The Birthday Boy

Today is my son BC's 7th birthday. We went and got donuts for breakfast, and cupcakes for his class, and pizza for dinner. :)











Then he opened his presents and we played Trouble together. It was a fun day. I can't believe he's already 7. They're growing up so fast.

Happy birthday son. I love you!

He will be Found

After a great worship night, I tucked the kids into bed, grabbed my computer, and began to search for a song that has been running through my head lately. I must have heard it on the radio because my husband (the Worship Pastor at our church) says we've never sang it church before. The song is "My Help Comes From the Lord," by The Museum. Great lyrics. Catchy tune. Here's the chorus:

Maker of heaven, giver of life
You are my strength, my song in the night
My refuge, my shelter, now and forever more
My help comes from the Lord.

Anyone who has read my blog before knows that I love a good worship song. Most of my playlist is made up of praise and worship songs that speak straight into my life. Tonight, my heart soared as I worshiped my God. It was as if there was only the two of us in the room and I was singing directly to Him. There's another worship song that has a refrain that goes "I don't wanna talk about You, like You're not in the room. Wanna look right at You, wanna sing right to You." Yes, His presence was thick in the sanctuary this evening. As I walked away, I didn't want to lose that feeling.

The great thing is, I don't have to! As long as I am seeking Him, He will be found.

Jeremiah 29:11-14a says:
"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 upon 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. I will be found by you..." (Emphasis mine.)

Oh yes, He will be found. In the ordinary moments of my day. When I am preparing meals, He is there. When I am washing sticky fingerprints off the walls, He is there. He is found in the quiet moments that I steal away during the day and in the crazy loud laughter that comes with having five kids. I love that about God.

My 7 year old asked me on the way home tonight, "What did you do tonight mom?" To which I answered "I sang to God with all my heart, son."

Then my three year old asked, "Mommy, God was there?" And I said "Yes, son, God is everywhere."

"Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always." -Psalm 105:4

Always singing, always seeking,
~Melissa~

Catching up over Company Girl Coffee

Hello friends...it's been a while. Not because I haven't wanted to sit down and blog. Mostly because I have been trying to be a little more frugal with my time. Every time I have sat down to blog this month I have asked myself the question "is there something better that I need to be doing with this time?" I use the word "better" because I don't believe that blogging is a waste of my time. It's just sometimes not the best use of my time.

That being said, why don't you grab your cup of whatever you're drinking today and we'll do a little catching up on things. I don't make any promises to stop by and visit everyone who's having coffee this weekend. All I can say is that I appreciate your company, and I'll do my best to make the rounds.

For those of you who may have been praying for my family member with cancer, my thanks go out to you. They had surgery to remove the tumor in their colon, and have been recovering from that. The doctors want to do chemotherapy, but can't begin the process until my family member gains back some weight and can walk on their own. We now know that the cancer has spread so it is stage IV. Your continued prayers are appreciated. We have a long road ahead of us. I did get to go and visit last month, and just knowing that I will see them in heaven, regardless of the outcome, is a comfort to me.

Here on the homefront we have been busy with all kinds of preparations for school year end. I can't believe I will have 4 out of 5 in school next year. LR goes to kindergarten roundup next week. She is so excited to start school. She has been practicing writing her name (first and last) and already knows all of the core words for kindergarten. She's even reading a little on her own now. She lost her third tooth this week. My baby girl is growing up.

Speaking of growing, this weekend we will be doing some moving around of furniture in the girls' room. LR has long since out-grown her toddler bed so we will be bringing up the twin long bed that matches her sister's from our spare bedroom tomorrow. Yesterday we went and picked out special sheets for her. I wanted to paint in their room too, but it's not in the budget right now. This is a great way to do some more cleaning and purging though, and it will definitely transform the room to look like new.

Only 2 more weeks left of school. We have two weeks of travel planned this summer. One in June, and one in July. The rest of our time will be spent here at home and around the town. Tell me...what are you doing with your kids this summer? I'd love to hear some ideas to keep busy.

Well, time to go! Gotta get those kiddos off to school. :) Thanks for stopping by and have a great Memorial Day weekend.

~Melissa~

Mother's Day Pictures

Last year I started a fun tradition with my kids on Mother's Day. Through the years I am going to take a picture with each of my kids. (For as long as they'll let me, anyway.) That way, I can look back at the photos and see how much they've grown. :) One day, after they're all grown and gone from the house, I want to put the photos all together in a special Mother's Day photo album. Let's see...that's 5 photos every year times x amount of years...well, it's a lot!

