Teddy Bear Revival

This is a family memory from 2010…Hubby had been deployed for a year in Iraq and had recently come home.

 Recently, Third Son has told us he is going to be a preacher. Of course, my first thought was “Boy, that is going to be one interesting church!”… but what if he really does become a preacher? Third Son decided he wanted to hold a preaching service. He asked me if he could have some “alone time” in his room to prepare for his service. I told him he could and his brothers kindly accommodated him.

 

Since Daddy has been home, the children have had their indoctrination (aka brainwashing) of bluegrass music reinstated. Well, one song on a new CD of Daddy’s has really become a hit with all the children. It’s called “Teddy Bear Revival” and is about a little boy who would line up his stuffed animals and preach to them. Later, the little boy grows up to be a preacher.

Third Son used his alone time in his bedroom to get all of the stuffed animals lined up on his bed. He then told Daddy he was ready to begin, but he only wanted Daddy to be his congregation. Maybe that shows discernment to exclude the rest of us? We are a rowdy bunch.

 

Third Son held an opening song, even though he said it was a  baby song, he sang “Jesus Loves Me”. Personally, that’s a favorite. I tell the kids in junior church they might think of it as a “baby song” but it really boils down the whole reason why we’re at church.  Third Son also included a “meet and greet” time in the church service. He had a rooster and pig greet each other with accompanying oinks and crowing. I do feel compelled to point out here he is NOT imitating what he sees at our own church.

In preparation for the service, Third Son had collected Daddy’s Bible prior to the service and had leafed through till he had found a picture of Daniel. He decided to commence his service with the story of Daniel. So here is the story of Daniel as according to Third Son.

 

There was a king and these guys told him that there should be a law that people could only pray to the king. But Daniel kept praying to God anyway. Those guys told on Daniel. So the king had Daniel thrown in the lions’ den but an angel came and made it to where the lions didn’t touch him. The king said to those guys, “You tricked me!” The king went to the den and asked Daniel if the lions had hurt them and Daniel said, “Not a scratch!”. So the king had those guys thrown into the lions’ den, and well, they ate those guys.

Third Son also preached about the Lord’s Supper as well.

 Jesus had told his disciples that one of them would betray Him. They all asked, “Is it I, Lord?” And then Judas asked, “Is it I, Lord?” and Jesus said, “Yes”.

Just picturing Third Son saying that with his usual deadpan face cracks me up.

The men came and arrested Jesus. They beat Him up and put a crown of thorns on His head, which really hurts if you’re bald!

Most likely a reference to poor Hubby.

 While on the cross, one of the guys who was on one of the other crosses told Jesus he had done a lot of bad things but he wanted to go to Heaven with Jesus. Jesus told him, “Yes, you will go to Heaven with me.”

 

Now that Third Son had delivered his message, he decided to hold a time of invitation for his stuffed animal congregation. A troubled stuffed soul, a Minnesota Wolf given to the kids from Jon and Tammy Huju, was convicted of his many dastardly sins. This is in no way an implication of the spiritual state of Jon and Tammy, by the way. Third Son counseled with the wolf and physically assisted the wolf in kneeling and thus the angels rejoiced in another saved soul. (I’m guessing there is a chorus of stuffed animal angels somewhere???)

 

Completing his divine work, his calling, Third Son was now ready to leave the fellowship of

his stuffed animal congregation to join his real family in a gourmet meal of cheap pizza.

Proverbs 29:11

Wisdom

Legos and Hearing Aid Batteries

January 18, 2015

Some time ago, I teased Hubby with the fact you know you were old when you started having kids when you find Legos and hearing aid batteries in the dryer. Apparently, our children must think we are pretty decrepit as well.

Hubby and the kids have been sick for nearly two weeks now. The kids are actually doing pretty well now but Hubby had a set back today. He was just fine in the morning and early afternoon, but then he started really not doing well.

I went downstairs to check on the kids and to let them know that Dad had a fever again and asked for them to be on the quieter side so he could rest.

Third Son solemnly shook his head slowly back and forth. “At his age, a fever is pretty serious.”

Sinning With Stretchy Pants

Do we plan to sin?

Our youth pastor once talked about how avoiding sin required some prep work. You need safe guards in place. He compared it to going over to a certain family’s house, who is known for serving yummy meals, while he is on a diet. He said that it required doing some prep work which meant that he would take along his own food, to ensure he stayed on his diet.

Sitting in my pew, I felt a little ashamed. When he mentioned doing prep work before going over to that family’s house for the meal, my first thought was to skip all other meals that day and wear stretchy pants so I could pig out.

So instead of sticking with what is right, I immediately went to planning a way to not do what was right.

Definitely not a Hall of Faith moment there.

