Category: My Life

Frances Gets Baptized

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Saturday I drove to Santa Monica with Ana Valencia, Anthony’s second mom and a blessing to me. We went to see my son’s girlfriend, Frances get baptized. A beautiful sunset service as three women committed their lives to Christ and the great commission was fulfilled.

L2R Me, Ana, Kim, Anthony, Frances, Jennifer, Mike, Craig

The first one to go into the water was a woman named Katie. Her family came in from Vancouver Canada. A beautiful spirit she beamed ear to ear. I love to see how God radiates in the smile of a believer.

Katie gets baptized first.

Frances went second. My picture came out blurry but my mind will never forget this moment.

Next went a beautiful woman named Molly. Molly may never know the impact she had on my life. I wonder if she realized that she quoted Jesus in the midst of her tears? Do you know the feeling when you witness a true God moment that is so extraordinary that it is imprinted on your heart forever? This was this kind of moment.

This next picture is of Kim, Frances’ bestie from Tennessee. I have to tell you that I love Kim. She is just one of those people that you meet and you’ve known forever. She makes me smile and her heart is so expansive. I am blessed to know her!

Kim and Frances

This is a picture of Marie, one of the small group leaders who helped lead Frances to this moment. She opens her home and heart for study.

This is June, she leads the small group in Marie’s home and made sure these women were ready to embark on this new journey with Christ.

I was honored to part of this special occasion. I love that three women submitted their lives to Christ last night. I love that in the water walked the old man and out emerged the new nature. Three women received keys to Kingdom last night. The angels rejoiced, God smiled great big and a new adventure unfolded.

In the Narnia Chronicles, Susan asks if Aslan is safe. No, is the response. He is not safe but he is good. Mighty women of God, your adventure begins and it doesn’t guarantee safety in the way we look at safety. It doesn’t guarantee that each day will be filled with happiness and heartache will never come. It does promise that God is good and that he will see you through it all, that your safety is secure in the end.

May your adventure be one of fulfillment, contentment, risk and the secure knowledge that in the end it all works out for your good and the good of those who you will impact for Jesus!

Boundaries Part 2

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To read part 1 click here.

So what are some boundaries to consider discussing before you get married and blend a family? Here are some basic questions to get you started but there are many, many more and it is wise to begin to get a list together.

Will children have their own rooms or will they share?

Who will clean the room?

Are children allowed to play with each other’s things without permission?

If a child visits on weekends, will that child have special exemptions from the everyday household chores of the children who live in the home permanently?

Will the children be allowed to bring their pets from their other family home on visits?

Will the non-biological parent be allowed to discipline the children?

What does discipline look like to you?

What do children’s chores look like to you?

Are you allowed to open each other’s mail?

Are there certain things that are off limits? For example, can children come into your room and get your favorite lipstick, razor, blouse, watch?

How much input, into your new marriage, is allowed to be made by your former spouses?

Is a pet snake an acceptable family pet?

How will holidays be handled?

How much is too much to spend on clothing, video games, Christmas?

You can see how problems can arise quickly and escalate into pitting two camps against each other. Nothing is too petty to discuss at this point. It is no wonder we find Lady Tremaine angry when we meet her. I don’t believe any woman sets out to marry a man with children just to torment them and herself.

Finally, a word of warning, do not put this off or think it’s going to work out on it’s own. It just isn’t. Also beware that if you are compromising your answers to get this marriage started, you will face the consequences later. It is much better to discuss and find out that although you love each other, this will not work, than it is to drag yourself and your family through another divorce.

Finally, if you are already married, it is never too late to sit down calmly, not during a battle, and strategize. You already know what the issues are, now it’s time to lay them on the table and come to reasonable solutions.

Nurture

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Sitting in the nail salon, a beautiful young woman comes over, “Oh, I want to see your nails and what you’re getting done.” I smiled and showed off my pink nails with black and white stripes and out of my mouth came the strangest thing, laughing I said, “You’re so beautiful! Look at you, all tan and pretty.” I don’t know why I said, it is so out of my character but here I sit and only God knows.

She answered, “Oh, you say that because you’re American. If you were Filipino you wouldn’t say that. I am too dark, plus I play sports in college and so I am outside a lot. You have no idea how many whitening creams I’ve tried. Nothing works. Americans all say they wished they had my skin but my mom says to cover up.”

“Are you kidding? Most people pay big bucks and never get your skin color. You are gorgeous!”

