The Real Deal – a must read

Sooo… I was studying this morning and I was thinking about an incident that occurred with a co-worker yesterday. She was getting ready to vent to one of my other co-workers about another co-worker in the office and she was really upset and started cursing. At which point, I told the both of them that I had to go because I didn’t want my ears to bleed. So my co-worker then tells me, Belinda you know I curse like a sailor… but I’m still going to heaven. And I just gave her a look. And then I realized that most people really don’t know their status as far as their final resting place. Or should I say, they think they know their status. At that moment, I could have kicked myself because I missed an opportunity to really explain to her God’s standard for holiness. So this morning, I made it my business to really refresh myself in the subject and the Lord reminded me about a blog that I wrote on the very same topic 2 years ago. Here it goes…

…
“We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of the Lord” – Romans 3:23. But… Yes there is a but… By the grace of God, we can be forgiven.

So what’s your sin? Hmmm, maybe you think you don’t sin. Think again. 

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives” (1 John 1:8-10).” 

Sinning is not just what is clearly outlined in the Ten Commandments. Sin is also rebellion against God and his ordinances. So… Let’s see. How do you sin?

Maybe you’re in a relationship with someone that you’re not married to and your having sex. Yup… that’s sin. The correct terminology is fornication.” …Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body” – 1 Corinthians 6:13

Maybe you’re a gossiper. You’re always the phone quick to spread some new “news” you heard. Leviticus 19:16 says “‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people. ” ‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the LORD”

Or maybe you download music from the internet illegally. That’s pretty blatant seeing how most people at least try to honor the ten commandments, the eighth of which is “Thou Shalt Not Steal.” 

Now, the reason why I’m speaking so candidly about sin and some of the more common instances of sin is because we all have sinned and yet many people that I know feel they’re “ok” with God. They don’t do anything wrong to people, they go to work, they take care of their families, they give to charity… They’re ok. Please do not be deceived. The devil’s main agenda, his life mission statement is to Destroy you. No, not bother you on your job, not give you bad day… Straight Destroy you. 

1 Peter 5:8 ” Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour”
His weapon of choice is deception. So if he can get you to think, you’re “ok” with God, you’ll never seek a deeper understanding of or a relationship with God, because you feel you’re “ok” with him. But you couldn’t be more wrong. God detests sin. And not only does he detest it, but there’s a severe punishment for sin. Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is DEATH, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

So, if you’ve never accepted Jesus Christ in your life, right now, in you current state, you’re detested by God and he has already made the assigment for your final resting place. But… Thank God, that he sent his son Jesus Christ to the is earth be a pardon for our sins… all our sins. The ones yesterday, today and tomorrow. All you have to do is accept him in your life.
Romans 10:9-10 says “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”
It’s that simple. God loves you that much. He knew you before you knew you. He knew there would be a moment when you really need some forgiveness, so before you were even conceived, he devised your salvation. Now you undertsand why people refer to him as Awesome. Who else would do something like that?

The Wisdom of the Ant

“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!” ~ Proverbs

 

This afternoon, I was reading Proverbs 24 and it spoke alot about being a sluggard and I got a little convicted. I can be a bit lazy at times. Alot of times. So I decided to do some further reserach and see what the Bible says about a sluggard and I came across the passage of scripture above. “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!

 

So… I decided to do just that. I looked up the ant on wikipedia and man! All I can say is that the ant puts us to shame. There is so much that we as a people and even more, we as CHRISTIANS can learn from the ant.

Check this out:

 

“Ants form colonies that range in size from a few dozen predatory individuals living in small natural cavities to highly organised colonies which may occupy large territories and consist of millions of individuals. These larger colonies consist mostly of sterile wingless females forming castes of “workers”, “soldiers”, or other specialised groups. Nearly all ant colonies also have some fertile males called “drones” and one or more fertile females called “queens“. The colonies are sometimes described as superorganisms because the ants appear to operate as a unified entity, collectively working together to support the colony (taken from wikipedia.com)”

Did you hear that?! Ants operate as a UNIFIED ENTITY COLLECTIVELY working together to support the colony. Man! If that isn’t a manual for how we as the body of Christ should be working together, I don’t know what is.

Exposed

I’m a very visual person. I can read and read and read something until I’m blue in the face, but it usually won’t click until I visually see it in action.

