My life story... so far

I was born on Oct. 28th 1981. I am the oldest of three kids. My parents had been married five years before deciding to have children. My dad was 30 and my mom 25. Neither of them were Christians at the time. They had bought a farm straight out of college. 200 acres of wild rice. There was a little one bedroom home on that farm, and to this day, that is where my dad still lives! The house now has four bedrooms and two bathrooms. My dad has done a lovely job making it a wonderful place to go home to.

My little sister came almost exactly 2 years after me. Molly Nell. The Lord has done such great things in our relationship! We used to fight like cats and dogs. We both got saved around the same time...I'm getting ahead of myself here...I also have a sweet younger brother who has been a great "Uncle Boo" to my kids. Boyd overcame great odds at age 2 as he battled a whelms tumor (cancer of the kidney). He went through chemo and lots of radiation and is now 26 years old!
 

 My dear brother Boyd.

My sister Molly and I.

My mother was an alcoholic. It was a very rare evening that she wasn't plastered. I remember at times going to bed so angry at her... even embarrassed for her... and wanting to be angry at her in the morning to punish her some how for what I felt she was "doing" to our family... but when I woke up and found her sober it was like I just couldn't be mad... I really liked my mom sober and I remember always wanting to enjoy that short time I had with my sober mom in the morning before going to school... and so the cycle continued... sober in the morning, goes to work (she worked my whole life), she started drinking on the way home from work (and I found out later, at work), gets home, drank more, makes an elaborate and wonderful dinner, we all sit down to her hard work and can't be thankful because we are all too mad that we are forced to spend another night with a drunk. I remember being terribly embarrassed numerous times by my mother at school events, at our home when we I had sleepovers... I was humiliated by her childish behavior. I remember fearing for my friends' lives as we drove with my drunk mother through a twisty canyon... My mom loved us through food. It was her "love language" you could say. I remember choosing not to eat one time and it visibly upsetting her. I began "feasting" on her being upset and developed an eating disorder. In a weird way I was using my eating disorder to punish her but in the end it only messed me up.

My poor mom. One of the loneliest people I have ever met. I don't think even her very closest friends knew her that well... At some point I transitioned from seeing her as my mom, to a lost soul in desperate need of Jesus... that is when everything changed... that is when forgiveness flooded my heart and enabled me to see my mom as the Lord saw her. My anger suddenly turned to pity. My poor mom.... Isn't that sometimes how forgiveness comes? Through pity? Through sadness for someone else's life... their poor decisions...Pity can lead to compassion and we could all use more compassion. My mother needed to be right with her Creator. My mom died the day before she was supposed to come and stay with me to help me with my new baby. It was sudden. She had destroyed her heart and it gave out on her. I remember just feeling so sad for her. Feeling torn up inside that she never got to know God and allow Him to work in her life.... 

My mom and sister at my sister's wedding.

I have always been close to my sweet dad who became a born again believer my freshman year in high school. My dear dad was persecuted by his own family, his own children, for his faith and convictions. I remember mocking my dad on numerous occasions when he asked us to turn certain tv shows off because he thought they were an offense to the Lord. He did the very best he could raising us children to be in a home with love despite the woman he married. He is now married to a woman who loves the Lord with all her heart and she has been such a wonderful "Mimi" to my children.

Pictured on top: Mimi with Rhea, Molly and her youngest-Piper Jean and Me with my youngest, Charis. Pictured below that: My dad (aka: Poppop) with four of his grand-kids in the wheel barrel on the farm I grew up on.

When I went off to college at age 17 I couldn't shake my dad's faith from my mind. I tried to through drugs and a boyfriend but I couldn't forget what the Lord had done in my dad's life! While in college and living in rebellion toward the Lord I encountered different people He put in my path to remind me of Him and His best for my life. The Holy Spirit was working even though to the outside world it looked like I could care less about Christianity/God.

When I was 20 years old I felt like I was finally ready to surrender to God. All this initially began through a cult called: International Church of Christ which teaches you must be baptized in their church to be saved. A dear friend was driving with me to my baptism and she said: "Look, you don't have to do this. I just don't think this is right. Let's start over with the Lord together." I didn't get baptized that day and the Lord used her mightily to direct me to a bible teaching church: Calvary Chapel in Santa Barbara California. A year later I was baptized in the ocean by my pastor, Britt Merrick. I had left all that worldly lifestyle behind and had decided to follow Christ! Around the same time, like I was saying earlier, God was working in my younger sister's life and she too got saved! Because of Christ my sister and I are best friends. And now she is moving across the country to be in the same town as me with her husband and three precious children! God changes things. He renews relationships. He brings hope where there is none. He restores.

