Receiving the Love of God (guest blog)

Read this today and it really hit a cord with me. So much so that I decided that my readers needed to hear what was said as well.


Receiving The Love of God by Cassandra Stafford

My husband tells me I'm beautiful all the time.
I rarely believe him.

He admires me at the most peculiar moments.
While I'm still in my jammies...hair unbrushed...no makeup...while I'm sipping my coffee...

He's not admiring all of the undone...
He's not noticing my flaws...

He's noticing the blush of my cheeks.
My smooth skin (thank God for nice skin!!)
He's liking my dark brown eyes.

Me?
All I notice are my flaws.
In my mind, those things are enough to drown out the good. As if they cancel each other out.

He sees my curves and wants to hug me.
He hugs me tight and tells me I "feel good".
I --9 times out of 10--will respond with "yeah, good and huge!"
And he just sighs with disgust.

Why?
Cause I am not receiving his love for me when I always have some comeback to his praises.

So what if my body is not magazine cover quality? He and I both know it's not what it used to be. But does that mean it deserves to be ridiculed?

It goes deeper than outward beauty too.

Too many of us reject who we are.
We hate our personalities. We despise so much about how God crafted us and shaped us.
The clay tells the potter He has designed us all wrong...

But, what would happen if we took a bold leap of faith and started keeping our mouths (and minds) quiet when our husbands tell us we are lovely? What if we tried to believe it for once? What if when our children tell us we are "the best moms they ever had" (my girls favorite compliment) we didn't immediately start mentally recounting our every failing?

We could give a whole lot more love...to our husbands and children...
to our neighbors and friends...

Because we cannot give something we do not have. We cannot give love that we will not receive. We cannot offer peace we do not have.

And true peace, true love starts with receiving the love of God toward ourselves.

Despite our faults, shortcomings and imperfections.
What if--for once--we truly lived and acted like Jesus really did bring peace between God and us? What if, when He whispers to our hearts that He loves us...we swallowed hard and said "Yes Lord, I receive it. And, I love you too."

Clean and Funny

Happenings

So this past week has flown by. My goodness I think this summer has flown by. Next week we take the boys to registar for school. I can't believe it's already that time again. We have been slowly gathering school supplies. So many expenses this year associated with school. Not only have the twins had to have physicals but also eye exams. Which I am thankful for the eye exams. Eli needs glasses. We got the call yesterday and he was so excited he didn't want to wait to go get them. We had to wait till Sean returned from the dentist. Poor guy, had to have a tooth removed. A couple of weeks ago he went to have it pulled and found out it was abcessed. So he had to wait two weeks and take antibiotics. I would have thought he would have been in a lot more pain but he says he wasn't thankfully. So last week he headed to the dentist in hopes to come home without a tooth, instead he returned with half a tooth removed. So yesterday he went to see an oral surgeon and thankfully it was all removed rather quickly. For someone that brushes his teeth 3 times a day I still can not understand how he has had to have two teeth removed this summer. Go figure!

Anyway, so we waited till Sean got home and went to town to pick up Eli's glasses. He is so stinkin' cute with them. It's been interesting getting use to seeing him with them. He is very careful with them, makes sure to put them in their case when he isn't wearing them. He primarily needs them for reading but we have been having him wear them all the time so that his eyes get adjusted and he gets use to wearing them.

So many changes taking place around here. Many that deal with our church and my ministry in it. Starting in September we will start a new Kids program..."All Stars for Jesus" I am looking forward to the program. It is a merit based kids club which the kids will earn badges and other things for. I am beliving it is the first step towards eventually expanding out and starting Mpact and Royal Rangers. For those of you that do not know what Mpact and RR they are girls/boys clubs through the Assmblies of God. Awesome biblical based clubs. I love Mpact and have been a teacher for years. I miss working primarily with the girls. I am praying we will start this again in our church as we grow. Also we are starting a youth group. When your kids start entering the teen years and junior high you need a good strong youth group to continue to minister to them and give them the positive support so many teens lack these days.

So starting in Sept. I will be solely responsible for Children's Church (Jungle Explorers as I call it), All Stars and the youth group. My life is about to become even fuller. Thankfully the twins will start kindergarden and that will give me some free time to concentrate on things for church a bit more. I do plan to be more of a presence in the school this year though. I know for sure that the Kindergarden teacher requests for parents to help in the class room on a regular basis. I wasn't able to do this with Kristofer because that year started the saga with my knees that lead to surgery.