Here are this year's photos! (In order, youngest to oldest - CD, 3, LR, 5, BC, 6, JS, 7, RL, 8)

Bending, but not Broken

In the middle of a field near Enumclaw, WA., stands a tall Oak tree. It must be hundreds of years old. I do not know the story behind why one single Oak tree was left to thrive in an otherwise empty field, but I do know that it spoke to me in a mighty way. I wanted to stop and take a picture of the enormous tree, towering in that field. I couldn't help but wonder how many seasons it has seen...how many winter storms it has withstood, or how many children have played in the cool shade of its many stretched out branches during the heat of summer.

There is more to that old Oak tree than the eye can see though. It not only has a wide base and many flourishing branches that stretch toward the sky, but it also has roots that grow deep and cannot be moved. The wind and storms may come, and the leaves may russle above, but deep down below, that Oak tree is not going to budge.

It's like that when we are rooted and grounded in the love of God.

Ephesians 3:16-18 says "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,"

The definition of the word rooted, or rhizoo in the greek, is "to cause to strike root, to strengthen with roots, to render firm, to fix, establish, cause a person or thing to be thoroughly grounded."

The word "established", (or "grounded" in the NKJV) in the greek is themelioo, which means to lay the foundation, to found, to make stable, or to establish.

In Colossians 2:6-7 Paul says "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

The word "rooted" here is the same greek word rhizoo, that's used in Ephesians 3:17. The words "built up" come from the greek word epoikodomeo, meaning "to finish the structure of which the foundation has already been laid, to give constant increase in Christian knowledge and in a life conformed thereto."

You see, our faith in Christ is not unlike the Oak tree. We must have roots that grow deep, and a foundation like the Oak tree's strong trunk in order to grow in knowledge and flourish in our walk with Christ.

Then, no matter what happens, no matter what trials we face, or what storms may come our way, we will stand firm in the love of Christ. As long as we are rooted and established in Him, we will not be moved.

The first verse of the song "How He Loves Us" describes how I felt looking at that tall Oak in the field. Here are the words:

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

"Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy..." I'm bending, but not broken. His love is the source of my strenth to withstand anything that comes my way in this lifetime.

How He loves us all.

Let me leave you with this passage from Isaiah 61:1-3 (Italics mine)

The Year of the LORD's Favor

¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,

² to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.

Company Girl Coffee 4.9,10

Welcome to my blog. :) Please excuse my yawns, I was up last night with a sick kiddo. I haven't even had my first cup of coffee yet, but I think I'll need a few to get through today. I'm going to keep this short, but please, scroll down and read my thoughts on Mountains and Valleys.

I sure did miss stopping by for coffee last week, but I was too busy having a blast with my family on Spring Break. :)

Have a great weekend everyone! I'll see you around for coffee...after I take a nap, of course!
~Melissa~

Mountains and Valleys

Rachel Anne, over at Priscilla Shirer's blog posted some great thoughts today from Priscilla's new book "One in a Million." I left my comment there on the blog, but thought I would share a little more in detail here.

Not too long ago, I asked God when I would have my next mountain experience with Him. It seems like I've been in this particular valley for quite some time. His answer came to me in a song. "Up on the Mountain" by Patty Griffin. Towards the end of the song I started thinking about how Moses must have felt up there on the mountain, able to see the "promised land" from a distance, but knowing that he'd never get there.

Numbers 27:12-14
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go up this mountain in the Abarim range and see the land I have given the Israelites. After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes." (These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.)

I wonder if Moses, who met with God on more than one mountain, longed just a little bit for the valley that day. Back then, the mountain was where you met with God. It was where you would find His presence, and hear His voice. Today, we can meet with God, hear His voice, and find His peace anywhere. Yes, if we steady our eyes and watch for Him, even in the valley, we will find Him in the midst of our "camp."

I once had a conversation with my husband about mountains and valleys. We talked about how, early on in one's walk with God, it seems that there are more mountain times than valley times. Every worship experience, sermon, or prayer time is so fresh and new that you can't help but soar.

Then, as we become more mature believers in Christ, we don't just experience God on the mountain tops. Our relationship with Him becomes based on trust, instead of emotion. We sense God's presence with us on the mountain tops, AND in the valleys of life. There is joy to be found in both. In fact, the more time I spend "camping" in the valley, the more grounded in Christ I feel. I'm not saying I LIKE trials and hardships, but they help me mature in my faith.

James 1:2-4 says this: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Those words, mature, complete, and not lacking anything appeal to me. In order to get there though, we can't ignore the words trials, testing, and perseverance. The good news is that God doesn't leave us alone in the valley. He's right there, camping out with us.

As Priscilla Shirer puts it in "One in a Million,"

Unpack your bags. Because camping out is part of this journey. Patience is part of what's required for our hearts to get in tune with God's desires.

For now, I've stopped longing for my next mountain experience. Instead, I've unpacked my bags and I'm enjoying peace, right here in my own little valley while I wait on God, one day at a time.

May you be blessed as you watch for Him wherever you are,
~Melissa