Hello friends,

I’ve been so busy preparing for She Speaks, our annual Proverbs 31 Conference and for Hitomi to arrive from Japan, that I’m late on posting today. Isn’t that what happens when life is heavy? We’re often late, tried, and second guessing ourselves. Yet, I’ve learned that anything we do for Kingdom purposes is worth the outcome! So...press on, friend!

Don’t limit Kingdom work, my friends. It consists of more than a Christian conference. It’s housing an exchange student. It’s forgiving that hard to deal with person one more time. It’s paying your bills. It’s getting the mail for your neighbor on vacation even when you couldn’t take one this year and you’re green with envy.

I realize that for some of you the journey has been long—much like Joseph’s in my devotion today. Some of you have lost loved ones and it’s hard to go on. Others have sacrificed to help a family member. Some of you have shoulder burdens that would crush most. You have bills that outnumber our paychecks and burdens that outweigh your strength.

And you can’t go on any longer. You’re tried, broken, and hopeless.

Been there, and have wanted to give up to.

Trust me on this one. Keep pressing forward. Keep moving on the path ahead of you. Christ never promised you and I we would be without trouble. He did promise to deliver us in it. Did you catch that?

Christ doesn’t deliver us from trouble, but in it. And the end result is always worthwhile.
Here are some promises of God to cling to along your journey:

“I will be glad in the day of trouble for you have considered my trouble; you know my soul in adversities” (Ps 3 1:7)

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence comes my help. My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth” (Ps 121: 1,2)

“For we do not have a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”(Hebrews 5:15)

“Let us come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

Peace, my friends

Supporting your child’s dream sounds easy. But what if your child dreams of living on the other side of the world?

From the time my daughter, Peyton, was four years old, she has loved the Asian culture. She fell in love with it at church during GA’s (Girls in Action). She used to say, “When I grow up, I’m going far, far away and tell people about Jesus.” It was so cute then. It was even cute when she wanted to buy a Japanese doll and decorate her room Asian style. There’s nothing wrong with that—right? Besides, the best Christian physiologists advise parents to support their child’s dream. So far, her dad and I were doing well showing our support.

Then, things got serious.

In Jr high school, Peyton began learning more about the Asian culture—the music, the food, the customs, and the language. Before I knew it, Peyton was teaching herself to speak Japanese! Sticker’s with strange symbols were stuck to every object in our home--my oven, the telephone, the curtains, and even the dog’s water bowl. The big blow came when Peyton informed her dad and me that after college she wanted to enter the JETT program. What’s the JETT program, you ask. We were curious about that too.

The JETT program is a community of people who live in Japan and teach the English language to Japanese students. It was at this point we wondered why she had to dream so big. Why couldn’t she live and teach in just another state within America?

“It’s not the same thing.” Peyton says with conviction. The kind of conviction that tells you deep inside she’s going one way or another.

Since her dad and I believe in God-given dreams and passions, we decided to get on-board. However, instead of sending our daughter to Japan, we decided to bring Japan to our daughter.
In just a few short weeks, we will have a new addition to our family. An Asian exchange student is coming to us from Japan! Hitomi (pronounced He-Toe-me) will be with us for an entire year. Both she and Peyton will be seniors this year and attend the same school. Peyton is so excited she can hardly wait. The excitement is building for the rest of us too as we rearrange our house to accommodate our newest family member.

Hitomi has a special passion for visiting America. Her deceased father was American. Hitomi longs to learn about his culture and especially his faith. (Hummmmmmmm!) Isn’t that interesting?! Not only that, she loves theater…just like Peyton and she plays tennis, which is my husband’s game. Hitomi sounds like a perfect fit for our family…but isn’t that just like God!

When the year concludes, Peyton has the option of returning with Hitomi to Japan. Her dad says we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime, we’re looking forward to Hitomi’s visit…and a new chapter in our lives as Peyton’s dream continues to unfold.

Sex is God’s idea. And it’s a good one. Everybody wants in on it especially the marketing industry. Why? Sex sells. Advertisements use sex to sell anything from a hamburger to a Caribbean cruise. According to a FamilyLife resource, sex has become a cultural obsession, but the picture of sex that our culture paints is a cheap counterfeit and a perversion of God’s original design.

Hi, I’m glad you stopped by today. I hope you’ve had the chance to read my devotion, The Sticker Book. Let’s be honest. We’ve all struggled with this topic. Growing up, most of us received a poor sex education. What we do know or have experienced has been twisted by our culture. Schoolgirls today have a false perception that sex is how to keep a boyfriend. Guys, on the other hand, tend to think if I get married I can have sex any time I want it. (Yeah right.) Since sex is God’s idea for the married couple, let’s consider what He has to say about it.

God not only created sex…

“For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Gen 2:24)

…He did so for a reason.

1.) Procreation: “And God blessed Adam and Eve and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth’” (Gen 1:28).

The family is God’s choice for passing His Word from one generation to another. Wow!