 

So lately, I’ve been having this itch to grow something. So I purchased some seeds, some little porcelain flower pots and some soil. I planted a couple seeds in two of the pots. I kept one and I gave the other to one of my friends at work. We both sat the flower pots in the windowsills of our cubes. Within a few days, seeds in both our flower pots began to sprout. Her sprouts, however, are much taller than mine. I would say they’re at lest 2 – 3 inches taller than mine. My sprouts are still growing but they appear to be just growing slower.

 

At first this perplexed me. How can two sets of the same seed, potted in the same soil, grow at different rates? Then it hit me. Her window is an east facing window and my window is a north facing window, so her seeds have more exposure to the sun and the abundant exposure to the sun was causing them to grow at a much faster pace than mine.

 

 

Sometimes Christians, planted in the same church under the same minister hearing the same work grow at different rates. Why? Because when the service is over, and they go home, and it’s just them and God, they’re exposure to the “son” is different. Some may catch glimpses of the “son” here and there, while others bask in the “son” all day and can’t help but to grow. Could you use more exposure to the “son”? I know I could.

The real meaning for parenthood

      Hmmm, so perhaps you want a healthy marriage, a colonial house on the hill with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2 car garage, 2 healthy children and a dog. Sounds like fulfillment, doesn’t it? All things in their place. I remember before I got married, I always said that I wanted three girls. No boys! Boys are fierce. They jump on your furniture, they break stuff, and they play fight… No! No! No, we will have none of that. Just girls…sweet, pretty, precious girls. And then it happened. I got pregnant. First, let me say I knew I was pregnant even before my missed period. I didn’t have any symptoms, I just kinda knew. Second, the minute I knew, I knew it was a boy. I just knew. I just had this feeling like watch this is going to be a boy. All these years, I’ve been saying I wanted all girls and watch I end up with like 3 boys or something crazy. Yes crazy.

 

 

     So when our beautiful Nathan Josiah Harris was born, I just knew he was going to be different. I had no idea how and I still don’t, but I just knew. During my entire pregnancy, I saw eagles and butterflies EVERYWHERE. And no, I’m not usually a “Oh this must be a sign” type of person, ok well maybe I am just a little. But I kid you not, every time I got in the car, I saw one or the other or both. And Eagles aren’t the type of birds that you just see on an every day basis… like pigeons. So eagles signify leadership and butterflies signify change. So whatever that means, Nathan was about to be “something”.

 

 

     And now as our little darling approaches 1, he’s been coming into his own identity. He’s very stubborn… VERY (Yes bolded, underlined and capitalized) stubborn, very vocal, very opinionated…a little individual. He loves music, which isn’t really much of a surprise. But I think what has been most surprising about this mini-person is how reflective he is. Nathan is a mirror. He literally shows me myself. If I’m affectionate and patient, he’s affectionate and patient. If I’m cranky and short-tempered, he’s cranky and short-tempered. He’s learning all there is to know about relationships from the relationships around him. So here Wade and I were, living our on lives, comfortable in some sort of knowledge of ourselves and who we were and here comes this little person that barely speaks audibly telling me all about me. Yeah, I think I’m sweet, patient and kind… But oh contraire! Nathan tells me that I’m sweet, patient and kind, but only when I’m rested and things are going my way. I thought I was cleanly, tidy and orderly, but Nathan told me that’s only because I just had myself to clean up behind. Hmmph! Just who does he think he is?!?! He can’t even talk! Yet he somehow manages to say all that needs to be said. “Mommy, you thought you had it all together, you thought you were bringing your 100%, you thought God was really pleased with the commitment you were bringing to the life he’s given you, but he wants perfection… So he sent me to show you areas where you still need improvement.”

How deep is his love

My Lord is a sweet sweet soul… that speaks to me in a voice that only my heart can hear. When the world around me is screaming conflicting messages of his love, he gently kneels down and whispers just how much he loves me. My Lord is a sweet sweet soul. When I look at myself through the worlds eyes and see my self in comparison to the world’s standards and allow the world’s benchmarks to quantify me, he gently kneels down and whispers once again, how much he really loves me.

