Have You Stopped Listening?

I know my kids are probably the ONLY ones who do this (yeah right!) but it drives me crazy . . . I say their name to get their attention or I ask them very calmly and politely to do something. And they ignore me. Then I ask again - a little more loudly this time since they must have not been able to hear me the first time - and still no response. Then again and again until finally, I am having to yell to get their attention. It's SO FRUSTRATING!!! For those of you who have been reading my more recent posts, you will know God has been speaking to me and this is another thought He has given me lately:

If we get so frustrated with our children . . . why do we think it's okay to do the same thing to God?

I mean, if we are Christian, He is our Father. Right?

Recently, I attended the Oklahoma Ladies Retreat along with some other members of our women's ministry group. The theme of the weekend was Scouting the Divine which basically boiled down to this: let's get back to the basics and spend time with God in His Word. At one of the break-out sessions, the speaker gave us a "list" of the steps that take place "when we are shrinking back from God." This is a quote from the handout we were given (I've added scripture references in blue that God put on my heart):

Our woman's intuition [remember, I was at a ladies retreat but this pertains to us all LOL] should alert us to when we are shrinking back from God. These are some things that may start to take place:

1. We stop being in God's Word. (Psalm 119:11)

2. It starts to get easy to miss church here and there. Shows and teaches our kids it's alright to miss when it inconveniences our plans. (I Corinthians 12:27)

3. We start to justify missing church. ("We are too busy.", "We were just worn out.") (Hebrews 10:25)

4. We begin to not see sin as sin. (ie what see see on TV or hear on the radio)

5. We aren't bothered by the things that bother God. We become insensitive to that sin. (ie gossip) (Isaiah 29:13)

6. We ignore our conscience.

7. We begin to entertain thoughts that are contrary to God's will. (Isaiah 29:15-16)

8. We resist reproof. We don't want to hear it.

9. We make a habit of our sin.

10. We even start bragging about how we know it's wrong.



I don't know about you all but I think that #1 is the "easiest" trap to fall into. At this point, the Holy Spirit says our name trying to get our attention. Then #2 & #3 play together. And He has to call a little louder. From there, I believe this speaker listed things out well in the order that they normally happen. And the Voice gets a little louder each time. Sadly, we often make it so far into the list that the Holy Spirit literally has to scream to get our attention. So, why do we get so aggravated when our children do the same thing?

Father God, please make it obvious to me and anyone who is reading this post where in our lives we are falling into these traps. Father, please make us sensitive to Your Voice. Thank you for being our Loving Father - even when we don't deserve it.

Revival

(ri-vahy-vuhl) - restoration to life, consciousness, vigor, strength, etc.

Beginning tomorrow, our church will be having "revival services." What does that mean? It means that we will have 5 services in which a guest evangelist and musician will come into our church and lead corporate worship. But by reading the above definition of revival, I think it's intended to mean so much more than that.

I know that for me, on a personal level, there are too many times that I allow my spiritual walk to become lifeless. I lose my motivation and strength to worship and praise God the way He desires me to. Sometimes, I even go through the motions of church so ritualistically that I'm not conscious of my actions.

What about as a church - a group of believers? How many times have churches become complacent in their Kingdom Work? How many times have they held revival services and they are just that - services? When is the last time you heard of a church experiencing true revival and not just having services?

My prayer for this week is that our church will be touched in such a way that the individual members open their hearts to what God has to say to us personally. I pray for the guests that will be coming into our meetings - that God will give them the right words to say. And I pray for myself - that my heart will be softened and that I will be willing to follow God's will. I am upset that I am in the middle of a big project at work and will not be able to be at the services, but I am at a point in my life that God has been speaking to me in powerful (and not always fun) ways. Don't think for one minute that just because I'm not going to be able to be at the meetings that I do not expect God to speak to me. What about you?

Father God, please begin at this moment softening the hearts of the poeple at Rancho Village Baptist Church and the surrounding community and prospective members. Bring the people to the services that you want to be there. Move in powerful ways. Bring true revival to your people. Please remind me to be seeking Your will, even though I won't be there for the meetings. Help me to avoid becoming complacent. Thank you God that you have great plans for your Kingdom . . .

Out of my comfort zone

Tonight is Monday. Superman goes to a Men's Meeting (Bible/Book study with other Christian men, mostly from our church) on Monday nights. Usually, the girls and I will hang out with my mom and sisters but they are at Falls Creek (mom is cooking again) so it was just me and mine :-) I really enjoy spending time with them doing things like this:

But today was a crazy long day at work and I just didn't feel like going home. There is too much work here to do and I knew I wouldn't relax and spend time with them. So, we headed to a favorite hang out for dinner and play time . . . Chick-Fil-A!!! One reason I like going there is because it is a Christian based business and I will support those as often as I can ~ even though it is frustrating that (even though it's one of the things I like about them!) they are closed on Sundays ;-) The other big factor in my liking to go there is that the girls will choose the fruit cups over the french fries! They don't even ask for fries (I think they believe fruit is the norm at Chick-Fil-A!) and I like that they are making a healthy choice.

So, after we ate dinner, they did a little of this . . .

THEN . . . a little of this!

Then, Hannah decided she wanted to be a photographer too.

