Daughter of the King

An answered prayer!!  She is a daughter of the one true King.  Cleansed and made whole. Washed with the water, sins removed by His blood...This is what Olivia experienced Monday, January 20th.

She made this decision with much thought and study.  She chose to give her life to Jesus and to strive to live like Him.  Confessing her faith of him and acknowledging that this would be a new life for her is just the beginning of her changed life.  She is just beginning her journey with the Lord, and I pray she grows with Him, grows deeper and deeper with Him, and more in love with Him.

So, you teach the Gospel to others and you share the love of Christ, and in that time some choose to obey and you are a witness to that obedience.  But, I must say that hearing my daughter's words, "I want to be baptized," and confessing her reasons and her understanding of the Gospel are some of the most precious words I have ever heard.  

 {Pretty sure this will be one of the most memorable baptisms he ever does.}

  

 You can barely see her face, but it is that smile of knowing you are free, clean, and a 

DAUGHTER OF THE ONE TRUE KING.

 It was dark, and the end to a long day for many, but everyone came with rejoicing hearts to witness this very special day.

{I snapped this a few Sundays ago before church while they were waiting on me to finish my snapshots of everyone else.  It is candid, and I kinda love this picture a lot. }

SHE IS A DADDY'S GIRL

I don't know why, but her recent birthday of turning 9 years old hit hard this year.  I mean by American standards we are half way done.  She is half way to 18!  My mind kind of goes into space with this thought.  It is typically your human instinct to think ahead, but I can honestly say at this moment, I am actually not thinking ahead and am instead remembering sweet memories of the past living the present, hoping we are making many more to remember.

A Battle For Jesus

You share the Gospel, you plant the seed,  and show love, and share love, and live love. This is what we tell ourselves, this is what we try to live.  So many of us Christians have had "normal" lives, have known of Jesus and really known Jesus for more years of our lives than not, and we all have struggles.  We all have moments where we aren't living like we should, making the choices that God would approve, and living a complete Christ-centered life.  And in those moments, maybe some of us have people who love us, nudge us in the direction we should be moving, or God intercedes and takes his hand and carries us where we need to be.  We have love.  We have God's love, true love from our family.
I was and am so fortunate that I have parents who truly love me and have always showed that love.  I had a loving family that included a father figure and a mother figure.  Some are less fortunate, and maybe only have one of those, but that is still one.  Then there are some who, by tragedy have neither of those.

Think on this....

How does one know what love is?

How does one grasp that God, the most amazing father in the world loves them more than anyone?

How does one imagine what this love is?

How does one Believe this Father is different?

WHEN....

At the age of ten years old you were sent from your home country to neighboring Costa Rica to work as a babysitter.  REALITY HERE!!!!  My daughter is 9 years old.  I cannot imagine doing this to my child.  You come to this country you have never been to before to care for children, when you are only a child yourself.  And you do this for the next 8 years.  You are all alone!  You are a child alone in a foreign country caring for another person's children.  For the better part of the next 8 years, you never hear from your family much and do not see them.  In this time, your family has grown without you.  You were sent away.  How does that make you feel?  You have nothing!  You are a child with no family.  

Your family moves to the country where you are living at the age of eighteen.  You have yearned for this for so many years.  You just wanted your family.  You wanted to be loved, to be accepted.  But, the reality is they moved on without you, they grew without you.  For whatever reason they chose to send you away.  In your heart you know the situation for what it really is, but it is so hard to tell yourself that they must not have really loved you.  You now find yourself with 4 children, living a life that you wish was better, wishing it could be different for your children.  You are not married and have 4 people who depend on you, but you live constantly in war with life and yourself.  

As I think about this woman, I think about how us Christians who have Jesus struggle at times in their life with their faith, and we know Jesus.  We had and have people who love us, who didn't send us away, who didn't abandon us.  And, we have times in our life when we think, how can I get through this, but we know we have Jesus on our side and we have him to lean on.  He is there to comfort us, to carry us, to carry our load.  

My heart breaks for these people who don't know love.  They cannot even comprehend it.
I can't expect them to understand that God is love, when they don't even know what LOVE is.  

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." ~ Heb 11:1  

With faith, there is love.  And this is the battle that Jesus fought.  He is a warrior for love.  And I have faith that God will show this person what love is, that they will see it. Because the Gospel is LOVE. I think circumstances make things harder or easier for people, but at the end of the day we all have to make the choice to know God's love or to not know God's love.  Please pray that this one who does not know love, will know love, will have faith in the God of love, and act on that love in obedience to the one who showed the biggest sacrifice of love.

