Just chillin'

Great family time this weekend...

Invitation

                                           DATE: Today

                                           TIME:  Right Now

                                           LOCATION:  My Heart

                                           WHAT:  Pity Party

So, this morning I woke up and my heart was bidding me into a Pity Party. I don't know why. I mean I have such a great life. A wonderful husband, great kids, a good job. I just completed two separate Bible studies with students, have a great group of moms that I study the Word with and have lots to be thankful for.

But...the invitation was sitting there...on my fridge...glaring at me...

                               RSVP: 1Satan@gloomsday.com

And, I hate to say it...but I confirmed my attendance!

I even called my sister and invited her to be my guest.

"Whoa is me."

"I know right?"

"And can you believe...?"

"I know, I felt the same way yesterday!"

"Uh...."

So, the pity party began. The back and forth of the whoa's in our lives.

And then...then I walked into my office, flipped my devotional calendar and read:

"I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble an gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."

Ephesians 4:1-2

YIKES!

No humility at this party!

No gentleness here!

Patience, love? Not seeing much!

"Um...excuse me host...I am afraid I need to leave your little gathering. I need to go somewhere else. I need to go to the "GET IN THE WORD" Party."

The party of promise.

The party of joy.

The party of redemption and forgiveness.

See you around Satan!

Bye-Bye Pity Party!

Hello Heaven!

Verses....

Some verses hanging on our wall and being placed in our hearts this week...by the way this is the DIERS' TRANSLATION...

"If you ignore discipline you will get poverty and shame, but if you make change you will succeed."

Proverbs 13:18

"Lazy people crave but get nothing, but the desires of the hard working are satisfied!"

Proverbs 13:4

"Hard working people will rule, but lazy people end up slaves."

Proverbs 12:24

Yes...I know, I know...all success comes from God...we can not take credit for anything...BUT...our family needed these verses this week!!! Maybe yours can be blessed by them as well!
Jen

The shoes...

New Shoes!  Nike Zoom Kobe VI basketball shoes!  Ah...the end result of a month long hunt!  $140 a pair!

Now some might think I am absolutely crazy as a mother to allow my son to get this pair of shoes. I mean let's just be serious here...$140 could buy groceries for a week. It could pay for education for a child in Africa. It could pay the electric bill or heat in our home! 

But...Kobe worked day in and day out for his dad to earn the money. He is a straight A student. He researched the web, searching for the best price. He waited until his mom had time to take him to Des Moines to buy them. He showed patience and persistence when our first trip amounted to no shoes in the entire Jordan Creek Mall. And, this Sunday, as his mom helped facilitate a potluck outreach for college students, he jumped in and served alongside me without even being asked.

But...that isn't the end...you see, yesterday in the gym with his dad, Kobe put on the new shoes he had worked so hard for. He laced them up. Tightened the fit. Jumped up a bit and felt the bounce. His dad said he was "struttin some arrogance" in feeling pretty sweet in the new shoes.

But Kobe took the shoes, he took the reward of his hard wor,k and he said,

"Dad...I'm gonna put a different verse on each shoe!  I'm gonna put a psalm on one side and Phil. 4:13 on the other!"

And that my friends...is worth more than the $140 he spent...that my friend is my 12 year old teaching me how to give glory to God for all He gives us.

You see, every day we are blessed. Every day the Lord provides us with something...if nothing else, a simple breath of life...and every day, we should give God the glory for that! Kobe has found a concrete way to do that...a black Sharpie and a verse on his new, pristine $140 pair of shoes.

What about us?

How can we give God the glory in our daily work?

In our washing of the family dishes?
In our sitting in the airport waiting for our flight?
In our conversations with coworkers and friends and store clerks and husbands and children? 

"As for me and my house we will serve the Lord."

Joshua 24:15

Someone HATES us...

So last night I realized something so mind boggling that it has stuck with me all day. 

SOMEONE HATES MY FAMILY!

I know....right?

Hard to believe isn't it?

But yep...there is someone who HATES us and we found out about it last night! 

You see we live in a white, middle class community. We have been blessed with a beautiful, dark skinned Ghanaian boy in our home. A boy who loves the Lord. A boy who has a mother and sister in Ghana who love the Lord. A boy who brings us smiles and laughs and tears.

And someone HATES it!

You see we also have a child who shot 1000 three pointers to raise money for kids in another country that he has never met! He gave sacrificially...waking up early in the morning to shoot. Giving up his time after school to shoot.

And someone HATES it!

You see we also have a nine year old who is traveling to Sierra Leone with his Dad, (who by the way is SOLD OUT for Christ). He has shared verses with people in an effort to raise money to go.

