i will survive

it's worth repeating that an encouraging word from someone that matters to you can get you through just about anything....

Tonight, I watched Survivor with my hubby..it is a Thursday night ritual in our home. Although after seeing the previews for next week, I don't know how much longer we will be able to watch it in good conscience. We will have to see...

Anyways, tonight was the night that the winning tribe's reward included receiving letters from close family and dear friends. It is always the same.... Everyone responds differently, but everyone is so moved that they don't know how to respond... Some yell, some scream, some cry, some get very quiet, and some get very loud... Whatever the initial response, though, the end result is always the same... each one is spurred on to continue and is reminded that because of the support and love that they fell, they can survive...

I don't know where you are right now in your journey, but I have been in survival mode lately...in the wilderness, wondering what is going to happen. I am hanging on every encouraging word, whether from the Word of God, or from someone I trust whose words really matter to me... These en "courage" ing words give me some courage to keep on keeping on...

Who is hanging on to your words of encouragement today?? Your words have the power to give someone the courage to keep going...so tell someone how much they mean to you, tell them how great you think they are, and then watch them smile and keep on swimming along...

Blessings!

it's a bleeder!

it's worth repeating that head injuries bleed more than any other injury...

wow! today was injury day in the valantine home. i can not count how many times one of the kids fell on the floor, tripped over something, fell off the couch, ran into something, etc... it was a crazy day!

the worst injury award of the day goes to Kaitlyn, my 2 year old, who tried to flip over the arm of the couch and landed on the fireplace with her head..OUCH! Annie, our oldest, never took risks like that, so I had never seen a head injury before...and I would not have seen it had the blood not been flowing in Kaitlyn's hair... pretty soon, she had blood on her hands, I had blood on my clothes and face, and her hair was matted with it... I quickly began to clean the area so I could see whether we needed to make a hospital run, but the cut wasn't that big, it was just a bleeder... I was worried though, so I kept a close eye on her to make sure she didn't do anything out of the ordinary, which is very hard since Kaitlyn is always doing things out of the ordinary...she seems fine now though...

It amazed me how quickly Kait was ready to start jumping around and taking risks again after she had just gotten so hurt... She bled a lot of blood...she screamed in horror...and then she got back up and wanted to be active again..

It reminded me that I need to get back up and take risks after I fail and even get hurt... so do you... keep trying, keep failing, keep taking risks, and don't ever stay down...

Blessings!

Suitcase of Songs

it's worth repeating that God wants us to sing a new song...

Songs carry baggage... have you ever been scanning through the radio and you heard a song that brought back such vivid memories it was almost as if you were back in that moment in time. i've heard songs that have instantly changed my demeanor based on what they remind me of...

in the church, songs carry baggage, too. there are songs that are many years old that people still love to hear because it was the first song they sang after they were saved, or the song that was played the day of their baptism... sometimes, though, a song will trigger memories of a bad pastoral situation, or a hard time in the church... or if you are like my husband, you often change old songs into new songs and then no one else can ever sing them again without laughing... (there is none like me....)

God wants us to sing, write, produce, create new songs... songs for today, songs with new words.. God wants to give you a song to sing for when you are facing a trial and have nothing left but your song... God wants to move you to a new level, which sometimes means there will be new songs that go with that level...

As a worship pastor, I see all the time how people react to different songs... one person can love a song while the person next to them is not so thrilled with it... i heard that after you sing the same song 30 different times that it begins to lose it's original powerful meaning, and it just becomes a wordless melody. this has happened to me even in church, if the same song is sung over and over and over... i don't realize what the words are saying anymore, i am just singing along.

i love to listen to my kids sing some of the older songs i used to sing...it has total new meaning to them... and they make it fresh again...

We need new songs... We need fresh worship...

Is God giving you a song?? By all means, share it with the world...

Blessings!

Temper Tantrums

it's worth repeating that your reactions speak a lot louder about your character than your actions do...

i actually hate this thought, because often my reactions are not in line with where i think i should be spiritually.  it's much easier to act like a child of God, and some of us are really good actors, than it is to REact like a child of God...  