I spent the first five years of my Christian life wondering if I would ever get married... it seemed everyone around me was getting married left and right! I got impatient and settled, and started dating a non-believer.... it was the longest month of my life! I was in constant turmoil. I listened to ONE sermon that whole time on 1 Peter 2:11 which says: " I beg you brethren to not give into the lusts of your flesh that wage war on your soul." That was me. I was giving into the lusts of my flesh and there was a definite war on my soul. I broke up with that guy and told the Lord: "never again!" 3 weeks later Scott LaPierre and I reconnected after not seeing each other for 9 years! Scott and I grew up together in the same small town. Neither of us were Christians during school but the Lord had done a great work in our lives since and we were excited to meet again :) My whole family remembered him and they (except my mom) were thrilled to hear he had become a born again believer!

Scott and I talked for hours and hours on the phone and decided to see each other again. After only a month or so of dating we were engaged and then 7 months later we were married and 11 months later we had our first child, Rhea Grace :) Now he is a senior pastor of a church in south western Washington and we have three more kiddos with another on the way. Scott's parents also became born again believers about a year into our marriage and Scott got to baptize them both! How awesome is that?! Now they have moved to be with us here in Wa. We are blessed and thankful!

My wonderful in-laws at an anniversary party we threw for them a few years ago.

Our most recent family photo at home on the farm.

Everybody has a story. This is a condensed version of mine. I am so grateful to know God! So grateful for how He has worked and is working! So grateful that by simply trusting in His Son that He then came and worked and is working in my heart to change me into being more like Christ. I get to be with Him for eternity because of what Christ did on the cross. He is a good, good God!

Top 4 Ways I Save Time

Saving time. Kind of a weird thought. How does one "save" time... We all get the same amount. 24 hours in one day. Some of us are professional time wasters though.

Tick, tock, tick, tock... that sound makes me... nervous! I hate wasting time... I like the idea of saving time... or redeeming time... Ephesians 5:16 sums up the best way to save time: "Make the most of every opportunity..." Sounds simple doesn't it when it is put that way? Here are some ways I make the "most of every opportunity".

1. Shop online. What is one of the many things us moms HAVE TO do? Shop. Our family needs food... well, we do too. And laundry detergent. And vitamins. And... and... you get the idea. We need stuff. Lots of stuff. Every time you GO to the store you have to count the time it takes to get ready, get everyone in the car, drive to the store, shop in the store, pack everything and everyone back into the car, unload the car and put everything away... phew, makes me tired just typing it all out. I like to buy stuff online. Think of all the steps I just listed that get cut out when you do this! My favorite is to buy through amazon.com and walmart.com. A lot of walmart's prices are hard to beat. If you spend over $50 online (easy to do) then you get free shipping. With amazon I love to use their "subscribe and save" program. Not only do you get free shipping but you also get an additional 15% off! I love to use this for items I use often (paper plates, diapers, dish detergent, emergen-c etc.). We are also prime members on amazon which gives us free two day shipping on almost everything. Totally worth the small fee.

2. Multitask. As. Much. As. Possible. So many of our modern day conviences enable us to multitask non-stop. You can dry a load of laundry while you sleep! Our ancestors would laugh to hear us say: "I just don't have time to do everything." Today I was vacuumming, while the popcorn was popping for the high school outreach, while the clothes were washing in the washer machine, while Ricky and Rhea were working on school work. Always be looking for ways to get more than one thing done at once. 

3. Stay home. A lot of us feeling like we don't have time is because we aren't at home enough. The more time you spend at home the more you get done at home which is our God ordained dominion. Titus 2:5 instructs women to "be busy at home." Again, I love the simplicity of the bible! That is where we are to be the busiest ladies! At home. This is hard because we have cars that can take us lots of places and then we are at all these places neglecting our homes and then we feel like we "just don't have enough time." Pray and ask the Lord to give you direction on if and when He would have you leave the home. My husband is a big help for me in this area, helping me decipher whether or not I should leave the house to do something else. Ask your man and see what he says.

4. Prioritize. How often do you find yourself on facebook before reading your bible? Are you calling a friend just to chat when your sink is full of dishes? Do you find yourself watching "just one more episode" when your kids have been asking you for weeks to play some board game with them? Remember, if you are married and a mother, your highest calling is to minister to your husband and children. Be in His Word first. Serve your family first. Do your "have tos" before your "want tos". Maybe you don't have time to do the important things because the less important things are sucking up all your time. 

