What God Said to Me This Weekend

I am coming off one of the most incredible weekend retreats I have ever been to. A group of women from our church went to Tulsa to see Priscilla Shirer at the Church at Battlecreek. It was great!
Priscilla started by talking about "sleepwalkers". You know them...I am one of them. We go through life saying things like, "I wish summer would hurry up and get here.", "I wish I would hurry up and graduate so I could go to college and move out.", "I wish Mr. Right would come along; I want to be married like all my friends." Or, maybe, "I wish this really tough time in my life would be over. I feel like God has forgotten about me." If you are like me, you have spent half your life, as my Mom called it, wishing your life away. How many times have you missed the lessons and God's miracles because you closed your eyes to what's happening now and only saw what you wanted the future to bring. As Christians we pray for a miracle and then try to avoid the situations where we will see one. You can really see God in those tough times, if you open your eyes.
These are Priscilla's "Secrets For Sleepwalkers"
Genesis 28:10-17
1. Certain places are sacred places. Jacob reached the "certain place" and could not go any further on his journey. Scholars tell us that when the Bible talks about a certain place it refers to a place where something happened before. Maybe it was the site of sacrifices to God or where people gathered to worship. Jacob reached this certain place at nightfall and stopped and closed his eyes to sleep. He didn't see this place as a sacred place.
2. Secrets of stones. There is good stuff in the hard stuff. Jacob picked up a stone, turned it over and over and found the best spot on it to lay under his head as he slept. He found a good spot in that hard stone because he looked for it. We must always keep our eyes open when we are in difficult times. God will shows us the good stuff.
3. Secret of confirmation. When life does not affirm, God will go out of his way to confirm. In the middle of sleep on this rough journey of Jacob's, God came to him in a dream. He didn't give Jacob a new revelation. He told him again what his plan for him was. This had to be great comfort to Jacob in a time when he had to be down and depressed. Expect confirmation from God and look for it.
4. Secret of returning. What you return to will concern you. You have to remember the seeds you are sowing now. God says what you sow you shall reap. Remember this in tough times. How you handle situations will be your witness for Christ, and whatever seeds you are sowing you will harvest. You will see them again.

Luke 24:13-28
5. Secret of behold. When the Bible says "Behold", it means that you need to sit up and pay attention. On the road to Emmaus the two travelers didn't even realize something extraordinary was happening to them. They were in a behold moment. When you are in tough times, God will see you through. Ask yourself in these "behold moments" what you are supposed to be learning. Sit up and pay attention because God is about to do something extraordinary in your life.
6. Secret of going home. These two men on the road to Emmaus had just left the Passover celebration and were on their way home. Jesus chose that time to appear to them. Why didn't He do it when they were among all those people at the party? He waited until they were alone and going home. Being in fellowship and worshiping with other believers is great, but there are some things that only happen when we are alone with God.
7. Secret of looking ahead. We all know how damaging it is to concentrate on the past. We should remember the past in terms of the lessons learned from mistakes that were made, but we need to keep looking forward and not dwell on those mistakes.
8. Secret in silence. The two travelers on the road to Emmaus were so busy talking and discussing the events of the weekend, they missed Jesus walking along with them. Sometimes we talk to much. Why do we think we have to talk to others about our problems? Our friends sympathize with us, but that is as far as they can go. Why not take it to our God, who can sympathize with us, but also has the power to do something about our situation?
9. Secret of invitation. It wasn't until the travelers invited Jesus to come into their home that they were able to see who he really was. We must continue to be listening for the knock, answer the knock, and invite Jesus into our lives.


These are some of the things I got from this weekend in Tulsa. It was a great time and I recommend going to see Priscilla whenever you can. I have never left a women's conference thinking more about God than the speaker. Priscilla is truly anointed.

