Sunday, September 7, 2008

Lord, I Give You My Heart

I give You my soul
I live for You alone
lyrics by Darlene Zschech

On Friday, September 12th, 2008, Sami, Lili and Mali will be baptized at 7:00 p.m. at Crossroads Church at 2564 Highway 154 in Newnan, Georgia in the Worship Center. Please come join us as we celebrate and praise God for all that He has done!

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Call My Name

Say it now
I want you to never doubt
The love I have for you is so alive
You just call my name
lyrics by Third Day


Today, Lili went to a friend's birthday party that had the Wizard of Oz theme. You were suppose to come dressed as your favorite character from the Wizard of Oz. Lili dressed up as Dorothy. I wanted to dress up as the Scare Crow and sing "If I only had a brain...." because Joseph is still not sleeping through the night and my brain is mush. He usually cries out about 1:00 a.m., then 2:00 a.m., then 3:00 a.m., and then 4:00 a.m. Last night, he cried out every hour after 1:00 a.m. until 6:30 a.m. I have tried for several weeks to figure out what is keeping him up in the middle of the night...... "Does his stomach hurt?" "Is he hungry?" "Did he take too long of a nap?" "Does he still need a nap?" Did he poo-poo?" "Is it a night terror?" "Is he cold?" "Is he hot?" Then after I have exhausted my brain, I can't go back to sleep. If I do, Joseph wakes me up again.

Before I got Joseph, I prayed that God would help me to know what Joseph needs. Time after time, God has answered this prayer and He has totally amazed me. One day, Joseph walked up to me and just looked at me with a painful look on his face. He couldn't lift his foot to show me that he had something on the bottom of his foot that was hurting him but I knew, immediately, what was wrong and removed it. I could go on and on about other situations. What I couldn't understand is why I could not figure the nighttime situation out. I have prayed and prayed for God to give me wisdom and for Joseph to sleep through the night but Joseph continues to wake up. This morning, I cried out to God again and ask him, "Why won't you show me what to do? I can't, physically, keep doing this." I was not really expecting an answer but, at that moment, God spoke to my heart and reminded me that Joseph just needs to know that I am there. Joseph cried out for 3 years and no one came. He just needs to know that when he cries out, you will be there. I cried because, suddenly, it made so much sense. When Joseph cries out, I go to his room and when he hears my voice or feels my presence, he, immediately, quits crying and goes back to sleep. Even though I knew that he would probably continue to wake up in the middle of the night, it took the burden off of me of trying to figure it out. The "figuring it out" is what really keeps me up and prevents me from going back to sleep. I also knew that, in time, Joseph would become more secure as he continues to see and trusts that we will be there for him.

Isn't that a perfect picture of how God treats us. When we are afraid, we can just cry out to God and He lets us know that He is there. His ears are attentive to our cry (Psalm 34:15). Even when we doubt it, He is still faithful to keep showing us, again and again, that He is with us and will NEVER leave us (Joshua 1:5).