Going Again . . .

It has been two years since the last time I was there. In about two weeks, I will finally be going again. My husband will be with me again and, this time, we are bringing along our 13 year old son, Joshua. There will be some familiar faces with us: John and Laurie, Dave and Shannon, Debbie and Todd. But there will also be some newbies, too: Matt and Pam, Steve and two Cathy's, Sharon and Tera, Ed and Jennifer. I am excited to see their faces as they view the spectacular places for the first time: the Sea of Gaililee, the Mt. of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Garden Tomb.

Yes, that's right. I am going back to Israel. And I can't wait.

The Lord's Prayer

My uncle sent this to me. Please check it out. It is a little 2 year old girl singing the Lord's Prayer and it is adorable. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR4PQ30VkBk

just had to share. . .

I think I do pretty well when I give the Lord my attention for my daily scripture reading from the Blue Letter Bible (I'm trying to read through the entire Bible and Blue Letter Bible is helping me). I think I do pretty well when I pause a moment and read a devotional from my Calvary Chapel Pastor's Wives devotional. I guess I felt that my obligatory reading for the day was enough.

Then, I went to the ocean and truly felt the presence of God.

I stood on the balcony outside our room and watched the ocean. I watched the waves come roaring in. I watched the spray of the water shoot up from those waves and in that spray, I saw a rainbow. And as I was standing there, the awesomeness of the Lord washed over me. I started to cry. It was then I realized that I hadn't been giving God my full attention. I felt an urgency for a closeness with the Lord that I seemed to have neglected.

I went to my Bible and began looking in the Psalms. I wanted to read the passage that starts "As the deer pants for living water. . ." and thought it was Psalm 40. I looked it up and found these words instead:

". . .he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God."

I paused and looked back out to the ocean. I thanked Him for doing these exact things in my life. I asked forgiveness for forgetting about it.

How could I go about my day and not think about my Savior?

The one who for no other reason than His love for me, took me out of that slimy pit and firmly planted my feet. And because of that, the once for whom I should daily lift a hymn of praise.

I came home with a new sense of awe for my Lord and a determination to include Him in every second of my day, not just the 15 minutes I was giving Him.

What many, beautiful days I have to look forward to.

8 Things That Drive Me Crazy

My friend, Gina over at curlyqfun.blogspot.com, tagged me to do a blog about 8 things that drive me crazy. So, here goes:

1. MY HAIR! Won't I ever by satsified?

2. Not being able to find my groove. I hate it when my time is out of control and I can't get a routine going.

3. Constipation. Will it ever go away?

4.Don't get me wrong. I love Christmas songs. What drives me nuts is that they start to play them in the beginning of October.

5. Which reminds me - people who start decorating for Halloween in the beginning of September.

6. The fact that my beloved Mariners cannot get to a World Series.

7. I love my children but it drives me nuts that they can't keep their rooms clean.

8. The cat who loves to sit below my window when she is in heat.

There you have it! Hope you got a good laugh :)

Pastor's Wife

At Calvary Chapel Marysville, Pastor Dave doesn't have "topical" sermons, but teaches verse by verse through the Bible. But yesterday, instead of turning to Revelation 3, he had us turn to Leviticus where it describes the anointing of the hight priest. Then he had us turn to 2 Corinthians 4 where Pastor Dave taught about the attributes of a pastor. Pastor Dave took a "side trip" from our regular teaching in Revelation to these other passages because yesterday was a special day.

Yesterday, my husband was ordained as a Calvary Chapel Pastor and I became a pastor's wife.

I had a hard time sitting through worship because I was anxious. Anxious to see what this ordaining thing was all about. I was nervous for Chris because I knew he wanted this day to not be about him but to glorify the Lord. I was nervous for myself because I didn't know if Pastor Dave was going to have me stand in front of our entire fellowship.

When worship was over and Pastor Dave began his message, I relaxed a little. His teaching was about the attributes of being a pastor but it was things that the fellowship needed to hear, also. Attributes that we can all develop in our lives.

I relaxed even more when Pastor Dave called Chris up to ordain him. Then I got a little nervous when Pastor Dave brought out the anoiting oil because I thought he was going to dump it on Chris' head and I didn't want his shirt ruined. But then I settled down when Pastor Dave dabbed some oil on his fingers and anoited Chris' forehead and began one of the most beautiful prayers I have heard. I couldn't fold my hands and close my eyes. I turned my body to get a better view, rested my hands in my lap, and watched as my husband was anoited a pastor, just like Aaron would have done it:

First his forehead - so all his thinking can be for God's glory.
Then his right thumb - so all he does can be for God's glory.
Then his right big toe - so God is glorified everywhere he goes.

