Mommy - 43

*****Happy Birthday Mommy!*****

Tonight we had a girls night out... in celebration of mom's birthday. :) Dad snapped these pictures right before we left the house. Brittany and I treated mom to dinner at a local Italian restaurant. We went to Ross' and Target to help her pick out some cute clothes. While there we ran into Matthew, Joey, Chrissie, and Mr. Ricardo!! :) Then we treated her to a Starbucks Frappacino. I praise God for the 43 years of life that HE has blessed her with. And that HE saw fit to make her my *mommy*. I am so blessed!! Life is so fragile and I am really glad we were able to spend this time together. I pray that she will continue to be strengthened in the faith and that we will continue to grow closer together as a family. I wish we would have gotten a sibling picture there at Starbucks - but we didn't. :( We were talking about this interesting fact: Matthew & Brittany were both born in Florida and they resemble alot - they look like mom who was raised in FL. Joey & I were born in Connecticut and resemble alot - we look like dad who was raise in CT. Must have been something in the water!? Haha.

While gone, I sure did miss Tony, and I was so glad to come home to My Prince Charming!! He even got a tall black coffee from Starbucks and my leftover veggie lasagna. I love him that much -- and so much more!! ;)

Waging War

Last night, as we were reading thru Romans 7-8, we had a discussion regarding these things:

Some take this passage and say that this was before Paul's conversion. This would be people that believe in sinless perfection (that Christian's no longer sin). But reading these verses in context (along with Romans 8), shows that Paul has been regenerated already and is talking here of his struggle with his flesh.

7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh...

8:8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Those that believe in sinless perfection, also tend to deny original sin; but Paul knew that there was nothing good within himself. He knew that he had no ability in and of himself to fight this battle against the flesh. If Paul was not converted, then he wouldn't have the desire to please God (8:5). And he could not please God as an unbeliever (8:8). The truth is, as Christians, we will never be perfect on this earth. We are still in the flesh and we must wage war against it on a daily basis. We are to starve our flesh!! J.C. Ryle says it this way:

"A person who has been born again, or regenerated, does not habitually commit sin. He no longer sins with his heart and will and whole inclination. There was probably a time when he did not think about whether his actions were sinful or not, and he did not always feel grieved after doing evil. There was no quarrel between him and sin; they were friends. But the true Christian hates sin, flees from it, fights against it, considers it his greatest plague, resents the burden of its presence, mourns when he falls under its influence, and longs to be completely delivered from it. Sin no longer pleases him, nor is it even a matter of indifference to him; it has become a horrible thing which he hates. However, he cannot eliminate its presence within him.

If he said that he had no sin, he would be lying (I John 1:8). But he can say that he hates sin and that the great desire of his soul is not to commit sin at all. He cannot prevent bad thoughts from entering his mind, or shortcomings, omissions, and defects from appealing in both his words and his actions. He knows that "in many things we offend all" (James 3:2). But he can truly say, in the sight of God, that these things cause him grief and sorrow and that his whole nature does not consent to them."

Memorial Day Weekend 2008

This weekend we joined some fellow Christians in VA to preach the gospel on the boardwalk. With it being a three day weekend, people flocked to the beach, which gave non-stop opportunities to open air preach, pass out gospel tracts, and talk with people 1-to-1.

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Guests in our Home

All last week we had the honor of being graced with the presence of our brother in Christ, Ken Burk. ;) He flew in from Texas! His flight was originally scheduled to arrive at the Raleigh airport around noon. My dad and I were going to go pick him up. But Ken opted to take a later flight in exchange to fly first-class. It worked out perfectly. I was able to stay at home and prepare the chicken fajitas, while Raul and Tony went to pick him up at the airport around 6:30pm. We had a great time of fellowship and I was given plenty of opportunity to practice cooking. ;) I had lots of fun!


Saturday morning, we all ate breakfast together. Then Tony went over to his parents house to help them install their new metal roof. That evening we went downtown Goldsboro to proclaim the gospel... but there was very few people there; nobody standing outside... so we decided to "go fishing" at Wal-Mart instead. James & Tinna joined us there! We had several encounters there. Afterwards we went to Sonic's and got home pretty late that night.


Sunday we went to church and stayed there for lunch. We said our farewell to Raul (as he was going back to VA). Tony mowed the yard and helped his dad on the roof until evening.


Monday, Tony had to go into work. I went with my parents as they ran some errands, while Ken stayed and rested at the house. Brittany came over and hung out with me for a few hours. That evening, James & Tinna joined us for supper (Mexican Lasagna) and a game of "Intelligent Design vs Evolution".


