Being the Hands and Feet of Jesus and Touching the Hem of Christ's Robe

I've been hearing these two phrases a lot lately and they have me thinking about what they really mean. Let's start with the first one.. Being the Hands and Feet of Jesus. What does that mean? Well, it's easy to be the hands and feet of those people we love and cherish. Ok, maybe not always easy, but it's easier than someone we don't like. Right? I'm pretty sure though, that Jesus ministered to those who weren't always socially accepted, extremely wealthy, or even dressed nice for that matter. Now, Jesus did minister to everyone. An example of this would be the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus isn't leaving anyone out while he is teaching. He wants all of use to hear his words and to have that relationship with him. Take the woman at the well. We've all heard it before that she was a, well, woman of the night so-to-speak in better terms. It would have been socially unacceptable for Jesus to be talking to this woman. Yet, despite her past, or present, God knew her future. Despite all the critcism Christ would maybe get for talking with this woman, no person is worthless in the eyes of Christ. Christ reached out to the needy, the hungry, the poor, the adulterers, the lame, the sick, etc. When we think of being the hands and feet of Christ, we need to know what that really means. It means, to be the hands and feet of Christ. lol. It means to reach out and show the love of Christ not just to those who are in our "circle of friends", but also to those who you probably wouldn't even think of being friends with. To those who the world would consider socially unacceptable. In blessing others, you are in turn blessing yourself as well. Not as though that should be the only reason we are reaching out. lol. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 5:1-2 that we are to be like Christ. We are to immitate him. I think that even within the church there needs to be some reaching out of our comfort zones. How many people come into a church for the first time and are never once met with a friendly face? Now I am not trying to make people feel guilty here. I am not about that. Guilt-driven service is just not right. (meaning where someone makes you feel guilty to where you serve out of guilt and not out of your own heart and desire) I am passionate about serving. It is my love language. I love to offer up babysitting or offer up to bring food or do small things or big things. For a long time I wanted to glory. I wanted the attention for all the good things I was doing. Through A LOT of humbling, I've actually been enjoying being in the background. I don't like the attention, I don't like the praise, and I don't like what it does to me. It makes me prideful. In reality, it doesn't matter who sees it and what kind of praise you get for whatever because the only one it really matters to is God. Doing it for praise purposes kind of defeats the purpose and elevated self instead of God. Something God is working on with me. I fall into old habits, but am quickly reminded who it's really for. There is that pride word again, but that is for another post. lol. Ok, back to being the hands and feet of Christ. Christ didn't care who saw him talking to who or what people thought about him. He was with the begger, the tax collector, and many others. Honestly, if you look at his lineage, it really doesn't surprise me. He comes from a line of everything under the sun, from murderer to harlet. To me, that is awesome. Anyway, I just wanted to encourage all of you to take some time and really pray about how you can be the hands and feet of Christ. Take some time out of your day to drop cookies at your fire department or police department. Take some time to invite a stressed out mom over for lunch, to the park, or just to come over to your own messy house, just so that she can have an adult conversation. Reach out to the kids in your community or to the elderly couple living next door who needs help with different things. Write your pastor a note of encouragement. Anything! Whatever abilty God gave you, use it to serve him and bless others. You never know how God will use you to plant a seed while being His hands and feet.

