The Love of a Family

At a Friday night football game for the ORCS knights.

All five of the grandchildren in their first picture together.

(l to r: Kemper 7mo; Kaiya 2 1/2 yr; Allie 1 yr.; Tavia 2 1/2 yr; Cohen 2 weeks)

The beautiful trio of granddaughters

Our handsome grandsons

DaNae, our daughter from Florida, arrived in Minot just in time to watch my Our Redeemer's volleyball girls compete against Velva. Her seven-month old son Kemper came to North Dakota with her and we did a lot of running (sometimes literally). I love when all the brothers and sisters can be together, but it can reach chaotic levels when their children (five of them, all 2 years old and under) congregate in one room.

One night, it reached unbelievable proportions. I was trying to make supper and it was one fight after another. With countless toys around the living room, the bathroom (tub toys), and the basement, the girls found the one toy they all had to have at the same time. After we (moms and dads) discussed the need to share, the fight would subside -- well, until one of them found a new toy that they all wanted at the same time. This continued for most of the evening and I wondered (in my spirit) how people could possibly believe we don't have a sin nature!

I love these little ones and look forward to the next time we are all together. What they did in no way changed how I feel about any of them. It is easy to excuse the behavior, because it has been quite the week -- late nights, lots of activities, and few quality naps. My love for them is beyond words to describe the overwhelming emotions that stir within my heart.

I picture God just like that. When we, as adults, are fighting about things we can not have and about things we do not want to share with behavior that reflects anything but Christ-like. And yet, nothing can separate us from His love.

Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Even when our sinful nature makes a wrong decision, nothing...absolutely nothing...will be able to separate us from His love. I pray you will be encourage today with this tremendous promise!

Living a life of worship Part II

Worship= worth-ship...to give worth to

If I truly look at the definition of what worship really is I have to admit I'm in a lot of trouble. I give worth to a lot of things. I give worth to my kids, the way I look, my money, my priorities--the list goes on.

Romans 12:1 says, "So here's what I want you to do. God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life-- your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life-- and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him." (The Message Bible)

Like I stated in my last blog I remember reading this verse my junior year in college and it all clicked. I finally really understood that worship was NOT about me. It was NOT about a style of music I prefered in church or about the way or form in which we sang. Worship to God is about what I do...all the time. The way that I interact with a co-worker while at work is worship. The way that I spend my money is worship. The way that I talk to my spouse or kids is worship. Every single thing I do shows what I am giving "worth" to.

David Morris in his book A Lifestyle of Worship says, "My life belongs to God and what I do in worship to God is a reflection of who I am, but more importantly, whose I am."

When Romans 12 states to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, as our spiritual act of worship. It means all the time. My worship is what I do every day in the private and mundane activities. Yes, even when I'm grocery shopping I'm worshipping. I'm a reflection of God even in those moments. May our worship today be pleasing to Him.

Martha is Back

I want to apologize for our absence. Stephanie and I have both entered into a whirlwind of a schedule with my coaching and her officiating. We are gone almost every night of the week and on many weekends.

We do not want to lose touch with you, so we will continue to post only twice a week until we get through the volleyball craze! I will post on Tuesday and Stephanie on Thursday.

Thanks so much for your patience as we attend to the many tasks ahead of us. Through it all, we pray that our Mary spirit still attends to the things that are most important -- our rest in Him -- King of Kings, Lord of Lords, our ROCK!