God is Working!!!

God works in such amazing ways - ways that we could never come up with!  How awesome it is that He calls us to work with Him and get to experience these wonderful moments!
You can see and hear about some of them in our most recent video.  Just click on the Monthly Videos! link in the bottom right corner (under Sites to Share!).  Then select the video titled "God is Working!!!"  Hope you enjoy!

COLORING OUTSIDE THE LINES

Until recent years (I don't have an exact date because it has been a gradual process and there was never a marked moment when I suddenly realized this change had occured.), I had been a MAJOR perfectionist.The kind of perfectionist who had to make sure EVERY school project I turned in was BETTER than everyone elses.  The kind of perfectionist who would get mad at myself and others for making mistakes.  The kind of perfectionist who, when I saw my first-born child color OUTSIDE of the lines, FREAKED OUT!!!!!!!  I think that was when the process actually started and God began to wean me off of my perfectionist addiction.  And so He has had me on a journey of learning to color outside of the lines, learning to allow myself and others to make mistakes and learning that HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT!

Here's what Paul had to say on the subject:
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (The Message)
Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,
   My grace is enough; it's all you need.
   My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

Lord, please help me to let You take over!

Bending straws, helicopters and snow boards?!

Not too long ago, a friend invited us to dinner.  Now all of you great hosts out there can imagine the time, energy and planning that went into making this a very special event!  The night was going to be just right - a delicous, healthy meal; a clean, cozy home and scrumpteous, homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert (yummy!).  However, there was just one problem - a slight misunderstanding.  My friend understood that Luis and I would be coming without the girls.  So you can imagine her reaction when we arrived at their door with a 5, 3 and almost 2 year old.  PANIC!  What do we do now?  Well, I admire my friend SO much, because until she recently told me, I had no idea there had ever been a misunderstanding.  There were immediately more plates on the table, bending straws and milk to accomodate the unexpected guests.  And you would have thought that her creative, fun husband had been planning all week to have the girls over because he found all kinds of exciting things for them to do!  (Among the fun things were a remote helicopter and a snow board!)  We all had the BEST time!  It is a night that we cherish.  So I hope that all of you women who generously invite people into your home and lovingly make all of the preparations can learn a lesson with me from my wonderful friend and remember, as she did, to trust in our God who is able to bring good out of EVERY situation!  As for me, well, I am thankful that God once again was able to turn my blunder into an experience that revealed His strength through my friend!