Presence and Presents

We have prayer meetings on designated Wednesday nights. After a short devotional message, we often split into small groups of men and small groups of women to pray for prayer requests. After the group that I was in finished, I was asked how I was doing. My reply? "Oh, sometimes I wonder if it's worth coming to church with our children. Today they are grouchy and can't sit well. I don't get to hear much of anything that goes on..." You get the point. I think that I complained a bit partly because I think so much of Krystal. I thought that it was likely that she would be able to give me a bit of advice or encouragement, and I was not disappointed on this evening. She said, "Have I ever told you about what I've learned about presence and presents?" No, I hadn't heard about this, so she told me and I've been pondering it ever since.

Krystal has a heart that is not healthy, to say the least. She was in the hospital a little over a year ago and was very, very close to going home to be with the Lord. God allowed her to stay on this earth, but she told me about one of the many things she learned through that experience. She couldn't talk because there were tubes down her throat. She couldn't move. She was sedated at times and slept often. But she was told later that her presence there made a difference. Everyone knew she was a Christian. Yes, she had lots of family and friends that visited her, but she was told that just her presence made a difference.

She then said that we often think that when we get together at church or with others that we have to give "presents" such as a word of encouragement, praying with someone, etc.

She acknowledged that when her children were young and she spent so much time in the foyer or nursery, she thought the same things as me, "I'm not getting anything out of this. I can't hardly even talk to anyone to encourage them or find out what is going on in their lives. I could be doing what I'm doing here at home!"

There is value in just being there.

Krystal said that because of what she has learned about the value of presence, she makes special effort to be at church.

So should I.

I wish that I would have understood this concept years ago. So many times I didn't make the effort to "be there" for others because I thought that they wouldn't really miss me anyway. I remember being part of a small music ensemble for the wedding of a friend. One of the ladies said that she wasn't going to go to the reception because the newlyweds would be so wrapped up in themselves that they wouldn't even notice if she were there or not. So, I didn't go either. Now I wish that I had.

My husband and I have talked before about being so glad that so-in-so was at our wedding. Yes, we were wrapped up in ourselves at our wedding, but we remember who was there and it meant a lot to us that they made the effort even if we only were able to say a couple words to them that day. Their presence was a blessing.

No, I can't run to here and there to "be there" for everything, but I do want to make the effort to "be there" for those things that God directs me to be at, even if I can't apparently participate at all.

Privileged to serve

Today we had the privilege of helping some friends put up block for their basement foundation. My husband helped with the block work along with probably 15 other men. I was able to help get the lunch ready.

It is a year ago this weekend that so many were available to help us with our "house raising". I think back on that day with amazement. The day started with a slab of cement. By the end of the day, the frame of the house was up. I didn't even have to make any food. It was supplied by all the families represented that day. Absolutely incredible.

Helping and serving one another truly is a privilege, I'm learning. I remember when my oldest daughter was young and I either was told or read (I can't remember which right now) that getting up at night with her was a privilege and I need to think of it as such. It is not a chore. It is a magnificent privilege.

Another bit of advice that I read some time ago was to ask my husband what he would like to have done in the house before he comes home if time gets short. The day may have been over-scheduled or unexpected things came up, but we should find out what specific thing would bless them for when they come home. For instance, I've heard that some husbands want the living room floor picked up. Others are not as concerned about the rest of the house except they would want the bathroom clean. Some don't care too much about the house, they just want supper at a specific time. Confession-I never asked because I wasn't sure that I wanted to know! But, in God's divine wisdom, my husband gently told me that it would bless him a great deal if the table was set and we ate between 5:30-6:00. That way he could plan his evenings better for working on vehicles, working on our house, or having a family night. An added plus was that he said that if the house really needed attention, he would help me staighten up.

At first I bauked inside. My priority was to have a clean house. Personally, I could give or take having meals at a specific time, but I am learning to view it as a privilege to serve. Our evenings have been more scheduled and it has been a wonderful thing for our family.

Serving our husbands, children, and others is a divine privilege. There is a lot of dying to self that has to occur and there is a lot more dying that needs to happen in this lady, but it is refreshing to begin to see serving as the privilege from God that it is.

I want to be ready

I've had a song going through my head lately that says,
"When Jesus comes
I want to be ready
I want to be ready
to see my Lord."