Touching the hem of Christ's robe. I hear that and I immediately think of the woman that bled for 12 years. She was living outside the city because in those days a woman was found to be unclean while she bled. So for 12 long years, she was untouched because she was unclean. She had heard of this Jesus who was coming and she, in total and complete faith, just wanted to touch the hem of Christ to be healed. What great faith this woman had. The longing, the desire just to touch her Savior fully knowing she would be healed. I won't go fully into the story, but I think of her faith. She went to this crowd around Christ just be able to touch the hem of his clothes. I think of how often I fail to even come to Christ in prayer for something that is going on. I fail to even believe that Christ will answer my prayers. Imagine how our lives would be if we just had faith that He will take care of us. We like to worry about how we are going to get this or that and how this will work out. Guilty. The Bible tells us to be "anxious for nothing" in Matthew. We are to come to Christ, trusting and knowing that he will answer our prayers. It might not come out how we were thinking, but then again, I have found that none of the "plans" for my life have come out how I really wanted them too or thought they should for that matter. I have to admit that it's hard to come to Christ and have a deep, intimate relationship with Him when you have doubt, pride, anger, jealousy, and the list goes on. God recently has been showing me that I have a pride issue. No, not just a pride issue. I have an enormous pride issue. Pride comes into our lives very subtly until one day, we think we don't need Christ. We think that we have it all and that we are doing it on our own. The truth is that God and God alone gave us that ability, that wisdom, that knowledge, well, everything. It's funny how quickly we forget who we came from or where our talent is from when a little compliment comes our way. I used to throw myself into positions that would get praise. And sometimes it wouldn't even be that. It would be a random note of encouragement telling me how godly of a woman I am and how this person really admires me, etc, etc. Funny how a few innocent comments could fill up my head. This made me feel good. This made me think that "Why yes, yes you are right. I am pretty amazing!" Sad, but true. Then this intense pressure to maintain those compliments becomes very stressful. If I stop getting those compliments, then I must be failing. It's so hard to have all of that pressure on you! Oh wait, it isn't about me. That's right. There is no pressure to be like Christ when everything you do is for His praise, His glory, and His honor. It's amazing how a small compliment can quickly, no rapidly destroy a person's relationship with Christ. Now that is not to say that we shouldn't be encouraging each other or lifting each other up in Christ or paying a nice compliment. What the person does with it is completely on them and God will deal with them. Satan is tricky, very tricky. I think that through the ladies Bible study and Sunday School, I have been learning more and more of how real Satan really is. Not as though I didn't believe before, just real as in, how much he is really really attacking us at every corner. He doesn't want us to seek after God. To desire God. To love God. To grow in God. Satan is not interested in us and does not care about us. We are just pawns in his battle with the Lord, and he will try and try and try and never give up to keep us from touching the hem of Christ's robe. Satan never gives up, which should drive us even more to deepen our relationship with Christ. It should kind of give us a stick-it-to-him type attitude toward Satan. Ok, probably not a good reason to grow closer to God just to get back at Satan, but really, sometimes that is just what I want to do. Kind of say, "What are you going to do now Satan? Bring it!" Yeah, probably not the best attitude. lol. But God did create me this way... just sayin'. lol. Ok, enough being sassy. ;) Touching the hem of Christ seems like it is so hard to accomplish, but it's not. You want to be blessed in touching Him. The Bible tells us, Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be open to you. (paraphrasing) All we have to do is seek after him and trust him and we will touch the hem of Christ's robe.

Day.. um.. again, bad with math..

Today was a good day! I went on a field trip with Abbi's Kindergarten class to Porters Maple Bush Farms. I think that's what it was called. lol. It was really neat to see and hear how Maple is made. when we got there, we all unloaded and got a buddy.. as you can see to the left, I don't think the buddy system worked all too well. The kids all just wanted to run! It was a bit chilly today, so maybe they wanted to stay warm. lol. Abbi was supposed to be my buddy. :) As we were walking to get to the   grove, there were a few trees that had the buckets attached. This wasn't a very good week for collecting sap. The weather has been really cold and they haven't heated up the evaporator thing in a week! There were a lot of Maple trees, but the one we looked at was the largest. That was barely had any sap coming out of it. The sap that was in the buckets was frozen! It was crazy. The biggest maple tree that the man showed us was his favorite. He didn't quite

go into why it was his favorite, but as I looked at it, I could see why

it would be his favorite tree. This tree was enormous! Hunny has been to the redwood  forest, so this is not really huge in comparison. It was large to me though, and I can imagine, large to the kids. lol. Tall and mighty was this tree. It stood tall and proud with wounds from battle with nature and weather, but still it stands. Reminds me of how great and mighty my God is. How he is always standing firm with us through every trial, every struggle, and every tear. He cannot be moved, tore down, or swayed when the going gets tough. So as we continued towards this tree, I noticed that there were at least 4-5 buckest already hanging from this mighty tree. Wow! So date, they already have made 360 jugs of syrup, which for a small company like this with 1000 trees tapped for collecting, that is really good. The collecting the sap process was explained to me later...

