Now, Isn't That (Mt.) Pleasant?!

When my husband drops me off at work he prefers to stop in the loading and unloading zone instead of a normal parking place (right next to it) and then he just snickers as I exit the car...at least there's not a weight limit listed on the sign....there's nothing like feeling like a "load" to start the day! :P  HUSBAND HUMOR!

He had to drop me off at work because we had an April, FOOL THE GIRLS, plan to pick them up today after a slumber party and then pass right by our house all the way to Mt. Pleasant's Indoor Waterpark....YIPPEE!  They were pretty surprised.  I had the plan worked out that we would pass by our road, the girls would probably say, "We missed our turn!" or something like that....and then we would tell them where we were headed.  I thought Brad and I were in agreement with this plan, but when we missed our road and they started to question the situation, Brad said, "We are going to look at some waterfront property that mommy wants to see" :P....WHAT!  I was only going to make them wait the 25 minutes until we passed our road to find out the secret surprise, but Brad spontaneously decided to make them wait all the way to Mt. Pleasant.  I shot some visual darts and a few strong whispers his direction because I knew the girls would become completely annoyed having to wait almost two hours to know the plan.  Plus, I am not good at keeping surprise secrets for very long....25 minutes was about as long as I wanted to wait.

What compounded the issue was that Kassi already knew the plan.  She had been home sick when we made the reservations and she was sworn to secrecy....only, she has all this anxious energy when she is sworn to secrecy and she was so antsy the whole trip.  She kept asking questions...."SO, what ARE we doing, guys?"  "Where is Kooper?  Is he at home or somewhere else?"  wink...wink....very "over the top", but she thought she was being her normal self.  Finally, we made it and the girls figured out what was going on....but, Brad had hidden their swimsuits in the stowaway compartments in the van, so we had fun acting like we forgot their swimwear :)

Yay!  There was a Culver's pretty close to the hotel, so we ate dinner there, then went swimming, then went back for our custard after the water park closed....gotta love that deal!

Fool Me Once

What?  Oh, I get it! :)

UNMUTED!

We saw a short video to celebrate Palm Sunday at church yesterday and it brought up a topic I hadn't thought about much.  You know the times Jesus healed people, but then told them to keep it on the down-low...or told his disciples just to "chill" (my paraphrase) because it wasn't His time yet?  In the back of my mind, those scriptures have always been weird because I would think it would be fine (or even AWESOME) for the people to tell everyone about everything they had seen and heard or the disciples to go all full-court press to advance the gospel.  It really wasn't until what we celebrate as Palm Sunday that Jesus, in the flesh, allowed people to praise and worship Him as their KING.  Interesting, right?!  Well, I thought so.  I think He knew as soon as He allowed this to happen...it would mark the end of his earthly ministry, you know.  Satan hates to have Jesus on the throne, so as soon as He was celebrated in this manner, Satan rallied all the evil in men's hearts to attack the flesh.  I think maybe Jesus was telling people to keep it quiet or to wait in order to fulfill what He needed to accomplish by His ministry....the teaching part of His time on earth....before He accomplished His ultimate sacrifice to give us the gift of new life.  But, I am not completely sure of that theory.  I don't want it to seem like I am giving Satan more power in that situation than he actually had or that he controlled when Jesus died because we know that everything that happened was and is the plan of GOD...How does good have a way of overcoming evil and making it submit to the beautiful story?  We might always marvel at that question.

Anyway, on the day Jesus asked for a donkey, I think He knew his earthly ministry was complete...His time had come to die for us and he was humbly accepting the responsibility of being our Savior.  That could be unpacked a lot more...

BUT NOW....Jesus is on His throne and there is NO REASON to be silent about what HE is doing in our lives, in fact, He commissioned his disciples to go and tell.

We can be bold in our faith.  In love, we should tell our stories.  When I attend a testimony service like I did last night, I am overwhelmingly reminded of the power in our simple stories that glorify Christ and the beauty in an invitation to join in.

Oh, Monday Morning, Monday Morning Couldn't Guarantee

But, good news....

Winner Winner Chicken...Chili

Village Hope, Parma hosted a Praise and Worship Celebration and a Chili Cook-off tonight....what a fun time of fellowship and awesome celebration of worship and testimonies for all that God has been doing in our church family, personal lives and around the world!

I was so proud of our youth for jumping in and helping with manning tables of chili...they were all in and had a blast!

Someone even made a huge pot of Spaghetti-o's and called it kid chili...smart thinkin'!

We had three rooms set up....mild, medium, and hot and 17 different anonymous entries.  Kenna worked at the hottest chili table....very few people were brave enough to venture her way :)

Bill brought Ghost Pepper... I tried it in some chili....WOW, that's powerful!

Two guys from the God Squad, a group of guys in our youth group who help people in the community with yard work, also helping man a table in the "hot" chili room!  