A couple weeks ago the one bringing the message at church posed these questions:
Do you think that Jesus will return within the next minute?
Do you think that Jesus will return within the next 10 minutes?
How about the next hour?
Or the next month?
Within the next year?
Within the next 10 years?

Where we place this probability along the timeline will shape how we live today. We will likely live out our day much different if we thought that Jesus may return in the next 10 minutes versus within the next year.

Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Matt 24:44-46

A light turned on for me. Do I really think that Jesus will return in the next minute, 10 minutes, hour or even the next month? Usually I think of Christ's return as being within the next few years. But didn't I think that a few years ago??

Do I just keep pushing off my prediction to my comfortzone?
"I have time yet to apologize to _________."
"I can take my time working on __________ attitude."
"Maybe I'll be ready to deal with _________ issue tomorrow."
"I don't have to change in ______ area. Maybe God will REALLY bring conviction about this when I'm truly ready to change."

Jesus' return could be any time now. Yes, I know that I can't change everything at once...actually I can't change anything that involves a true heart change. BUT, I can have a willing heart to cooperate with God and live out the changes that He is trying to implement in my heart and life. That does involve action on my part.

Jesus, I want to be ready for Your return, no matter when it is. Please help me change according to Your will, so that I can be a faithful servant that is always prepared for Your coming. I desire to be as the virgins that had their lamps filled with oil, prepared for the unknown moment when You, my Bridegroom, will come for me.

"When Jesus comes
I want to be ready
I want to be ready
to see my Lord."

3rd Gear

We planted grass seed for our lawn and we are now happy homeowners with dirt, weeds and some grass around our house. The greenery that was growing through the dirt needed to be mowed and my husband had mentioned that he might do it tomorrow.

It is a busy season for my auto mechanic husband. Vehicles seem to crash and burn more when it's really hot or really cold. So, in a burst of generosity, I decided that I would mow the lawn for the second time to relieve him of one thing from his list.

We have an old rider, but it works fine for now. My husband showed me how to use it last time and things had gone pretty well. I was getting confident in my skills as a lawn mower driver, so I put on my dust mask and started in 3rd gear.

We have a large pile of 8 foot oak logs on the edge of our lawn that will heat the house this winter. I got a bit too close to this pile and the laws of physics came into play. All I can say is that I'm thankful that we didn't get a new lawnmower yet. It still runs fine, but it's not the mower that it was. I finished the lawn in 1st and 2nd gears. (I decided that it cuts the grass and weeds nicely at this speed and I had more time to plan my moves and avoid hitting other large, prominent obstacles.)

I will say that I felt a bit like Pigpen...you know, Charlie Brown's friend? When I got to the point of almost finishing an area and circling a small patch, I had to guess where to cut because I couldn't see for all the dust.

I then called my husband at work. He is such a gracious man. He was prepared for the worst when I said, "I got too close to the woodpile." When I told him the damage, he said, "Oh, that's not too bad. Using the mower takes some getting used to doesn't it?"

He doesn't have "mowing the lawn" on his list anymore, he has "fix the lawnmower" instead.

I wonder how many times I try to help out God, when in fact I didn't. I think that I know what needs to happen and jump ahead in 3rd gear. Just helping Him out of course.

Thankfully, God can use all things for His good, even when I have messed up.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:28

I do know a couple good things that came out of my lawnmower incident. God used it to remind me again of what a wonderful a husband I have and to teach me that I need to start out in 1st gear next time.

Imperfection

Ah, yes. Another day in which I am reminded that I am an imperfect mama with imperfect children.

They didn't behave correctly and I didn't respond correctly.
I didn't behave correctly and they didn't respond correctly.

(Believe it or not, there are times that I don't behave correctly and God uses them to respond correctly. Very humbling.)

A friend once told me, "Try as I might, I have not been able to find an example of a perfect family in the Bible."

The flesh in me wants to find comfort in this (No one is perfect, so it's OK. I can let things slide and not feel bad about it.), but I can't. It is yet another reminder that we are part of a fallen race.

Thankfully, we do know one Person that was perfect, Jesus Christ. Fully God and fully man. Though we are sinful people, needing God's grace to enable us to repent and return to Him...repeatedly..., we have an example of the One in which we are to strive to be like. Not in our own strength, but through His strength.