Next week we will be heading for a 4 day getaway. We are so blessed to live here in IL. The IL District Office offers their pastors a 2 night/3 day stay R & R getaway for free. So we are taking advantage of it this year. And taking an extra day to relax and spend time as a family before school starts. We will be staying here at the Lake Williamson Retreat Center. We also plan to visit the St Louis Zoo and Grants Farm. The kids are extremely excited abou tthis getaway as are we. We haven't gone away as a family since last July! Which is WAY TO LONG for a break away.

Here are a few other pictures of the kids doing some crafts this summer:

The Three Point Turn

Isn't this picture beautiful. Let me tell ya something, looks are deceiving! No seriously, it is beautiful and I took this picture last fall with the kids. Down this gravel road is where we take the kids fishing. It's actually a very beautiful drive. Today we decided to release the box turtle that we saved and nursed back to health. Jaron and I thought it would be the perfect place for the turtle since it is in a national forest. One our way there we found two more box turtles in the middle of the road so we stopped and gathered them up as well.

When we thought we had found the perfect spot I decided I would do a 3 pt turn and that is when we took a turn for the worse! What in the world was I thinking! Actually what I was thinking is it would be easier to do a 3 pt turn than travel 2 more miles to turn around. Boy was that a very very stupid idea. As I turned and was backing up we got stuck! The dirt on either side of the gravel road was soft and moist from the rain we got over night and I never even realized it! So, Yes stuck in the middle of a national forest with no one around, no cell phone and had we had the cell it wouldn't have mattered because there is no service out there. So trying not to panic and cause Jaron to flip out I kept saying to myself, "Lord help me please!" Jaron and I did all kinds of things such as throw more gravel under the tire, found med. size branches to give the tire some friction, I made him sit it the back of the van adding a little of weight to the back and did a LOT of praying. After about 20 minutes I think both of us were begining to panic. In front of the van was a not so nice 45 degree incline into a creek. Going forward really made me nervous and a bit scared to be honest.

So as I climbed into the van for the 8th time I told Jaron we had no choice we had to try to go forward and hope we could get out...now let me just stop right here and say we had many trees in front of the van so sliding down the incline was not going to just happen but it still was a very scary thought. So we prayed and I turned the wheel and slowly push on the gas. I went forward about 3 ft and hit a stump hidden under the brush. Which then worried me that I was stuck on the stump but I back up about and foot and turned the wheel and pushed forward and gunned it! Thank goodness we got out, Jaron and I both were thanking Jesus repeatedly.

As we drove home Jaron and I talked about what we learned through that situation and God started showing me some things about that little yet not so fun adventure. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that either we have caused or have just happened and we tend to do what I did today when we got stuck...go backwards. We try to undo what we have done, go backwards, live in the past or in some cases people just quit/give up and stop trying. When all they (we) have to do is push forward even when the outcome may not be what you expect. Sometimes going forward takes more faith than staying in the past or staying stuck. I was truly scared that I was either going to slide into a larger tree or get the van even more stuck. But that's not what happened. We have to put our imaginations to rest and push forward and trust God for the outcome. It's so much easier to just keep trying other things instead of trusting God or pushing forward. I talked about being stuck in a stagnant pool the other day on my other blog Broken Potterie and about how we have to get out of the muck and get in the river where God is. I think these two topics go hand in hand. Pushing forward when we are stuck is just like getting into the river of God. Both often times take courage and definitely take faith and trust in God's hand in our lives.

Today was a lesson learned and I hope that you have learned something as well through our experience today. Another lesson learned today...never do a 3 pt turn on a gravel road after it has rained! Thank you Jesus for helping us get out of this very sticky situation!

Boys night vs girls night

Last night was a boys vs girls night. Actually Sean won tickets at work for a local baseball team called the Miners. We had planned to get two extra tickets for Sara and I to go as well but Sara didn't want to go. So instead Sean took the boys to the game and Sara and I stayed home. We had a good time. Sara and I watched girl movies...Barbie and Hotel for Dogs (her currant favorite movie). We painted her nails and toes and she painted a couple of my fingers. I need to redo them but she had fun. While we were enjoying the quiet house she says to me, "Mommy w/out the boys we can have all the popcicles, watch our girl movies, paint our nails," leaning back in her chair..." I LOVE THIS!" I believe she had a good time.

By the time Sean returned with the boys Sara was just about past out. She fell asleep a few minutes after they returned. The boys seemed to have a great time as well. From the stories I have heard over night and all day today they seemed to be more excited about some purple mascot than they were about the game. But all in all I believe the time they spent with their dad alone was a great thing. I was so excited for them to spend some quality fun guy stuff together.

The New Do's

The boys have begged for new hair cuts. I haven't wanted to give in but figured it wouldn't hurt anything. They have wanted mohawks and last year I did this same thing but didn't do so well with them. This year they are much better and the boys just love them. Still can't figure out what the big deal is!

