Windows of Heaven, Opened

I met with a longtime friend, and we had a delightful time catching up on each others' lives and families. I shared with her my longing to travel to Alabama for Thanksgiving, dampened by the concern about finances. I have done calculations, and tried to convince my hubby that it wouldn't cost much: just gas, which shouldn't be too much, since we now have a fairly reliable vehicle that gets 27mpg; we would have FREE accommodations with LOTS of relatives (ok-I'm making assumptions that they would take us in.); and I could pack a cooler for food. (Well, maybe I would add on a few bucks for fast food.) Needless to say, he's looking at the cash flow for the next few months, and it continues to look a bit red by mid-January when a couple of big bills are expected...

My friend reminded me of her pastor's wife who prays specifically for things and waits for God to answer.YES! I said. Our retreat speaker told stories of how she asked for the strangest things, and God answered in the most amazing ways. I KNOW these things, and I THINK I pray this way, but I realized I hadn't taken this exact amount needed to the Lord. It was more like, "Lord, please provide for 'such and such'..." We've also been studying quite a bit about prayer in our Ladies' LIFE study in "Luke". Sometimes I am a little slow in seeing things! I decided right then, that I would pray for the exact amount I thought we would need to cover the trip and wait to see how God answered.

When I got home, I found in my mail - you guessed it - my answer in abundance! I mean, OVERFLOWING, ABUNDANTLY MORE THAN I EVEN IMAGINED!

Our God, is an AWESOME God!

.

.

.

(Now, I still have to convince my husband that this is God's answer that we should go. LOL!)

I LOVE My Job!

I have to say it; I LOVE my job! Those of you who know that I am currently unemployed are probably wondering...

I love my job as Craig's wife, his helpmate. Believe it or not, I relish spending time at home doing all the activities that encompass my job. For instance, yesterday I baked an apple pie from scratch. As I cut the flour into the shortening, I thought about my mom teaching me how to make the "perfect" flaky pie crust, and the pride I felt the day my dad complimented my pie crust, comparing it to my mom's.

I made fresh, chunky applesauce from three types of apples and savored the sweet, yet tangy spicy smell that filled the house as it simmered all day. I enjoyed peeling, slicing, cooking and serving fresh vegetables even though that which takes hours to prepare is usually consumed in about 10 minutes. There's a sense of satisfaction after washing floors and an appreciation of the fresh smell and fresh, neat look. There's the business aspect of my job description; working within a budget, paying bills, scheduling appointments, purchasing supplies at the best price. I'm glad I can relieve those burdens and "time sinks" from my hubby.

I so enjoy meeting and encouraging other women - college gals, young wives, young moms - been there, done that! And I so appreciate the encouragement that comes from meeting with women at my stage in life and those who have been where I've been; they assure me, "It all works out!"

Gotta love it! I'm off to do my job, again today...can I say, "I'm LOVIN' it!"

Every Move I Make and Every Breath I Take

In an effort to get warm, yesterday, I reluctantly put on those running shoes and other cool weather attire and headed down the driveway for a 2 mile jog. I still dislike running, and it takes everything I have to get out and do it. I am so proud of Cristin, who told me just the other day, "I'm actually ENJOYING running, now!" Who'd a thunk it? I have heard about this "runner's high" but thus far, it has eluded/evaded me!

Anyways, since I lost my MP3 player over a month ago, I have resorted to dwell on the things of God to distract me from the pain of the jog. [Maybe losing my MP3 was God's idea all along! ;-)] Songs come to my mind which prompt me to think of people which prompts me to pray, or vice-versa. For instance, on yesterday's jog, the Lord reminded me of a high school friend - also my roommate our freshman year at UofM. She was/is a cross country runner. Honestly...I was thinking of the time she took me out on a "warm-up" run the afternoon before my MMB (Michigan Marching Band) concert in Hill Auditorium. She assured me it would be easy...5 miles later, I thought I was going to DIE!!! But I did learn some great tips about running from her. It seems I had a type of "High Step" jog - could that have come from MMB high stepping stadium entries??? She taught me to keep my feet close to the ground, so I would conserve energy, which has been very helpful this year as I trained for my triathlon. Reminiscing about Jan prompted me to pray for her.

One prayer lead to another which lead to another...running - exercise - health - parents - children (far away; some far from home, some far from God) - life decisions - life direction - God's provision...It was an awesome time bringing my friends, their families, and burdens before the Lord. The miles passed, and I ended with breath left to sing:

Every Move I Make

David Crowder Band

Every move I make I make in You
You make me move Jesus
Every breath I take I breathe in You
Every step I take I take in You
You are my way Jesus
Every breath I take I breathe in You

Every move I make I make in You
You make me move Jesus
Every breath I take I breathe in You
Every step I take I take in You
You are my way Jesus
Every breath I take I breathe in You

Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na

Waves of mercy
Waves of grace
Everywhere I look
I see your face
Your love has captured me
Oh my God
This Love
How can it be?


