Sandals of Peace

In the midst of yesterdays ultra cool God is So Here experience at breakfast, there was also another thing happening that I didn't really get until later and I want to write about it so I don't forget about it.

A little background: I had gotten new white Sunday sandals for the girls earlier this week and Katie had hers on at breakfast yesterday.

So when I was going over the armor of God, I was talking about the sandals of peace, ready to share the gospel and Katie jumped up and said, "Just like these sandals!" I love almost 5 year olds!

Later that day on several occasions when things were a little ugly she would look at me and say, "Mommy, do we need my sandals of peace?"

I just absolutely LOVE 4 and 5 year olds and their complete innocence, yet wisdom and simplicity that we need to hang onto as adults.

Do you need your sandals of peace today? I know a sweet girl who can share hers!

O:)
Melissa

And a child shall lead them

Man oh man do I love my Jesus! Let me tell you what HE did this morning! I'm not sure where to begin, but suffice it to say that there are some issues God is really working with me on and, as with anything, there are times I feel more strengthened to fight the enemy and some days it just doesn't seem worth it. (Satan likes those days) I was having one of those days yesterday and last night and feeling down in the deepest pit. I was crying out for help this morning in my sweet QT, reading over some scripture, trying to find something that I could not find. Still not feeling like God was listening (even though I know HE was) and cried for the Spirit to groan for me (Romans 8:26). A while later things started hopping around the house and sweet little Leah came down. I was looking all over Habakkuk trying to find what I was looking for but I couldn't. Then I remembered about Haggai and that is exactly what the Lord was trying to point me to. More on that in another post, I need to muse on it a while. So, the morning progress with thankfully not too much trouble and blah blah and we are eating breakfast. The conversation moves around to homework and practicing Bible verses for Bible drill. All of a sudden Rebecca jumps out of her chair and says, "The armor of God, Ephesians 6:10-20" I just sit there stunned (the Lord is using that with me too) then say, "Well, what is it?" But she reminded me it was just a key passage and she just had to know the reference. So I proceeded with great flair to go over each part, literally putting it on all of us and showing how to apply it. Then when I got to the Belt of Truth Rebecca jumps up again and says, "Just like the Voice of Truth" (on their musical for choir they are working on at church). She is tearing the living room apart looking for the CD and finds it and we fix it to #13. Pow! Right there GOD socks it in my house and flows down THE TRUTH over me... Oh, what I would do to have the kind of faith it takes To climb out of this boat I'm in Onto the crashing waves To step out of my comfort zone Into the realm of the unknown Where Jesus is, And he's holding out his hand But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed The waves they keep on telling me time and time again "Boy, you'll never win, you'll never win." But the voice of truth tells me a different story the voice of truth says "do not be afraid!" and the voice of truth says "this is for my glory" Out of all the voices calling out to me I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth Oh, what I would do to have the kind of strength it takes To stand before a giant with just a sling and a stone Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors shaking in their armor Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand But the giant's calling out my name and he laughs at me Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed The giant keeps on telling me time and time again "Boy you'll never win, you'll never win." But the stone was just the right size to put the giant on the ground and the waves they don't seem so high from on top of them looking down I will soar with the wings of eagles when I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus singing over me But the voice of truth tells me a different story The voice of truth says "do not be afraid" And the voice of truth says "this is for my glory" Out of all the voices calling out to me I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth (you can listen here to the whole song by Casting Crowns) It was all I could do to just sit and bawl my eyes out. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for groaning for me. Thank you, Jesus, for loving me and putting up with me, no matter how many times I fail. Thank you, Jesus, for reminding me about the voice of truth and belt of truth I need to keep around me. Thank you, Jesus, for using my precious challenge child to send me where I needed to be, even without knowing what she was doing. Can't you just imagine the angels waiting breathlessly after she jumped up and said that about the armor of God? Like when you are giving someone a really awesome present and you can't wait for them to open it? How many times do we do things or say things the Lord wants us to, without even knowing what we are doing? How many times do we not heed the Lord's nudging and someone, even a stranger, misses what may be exactly what they need for that moment? I don't know if the Lord nudged Rebecca this morning to jump up and say that, or if she just did it to show me she is one step closer to getting her verses learned. But she did, and now I won't ever be the same.

Isaiah 11:6 ... a little child will lead them.

O:) Melissa

Go Tell

Sometime before Christmas I got an e-mail from my friend B. who I met in Thailand. She is actually a missionary in China and has a precious heart for the Lord and passion for her people group. She routinely sends out e-mails about what all she and her family and teammates are doing. A few months ago she and her teammate C. where out walking through one area that is very mountainous (see above, that is where they were!). They walked most of the way, except for a few times they got "divine" rides with passersby. They went to visit the villages where there are very few believers and spread the Word and encourage believers who were already there.