2.) Pleasure: “Let you fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth. As a loving hind and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; be exhilarated always with her love” (Proverbs 5:18-19).

Sex is NOT a sin nor is it dirty. It’s meant to be pleasurable.

3.) Protection: “But because of immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body but the wife does. Stop depriving one another exept by agreement for a time that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again lest Satan tempt you because o f your lack of control” (1 Corinthians 7:2-5).

Sex is intended to protect a husband and wife from temptation. Failure to sexually satisfy each other in a marriage may lead to a spouse looking outside of marriage for fulfillment. Sex is meant to PROTECT one another.

What if I’m not married?

Premarital sex is so common in our culture today that some people who remain pure until marriage are considered “old-fashion.” But God has your best interest in mind when He commanded us to wait and not engage in fornication. He wants us to experience the absolute best, rather than a poor counterfeit.

How do we cope with differences?

According to FamilyLife, men and women approach sex differently. Here’s how they map it out.

Attitude:
Men—Physical, Compartmentalized
Women—Relational, Wholistic

Stimulation:
Men—Body centered, Sight, Smell, Actions
Women—Person centered, Touch, Attitudes, Words

Needs:
Men—Respect, To be physically needed, Physical expression
Women—Respect, To be emotionally needed, Relational intimacy

Sexual Response:
Men—Acyclical, Quick excitement, Difficult to distract
Women—Cyclical, Slow excitement, Easily distracted

Orgasm:
Men—Shorter, more intense, Physically oriented
Women—Longer, more in-depth, emotionally oriented

You would think God would have made us more compatible. Hope this helps! Don’t be afraid to talk it over with your spouse. Perhaps as you shop together for a sticker book.

I wish I could say the reason for my absence this past week was due to a long exotic vacation in the Bahamas. But I can’t. I was sick. Lucky me, I caught a virus going around in the South. It was similar to the flu lasting 8-10 days.

All that suffering, and I didn’t lose a pound.

I need to know. Is there anyone out there who can lose bodily fluids due to illness and not lose weight either?? Seems to me there should be some payoff. Right?!

Anyway, whenever I get sick or one of my family members gets sick, I’m quick to put on my nurses hat and search the web for a diagnosis. According to the Mayo Clinic, either I had Lyme disease or I was pregnant. Whoa!

In some cases, it’s best to let the professionals do the search and rescue with a right diagnosis. However, when it comes to spiritual knowledge, searching the Word of God is always a good idea. In fact, it’s the right idea.

Most people today want to know what God’s will is. While it seems like a mystery, it’s not. Take Romans 12: 1-2 for example.

“I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. (2) And don not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

This verse seemed to follow me for years. At first, I didn’t know why it kept popping up in my life. Once I took the time to mediate on the verse, it finally dawned on me. God was answering my prayer to know His will.

Duh, Micca!

You see, I longed for God to use me. I wanted Him to have my whole heart and use my life for His glory. Little did I know at the time, but that’s God’s will for each and every one of us! When you and I make that kind of offer to God, He IS going to respond. In this case, He responded with Romans 12: 1-2.

The first sentence tells us that the only thing we can offer God is our dedication. (Read it again.)
Next, Romans tells us how the dedication process works.

1.) We are to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice.
2.) We are to avoid conforming to the world’s ways.
3.) We are to be transformed (changed) by studying God’s Word.

This is God’s perfect and acceptable will for both you and me.

Do you want to make the most out of your life? Then dedicate yourself wholly to Him.

I asked my son what he did at camp last week and he replied “I preached.”

“You spoke in front of 500 plus kids?” I clarified.

“Yep.”

“Were you afraid?” I asked.

“No.” he said in a matter of fact way. “I just spoke from my heart.”

Parker is our athlete. He makes his dad and me proud. His dad is probably a bit more proud of his skill than I am. That or my husband is reliving his days through our son. Don't think bad of me for writing that. It's not like he denies the allegation. In fact he adds, “When Parker has a son of his own, he can live through him.”

Whatever!

When Parker said he “preached” in front of a large number of his own peers, it blessed my heart beyond measure. For a minute, I got that same feeling my husband gets when Parker hits a home run, makes the tackle, or swooshes the ball through the hoop for 2 points. I had to know more details.

It started when Parker decided not to play summer baseball this year. Doing so means he would have to miss church and other activates such as church camp from time to time. In our opinion, playing ball over going to church is an unhealthy priority. However, once you enter Jr high and high school, playing is almost a must. We decided to take the summer off and trust God.
At camp, one of the youth counselors asked Parker to share his priority to attend church over playing ball at the campfire service.

Parker used the campfire as a visual. He shared how his relationship with God is like a fire. To keep it hot, he has to fuel the fire. Each log represented that fuel. One log symbolized his prayer time. Another log represented worship, and yet, another log stood for his bible reading. Parker explained that when he neglected any of these logs or put other priorities before God, his fire went out.

I don’t know about you, but I thought that was pretty creative! Of course, he said it only took him about 5 minutes to share, but still. I was blown away. In fact, I asked him if I could use his analogy.

