Yesterday began a new week. A week that I will never forget, and one that hopefully my eldest son will never forget either. Yesterday was the first day of our church Revival, we have brought in a great evangelist to preach for us and hopefully bring New life into our church. Many of us, myself included, have begun to get too comfortable with the way things are and we all need to change that, we need to have a heart for our Lord and our church, we need revival in our church and we need it now.
There's more to this story than just revival though, along with the beginning of our revival last night was also a baptismal service, so after our evangelist spoke we saw four young men baptized (no we do not exclude the ladies it just worked out that we only had young men this time), my eldest son being one of them. While the baptism takes less than a minute it's significance is far greater than that. We believe in baptism by full immersion and it is an outward symbol of an inward change, it is the picture of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Here is a little video I took of his baptism (I hope this works, I've never done video before):
Birbitt thinks it is a wonderful day to watch a child surrender fully to the Lord.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
The week that never ends!
This was one very crazy week. Sunday I already posted about so we'll fast forward to Monday. All this week I've been going through the house gathering up things we no longer need, want, or use to donate to our High Schoolers yard sale to help raise money for them to go and tour West Coast Bible College, of course this is in addition to all the other things I've done this week.
Monday's are my housekeeping days, these are the days I vacuum all the carpets (living room is done daily because of the baby), clean the windows, scrub my bathroom, and sweep and mop the wood floors. This Monday it was hard to do much of anything because it was raining and COLD, and I was just not feeling myself, hubby who was home from work did some of the work for me and I did the rest so we managed to get it all done.
Tuesday's are the baby's playgroup and my shopping and errand days. This particular Tuesday had quite a few errands: I had to stop at the Transit center and pick up hubby's bus passes for the week, get soap and shampoo for the boys and the baby, pick up a few necessities at the dollar store, put gas in the car, get oil for the car, stop at the ATM and get cash to pay for field trip, and go to the Electric Company and get some electricity for the week (our is prepaid so I have to be sure to keep credits on the meter at all times). So Tuesday I got the baby up and dressed and fed, left the house buckled him into his car seat and wouldn't you know before I even start the car he decided to poo in his diaper, so up the steps back into the house we go to change the diaper. Then we are on our way to playgroup which begins at noon. He enjoyed his playgroup though mommy had a bit of a freak out moment because there was a spider on the floor and I don't do spiders. I can tolerate just about anything else just not a spider! The leader of playgroup killed the spider and cleaned the spot on the floor and we resumed playing. The baby was quite unfazed by it all, it was only I who wasn't taking it well because one thing I know about spiders is that if there's one, there's more and I really wanted to leave before I found the more. I managed to get all my errands done on Tuesday after playgroup except for the grocery shopping (which I normally don't do on Tuesday anyway). This meant that Wednesday morning the children had no milk for their cereal and so I made them eggs and toast for breakfast at 6:00am, I am not a morning person by nature so this is a significant fact as I am not usually functional prior to 9:00am.
Wednesday I did all my grocery shopping, unloaded it and put it away before I picked up my eldest from school. When I picked him up the teacher reminded me that I still needed to make his costume for his program in two weeks. After dinner was done and the children got on the Church bus for the Wednesday night kid's clubs Hubby and I ran to the thrift stores looking for the pieces I would need to make my son into a Town Crier. Armed with an image I printed from Google we set out to find all the pieces. I managed to find an acceptable hat that I could bend to recreate the tricorn, and I found a red shirt to become the red coat of a town crier, I even found fabric that would be perfect to create a ruffled collar for him. I was at the end of it all still missing: a handbell, feathers for the hat, black ribbon for trim on the jacket, gold buttons for the jacket, and gold puff paint for the border of the tricorn, as well as black boots or shoes with a gold buckle (I still can't find that).
Thursday, I spent the morning at fabric stores and craft stores searching out the black 1" wide ribbon that I would need, gold buttons, puff paint, a handbell, and feathers. I finally settled on a childrens feather boa to glue to the hat, a bell that I would glue popsicle sticks to in order to make a handbell, and I did find gold buttons and puff paint. The ribbon proved to be quite a challenge as there is no such thing as 1" wide black ribbon, 7/8" was as close as I could come and while it might seem trivial it really does need that extra 1/8" but I will just have to make do. I made his hat during the baby's nap, did some laundry, and pinned all the ribbon to his jacket. Next week I will finish the sewing and add the decoration.
Today is Friday and I planned to do nothing today as I am quite tired and worn out from all the errands during the week, and hubby has worked overtime all this week except for Monday when he was off, and Wednesday. The baby however had other ideas he decided that today would be the day he'd discover his mobility and go from one end of the room to the other getting into all sorts of things I didn't even think about until he started getting into them. So now as I type he is settled on playing the cat like a drum and she doesn't care because she's basking in the sunlight pouring in through our sliding glass doors in my bedroom. So I get to spend next week going room by room and rearranging things to make them baby proof (yes I should have already done this but I've been busy which is no excuse I know), either that or I must get a baby fence, and I still must get a couple of baby gates to keep the little one out of danger areas like the kitchen.
