Praise the Lord for Children ~

Often times they say profound things that floor me....
When a 3 year old could know such deep truths about the Lord it's awe inspiring !
And then, sometimes.......they say something of which you can tell that they intended it to be funny - and it actually is !!!

The latest funny was from this past Sunday.
I was helping a little boy named Grant get the marker off his hands.
Just as we finished washing the soap off his hands, I said "Here's your papertowel Sir"
And he said back "Thank you, Ma'am"

It struck me and I said "Wow, haven't been called Ma'am very much in my life"
Not realizing that I had said that out loud.....Grant caught me off guard as he climbed down the little ladder by the sink looked at me with his head tilted with a grin on his face and said
"People normally call you Sir?"

The FUNNIEST part is that he knew that he was making a joke and he had that little smirk on his face as he walked past me out of the bathroom......

I almost buckled over laughing.....as did a parent who was standing nearby- who was close enough to hear him say that.

sigh......what a joy.
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One more story..........such a blessing.
It was memory verse time. Each week the 3 year olds learn one new verse.
To help them memorize we use picture identification to hint at what the verse should teach us about who God is. (ie....a pic of a shield for the verse that says that "God is a shield to those who take refuge in Him")
Well, the parents of BBC children are (for the most part) very diligent in getting God's word into their little one's hearts and minds.........though they all do it very differently.

So, as I was holding up a verse I asked "does anyone know what this is a picture of ??"
And then "what verse reminds us that God is a Strong Tower?"
Well, This little boy in my small group (Ms.Daas' Frogs, thankyouverymuch)
raised his little hand......I called on him and he said ever so sweetly "what is the reference please?"
(He wanted to know the chapter and verse !!!!)
I said Prov 18:10 - and he quoted it - perfectly.

Not everyone should do Children's ministry - only those who want to see the glory and power of God in His convicting and giving understanding to little hearts.

Soli Deo Gloria ~
Jen2

"My goal is God Himself . . . At any cost, dear Lord, by any road."

A friend from my former church gave me such a simple blessed truth on Friday........and by God's grace it was very timely for the weekend I was about to have ~

"As soon as we get any kind of comfortable here in this world, the Lord will give us trials if we are his so that we remember that this is not our home....and that we shouldn't trust in anything in this world."

Not to get into all of the details of my seeming mountains of trials lately......but one in particular is starting to settle down today.
Saturday afternoon I was content and joyful and heading to 'surprise visit' my brother.....then to get some shopping for essentials done. Well....I pulled into a parking lot...and just a few seconds later, a cop pulled in behind me, blocking me in and had his lights on.
He walks up and asks me who's name the car is in, I said "I hope mine, I just bought it about a month ago.."
Then, in an ever-innocent tone I said "Is something wrong, have I done something?"

He grabs my license, and darts back to his car....comes back to me quickly and tells me that my license is suspended due to an unpaid fine from this past summer.
I about lost my marbles....I said "that cannot be, I paid it in person."
He asked me for evidence of my paying the fine, which of course I didn't have with me in my new car......and proceeded to tell me he's writing me a citation and impounding my car.
He walked back to his car and I called my little brother and told him the scoop........and where I was. He was about a mile away and the cop said that if someone came to help me - 2 people would need to come- one to drive my car and one to drive the other car back.
My little brother RAN much of the way to try to save me from the $250 expense of impounding.

The tow truck arrived just as my brother did.....and Praise the LORD - even though he was a heartless -"on power trip" type of police officer.......he waved the tow truck away and said that he would let my brother drive my car.

Long story - a little longer.......I wrestled much with the unjust-ness of it all. "It's not fair that I couldn't drive all weekend and that my friends and family had to cart me around for 2 1/2 days.......since after all it's an error with the state of Minnesota...."
But my little brother reminded me of the Sovereign God of the universe...how he rules and reigns and works all things after the counsel of His will....including human errors at the state offices.
So...then I got to thinking (and need to quite a bit more) what is He trying to teach me through all this?
How to suffer unjustly is all that I've come up with. And I can tell you that this time around I failed miserably, so I can bet there will be a re-test soon.
(I grumbled to God and to friends - like a spoiled brat)

I called the violations bureau this morning and they said "hmm, must have been a miscommunication between the systems....I show that you've paid the fine back in August...."
She kindly faxed me proof so that I can drive and promised to have the police computers updated in the next 48 hours.

What next?

A few tid bits for the day

Hmm......wellp.......Joey hit the frog on the nose with the whole following the Spirit thing....truly.
(Well...her and her brother Frank)
And knowing that your heart is not ready for such matters as a potential relationship is one good reason to rest and wait on the Lord.

