Beautiful Day

I wanted to share this song especially today because I have had one of the most glorious of beautiful days!

Friendship Church was the place to be Sunday, April 13, 2014! We watched NINE people be baptized! It is always a blessing to see even one person publicly declare their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior! But when you watch nine in one service, you are blessed immensely! There was a set of brothers whose father suddenly died recently. There was a young couple who had been baptized out of fear for “the wrath of God” but now have come to see the desire that God for them to be close to Him. There was a young mother who I lovingly call my “Next Gen Jen” (as in the next generation of Kirsten because I think she’s so much like me!) We also watched a mother, father, and their ten-year old son be baptized. The boy’s parents were beaming with pride for their son but their personal joy was even more spectacular! One woman had a story for so many of us to learn from. After being diagnosed with cancer and being hospitalized during her terrible side effects due to chemotherapy and radiation, she felt God calling her to His Side. She made one of the most difficult submissive decisions while in a hospital bed sick as could be! She turned her life over to God right there! From that moment on, she said her life hasn’t been the same! It has been wonderful because of God!

Beautiful! Blessed! Loved! Forgiven! I believe that’s what it’s all about! It’s about being forgiven of our sins because God sacrificed His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, on that cross for my sins and for yours too! God loves us that much! I’m amazed when I think about that love that God has for me and all my mistakes and sins! For that I’m grateful! If you don’t know Christ as your Savior, you need to NOW! He’s there and waiting for you to turn to Him and ask Him into your heart! Let Him come in!

Over the last couple of months I have been sitting on the front row with another dear friend and haven’t realized until now how many people there really are there and how many people our church can really seat. This Sunday, I have a new appreciation for the size of our church! I was in the sound booth this Sunday, covering the PowerPoint for my dear friend who had kept her granddaughter overnight. From that vantage point, you can really get a feeling for the amount of people that were there. The church was almost standing room only! As the service began, people were still coming in and couldn’t find places to sit. The greeting team was trying to help visitors find SEATS! Regular members who were used to the “regular” seats had to find other places to sit! (I hope no family was separated because of the lack of seats!) What a blessing that is to not have room for everyone!

We all worried and prayed the rain would hold off until the children were able to have their Easter egg hunt – and it did! All the children gathered at the doors of the front of the church to head across the highway for the Great Easter Hunt of 2014. When the doors were opened, our wonderful parking crew was waiting in the road to help them get across the street safely! One of my other dear friends was wearing heels and just couldn’t walk fast enough to get her three-year old to the hunt to satisfy me so I snatched him up and off we ran! Of course, I’m so out of shape I couldn’t breathe for ten minutes but it was so worth it when I saw the basket of eggs he successfully found!

And then came the FOOD! WOW! The food was all amazing and we feasted – especially on the fried chicken and desserts! Our wonderful pastor's wife works tirelessly on preparing the setup for these times! I'm not sure she realizes how much we appreciate everything she does in the background! Thank you for doing what you do! Once again, with so many people attending the service, we had difficulty with finding enough seats for everyone to eat. But necessity is the mother of invention, right? Tables from the Friendship Kids’ Room were brought out to accommodate a few more people – picture bright green round tables about a foot and a half tall with matching chairs!

My beautiful day wasn’t all about church because it continued the rest of the day thanks to the blessings of God. Saturday, I got my new battery for my riding mower installed and was able to mow the entire front yard for the first time this year! Finally! I did mow some of the backyard but I had a huge limb fall off during the last week so the upper portion will have to wait until after my neighbor comes this week to cut it up for firewood!  Within the hour of finishing the mowing, the rain came! More glorious rain that we need so desperately! My house might be a wreck but my yard looks fabulous!

Power, Strength, & Self-Discipline

Boundary Mom #mysinglemomlife

I have had several people in the last couple of days ask:

1)      Are you and Bobby okay?

2)    Have you never told Bobby no before now?

The answers are simple:

1)      YES!

2)    YES!

The background for the posts about boundaries and being the unpopular Mom is simple. I'm reading a book called "My Single Mom Life" by Angela Thomas. The chapter I was referring to in my Facebook posts is called “Boundary Mom.” Angela tells why she sets them for her four children and why it is so important for us to set them for our children - especially single moms (single dads too).

Angela is a single mom because of divorce raising her children on her own. She was devastated by the divorce. She had nothing afterwards – no home, no furniture, no income, no job prospects, nothing! She tells of her struggles and shares some lessons from her experiences.

I have never considered myself as a single mom because my personal definition is an unmarried mother, either by divorce or never married. I don’t fit that definition. I’m a widow – I’m raising my son on my own because his father, my husband, died. It’s that simple. Angela gave me a different perspective to the definition of a single mother. Although, I confess, I still don’t call myself that. 

Tuesday morning, I was working at the other funeral home where there is no computer – which means it’s just me and my little brain and some much needed reading time. I didn’t even bring my crochet with me! I was reading that chapter and felt very convicted to share with other moms. The first post said:

Some words to live by: Being the parent who sets boundaries for your kids usually takes you out of the running for Most Popular Mom! But you know what? I wasn't given this child to make me popular! God gave me this child to raise him to be a strong Christian man and I will do that with every fiber in my body! #mysinglemomlife

It was simply a reminder to myself and to all the moms out there that we must remember to keep those boundaries for our children because they are children and don’t have the knowledge that we have as adults.

It was also a reminder to myself and to all the moms out there that God gave us these children and we must do the best we can with them so that their lives will flourish for the glory of the Lord.

After listening to Patty speak today at Ronny’s Life Celebration, I was again reminded how important it is to keep the path I’m on. She stood up and bragged on her children and told them how proud they make their dad! Someday, I want Bobby to see Jesus and hear the words “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” That is my job!

Proverbs 22:6 - Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

If we don’t take the responsibility of our children, who will? Do you really want to leave that up to TV, the internet, and their peers? Personally speaking, I’m not leaving it up to anyone else because, like I said before, God gave him to me and his father!

The second post said:

Yep! I did it again! I'm definitely losing the popularity contest! I just said no to two things in the time span of two minutes! I just got the feeling that it wasn't right for my child so I said no. I'm learning to go with my gut feelings because I believe that is the Holy Spirit working in me! #mysinglemomlife

That was only an example of how I’m learning to say “no” when something just doesn’t feel right. It wasn’t anything that big – just a couple of apps for his iPod. One of them was simply no because the name just didn’t sound good. It had nothing to do with the cost because my decision would still be no even if they had both been free. The decision was also based on the fact that he already spends way too much time on the iPod to begin with and I had no desire to contribute to his slight obsession. At nine years old, these are big decisions in his mind but for me at almost forty-four, the decisions I make today will mold him in the future. Therefore, I must be diligent and thoughtful in my decisions.

One last thought on saying ‘no’ to our children, it is always easier to come back later after thinking and even researching those decisions and say ‘yes.’ I explained that to Bobby because it’s important for him to know that I can be wrong and later change my mind. It is a way of showing him that I can make mistakes and I will apologize and will do my best to make it correct.

That night, Bobby went to bed mad (he was sure to tell me). I however didn’t change my attitude which probably angered him a tad more. I told him that I try not to let other people’s moods affect my moods. I still love you and I will do my best to protect you in whatever way I feel God has led me to. We said our prayers, I kissed him goodnight in the same way I always have every night and I left his room in the same way I always have because that is another boundary for him. (I will share that boundary another day)

When you see a post on my Facebook with the hashtag #mysinglemomlife, you will know that it is in reference to this powerful book!