Every move I make I make in You
You make me move Jesus
Every breath I take I breathe in You
Every step I take I take in You
You are my way Jesus
Every breath I take I breathe in You

Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na

Waves of mercy
Waves of grace
Everywhere I look
I see your face
Your love has captured me
Oh my God
This Love
How can it be?


Waves of mercy
Waves of grace
Everywhere I look
I see your face
Your love has captured me
Oh my God
This Love
How can it be?


Waves of mercy
Waves of grace
Everywhere I look
I see your face
Your love has captured me
Oh my God
This Love
How can it be?


Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na

Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na

AMEN!

Every Move I Make - Youtbe

Blessings - Count them by TWO!

I had the tremendous blessing of working in the nursery, yesterday and spending a little more than an hour with Hans and Fritz. (See - I didn't say, "The Twins", Sarah!) I actually identified them correctly as they walked through the door, and I think I impressed their daddy. "How can you tell?" he asked. They were so much fun! I can see why my good friend loves her job as a "nanny", especially as an empty nester. It was a good time, rolling on the floor and playing "tea party" - seriously! (*Note to Nursery Coordinator and workers - I will gladly be a regular sub.)

The first thing out of the toy box was the big green tractor - go figure. LOL! Then a stint with the Lego blocks. A BIG ball was a short-lived distraction. Most of the time we sat at the table pouring tea - or coffee, and having a meal together. Sarah, I think these guys LOVE to EAT! Have fun with that, girl, especially in about 10 years. :-)

I was a bit distressed to have to miss the Mini Missions Conference and Pastor Appreciation because of my Lifeguard class last night. I often wonder what I was thinking when I signed up and got in, but when I arrived and walked in with this young teenaged gal, I realized that I had an opportunity to encourage a young woman one day a week for a few hours. She is starting to open up a little more, and we are always paired together, being the only two gals in the class. Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity. I pray that I can reflect You to her.

Granny's Grace

When I was a child, Granny taught us a "grace" which we said every morning before breakfast at her house. In our own home, my Dad used to fix Sunday breakfast for the family, and "Granny's Grace" was recited together before breakfast on Sunday mornings. To this day, when we are together as an extended family, we often say "Granny's Grace" in unison at our breakfast gatherings. My husband has even adopted it, often leading our own family in this traditional prayer when we are able to share a breakfast meal together. Our gatherings, are getting smaller, but even today with just the two of us, it was good to reflect on God's goodness to us, and his command for us to love others as we live our lives for Him!

Granny's Grace

Father we thank the for the night,

And for the pleasant morning light,

For rest and food and loving care,

And all that makes the world so fair.

Help us to do the things we should;

To be to others kind and good;

In all our work and in all our play,

To be more loving every day.

(Probably from an old Hymn ca1885: Father We Thank Thee, by Rebecca J. Weston)

Do help us Lord, to be kind and good to others this week! :-)

Fall Yard Work

It was a beautiful crisp but sunny Michigan fall day, yesterday, and I spent most of it cleaning up the yard: tearing away all the loose dead leaves and plants, pruning shrubs, and pulling out those annoying weeds that seem to spring up faster than the good plant growth I long to see. God has to do that to me, at times; clear away the dead, unfruitful stuff.

I love the colors, the smells, and the clothes of the season - jeans, turtlenecks and sweatshirts. On this day, I enjoyed the solitude, the time to talk to the Lord a while. It was an AWESOME day! He is a great listener, a patient teacher and encourager.

We talked of my "apprehension" about a ministry opportunity, complaining about a lack of qualifications, and he patiently reminded me of His servant, Moses. Moses did great things for God as he walked in obedience, even after complaining about his lack of qualifications. God still sent him, with a helper, though he would miss out on some of the blessings God had planned for him. As is often said, God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called. Goodness, he surrounded himself with a bunch of fisherman, tax collectors, and sinners instead of the learned Pharisees and teachers of the law! How humbling it is to think that the all powerful, all knowing, perfect God would choose to use someone broken like me to accomplish his purpose on this earth!

We talked of my fear of rejection and he reminded me that His Son was also rejected. Do I care more about pleasing Him or people?

We talked about my perfectionist attitude; what if a major mistake is made? God reminded me that he is in the process of refining us; through trials, through discipline, through obedience. Not one of us have "arrived"; we are a work in process. He asked me if I would contiue to be clay in His hands, and allow Him to mold me into the vessel He desired so that He could accomplish HIS purpose in and through my life. And he ended our precious time together with this: "Will you allow me to work in the lives of your family and loved ones in the same manner? Trust me."