What a week! I'm so glad my baby is finally crawling (as will be his development specialist), but did he have to choose this week to do it? Birbitt thinks that even though this week has been a busy one I'll look back on it all and remember it as a time when my children were still innocent, and I will miss these days when they are grown up so I will take the time to enjoy them while I can, and remember that it only lasts for a season and then it's gone.
Monday's are my housekeeping days, these are the days I vacuum all the carpets (living room is done daily because of the baby), clean the windows, scrub my bathroom, and sweep and mop the wood floors. This Monday it was hard to do much of anything because it was raining and COLD, and I was just not feeling myself, hubby who was home from work did some of the work for me and I did the rest so we managed to get it all done.
Tuesday's are the baby's playgroup and my shopping and errand days. This particular Tuesday had quite a few errands: I had to stop at the Transit center and pick up hubby's bus passes for the week, get soap and shampoo for the boys and the baby, pick up a few necessities at the dollar store, put gas in the car, get oil for the car, stop at the ATM and get cash to pay for field trip, and go to the Electric Company and get some electricity for the week (our is prepaid so I have to be sure to keep credits on the meter at all times). So Tuesday I got the baby up and dressed and fed, left the house buckled him into his car seat and wouldn't you know before I even start the car he decided to poo in his diaper, so up the steps back into the house we go to change the diaper. Then we are on our way to playgroup which begins at noon. He enjoyed his playgroup though mommy had a bit of a freak out moment because there was a spider on the floor and I don't do spiders. I can tolerate just about anything else just not a spider! The leader of playgroup killed the spider and cleaned the spot on the floor and we resumed playing. The baby was quite unfazed by it all, it was only I who wasn't taking it well because one thing I know about spiders is that if there's one, there's more and I really wanted to leave before I found the more. I managed to get all my errands done on Tuesday after playgroup except for the grocery shopping (which I normally don't do on Tuesday anyway). This meant that Wednesday morning the children had no milk for their cereal and so I made them eggs and toast for breakfast at 6:00am, I am not a morning person by nature so this is a significant fact as I am not usually functional prior to 9:00am.
Wednesday I did all my grocery shopping, unloaded it and put it away before I picked up my eldest from school. When I picked him up the teacher reminded me that I still needed to make his costume for his program in two weeks. After dinner was done and the children got on the Church bus for the Wednesday night kid's clubs Hubby and I ran to the thrift stores looking for the pieces I would need to make my son into a Town Crier. Armed with an image I printed from Google we set out to find all the pieces. I managed to find an acceptable hat that I could bend to recreate the tricorn, and I found a red shirt to become the red coat of a town crier, I even found fabric that would be perfect to create a ruffled collar for him. I was at the end of it all still missing: a handbell, feathers for the hat, black ribbon for trim on the jacket, gold buttons for the jacket, and gold puff paint for the border of the tricorn, as well as black boots or shoes with a gold buckle (I still can't find that).
Thursday, I spent the morning at fabric stores and craft stores searching out the black 1" wide ribbon that I would need, gold buttons, puff paint, a handbell, and feathers. I finally settled on a childrens feather boa to glue to the hat, a bell that I would glue popsicle sticks to in order to make a handbell, and I did find gold buttons and puff paint. The ribbon proved to be quite a challenge as there is no such thing as 1" wide black ribbon, 7/8" was as close as I could come and while it might seem trivial it really does need that extra 1/8" but I will just have to make do. I made his hat during the baby's nap, did some laundry, and pinned all the ribbon to his jacket. Next week I will finish the sewing and add the decoration.
Today is Friday and I planned to do nothing today as I am quite tired and worn out from all the errands during the week, and hubby has worked overtime all this week except for Monday when he was off, and Wednesday. The baby however had other ideas he decided that today would be the day he'd discover his mobility and go from one end of the room to the other getting into all sorts of things I didn't even think about until he started getting into them. So now as I type he is settled on playing the cat like a drum and she doesn't care because she's basking in the sunlight pouring in through our sliding glass doors in my bedroom. So I get to spend next week going room by room and rearranging things to make them baby proof (yes I should have already done this but I've been busy which is no excuse I know), either that or I must get a baby fence, and I still must get a couple of baby gates to keep the little one out of danger areas like the kitchen.
What a week! I'm so glad my baby is finally crawling (as will be his development specialist), but did he have to choose this week to do it? Birbitt thinks that even though this week has been a busy one I'll look back on it all and remember it as a time when my children were still innocent, and I will miss these days when they are grown up so I will take the time to enjoy them while I can, and remember that it only lasts for a season and then it's gone.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Preparing for Revival
It's the time of year for revival, each year in March we have our church revival, and each year we bring in an evangelist or guest preacher. This year is special to me for several reasons:
First the evangelist preaching this year is Kent York, and aside from being a fantastic preacher, very charismatic, and quite funny as well, he is also very special to us as a family. See it was during his preaching two years ago that my Hubby decided that we as a family would join our church and we walked the isle during one of his invitations and requested membership, we were accepted fully and gladly as the congregation had been praying for us to become members for weeks prior, God used Bro. York to bring us to membership.