Tuesday afternoon we went to Tony's 6 month check-up with Dr. Barringer in Rocky Mount. They took one more x-ray of his teeth and compared that to the infected x-rays they took over 6 months ago. Glory to God!!! It appears that everything has healed beautifully; that is definitely an answered prayer!! That evening, my family joined us for dinner. :)


Wednesday, Brittany and I started walking at the Cliffs. It took us about an hour to walk all three trails. I thank God for this time that I am able to spend with my only sister! That afternoon, I went with mom to pick some more strawberries. And that evening, we went to church and we started our study on the book of Revelation. Around 11pm, the guys were craving some fluffy pancakes... so guess who was busy making those?! :) They were very tasty and I'm so glad they enjoyed them.

Thursday morning, Tony and Ken hung out at Starbucks for about an hour, while Brittany and I walked the cliffs. Around 4pm we went to the Cliffs of the Neuse to have a cookout and walk the trails. :) It was a fun time! Tony and Ken went downtown Goldsboro in front of Torero's where they reported that quite the crowd was there for karaoke night. They had some really good encounters! I also made Ken his favorite kind of cake - chocolate, with very sweet chocolate icing! Sliced strawberries made a nice touch to this dessert!


Friday we ate breakfast at the Shoney's in Selma and dropped Ken off at the airport. Farewell!! :)

We thank God for crossing our paths and for the friendship we have with Ken and Raul. He has been such a blessing to us!!

Trees & Company

Our Thuja Green Giants arrived; all 80 of them. They look so healthy and have really good root systems. So we were busy planting these last night - Tony dug all the holes, then started to help me plant them. It started to rain, but we just kept on going! We had a lot of fun working in our yard together. :) Lord willing these trees will grow fast and create a nice privacy border around our home.

"Luther" the dog kept us company while we planted the trees. At 4pm, while I was on the front porch reading, I saw this dog sprint down the road, as if he was trying to find his owner. By 5:30pm he was back at our house. We felt so bad for him. We thought for sure that someone had dropped him off and just left him. :( Every car that drove by, he would watch as it passed by, and whimper a little. So we gave him some water and later that night some food. We even played a little fetch with him. He greeted us on the porch this morning and stood with me as I waved bye to Tony. The plan was to call the pound to come and pick him up. About 7:20am I hear a loud knock on the front door. I was thinking wow, that must be the pound already. They are really on the ball. But it was actually "Luther's" owner. I was so glad that he had an owner that was looking for him and wanted him!! Willabee (which is the dogs real name) was pretty excited too!!!

Finally!

Since our wonderful marriage, I have not had much time to scrapbook and be crafty. So my craft room was just kind of left to itself for the past 2 years. You know the saying - "out of sight, out of mind". :) Well, to celebrate my 11th day as a homemaker, I decided to tackle the BIG job of cleaning and organizing this forgotten room. Below you can see my progression. It took me all of five hours! :) Priase the Lord!!


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Mother's Day 2008

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Our Awesome God

I have started reading this title by John MacArthur and I highly recommend it! Here's a few quotes:

"Believing the wrong thing about God is a serious matter because it is idolatry... According to the Bible, it is thinking anything about God that isn't true or attempting to transform Him into something He isn't"

"God Himself pointed out the fallacy of idolatry, saying of man, "You thought that I was just like you." (Psalm 50:21). We must be careful not to think of God in our terms or entertain thoughts that are unworthy of Him."

"A careful examination of world religions shows that the gods spawned by them are rarely of the delivering kind, but usually have an oppressive nature that needs continual appeasement."

Sovereign Lord

"By thanking God for the unreliable and difficult circumstances, we are saying God You are the blessed controller of all things. You are sovereign and in control. I don't understand all that is happening, but I thank YOU and trust You to teach me what You wante me to learn, and to work it all together for good."

--Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart

Saying Farewell...

...to our dear brother in Christ, Paul Perkins! He is moving all the way to California (which is a good reason to take a road trip out that way - maybe next Spring). We will certainly miss him!! He has been such an encouragment to us and we have learned so much by spending time with him. God has granted him much wisdom. We have watched this man go through many trials over the past year and a half. And we have watched how GOD has carried him through it all! HE has done miraculous, wonderful things! We feel so privelaged to have been able to witness it. God is so good and merciful and loving and precious!! HE loves His children oh so very much - words cannot describe the love of God!! I just cry tears of pure joy when I think on these things!


Lord, please be with Paul as he now packing up all his belongings and as he goes to trade his car for the family mini-van. Please grant him safety of travel with little Caleb and little Sara. I thank you so much for crossing our paths and for the friendship that you've blessed us with. I pray for the new life that is waiting for Paul in California. May all transition well to the move. May they look to you in all things!! I rejoice in all that you've done for Paul! And as Paul said last night "Even if I die on the way to California, God still did it!" You did it Lord!! Thank you so much!!!