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Cor 12:9

Lord, please help me to not give up hope. I know that only You can change me for Your glory, so that I can touch those around me, not with my sinful nature, but with Your nature. I run to You...again.

Washing Clothes

Putting daily chores into perspective...

I don't know who the author of this is. If anyone knows, please let me know. I put this in my laundryroom area for those days when it seems overwhelming.

Years ago an Alabama grandmother gave the new bride the following recipe:

This is an exact copy as written and found in an old scrapbook -with spelling errors and all.

WASHING CLOTHES

Build fire in backyard to heat kettle of rain water.
Set tubs so smoke wont blow in eyes if wind is pert.
Shave one hole cake of lie soap in boiling water.

Sort things, make 3 piles
1 pile white,
1 pile colored,
1 pile work britches and rags.

To make starch, stir flour in cool water to smooth, then thin down with boiling water. Take white things, rub dirty spots on board, scrub hard, and boil,
then rub colored don't boil just wrench and starch.

Take things out of kettle with broom stick handle, then wrench, and starch. Hang old rags on fence. Spread tea towels on grass. Pore wrench water in flower bed. Scrub porch with hot soapy water. Turn tubs upside down.

Go put on clean dress, smooth hair with hair combs. Brew cup of tea, sit and rock a spell and count your blessings.
================================================
For you non-southerners - 'wrench' means rinse.

Blessed beyond measure

As I was sewing yesterday, my bobbin thread went out...just where I would have had to cut it anyway. I didn't even notice until I went to cut my threads. "Thank you, God!", I thought. I have lots of things to be thankful for.

A friend invited me to come and pick raspberries with her from her patch. We have been having very hot and humid weather around here, so she and I were trying to determine that window of time that would be past the worst of mosquitoes and before the heat of the day. God decided to bless us by having a cold front come through. I even had a light jacket on! It was cool and windy. Absolutely perfect for raspberry picking. I was more concerned about my 7 month old allowing me to pick, but he sat quietly under a blanket in his stroller for the majority of the time. Yes, we did have to live with some drizzling, but I didn't mind a bit.

This past weekend we got four interior doors mounted in our house. I had actually forgotten what a blessing doors were, after not having any for over a year now during our moving/building transition. Of course our curtain for the bathroom worked just fine, but now doors! L and J got doors for their bedrooms too. They have been having fun knocking at each other's "house".

There are many people who will never see a sewing machine, be able to eat fresh raspberries, or have doors. More importantly and tragically, many people did not, have not or will not know the love and saving grace of Christ.

Yes, I am very blessed. Blessed in the "little" things of this life and the biggest thing... eternal salvation.

Blessed beyond measure.

Great-Grandpa

It's been over a year now since my Grandpa went on to be with Jesus in Gloryland. He was a very special man. He was a high-school music teacher and played the organ at the Lutheran church for 35 years, if memory serves me correctly. I can remember going to my grandparent's house for Christmas Eve and while our entire extended family was in the pews during the late afternoon service, Grandpa would be playing the organ, come home for a meal, read the story of Christ's birth, open gifts and just when everyone else was getting tired, he would get up to go back for the late night, candle-light service. When I was younger, we all went to the late night service. While our willingness to go to church at such an hour dwindled, my grandpa continued to be faithful in his commitments.

About 3 years ago, we got him to sit up at the piano and play a hymn or two. Watching those big arthritic hands still move over the keys was amazing. Even though there were a few wrong notes, he still played with the vigor that he is remembered for.

My grandparents had raspberry bushes and when we were at their house during raspberry season, my grandpa would go out and pick some for us to eat. There is nothing in comparison to those raspberry pies.

He got slower as he aged, but one of the things that was hardest for him to let go of was mowing the grass. Just yesterday, I was browsing through pictures with my children and ran across a picture of my sister and I riding the lawn mower with Grandpa. After a few surgeries and general age-related regression, he began to need a cane or walker, but he was a bit stubborn about this. He decided that he wanted to use crutches. Now, since I am an occupational therapist, I knew that this was not very safe, but I also knew that if by using crutches he felt better about his abilities, he would get up and move around more rather than just sitting in his chair because he didn't want to look "old" using that terrible walker! He was getting more hunched over all the time, but somehow he managed to still use those crutches...in a bit of an unconventional way.