Family Fun

This past week I have been helping with VBS. It has been a blast working alongside another church to minister to the kids of our community. God is always amazing me! All week the kids have been singing this song... GADGET...

God's always doing great exciting things,
Creates new life in what Jesus brings,
He give me joy, my heart shouts and sings,
God's always doing great exciting things!

It's been lot's of fun and lot's of work. We averaged about 50 children every day and they seemed to have a blast! On Friday one of the other teachers came up to me and shared that God had spoke to her heart and she blessed us with a small financial gift. We do not take gifts like this for granted and when we are blessed like this we try to do things with it other than the typical pay bills. We try to use it to bless our kids either with things they need or want but always by doing a special activity with them. This weekend we did the later. On Friday we enjoyed a family picnic at the park. The kids love going to one specific park because it has a duck/goose pond. So we headed to that park. It was so much fun and just a great time to relax and talk. The kids played and Sean and I were able to talk of which we do not get much time to do.
Then on Saturday we headed to Ft Massac in Metropolis Illinois and also to the Superman Museum. We have already gone to the museum but the last time we went I didn't have a good camera so we went and just took pictures of the kids with the largest Superman statue I have ever seen. The kids had a great time as did we. We had never been to the Fort and I am so happy the kids are now getting old enough to enjoy those types of outtings. The kids thought the Fort was pretty cool. In a few of the buildings they were allowed to climb up a ladder and check out the second floor.

That was pretty neat. I naturally did NOT go up. I protect my knees as much as possible so going up a steep ladder just was not something I wanted to do. But let me tell you, Kris has no fear of heights or new things, never has which doesn't surprise us. He was so funny, once he was up there he shouted down..."this is so awesome...ya don't call me monkey boy for nothin!" We have always lovingly called him monkey boy just because he has been such a climber. Just a fun loving nick name. Anyway, he was the first and then was Eli. Jaron refused to go up but did finally make it up. Even Sean went up to check it out, such a great daddy!
The day was such a beautiful day. We ended it with a picnic dinner in the park and again the kids played and Sean and I were able to talk. So hard to do sometimes with his crazy work schedule and having four very active children under foot. BUt it always works out that we are able to spend time talking about family stuff, ministry and just our daily lives. I love my man! He is a hard working, devoted man of God and not many can claim they have that. I can! YAY ME! I do miss him terribly when he is working the 3rd shift and I do feel guilty that he is working and pastoring a church, he is always reasuring me he is doing what he wants to do and I can't take that away from him. We decided a long time ago that he would work and I would care for our kids. Now that they are all going to be in school, this hasn't changed. Although I do plan to apply to be a substitute teacher for the schools. That should be an interesting adventure.
In a few weeks we are going on a short get away. We are all excited about it and are praying for good weather so that we can enjoy the time away. It's late had a great day in the house of God and just wanted to update what's been going on.
So many things are moving and changing here. Soon I will have all four in school. I have considered homeschool them but have decided for this year we will send them to public school. Each year presents different challenges and one day I may homeschool. But for now we are happy with the education our kids are getting. That may change ya never know.

Shaving Fun!

Now that we are in full summer time mode things are a bit crazy in our home. Sean works the over night shifts, comes home and hits the pillow. Being that I know how much he needs his sleep I have been VERY lax with bedtime. I know I will probably pay for it when school time rolls around but for now this is working for our family. So its not uncommon for the kids to go to bed late and get up around 10 or as late as noon. At least Sean is getting a few hours of peaceful sleep. Things will change at the end of July when we start enforcing bedtimes again.

Tonight right before Sean left to go to work, Kristofer was in our bathroom and I heard the common sound of shaving cream being dispensed. Funny how a mom knows what that sound is before she even enters the room! LOL! I was surprised to see this: It was so cute I had Sean get the camera and I caught this moment: Naturally as soon as the other three see what is going on they have to get in there too. It was fun watching them practice. I had to remind Sara that she is a girl and she will not be shaving her face when she gets older. It was so cute each one instructing the other as to what to do and not do as if they had done this before! I think the last time Jaron put shaving cream on his face was when he was 2 yr old. My that was long time ago. Anyway, I got these great pictures and had to share. Oh and yes the razor had a shield...always safety first!-

Additionally: After posting this I realized just how remarkable these pictures are and how amazing it is that Kris actually has shaving cream on his face! The one child in our how that can not handle stuff on his face and he is the one that starts this! This in itself is a HUGE accomplishment for him! He really is growing and changing! I am so proud of his accomplishments!
WAY TO GO KRISTOFER!