office floor to Cameron's newly painted bedroom wall. The precious deer head moved with us to Wichita as well last year and is still proudly mounted in Cameron's bedroom.

We've had the deer head for 2.5 years now...and the dog is still bothered by it. Just moments ago, I was again startled by a familiar sound: I'm sitting in the main floor hearth room and above me I begin to hear growling, snarling, barking, and spinning sounds. You see, Jacki looked up and "found" this head AGAIN! She has seen it for years, but something stirs within her occasionally and she must go into Cameron's bedroom on the 2nd floor and begin yelling at this dead head for no apparant reason. It just bothers her.

I'm home alone. I didn't make any deer animal sounds (that would be interesting). There is no smell. So why did she go up there just now bothered by and threatening the dead deer head AGAIN!

Maybe dogs aren't too different from humans. There are things in my past that for no reason, enter my mind and cause my blood pressure to rise or my pulse to race or my anger to burn. Why? What was it that triggered my mind and my memory to think or dwell upon something that makes me "spin" in my mind, "bark" at my family, "growl" at those who are only trying to help?

Maybe I'm bored....

Or maybe I just need to get over it! If it's not going to go away, then I better learn to live with it. If it can't be removed, then quit looking at it! If it belongs to someone else, then stop picking it up!

It's fun to look at my neurotic dog, try to diagnose her, and even learn a few lessons from her. As much as I complain about this crafty canine, she is a lovely part of our family. I believe we're all a little neurotic...just like her. Spinning, growling, barking, and snarling at those things in life that aren't real anymore.

Most of the time these things that bother us are better left dead. Let's stop mounting them in places where we remember them, and instead give them a proper burial, never to be seen (or heard from) again.