And the Saga Continues...No Time

It is always on my mind, although at the back, to update this blog more often then once every 3 or 4 months.  I just have not had the time.  Between homeschooling the kids and then just everything that our daily life entails here, I just haven't made it on here.

Then, the few times I had a second, I just did not even know where to begin.  And, again, that is my story today....Where do I begin?

2013 was a year full of so many blessings and trials thrown in as well.  We are so thankful that we are here and celebrated our second Christmas and New Year's here in Costa Rica.  When we moved we had no idea what our time frame for being here would be and we still do not know, you just never know what the Lord has in store, but here is 2014 and we are still here.  

So many people always ask how the kids are doing, and have they adjusted?  

{ pretty sure they are doing just fine...perfect if grandparents lived here }

We just celebrated all of their birthdays!  Carson's isn't until March, but we had a party for all 4 of them when Papa and Nana were here.  They are growing so fast, Leia is 4, Logan 7, Olivia 9, and Carson will be 6 in March.  We are midway through our school year and it is my highest of high hopes that we can be all completed before we leave to visit the states in May.  I know, I am dreaming high, but I will try.  

The kids have thrived so much since we moved into this house that we are in now.  We have now been in this house a year and are so thankful for where we are at.  The location is perfect, our neighbors are wonderful, and the kids are at home.  Before we lived here, I cannot say they were adjusted, doing well, or thriving.  But now, they are!  Praise the Lord.  Because you want happy, smiling, laughing, screaming, giggly kids!

Olivia joined her friend Jimena in swimming classes for 6 months out of the past year.  She could swim before but now she looks like a little professional with all her strokes she has learned.  She finished that up in December and will not be continuing that this year due to the location.  She has decided that she would like to give Volleyball a try, so we will see how that goes.  And she is learning how to play the guitar.  She has asked for a guitar for several years for her Christmas and Birthday, and she finally got one this year!  When Keith arrived here last week, he gave her some instructions to start with and we shall see if we can find someone to teach her.  At the moment, David and I are trying to teach ourselves so we can help her.  I think David is picking it up pretty fast, and I should probably just stick with woodwind instruments!  But, I have not given up yet.  I just can't feel my fingertips in my left hand, even now as I type this.  

Logan and Carson continue to play soccer and have improved so much over the past year.  They are now scoring goals and kicking up the dirt on the field.  They look forward to playing every Saturday morning.  Logan begs to do Karate here, but we just don't think that is a good idea to give him and Carson instructions on how to fight with each other better! : )  They are both now reading really well. Some days they shine with their brilliance and then other days David and I wonder if their brains escaped....the life of a boy!

Leia is a ball of fire, and needs to start school soon, so maybe she will be less detractive to the others while they are doing school.  She loves going in and out all day long and has pretty much stolen the hearts of all our neighbors.  At any time if she is not at home, she is at someone's house playing.  She has two little friends that are the same age as her and one just as equally spirited as her.  They have their moments and one goes running home and then they are ready to play again in 2 minutes.  She does not want to play any sports and has no interest in even watching the boys or Olivia when she was playing soccer.  She has asked ever since we moved here if she can do ballet.  She is finally old enough and will start that in February.

That is it.  There are four of them and they can choose one thing to do, and that is it.  I don't know how people keep up with all of their kids in every activity and sport.  I would be running circles getting no where.  Now I know why my mom gave us limits on what all we could do.  It is expensive and then there is no time for anything else.

David and I just had birthdays too.  He is 34 and I am 31....how in the world did that happen??

The last 7 weeks have been crammed full of fun and memories.  We have had my mom and dad and David's mom and dad here 5 out of those 7 weeks.  So, it has been crazy, crazy here, David still trying to get work done and cram in some family time.  The kids and I had lots of time at the house just hanging out and then some days exploring this beautiful country.  No school, itself, was a VACATION! We were so thankful for those days of having fun thanks to our parents.  It was some much needed fun time!!

 { Top of Volcan Irazu }

{ Playa Tamarindo }

This past year we have developed more relationships with people here and continue to strengthen the old ones and build more on the new ones.  Our days are full!  Praise the Lord!  