Laura was 3 when he died. She has only known a few people to die, but right away she told us that Great-Grandpa "jumped up to heaven". Every once in awhile, she still talks about him jumping up to heaven.

I like to think that he did.

This is a test

You know that alarming tone that comes on the radio when there is going to be a message of the Emergency Broadcast System? We had storms go through our area a couple weeks ago and having the radio on to keep track of when to go into our "shelter area", we heard that signal of a long medium tone, long high tone and three beeps a few times.

As I'm learning about God's divine plan for accountability, I am learning (very slowly) that I need to allow my husband to lead this family and I'm also learning that there are many, many areas in which I'm not letting him lead. We are all accountable to God in regards to how we follow His directions set forth in Scripture, whether we have come to agree with them or not. Let me just say that my husband is perfect for me. He has this amazing insight into the struggles within me regarding letting him lead. There has been many a time that he has known how to handle this ranting and raving, or sullen and pouting woman.

Unfortuately, it is often after I have "gotten my way" that I realize that I failed God's test. I may have won the "battle" about how to do this or that, but I know that I am losing the war in regards to submission to God's plan, in respect to my husband and in an example to my children.

Every once in awhile lately, I am encouraged to find that I am hearing the Holy Spirit's tone in the radio of my spirit before I make fatal mistakes in word or action...long medium tone, long high tone, and three beeps..."this is a test of God's divine plan for families...this is a vital test". There seems to be many aspects to this test of His- words, actions, attitude. I'm quite a slow learner, but I am passing the tests (maybe just barely) every once in awhile.

Sixteen, Sixteen.....Sold for 15 beans

A few weeks ago when we had church campout, we also had our second annual bean auction. All ages can participate by offering to make, do, or give something to be included. In the last two years, we have had everything up for auction...making a batch of cookies, babysitting, help plant a flower bed, free oil change, and a walleye fishing trip. This year we even had someone offer to do some decorative welding (No one was sure what that was, and the guy who posted it said he had never done it either). For each item posted, ten beans are given in exchange.

The slips of paper are put in a hat and the bidding begins. You honestly have to be a bit careful. I mean, your bidding against your friends, and all. I decided to stop bidding and let a friend have a sewing machine tune-up, but others let me get a couple hours of free babysitting and a dress sewn to my liking.

There was one item that I really wanted. It was a pontoon ride. It sounded wonderful. The lake, gentle breeze, my children loving every minute... There were two in the hat. The first one went really high and I finally let it go, but I was determined to give up a huge majority of the remainder of my 70 tickets to get it. The second pontoon ride came up and the bidding war (Christian style :) ) began. Ah, yes, I did get the pontoon ride...for only 15 tickets! A true bargain.

Really, the point of the auction is to encourage us as a body of believers to spend more time together and serve each other. It's good, clean fun.

So a couple nights ago, I called the hosts to cash in on my coupon. I was a free evening for them, and so plans were made. I had supper on the table when Keith got home so we could be off and running as soon as possible. It was a bit more windy on the lake than I thought it would be from looking on weather.com, but it was fun. The hosts had fishing licenses, so they tried a bit of fishing. It would have been great if they would have caught some, but we did get quite a few grass bass (weeds).

All in all, the evening was well worth my 15 beans. The fellowship was worth much more than that.

God Leads Us Along

Today I've had the hymn "God Leads Us Along" going through my head. It talks of how "God leads His dear children along" through wondrous green pastures and on the mount where the sun shines so bright, but also through the valley in the darkest night...but ultimately "away up in glory, eternity's day"!

A week ago, we had church campout. After singing a few songs, we were asked if we had anything that we were thankful for that we wanted to share. One person said, "the faithful that have gone before us". Oh, how thankful I am for those that have endured so much for their faith! My little inconveniences and frustrations are miniscule compared to the suffering unto death, in this earthly life, that many, many have endured. Oh, to have the relationship with Christ such that I would not deny Him, even at death's door!

God Leads Us Along chorus:

Some thro' the waters,
some thro' the flood,
some thro' the fire,
but all thro' the blood;

Some thro' great sorrow,
but God gives a song;
In the night season and all the day long.