I entered my White Chicken Chili in the medium category...it does have salsa and pepper jack cheese, so it definitely has a kick, but it doesn't leave you sweating and scrambling for relief.  Tonight was the fourth time this chili has taken 1st place in a cook-off....that is so funny to me.  It's probably since it is so low cal :P  WHATEVER!  

I actually won a trophy and an oil change this time!

People think it's rigged when a pastor's wife wins....but,what am I supposed to do?  Deny the people I love the most the opportunity to taste a chili that has won a cook-off three times....oooops, make that four...now that would be just plain mean.

This time I taught Savannah and McKenna how to make it....so, we can all share the trophy.

That's All...but, that is ALL!

In the end, all I can give you is the love He gives me....you know that, right?

Deal?

It's good to reach the end of ourselves and be reminded of this.
This, and only this, is what makes us ENOUGH.

He is so much more than enough!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEQYHZHUOVk

"That's The Worst" Anniversary!

Brad was looking for something fun to do to celebrate our anniversary back at the beginning of February, but while looking at different options he saw that Tim Hawkins was going to be in Battle Creek tonight, so he finagled his plan to purposefully belate our anniversary date (the going out kind of date...not the calendar date...because he really loves Tim...not that I think he loves Tim more than me...well, now I'm not so sure about that....."That's The Worst"....right?! 

That's actually the name of Tim Hawkins' current comedy tour :P.
ANYWAY, we had a great date night!

Dinner at Schuler's in Marshall, MI....yummmmmo!  BBQ meatballs.

Tim is so talented with comedy and, really, an amazing musician....loved his parodies...there were times I was laughing so hard no sound was coming out of my mouth!  That kind of laughing is a good ab workout.....ouch!

Losing our minds laughing together...ha!....that is our WORST selfie!

And.....Brad learned so much.  I expect marital bliss now that Tim has taught him the
Things You Don't Say To Your Wife
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK2OakMoW_c

Are You Awake? Are You Awake?

Now I am....

Brad went to pick up Savannah from seeing The Passion of The Christ with some other kids.  They got home kind-a late and I had sort-of been waiting up, but was dosing off.  Brad had warned me that he might stay to talk for a while....he always stays to talk for a while, so if he actually warns me that he plans to stay and talk for a while....:P.  Our "whiles" have different lengths of time.

Anyway, there was a different youth pastor leading this event and his name is Brandon.  Brad and he were chatting and the kids were calling Brandon, P.B.....I am assuming that stands for Pastor Brandon... because Brad's kids call him the same thing...only Brad works with a guy named Jeff, so they are called P.B. and J.  :P  Clever, right?  Anyway, they got home and Brad asked me if I was awake a couple times....so, I started thinking there must be some big news from the movie...like one of the kids had a revelation or something so I needed to come out of my slumber and be serious for this moment because it was so profound.  I said, "How was the movie?"...and Brad said, "Can you believe his youth group calls him P.B. too?"

No one else wants to say it, but I'm his wife....SO I CAN.....He's out of his mind! :)

From Plot to Passion

Savannah gets a chance to view The Passion of The Christ tonight with her cousin and some friends from a youth group at a different church.  She has already seen it, but we know a few of the other kids will be seeing it for the first time and discussing it afterwards.  I warned her not to give away anything or be a spoiler ...I meant the whole experience of the movie...to be sensitive to the others who have not seen it and allow it to be absorbed...know what I'm saying?...I guess I should have said it that way...exactly.....Anyway, Kenna said, "Yeah, better not tell them Jesus dies."  KIDS!

In her defense, she has not experienced the movie yet and was thinking totally in terms of the plot....and thinking of how crazy her weird mom is sometimes :)  But, the story is so much more than the PLOT, isn't it!!!  I always pray that my kids will "Get it!" BUT, it's like this...when I start to think about them and pray that God will show them some of the depth in the story of our...their redemption,  I always realize I have to make sure I am "GETTING IT" too.

I like that this picture uses the word consumed in it because that is the word I have been thinking of for what I really want to be in Christ...no fake stuff...no wasted time....nothing just for the sake of something I do because I have just always done it....no more nothingness....just a pure fire for Him and His Kingdom to come in and through me.  I think about the passion of Daniel and it is so amazing to me...faithful in prayer even to the LIONS DEN...but also faithful in choosing what foods to eat...no wonder GOD could use him greatly , but, then there are others like Peter and David who we are able to see on the days they are the worst versions of themselves....but, we also know they were greatly used by GOD and brought back to a place of righteousness in Christ....God builds His church on those rocks and no giants can overcome them.  That should be encouraging that even if we are not "On Fire" or "Consumed" for Christ right now...we can be.

I talk about prayer sometimes and the importance of loving God's Word in my blogs, both are vital to life in the Spirit...but, it occurred to me today that if we are doing these things and still not experiencing Christ in a personal way that is undeniably real....we need to go back to our first love.  What does that mean...what was the first act of love toward Christ for me as a believer?  Confession and repentance.  Just like some of us...ME... in our married lives..."I'm sorry, will you forgive me" aren't easily formed with the mouth...because they aren't easily accepted or admitted in the pride of our heart.  BUT, a heart of love is one that is quick to right any wrong and to make right a relationship just to have that relationship...to live in righteousness.  Yes, I am suggesting that there may be some sin blocking our relationship from being what it could be with Christ.  I wish we could just say SIN...blah! we even hide from that word, so how are we supposed to deal with it?  When the Bible tells us to go back to our first love, I have always thought of the feelings I had in first knowing I was saved....yes, let's go back to the warmest of warm fuzzies...I like those days :) but, what if the first love is that painful moment of declaring I am a sinner and need Christ to consume me with His passion....the day when my pride meant nothing and Christ in me meant everything?  The day of my desperation...The day summed up by my heart crying "I'd die to be with you!" Can we go all the way back to that day?

Are We There Yet?

I'd love to ride my bicycle, so how can we convince Spring to stop braking? 
Come on, Spring, pedal!

PATIENCE...right?! Have an amazing weekend!

"Sweet Dreams Are Made Of Cheese..."

Brad told me a humorous story today.  He was at a service and a man was singing the song Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone), but when he got to the words, "My God, my Savior has ransomed me" he said, "My God, my Savior has wrestled me" every time those lyrics came back around :)

Because Brad and I sing together every weekend, I have had moments like this where I totally thought I knew the words so I didn't watch the screen or I was trying to follow Brad and he sang the wrong words.  Last weekend, we had a moment at the very end of a song like that (so it was completely held out which made it even AWESOME-ERRRR!).....the word was supposed to be "lamb" which I started to sing....then I realized Brad was singing the word "Lord", so I changed up midway through "lamb" to make the ending sound like "ord".  Unfortunately, at that same moment, Brad realized he was saying the wrong word and ended his word with "amb".....SO, I said La-ord and he said Lo-amb.

I'm thankful God hears OUR HEARTS.

We Can Turn Over Every Rock Looking For It...

But, until we earnestly seek God, it will not be found.

I pray you find what you need in Him today!

Nothin' But Net!

Too bad I play tennis :P  

I keep looking at my March Madness bracket scores and Brad keeps reminding me they won't change until the next round of games (which is tomorrow).  I know this, but I think I am just excited that I am currently in fourth place among 15 of my co-workers and beating my boss.  Unfortunately, from my potential available points in the next rounds, it looks like it is all downhill from here (which would be great....if I were referring to skiing :)

Where Troubles Melt Like Lemon Drops

Some of the kids from the musical agreed to get together and sing the songs from the Oz production at The Bethany Home in Jackson.  We got there and greeted people from the care facility as they came or were brought into the gymnasium area for the mini-concert.  They didn't have a CD player at the facility, so I volunteered Brad to run down to our church since it's just a mile down the road to grab one and he was instantly the TECH CREW :)  Sometimes, he is soooo happy I am his wife and get him into these things.  I sat up front by him for moral support....it was my "peace offering" for volunteering him. That's kind-of a funny peace offering, though...the person who has just annoyed you, deciding to sit close to you...ha! Oh well!

The kids did a great job in a more informal setting sharing their talents with the residents and greeting them.  It is in those moments where it seems the situation hits my emotions with more force.  Anyway, it was like I was at a tennis match from my seat at the side of the room...I could see the kids performing and I could watch the residents respond to it back and forth and back and forth....some of the ladies in the group became a little emotional and then it seemed it all went into slow motion for me... special moments do that to me a lot and then stuff went totally blurry once Emma (Dorothy) started singing "I'm Going Home".....(why is it raining in here...weird? :)

 
Floods of thoughts and emotions hit me as I watched all these beautiful kids and wonderful folks who have lived such full lives.  It's awesome that spirits never age....in some ways when I looked at both groups I could see similar spirits.  I thought, "this is a beautiful moment!"....I guess it was an extra mile moment...joy in the adventure of doing something extra special ....a moment where the kids went above and beyond to bring something meaningful and happy to the people at the care facility.  It felt like torrential love from my perspective as I watched the people thoroughly enjoying it all and tried to hold back my tears.  The only part of my personality that is extroverted is my feeling part...I always pick up on all the emotional energy in a room so, it just goes all crazy sometimes and holding back tears is about impossible for me.   I was thinking, "maybe if I just keep smiling the kids won't notice I am starting to cry over here...but, that's doubtful...I am still working on being a pretty crier, but I have a long way to go :).

The Most Magnificent Mile

When I was in college I didn't live too far from Chicago.... I wouldn't say I "frequented" the city, but I went there with friends on occasion.  Sometimes, at this time of year, I'd go to roller blade down Lake Shore Drive with my room mate...it was the way we said, "WELCOME, SPRING!" on the first really nice day and we were always giddy about (dare I admit it) skipping class for that day and taking our road trip. Other times I went with friends to Comedy Sportz and Giordano's pizza or just to window shop the Magnificent Mile.  The city was magical to me.  Even after I graduated college, when I worked in the Admissions Office at Olivet Nazarene University, Chicago provided a draw for our prospective students.  We used our proximity to the city to our advantage in planning our event days and usually took busloads of visiting high school seniors into Chicago for an evening to experience some of the "magic" we loved so much.  We found this a powerful tool to recruiting when we added it to the college visit equation and, though we spent some extra money and time for the planning for those evening outings, our rate of matriculation from those overnight events was amazing and "paid off" in the end. :P

A devotional I read today reminded me of all of this as it talked about the "Miracle Mile".  It was referencing the extra mile that Jesus asks of Christians and was a great devotional about going the distance to love others.  It talked about the power in that extra mile to change lives....our own and others....as we look beyond our "duty" to repay good with good to a pure love that will even repay evil with good.

My mind always has a way of venturing other places, so I hope this next part will make sense.  I suppose if I lived in Chicago I would start to take for granted all the experiences at my fingertips. I might get settled in my routine and not retain the same thrill I had when going there was such a treat for me in college or even when I get a chance to go now.  I guess I feel like I do the same thing in my attitude toward living in the GRACE that the extra mile Jesus went for me welcomes me into.  Where do I live?  IN GRACE!!!!  BEST PLACE EVER!

I really liked this section of the devotional:  "When you begin to live out the commands of Christ in this passage, it will transform your life and give you joy and power. The first mile is the slave mile. You are required to go the first mile and you hate it every step of the way. But the second mile is the smile mile. You are doing it out of love. In the first mile you are the victim, but in the second, the victor. The first mile is the law, but the second is the love of God. The first mile can make you bitter, but the second gives you joy and peace. That second mile can completely change your attitude."

I am praying for a renewal of my attitude...sometimes I find myself living out of duty instead of a desire to love. I barely make my first mile of devotions and prayer and I miss out on the joy that the adventuresome, second mile takes me on,   I miss the mile of transformation for my spirit and, because of this....I miss out on what that mile might hold for my impact or witness on others when I am able to surprise them by going that distance to minister to them.

I want to remember the distance Christ has gone for me and allow His perfect example to be my inspiration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UuglRR3KdU

Don't Worry, Be Hoppy

Coming out of a few busy months with the girl's involvements in activities, I have been thinking through everything in front of me for Easter preparations today and it occurred to me that I really should start some spring cleaning if I want to stay on top of it all.

  

BUT,

This will give me way more hiding places for Easter eggs....Why, oh why, has this brilliant idea eluded me for so long?  Better late than never!

Face A Monday?

I'll Get You, My Pretty

Yes....I will get many pictures and then I will make you look at them ALLLLLLLLL......(wicked witch laugh) hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.....

I always think the witch laugh should last longer, so....

deep breath.......hahahahahhahahahhahahahhahahahhahahhaha!

Savannah was the photographer for this photo shoot :) I just messed with them a little bit for fun.

And now.....a drum roll please for my favorite pretties in this show......

And your little dog too!

Kooper, what are you doing in this blog?!

Rich Soil

Which Way Is Home?

I know The Wizard Of Oz was not intended to be a Christian story, but it does have so many elements of a spiritual journey in it that it is easy to use for illustrations.  I think the "pilgrimage" Dorothy is on to get home and how she always interacts with kindness to the characters she meets on the way even in her moments of frustration and fear is one of the reasons I love the story so much and how it is easy for me to connect it to a faith journey.  But, if you look at it from a slightly different angle....that of Dorothy being like our souls...it teaches us what we need to make sure we have for our love relationship with GOD, Himself....a sound mind, a kind heart, and courageous strength or boldness.  If you can see the story on those two levels, I think it is so COOL that it can teach what the expert in the law asked to test Jesus...."What must I do to inherit eternal life?"  Jesus responded with,

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself."

Lions And Tigers And Bears....

Yes, you are going to have to BEAR more Oz blogs :)  It's SHOWTIME!

OH MY! Opening night went sooooo well for Oz, The Musical.  I sat through the entire final dress rehearsal on Thursday and thought....okay, there are still some really rough spots....BUT, the kids pulled it together for the show...and just kept going!  I love that show night extra boost of oomph that makes everything just happen.  All the kids ROCKED!  I'm so excited that I'll get to see it again....and again :)  AND, I'm thankful for the invention of the parent pass.