Sunday Snapshots

It is my goal to take family photos of all of the families we go to church with.  This is something we have been wanting to do for them for a while, but something always comes up, or someone would be sick, etc.

It is quite comical trying to take photos of them.  Through the past year I have taken tons of photos and the good ones I get here and there are when they have no idea I have my camera out.  They all have a phobia of smiling for the camera.  It makes me laugh so hard.  I know this is something normal for lots of other cultures too.  They are not conceited like us Americans who love to smile in front of the camera and take tons of "selflies" for the world to see.  LOL!  They all stand there like we are burying someone, solemn faces and eyes.  You have to be creative and tell them to do funny things, say funny things.  Saying funny things isn't too hard for me since my Spanish is probably equivalent to a 4 year old...maybe.

CAMPOS FAMILY

I snapped these a couple Sundays ago after church.  It was hot and SUNNY.  Let me say that again, "It was HOT."  I WAS HOT!  We don't have that perfect sweet hour of light right now.  Some days you might have it, but other days it goes from blinding sun to dark with torrential rain.  There is no scheduling a time to take some photos.  With raining season, you just go outside when you can.  

I thought (above photo) was cute.  Little Valeria just wasn't quite big enough to get her face above the rail.  I was working on getting some smiles...no one was impressed but Mom and Dad.

We were walking around looking for some shady places to take some photos and we ran into these people.  Their grandmother offered for us to come in their gate and take photos in her beautiful flower garden and rancho.  I have some of those too, but that will have to be a later day.  I edited these couple of pictures during school today and this little bit of computer time is about all they can handle today...there is chaos in the house.

And, I do believe this photo is a SUCCESS.  While it may not be prefect lighting, I think these are some perfect facial lines!

p.s.  I don't have time to reread and check for grammatical errors and typos...I am smarter than my typing and writing may always appear, just busy and trying to formulate complete sentences with 4 kids talking, laughing, and at times screaming.

Sweet Fellowship

While the Moore Family was here visiting at the end of July we scheduled to have a Sunday get together for lunch and an afternoon singing.  It was a wonderful day.  Everyone was visiting with one another.  There are some in the group who rarely speak, actually they don't at all unless they are spoken to, and others that love to chat.  I always say it takes all kinds to make the world go round.  He knew what he was doing.

Everyone stayed for the singing.  I couldn't get everyone in the photo.  : )

 Visiting

Brother Jorje

From Left: Martha, Julito, Felecia & her granddaughter

This particular Sunday that we had our get together after services a new family had visited our services for the first time.  David had previously met her before and visited with her very briefly.  She joined us with her two children, a six year old little boy, and I believe a 9 year old girl.  She asked us to pray for her husband because he had cut his hand the previous day with a machete.  Automatic nurse instinct is to think the worst.  I am thinking he has a mangled hand that was chopped with a rusty machete.  They do not have seguro (the national insurance) because they are unable to pay, like so many people we know here.  

Later that afternoon on the way home, David and I stopped to visit their family.  We were very thankful to assess a hand that had a small cut to one finger that would heal fine with a peroxide cleaning, clean gauze, antibiotic ointment, and some band-aids.  I did ask to see the machete, and as I thought, a really nasty and rusty piece of metal.  I explained, at this point David is translating, that he really needed a tetanus shot.  Tried to also tell him that it would be a good idea for him to have it anyways since he works with a machete everyday and could potentially harm himself with it.  He did not want it.  We couldn't understand why.  We told him we would get the medication and I could give it to him.  He refused because he did not want to be stuck with a needle.  He said if I gave him a shot in his arm he would not be able to work.  I tried to explain that he would be able to work, but if he got tetanus he would not be able to work.  Oh well, we tried.  God answers prayers and his finger is all healed.

We headed back to the house from a full day of "like back home" Sunday fellowship.  On our way home we passed an ambulance flying down the road with crater-sized potholes.  David and I both commented that someone must be in a bad way.  Because in the entire year we have lived here, I have never, and I repeat NEVER seen an ambulance move in rapid manner.  They drive like normal with the their lights flashing.  No one moves to the side of the road.  No one stops at intersections to let them pass.  They sit in traffic like any other vehicle and I envision people dying in these things, because they are never going to make it to the hospital.

A few minutes after we got home we received a completely frantic phone call from Demaris.  Her son had been run over by a motorcycle.  They were in Atenas and were soon heading to the hospital about 45 minutes from here.  She asked for us to pray.  David called everyone from church to let them know what had happened.  We heard from her again that night that her son had sustained some head injuries, possible some internal bleeding, and they were doing some more scans.

