Is God knocking at the door of your heart?

I have to admit that my time with God in prayer and Bible reading has not been regular like I had hoped it would be over the summer. And there are have been consequences for that. Consequences like not feeling connected to God, not experiencing the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, and self-control) like they could be experienced, being distracted from everything Satan throws my way instead of focusing on where God wants me to spend my time, not having an open eye to the things of God but rather having an open eye to the things of the world, and just a "blah" feeling that can only be described as trying to fill myself with empty things and not the "gold refined by fire" that Jesus has to offer and that I have had the privilege of enjoying in the past when I am close to Him . . and the list goes on and on.

And honestly, sometimes I fear getting too close to God and worry about what kind of "Jesus freak" he will turn me into. Or I fear the attacks that will come from Satan when I step out in faith and step into a deeper relationship with God. Does anyone else feel this way? Would love to hear your feedback and how you have overcome or at least made strides to overcome this.

But when you are saved and have received the Holy Spirit, that is a great thing about God -- is that he never lets you go! He keeps tugging at your heart to invite you back into intimate fellowship with Him.

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with me," -- Jesus says in Revelation 3:20

Are we hearing His voice? Am I hearing His voice through all the static of what comes up on a daily basis or what I chose to put in front of Him?

So I decided enough is enough . . I want to feel whole again. I have been praying the last few days for God to speak to me through Scripture and felt "spoken to" this morning through my reading in Revelation.

Jesus speaks (through John) to the different churches in Asia and to the different type of churches today. I read through each message to the church thinking, 'This kind of applies to me and our church but not completely." Then I came to the message to the church in Laodicea, who was known for its wealth. And If you think about it, we in America are also known for our wealth, possibly both individually and collectively.

Jesus spoke to John in a vision stating in Revelation 3:15-22:

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, 'I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,' and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. 

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

Do I have an ear to hear? Do we have an ear to hear?

It is sobering to think that God could spit you out of His presence being lukewarm. I don't know what that actually means and my study notes don't address that statement. But I know that is not a place I want to be. It also sounds harsh in this day and age that God will discipline those He loves -- but that is what Scripture says. You don't hear that everyday.

This is a wake-up call to me. I don't want to be "luke-warm" in my faith . . barely making a difference for God, barely experiencing the goodness that God has for me, barely conveying a message of hope and love to my kids and the kids I work with. It also isn't appealing to receive discipline from God for any of us.

But thankfully God gives us a remedy for our situation: Therefore be zealous and repent. 

I am so thankful for God's mercy when we are in a "luke-warm" condition. And I am thankful that I have the Holy Spirit of God knocking at the door to enter back into fellowship with Him.

I pray that if you haven't received Him as your personal Savior and if you feel Him knocking on the door of your heart, that you will allow Him to work in you today by receiving Him and opening the door.

What is it?

What is it?

While exploring the lake, we stopped at a sandbar to take a swim today. I spotted what looked like some sort of creature washed up on shore. I wasn't sure if I wanted to touch it and its furry tentacles hanging down from it's fleshy corrugated body. Hesitantly, I reached down and pulled it from the shore. Surprisingly, it didn't jump up at me or hiss . . . or grab my face and eat it off as I fully expected. It was somewhat soft and the body looked like a foot long caterpillar. I looked it in the face, which looked somewhat like a mole. 

I brought it back to the house and examined it further. It appeared to be root like, so I googled 'freshwater root plants' and found out it was a Yellow Pond Lily root in which beaver like to snack on and not something that wanted to snack on humans. 

I learned from a USDA website that the root is a spongy rhizome under the water with thin submerged leaves attached to it. The floating part of the plant looks similar to a water-lily and is in the same family but has a yellow flower. Some people eat the root though it is said to not be very tasty. 

The USDA website stated that Native Americans consumed the starchy root stocks as boiled or roasted vegetables and harvested the seed for grinding into flour. And there are some accounts of the root being powdered and used as a poultice to help relieve soreness or inflammation. 

So we now know what the washed up 'creature' is and will hopefully have our daughter thinking it is alive and active in the kitchen sink when she gets home!

9/11: Memoir of events surrounding September 11, 2001

It was September of 2001 and we had just moved in to the new house we built on the land I grew up on. The kids were young and life was good. It seemed back then that I treasured every moment with them, taking delight in the even the smallest things. Long walks and bike rides were part of almost every day in the summer. We would take time to look at the different rocks on the road and inspect the wildflowers in the field, marveling at God's creation.

We had spent several months living just down the hill from our new house at my mom and grandma's while our house was being built. This was a good time in life. It was a nostalgic feeling that I haven't been able to recapture since leaving the there. Mark, mom, grandma and I would spend hours in the yard just relaxing and watching the kids play in the sandbox or watching tadpoles swim in the pond. 