Fiery Hot and Freezing Cold!

I have been waiting a long time to try this recipe, mostly because I couldn't find soy beans - dried soy beans - ANYWHERE! Well, I finally found them at Whole Foods in Rochester. I love going in that store; I could spend hours there - and spend WAY too much money on all the interesting things I find.

But, back to my recipe. It's called, "Mexican Mix" so you'd think it would use Mexican type ingredients such as green chilies and chili powder, but it has ingredients I would expect in Italian and Asian dishes, too: oregano, garlic, and tamari soy sauce...Although very tasty, it was HOT, HOT HOT! FIRE HOT! I thought I was turning into a fire-breathing dragon.

Mexican Mix

6 cups water

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 cup soybeans

1 cup whole grain wheat

1 onion, chopped

1 cup chopped green chilies (1/2 cup would probably do!)

1 tbsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp each: cumin, oregano, garlic powder, & cayenne pepper

2 tbsp. tamari soy sauce

2 cups stewed tomatoes

Soak beans and wheat overnight. Simmer and cook for 3-4 hours. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer until beans and wheat have reached desired tenderness. (I used a crock pot all day!)

This was the perfect dinner to warm me after freezing at Tina and Wendy's garage sale. I drove up to Lapeer just to visit with my friends, but walked away with merchandise totaling...well, let's just say that I need to find a part time job to pay for my goods! (A couple days at the farm, scooping ice cream should do it.) The deals on scrapbooking supplies were just too good to pass up, and I found some pens that I have been looking for; I can't find them ANYWHERE!

Now, I'm off to curl up in my afgahn on the comfy couch to read, "Barbara & Susan's Guide to the Empty Nest: Discovering New Purpose, Passion & Your Next Great Adventure". (I'll hurry to catch up with you, Tina!)

Yay - I Have a New Cell Phone!

I finally did it. After much prayer (seriously - because I had been so angry about the circumstances, I had to wait until my attitude was right, that I would be able to reflect well on my Lord during this confrontation), I calmly walked into my Verizon Wireless store with my bag of goodies in hand. The goodies included my cell phone - the upgrade I received in February that did not get reception at my house - along with all the paperwork for both mine and Cristin's upgrades. I calmly explained my dilemma, and how I felt that I got "taken" on the deal, and was now using a phone whose buttons no longer worked because they sold me an upgrade that didn't work at my house and were going to require me to pay a $35 "restocking" fee to exchange it (the FREE upgrade!).

My waiting (since April) paid off, because standing in front of me was the Regional Manager, who was in the process of "cleaning up the messes" of two former employees. When he looked at my paperwork, and saw who I had dealt with (those two former employees), he immediately was apologetic and bent over backwards to try to make amends. I think he really wanted to keep me as a customer!

I walked out of the store with a new "refurbished" Motorola phone that seems to work in my home. It is not as fancy as the Motorola phones the kids got upgraded to, but so far, it is MUCH better than what I was using and better than the phone I had upgraded to. The manager also gave me a charger, a brand new battery for the phone, and a silicone cover, along with a promise of $60 in free merchandise when I come in for my next upgrade - in 2011, mind you!

It reminded me of "Esther"; as she waited for the proper timing to expose Haman, God was working behind the scenes in the circumstances of the king. Even though I wanted to take my phones back months ago, God restrained me as he worked on my attitude and also the circumstances at Verizon.

God is good all the time! All the time, God is good!

On the side...I made a delicious dessert: Grammas Apple Bread Pudding topped with Rum Sauce (You can substitute Rum flavoring for the rum.) I even made my own brown sugar; how fun! It was YUMMY!

A Mouse's Tale

A couple of nights ago, I tried to photograph Cristin's cat carrying a mouse through our house. "FINALLY!" we thought. The cat is earning her keep. As I stalked her, she became nervous and dropped the mouse, which immediately scurried away. What a circus we had going for a few minutes, trying to catch the mouse and get it out of the house. Of course my squealing sent Mia into deep hiding, and got Lucky dog running wildly around the house. Craig finally cornered it with my help, bopped it over the head, and tossed it outside. Such excitement is totally uncharacteristic in the O'Brien household, these days.

Fast forward to last night...

Craig and Caleb were shooting their bows off the front porch, when Caleb spotted the dead mouse at the edge of the grass near the landing and pointed it out to Craig...Later, after the men's group had left, while cleaning up, I noticed there, on my chair where I had been sitting, a DEAD MOUSE! EEEEEKKKKK!