Pastor Dave then called some men from our fellowship to come forward and lay hands on Chris and continued the prayer.

Somewhere during that prayer, my oldest son Joshua rubbed my arm. When I turned to look at him, he gave me a smile that told me "that's my dad!" He then grabbed my hand and held it. As I was clutching his hand, Pastor Dave called me up. I paused for a moment because I didn't want to let go of Joshua and I didn't want the focus to change. I smiled at Pastor Dave, gave Joshua's hand a little squeeze and walked up to stand next to my husband. I looked at Chris and as he smiled at me, he put his arm around me. And with that, Pastor Dave opened up the prayer to the fellowship. I felt very humbled and was very touched as I listened to the prayers of our brothers and sisters.

When the final Amen was said, Chris and I walked back in awe to our seats. I was and am amazed at God and how He can take an ordinary carpenter and his wife and use them in His service.

So now, I am a pastor's wife. My prayer is that I can live up to this title and that God may be completely glorified in all I do while I carry it.

What You May Have Never Known

My friend, Shannon, over at www.blogspot.windscraps.com, tagged me to blog seven random things about me. So, here goes:

1. I am a miracle baby. My parents were told early in their marriage that they weren't going to be able to have children. Apparently, my father had a low sperm count. In those days, there wasn't anything they could do about it. Once they got over their shock, they decided to try adoption. After they immigrated from Holland to Canada, they looked into it. They adopted my brother, John. After they immigrated from Canada to the United States, they began looking into adopting another baby. A girl this time. A few short months after they began the process, my mother discovered that, at the age of 37 (and my father at the age of 39), she was pregnant! On September 11, 1969, after much rejoicing from my parents, I came into the world, a miracle from God.

2. As kids, my best friend, Linda, and I had several goals we wanted to achieve when we grew up. One of those was to go to Europe together. That dream came true in 1987. As a graduation present to the both of us, my parents surprised us with a trip. Just a note here, as told above, my parents immigrated from Holland. My father's entire family lives there. So, in July of 1987, the four of us (my parents, Linda and I) boarded a plane to Holland. We got to see where my parents grew up, got to visit a lot of family, and also got to travel into Austria and Germany.

3. As a teenager, my dream was to one day marry a very rich mechanic named Joe. We were going to live in a beautiful home, with many children and two dogs. FYI: I am very happily married to a doing okay construction worker named Chris. We live in a wonderful home with two children and two cats.

4. My most favorite all time snack is potato chips with ketchup. Just give me a bag of potato chips and a bottle of ketchup and I am a very happy girl. I would also love to help it go down with a rootbeer float.

5. Growing up, I had a hankering for writing. I toured The Herald when I was in junior high to see the inner workings of a newspaper. I had high hopes of one day becoming a journalist.

6. I got my driver's license when I was 16 years old. I learned to drive in an automatic. That is the only kind of car we had because my mom didn't know how to drive a stick shift. I finally learned how to drive a stick shift when I was 36 years old.

7. Random things I am scared of: heights, snakes, spiders, scary drivers, very loud thunder, driving on hills in my stick shift, roller coasters and flying.

Home from Israel

I came home from Israel last week with a renewed sense of awe for our Lord.

Israel is a beautiful country. Not only because of the landscape and the people but also because of it's history.

I sat in the ampitheater where Paul stood proclaiming the Word of God to King Aggrippa. While sitting there, I had an amazing view of the Mediterranean Sea.

I climbed Mt. Arbel where Jesus fed the 5,000. At the top, I had a breath taking view of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus walked on water.

I tenderly walked into the Jordan River with my husband and I was washed as white as snow while my Pastor baptized me in the very river Jesus was baptized.

I took a tremendous hike up a mountain and saw the caves where David hid from Saul and drank from the very stream the deer panted by.

I stood on the Mount of Olives where Jesus will one day return and firmly plant His feet. The view I saw from there was the Eastern Gate - the very Gate He will walk through when He makes His glorious return.

I walked around the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed the night before His death.

I walked down the Palm Sunday road where Jesus made His triumphantal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey.

I stood by what is thought to be Golgotha, the Place of the Skull, where Jesus died to free me from my sins.

And finally, I walked into the Garden Tomb where Jesus victoriously rose again from the dead. And, I tell you, it is EMPTY!! I cried at every site but this is where I cried the hardest as the Lord made Himself more real to me than ever.

I believe I left my heart in Israel.