Mom

On January 29th 1996 I lost one of the most important people in the world to me. My Mother.

My mom was not a healthy person. She had diabetes from childhood, she had asthma, she had so many allergies she carried a note card to pass to the doctors, she had carpel tunnel, she had acid reflux, and irritable bowel syndrome. She took so many medications I am amazed she could function at all and didn't accidentally O.D. She had tons of stories about her 'wild' days. Back when she went out and did things. Back when she wasn't throwing up every other day with a migraine. Back when she wasn't blind for days at a time from her migraines. She spent most of her time at home, curtains drawn, smoking, watching soap operas, drinking coffee, while wearing a t-shirt and underwear.

Sometimes my Mom would beg God to kill her.

Even with all these negatives, my Mother was the most impressive woman I've ever known. She had such a big personality. For all her illnesses, she was beautiful. She could walk into any room and have any man she wanted eating out of her hand. She was intelligent. Sporting a vocabulary that had others running for a dictionary. She could cut you to the quick so eloquently, you wouldn't even realize it until later. She was strong in her opinions. When she spoke others listened. She gave the best hugs in the world. She smelled like the best perfume. She cooked circles around anyone, but stay out of her kitchen!

My Mom was like anyone else. There was good and ugly things you could say about her. Her personal life, was personal, and not meant for a blog. It was good and ugly too.

My Mom loved me, and even though there were times as a teenager that I hated her. I know that if she would have stayed with us I would have grown to appreciate her as time went on.

In January 1996 my Mother stood up and said "I feel funny". She died on the floor in front of my Dad and Grandmother. Apprx 45 minutes later they revived her and put her on life support. For days we waited in the hospital for a sign, that there was a chance, she was still 'with us'. That sign never came, and on January 29th, we 'pulled the plug' on Ina Louise Keatts.

It's been 15 years since that day. I know where she is, and I know she is happy there. As my family has grown with births and shrunk with deaths I know she is with us. I know one day I will walk up to her, and she will give me her best hug, and all of this will be worth it.

Cookie Night!

^Lauren sticking cookie sprinkles to my son's face^

I love my Mom's family but I rarely get to lay eyes on them. We keep in touch on Facebook which helps us to stay close at heart.

My cousin Lauren decided she wanted to get us all together and decorate sugar cookies for Christmas. Since I have 3 children I thought that was a lovely idea.

I forgot the 'sister' factor.

Cindi and Teresa. Between climbing on each others laps, hitting, pinching, screaming and farting on each other I didn't know what to think!

The kids had a ball. And so did I. Adam had a good time making everyone else's cookies look bad with his artsy fartsy skills.

Quote of the night:

Cindi to Rose: Where did you come from?
Destiny: Momma's Vagina.
Teresa: Fragina? What's that?
Lauren: I dunno but it can't be as bad as a bucket vagina.


Lord have mercy!

God stuff

Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
Romans 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
II Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come The old has gone, the new is here!
Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.


God is not angry with me. We have conquered death and sin by accepting Jesus. All those who accept Jesus become a new type of person. By the grace of God we are forgiven and now are greatly blessed. God has a job for us to do. God has given us all we need to complete our task.

I enjoy these verses because they are filled with the promise of better things in Jesus. It doesn't say you will be rich and never have another problem but it does say you will be able to handle anything that comes your way. They confirm there is a reason for each of us to be here. They reestablish the fact that you are loved, forgiven, and wanted.

I don't think there is anyone on the planet Earth who does not want to have a purpose. I think all of us want to be a better person and know there is someone on our side.

Money!

Matthew:6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

This wonderful verse is used over and over again by pastors trying to convince their parishioners to tithe. Such a wonderful part of the bible that originally was part of a larger message about not making money the most important priority in your life but instead to trust God and do the right thing without needing recognition and fame. Store up spiritual treasure in your heart.

I personally agree with the tithe. I don't enjoy hearing a money message every few months, but that is the part of church nobody really enjoys. I know that most churches want to do a lot of 'programs'. I also understand those programs cost money. I wish the pastor would just say to us,

"Hey, I want to do (A). It will achieve (B). In order to do that I need to raise (X) amount of money. That will fund the program for (such) an amount of time. Here is a form with all the programs we want to do. If you donate and want to support a certain program please mark the box near it. Thanks."

I know that there are passages which say if you will give the tithe the "floodgates" of blessing will flow for me. That's great. It's a wonderful lesson to give now and then. It fits when giving a sermon on financial responsibility. Money is a huge issue and there are biblical truths on how to handle money so as to avoid stress and starvation. I have given and I have noticed that money falls out of the sky for me when I do. Not literally, but bonuses and gifts, or extra work seems to come my way when I am tithing. It's tried and true for me.