The next morning we learned they were sending him home and he had some follow-up visits in the following days.  We went to go see him the next day and for a little boy who had a motorcycle run him over at a high speed and went down the entire middle of his body, he looked good.  God had answered a many of prayers.  Prayers from so many people, people in Costa Rica, people in the United States.  He obviously had some swelling in his face.  He had no broken bones, only nine stitches on his forehead, and not a single bruise or any swelling visible on the trunk of his body.

Since then, him and his family have been at services every Sunday.  His stitches are gone, he lost a tooth, but his smile is back.  He is a quiet little boy with a smile behind his mother's leg when we talk to him.

The power of prayer is a miraculous thing!  I need to get some pictures of that shy smile, so everyone can see the miracle.

Muy Ocupado

Translation - VERY BUSY

Yes, that pretty much sums up my life.  For years I have had goals of less.  Less stress, less work, less daily over commitments.  And, it is a never ending fail situation.  I quit doing some things only to find other things that I need to do and commit to do and have to do.

In all of that, the blog just gets lost and completely forgotten.  I said, "Forgotten."  Sorry.  I remember late at night when my brain is not coherent and I am in a slumber of really wishing I could sleep but too tired to get up do anything in the middle of the night sleepless state.

Life in Costa Rica.  Crazy!  Good!  More crazy!  New things!  New friends!

Major Blessing- To all those prayer warriors that prayed along with us for so many months that our house situation in the states would work out with a sale or a new rental commitment, God answered.  We literally received a contract just days before we were going to be out the mortgage with no rental income.  While we definitely are taking a monthly loss in order to secure that rental contract we are praying God will provide.  Another Year!!!

July seemed to come and go in a complete blur.  The kind of blur, you know the one that is just circles
of blur.  I thought I would have a few weeks to catch up on "my things," the non homeschool related activities that just are a passing thought.  Things like swimming at the pool, reading books, taking pictures, trips to the park, and ice cream cones were on my agenda.  Well, I think we went to the pool once, I read one book, once to the park, and we managed lots of pictures (that still need to be edited) and ice cream cones a few times.  It went by in a blur.

We take all visitors to Tio Mano's for some local "helado."

{New Friends - Africa, Vietnam, Taiwan, United States, Germany, and Israel represented here in 

Costa Rica.  Love Diversity!!!}

During that time David and I painted the church building (still not complete, need to cut in the ceiling, but hey it looks better than it did) and we had tile laid in the church.  Before it was varying types of concrete from cracks everywhere, finished spots of concrete, to unfinished, and unlevel.

{We have had a full house almost every Sunday for the last 6 or 7 weeks.  This particular Sunday there was not a chair left.  That is such a good problem...people sitting on paint buckets.}

Nana came for a visit, of which was part of the radial whirlwind blur of activity in July.  She was here and then she was gone.  She came with puppets for the kids and they loved that and have had some hilarious puppet shows for us and have entertained company as well.

And we still have crazy, funny, and loud kids.  Some things never change!  : )

I have so much news to share that I do not even know where to begin.  So, for now this is a start.  Along with our normal daily activities of survival, learning, teaching, meditating, and so many other things I am wanting to start doing photography here as a free-lance.  I am not a professional by any means and have so much to learn, but I think this is a good place to start.  I have had lots of people here ask me to do this and others encourage me to do so.  So, that has pretty much consumed my little tid bits of spare time lately.  I am one of those OCD kind of people.  If I am going to start this then I want to do it right.  That means more prep work on the front end, but to me it results in better organization and less hiccups...or so I tell myself.  I have been working on building my website (talk about a brain zapper and time consumer...and I am using a template).  I started with what would be my logo.

Then I made my Facebook page.  Let me just tell you the couple different times I have attempted to manage more than one Facebook page linked with my name it is a disaster.  And, this time was no different.  But it is working now.  Yay!!!!  Finally after fighting with it for 5 weeks...yes, sadly, it is true.  FIVE long frustrating weeks.  You can check it out here.  I will let you know when I am ready to launch the website.  While you are probably living in a different country, you can still take a look and see what I am up to in the wee hours of the night, staying up really late and going cross-eyed.  Because, we all know, especially homeschool moms, that there is never any time in the day for this sort of activity.  I decided to take the plunge and do this.  I figured if I can even do a few shoots here and there that will help pay for plane tickets to go back to the states, once a year hopefully, and maybe not drain the bank....have you seen airfare prices lately??????  And for a family of 6??  Whew! 