The best time for the sap to be collected is before the buds on the tree come. The sap, depending on the weather, travels up the tree, but then as it gets colder, goes back down the tree. When the buds start to come, all the sap goes directly to the buds to help them grow and then you can no longer tap a tree to collect sap. I am sure there is more to it and he did explain it a bit better than I can. lol. Here are a few pictures of his tapping a tree to show us how the sap is collected and how it comes out of the tree...     

It was a very cool process that the kids thought was really cool. :) Or at least they thought it was cool that "water" was coming out of the tree. Then they all had to put their hands under it and let it drip on their mittens. Of course they had to lick it too! After he was done showing us how to tap a tree, the kids let loose a bit and played for a few minutes before heading back to where they actually made the maple.

After some playing in the saw dust, Oops! we headed back to the place they made the syrup. And of

course, no field trip is complete without a few class pictures! lol. I did take a couple, but I will spare you all of them. I didn't really have a good one of the kids, but this is the best out of all of them. Trying to round them up after running back from the grove was a lot of fun too! All this fresh air and wide open spaces to run around and get some energy out, who wants to sit still for a picture?! lol. It was good though. We did finally get some pictures and then it was time to head into the building behind the class. Once everyone was all lined up, we were able to head inside, but not before a few more details first. At the front of the

line, you'll notice a very large 55 gallon barrel to your left. Then you'll notice the 1 gallon jug of maple syrup that the man is holding up. In the 55 gallon barrel, there is sap. I didn't get a picture of a huge tank that holds 2000 gallons of sap, which wasn't even the biggest tank they had! The biggest one was inside the building, but we didn't get to see that one. So, back to the little 55 gallon barrel. It takes one 55 gallon container to make 1 gallon of syrup. Yes, you heard me! That is so crazy! So.. then it was time to head inside. Once inside, there was a huge machine that is used to heat up the sap and evaporate the water inside the sap. In evaporating a lot of sap, you get the maple syrup. Depending on the season and just the right weather, you can get different thicknesses and different colors of syrup. Some people like the real light syrup which I believe is the fancy syrup. It goes all the way from light to

different shades of dark. The picture to the right is of the machine that evaporated the water from the sugary stuff inside the sap, making syrup. He then went on to say that if you heat up the syrup to where it is too hot, then it crystalizes. This is what makes maple candy. Yes, I did try one because I didn't want to be rude. I know that I am fasting from sweets and desserts, but I made an exception. It was seriously ALL sugar! Way too sweet for me and too sweet for some of the kids. After he was all done explaining and going through the whole making syrup process, the owner came out with little cups of syrup. Really now!? So everyone got a cup of warm syrup. Yum! It really was delicious and sweet. I took a sip of Abbi's. So as we are standing there, Abbi takes a sip and says, "Mom, this tastes just like syrup!" I was like, "That's because it is, silly. They make it here." (Abbi) "They MAKE it here!" Really? Was she not paying attention? ahahahahah I laughed a little because the man seriously JUST got done explaining everything. lol. So I explained it to her in a more understand

able way and a shorter version too. :) She makes me laugh a lot!

All in all, we had a great trip! We got a surprise when we found out we were able to go up to the owners house and see some baby pigs that were just born a few weeks ago! A great end to a really great day! Best of all, I got to spend some more time with Abigail!  



Songs

The last 2 songs I posted are my songs right now. Besides This is the Stuff by Francesca Batechelli or however you spell it. These songs are so amazing. Grace is just a humbling song. It's like a prayer to my Papa. A prayer of offering myself to him to do as he wants, despite my many failures. Closer is my desire to obviously be closer to God. These are my prayers to my Papa!