She smiled a great big smile.

Okay, now I know why I said what I said. Here stood this beautiful girl, early 20’s, I later find out, with the perfect body and long dark hair, great personality, outgoing and friendly and she needed a little nurture from a mom figure.

Daughters of the Most High King, who are you nurturing today?

Etiquette Part Deux

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If you’re tuning in late, click here for the first part of this blog.

Today I want to talk about dropping by for a visit.

Don’t drop by for a visit without calling first.

Yes, I know that you’re my cousin, but I might be in my pajamas and I’m too old to answer the door like that. I might be reading a book and want some quiet time. I might be studying as I have a limited amount of time to do that. I might be outside in the backyard with the dogs. I’m not doing anything bad, but I may just want some notice before you stop by.

If you’re in the neighborhood, just call. I can throw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt in a heartbeat. If I’m cooking dinner, I can probably whip something up for you as well without much effort. If I’m taking a nap, I may ask if we can postpone. I promise to always do the same for you and I promise that I will never be offended if you have other plans. The key is respect.

Whatever you do, don’t ring and ring and ring and ring and ring the doorbell thinking you will force the person to answer. It’s just plain rude. If you find that you have to drop by, and let’s say the family is sitting at the dinner table, please excuse yourself and come back later. Don’t hover asking them what they are eating or suggest you will wait in the living room until they are finished. In most families with kids, the dinner hour is when the conversations occur. It’s important to a family to have this time, not all the time but often. If you don’t excuse yourself this will cause them to rush, to hush their family conversations and it’s just impolite. One quick phone call makes it all work for everyone!

Love At The RMA Store!

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Christopher proposed to Jeannie at the RMA Store! We are so blessed to be a part of these two lives. Two really great people, one really great store and love is the banner over our lives right now! I’m smiling as I write this! I could not be prouder of Jeannie in this moment, I love this girl!

By the way, they asked me to perform the ceremony! Honored and blessed beyond measure!

Oasis At Work!

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God never ceases to amaze me. On Thursday morning I woke up and had one thought…”Oh God, it’s supposed to be so hot today, 105, and for the next seven days it’s supposed to be like this.” Then in what I know is a God-inspired question…..”What will the homeless do now that the rescue mission has closed?”

From there sparked an idea. Not a fix by any means, but a respite, is probably a more appropriate word. What if we got water and food and went out to the rail trail and passed them out? It’s not a solution but it’s something. Our city spent some bucks on a beautiful walk trail in our city and we can’t really use it because the homeless hang out there and in the evenings they are pretty hammered and sometimes give people a hard time, but we know where to find them!

My next prayer was, “Lord, you know my calendar. Who can help me today? Who can kick this into gear for me?”

As God is so wonderful, upon getting out of the shower I hear the buzz of a text message on my phone. I read with a smile a note from Cruz, my TLC Leader. “I have meeting with Lauren in one hour. After that, I am available to help you with whatever you need help with today.” Father! You are just too amazing for words!

“Cruz, I have a burden on my heart today,” I tell her when I see her. I explain the whole morning and say, “Can you get on the phone and make this happen? It’s supposed to be hot over the next several days, I need some crews to get together.”

Within hours, our sweet little Kingdom Kidz are on the rail trail giving out cold water and a ready-to-eat flavored tuna packs that we had put away for disaster relief food.

A great big THANKS to Cruz for her service to the Lord! A great big shout out to our precious Kingdom Kidz, who know most of the homeless people on the rail trail because their parents take them to Manna Ministries each time it’s our turn to cook for the disadvantaged and so they consider these men and women friends. They greet them when they see them walking around town and they care about them!

Most of all thank you LORD, for the wonderful way in which you direct our path and put such wonderful people in our lives!!

Oasis YOU ROCK! WOOT WOOT!

Lucky

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When my husband calls me these days my ringtone sings a Jason Mraz song whose lyrics go, “Happy to be loved by my best friend, happy to have been where I have been….”

Hold up though, where I’ve been has been pretty rough. A widow at 35, held at gunpoint in a stalker/attempted kidnapping, married my husband and then went through the hell of blending a family and being labeled the wicked stepmother. So how can I relate to a song that says, “happy to have been where I have been”?

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

Somehow when all is said and done, I have walked through the darkness and come out in the dawn. My faith has been tried and tested and it looms larger than life. I have huge faith for you too because I know that I am not God’s favorite kid, he treats us all that way.