Now two years later my Hubby and I are very active within our church, singing in the choir, teaching junior church, I assist in the nursery, and we are always willing to help where help is needed. For several weeks now the choir has been preparing hearts through our choice of songs to sing, we've done some real soul stirring songs and have more planned! Our congregation has been much in prayer in preparation for revival, asking God to bring us members and to help us reach the lost.
The second reason this year is so special to me is because while we have all been so deep in prayer some things have been happening in our own family and I'm just now seeing some fruit of the seeds we've sown. See for about the last 8 months my 6yo son has been asking me to get baptized, now I knew that he had never asked Hubby or I to show him God's plan of salvation and I knew that no one else had told Hubby or I that he asked them, so we just kept talking about salvation and how baptism was the outward sign of our inward changes. Just after Christmas break he placed a prayer request slip in the basket at school for Jesus to come into his heart, but still he didn't ask anyone to show him the Bible way. Finally this past Sunday my 6yo little boy got up during invitation and walked down the isle (daddy just behind him) and asked pastor if he could be baptized. A dear lady from our church took him by the hand and in the quietness of another room showed him the Bible way to heaven and my little boy said his own prayer asking Jesus to come in his heart and save him. Now two weeks from this past Sunday on March 21st my little boy will be baptized into our church on the very same Sunday that our revival begins with Bro. Kent York preaching!
I know the Lord is going to do great things this year in our church, and the Lord is already doing great things in our family. God is using Bro. York in an extraordinary way, and it's such a blessing to see him reach our family in so many ways! I can't wait to see what will be done once revival actually begins, as many great things have already begun during the "preparation" phase of revival.
So you see, Kent York is a very special man, and even now two years later Hubby and I can still remember his preaching and his jokes, and I just can't wait to see what messages he'll bring to us this year and how he'll get us all stirred up!
Birbitt thinks that someday in Heaven there will be CROWDS of people lined up to meet Kent York and thank him for his service to the Lord because he followed the Lord's calling and became an Evangelist and because of that so many people's lives have been changed. It reminds me of a song I know "Thank You for Giving to the Lord". May the Lord bless Kent York and all whom he has touched.
First the evangelist preaching this year is Kent York, and aside from being a fantastic preacher, very charismatic, and quite funny as well, he is also very special to us as a family. See it was during his preaching two years ago that my Hubby decided that we as a family would join our church and we walked the isle during one of his invitations and requested membership, we were accepted fully and gladly as the congregation had been praying for us to become members for weeks prior, God used Bro. York to bring us to membership.
Now two years later my Hubby and I are very active within our church, singing in the choir, teaching junior church, I assist in the nursery, and we are always willing to help where help is needed. For several weeks now the choir has been preparing hearts through our choice of songs to sing, we've done some real soul stirring songs and have more planned! Our congregation has been much in prayer in preparation for revival, asking God to bring us members and to help us reach the lost.
The second reason this year is so special to me is because while we have all been so deep in prayer some things have been happening in our own family and I'm just now seeing some fruit of the seeds we've sown. See for about the last 8 months my 6yo son has been asking me to get baptized, now I knew that he had never asked Hubby or I to show him God's plan of salvation and I knew that no one else had told Hubby or I that he asked them, so we just kept talking about salvation and how baptism was the outward sign of our inward changes. Just after Christmas break he placed a prayer request slip in the basket at school for Jesus to come into his heart, but still he didn't ask anyone to show him the Bible way. Finally this past Sunday my 6yo little boy got up during invitation and walked down the isle (daddy just behind him) and asked pastor if he could be baptized. A dear lady from our church took him by the hand and in the quietness of another room showed him the Bible way to heaven and my little boy said his own prayer asking Jesus to come in his heart and save him. Now two weeks from this past Sunday on March 21st my little boy will be baptized into our church on the very same Sunday that our revival begins with Bro. Kent York preaching!
I know the Lord is going to do great things this year in our church, and the Lord is already doing great things in our family. God is using Bro. York in an extraordinary way, and it's such a blessing to see him reach our family in so many ways! I can't wait to see what will be done once revival actually begins, as many great things have already begun during the "preparation" phase of revival.
So you see, Kent York is a very special man, and even now two years later Hubby and I can still remember his preaching and his jokes, and I just can't wait to see what messages he'll bring to us this year and how he'll get us all stirred up!
Birbitt thinks that someday in Heaven there will be CROWDS of people lined up to meet Kent York and thank him for his service to the Lord because he followed the Lord's calling and became an Evangelist and because of that so many people's lives have been changed. It reminds me of a song I know "Thank You for Giving to the Lord". May the Lord bless Kent York and all whom he has touched.
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