I don’t know why the counselor felt led to ask Parker to “preach.” But this I know. God is in all and in control of all things good and bad. Somewhere in the future, this moment of training and preparation will have prepared Parker to fulfill his purpose on a grander scale. All of our moments are building for the next one. Take my friend, LeAnn.

LeAnn loves to cook. She often makes food for the gals in the office. Many of those recipes are found in her fabulous cookbook. It only took a moment to cook for the girls. Another moment to create a cookbook, and now, today at this very moment, LeAnn has launched a cooking blog called, She Cooks, where you can get great cooking idea’s, tricks and tips! Who knows what the next moment for LeAnn will bring. Perhaps a cooking show!

Be sure and stop by. This might be the moment you discover the best cooking tip you've ever had!

This weekend, make the most of every MOMENT!

Welcome to my blog. I'm so glad you stopped by.

What does it mean when God reveals himself to us as Father and adopts us into His forever family through faith in Jesus Christ? It means you and I should have a childlike reverence for His age, wisdom, power, and authority. We can look to Him as the source for all our needs and feel safe and secure in His love and care. We honor Him as Father by exhibiting the same godly fear that Abraham and Isaac revealed.

Today, the emphasis on honoring fathers is much different than in Isaac’s day or even 100 years ago. No longer do we acknowledge the command, “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12), which also applies to the relationship we have with our heavenly Father. Rodney Dangerfield is not the only person who suffers from “no respect.” These days our society has a general lack of respect for fathers. Perhaps, it’s because we have fewer godly fathers who have won the admiration of their children. Have you noticed that fathers are depicted as idiots in movies, television, and even in cartoons? In the sitcom, “Everybody Loves Raymond,” the character, Debra, degrades her husband by calling him an idiot whenever he makes a bad judgment. No doubt her action has influenced female viewers to use name calling when displeased with their spouse.

On the other hand, a person with godly fear would never act in such a way. That person would heed the command of God, 'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:18). We show honor to God by displaying reverential esteem of others. Godly fear should motivate us to offer grace by extending an encouraging word instead of thrashing another with a rude comment. Generally, those who tear down others usually have little respect for themselves. Their rude comments are a desperate attempt to make themselves look better. Sadly, the results usually turn out opposite.

To have respect in any relationship you have to be worthy of honor. Where there is abuse, apathy, domineering, or controlling behavior there is no respect. While we may have experienced this type of behavior in relationships where trust should have abounded, this is not the behavior of our God. The bible tells us that people who practice these things don’t know the love of God, nor do they fear Him. “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8). Because God has demonstrated His love for us by sending His son, He is more than worthy of our respect. (Romans 5:8, paraphrased).

I was twenty-one when my first husband died. Mostly likely, I would marry again. Since I had a infant son, I knew that my choice of when and who to marry was very important. I began to pray for God to protect me from the wrong mate until the right mate came along. He did exactly that. I have a wonderful husband and family for which I’m extremely thankful for. This experience opened my eyes to how important marrying the right mate is. So, I began praying for my children’s mate too. Here’s my list. I hope you’ll make it yours and add to it along the way.

1. Help my child’s spouse to remain a virgin. Guard him/her from "outer-course" (petting experiences); abuse; harassment; and pornographic content in music, photographs, and movies (Col. 3:5).

2. Make my daughter’s spouse a man after God’s own heart, a maturing Christian who can take a spiritual leadership role that encourages my daughter toward deeper spiritual growth (Eph. 5:25-28).

3. Develop in my child’s mate a desire to seek and ask forgiveness when wrong from both God and man (1 Jn. 1:8-9).

4. Show my daughter’s spouse do what you want him to do with his life. Help him to seek your purpose for his creation (1 Tim. 4:12).

5. Teach my child’s spouse the basics of spiritual warfare, how to flee temptation, how to take thoughts captive, and how to stand firm against the devil’s schemes (1 Pet. 5:8-9, 2 Cor. 10:3-5, Jas. 4:7-8).

6. Help my child’s spouse to become a master of good, uplifting communication. Protect him/her from foul language and angry response (Col. 3:8).

7. Give my child’s spouse deep, satisfying personal relationships that will prepare him/her for marriage without compromising his purity (1 Thess. 4:3-8).

8. Teach my child’s spouse to be a good parent. Give his/her parents good parenting skills, and, if not, provide him with a godly role model. Be the Father to the fatherless if he has no father (Ps. 68:5-6).

9. Give my child’s spouse a hunger for God through prayer and Bible study (Mt. 13:23).

10. Help my child’s spouse to make a commitment to the truth, to choose honesty in every situation, even when tempted to lie to lessen punishment or consequences (Eph. 4:25).

11. Give my child’s spouse a proper attitude toward money in giving, receiving, and working. Help him/her learn how to budget, save, and tithe (1 Tim. 6:6-11).

12. Make my child’s spouse considerate and sensitive, a giving, loving Christian who can place others needs before his/her own without losing his/her personal identity (1 Jn. 3:16-18).