~~i had a dream~~

In my dream, even though I could only see a segment of the line, I knew that all of God’s people were lined up shoulder to shoulder. The question “Are you ready?” was posed. Although it wasn’t stated, the inference was ‘to go to heaven.’ As “yes” came from each person’s mouth, a very kind and knowing voice said, “You don’t have to make that decision today.” (As if this were one of the many check points in a Christian’s life.) As I reconsidered my ‘yes’ I realized that no, I was not ready. I have a young family, a healthy lifestyle and am enjoying where I am right now so I changed my answer to ‘no.’

In the next part of the dream, all those that had said ‘yes’ were taken to heaven and the rest of us stayed here on earth to continue life. As four of us were walking down the road, we came to a cattle-guard type crossing, only made of something like 2" X 6" boards standing on their sides about a foot apart. We stepped through them to another level and came to another road. Most of the ground was hard (frozen, maybe) but I found a stick and poked it into a patch of mud. Then I handed the stick to one of the men in our group and said ‘here’s your weapon.’ Several feet down this road, I did the same thing and handed the stick to the other man in the dream saying the same thing.

It was at that point I turned around and realized the road I was now on was a very wide downward slope and I knew it lead to Hell. Terror froze my veins as I realized I had rejected God in the most important decision of my life.

I turned back toward the ‘cattle-guard’ and started to fight my way back through the 12” space trying to get to the other road. Panic helped me get as far as my waist and I was suspended between the two roads. As I realized I was completely stuck, I audaciously cried out:

I want an audience with the King of kings!

**what was the sin that kept me out of heaven? unforgiveness**

Are you ready?

valentine's day crafts

one of the email subscriptions i receive had a neat idea for valentine's day. we made these for a dear friend of ours that we will be visiting on feb 14.

first, we needed 3 basket-style coffee filters stacked together. then we folded them until they were too small to fold.

i wonder if this is his response to the empty stapler. anyway, stapling these near the bottom was the easiest until i ran out of staples. we wrapped paperclips tightly around the base of the flower instead.

next, the filters were separated from each other.

finally pick your favorite paint and dip your creations.

other great craft ideas can be found at www.craftbits.com

~~family updates~~

this little man is 1 year, 7.5 months...

!!!joy!!!

give a boy a shovel...

and they all have somewhere to sit!

(hi, gramma... aunty 'a', cousin 'm', cousin 'j'...)

~~the trees of the fields clap their hands...together~~

as i've said before, one of my favorite things God ever did was create nature. i think most of my understanding of Him would not exist if nature didn't.

most recently i've been pondering the forest just outside my windows. we have trembling aspen, spruce, pine and balsom a few steps from any of my doors! they're all mixed together and have their roots deep in the clay. i haven't heard any of them complain about being beside another species. they haven't segregated themselves from the others.

(if you're easily offended, you might want to click the little 'x' in the top right hand corner now)

my question becomes "why can't the Church today be like that?" we all have our roots in One Savior and one redemption. sure, we have different ideas, thoughts and experiences. we will have different revelations of Jesus Christ.

everything in our lives must come back to one thing: Jesus Christ and Him crucified--1 Cor 2:2. when it does, the extraneous is simply that.

~~of computers and crashes--lessons in practicality~~

recently i learned how hooked on computers, i mean internet, i've become... and how dependent on the efficiency of ms excel!!! let's just say i've learned one thing: back up my info o-f-t-e-n!! madly racing about trying to collect information i thought i had hard copies for is nothing but a pain in the neck. lesson learned, trouble taken, consequences reluctantly accepted. :)

enjoy this winter holiday and catch you on the flip-side.

blessings.

~~name calling~~

not many of us want to call our children nasty names. when mrT and i were expecting our children, we were very careful to investigate the meanings of the names before we decided they were the names we wanted. why? because we firmly believe that, although we may be speaking their actual name, we are prophesying the characteristics of the meaning into their lives.

my challenge lately has not been changing their names, but watching my tone because sometimes my voice says a child is stupid, dumb, or less than the gift that God gave me. how terrible. what devastating effects it can have. a sunny disposition can turn thunderous very quickly.

a wonderful piece of advice my mom (i think) gave me is to listen to my words and at the end of a sentence silently add "sweetheart" or "stupid." very quickly one's tone dictates which name your words imply.

like proverbs 15:3 says, 'a soft answer turns away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger.'

i want my interactions with people to be 'sweetheart.' i'm starting at home.

~~reason to celebrate~~

rejoice with us. :)

last week missT had a follow-up appointment with her paediatrician. at her previous visit, we were finally able to start reducing the clonazepam. she was only taking 2.75mg / day but the effects were strong. with her head full of fog and all processes slowed to a dull roar, how can a kid learn? all she wanted to do was sleep! after a full night's sleep, she would start asking for a nap around 11 30 am and at 6 30 pm she would be begging to be in her pj's. how many 7 1/2-year-olds do you know like that?

the reduction begins..... and, for the first time in 2 years, she didn't ask for a nap in the afternoon. get this... we had only reduced it by .25mg. at that rate, it would take 11 months for her to be completely off the drug. (cold turkey could throw her back into seizures) a month later, after we had gone down yet another .25mg, she actually asked if she could 'please, stay up later.'

so, when we saw the Dr. last week, the first news was that the eeg missT had in july had come back with a 'significant improvement' and was 'normal.' as you can imagine, after 140 seizures in five years, most of them in the last two, i am about to burst!

i love what missT says about the eeg results: 'i am NORMAL!'

thank you, Jesus. (big sigh)