What I didn't get pictures of was the incredibly nice family we befriended in the play area. It was a mom, a dad, an 18 month old girl and a 6 year old boy. The kids all played together really well (it was only the 4 of them in the play area) and their parents and I were able to strike up a conversation about nothing other than . . . our families :-)

I didn't find out a whole lot about them other than the 6 year old will be attending the same school as Dallas and Makenna and will be in 1st grade so there is a chance he and Makenna will be in the same class. What a small world! The entire time we were talking, God was prompting me to invite them to church. But I kept fighting it. I would make a comment here and there about things like "my husband's at a Bible study right now so we thought we'd come play" and "our Hispanic pastor's daughter is so smart" but never flat out said anything about Christianity or church.

As they left the play area to eat their dinner and the girls and I went to get our ice cream, I could NOT get God's voice out of my head. What made the whole thing worse is that just yesterday, dad's sermon was about being "sent" (which is also the theme at Falls Creek youth camp this week. So, I said to myself "Tabitha, God is giving you an awesome opportunity to step out of your comfort zone and STEP UP!" As I looked into my purse to grab my keys, here is how God worked:

First, I realized that I had a blank offering envelope in my purse with our church name, address and other information on it.

Second, the mom took the little girl to wash her hands (she had to pass by our table).

Then I finally stepped out - out of my comfort zone. I wrote my name and the names of my brother and sister who may get to meet her son on the back of the envelope. She had told me where they live and I had mentioned it was close to my parent's house. As she walked back by, I stopped her and said something about how it was so nice to have met them and gave her the envelope first showing her the side with the names and then said "and I don't know if you all attend church anywhere, but if you don't, there is information about the church we attend on the other side. We would love to have you visit sometime!" And her answer . . . "yeah! I know where that is! We may just come see you sometime. Thanks for the invitation."

Why am I sharing this with you? Well, let me start by saying that it is not to boast. Remember, I told you it took a lot of things for me to build up this courage so if anything, I should be embarrassed that this does not come naturally - so definitely not boasting!

I share for this reason alone. I want to encourage myself and you. Striking up a conversation is so natural for most people. Silence is more awkward. But striking up a conversation about our faith? Why is it so hard? Who knows if I will ever see this family again? But I can rest tonight knowing that I followed God's prompting. And I know that if a similar situation arises again, I AM able to carry on the simplest of conversations. God leading, this will happen again. I pray that next time, I will be more willing and more ready!

My Sweet Girls (I'll try not to bore you with pictures!)

Okay, so I took a small sebatical. It was for good reason . . . fellowship with friends and family the first night, fellowship with friends from Sunday School on the second night then a night out with Superman for our anniversary last night. So, tonight it's finally time you get to meet my girls!

Superman and I didn't wait long to bring our first little bundle into the world. Remember, I was an "old maid" before we married and I wanted to be completely finished having children by the time I was 30 ;-)

So, when we learned I was expecting our first child just 7 months after we said "I Do" no one was really surprised. Now, the surprise was that we chose not to learn the gender of our expected child until "Baby H" (Hudson for a boy, Hannah for a girl) arrived. In September 2005, Hannah Faith joined our family. She was such a sweet, quiet baby! And to see Superman light up when she was around . . . he could swaddle her even better than I could and I was experienced at swaddling! Over the years, she has developed such a personality. She is now almost 5 and she can be the sweetest, most loving, most funny, most onery, most stubborn and even most defiant child all within the same 10 minutes! But I wouldn't trade her for the world. She's growing so much every day - not only in size (she's destined to be petite) but in brains and personality. I'm looking forward to seeing where God leads her life!

And Hannah was so excited when Superman and I told her she was going to be a big sister! I, however, was very nervous. Hannah had been such a mellow baby, I was nervous about what this baby may be like - afraid he or she would be fussy or colicky. This time, I let Superman talk me into not letting the gender be a surprise and Hannah got her wish for a baby sister. Chloe Grace was added to our family in July 2008. I had been nervous for nothing! Chloe was such a good AND HAPPY baby! And she is still a good and happy toddler. (Don't get me wrong, she is going to be 2 soon. And her attitude lately shows that!) From day one, Hannah has been a GREAT big sister. She loves Chloe with all her heart. But, of course there is the normal sisterly bickering! And through the growth of our family, I saw Superman change in ways I could never have dreamed. He is still such a great daddy. He loves both girls with every fiber of his being!

Both girls LOVE to sing! I'm glad they got THAT from me because otherwise, they are both JUST LIKE their daddy!! And Hannah? Well, she can make up a song with the best of them - THAT she got from her grandpa :-)

**Okay . . . here is where I was attempted to insert a video of each of the girls singing. However, I've been waiting for the first one to download for now 15 minutes and it wasn't complete. So, I guess you'll just have to use your imagination!**

They love their family (both Grandpa and PaPa are faves!) and friends.








They are both daddy's girls. At first this bothered me, but now? Well, I've come to realize that this relationship with their daddy is very important in developing a healthy idea of how a man is supposed to treat them. And while I would love to say that doesn't matter because they are never going to grow up, I know that is not true. And when they grow up, they will probably want to date boys. I want them to have a great man to compare them to. I'm glad Superman is willing to be that for them! It makes me love him even more!!

They love going to church. Superman and I are grateful for this! It makes it easier to teach them about God's love when they are able to go to a church where our church family loves them and helps teach them about God.

Speaking of Superman, remember I said earlier that last night was our anniversary? Well, after 6 years of marriage I'd say we clean up mighty fine. Thanks, Superman, for loving me all this time.

And thank you for my beautiful family!