So, Kristin, thanks for the shove!!!  I laughed when I got your message this morning.  Hopefully, I am back from my extended leave.  And I will give the latest and greatest snippets of life here in Costa Rica serving a mighty God.

Night All!

Name Them One by One

I started reading this book a couple days ago.  I have seen it on reading lists, Kindle's favorites, and pinned by many.  Into, always, at least 5 other books, I refrained from purchasing it until now.

I am only about one third of the way into it...speechless.  Guilty.  Truly feeling how unthankful I have really been.  A time for much prayer.  A time, time that is priceless, that is given to me, to name the blessings all one by one.  Deep in my heart I see the complete vanity of the words, "Dear Lord thank you for all of my blessings."  And the reality of never completely stopping to see the blessings, ceasing the moment to record the blessings to my memory, and drawing attention to the smallest details He created and BLESSED me with.  He blessed me with Time to see them, and I am just like this author described it, "a slave to time."  She couldn't have been more right.  I am a slave to time.  I run against time.  I wait on time.  I rush against time.  I fight with time...time that God has given me.  Time he has given me to be thankful in all things.  

"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." ~ 1 Thes 5:18 

How ashamed I am to say that I have not taken the time to see the blessings in everything and everywhere.  Because they truly are everywhere, because God is everywhere.  This morning after my study, all I could hear was...

I want to see the smallest things, some of the most beautiful things, things that are right in front of me, if I just looked and named them one by one.  Ann Voskamp pens a challenge that I should already be living, a challenge to name all the blessings "One by One."  In the rush of life I have not seen the blessings, the gifts.  I have not named them, I have simply thanked him for my blessings.  What are those blessings?  

So, today I start naming them one by one.  I want to see the thousands and thousands of Gifts that he has bestowed to me, to all of us.  I want to record them in my heart, in my mind.  I will journal them, I will photo them, and I will record the beauty of their sounds...all one by one.  The challenge is a year...1,000 gifts, but I can do this for a lifetime, because his gifts are innumerable.  

Gifts Heard

1. the choir of birds singing after the rain 

2. giggles of children playing 

3. the beauty of instrumental music

ONE BY ONE

Living For Him Now, So I Can Live With Him Later

Many know parts of the journey of David and I as we started questioning our lives three years ago, probably before then, but a little over three years ago was a definite marking point in time.  Along with so many other couples we realized many financial mistakes we made that could have saved us tons of money, you know the ones like trading cars when you really didn't need to, etc.  Then there were the things in life that we chose to do that were huge financial costs {but the biggest blessings and priceless} like making our family.  That being said, we had started Dave Ramsey 5 years ago, so when we started having this change of heart in our lives we had already started the debt reduction process.

We were on the tract of "If you live like no one else now, then later you can live like no one else later."  When we realized that there was more to life than what we were living, we were weeks away from bringing Leia home.  We had been questioning everything and all the choices we had made and wanted to make.  We continued on with Dave Ramsey, finished paying off the adoption, paid off a car, and were finally left with our house and a very small car loan.  Weeks before traveling to bring Leia home, we decided after much thought and prayer that we needed to take our first trip to Costa Rica.  I had had several yard sales over a span of 4 years of adoption processes and had gone through my house always finding more and more that I could do without.  So, again, went through the house, sold more stuff, and booked flights for our first trip to Costa Rica.  Dave Ramsey would have balked.  We were not stashing the extra money toward the small car loan or the principal on our mortgage.  Instead, we made our first trip to Costa Rica.

Our first trip down here, led to our second trip, then another, and another.  For two years we had tons of yard sales, made hundreds of pieces of jewelry, and using birthday money, Christmas money to make these trips to Costa Rica.  While we were doing this, I will be honest, we were not saving a dime.  We continued with the envelope plan, and kept paying the car and house debt we had, but not knocking any extra away.  We prepared to sell our house or rent our house.  We prayed and prayed and prayed.  Things started falling into place for us to move here.  Our house rented.  We literally sold almost everything, aside from linens and my kitchen.  Sold both of our cars.  Shipped 3 small pallets of our belongings.  And moved our family to another country.  It was one of the hardest things we have done and in so many ways one of the best things we have done.  