Shawn McDonald - Closer (Lyric Video)

Laura Story - Grace

Cakes

Seeing as I doubt the assistant pastor is going to be reading my blog any time soon.. here are some pictures of the cakes I made for the church for his 10 year anniversary at the church..

I think they turned out pretty cool. :)

Laura Story - Grace

Oh Church..

Oh church how you sadden me. Once again I read of hurt inside the church by other believers and my heart just sinks. I know that we are human, and I really do understand that the only one that won't hurt us, disappoint us, or fail us is God. I know that. But church, oh church. We are failing each other. I remember the church failing my family when I was a young child at the time they needed the most love and support. All that was given was judgment and rejection. We as believers take it into our hands to be the judge and executioner when the Bible clearly states that vengeance is the Lord's. God tells us that if there was a wrong done, He will make it right or will take care of it. I remember that while I was in college I had attended a Baptist church that was quite small really, but I went with my mentor as I didn't know the area all too well. Anyway, I became friends mostly with some of the guys in the church because well, I tried to be friends with the girls, but they rejected me. Fast forward about a year after leaving the college to get married and move way far away to NY. I found out of an accusation that was completely and utterly not true all started from one of the guy's sister because she honestly didn't like me. Do you know what that false accusation did to the church?! The church split in two! The consequences for our actions are often not thought of before hand and the repercussions are great and disastrous. Friendships break, churches split, people turn against God in anger, and Satan wins the battle. Church, we are to be unified in Christ. Despite how we feel about someone, what we think they've done, or just the fact that they don't seem to 'fit' in being a Christian. We are the body of Christ. We are to like Christ. We need to be the hands and feet of Jesus. If we see another believer or non-believer, we aren't supposed to gossip and spread rumors. Talk to that person. Come along side that person and help them! We as a church need to get out from our own comfort zone of selfishness and pride and extend the hand of Jesus to one another. Love each other with the love of God. After all, if Christ treated us the way we treat others, I'm pretty sure he would have given up on us a long time ago. The world would be more lost than they are now and there would be no hope of a future in Christ. I am thankful that my God loves me unconditionally. I am glad that he is patient with me while he is shaping and molding me. I am glad that he doesn't reject me when I sin. I am incredibly, incredibly thankful that He is God and I am not.

Laura Story - Blessings

Day... I have no idea

I always was bad at math... and still am. :) So the last few days have been fine with no tv, FB, or sweets. It's funny because I've tried to cut back on all of those things seperately and have never been able to do it. I always cave in shortly after starting. So when I felt God was nudging me.. no no, he was flat out showing me to do this for 40 days, I couldn't refuse. I have to say, that this isn't all about just giving up something for Lent for me. This goes far deeper than just the material things of FB, TV, or sweets. For me, this is about selfishness and pride. Can I say too.. God definitely has confirmed this to me too. Since before making the decision to give something up for Lent, God has been talking to me. Now, normally when God has talked to me, it's been through me feeling it in my heart. Like, "I know God wants me to do this because my heart gets all fuzzy and I can just feel him." Can't always say those "feelings" were directly from God or whether they are just me being overly pasionate about something. This time, however, has been different. God is changing me and changing the way he speaks to me. Now, it's taken me a while to realize this until a friend pointed out it out. Since leaving Korea, I've felt as though I have been talking to the ceiling or standing waving my arms saying, "Hello!? I'm here Lord! Please just speak to me!" So desperately have I wanted to hear God speak to me the way I know he can only do. While waiting and waiting, I've not been able to see God still speaking to me, just differently. So, once again I was on my knees calling out to God a few months ago. I was boldly asking God to change me because I didn't like who I was without Him honestly being the center of my life. If it was a decision between watching tv and reading God's Word, tv won. I'd fill myself with sweets because I felt that void of having God near. I'd sit and be complacent in my parenting and just in life all around and drown out reality with FB. God was speaking to mea few weeks ago and revealing to me what needed to be changed. So, the day before I started Lent, I went to my MOPS meeting. Now hold on to your seats because God is so awesome! There were two ladies that spoke that day. One lady gave the devotional and one lady gave the talk for the day. Both of them, yes both of them, talked about selfishness. Thursday morning Bible Study we also talked about selfishness. Skipping ahead a few days to Saturday, I started reading Landmines by Charles Stanley. I got to the end of the first chapter and what do I see? Chapter 2: The Landmine of Pride. The next morning as I sat in church, Pastor's message was on Selfishness and Pride. Then again Sunday night service, he also talked more in depth about selfishness and pride. Wow. Wow. I am so thankful to be hearing God again. It makes me wonder what else I've missed because I was too busy worrying about myself and not being able to hear God how I know he always speaks to me. Because you know, it's not as though God is God and he can chose to speak to us whatever way he wants to! lol So, the last week has gone good. Of course the urge or desire to watch tv is still there or eat sweets or get on FB, but they all seem so much less important than what they were. I'm very excited to continue and see what else God has in store for me. What he's going to reveal to me or even just to mold and shape in pride and selfishness. Not to say that it's a check list, like, "Ok, worked on that. Check. Now what?" Not at all. I know that it's a continual process of being molded and shaped into who God wants me to be for Him. So, until next time..