God told me.....

I have been having a great discussion with ladies on a group page called "Sister to Sister" on facebook. I initially posted this article: http://www.donotbesurprised.com/2014/03/beth-moore-prophesies-coming-outpouring.html warning my sisters in Christ about the direction Beth Moore seems to be going and received quite a bit of feedback on whether or not God speaks to us outside of His Word.

I have been having so many thoughts whirling around in my head because of this post and I knew I couldn't do a facebook post with a million words long so I decided to do a blog post as a response instead.
 
First, let me say why I think this topic is so important: God doesn't like people speaking for Him when He didn't speak. Not only does He not like it, it makes Him angry.

"A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape." Proverbs 19:5

"I have not sent them,' declares the LORD. 'They are prophesying lies in my name. Therefore, I will banish you and you will perish, both you and the prophets who prophesy to you.'"-Jeremiah 27:15

People prophesying lies in God's name is nothing new. When someone says: "God said...." when He did not say, they are prophesying lies in His name just like people did in Jeremiah's day. Look at God's response again: "Therefore I will banish you and you will perish, both you and the prophets who prophesy to you." Yikes. No thanks. God takes speaking for Him pretty seriously and so should we.

Many times I wonder if people are really just speaking the delusions of their own minds.
"Then the LORD said to me, 'The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and THE DELUSIONS OF THEIR OWN MINDS." Jeremiah 14:14

Whenever I hear a Christian say: "God said to me...." I shudder a bit... I wonder: "Do they know what they are really saying? Do they understand that they are speaking for God?"

I think the words: "God said.." are becoming too commonplace. People say it like they are speaking for their buddy or their neighbor, not the Creator of the universe.
Some things I do believe in: I believe God works through His Holy Spirit and His Word (the bible) to guide us, teach us and convict us. I also believe that God does not work the same as He did in the Old Testament and I believe Hebrews 1:1-2 explains this perfectly:


"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the Heir of all things, through whom also He created the world."

That seems pretty clear to me: God spoke in past times through His true prophets who could honestly say: "God said to me..." but in these days, we know, He spoke through His Son and the Word of God which John 1 describes as being one in the same.

Does this mean God CANNOT speak to us? Audibly even? NO. He can do WHATEVER He wants. Do I think it is as common as many make it out to be? Absolutely not. In fact, some of the things people claim that God is telling them is often just flat out silly. When God spoke in the Old Testament through His prophets it was with great purpose, it was clear and it was obviously from God.

God would have the same advice for us today that He did for those in Jeremiah's day:

"Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have." Jeremiah 29:8

Secondly, I think this is so important because of how it often shakes young believers and sometimes "older" believers' faith. "Why doesn't God talk to me like He does to 'so and so'?... Maybe I'm not saved... Maybe I don't really have a relationship with God since I never hear from Him."
 
Thirdly, how do you decipher from "God speaking" and your own mind or deceitful heart? Some of my most charismatic friends have quoted God saying many things that never came to pass or were just flat out lies. One friend told me: "God told me 'this is the man you are going to marry'" Well... that guy ended up marrying someone else. She also said: "God told me that I am going to die very soon." That was 12 years ago. Speaking falsely for the Lord can also be just flat out embarrassing when it is proven to be a lie!

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9.

Wouldn't you rather err on the side of caution/godly fear and not say "God told me"? Wouldn't you rather say I feel like this or that? Quoting God is a way bigger deal than quoting your friend or even someone like the president. Unless you are sure, beyond the shadow of ANY doubt like Paul on the way to Damascus, I would never say: "God said..."

Lastly, people often talk about God speaking to people in the bible as if it was happening ALL the time. Not so. With the times in the Bible that record God speaking, we have to remember that they occur over the course of 4,000 years of human history. God speaking audibly is the exception, not the rule.

I appreciate gotquestions.org's thoughts on God speaking today: "God does speak to people today. First, God speaks to us through His Word (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Isaiah 55:11 tells us, “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” The Bible is God’s Word, everything we need to know in order to be saved and live the Christian life. Second Peter 1:3 declares, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness." God can also “speak” to us through events—i.e., He can guide us through arranging our circumstances. And God helps us to discern right from wrong through our consciences (1 Timothy 1:5;1 Peter 3:16). God is in the process of conforming our minds to think His thoughts (Romans 12:2). God allows events to occur in our lives to direct us, change us, and help us to grow spiritually (James 1:2–5;Hebrews 12:5–11). First Peter 1:6–7 reminds us, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." God may sometimes speak audibly to people. It is highly doubtful, though, that this occurs as often as some people claim it does."