Dave Ramsey would not have approved.  Really, not a day goes by that I don't think about "What if."  What if we had continued with the smart and more financially responsible decision of paying our house off, so that we could live like no one else later?  What if we had not decided to make all those trips here because that would not have been "living like no one else?"  What if we had liquidated all of our belongings and instead used the money to pay double payments on our house instead of moving here?  

What if we had continued to plan our lives around smart financial decisions?  We had been a slave to money and debt all those years and our logic was if we could pay off all the debt, we would be free.  But free to do what?  Save our money to buy the things we wanted with cash?  Is slavery to cash much different than slavery to credit?  In the end it is the same chains that bind us, we have just shined them up a bit because we are "debt free".  Smart financial planning tells you to save and save and save so that someday you will be able to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labors.  Sounds a lot like the man in Luke 12:18 that said, I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry. 20 But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."  As all these thought ran through our heads we decided to stop living for a tomorrow that might never come.  We realized that we had put a lot of faith into our ability to prosper and make a bright future for our family.  So we finally put our faith where it belongs, into the loving hands of our Lord and Savior.

What if we had continued on our path to debt free prosperity and physical security?  This is what I know.  We would have not followed the steps of Jesus.  Our hearts truly would not have known the brokenness, that you just don't see in the United States.  We would have never met the people here who we love dearly.  We would have never made the relationships with people here and been able to share the Gospel with them.  Lots of people would have never heard the Gospel.  Tons of people would not have a Bible to read.  I do NOT at all say these things in anyway to glorify anything about us.  If we had let our heads lead us and continued to overlook where Jesus was trying to lead us, we would have not been able to spread that seed.  Instead we would be storing and stashing every penny into our mortgage and possibly that IRA fund we don't have, planning to live like no one else later.  A "Later" that may never happen.

James 4:14 says, "Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."  

I don't believe in living above your means, running your life on credit, mortgaging 1/2 your income.  I think there is a balance, a balance that can only be truly measured by the word of God.  Some will say to listen to your heart over your mind and others will say the opposite.  But lets face it, both our heart and our head can lead us astray.  We have to use both our hearts and our minds to know which direction to go, which choices to make.

Luke 10:27. And he answered, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. 28 And he said to him, You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.

When our entire existence is focused on GOD and what HE wants us to do with our lives, that is when we will stop making choices that are based on selfish desires.


Proverbs 16:9. The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.



Jeremiah 10:23. I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.


Today marks one year since we moved to Costa Rica.  We had no idea what the future held one year ago, and still don't know what the future holds.  All we know is today.  We pray about the uncertainties and for His will.  We pray daily for HIS plan.  His plan is the certain thing in life.  Their are so many uncertain things in our lives but the one thing that is certain is that He gave his life for us, the Lord paved a way for us.  It is our choice whether we follow.  

I WANT TO LIVE FOR HIM NOW, SO I CAN LIVE WITH HIM LATER.

~ This post is a join effort from David and I ~

Who Is the "Itsy Bitsy" Bringing Glory To?

Scenario 1:

Kids are running crazy through the house.  You just stepped out of shower.  Doorbell has been ringing.    Nobody can hear it because they are playing crazy LOUD.  You are expecting a parent of a child that is at your house playing.  Frantic to get something on and answer the door.  Bra and panties on, you head to the front door to greet child's parent.  Child's parent is his Dad.

Scenario 2:

Saturday night you hosted dinner at your house.  You plate everyone's salad, remove lasagna from oven, slice the bread, fill the drinks, and serve.  Oh yeah, you are hosting dinner in your bra and panties.  Dinner is served.  Let's sit around the table and have a nice conversation...while you chill in your bra and panties.  Time for dessert.  Everyone still sitting at the table while you serve dessert walking around in your bra and panties.   

Call me crazy, but these scenarios I just painted are happening everyday during these summer months.   Change the 1st one to kids are playing in sprinkler and you are in backyard and walk through house to answer door in a bikini.  All I did was change the location to the backyard from the bathroom and interchanged the word bikini {reality...they are the same thing}.  And in scenario 2, location is on your back deck with friends and interchange bikini for undergarments.   So, the bikini has a different name than bra and panties, but they are one and the same.  Actually, I take that back, I have seen some swimsuits that offer pretty much no coverage.