The old barn served as a backdrop to the yard in which I used to ride my horses, play catch with my uncles or garden with my grandma. I recall the barn and its many uses . . backboard for my single tennis matches, sanctuary for me and my horse Robbie when life just got "too hard to handle," haunted house for the 6th grade class party and shelter for any warm-blooded creature that chose to take up residence there in the winter . . including a number of tame and not-so-tame kittens. 

During our stay with my mom and grandma while our house was in construction, we didn't mind staying in the room which used to be my room in the attic of the house, crowding the five of us into one large area .. crib, toddler bed, TV and all. Maybe my mom and grandma didn't have as much fun as we did, but it was an adventure, especially knowing that the comfort of a spacious house was in our near future.

This was an exciting move for us having my mom and grandma just down the hill. The kids were very excited knowing they could go down to grandma's at any time. It was comforting to me knowing that my mom and grandma were close by, being an only child. My mom and grandma eagerly volunteered to watch the kids when I needed to go out by myself for a church event, committee meeting, see a friend or just go shopping. My mom loved her grandkids like no grandma I have known. And they loved her. 

We moved into our new house and fall set in. Summer ended and it was time to put away the sandals and shorts and take out the school clothes and get just a little more serious about routines and life in general. School began for Ashton, our oldest, as a kindergartner. 

September began and routines were started. Tuesday, September 11th came and was an exciting morning. It was exciting because it would be the first day of a leadership role that I had worked hard to prepare for over the summer of 2001. This was our very first day of M.O.P.S (Mothers of Preschoolers) at the church we attended. There had never been a M.O.P.S program at the church or in the area before and a friend of mine, Cindy, and myself had decided there should be one! So we contacted M.O.P.S. International and inquired about what we needed to do to start a M.O.P.S. group where we lived. We worked hard and got everything in place for our first meeting ..  volunteers for nursery, mentor moms, speakers, crafts, food, advertising and financial backing. I was the Coordinator and Cindy was the assistant and coordinator of crafts. 

It was time to go to church to begin our new group and meet the ladies that I would be spending many Tuesday mornings with. It was Ashton's day home, being a blue day, so he came along and helped gather everything Gracie and Luke would need for the morning. We arrived at church and Cindy and I nervously prepared for the arrival of the women and children. It was exciting as we laid out snacks in each nursery room, checked name tags at the front counter and made sure the table center pieces were in place. I had just checked on the breakfast in the oven and walked by our pastor's office. He and another man from the church were watching something on the television. I caught glimpse of it and asked what was going on. Our pastor said there had been a bombing that had made one of the World Trade Center towers collapse. I went out to check on my kids and grabbed Cindy to come and see what was happening in New York. We all stood in the pastor's office and watched in shock as reporters showed video of smoke and dust and people running in the streets. No one was quite sure what was going on, even the reporters. Then another reporter had mentioned a plane. We were all wondering what the connection was.

Then word came in that there had been an attack on the second tower and reports of a plane flying into the building. We wondered how a plane could fly into a building like that and if it were an accident or a plane flying out of control  . . no one knew. It didn't seem like long after, we heard there had been another plane that had crashed into the Pentagon. Still no one knew what was happening. 

All we knew was that something that seemed impossible was happening to our country.

Over the news, came a report that the second Twin Tower had fallen. Word that President George W. Bush had been taken to a safe, undisclosed location also came through the television. Horror came into our minds as a report came in of a nursery on the lower level of one of the towers. Questions of "Did everyone get out?" and "Were they able to evacuate the area?" came to mind. None of these questions could be answered by what we were seeing and hearing on the news. We all stopped and prayed . . praying for those in and near the fallen buildings, praying for the Pentagon workers, praying against more attacks, praying for our leaders and country. 

I stepped back into the hallway and looked at my friend, not knowing what to do and knowing people would soon be arriving. Another friend arrived to help with the morning activities, unaware of what had taken place in New York. I had to tell her that there was some sort of an attack, it seemed, on the World Trade Center and that the Twin Towers had both collapsed. She was also in shock. It was almost 9:00 a.m. and time to start the meeting. We had made the decision to continue as scheduled and headed to the foyer to greet the ladies as they arrived. My mind kept wandering back to the trip I had taken in college and the awe I had while looking up at the 110 stories of each of the Twin Towers, that I had never seen anything like in the small town I grew up in.

I caught myself remembering the Staton Island ferry trip we took to admire the Manhattan skyline. I knew things would never be the same for the New York people and our country.

The women and children arrived, some of them knowing what was currently happening in New York and some not. We all gathered in the fellowship hall, got everyone seated and began the meeting. As coordinator, it was my responsibility to kick off the meeting with a funny story, anecdote, or fun ice-breaker activity. There would be none of that this morning. I told the women that they may or may not be aware of what was happening on the east coast, but we needed to take some time pray for the people involved. The meeting went on as scheduled but, for obvious reasons, with little enthusiasm. The rest of the morning was a blur.