My husband did two messages on this very thing a couple years ago! Please feel free to listen here and here.

I would like to conclude with these two loving warnings from the New Testament:

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world." 1 John 4:1

"But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction." 2 Peter 2:1

One less thing....

I am sure you have heard of Elisabeth Elliot's phrase: "Do the next thing." Well, my new phrase is: "One less thing."

I recently stopped dying my hair. Seems like a simple, non-impressive thing to stop doing but it's one less thing to think about now. It's one less thing to buy. It's one less thing to take up space in my house. It's one less thing to think about. When we have "one less thing" to do we make room for one more beneficial thing to do. When we compile a list of "one less things" we suddenly find we have much more time for the greater things.

In my life right now I am all about: one less thing. Having four children six and under, homeschooling them, and being a pastor's wife (which involves many different things/events) means being pulled in many directions.

All of us probably feel like we are pulled in many directions. Remember, every time you say yes to something you are saying no to something else. I suppose the reverse could be true too. Every time you say no to something you are saying yes to something else.

By me saying "yes" to doing a blog post right now I am saying "no" to my kids. I cannot give them my full attention. That is why it is also good to evaluate what you choose to say yes to and WHEN you say yes to it. By choosing to blog when my kids are sleeping I am saying yes to blogging without saying no to my kids. Makes sense right?

What "one less thing" do you need in your life right now? What thing can you cut out from your life to say yes to something else? 

We have way too many things in our lives and when we are doing many things we are rarely doing a few things well. It is better to do a few things well than many things poorly.

One less thing will add more to your life. Before purchasing one more thing or before doing one more thing ask these questions: will this thing take more of my time? will I need to find some place to put it? will it require cleaning and upkeep? Does it cost money? If so, is it worth the cost? Is it something my husband would like me to do or to buy? Will this event make me a more godly wife, a better mother or a better homemaker?

By seriously considering what we say yes to we are seriously considering the Lord's will for our lives and how He would have us spend our time. After-all, even our time does not belong to us.  

"For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God." (1 Cor. 6:20)

Make a list right now of the "one less things" you can implement in your life and experience the freedom found in having and doing less!

Who Is Really At Work?

Have you ever wished you were in charge of everyone around you? Have you ever wanted to grab someone by the neck and yell at them to stop doing what they are doing or to start doing what you want them to do? Have you ever been frustrated and angry when someone you love keeps disappointing you and letting you down? Um, yeah, we all have!

Isn't it such a relief to know that true, eternal change happens in others lives not by our coercing/arguing/nagging/convincing? True, everlasting change is a work of God, not of man.

I love this passage from Ezekiel 36:25-29, notice how many times God says: "I will.." not "you will..."

"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you..."

However, this doesn't mean that God won't use us to work in the hearts of man! He can and does work through people!

1 Thess. 5:11
"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up..."

Rom. 10:14
"...how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?"

The important thing is to preach, encourage, exhort and teach with His strength and His leading, not our own. Our own strength and leading only results in more disappointment and frustration. Apart from Him we can do nothing of eternal value. He is the One that causes the change, not us. The Holy Spirit is the One who convicts, not us.

 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5

 "When he [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will convict the world, and show where right and wrong and judgment lie. He will convict them of wrong..." John 16:8

I think Paul explains it well in 1 Cor. 6:6-7 "I planted, Apollos watered, BUT GOD was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, BUT GOD who causes the growth.…"

Quit TRYING to make your husband someone he isn't. Quit bossing your sister around because she isn't living the way you want. Quit nagging at your friend for her decisions. What would happen if we prayed for people as much as we talk at or about people? Do you change by the force of others around you? Is it not through a surrender to Christ and His power in your life? That is what brings change in your own life and in every other person's life as well. Leave the business of changing lives up to God. Allow Him to use you as He wills and leave the results up to Him.


p.s. as always, preaching to myself here :)

Television...

There are MANY views on television in the Christian realm. My point in this post is not to "stir the pot" but to encourage moms out there that feel guilty like I did about how they are using the television as their babysitter...

I had a love/hate relationship with the television as of just a few months ago. Thank God my husband stepped in and said: "Enough is enough." He wasn't condemning or mean. He just hated watching our children sit in front of the t.v. for hours... he hated "watching brain cells die"... so did I... but not enough to turn the screen off.