I have done that in my past. I knew I wasn’t doing what God wanted me to do, but I went ahead and wore the proverbial stretchy pants so I wouldn’t feel confined by my convictions.

We can come up with some great justifications while doing our sin planning. Just like I thought of skipping meals so that when I indulged later, it wouldn’t be as bad, we convince ourselves the sin we are planning on doing isn’t as bad as another sin. The problem with that is the fact that sin is sin.

There are no big sins or little sins. We like to categorize them as such because it makes us feel better. We don’t feel we are as bad as we could be if we were doing such and such. Or we aren’t as bad as that other sinner over there. But Jesus only died on one cross. He didn’t die on a big cross to pay for the big sins and then go die on a small cross for the little sins.

One size cross fits ALL our sins.

Back to the stretchy pants.

Instead of thinking of ways to plan how we can sin and get away with it (yeah, there’s no getting away with sinning), we should spend our energy and time thinking of ways to plan how to avoid sin.

So no more stretchy pants for me!

A Father’s Legacy

I wrote this back in 2010, after we suffered the loss of my husband’s father. With Father’s Day being this past weekend, my husband was missing his dad. Giles Lee Recently my husband…

Source: A Father’s Legacy

A Father’s Legacy

I wrote this back in 2010, after we suffered the loss of my husband’s father. With Father’s Day being this past weekend, my husband was missing his dad.

Giles Lee

Recently my husband’s father passed away. During the visitation, it was obvious many had memories of Giles they wanted to share. At the funeral, my husband’s two brothers spoke; sharing things about their dad they felt led to share. As each of them spoke, I looked around, as much as I could from the family room, at the people gathered there. It was obvious those who knew Giles well were in agreement of the characteristics my brother-in-laws were extolling.
I was in a unique position. I was family, no doubt. I became family eleven years ago when I married the second son of Giles: my dear husband, Jeff. But I wasn’t able to nod my head in agreement as others were doing, in personally remembering the good qualities of my husband’s father. I didn’t really know my father-in-law well. In fact, I could probably count on one hand the number of conversations he and I had together.
Before one jumps to conclusions, let me assure it wasn’t because we didn’t get along. I thought he was a great guy, friendly as anyone could be. It was due to an illness that crept up on him. Giles began acting quite not as himself. We had only been married for a year when it became obvious something was dreadfully amiss with Giles. Medical help was sought and eventually, dementia became known as the culprit. Dementia stole our time with Giles. For the majority of our marriage Giles lived in a nursing home. We did not even live in the same town as my husband is military and was stationed elsewhere. His memory failed him and he didn’t know whom Jeff was, much less me, who had known him so briefly.
All this is to say that although I may not have known Giles personally for long, I did know of the characteristics my brother-in-laws were speaking. I get to see those characteristics in my husband. The man Giles raised.
Giles took the time to make sure his boys knew what they needed to know to be what a man needs to be. I’m sure if you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, the verse “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it”, Proverbs 22:6, has come to mind. Yes, that is exactly what Giles did. And I haven’t seen any of his sons depart from it either.
First and foremost, Giles emphasized the need to know Christ as Savior. He was the earthly father showing his sons the Heavenly Father. No other duty as a parent is more important. I wasn’t there for the conversations but I can imagine Giles incorporated Romans 3:23 in his talks with his sons. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” As a dad, he would have done them a grave and eternal disservice had he never explained their need for a Savior. My husband knew this, and recognized he needed Christ in his own life when he was a young adult. Although Jeff never was in trouble with the law or rebellious, Giles must have taught him that he, Jeff, would have to make the decision for himself. There’s no riding on Daddy’s deacon coattails. Jeff took his decision to follow Christ seriously. Jeff has always credited Giles for this.
By the time I met him, Jeff was grounded in Scriptures and his love for the Lord was obvious. The first time I heard him in prayer in our singles’ Sunday school class, I was floored by his humble and sincere approach to the Lord. After the prayer, I remember thinking what a prayer warrior he was and I resolved to get to know him as a friend.
Jeff’s younger brother, Greg, spoke of other qualities about their father. He mentioned that Giles was an affectionate father. Yes, I see that daily in Jeff. He is always hugging and kissing our children. People we know have mentioned how obvious it is Jeff loves his children. My children know there is always a hug waiting. It is as if that hug is coming indirectly from Gramps himself.
Giles’s strong work ethic was mentioned at the funeral. Boy, I can attest to that! There have been times I wanted to ask Giles if he really needed to instill such a strong work ethic in Jeff, (as I dearly like to be lazy). Over the years, Jeff used said work ethic and has ministered to people by working on their houses. He gained the know-how from Giles who saw his boys as free labor for the construction site. Undoubtedly, I’ve been so thankful for that work ethic many times. I don’t have to worry if my husband is going to be the provider.
I also know the job will be done well. I won’t delve into the little speech, or rant, Jeff gives about shoddy workmanship. Giles trained him to do the job right. This past year, I even saw this being passed to the next generation. I had acquired a free futon couch for Benjamin’s room. It needed a bit of fixing. Benjamin got right on it, repaired it in the manner that he referred to as “the Lee way”.
The sense of fairness Giles had was mentioned at the funeral. Being fair demands for accountability of one’s self. Admitting when one is wrong. I don’t know how many other fathers will admit to their children when they are in the wrong. I’ve observed Jeff do it and also apologize to the child.
Another attribute spoken of at the funeral was humility. Giles was talked of as a humble man. I knew as such from things Jeff had told me about his father. I knew that because Jeff is willing to humble himself. Giles was not one to brag about Giles Lee. He wanted any glory to go to God. Jeff has done likewise in his life whether it be about his talents or his earnest desire to share the Gospel with the Iraqis.
Giles taught Jeff not to sully the name he was given… not just Lee, but even more so, Child of God. Whether it was a job in construction or doing what is right, your name is going on it. It’s an integrity thing.
You may think it odd for me to mention humility earlier when I seem to be bragging on my husband and his father. Forgive me if bragging is how this comes across. I write this to demonstrate the difference God makes in a man’s life as he fulfills the role of father. How Giles fulfilled his role as a Christian father was a priceless component of my husband seeking his own relationship with Christ, and thus, becoming a Christian father as well.
So as I sat there in the funeral, I thought about these things and the unique perspective I had of Giles Lee: of knowing him mostly through what he instilled in my husband. Due to Giles’s diligence to follow Scripture in the raising of his sons, I have a husband who chose to turn to God. That husband led our own children to Christ. What a priceless legacy of Giles Lee.
At the funeral home, when I was by myself a bit and as I gazed upon Giles in the casket, these words came to mind:
thank you