Day 3 er 4

Day three was good. We had a very busy day with school, the gym, running errands, and having a friend over. The kids and I played games and read a ton of books last night. It was a pretty good day. My patience kind of dwindled at the end of the night, but al in all, it was good. :)

Day 2

Well, Day two is done. Check. Funny how that is still in my head, as if it's a countdown to being a slave again to FB, tv, and sweets. This morning I woke up and again, was able to get things done. I was actually early for Bible Study at my friend's house. Yay! :) Today, I had Hunny change my FB password and gave my tv cables to my friend to hold onto until Easter. Can I just say, it wasn't until tonight, where spending most of my day actually taking the time to clean up after dinner, looking up cake designs or just ideas for some cakes coming up, cleaning the kids rooms.. I noticed that it didn't matter what I enjoyed or what I like to do, it's not FB or tv or sweets that is the problem, it's me. Me. I love God and I long and yearn and desire to be near him. I look at my oldest daughter who's heart is so sensitive to God right now that she literally cries because she wants to be with Jesus. She had tears in her eyes as we sat last week and watched a movie about the birth, life, death, and Resurrection of Christ. She was so sad that He had to die for us, but was excited and was bouncing on the couch when he rose again and ascended to heaven. Anyway, the point is, I have that passion and desire, but no matter what I take out of my life, unless I change my priority to Christ, I am going to continue to struggle with placing things in front of God and my relationship with him. When the idea of practicing Lent was thought of, I was like, man I am going to get so much done. I'll have so much time to read a few books I've been wanting to read or get the house cleaned. lol. How interesting that in taking these other things out, I just think of a million other things to take their places. Today was an eye opener for me with that. And that just because I am doing this doesn't mean the kids are going to be perfect or that I am not going to struggle with yelling. Praying for wisdom on how to teach our little ones about a relationship with God and letting God shine through me to them. I've been encouraged to hear Sweet Pea talking about me reading my Bible and seeing the kids sitting and "reading" their Bibles. :) And listening to them singing Veggie Tale songs is really awesome too. I love listening to their little voices singing praises to God. There's just something about your own children praising God with you that just is so amazing. :)

Day 1.. What in the World was I Thinking!?!?