I agree with a friend however, that you don't have to make the tithe with your church. You can take the 10% and give to charity instead. The money is for the continuation of good works. It also helps you maintain financial discipline. You should be donating money, saving money, and budgeting the rest. Living under your means or at least within them. This is a very hard lesson to learn. Those who know me personally know the lesson took a long time for my family to get in our heads. Luckily we are doing better now, and it was the biblical principles that helped us.

So dear reader do not take this as a tirade against the tithe, but as a small complaint of the use of a beautiful verse to get blood from a stone.

Science

God is the ultimate scientist and all others are just trying to catch up.

The existence of God is not going to be proven by science! If we could prove God thru science then we will have figured him out and that would make us God. Since there is only one true God and He is a supernatural mystery...well scientist who are trying to 'prove' there is a God are on a road to nowhere, destined to fail.

1 Corinthians 1:19-21 (The Message)

The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. It's written,

I'll turn conventional wisdom on its head,
I'll expose so-called experts as crackpots.
So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn't God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb—preaching, of all things!—to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation.

If you want to prove there is a God please take off the lab coat. He is not in your computer, under your microscope, or in your math equation that takes up 3 rooms worth of wall space.

Go outside and plant something, watch it grow, don't analyze it to death. See the beauty. Have a child. Make some friends. Go for a walk in the mountains. Get a life. Study this thing us simple folk call FAITH. Stop looking for the cold calculation and find the warm pulse of God in every place you look.

People Pleaser

This past Sunday my pastor preached about the trap of being a 'people pleaser'. The online notes referred us to several scriptures:

Acts 5:29 Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men!"

Galatians 1:10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ

I Thessalonians 2:4 On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.

These are all from the NIV translation.

Wow. I only need to live my life to make God happy. God loved me when he found me, screwed up as I was, so really I'm not trying to get God's love but only return the love by living a life pleasing to him. AND...if I screw up, He forgives me!

This is deep stuff ladies and gentlemen. It is so freeing! Yes I may lose the good opinions of some people by not trying to fit in with them, but it doesn't matter anymore.

Plus if you look at the 10 Commandments and the directions given in the Bible's New Testament, it's all good for you. Resolve conflict, guide each other, love each other, help each other, don't lie or steal or cheat...you know 'em.

Joyce Meyer was on TV today and she said she knows the Bible is the Truth. She says that when she accepted the words and lived them her life was better. The Bible worked and that's how she knows it's real.(Not an exact quote but it's what I got from it)What a cool idea! If you don't trust that Jesus is the real deal, test it out! Watch the life you have change!

I really like this series. If you want to see Stu's talk go to Watersedgechurch.net and watch last Sundays talk.

Hey Suz!

What do I believe?

Well I believe what Jesus believed. He has influenced the world for over 2000 years.

Jesus believed in God.

Jesus believed in Hell.

Jesus believed in loving one another.

Jesus believed in forgiveness.

Jesus believed in marriage and family.

Jesus believed in serving your brother.

Jesus believed in the power of prayer.

Jesus believed in healing the sick.

Jesus believed in caring for the poor.

Jesus believed in putting God’s will over your own.

Why? Why do I believe in Jesus? What a question to ponder.

Is it because I was raised a Christian? I am sure that has something to do with it. But there is more to it than that; I have some personal unconventional reasons.

First of all my mother had a near death experience. She saw the light. She felt the love. I know there are a lot of studies which try to disprove NDE but I think those people are just afraid. If NDE is real, then nonbelievers have to reevaluate their entire lives. They have an emotional investment in disproving NDE.

Second my mother was a spirit/energy magnet. Yep folks I’m talking GHOSTS. You can call it hogwash, but you weren’t in my room with all the windows rattling, just in that room.

Third, there is a miracle everyday. It’s hard to find them because they don’t make the news very easily. Science cannot explain away every legitimate miracle. Not every weeping statue is a hoax. When two people you work with pray for one of them to be healed, and then they both jump because they felt something akin to static run between them, and then the pain leaves…I see God.

Fourth, I pray. And my prayers are answered. Constantly. Faithfully. I believe it’s more than ‘luck’ and coincidence.

Fifth, I read the bible and it describes the signs of a nonbeliever, and then I see those signs in nonbelievers. I believe.

Sixth, Jesus said when he left we would be sent a helper. What you call intuition or conscience, I call The Holy Spirit. That small voice is not audible. That small voice which tells you to do something that is usually not very convenient for yourself. Such as leading you to someone that needs help. We are self centered creatures; do we really think that came from us?

Finally, number seven, biblical and historical evidence. Examples are The Book of Acts, Pliny’s Letters to Trajan X, etc. It is well documented that Jesus did exist and was crucified. It is also well documented that he was seen after the crucifixion. Instead of trying to list a lot of what I believe is good ‘evidence’ feel free to visit this webpage. http://www.layhands.com/EvidenceForTheResurrection.htm. There is another website as well called GotQuestions.org.

In an uncorrupted court of law, Jesus would be proven Savior.