I want to sing a song of love, thankfulness and faithfulness to God, in the midst of whatever circumstances He allows to come my way. If God chooses to allow the flood or fire to cross my path of life, may the blood of Christ cover it all...that He may be glorified and praised!

Joyful singing

Ever since my first pregnancy, I have prayed for joy in our home. God graciously granted that request in our children. We have three smily, energetic, joyful children. Even now, Micah is bouncing away in his bouncer in the doorway, screeching and giggling. We are very blessed.

One way that this joy has been expressed is in my children breaking into song around our house. All of a sudden, Joshua will start bellowing out, "There is power, power, wonder working power... in the blood... of the Lamb!" Joshua has loved to sing from the get-go. When he was 2, he was singing, "oly, oly, oly, lode, God amitey" (Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord, God Almighty). We even have that on tape...it's so precious. Other favorites of Laura and Joshua's is "Standing on the Promises" and "I'd Rather Have Jesus". There is many a night or morning that Laura goes to sleep or wakes up singing. What special music to my ears!

"Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing."

Psalm 100:2

God said...

Last night Keith came home with a $4.50 styrofoam airplane with a 4+ wingspan. He said that he just couldn't resist it. So last night we put it together and went outside to fly the mock airliner. We had a great time. We then came in and Keith glued it to permanently put it together and placed it on top of our cupboards to dry. I told Laura and Joshua that I would get it down tomorrow to play with it some more.

This morning all I have heard (especially from Joshua) is, "Mom, can I play with the airplane?", "Mom, can you get the airplane down?", and "Mom, is the airplane dry yet?" I kept reminding them that we needed to eat breakfast first and try feeding Micah rice for the first time. Finally, they were quiet for awhile.

I have been trying to encourage my children to pray and understand that it is a conversation with God. We have "quiet time" at our house in which we are all supposed to read (or look at picture Bible books) and pray. Afterward, I will occasionally ask if God said anything to them. Most of the time Joshua doesn't say that God said anything. Laura has said that God and Jesus sing "Jesus loves me" to her. That gives me warm fuzzies.

So today I am sitting at the table eating, enjoying the reprieve from questions regarding the airplane.

Joshua then says, "Mom, God talked to me."
"Oh?" ...encouraged that maybe he is getting the idea about prayer.
"He said that I should have that airplane."

And about Micah and feeding him rice for the first time...it was not a hit.

Agape Love

I decided to put old sermon messages that I had on tape, onto CD. This proved to be quite a project. Even though I didn't listen to the entirety of the messages as they were recorded onto the computer, I heard bits and pieces. One of the messages was from Pastor Ron Smith, who was on staff at Antioch church in Eden Prairie, MN at that time. Ron has a true pastor's heart that radiates from him when he talks to you. He cares deeply about your walk with the Lord. He is soft-spoken for the most part. In this particular message, he talked about God being Love. God doesn't just have an attribute of love. He IS love. He can't choose whether to love or not because that is who He is. Then he went into the different types of love; agape love being the deepest form. The tape went on as I was doing laundry, vacuuming...

I came back into the room and heard the tape again. Now he was talking about circumstances that get under our skin. I thought of things like... not being "on the same page" as your spouse, frustrated at the slow cashier who chatters away as your children are crying, tested by the customer service representative who just doesn't "get it", or exasperated at your child that disobeyed AGAIN.

To this, the usually soft-spoken, wisdom-emitting man said,

"BE ENCOURAGED!! This is an opportunity to grow and mature in unconditional Agape Love!"

This is now posted on a 3 x 5 card at the windowsill by my sink.

Back to the drawing board...

Diapers today advertise things like "Leakguard" and show you all the added features to prevent the "blowout". Well, they didn't do their product testing on my children!! I am cleaning up a "leak" or a "blowout" once a day on average. There have been times that I thought that there should be a school for moms to show us how to do this. I'm on my third child, but I obviously have not gotten the hang of this yet.

Joshua is still in diapers. We have tried to train him. He does show potential, but the consistency is not there. I have been told that boys are harder to train then girls. That has been our experience so far. We've tried the stickers, the wild praise, the timer, and yes, we have even mixed in some negative comments to let him know that it was no longer OK to go "poo" in his pants.