I screamed and ran to tell Craig that Mia got another mouse, when he told me that it was probably the one Caleb saw near the landing. He ventured that one of the guys might be trying to pull a prank - couldn't picture Caleb or Eric doing that (though Eric did have quite the nerve showing up in his ugly green Michigan State t-shirt just for MY benefit), so the blame fell on the only other person, Stephen. We got a good laugh and plotted to get him back...Of course, I bagged the dead critter, amazed that it was kinda warm (probably from me sitting on it) and not at all stiff (like I would have expected after a few days) and tossed it in the trash.

This morning, when I went outside to put the cat on her "leash", I almost stepped on a dead mouse - THE dead mouse Craig was talking about near the landing. 8-O But, but...then what was that mouse I threw away last night? EEEKKK! CRAAAAIG! It was a gift from Mia, so, now I am humbled..

Please accept my sincerest apologies and forgive me for publicly (can anything be more public than Facebook?) hinting you would be involved in such devious activity, Steve! Can I make it up? How about dinner, next Tuesday?

Celebrating Holidays and Feasts

Wow! We had an interesting and thought provoking discussion last night which sent me home pondering...

• Should Christians celebrate Halloween? How should we "celebrate" it?
• Should Christians even celebrate Christmas and Easter?
• Should Christians, living under grace, celebrate the feasts and festivals as God commanded in the Old Testament as a picture to His chosen people of the coming Messiah and fufilled by Yeshua Ha'Mashiach in the New Testament? 
• How can our celebrations worship the Lord while serving others? 
• Can/how should we use these celebrations to share the love of Christ with the world?
  

I couldn't sleep last night. It was exciting to be in the midst of a group of women so eager to obey Yeshua's command to: "... love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Meditating on Morning Devotions

I have come to appreciate the encouragement to do morning devotions. When it is done the first thing in the morning, those Scriptures are foremost in my mind, thoughts, prayers and meditation throughout the day. I can't seem to get away from it! (Not that I would want to.)

Today, my reading brought me to 1 Thessalonians 5. It is so awesome how full this passage is! Verses 1-11 reinforces what we'll be discussing in Luke 17:20-37 at our Ladies' LIFE group, tonight. It also reinforces some principles I gleaned from Jeremiah 19-21, which was part of my OT reading for the day.

Verses 12-28 caused me to thank God for my local assembly, Life Fellowship Chapel and to pray for the leadership that I so appreciate: Pastor Larry, Pastor Jim, Dave, our Elders, and Deacons. Within those verses there are also several challenges to me personally, and I have been able to dwell on those verses throughout the day, asking the Lord to search my own heart, test me, and lead me in the way.

What an amazing God I serve! It is an awesome, almost unbelievable concept to try to explain  - that I have such a relationship with the true, living God! All PRAISE to Yeshua Ha'Mashiach!

Wardrobe Malfunction...in CHURCH!

I was sooo excited to be back in worship with my Life Fellowship Chapel family, this morning, after a weekend out of town with my hubby and another weekend retreating with the women. I slid into OUR pew, and quickly adjusted my shirt that had scrunched up behind me, when I suddenly felt a cool breeze against my midsection. I glanced down and saw bright bare skin glaring back at me. OH MY! I clutched the front of my shirt closed, looked wildly at my husband, and quickly excused myself from the sanctuary. Thankfully, it was easily repaired, but I grabbed a back-up on my way back into the sanctuary. :-)

God sure has a sense of humor; I have been saying that I need to laugh more!

A New Blog

I am moving from Xanga to Blogger, since my friends who blog are here. (Hi Angie and Nikki!)
There's way too much to catch up on, so I'll just start where I am...

This week was busy coming off of an awesome Ladies' Retreat at Spring Hill. (See Angie's blog for details.)

On Monday, my Ladies' LIFE group went on a "field trip" to Maranatha Baptist Church to join our sisters in Christ for their first fall fellowship. Susan Johnson from Baptists for Israel Institute shared the message about God's Power in Our Lives Through Waiting. She definitely ministered to each one of us in our own places of waiting and encouraged us through so many truths from God's Word. We left encouraged and challenged.

Tuesday morning, I received a surprise call from Susan: an invitation to join her and the ladies of Maranatha at their weekly Bible Study, "The Practice of Godliness". It was a sweet time of encouragement and challenge, once again. I love the fellowship among believers. We may not belong to the same local body, but our hearts are united in Christ! Several of us took a  couple laps around the church parking lot before we headed off to the Chinese Buffet for lunch. I ate WAY too much, but it was a yummy treat.

Wednesday we were notified that Dad O'Brien was in the ER with blood clots up his legs. After a CAT scan ruled out a brain hemorrhage, he was admitted and promptly put on heparin. I have spent the last two days sitting with the family at the hospital. This morning, Dad had surgery to implant a filter in his vein and is doing much better.

We have commitments scheduled for tomorrow, so I am wondering when I will get the weekly cleaning done. Oh well...I suppose the world won't end if I don't get to it this week!