Yep, that was my thought last night as all these thoughts flooded my head and then the anxiety crept in. Then as I woke up this morning, the habits of my regular day out the window, I immediately began to think (before getting out of bed mind you), "What in the world was I thinking giving up all those things for Lent? I'm not even Catholic or apart of a religion that practices Lent?!" Then I got up, got the girls ready for school, and actually got showered before 9am! I actually had time to run to the car place and get my wiper fixed. Because that took a whole 5 minutes of which I wasn't expecting, I actually had time to run around and find a dog kennel. Imagine that! I had TIME. Well, why didn't I have time before? Let me think about that.. I was watching tv and then playing on the internet or vice versa. Whichever. Then I'd get in the shower at oh 9:30/10 just in time to get out, get dressed and rush out the door with Buddy to get Sweet Pea from school at 11. Wow! I thought I was bad with time management, but come to find out, it's just because I am filling my time with things that aren't that important. FB became my connection to the world back home while we were in Korea. TV wasn't a big deal in Korea as we only had a few English speaking channels. So I did find that I was turning off tv more and having time to do other more important things, like play with the kids or be creative with them. So, overall, today was a great day. I was able to have time for devotions today, which was great. Didn't find a kennel, but I am sure I will. The point is, I do have time to do these other things, I am just lazy and don't want to do them. They aren't entertaining, which really, sometimes life is when you aren't on the go all the time or so impatient. So, today, I got a lot accomplished and was able to relax with the kids a bit and just laugh. All in all, good day today! 

Lent

Well, here I am. I've never observed Lent until this year. For the last few months, I have felt God moving, convicting, and speaking to me throughout my everyday life. Whether it be through a message from church, a podcast, music, or just my kids, God was talking. I'm not for sure how long God has been trying to talk with me because I like to talk a lot. So I have a hard time sitting still and listening to my Papa. Oh the things He has taught me in the last almost year since leaving Korea. This time last year we were anxiously counting down the days, and yet sad to be leaving behind dear friends. It was getting warm there and the trees were just starting to show signs of life. How awesome, side note, is it that these trees and flowers and the grass just keep coming back every year! God is so awesome in how he created everything. So, the last few weeks, I have really felt God tugging at my heart and I have to be honest, I wasn't really all fall on my knees in obediance. So I began to think about Lent. One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Matthew 4:1-11. Amazing passage on how Christ fasted in the desert for 40 days. So I began to think and God began to nudge a little harder for me to get my priorities straight with Him. My kids, I love them, but they are not my everything like they used to be. In fact, I've seen them as a burden. I heard a great messages at my MOPS group here by two different ladies. One was a devotion and the other was the actual talk. And man, with the Lord nudging me about selfishness and pride, he sure has a way to really bring home the point to you. lol. "Ok, Ok Lord. I submit to you." Now on my knees, humbling myself before my God, my King, my Savior, my Papa, I am here and ready. So, what does this have to do with Lent you ask? Well, I didn't realize that Lent started today, Ash Wednesday until the mentor mom at my table said it did. Good thing I did my research. lol. So, for Lent I am giving up tv, FB, and dessert/sweets. Wow! All three?!? you ask? Well, I got a lot of this as a response, "Wow! Going all out! You know that you are only supposed to give up 1 thing for Lent right? lol. Yes I do know that. Here's my thing though, If I only take away the tv, then I am going to be on FB more. If I take away FB, then I'll be on the tv more. And if I only give up the two and not desserts, well, I am going to fill that void with sweets rather than the Word. So, for me, that is one thing because they all go hand in hand with each other. They might not for some, but I know myself and my weaknesses, and trust me, they go hand in hand. 

Another reason all of this is God's timing is the last few weeks God has really been convicting me like I said of selfishness and pride. Selfishness with my kids and just wanting that time to myself! I've noticed how they talk with each other or act towards each other and it's a mirror of me. For the majority of their lives, it's been just me raising them. Hold on, back up you say. Yes, Hunny is here (not at the moment of course.. lol), but during the day, it is me training them. While he is in the field or deployed, I am raising them up (with both of our standards of course). So, as I sat and watched them one day, I realized that I am doing a really horrible job. Now, I've had the mommy guilt over that whole issue, but I know that is just Satan's way of getting me down. So, I know and am confident that God is still shaping and  molding me until I am with him. So are there rocky days, yes, but I now am confident in knowing that God is still working on me. Which again, is another reason I decided to practice Lent this year. I know that at the end of these 40 days, I will be so much closer to God and my family. I know that there are blessings at the end. So I am really excited to get started. I am hoping to write about it, but we'll see if there is time. lol.