OUCH!  I really want to respond to my husband, my children, my parents, my in-laws, and everyone i meet the way God would have me respond even when i am frustrated or having a bad day... 

as a pastor, and pastor's wife, i am sometimes under immense pressure to perform, it seems, as if my life is perfect, and everything is just fine.. anyone who has ever spent any length of time with me can tell you that i am not perfect, my kids are not perfect, and i don't have it all together.  there are days i feel like throwing in the towel, like throwing a fit, and like throwing some object at someone else!  see, i told you i am not perfect at all...

God has really been challenging me to look at my reactions to people, and stop making excuses, like i am tired, i have had a bad day, my kids are just driving me crazy.. and to let the fruit of His Spirit shine through me in ALL my reactions...

I tired of "act"ing a role...I want all my actions and my reactions to glorify God and to point people to Him...

anybody with me??

Blessings!

this little light of mine

it's worth repeating that God desires for us to become brighter and more beautiful every day...

Today I was reading in 2 Corinthians..the chapter just escaped me...it is 3 or 4..in the Message Bible.  it rocked my world.  the verses leading up to the final verse of the chapter talked about how we have been set free from legalism, and the law of condemnation.  it talked about seeing God face to face...and then the kicker..the final verse spoke about becoming brighter and more beautiful every day in the Lord...

wow!!  i don't know about you but there are many times i feel more burned out, and not brighter, and more aged, and not more beautiful every day... i look at new Christians and remember how bright I once was..I look at those who have been forgiven of all their sins for the first time and see how beautiful they suddenly are...and I envy them.

As Christians, long-time followers of Christ, we have to shake off those things that cause us to become dim, foggy, and critical... we have to shake off the attitudes, the entitlements, the self-righteousness, the sarcasm, and become more beautiful every day..

what a challenge... the end of the verse tells us how... when Christ comes in, we become brighter and more beautiful as time goes by.. we don't rot and break down like the world around us...

have you invited Christ into every part of your life today??  let your light shine!

Blessings!

don't give up on love

it's worth repeating that God calls us to love without stopping....

wow...love has really gotten a bad rap in our culture.  people use the word so flippantly, and even about stupid stuff... i LOVE him, i LOVE her, i LOVE this, i LOVE that... then the very next moment they change their minds and don't love anymore...

i am so thankful to God for His unconditional, unstoppable love... so many times I haven't deserved it at all, so many times i didn't treat God and live for Him as if i loved him...so many times God could have rightfully turned his back on me and taken his love somewhere else...but He never has...and never will..

It's interesting in 2 Corinthians that God calls us to show love that doesn't stop loving... i guess i am the type of person that loves so strongly that i feel like i can't stop loving even if i try... i may stop trusting, and i may get hurt, but i have a hard time giving up on loving someone... or even something...  i have a hard time parting with things that hold special meaning to me....even if their better days were many days before...

as i think about the changes in our lives that we are going through, i know i will never stop loving the students of xlr8 and the people at dayspring who are like family to us... i know i will never stop loving my husband and children and walking on this journey of life with them, even when the going gets tough...and i know i want to stop questioning once and for all whether God loves me and has His best in mind for me... his love has never stopped for me..why would it now?

Blessings

i've been replaced

it's worth repeating that the Kingdom of God is so much bigger than any one of us...

sometimes, it's hard to realize that God doesn't need us...He desires to use us as vehicles for His glory, but He really doesn't need us. it feels good to be needed..it does something for our ego when people NEED us... but is also very dangerous, and can cause us enormous stress.

as most of you know, we are going through a major transition in our lives. tonight we walked over to our youth service (GOD's youth service)... someone else is in charge, some things have already changed, and nobody had an emergency or needed us to do anything...it was a very strange feeling. i felt sad, but also relieved to know that God has everything under control...

God positions us where we are most effective for Him, and when it is time for us to be repositioned it is not always easy, but He knows better than we do... however, if we forget that He is the one calling the shots, it's even harder...

There is another side to this though. when we realize that God doesn't need us, then it takes a lot of the pressure off us to perform. we just make ourselves available as living and holy sacrifices for Him to do whatever He needs to do through us...

God may not need us, but He sure wants to use us to bring glory to His name, and to reach as many people as we can for His Kingdom...

do you feel pressured in life to be perfect and be everything that everyone needs? don't put that kind of pressure on yourself... God wants to use you but He wants to move you out of the way so people can see Him...

Blessings