Unfortunately, these negative comments have not had the desired effect. We had told him a couple times, after changing particularly messy ones, "Joshua, this is sickening. You are old enough to be going on the toilet now." One day, while changing him again, he looked at me and said, "Mom, is it sickening?"

Another negative comment attempt... When we would begin to change "poo", we would say, "Iiiiiiick!" You would think that he would make a connection, but this is what he started to tell me even before pulling off the tabs, "Don't say ick, Mom. Don't say ick. Just look."

Back to the drawing board. (I'm confident that he will be trained by the time he is married.)

The Journey

I've had a couple requests to give a bit more information about my background.

I grew up in the Lutheran church. I will always be thankful for the things of Christ that were instilled in me during that time. Unfortunately, my interpretation of God at that point was that I could live whatever life I wanted during the week, because I could always be forgiven. While this may be true to an extent, I was taking advanage of God's grace and mercy. In college, I attended an Assembly of God church and later a non-denominational Charismatic church. It was at this point that my life began to be surrendered to the Lord. I was attending a Bible study and Keith was invited to attend. Keith grew up in the Catholic church as a child, but at this point was also attending a different Charismatic-type church. So Keith and I met and were married in 11 months.

We both wanted to move out from the city life "someday". We looked at a map of Minnesota, pointed to the Northwest corner and said to each other, "That would be a nice place to live." Neither of us had ever been there before. Although it happened much sooner than we expected, through many different confirmations, we purchased an 80 acre farm in Oklee, MN. We were out in the boondocks. It was difficult at first for me as I didn't know anyone and was pregnant with our first child, but we kept working at fixing up our "paradise on earth" and grew to love the place. Finding a church was more difficult. God was changing our hearts. We ended up going to another Charismatic church although it didn't fit us as well as it had previously. The people were very nice to us and took us in as part of the "family", but over time, it became more clear that this was not where we were supposed to continue to go.

A friend of a friend, as they say, invited us to visit Kitchi Pines, on the other side of Bemidji. At this point, Keith was working in Bemidji, which was a 60 mile drive one way. Kitchi was 87 miles from Oklee. Keith was hesitant to make such a drive, but after one Sunday, we knew that this was where we were supposed to be. The drive soon became a time for Keith and I to discuss the message and other spiritual issues. Our hunger for Truth intensified. God continued to change us and things that we had believed even before moving up to Oklee, were confirmed. We became members 2 1/2 years ago and this last summer we moved to within 5 miles of Kitchi. We now are close to church and Keith is closer to his work. It has been a good move. We are starting over in making our "paradise on earth".

Kitchi Pines, to my understanding, used to be part of a Mennonite conference, but have since left the conference due to concerns about the spiritual direction it was going. Kitchi continues to resemble a Mennonite church more than any other.

The grass is greener

Our pastor said something like this one time...

"I would venture to say that those who want to be in someone else's shoes, thinking the other person's circumstances were easier, if given the chance to do so, would soon want to be back in their own."

There have been many times when I have thought, "My life is too difficult. _______'s life seems so much easier." More often than not, I am immediatly reminded of what our pastor said. God has given each of us our thorns. He knows the purpose of each one and the issues that need to be weeded out for His glory.

Better to keep my shoes on and let the thorns fall where they may.

Coming Home

We just got back from being gone for a week. We had Christmas in June on my side and then stayed with Keith's parents for the rest of the time. We went to the Children's Museum, Minnesota Zoo, Underwater World at the Mall of America, MN state capital, St. Paul Cathedral and of course I got to go to garage sales! It was a busy week full of fun and tons of activity. We went down with a full vehicle and somehow found a way to come home with even more. Keith was able to do some things for his parents like stain the deck and cut down low branches in the yard.

Even for as much fun it was, I have to admit that it is wonderful to be home. It makes me think about how wonderful it will be to go home to heaven on that glorious day. Coming home to my earthly home is nothing in comparison. I've been thinking about Heaven for some time now. As this world gets more and more "dark", Heaven is more and more appealing. A friend of mine said, "I can't wait to go to Heaven, if only for the fact that I won't have to struggle with 'self' anymore." How right that is! That seemingly never-ending battle to die to self, will actually come to an end. We will be able to see the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and be a part of the throng worshipping Jesus!

In the midst of living "life", I don't want to loose sight of where I'm going.