We will all live forever....in Heaven or Hell

Thursday, April 29, 2010

New Blogger

I have not really given our new blogger friend a proper welcome so, here it is.

Welcome to Blog Land, Lois.  May your time here be blessed and bring encouragement as well as direction to others and  yourself.  Remember the Blog is yours!!!!  Use it how God leads you and have LOTS of fun!!   beautyforashes2010.blogspot.com

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Do you have something you need to do? Something you have been putting off for whatever reason. That garage that needs cleaning, or those patterns that need o be gone through, maybe the kids have outgrown toys or clothes, perhaps the house needs to be painted, weeds need to be pulled, cars washed, ect.  Maybe you have something even more important to do like make ammends. This very second could be your last before you slip away into an eternity where no ammends can be made.  Perhaps it's time to swallow your pride and just get it done.

Ephesians 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

“Delay is the deadliest form of denial.”  C. Northcote Parkinson

The peace God will give you when you know things are well aligned in your life is indescribable.

PKD Update

10.2cm = According to my latest CT, that is the size of the largest cyst on my right kidney. My blood pressures are doing great:) So on the whole things are going fine.

Nicholas saw his nephrologist yesterday and his blood pressure is still to high for safety.  He will now be taking a weekly patch on top of his other medication. (This is a patch that contains medication and he has to change it once a week.)  Hopefully with this new medication his blood pressure will level out.  They are gonna take another look at his heart through an echocardiogram and check for any aneurysms with a MRA.
He is up to 5'8 and hoping to pass Jaime soon:)

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

I would rather be hated for speaking the truth than to be loved for speaking a lie.


John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

John 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

1 John 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.


Anatole France

Monday, April 12, 2010

Just Wondering...

Why is it that people who "withdraw the hand of fellowship" from the church you are a member of still request your friendship on facebook?  Thus is the case with several of us who had the courage to leave .....hmmmmmm just wondering.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Making Amends

The Challenge of Clergy Amends

by Dale Wolery

It is difficult for clergy persons to be the ordinary human beings they really are. The universal inclination in our churches is to place pastors on pedestals. Words like anointed, gifted and special are used to describe them. Their careers place them as honored members of every church family at births, baptisms, weddings and funerals. They have the inside track to both the secret pain and the great celebrations of the people in the congregation. Pastors stand in the pulpit regularly to speak for God into the lives of flawed humans.

The peril, of course, is in the perception that clergy are somehow “above,” “better than” or “not as tempted” as earthlings. Looking to the pastor on the pedestal, churchgoers too often see superheroes who don’t sin, don’t fail and don’t feel pain like ordinary people.

This heightened expectation about clergy behavior can have very important consequences for clergy in recovery. No “fall” elicits the whispering or stokes the flames of gossip quite as much as clergy failure. But clergy do fail. And, like everyone else, they need to do inventory and to make amends.

Making amends is a normal part of any recovery journey. It is a spiritual discipline that forces us to face the humbling truth that our personal failure has hurt others. When it is a clergyperson who is making amends there are potential benefits for the entire Church.

Making amends requires looking long enough and carefully enough at one’s failures, addictions, abuses, behavior and sins to determine what appropriate amends are required. Making amends follows telling the whole truth to another human being about the nature of our wrongs. The process is a powerful antidote for the pedestal thinking that can be such a powerful toxin in the life of the recovering pastor.

Making amends grows out of acknowledging one’s wrongs. It is rooted in a heart that seeks to feel the impact that those wrongs have had on others. The resulting feelings are often called guilt, which is a kind of down-and-dirty human emotion. It is reserved for people who have hurt others through their failure. It is not the emotion of superheroes or idealized icons. It is for real people. When clergy own appropriate guilt and act on it by making appropriate amends the humbling, humanizing impact can be significant.

The full impact of grace cannot be experienced until we feel the pain our errors have caused others. Making amends frees a recovering pastor to feel the guilt and experience the grace about which he has preached.

To be sure, when a pastor is guided by a sponsor toward appropriate amends the experience of fully owning one’s failure and carefully and humbly making creative amends has a powerful impact. Pastors who make amends feel their humanity, come to know humility in new ways and join the congregation in the struggles of real life. Making amends requires us to get off the pedestal, to feel the guilt that as resulted from our behavior and to accept the posture of the penitent. Although painful, this is a process that is profoundly good for us. And it will be felt by all who come into contact with us. Making amends makes a difference.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Bonus Blessings

Sometimes just when you think your family is complete...God gives you a bonus blessing.
That is exactly what Isaiah is for us. He came into our lives at a time of great need and
has brought the entire family joy that is unmeasurable.

Psalms 127:3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Easter Cantata

?

Christian took this picture.
It is as if God is asking;
Do you know where you will spend eternity?
Notice the question mark formation in the clouds?

Saturday, April 3, 2010

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do.


Eleanor Roosevelt