You are at the beach enjoying God's beautiful creations and soaking in all the rays....in your panties and bra...with hundreds of other people...and GOD.  Yeah, he is there too.  

"Am I a God at hand declares the Lord, and not a God far away?  Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord.  Do I not fill heaven and earth?  declares the Lord." ~Jeremiah 23:23-24

I am pretty sure most of you have seen this video or have at least seen it floating around Facebook.  This lady goes into the history of the bikini.  Pretty interesting facts.  

Isn't our existence to glorify God in all that we do?  

Who are we glorifying when we expose our entire body for everyone to see? 

What is the purpose?  To show off the body you have worked for?  

"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?  You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.  So glorify God in your body." 

~1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Does walking around in a bikini {same as your undergarments} glorify God?  Be honest!

Would you disciple someone and share the Gospel with them over coffee in your panties and bra?  How weird would that be?  Why is it okay to move from the coffee bar setting to the beach, and now all of a sudden it is okay to wear the neon printed, waterproof undergarments?  Would you sit with a couple and give biblical marriage advice in your underwear?  Would you stress the importance of purity to your daughter and her priceless value and shop for her bikini....then finish the conversation while sitting at the pool where everyone can take view of her physical assets?  Think about it.

What are we doing?  What are we teaching these young impressionable girls and boys too?  Why has society, Christians, accepted this as okay?  

"So then each of us will give an account of himself to God." ~ Romans 14:12

Modesty is not just a matter of what we wear, but the intent of our hearts as well.  Honestly some could walk around in a potato sack and still not be modest.  Our actions must be modest, our speech must be modest, and our hearts serving the Lord and serving those around us.  Who are we serving when the bikini is donned?  Who are we glorifying?  

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Maybe you agree with me.  Maybe these words and videos caused you to think.  Maybe they made you angry.  Whatever the emotion this post evokes in you, I pray that is causes you to seek His word, His wisdom, and His truth and what we can do to bring Him the most glory.

Sugar Rush

I have been asked for this recipe so many times, that I have decided to just share it here.  Then I can just reference to this link....no more retyping it and resending it more times than I can remember.

I cannot take the credit for this recipe.  This is the recipe my mom and Lesa Avaritt always use.  They have been eaten, or devoured by many.  They will put you into a diabetic coma in mere seconds.  

They are so EASY.  Non-laborous.  They do not take half the day to make.  PERFECT!!

MAKE the DOUGH the NIGHT BEFORE!!!

2 C warm water

1/2 C oil

5 T sugar

2 tsp yeast

1 egg

4 C self-rising flour {don't have any, no worries I use this recipe.}

Place warm water in mixing bowl and add yeast.  No need to let it set.  I just do this first and then get my other ingredients together.  I then add my oil, sugar, and beaten egg.  Then add all of the flour.  Don't worry, the dough will be thinner than you think it should for a yeast dough.  I mix very well with a wooden spoon.  Cover bowl with saran wrap and place in fridge over night.  

In the morning, flour a pastry mat very heavily.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Dump dough on the mat, add more flour to knead with.  I knead it for 2-3 minutes.  Roll out into a rectangle.  Melt 3/4 stick butter.  Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar mixture over the butter.  I don't measure this, I just always have cinnamon and sugar already mixed together and on hand.  I then sprinkle a little brown sugar on the dough too.  Roll the rectangle up.  I then make my roll pieces by using a string of unflavored dental floss.  It works so much better than attempting to use a knife.  I use the Pampered Chef Jelly Roll pan, and it is the perfect size.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until tops are lightly browned.  I remove them from oven and let them cool 10-15 minutes before frosting them.  And, again, I have no recipe for my frosting.  This is approximate and you may need to add more water or powdered sugar until you have the consistency you like.  I prefer more of a frosting than a glaze.  If you make a runny glaze, to me, it just makes the cinnamon rolls doughy...not my thing.  

3 C powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla {I always use Mexican vanilla}

1 TB melted butter

5 TB water {I honestly have no idea, just start here, and I never add more than a TB at a time}

*another yummy version is to whip in a TB or 2 of softened cream cheese*

I mix by hand or with a hand mixer.  I like it to be the consistancy of toothpaste.  Frost.  Eat.  Go back to sleep!!!

I am good after about 3 bites, but David thinks you need 3 or 4 of them...he will surely go into a coma one day from eating these.....reason 101 why I do not make these very often.