I have learned big huge lessons and today it’s good to be alive, I couldn’t always say that. I have somehow fallen into the arms of the Father and he has placed me in a wonderful place. I have a husband who loves me. We aren’t perfect but I could tell you stories that would show you the miracle of our marriage and that we survived the white water rapid-like beginning of it. My kids are grown and doing well. My stepkids, whom I call stepkids for this writing only, have settled down and we have a good relationship now. I work at a job I love. I have good friends.

So here you have living proof that even when we go through trials and it feels like you’re not going to make it, you will! You’ll learn something with every goodbye. You’ll somehow or another wake up each and everyday, and if you’ll apply your faith, forget about your “right” to be okay all the time, realize life happens and suffering happens, you’ll see the dayspring as well. The bible says, it rains on the just and the unjust. Meaning life is just life, there are hills and valleys for all of us. There are great lessons to learn if you’ll walk it out and not throw yourself down on the ground and throw a fit. Through this process I’ve learned that God was with me even in the dark days, that all I had to do was take his hand and trust him to lead me to light and show me a few things about the process in the meantime.

Just like the day, it’s always darkest before the dawn, but the sun does eventually come out. Here is a Josh Wilson song that touches my heart.

Before The Morning
Misc 1
(PRE-CHORUS 1)
Someday somehow you’ll see you’ll see

Chorus 1
Would you dare would you dare to believe
That you still have a reason to sing
‘Cause the pain that you’ve been feeling
It can’t compare to the joy that’s coming
So hold on you gotta wait for the light
Press on and just fight the good fight
‘Cause the pain that you’ve been feeling
It’s just the dark before the morning

Verse 1
Do you wonder why you have to
Feel the things that hurt you
If there’s a God
Who loves you where is He now

Verse 2
Maybe there are things you can’t see
And all those things are happening
To bring a better ending

Verse 3
My friend you know how this all ends
You know where you’re going
You just don’t know how you’ll get there
So say a prayer

Verse 4
And hold on
‘Cause there’s good for those who love God
But life is not a snapshot
It might take a little time
But you’ll see the bigger picture

Misc 2
(PRE-CHORUS 2)
Once you feel the weight of glory
All your pain will fade to memory

Chorus 2
It’s just the hurt before the healing
Oh the pain that you’ve been feeling
It’s just the dark before the morning

CCLI Song No. 5520800
© Ariose Music | Ben Glover Co-Publishing Designee | Meaux Hits (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) | (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) | (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
Ben Glover | Josh Wilson
For use solely with the SongSelect Terms of Use. All rights Reserved. http://www.ccli.com
CCLI License No. 2285171

For The Future

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So last night we had V.I.P.’s, our youth group, service at the new building. It was significant in that our vision is reach the next generation for Christ. That building is not the church until the people unite there. It was built so that generations from now, followers of Christ will still have the opportunity to unite in the name of Jesus.

I don’t know if the youth understood the significance of the moment until I pointed it out. Then I saw the lightbulb go off and the smiles come onto their faces and I saw a different posture. A posture of ownership and meaning. We had communion there last night, before the grand opening and the first sermon, a gathering the willing leaders of the future.  The youth looked as solemn as youth can look when in the presence of other youth.

You’ll never know how that touched my heart. I am part of something so much bigger than myself and it makes everything else in my life so insignificant. To work to bring Jesus to the hearts of youth blesses me. To work daily in the service of our Lord is a privilege. Sometimes, I must admit, that I am like the youth were yesterday in that I fail to recognize the honor in what I get to do, and then it hits me, and humbles me, like it did last night.

We sang this song last night, acoustically, a guitar and youth voices. It doesn’t get better than that!

What’s The World Coming To?

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Yesterday at the funeral, we were gathered at the cemetery. Each of us grieving in our own way. We watched the color guard present the American flag to the wife of a man I love deeply. While the bugle played Taps, and his priest called him a true disciple of Christ, we were engrossed in the solemnness of the moment. We lined up to put petals on the casket and the pall bearers put their boutonnieres on the casket, we paid our last respects to a kind and honest man and gave our condolences to his widow.

While we were giving honor, someone or some people were breaking windows of cars and stealing purses. Seriously? Have we gotten that low as a human species that we take this opportunity to steal? People are grieving and now they are having to call police and credit card companies?

What’s worse is that we seem think we need God less and less in our society. What the reality is though, if we ever needed God in our country, we need him more now! Unbelievable!