 

Allergies…Dr. Seuss Style!

I was wondering about a title for this post. I knew I wanted to blog about the misery of my allergies this season. As different ideas for a title rattled through my histamine-filled brain, it dawned on me it kind of sounded like Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.

Would you like your allergies here or there, or anywhere?
Would you like them in a box, with a fox?
Would you like them in a house, with a mouse?

However, there is no part where I am pleasantly surprised with the discovery that I do like my allergies after all, Sam-I-Am! Well, let’s just say, I don’t like them for what they do to my life.

I do not know about anyone else out there, but the allergies have been just downright horrible for me this year! If you know my allergy story, then you also know corn is the hidden satan in many pills, tablets, and medicines on which allergy-suffers depend. Guess who is allergic to corn? Yes, it is I, so it definitely feels like a no-win situation for me.

Thanks to my pollen allergies being escalated, my food allergies are much more sensitive than usual. I am truly thankful I can still drink coffee or my family would suffer from my grouchiness so much the more.

But like all things about this life here on earth, this too shall pass! I will one day be sneeze-free! Hubby will love that as my sneezes blow out his hearing aids. I will no longer have numerous wads of tissues hanging out of pockets and my purse. I wonder if I should invest in Kleenex stock? I will be able to look more intelligent as I will no longer have to rely on a gaping, open mouth for my oxygen intake. I will be able to awake in the morning and be energized for the day. Today I took a nap at 8:00 am. I will be able to return to wearing make up and no longer scare young children in the store with my swollen, puffy, blood-shot eyes and raw nose. I truly felt bad I scared that little boy but did his parents really feel the need to stare and point at me? I will no longer cause concern for my dear church family members who think I have been crying due to some intense conviction. I imagine they must be thinking, “Whatever is she being convicted of by the Holy Spirit??? It must be pretty bad. She looks horrible….Bless her heart.”

The added “bless her heart” is in case a female church member from the South is thinking that because if you tack that on at the end, it totally negates any negative thing you just said.

Paul asked for relief from his affliction but he was told to rely on His sufficient grace. Allergies are my affliction. I make light of them because they are a horrible nuisance to me, but truly, they are nothing compared to the afflictions others have. I will rely on His sufficient grace to get me through the season.

I would like God’s grace here or there or anywhere.
I would like God’s grace in a box, with a fox.
I would like God’s grace in a house, with a mouse.

The older I get, (which feels much older during allergy season) the more I realize I do like God’s grace, Sam-I-Am, I do.

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.
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10

You know—I may just like my allergies after all. They definitely make me weak. The state of my house clearly attests to that. However, when I am weak, I will have strength made perfect.

I do like my allergies, Sam-I-Am!

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