I used to simply read about stories like this and think "Wow, I can't believe it's really like this today." But having there, I can now believe it. Going overseas on a mission trip to a third world country will change everything about you....or even going on one here on this side of the seas! But that is a simply a side commercial, not what I was planning to say here.

Shortly after I got her message and read her amazing stories, Katie and I were sitting at the table after the girls got on the bus. She was coloring, I was drinking coffee and recovering from the morning mad rush, and she started singing for the 500th time "Go, Tell it on the Mountain..." POW! I have sung that song thousands of time in my 40+ years, but that day it made sense....that is what B. and C. and all the others one out there are actually doing...even K. who is going to East KY is doing that. It was quite a visionary moment for me. Am I going "over the hills and everywhere"? Will my daughters one day? Will you?

O:)
Melissa

God and the Christmas Tree

When we moved into our current house in 2003, one of the things we loved were the 8' ceilings downstairs. My extra tall SH especially enjoyed having more head room. I never even considered it to be a problem until that December when we put our Christmas tree up. I had always thought we had a 7.5' tree, however the poor thing looked totally lost in the corner, all shrunk up and shriveled in height. I figured I might like a new tree that was taller, but since there are no 8' trees commonly found, I knew it would be a challenge. Besides, it didn't really bother SH, so I just keep putting the little guy up.

Well, after 19 years of enjoying of enjoying this tree and some mighty interesting work of God, we bought a new one after Christmas for a steal of a deal. I was very excited to get it home and set up, to see what it looked like and make sure all the lights worked. It was also a 7.5' tree. Well low and behold that new tree towered above the old one! At that very moment, five years after living in this house and having the old tree for 19 years, it occurred to me that our old tree was only a 6.5' or 7' tree!!! Did it ever dawn on me that if I had a 7.5' tree and 8' ceilings that maybe there wouldn't be such a large gap from the star to the ceiling? NO! Did it ever hit me that SH and the tree were about the same size? NO! So all this time I have been thinking I have a 7.5' tree when it was really only 6.5' or 7' !!!!

How often do we stay in one place because we think we can't do any better, only to realize when we do break out we truly can do better! And it's not always as painful as you think it may be to break out. Or maybe it is painful, but in a good way, with double the blessing: wounds healed by Jesus and the new thing!

I just love my Jesus and the way He speaks to me!

O:)
Melissa

Yes I did!

In case all you fans who read my blog are breathlessly awaiting, yes I did get a new mp3 player for Christmas! Woo-hoo! Jesus, worship and scrapbook once again! My Fuze is actually red not pink since pink was hard to find after Christmas. But man do I love it! I even learned how to download a video on it!

Got a post about God and the Christmas tree soon.

O:)
Melissa

You may think....

You may think the snow last night here in Spring Hill was really cool and fun (which is was!), but did you know God sent it to US? The Campbells? Let me explain...

The past few days at our house have not been fun. There have been certain children and adults who have been behaving very badly (no names to protect the guilty). Friday morning I ended up taking the girls to school in the pouring down freezing cold rain, which was another whole problem. So while we were driving I was trying to calm myself and the girls down and just started talking to God about everything (out loud) and how we were very sorry for the way we had been acting and that we needed to be reminded that when we saw this yucky cold rain we should think of it instead of just His peace just pouring down on us. The day continued to go not so well for about another hour, then things perked here at home. I think they went better at school too.

After school I was taking the kids back to school for a little fundraiser/Christmas shopping trip and when we got out at about 4:30 it was SNOWING!! Not just spitting, but downright big, huge flakes that quickly stuck to everything and by the time we got home around 5:30 (after a stop at Pizza Hut!) we probably had about an 1" or more. It was amazing! The kids were just wild with excitement and played outside some, then came in and got hot showers and had yummy pizza. There was peace in the world again.

We got the call after they went to bed that there would be no school, so when Roger and I went to bed I informed him NO ONE was setting an alarm clock! He had already planned to be off today. It was so wonderful to be snuggled down in our warm beds with no pressure about anything. Everything from the past week of behavior, homework, tattletelling, present buying, lack of a washing machine, time pressures just faded away. This doesn't happen often around here.

This morning as I was lazily waking up, the LORD said to me, "snow...in the Bible...this is for you..." So I looked up all the verses on snow and the one is Psalms just really jumped out at me. "Cleanse me and I will be whiter than snow." Ps. 51:7 The LORD just said to me...."The Campbell family has been cleansed of their sins from this past week and are now whiter than snow."

The mom song

I know, 2 posts in one day, please don't have a heart attack....just had to share this funny, it is so me!



O:)
Melissa