Heartache

Yesterday was a sad day. Collin came to the 9th grade awards assembly to tell me that his girlfriend, Dylan, had broken up with him. He was very upset and hearbroken.
It got me thinking about my love in high school. I really don't remember hurting that bad at the end of my relationships. Was I hard hearted or, maybe, just ready for the relationship to end? Could I really feel LOVE or have a damaged heart because of divorce?
I can't answer these questions nor do I care these days. I know that I can feel love now and have a loving heart and spirit. This is all because of the grace of God. If you trust Him, God can heal anything. That is what I tried to tell Collin yesterday. He is such a special guy that feels with all he has. I pray that this hurt doesn't damage his heart and spirit.
I will tell you this. You have never hurt as bad as when you have seen your child with a broken heart.

OYE Yipee!

This is spring break, but more importantly, it's the Oklahoma Youth Expo!I love that show. The best of the best kids from across the state come to compete with thier livestock. From what I've seen, the animals are only vehicles to get the kids together. Lifelong friendships are made in that barn and showring. I've been a part of that for a long time now and can atest to that. The showring has brought my husband and I friends that we talk to on a regular basis and love dearly. The OYE is an awesome place to spend time with these people and root their families on. I bleed the blue and gold of the FFA and believe every kid should be raised in a barn!

Pioneer Woman?

I love the pioneer woman....Ree Drummund. I was introduced to her through her cookbook that kk got me for my birthday. I knew after reading that cookbook that I could really relate to her. Living in the country, having onery country kids, liking to cook, and loving animals. I visit her website and read her blog quite a bit. I was doing so a few minutes ago and thinkng, "wow, it'd be neat to live on a ranch like Ree does". Then I looked up to a sow staring at me through the patio door! Ugh! I don't know why she broke out, or why she had freed every other pig on the place. I did know that, being home by myself, I was going to have to capture them all. Reba and I did it with not too much trouble. I wonder of Ree ever has to pen up escapees? I bet not.

Is God Real?

I see people doing mean things to other people all the time. Being uncompassionate and hurting others, even when they know what they are doing. It makes me sick. I can get so mad at those mean people and hurt for the ones being hurt. You know what rarely crosses my mind? What that hurt does to God. Why can't I hurt for what those actions do to Him? I can when I think on it for a while, but why is that not my first reaction? I say God is the most important to me...but is He really?

It's Friday! For a 4 day week this has been a long one! Tuesday ended very badly! Gossip in the church is so hurtful! I wish everyone would just go straight to the individual instead of asking other people if they have heard this or that! I think people mean well most of the time. At least, I'd like to think that of my Christian friends.

Our Superintendent has called a district wide meeting after school next Wednesday. I'm sure it's going to be about budget cuts. I think she is going to tell us we have to start saving money in areas of the district. I could really give her some ideas on saving money. Not that I can see the whole picture or anything, but I do see ways on my campus.

How about getting rid of some of the programs that we are using, or not using, in the district? We pay a lot of money to Pearson for Benchmark testing that none of us has been able to access all year. You know what? Our kids are still learning what they are supposed to learn. We also pay for Curriculum Mapper. I, and the teachers I talk to, make their maps at the beginning of the year and don't look at them until the next year. Now, how is that helping my students. You know what? Our kids are still learning what they are supposed to be learning.

How about going to a 4 day week? Lots of schools and business's are doing it and it's saving them money. Here, we are so ahead on our minutes, that all we would really have to do is shorten lunch. Which should be done anyway. I know what you are saying. "What about my kid? What am I going to do with him on Fridays?!" Well, what did you do with him on Christmas break? I don't know when schools started catering to whatever the parents wanted to do. Schools used to just make the rule and that was how it was. The community adjusted. I long for those days when school was the most important thing a kid did and parents did whatever they had to do to keep them in school.

Anyway, I don't feel like this meeting will bring on the kind of changes we need. Yes, I have sadly lost faith in our Superintendent. I just pray that Wednesday she redeems herself.

It is so cold outside! I am really getting tired of this weather. The dog has to go out every hour or so, but it does get me outside in the fresh, frigid air. Probably good for my health.

God has taken care of us so well during this cold snap. The pigs have all stayed warm, the pipes have all stayed thawed out, and our electricity never went out! We are so blessed.

I have got to start on Collin's FFA scrapbook! It is due in a couple of weeks! Ugh! I hate scrapbooking! Especially one this emotional.