The Motions

I don't wanna go one more day

Without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,

"What if I had given everything,

instead of going through the motions?"

lyrics by Matthew West

On Easter, we can get so focused on Easter clothes and Easter baskets that we really forget what we are celebrating. Jesus suffered, died on a cross, rose again on the third day and conquered death. Why? The wages of sin is death and Jesus paid our wages with His body and with His blood because the God of the Universe wanted to have a relationship with us. We could never have been good enough, gone to church enough, helped others enough to be able to come into the presence of the Lord. We are just not that good. Only through Jesus and his righteousness are we able to come to Him and have a relationship with God. "His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to himself THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. And this gave Him great pleasure. So we praise God for the wonderful kindness He has poured out on us because we belong to His dearly loved Son. He is so rich in kindness that He purchased our FREEDOM through the blood of His Son, and our sins are forgiven" (Ephesians 1:5-7).

Next year, I have decided that I am going to really celebrate Easter instead of going through the motions. On 4th of July, we go all out with fireworks to celebrate our freedom as a nation. Why should we not also teach our kids to celebrate Easter with the same enthusiasm because of the freedom that Jesus died for so that we would no longer be slaves to the law? "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free " Galatians 5:1. The freedom comes from when we realize we could never be good enough to get to heaven or good enough to serve Him and that "the wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). So let's celebrate, with passion, all that God has done for us on Easter and every day instead of just going through the motions!!!!

What Can Wash Away My Sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow;

That makes me white as snow.

lyrics by Robert Lowry

Joseph saw his first snow today. Everyone had lots of fun until the snow ball fight because half of the snow worked its way inside their jackets and gloves. Of course, after the snow looks more like dirt, it is just not that fun anymore. The thing that draws you is the fresh, beautiful snow that has never been touched. You just can't wait to get your hands on it.

Then I remembered that God made the first man, Adam, from "the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being" (Genesis 2:7). That same man disobeyed God and brought sin into the world by eating of the one tree that they were not suppose to, the tree of life. "He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever" (Genesis 2:22). Basically, sin was brought into the world and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

If that was the end of the story, it would be a sad story but God and his unfailing love provided a plan and that plan was Jesus. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever BELIEVES IN HIM will have ETERNAL LIFE" (John 3:16). This life on this earth is but a vapor but when we leave this earth, we will live forever in His presence if we accept His gift, Jesus, as Lord and Savior of our lives. Remember, it is a GIFT not something we did to earn it so that we could boast about it. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith (in Jesus Christ)—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

If we could have done it on our own, there would have been no need for Jesus to die on a cross. But there was a need. The wages of our sin is death but JESUS paid our ransom with His life. "For even the Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). "He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree (cross), so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness" (I Peter 2:24).

The Good News is "for just as through the disobedience of the one man (Adam) the many were made sinners , so also through the obedience of the One (Jesus) the many will be made righteous" (Romans 5:19). When we accept the Gift, we were made RIGHTEOUS BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as WHITE AS SNOW; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool" (Isaiah 1:18). So when we confess Jesus as Lord of our lives and acknowledge that He died for our sins, God doesn't see the "dirt", our sin, but only sees the "beautiful snow", the righteousness of Christ, that covers us and He can't wait to get His hands on us to use us for His glory.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

I'm so glad it's Christmas

All the tinsel and lights

And the presents are nice

But the real gift is You.

written by Carol Cymbala

Everything seemed so busy leading up to Christmas Day....searching for the perfect gifts for the special people in our lives. It gets so stressful because you really want that person to know how much you love and care about them through a gift. You really try to put so much thought into it because you can't wait to see the joy that the gift brings.

Then, suddenly, you realize that is what the Heavenly Father did. He wanted us to know that He loves us so much that He was willing to let His One and Only Son, Whom He loved, suffer and die for our sins and then raise Him from the grave so that we could have a relationship with Him. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 3:23). It was God's precious Gift to us. He couldn't wait for everyone to "see" Him whether in Bethlehem or through our own eyes of faith. He offered this Gift to us NOT BECAUSE OF HOW GOOD WE WERE but because of HOW GREAT HE IS (Ephesians 2:8-9). His desire was for us to experience the joy of receiving the Gift.

Since we have received that precious Gift into our hearts and lives, He only ask that we do everything to pass on the Gift, Jesus Christ, to those who don't know Him so they, too, can experience that same joy. God could have done it Himself but He chose us, like the shepherds "to spread the word" so that everyone could come and "see".

So many want peace in their homes, in their marriages and around the world in the Middle East and across the nations. Peace can only come through the Prince of Peace. May we do everything in and through His power by praying for opportunities to share the Gift and to support missions to reach those across the other side of the world. May we do so we the same desire, urgency and determination as we do when we are trying to give that special gift to someone special because we can't wait to "see" the joy that the Gift will bring to them.

God Of This City

You're the God of this city

You're the King of these people

You're the Lord of this nation

You Are

lyrics by Chris Tomlin

(Photo taken 10/31/2008)

I know with everything going on with the world today, I can really allow fear to creep into my mind. I can worry about what decision our leaders are going to make and what the outcome will be for our future. But I must always remember that God is our King. He is Lord of this nation. He is the God of our cities. He is the One and Only. There is none like Him nor will there ever be. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. HE IS!!!

"Sing praises to God, sing praises;

Sing praises to our King, sing praises.

For God is the King of all the earth;

Sing to him a psalm of praise.

God reigns over the nations;

God is seated on his holy throne."

Psalm 47:6-8

Give Me Your Eyes

For just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
lyrics by Brandon Heath

I have been blinded with the busyness of life and almost missed seeing the blessings of God all around me. "I was blind but now I see" and want to share with you all that God has been doing in our lives.

First of all, Joseph has been sleeping through the night! I can tell he feels more secure and so much more peaceful. He has even been holding and kissing his little bear that we gave him when we first got him. In China, I tried to give it to him and he would have nothing to do with it. Now, he sleeps with him, takes him to breakfast and plays with him. Yesterday, he even put his little bear beside him on his picnic table while he was playing with his Doodle Board. I ran and got my camera and had to take a picture of it before I just cried.

He is also wanting to do whatever his sisters can do. When the girls say their memory verse for school, I always yell in excitement and say "Great Job"! Well, Joseph wants to say his memory verse, too, in his own little way. It is hysterical watching him go on and on. When he is done, he will yell in excitement like I do. I crack up every single time.

We also went to Florida with our friends, the Beatys, and we had a wonderful time. At home, Joseph loves playing in the sand box and taking a bath so the sandy beach and the endless ocean were like a dream come true to him. If we would have let him stay all night in the sand, I know he would have....all 27.5 lbs of him!!!!!

Last night, while we were saying our prayers at bedtime, Joseph started praying.....in his own way. I wanted to cry again because even though we didn't understand what he was saying, I knew God did. I would give anything to know but if I had to guess it would be "Thank you God for my Daddy, for my Mommy, for my sisters and my little bear." :)

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!

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).