A dear sister in the Lord that I had coffee with last night gave me such a blessed insight....in that when a relationship is over that you really felt the Lord was blessing and leading - it is 10 times more difficult to let go of it.......since at BBC we know the supremacy of God in all things - we can have a greater temptation to then doubt the goodness and kindness of our Father when we can't understand his leading us to some thing that fails. (either for a season or permenantly)
I found myself asking....well, myself....."DOES it need to make sense to you Jennifer ??"
No.....just thinking about little children who are diagnosed with a terminal illness and will never have a chance to do ministry for the Lord......but they have only their hope and love for Christ as they look out the window of their little hospital rooms, waiting.........just a simple faith that what the Lord does is good.....and we may not understand, but in all His ways........His inscrutable ways.....we hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering.....for He who promised IS FAITHFUL....
She also gave me a great warning reminding me of the ways of satan, in that his whole goal is to get me to doubt the Father I love........to try to provoke me to turn my back on my faith in God. What a great reminder.....

Woke up with the most encouraged heart this morning and the Lord blessed me with an opportunity to share the gospel with a Mormon......for an hour (praise the Lord).......
He seemed open and loves talking about it....but you can see that when he's convicted his eyes dropped down and he looked at the floor. Pray for him....the Lord knows his name. The mormons are after him lately to get him to come back to their cult....and he's visited a couple times -but he senses that it's ''off"

On top of this, a co-worker of mine from another branch (who is a brother in Christ Jesus) just wrote me an email asking me what is going on in Chan.....he said that he just had an awful feeling when he was here.........evil is what I presume he meant/ spiritual warfare......and I shared with him some of the craziness of the ministry here.......the muslim witnessing and the professing Christians who scorn and mock me frequently, sometimes to my face.
Tis funny though......for some reason, the Lord desires that I'm here....in the midst of the darkness. Reminded me that I need to "pray - since it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on me"

Congrats - you found a *Carrot *

It's the end of my rabbit trail.....ahem.

Laters ~
Jen 2

Friendships & Singleness ~

I get so much advice on what to do with this and that circumstance, and seriously, guys and girls give exactly opposite advice.......it's mindboggling.
The whole goal in courtship seems to be - to pursue the relationship, but prayerfully and slowly at first - yet not with so much force that if either decides to pull back that it would completely rock either person's world.

My girls are constantly reminding me that my heart needs to be guarded.......(especially lately with the recent breakup) and that it's a girl's responsibility before God to limit her little heart's exposure to anyone of the opposite sex unless and until the timing is right and the man has truly demonstrated the perseverance it takes to draw out the deepest parts........in a way, he really needs to fight for it. Fighting his own selfish ambitions, his frustrations, the misunderstandings that come when trying to interpret the female heart.
I think I'm learning this lately......that to see Christ in a man, in his giving up himself for his bride (Jesus/the church) is a necessary precursor to marriage. Without the man being able to give up his rights and go to the funeral of himself, the girl will not feel safe to be vulnerable, nor loved, nor cherished as God intended. We know the love of God in Christ by his persevering and suffering and dying.
It's amazing to me that when my last boyfriend was the most loving and tender with me -
the desire to follow him came EASY - it was EASY to trust him and submit to his decisions and leadership......because I trusted that the Lord was his leader in that he was being sensitive to God's headship of him. The man's obedience before God is a blessing to the woman - in that she finds freedom to obey the command to respect and follow her (potential) husband with great joy.

On the flip side of the coin, this is difficult for myself and other women like me who don't really enjoy superficial conversations......I would rather cut myself open and bleed with my friends than pretend that "all is well" and never get to know my family in the Lord.
So herein lies my dilemma.......

Guys have said that a girl should not presume that a guy is interested in anything more than a friendship unless he makes that intention known - verbally.
And to that I say, sure! - that's reasonable......since I know girls who swoon and think that guys are interested in them if the brother simply says "hi" and practices Christian kindness.
(even though he is kind every other sister also....but women seem not to notice that part)

My girls say (thank you friends) that as women we need to keep watch over our hearts by limiting our brother's access to our time, unless he makes his intentions clear...and even then.......guarding our hearts by limiting what we talk about.

So........can guys and girls be friends?

Super SCATTERED thoughts

It is SO hard when you are so analytical by nature as I am. Thoughts coming to mind ....often times scripture.....that make me wonder....why I am not a more loving and more gracious person.......towards those I profess to love and also towards them that are difficult to love.
That is the fruit of the Spirit........and if we have been given "everything pertaining to life and godliness" we should be capable of loving others......right?
Ozzie's devo today talked about going to the funeral of self.......think that's necessary for all of us.
If there remains a carnal nature in us, where things of this world threaten to crowd out what matters most as the Lord sees it....He's going to put it to death in us, and it's going to hurt.