Humbled by Sleep

"The benefits of sleep are obvious. As we sleep, strength is restored, the mind is cleared, and we're prepared to serve God another day - to rise and experience His mercies that are new every morning. What a wonderful gift to be given on a daily basis."

"The fact is, God could have created us without a need for sleep. But He chose to build this need within us, and there's a spiritual purpose for it. Each night, as I confront my need again for sleep, I'm reminded that I'm a dependent creature. I am not self-sufficient. I am not the Creator. There is only One who will neither slumber nor sleep (Psalm 121:4), and I am not that One."

-- C.J. Mahaney in his book "Humility: True Greatness"

Strawberry Jam

Tuesday afternoon, Mom & I went to pick strawberries. So today I made about 120 ounces of freezer jam. Yeah - go Shayna! :) So now I'm thinking it would be really neat to go pick some raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, etc. so that I can make more jam... but then I realize that our freezer is only so big. :)

Garden Salsa

I also made some yummy salsa...

6 medium tomatoes
3/4 cup finely chopped bell peppers
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp each: cider vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil
1-2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Serve with tortilla chips! :)

Sin & Death

People are not the enemy. SIN is the enemy. DEATH is the enemy. People are enslaved to sin and death. We are to extend the Bible to people. People are cloaked with pride and selfishness. We should reach out to them with the Holy Scriptures, declaring God's truth to mankind, sympathizing with people but not their sin.

Joey's 20th B-day

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOEY**

So for the past couple weeks we have been planning a "surprise" party for Joey - thanks to Miss Chrissie! :) And surprised he was! The plan: Joey thought that we were just going out as a family to Logan's. Unbeknownst to him, we had been inviting several of his friends to join us. John had just been skating with Joey and said "I need to meet some people in town". Matt called Joey and asked if he wanted to hang out. Joey said he couldn't because he was having dinner with the family. Chrissie said that she was going to be real busy on Saturday. He had no clue. Haha. It was good. My parents and Chrissie got him a digital camera that he had been talking about for a couple weeks now. Chrissie also made him this skateboard "with purpose" - he can use it to hang hats from or something along those lines. So creative! Matthew had put some money toward Joey's new CD player for his car. Brittany, Tony, & I had bought him a DVD player, as the one in his bedroom had broke. And mom made him his favorite "Pinapple Upsidedown Cake". Yum!!

Ham & Yam Festival 08

Saturday afternoon we joined Harlan, Blair, and Hannah at the Ham & Yam festival in Smithfield for a couple hours of witnessing. While passing out million dollar bills, one young guy said "I'm going to buy a playboy mansion with this!" Of course, that was a great opening to talk with them about our sin before a just and holy God. That particular guy did not want to hear it and kept telling his other friend to "come on... there ain't no since in listening to this". But despite the great temptation to leave, and the many interruptions, his friend did stay and listened intently as we went through the gospel. I pray that God will do a great work in his heart.

There were other great encounters throughout the day.

Encounter with the Pizza Guy

Yesterday, Tony got off work a little later than normal and was informed that he had to come into work Saturday morning for a few hours. So we decided to just have a relaxing evening at home; but God had better plans. Shortly after dinner, our dear brother Fareid called to say that Fresh Ground Ministries was having a car wash Saturday and wanted to borrow our banners and have some gospel tracts to pass out to their "customers". (Praise the Lord for their desire to reach out to the lost)! "No problem!" So we drove over to Fareid's house to drop off the materials, then we decided to go hang out at Books a Million for a while. From there Tony mentioned that he was hungry and hinted at getting a pizza. So then we had a short discussion on whether we should buy a fresh pizza from the local pizzaria or just buy a frozen pizza to cook at home. We decided on fresh cheese pizza. As the very polite "pizza guy" wrote down our order, his pen slipped off the pad and he said - "Jesus". He almost instantly said "Forgive my language". I then asked him "Why do you think it was wrong to say that?" "Because I used it in vain." "That's interesting. I agree with you." From there he went on to tell us that he's been attending a local private college where it is mandatory to take both Old and New Testament classes. He was raised as a Buddhist and really enjoyed the OT teacher in particular as he gave a broad overview of what Christianity is. During our 10 minute wait for the pizza to bake we felt led to give him some sort of resource that gave a good explanation of the gospel. We prayed that God would give us wisdom and we settled on a sermon by Mark Driscoll titled "Jesus Died for our Unrighteousness". The "Pizza Guy" was very grateful for the sermon and said he would definately listen to it.

Glory to God - the One who has our every step planned to bring glory to His wonderful Name!!!

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established... the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Proverbs 16:3 & 9

Frustrated Wives?

"The frustration does not stem from the nature of the word [housewife]; rather it comes from the boredom inevitable in any job done poorly or unimaginatively."

--Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart