Take my Son.....

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.. When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands..He said, 'Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly.... He often talked about you, and your love for art.' The young man held out this package. 'I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.'The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture.. 'Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a gift..'

The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected. The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection. On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. 'We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?' There was silence...Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, 'We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.'  But the auctioneer persisted. 'Will somebody bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?' Another voice angrily. 'We didn't come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Gogh'S, the Rembrandts. Get on with the Real bids!' But still the auctioneer continued. 'The son! The son! Who'll take the son?'

Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. 'I'll give $10 for the painting...' Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.. 'We have $10, who will bid $20?' 'Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters.' The crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son.. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections. The auctioneer pounded the gavel.. 'Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!' A man sitting on the second row shouted, 'Now let's get on with the collection!' The auctioneer laid down his gavel. 'I'm sorry, the auction is over..'

'What about the paintings?' 'I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will... I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son gets everything!'

God gave His son over 2,000 years ago to die on the Cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is: 'The Son, the Son, who'll take the Son?' Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything!  FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, WHO SO EVER BELIEVETH, SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE...THAT'S LOVE God Bless.

Things Aren't Always What They Seem

This story reminds me that there are so many things that we take for granted OR that we think are bad things happening to us,when in fact they aren't always what they seem.  Just very metaphoric to my life in some aspects:

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guest room. Instead the angels were given a small space in the cold basement.As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, "Things aren't always what they seem."

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed here they could have a good night's rest. Then the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel how could you have let this happen? The first man had everything, yet you helped him, she accused. The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die. "Things aren't always what they seem," the older angel replied. "When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it." "Then last night as we slept in the farmers bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead. Things aren't always what they seem?

Creative Arts Ministry

I have always felt that we are all put on this earth to serve using our various talents and abilities.  I have loved helping people my entire life.  Especially those I do not know. I feel I have a knack for certain computer programs and can be quite creative with crafty projects and gifts. If someone asked a favor, I rarely said no, no matter what was asked.  It is always comforting to hear that God feels this say way too. That we are here to serve others and him.  That we are all on the same level and no matter if it is your boss or your subordinate, you are to serve them the best way that you can.  I firmly believe this and I have done my best to live by this as well. The first opportunity to serve at the Church was as a greeter/usher/welcome desk/bulletin giver...but I just felt that my talents are greater than what these were offering and that I should see if there was something else I could do where I felt I was able to really get creative.  So when I heard about the Creative Arts Ministry, I was all for it.  My friend sings and although I love playing guitar/singing, I am not in any way ready to do it in public. There were other areas of the Creative Arts Ministry from sound to stage help to lighting.  I was up for whatever they threw at me, so I took the guidance of someone on the Ministry and signed up for Video Production.  This past Sunday, I served for my very first time.  I shot video of the entire early service.  It was much harder than I thought it was going to be. I wasn't sure what I was doing and how close I should focus on the people on stage. The Pastor walked from side to side so much that I was afraid that I was making people sick watching my camerawork.   I do know with all things, you have to start somewhere and learn.  I was just hoping I did a great job and I still pray that I did.  In a couple weeks, I will be doing the Media for the Creative Arts Ministry.  I am very scared!  I love slide shows and I consider myself to be a PowerPoint expert, but it seems to be a very important duty and I don't want to mess it up.  So please pray for me to have the aspiration and ability to do a great job!

The Daily Audio Bible

One of the biggest blessings in working on my relationship with God is that I found the Daily Audio Bible.  Being in the year 2011, technology has flourished and made it easier to find and use information, virtually, remotely, and at your fingertips.  It really is amazing what is out there at no cost to the consumer.  I have a wonderful family and great friends.  Two friends knew I was interested in purchasing an iPad.  They got together and surprised me with one and I LOVE it.  Tony loves it too.  We got through stages where sometimes he uses it more and the others I do.  All in all, it is a fun and wonderful tool.  On the iPad, there are zillions of apps that you can download to help you with anything you need...some with a minimal cost and many that are free.  I figured there was an online bible or something I could download to make me more engaged in reading my bible.  Bingo! God's will found me the perfect thing.  I saw it in the free section of the apps and not really knowing what it was all about, I downloaded the app to my iPad. On this, you could listen to streaming audio.  It was a week or two into January and luckily for me, I wasn't too far behind from January 1.  I listened to the January 1 audio and I was thinking how perfect this is...better yet, they offer a reading plan that mimics what the DAB does each day, so if I wanted to read the bible verses after listening to the audio, I could. Brian Hardin is the moderator and he has a talent for this type of thing...coming from the music industry and his father being an evangelist...he certainly found his calling.  I love love love it and better yet, he explains things that are a bit ambiguous.  He really keeps me engaged and I can't wait for the next's days audio.  What I didn't like about the app is that you needed an internet connection and although we have wifi at our house, I mostly wanted to listen to this in my car on my long drive to work and back.  Luckily after a little searching, the DAB offers podcasts that you can easily download to your iPad or iPod to listen to.  Perfect!  At the end of each podcast, call ins are heard by people around the word with prayer requests, blessings for answered prayers, and just affirmations to what the DAB family brings.  These really tear at my heartstrings, but they also fill my heart with joy that I've become a part of a family, all of whom I've never met in person, but feel very connect to. Thank you Brian Hardin and the DAB family.  I am blessed to have you.  It has been over two months for me and I am going strong.  I have told several people about it and I just love sharing this gift with others. As you always say, I love you all very much!

Everything Happens for a Reason

We have all heard of 'unanswered prayers', of 'blessings in disguise', and 'the power of prayer'.  I believe in all three and possibly they are really all intertwined.  I have always felt that everything happens for a reason and if you pay attention, there are signs all around us.  When I entered the new church for the first time, I had so many signs telling me that this felt right.  From seeing my friend singing in the choir to our little girl going to the nursery willingly against her usual antics to having a package of kleenex right in front of me when I needed it the most to having Tony hold my hand the entire time.  It all felt right. The music, the atmosphere, the trendy-ness of the church, the type of church, the message about resolutions/goals in the sermon, even the Associate Pastor resembling my high school boyfriend.  It just all seemed to have a theme for me...all things of comfort and security.  I joined a Faith Based Direct Selling company called Thirty-One to supplement my income and offset daycare.  My upline in this company was the girl who introduced me to this church. The same girl who was singing in the choir.  Tony and I took a membership class and on the last day, on the decision page, the page number said 31. I remember, circling it and showing Tony...he said 'it's a sign' and I felt the same way.  I really thought Tony would have more reservations about joining, but he has been a guiding light in our new path towards a relationship with God.  He has been positive, confident, and has held my hand the entire way. Why did it feel that I was pressuring him before we went and then later it felt almost as if he was pushing me a little.  He didn't even realize it though....why was I a bit scared, a bit apprehensive, a bit unsure. I was confident this was the right time, the right place, and my right mentality. But I still had our life issues looming over our decision.  I wanted to join and be a member and work on my relationship with God more than anyone could imagine, BUT why was I letting these outside issues affect my decision.  Tony was usually more practical than me when it came to stuff like this and he was so confident.  It felt great and that was the biggest sign of all. We were in this together, but as individuals. We weren't pressuring each other and we weren't' doing this out of obligation. More importantly, we both know we have lots of hard work ahead. It isn't just a paper you sign or a choice of what time to go to church on Sunday. This is an all or nothing thing and we were ready, quickly, for what lies ahead.  I believe that our unanswered prayer of our house not selling turned into one of the biggest positives of our life...we found a Church, but more importantly, we found God again.  We still are praying for the house to sell, but we are also putting a lot of faith into God's plan for us. It feels right and we need to trust in the Lord.  Like I said, it is not going to be easy for us.  We have to work to change our mentality towards putting all of our faith in God, putting him as #1, and being a living Christian every single day.  For me, all of the signs are helping me get there. They will help me evolve.  As individuals, we'll take our own avenues of how we accomplish this and for me, it is through lots of daily prayer for both answered and unanswered prayers.  Thank you God for both!