 Today, I was thinking about the vision that I wanted my company to take. I began to realize, that my lane is really event design rather than wedding planning and that I was forcing myself into wedding planning because I felt there wasn’t a market for event design by itself. I began to feel as though most people would want a one stop shop kind of company, where they can get the event design, wedding planning and everything else and that I would be walling myself out of the market by just doing event design. So I googled event design and came across this website www.eleganceandsimplicity.com and thought to myself, I’ll never be that good, I’ll never be able to do floral designs, I’ll never be able to pull all of that off and that’s what potential brides would be looking for. And just as I began to question myself and question my abilities, the Lord said to me why are you measuring yourself against the world. I am the creator of the world and everything in it so why wouldn’t I be able to enable you to do that and better. And just as he finished speaking I came across another site called http://landmarkeventdesigners.com . I went to something else while I waited for the page to load and sweet soft, very acoustical almost angelic rendition of “How deep is your love” began to play. I almost felt like crying.

 

… How deep is your love How deep is your love I really need to learn ‘Cause we’re living in a world of fools Breakin’ us down When they all should let us be We belong to you and me I believe in you You know the door to my very soul You’re the light in my deepest, darkest hour You’re my saviour when I fall And you may not think I care for you When you know down inside That I really do And it’s me you need to show How deep is your love? How deep is your love How deep is your love I really need to learn ‘Cause we’re living in a world of fools Breakin’ us down When they all should let us be We belong to you and me…

 

This morning, the Lord sung to me.

Hot Wedding Finds

So ( I know I always start new blogs off with so, but I always feel like I’m catching up with old friends)… I’m taking a Wedding Planning Class and our instructor suggested that we purchase a wedding etiquette book. So while in Barnes and Nobles, looking for the book Wedding Etiquette – by Emily Post, I came across another book Simple Stunning Weddings by Karen Bussen and this book is GREAT!

Being the simple person that I am, I was very much inspired by some of the things that I read in this book. One of the things that Karen highlights is that things don’t have to be overdone to be beautiful and stunning (paraphrased of course). She also has loads of colorful photographs to aid in visualization. Just looking at the pics inspired me to again start thinking outside of the box.

So I started thinking, what’s an inexpensive way to do great centerpieces that still make a statement. First of all, unless you’re featured on an upcoming episode of WeTv’s Platinum Weddings, you don’t have to have 18″ candelabras with crystals dangling from every branch. Grouping, Choice & Color matter so much more than “over-the-topness”. One of the ideas that I picked up from book was using hydrangea bunches in simple mint julep cups as scattered arrangements or grouped together as a focal point. Now from a florist, this would probably cost at least $30. A more cost effective take on this would be to purchase your own hydrangea bunches from a reputable wholesale florist like Fifty Flowers (www.fiftyflowers.com).

Hydrangea Bright Green Tinted Flower

This beautiful Green Hydrangea is currently offered on Fifty Flowers in groupings of 20 bunches for $129.99 or 40 bunches for $189.99 (not including, shipping handling & tax.)

And instead of mint julep cup, which usually are stainless steel and can easily run you about $15 bucks a piece, why not choose a simple glass tumbler or for those damask-crazed brides, this great damask acrylic tumbler currently offered at Target

Damask Acrylic Tumbler

Target is offering the tumblers, four short and four tall, in a set for $24.99.

So here you have it. With a bunch of 20 hydrangeas and 3 sets of the Damask Tumblers, you can create 20 mini floral centerpieces to either arrange sporatically or group together for about $11 bucks a piece. Sounds good to me!

Until next time, Be Favored.

Cold Baths

So… this weekend my son had a fever of 102.3. We called the doctor and she told us to give him tylenol and bring him in the following day, which was Monday. We gave him the tylenol, but the fever only went down to about 100.3, so we decided to give him a rub down with cold water. The entire time I was bathing him and wiping him down with the cool water, he was crying and he just kept looking at me like “Why are you doing this to me”, “This is very uncomfortable”. I kept reassuring him that everything was going to be ok by saying “Mommy’s right here, don’t worry, I’m right here”…. and then it hit me….

 

So often in life God puts us in these very very uncomfortable situations simply because we need to go through them to in order for him to accomplish something else in our lives. He doesn’t allow them because he doesn’t love us. As a matter of fact, its the exact opposite. He knows that we have a condition of some sort and in order for him to remedy it, he needs to take us through something. And even though we may be hurting while we go through it and may not understand why he’s allowing this particular circumstance to take place in our lives, to God its all to our benefit. And the entire time, he’s right there with us, comforting us and reassuring us. Sometimes we try to run from sticky situations. But just like this cold bath for Nate, if I hadn’t allowed it to take place or just rescued him the first time he cried, he probably would have remained in an even worse condition.

