matthew 5:14

Is your light hidden or set high for all to see?

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

-Matthew 5:13-16

fear, faith and finishing

In The Big Wave by Pearl S. Buck, Kino is a young Japanese boy that asks his father about death. His father tells him that death is the great gateway.

"The gateway-- where?" Kino asked.

Kino's father smiled. "Can you remember when you were born?"

Kino shook his head. "I was too small."

Kino's father laughed. "I remember very well. Oh, how hard you thought it was to be born! You cried and you screamed."

"Didn't I want to be born?" Kino asked. This was very interesting to him.

"You did not," his father told him smiling. "You wanted to stay just where you were in the warm, dark house of the unborn. But the time came to be born, and the gate of life opened."

"Did I know it was the gate of life?" Kino asked.

"You did not know anything about it and so you were afraid of it," his father replied. "But see how foolish you were! Here we were waiting for you, your parents, already loving you and eager to welcome you. And you have been very happy, haven't you?"

"Until the big wave came," Kino replied. "Now I am afraid again because of the death that the big wave brought."

"You are only afraid because you don't know anything about death," his father replied. "But someday you will wonder why you were afraid, even as today you wonder why you feared to be born."

Death is indeed a doorway. The doorway that leads to our REAL life, the one that will last, the one that will matter!

For those that have accepted and put their faith in Jesus Christ, this life will pale in comparison to our eternal one! For those that have rejected Jesus Christ, this life will be like bliss in comparison to the eternal anguish that awaits. {If you do not accept Him, you reject Him. There is no in-between!}

I am not afraid of the dying itself. I only fear for David, Austin and Noah being here without me. Imagining their heartache, questioning, uncertainty, anger, and long lasting sorrow.... that is what I fear. I fear for them.

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. -Isaiah 41:10

And then I realize my pride. Is God only MY God? Does He only guide, lead and comfort ME? How foolish my thoughts and fears are! I don't plan on checking out anytime soon, but if God call me home soon, I know that He will comfort and care for my family.

The devil uses fear to paralyze me into inaction and distract me from the finish line.

Every marathon is won by just taking one step at a time.

-Ann Voskamp

I don't know about you, but I plan on running to the finish line! I am not going to quit serving God because I am tired and weary and longing for REST. The daily battling of thoughts, the daily missing of a part of my flesh exhausts me. But it will make rest in my Saviour that much sweeter.

It would be horrible to look back on my life and see that I quit, gave up on God and this race set before me, just because I cannot see what is beyond this bend in the road.

What if I quit, only to find out I was a few strides short of the finish line?

All I can SEE is the very next step that God lights for me.

All I can DO is take it.

Are you paralyzed by fear? Fear of death, failure, what people will think of you... fear of making a mistake, of ridicule, of putting yourself and your beliefs and your heart out there for all the world to see...

Choose FAITH over fear! Don't let fear stop you or distract you from what God is telling you to do. CHOOSE to trust God and take the next step that He has lighted before you. It will lead you closer to Him, closer to rest, closer to the finish line.

great FB purge of 2011

We are entering into our last week here in Guam. With a week long break back in Texas, we are readjusting to the time change once again.

So what am I doing when it is 4am and all of us are wide awake?

Today, I am deleting apps from my Facebook account. Oi!

It's an embarrassing history of games and quizzes and further proof of how much time I can waste at night, avoiding sleep until the last possible moment, hoping to not just drift off to sleep but just pass out without thoughts running through my head.

A sampling of deleted applications (don't judge me):

How Texan are you?

Typing Race

What Disney Princess are you? (I'm glad that I am Belle. She was always my favorite!)

How dorky are you?

Vote for your cow. (This was a ChickfilA contest...I hope?)

What's your old lady name?

I bet I can find out your favorite color in 7 questions.

Which Food Network personality are you?

Cool toys of the 80s and 90s.

What movie musical leading lady are you?

Which decade are you?

Civil War history.

And no, I do not remember the answers anymore. Sorry about that.

Okay, but here is the BEST application/game that I deleted today-- MAFIA WARS. Woot woot!

A certain someone took over the MW account on my FB page a few years ago. In that time, my friends list grew to 895. I like to think that people honestly like me, but seriously? There is NO WAY I even know 895 people!

I am proud to announce that the person has been MW free for 3 weeks now and I am deleting the account and the "friends" that are in my Mafia. *cough* That just sounds silly. Yes, I have a mafia and we rob places and gift each other ties, hornet snipers, and brass knuckles. bahaha!

My question for y'all is this.

Do you have an addiction to any Facebook games? Do you think you could give it up?

Oh and if I accidentally delete you in the great FB purge of 2011, feel free to request to be my friend again. :) There are often unintended casualties in war.

Sweet Shot: my guys

These guys make me really happy.

Even after sharing a non-suite hotel room for over a month.

Can y'all believe that my boys have fought less in our tight quarters than when we were at our home in Texas?

I know it has nothing to do with size of space and everything to do with a mommy that is focused completely on them, with zero outside distractions. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to do nothing at all.

What about you? Do you think you do too much or not enough?

isaiah 52:7

I couldn't help but think of this hymn as I gazed upon the hills and ocean beyond.

I am thankful that MY GOD REIGNS!

Not only in the days of sun, but in the shadows as well.

Our God Reigns

How lovely on the mountains are the feet of Him

Who brings good news, good news;

Announcing peace, proclaiming news of happiness:

Our God reigns, our God reigns!

Our God reigns!

Our God reigns!

Our God reigns!

Our God reigns!

He had no stately form, He had no majesty

That we should be drawn to Him.

He was despised and we took no account of Him.

Our God reigns, our God reigns!

It was our sin and guilt that bruised and wounded Him.

It was our sin that brought Him down.

When we like sheep had gone astray our Shepherd came

And on His shoulders bore our shame.

Meek as a lamb that's led out to the slaughterhouse,

Dumb as a sheep before its shearer,

His life ran down upon the ground like pouring rain

That we might be born again.

Out from the tomb He came with grace and majesty;

He is alive, He is alive.

God loves us so, see here His hands, His feet, His side

Yes we know, He is alive.

Our God reigns!

Our God reigns!

Our God reigns!

Our God reigns!

what i see

Want to see what I see?

I have to warn you, some of it is pretty and some of it is messy and all of it feels like summer.

View 1: from the balcony

It is mighty pretty, isn't it?

View 2: from the entryway

It is mighty messy, isn't it?

Housekeeping has obviously not arrived yet.

Notice that we brought the necessities like Xbox 360 and laptops with us. Even with that beautiful view, we appreciate our electronics!

View 3: from the hallway

I still get a little dizzy looking down to the lobby. We are on the 13th floor. The sign on our door says we are on the 14th floor, but I don't believe them. When you are riding the glass elevator up and your floor is the one immediately after floor 12, it's not hard to do the math. My dorky boys and I make some sort of crack about it every single day. :)

View 4: where we go to take a break from our room

Stunning views of Tumon Bay from those big windows, but we're too busy playing Skip-Bo to notice. Sometimes I spice up our routine by offering a candy prize for the champion of the day.

I'm a wild and crazy mom like that.

Please notice the Japanese tourists taking a picture of their food. They always take pictures of their food, even if the food is ugly. But tourists are a post for another day.

View 5: view of Noah-boah because he makes me happy and willingly complied when I asked if I could shoot him at 1.6.

What is the view like in your neck of the woods?

PS Noah needs a haircut.