The kids and I arrived home. I first turned on the TV and then called other family members, knowing they were probably safe in their homes or at work, but it was comforting to talk to them and hear their voices. I tried to explain to Ashton, who was six and also glued to the television, what was going on, but not quite sure myself. All I knew is that I wanted all three of the kids within arms length that afternoon. 

I remember the eerie feeling of not seeing or hearing anything in the sky as all flight travel had been restricted, the government not knowing if more of these type of attacks were imminent and threatening that any aircraft found in the sky would be shot down. As I watched TV footage, I spent some time on the phone with Mark discussing what could have happened and the implications it might have on our country. Who would have known that it would be a catalyst to future economic troubles in the lost air travel and future difficulty in air business travel. Who would have known that we would be in a War Against Terror ever since. Who would have known how our citizens would now be under surveillance in a sort of Orwellian nature . . . due to 9-11 terrorists disguising themselves as one of us and carrying out their evil plans under American training. And who would have known we would continue to be in battle on our own ground and abroad for the sake of others and the threat of an increased rise and strength of terrorist groups.  

Our family has since moved on and have been blessed in our new location. But things haven't been the same. I no longer have my mom, she passed away in 2008, and only see my grandma when I can as she lives in Kansas now. The houses have been occupied by others. The M.O.P.S. group continues but at another church. I am not sure if the nostalgia has been lost due to life circumstances or our country never being the same after 9-11, or a combination of both. All I know is that life is good, but not the same. My heart goes out to those who were impacted by September 11, 2001 in a much more tragic way. The majority of us just live in a different world, with perhaps more apprehension and fear of the unknown. But those who lost loved ones from this tragedy, deal with an emptiness of losing a family member or friend in such a horrific way that many of us cannot understand. 

If you've taken a moment to read this, please say a prayer for those who have lost loved ones and for our country .  . for protection from further attacks and that our people would turn their hearts back to God!

Writing Advice from a Pro

Guest Blog from Eddie Jones, Author/Editor

http://www.eddiejones.org/category/guest-blog/

Camping at Cascade River State Park

Boys being Boys

Grand Marias is one of Minnesota’s beautiful resources, both aesthetically and in natural resources. We took the family, minus the tennis-playing daughter, up to Cascade River State Park to spend some time sleeping outdoors. The boys had one tent and Rona, our oldest son’s girlfriend, and I got the smaller tent, about the size of a twin sized bed. My husband laughed as we set it up saying we will get to know each other well in that tent.

As we set up camp, a little visitor checked out our goods. My youngest son thought it was a prairie dog and I thought it looked like a squirrel, except spotted. We still are not sure what it was, never having seen anything like that before. He seemed friendly enough though, crawling up onto the picnic table looking back at us as if saying, “When you bringing out the food?”

The first thing on the list of to-do’s was to walk over to Lake Superior. The boys thought it would be fun to go swimming. We reached the shoreline and looked over the bluff and saw the Cascade River flowing quickly into Superior. “I want to go in there,” my 13 year old said pointing to the raging waters of the Cascade. I panicked thinking, ‘Only if I put a harness and a helmet on that boy.’ But that is not what came out of my mouth thankfully. I replied, “Okay. It looks a little dangerous though.”

Mark reminded me of the things he was allowed to do when he was a kid: Playing in the park by himself, unsupervised for hours, when he was three; Riding a dirt bike around the neighborhood when he was eight; three-wheeling at 12; the list goes on and on. I thought, ‘Yeah, me too. I was often taken on wild rides through the woods on unruly horses when I was a kid.’ So I said, “Alright.”

It all went well. No deaths or injuries. We didn't have to call the Sheriff. The boys thought it was a little chilly, but they stayed in the water for a while anyway and had a blast.

A Very Tired Dog

We took at 6 mile hike along the Cascade River which, round trip, took 3 hours. We took the kids and the dog, Butters who is half-Shitzu, half-Lhasa. He isn't what you would consider 'outdoorsy.' He didn't enjoy sitting in the dirt while we were on the comfortable lawn chairs at the campsite. And he shivered all night long, only stopping when I shared my sleeping bag with him.


We headed up the hill on our 3 hour trip. Butters enthusiastically headed down the trail. He seemed to enjoy the hike, peeing on every tree-like object along the way and sniffing the piles of poo he encountered. But the fun didn't last long for Butters. He decided he wasn't going any further and laid down in the middle of the path exhausted.

Butters wasn't going anywhere and no one was volunteering to carry him. So someone in the group thought it would be a good idea to put Butters in the backpack that Ashton was carrying ..  it actually did turn out to be a good idea! He only fell out once, which was enough for him to learn that he didn't want to fall from 5 feet in the air onto his head again and he seemed to be enjoying himself once he got settled in.