 

So sometimes… we just have to let God rub us down with that cold water knowing that even though it may not feel like it, its really for our benefit.

Got Milk

1 Peter 2:1-2

“So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation-”

 

This really hit me today like a ton of bricks. I’ve been in the house all day due to the inclement weather, which also means that I’ve been chillin with Nate all day. The whole house is coming down with something that originated with him. So for most of the day, I’ve been wiping a snotty nose and red cheeks and trying to get a stubborn little 9 month old to eat something else besides graham crackers and breastmilk. You see whenever I’m around, all Nate wants to do is nurse. It doesn’t even matter if he’s hungry. If he’s tired, he wants to nurse. If he’s cranky, he wants to nurse. If he’s bored, he wants to nurse. Nate will just about nurse all day if I let him. He loves it. 

 

And then I came across this passage of scripture and the line ” Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk…” I pray that God places a true longing in me for his Word.

Running with no place to hide

So… I know you may be wondering where the heck have I been…

To tell you the truth, I think I’ve been running. Running with no end in sight. Running from God, running from myself, running from my responsibilities… just running.

 

I wasn’t getting in my word as much as I should have been and as a result, I was in a losing battle with Satan. I was actually opening the door and telling him to come on in and make himself comfortable.

My struggle is my own agenda. I’m so used to doing what I want to do, when I want to do it and how I want to do it that I was hindering my submission to Christ. I think I tend to sometimes focus more on getting him to cosign on what I want to do rather than allowing him to do whatever it is he wants to do through me, with me just being a willing vessel.

 

I had forgotten how to listen to him, how to be still and let him speak to me… I felt like I wasback at square one. I was beginning to even question my salvation. One thing that has kept me knowing that that there’s something that I’m not doing is the fact that I’ve been there before. I’ve been to the place that I feel like I’ve forgotten now how to get to. I remember fellowshipping with the Lord on a daily basis and really truly feeling his presence in my life. It was when I was single. I would make time for him - in the mornings and each evening before dinner. Conscious – Uninterrupted time.  But lately, I’ve been neglecting him. I’ve been running past him on my way out the door for work or maybe letting him tag-a-long with me on the way to work  or maybe even thinking about him for a split second before I lay down at night. But no real one-on-one alone time.

 

What’s even worse is that I was getting mad at God. Like God, “You gave me this life.. you made me a wife and a mother and gave me a career and all these other responsibilities so you should understand if I don’t have time to sit and spend hours upon hours with you.” But something in my mind kept saying… Really now?…. You don’t have time?… Interesting… Yet, you have time for facebook, time for esty, time for HGTV, time for the phone, time for everything else, but yet… you have no time for me. That thought kept me thinking and wondering why was I really running from God… it wasn’t that I didn’t have time. What was it? Maybe it was that he would want me to do what he wanted me to do and I wasn’t ready to do that.

It dawned on me this weekend. At a marriage ministry class this past Sunday at church, the group leader asked each of us to describe what love meant to us.

Very freely and almost instantaneously I knew what it meant to me. My response was…”Love is a conscious thought…” Basically love meant making it my business to think about this person, I’m taking time to focus on them and how to please them or do something for them. I realize that it’s really time for me to get back to “loving” my Savior.

My latest creations

Last week was a very busy week. I finshed up the favors for Bree’s shower and also created a diaper cake for friends of my husband and I. I almost didn’t make the diaper cake. I knew that I still had so much to do for Bree’s shower and that adding on the additional task of creating a diaper cake would be too much.

So I took last Tuesday off to watch the inauguration and I decided that I would run out and take the stuff for the diaper cake back and just get our friends something off of their registry. However, when I ran out to the store it was closed. So I said hmm… maybe God just wants me to go ahead and make it. So when I got back home, I finished up Bree’s favors and made the diaper cake while I watched the inauguration with my husband. It came out great!

I was in AC Moore earlier in the day and saw a bunch of cute baby girls’ clothing scrapbook stickers and got the idea that it would be cute to make a little baby clothes line to circle the 1st and 3rd tiers of the cake. The baby’s room is going to be pink and brown so I got to use these colors yet again.

I think the clothes line could have been a little neater. The scrapbook stickers were falling off in some places and the actual clothes line wasn’t uniformly sagged. But I digress. I can be very critical of myself at times. Aside from that I think it looks neat. Here’s the finished product all wrapped up and ready to go