Being reminded last night by a dear brother that believing and treasuring Jesus is how I am saved, not by what I do.......and to stop analyzing what I'm doing, to just soak up the word and God will bear the fruit in my life. Eternal fruit, not just the pretend kind that so often times I've been satisfied with........the half hearted good deeds, and the external rightness of conduct....but obeying the gospel better than the pharisees - from a heart that Loves and trusts God my Father. *sigh*

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Every now and again, I come across a song that just bombards my little heart giving me a better, more God centered view of this life.

I was just introduced to the song by Aaron Jeoffrey called "He Is" in October, and bought the CD a week or so ago. You have to hear how the music really communicates the power of the offices and work of Christ Jesus throughout the books of the bible.....but whew...if you know your old testament, you'll be on your knees-a-weeping in adoration of our Great High Priest.

In Genesis, He's the breath of life
In Exodus, the Passover Lamb
In Leviticus, He's our High Priest
Numbers, The fire by night
Deuteronomy, He's Moses' voice
In Joshua, He is salvation's choice
Judges, law giver
In Ruth, the kinsmen-redeemer
First and second Samuel, our trusted prophet
In Kings and Chronicles, He's sovereign
Ezra, true and faithful scribe
Nehemiah, He's the rebuilder of broken walls and lives
In Esther, He's Mordecai's courage
In Job, the timeless redeemer
In Psalms, He is our morning song
In Proverbs, wisdom's cry
Ecclesiastes, the time and season
In the Song of Solomon, He is the lover's dream
He is, He is, HE IS!

In Isaiah, He's Prince of Peace
Jeremiah, the weeping prophet
Lamentations, the cry for Israel
Ezekiel, He's the call from sin
In Daniel, the stranger in the fire
In Hosea, He is forever faithful
In Joel, He's the Spirits power
In Amos, the arms that carry us
In Obadiah, He's the Lord our Savior
In Jonah, He's the great missionary
In Micah, the promise of peace
In Nahum, He is our strength and our shield
In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, He's pleading for revival
In Haggai, He restores a lost heritage
In Zechariah, our fountain
In Malachi, He is the son of righteousness rising with healing in His wings
He is, He is, HE IS!

In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, He is God, Man, Messiah
In the book of Acts, He is fire from heaven
In Romans, He's the grace of God
In Corinthians, the power of love
In Galatians, He is freedom from the curse of sin
Ephesians, our glorious treasure
Philippians, the servants heart
In Colossians, He's the Godhead Trinity
Thessalonians, our coming King
In Timothy, Titus, Philemon He's our mediator and our faithful Pastor
In Hebrews, the everlasting covenant
In James, the one who heals the sick.
In First and Second Peter, he is our Shepherd
In John and in Jude, He is the lover coming for His bride
In the Revelation, He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords !!
He is, He is, HE IS!
The prince of peace
The Son of man
The Lamb of God
The great I AM
He's the alpha and omega
Our God and our Savior
He is Jesus Christ the Lord
And when time is no more
He is, HE IS


Praise the Lord today friends.
Sorrowful yet, but rejoicing in spite of myself.
Jen2

Shut up before the Lord - Again

Lyrics that sum up a heart humbled by brokeness,
and knees dropped to the ground in quietness with nothing to say -but to be still and silent before the Almighty once again. Waiting and watching.

Should I Be Bold Enough To Speak
In This Moment?
A Reverent Heart Must Surely Be
Unbroken
With No Regrets
Should I Be, Lost In Forgetfulness
With Not Regrets..... In My Head.....
Faithfully Shed ??

Should I Be Rich, Or Poor And Scattered In My Dreams?
While All The Figures That Surround Me Live
Unguarded

Free From The Worry
Free From The Dark That Lives In Me
Free To Embark On The Passion, You've Favorable Fashioned,
In Me

What is Love Anyway ?