I loved the t.v. because it distracted my children... it decreased my involvement... it fed my laziness as well as my children's... I hated it for all the same reasons. I knew that I was pushing my parenting responsibility on to an inanimate object... sick...

I want to mother in a way that I will have the least amount of regret later in life. I know I would regret plopping my kids in front of the television for hours a day. I know I would never look back and think: "man, I just wish my children would have watched more television!"

So, as of now, they are allowed to watch it only when Scott and I go over his sermon and what they can watch is pretty limited.

I know a couple who are very condemning toward Christians who let their children watch any television at all and yet they beat each other up (literally) in front of the children often. Let us not be like that! Look at the plank in your own eye before removing the splinter from your friend's. And please don't judge people who watch cable when you watch "only netflix". Don't think just because you watch movies that you are better than those who watch t.v. shows. And please don't say "We don't watch anything on the t.v., we only watch stuff on our computer." As if a smaller screen is more holy? The weird comparisons Christians come up with sometimes to make ourselves feel better about our decisions is astounding.

The thing that I have learned the most from all of this is: our children are often capable of much more than we think they are. I remember thinking often: "Johnny just can't play all day. He'll never be able to do that." Well, let me tell you, Johnny is MORE than able to play all day! Just tonight he entertained himself (by himself since Rhea and Ricky were already in bed) with a wrapping paper roll (the center tube) and a tiny ball for over an hour. We will never know what our kids are capable of if we don't take different forms of "entertainment" away. Children played for hundreds of years without a television, why can't they now?

Thankful for the direction our family is going in regards to television. Thankful for what God has been teaching me and doing in my own heart through all of this. Thankful to think that I won't regret this area in my life later...

I would like to conclude with some interesting and yet disturbing facts:

*The average American (including both adults & teenagers) watches over four hours of TV every day, which is over two months of uninterrupted watching per year. This means that – at current usage-rates, the average 65 year-old American will have spent 9 YEARS of his or her life idly sitting in front of a television!

*Over two-thirds of all American families with children watch television while eating dinner “together”.

*The average American child spends roughly 28 hours each week watching television. In contrast, the average American parent spends only roughly 5 MINUTES each week in meaningful conversation with those same children.

*TV is so tempting that over half of all 4-6 year olds polled preferred watching television to spending quality time with their fathers.

*Every activity a child engages in during his busy day refines some set of skills. Reading is practice; writing is practice; sports is practice; engaging in fantasy games is practice; and interacting with people is practice. All these activities in some way help prepare a child for the challenges of adult life. Television is also practice, but not for any activity. Television is practice for inactivity. When children watch television they are practicing sleeping while awake.

My Two Favorite Homemade Energy Drinks

First one: Sunshine. This one I have around 2 times a day almost every day. She is pictured above. Isn't she a beauty? :)
 
Sunshine's base (similar to trim healthy mama's good girl moonshine) is made of:

3 tbsp apple cider vinegar. (braggs of course! which I have found very decently priced here.)
2 juiced lemons
1-2 tsp powder ginger
5 drops of this awesome stuff.  
stevia to taste.
fill the jar with water and ice (sometimes I make a big pot of tea and add tea instead of water)

Now here's where I get crazy. Some times I add a combo of these different things (especially if I feel like I am coming down with something).

1/2 cup water kefir. You can buy water kefir grains here. Or I add 1/2 cup of kombucha. You can read about the benefits and differences of these two here.)

A sprinkle of cayenne pepper.
 
The last item I love to add is an emergen-c packet. Those things are bomb when you are trying to fight a cold. I get them off amazon as well.

Click on the things below to read about their benefits: 
Apple Cider Vinegar
Lemons
Ginger
Cayenne Pepper

Enter Energy Drink Number Two:

My warm energy drink is called "turmeric yummyness" (I STINK at naming things :)

First I have to make turmeric paste. (Read about some of the amazing benefits of turmeric here.)

I take a 1/4 cup of turmeric powder, mixed with 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 tsp pepper (pepper helps activate healing properties in turmeric). Stir all these ingredients in a pot over med-high heat until a paste forms. I keep my paste in the fridge in a small glass jar.

Take about 1-2 teaspoons of the paste (or as much as you can handle) and add it to 1-2 cups of almond milk, coconut milk (whatever kind of milk you like the most), sprinkle in pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, ginger and stevia to taste. If you want you can add this to a cup of coffee and give your cup of joe a BIG health boost :)
Benefits of:
Cinnamon 
Black Pepper
Coffee

I also like this concoction iced (pictured above)!