And someone HATES it!

And, you see we have a daughter who every single night prays for kids she has never met. Prays for her Papa and Aunt Cindy to be healed of their cancer. Prays for her friends to know Christ. Prays for her teacher and the people in the nursing home that she has never even seen.

And someone HATES it!

And today, like other days, I talked about Christ with students in my office. I shared my faith in my community. I prayed for God's direction, for His leading, for His will to be done.

And someone HATES it!

SOMEONE HATES OUR FAMILY!!! 

Last night, as I sat in bed, reading a book by Dr. Gary Smalley, the words jumped off the page:

"SATAN HATES YOUR FAMILY!"

"And He will do everything he can to sabatoge your family and your marriage and the future marriages of your children. HE HATES YOUR FAMILY!"

WOW!  EYE OPENER! 

There is a battle and God won it on the cross but Satan won't stop trying. 

So we will form a plan.
We will armor ourselves with Christ's word.
We will write it on our hearts.
We will meditate on it daily.
We will be prepared.

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people."
Ephesians 6: 10-18

So what about you?

Are you doing anything that would cause Satan to HATE your family?

Have you accepted Christ as your Savior?

Have you given of yourself...truly given...to the point it hurt?

Have you expressed your love of Christ to others?

Do you have a plan?

A plan to stand against his schemes? To stop him in his tracks? To shut the door on his efforts?

Do you? 

Because if you LOVE JESUS, then SATAN HATES YOU!

Thank you to all who have prayed!

Sincerest thanks to all who have prayed and in particular to my parents who have consistently provided in prayer and money for this miraculous video...I love you!
Jenn

Snow...

Snow!!!

The Life of the Diers
What do you miss?
 Yesterday we asked Sam what he missed about Ghana besides his mom and sister. His response, "NOTHING!"  Awww....God is good!

Bible Study with Faith 
 Last night I took Faith to our local coffee shop to have a Bible study. Just the two of us!  What a precious time in the Lord with my daughter! All you moms, if you have a daughter, or even a son, I encourage you to take the time and get away with your Bibles alone with them. Our study only lasted about 15 minutes but it made my week!  

So I asked Faith, "What does it mean to be a child of God?"  
She said, "Huh?"  
I tried again, "Ok, so like Daddy is your father, what things does Daddy do for you? And then we will talk about how God does stuff for us too."  

Faith's response  was full of insight and analogy:

"Well, Daddy gives me hugs and kisses in the morning before I go to school." 
       GOD LOVES US!  Start your day with a hug from Him!
  
"And Daddy teaches me to play basketball."
      GOD TEACHES US! Open His playbook and learn a new skill in Him!


"And sometimes Daddy tells me when I shouldn't do something or act some way." 
     GOD DISCIPLINES US!  Be willing to listen, repent and change to be more like Him!

Luke & Legos
We recently implemented a new rule in our home...no video games during the week, only on weekends. One of the nice side effects has been Luke really getting into his Legos again.  The other day at Target Luke asked if I would buy him some new Legos. I looked at my cart and said, "Sure, I will put away the chocolate and the new t-shirt I wanted and buy you some Legos instead because you don't always get new stuff like the other kids do." Luke looked up at me with his big brown eyes and says, "Wow! Thanks Mom! And you know, I do wear a lot of Kobe's left over clothes!"  I just had to laugh at the truth in his statement!

A moment of doubt
There has been a lot going on in my family. My parents and aunt have been battling illnesses. My close friend has been facing financial hardships, teenage daughter issues, and other major events. It feels like we have been attacked from all sides. My friend and my family members have both quoted the book of Job regularly this week. Last night it hit me...all at once...I looked at Doug and just broke down crying. The emotions took hold and although I am usually a pretty strong person, last night I couldn't stop them. And for an instant, for just an instant I doubted my God! I questioned His plan. I wondered the common wonder: "WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE?"  

And then in that same instant, God gave me clarity....

We aren't good people. We are God's people. And we are stepping out for His Kingdom. We are sharing His message of salvation. We are living out His message of love and forgiveness and giving. AND SATAN HATES IT!  Satan does not need to attack those who are doing nothing. He does not care about the unsaved one sitting high on the hog in his luxury home thinking only of himself. He is no threat to Satan's plans....but WE ARE...and thus we will be attacked. 

And then, at Smokey Row, with a coffee in hand, my eight year old daughter spoke the words I needed to hear...she opened her purple Bible and said, "Mommy how about this for our verse this week?"

God gives me strength for the battle. He makes my way perfect!"

Psalm 18:32