To set the scene - The women of Jerusalem are giving Claudia Procula counsel to leave Pontius Pilate, her husband who is cold and cruel to her -their counsel is merely from the humanistic point of view as the tell her that she would be just in walking away from the covenant she made.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And Claudia would answer them,
"O women of Jerusalem, You speak as if there were no God.
As if there were no tender rod to comfort me and lead me through the darkest valley of my fewAnd painful years, as if there's not, nor should be higher aims than what you've dreamed for man and wife. As if the path were safe, nor any cliff be close or any bitter wind be in my face, nor I be sinned against, or feel this constant grief so long, my death would be relief.
How many women do you give such shallow counsel? As I live,O, women of Jerusalem who counsel thus, I pity them.
As for myself, there is one love, one covenant, one vow, above all married bliss or pain, and I once held the bloody price on my own lap, and heard him, dying, say to me enough to show the way a covenant is kept. Now go, and learn what God designs to show, when Pilate crucifies his wife, and she is faithful all her life."
~ excerpt from poem by John Piper called Pilate's Wife

This specific part of the poem gives me much comfort as I am in tremendous pain from a recently broken relationship. It makes my heart say "AS if there is not more to this life than the hope for marital bliss or the trauma of painful break ups......"
There is a tender rod to comfort me through my darkest times, there is a shepherd who loves His sheep. I'm so glad I'm a sheep.

Even as I sit here at work trying to focus on....work......I wonder what the plan could be in all and through all of the recent heartache.......why am I not certain that we're doing the right thing in breaking up even with the doubts I had?

True love endures all things. Can it endure 3 break ups ??
With our God anything is possible........His love is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit and it makes it's object Holy. Oh, how I want Holy love more than life. To be with our Father and never weep over brokenness and inperfect love ever again.........

My times are in His Hands.........Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

Sorrowful and longing to rejoice,
Jen2

Obedience and it's relationship to Abiding ~ Notice the overlap? I recently did........

I read this great excerpt from a book last week about how Satan is far too sneaky to just present us with a temptation to blatant sin.......we would be looking out for those kind of attacks.
He knows that we will be much more warmed up to the possibility of wandering if he brings up the heat little by little. First by making sure we're too sleepy to pray and/or distracting us by everything and anything he can. Then by letting the little white lies go unchecked or excused away, then by clinging to our 'rights' in this and that situation.........and THEN just when our hearts have become deaf to the nudging of the Holy Spirit and our hearts are calloused to the point where we find it hard to love and live for Christ.........BAM - Anxiety, Fear, Discontent, Disillusionment, Despair - all essentially are UNBELIEF.......and then the temptation only gets worse........to forsake the fountain of living water and to try to find satisfaction in things of the world - we are so susceptible to such things......hence the warnings "beware, lest you likewise fall"

I have had the experience of being like a frog in a pot with the heat being turned up so gradually that I haven't even noticed it - in that my heart became less able to pick up the Holy Spirit's leading. Yeah sure, still doing ministry, still praying, still reading.......but not abiding.
Stupid thing is, I knew something was "off", but could not put my finger on it.....till now.

I was at my little brother's house on Friday night and as usual, I was poking around in his library looking for a new something to read.
I found this book called "I Dared to Call Him Father"
I read a few pages, unfortunately getting so wrapped up in the book that I wasn't too helpful to my brother in planning his proposal of marriage that he was hankerin' to do on New Years Eve.
(went EXTEREMLY WELL - Praise the Lord)

But the book was a page turner! I did eventually put it down that night......but the next morning I could not eat breakfast fast enough to get out of my house to go sit in my favorite seat by the fire at Caribou Coffee and crack open the extremely captivating book about an upper class muslim woman who was converted to Christ Jesus in a most unusual way.
And although the way that she came to the faith was different than mine, reading the words she wrote, reading right into her heart made me fly back to the time when my faith was new and fresh and nothing meant more to me than listening to my Father.
She wrote in the book about how she could sense "The Presence" and the hand of the Almighty, personally known to her now as her Father.....and whenever she was harsh or otherwise disobedient, she could actually sense his presence fading. With the strong desire to not displease her Father and to remain in fellowship with him, immediately when she obeyed, whether it was to apologize or to move out of her comfort zone as the Lord was leading her to.......she could sense his presence return full force.
Her only desire was to keep His blessed presence with her always.

"I remember that !" I thought.
OH ! I had forgotten what it was like to move at the drop of a hat in obedience - I had forgotten the joy of reconciliation - I had forgotten the peace that comes with walking before Him in love and trusting His hand.

All of these precious moments that He's brought me to have come from a blessed trial going on in my life right now.
What a Father ~
Twas REALLY ironic that the sermon on Sunday was all about the Fatherhood of God....and how we relate to Him and He to us. I love it when God's timing works out that way~

Ha ! Then I was watching the Chronicles of Narnia, and for the first time it hit me..........Christians are all as Edmund......we're not so much like the 3 others that never were led astray and deceived.

I'll quit rambling.........

Tis all I got ~
In Christ Jesus still,
Jen2