This is how Butters traveled the rest of the trip.

The kids had fun and Butters was a happy camper . . figuratively and literally!

For I know the plans I have for you . . . Reaching out to Community

Kid's Last Backyard Splash!

Tonight was the second annual Kid's Water Fun Night at our church, Pine City Evangelical Free Church. We had a great turnout. I would say close to 100 kids .. not so bad for a little town like Pine City. The turnout was much to do with the Backyard Bible Clubs that have been taking place over the course of the week. The clubs got started from people going out into their communities and inviting children to their backyard club. The clubs consisted of Bible teaching, songs and snacks. This was an alternative to VBS. 

We have only been at our new church for two years, having been at a Baptist Church for the last 13 years. I was a little leary of getting rid of VBS as that has always been our Baptist tradition. But we moved to a new location and found a church that we love and I was willing to accept the 'unorthodox' summer outreach.

The Backyard Bible Club took off. By the end of the week, there were up to 45 kids in each of the two Bible clubs. This was exciting to hear. Before starting the Bible clubs, the youth group went into the community, distributing literature and inviting children to attend . . . and the kids came!

Before the start of the Kid's Water Fun Night, we also went into the community in the late afternoon, inviting any child we saw . . in the spirit of D.L. Moody. I brought two of my own children and another girl from youth group. We went out in pairs inviting kids who lived in the local trailer park across the road. The kids we encountered were very enthusiastic about the evening and ran back to their homes begging a parent to bring them and yelling out to nearby friends inviting them. Our youngest, saw a friend of his from school and was able to visit with him for a while. 

We looked for yards with toys or with pools or bikes in them. One particular place we stopped at had several children's toys scattered on the front lawn. There were two young men sitting on the deck. They looked a bit pale, sunken-eyed and shady, but I approached them anyway. I asked them if they had any children there. They responded by saying, "No." 

I gestured to the front lawn and said, "Are you sure you don't have any kids around?" 

They replied, "They are only here on weekends."

So we left and started toward another home. As we were walking back to our vehicle, after having covered most of the homes in the court, an older woman came out of the home where the two young men were, gesturing us and saying, "Are you looking for children?"

I replied, "Yes. We are having a Water Fun Night at the church across the street."

She said, " I have some grand kids coming soon and they would love to come." She seemed very excited about our being there. I gave her the information and told her we would love to have them come.

God is good

We left the trailer court and headed into town. We stopped at a couple houses where we saw children and the girls went out and invited them to the activities. We stopped at the school playground and the girls got out again and invited some more children to the night. This time the parents at the playground responded by saying they were already planning on bringing their children there. This was encouraging. I knew God had been moving.

The night began with Pastor Joel Preston gathering the kids to hear about the 3 H's of God . . head, hope and heart. He explained that this is what Jesus is to us and gave the gospel message to the children. He explained the rules of the evening and then prayed. 

I remembered back to when the kids and I were in the trailer court and how I met them half way through and told them that we forgot one thing. They looked at me blankly and I told them that we forgot to pray and ask for God's leading in what we do. We stopped there in the road and prayed, asking God to soften hearts of parents and children and to make the sun come out. It's hard to know how many of the kids actually came that we came in contact with, but we talked to about 10-20 enthusiastic kids before the evening started! 

As the night was underway, we saw many kids line up at the check-in table. The night had been planned so well thanks to our office manager, Jeannie and her husband, Lonnie, and the work of our Pastor Joel and Youth Pastor Joe. But I still wasn't sure if God was in it or not. As the children filed in I noticed a woman pushing a walker with two young children in tote. I recognized her as the grandmother we met in the trailer court who came out wondering what we had going on that night. The woman had brought her two young grandchildren. This was also encouraging to me. I greeted her and brought her grandchildren into the bubble pit where they hesitantly, but eventually, engaged in play with those around them.

I stepped back a bit and took in all that God seemed to be doing and met a friend in the church parking lot. She commented on the good weather. I told her that was one thing we were all praying for . . for the sun to come out as it had been a downcast, cloudy day and we were all concerned the weather would hold out. She stated that she had just checked the radar and there had been clouds all around Pine City and that the only clear spot had been directly over the city. This was encouraging to me.

I believe God showed up tonight. 

I don't know what will happen with these kids that came tonight. But I do know we have a church of faithful, prayerful believers that will continue to invite kids to our AWANA program and pray for those who do not know God!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NIV)

Bling Hot Pink Zebra Print Cake!

Bling Hot Pink Zebra Print Cake

This cake was done with fondant and buttercream. You can find my fondant recipe on this blog. The 'accessories' are made of candy pearls, pearled sixlets (you can find at most craft & hobby stores) and white, crystal sprinkles for some added bling!