I have a wonderful mom, so special time with her this Mother’s Day was sweet.  My mom has been through a lot …swept off her feet and a wife at the age of 19, a creative floral designer turned amazing homemaker with four children by the age of 26 (and two more children to follow 15 years later!), Sunday and Vacation Bible School teacher, a tremendous example of a Christ follower, and now the absolute sweetest Grandma you’d ever meet too only begin to scratch the surface of who she is.  I owe a lot to my mom.  Without Mom, there would be a huge void in my life.  Without our moms, we obviously wouldn’t be here today.  Without Mom, we wouldn’t be who we are today either.  Now, I know when I mention the word ‘Mom’, some of you may literally cringe …maybe you didn’t have the greatest mom, or out of all honesty, you may have such intense anger towards her.  Mom might be an extremely painful thing for you or just a ‘dream’ you’ve had now shattered.  Maybe mom wasn’t there for you growing up, or she chose to leave you years later, and you wish you could tear those pages out of your story.  Maybe Mom had a lot of difficulties with her own mom and family growing up in general.  Maybe you are now a mom and are hurting because of things you saw missing between you and your own mom.  I have good news for you.  God never allows anything in our lives that He will not use to make us stronger, depend on Him more, bring His perfect healing, and then use our stories to dramatically impact others in a way no one else could.  As you look back at your mom, what does God have to say to you?  What does He want to show you?  Are you open to Him?  Just like our a dad impacts us profoundly (…I’ll save that subject for another blog!), so does our Mom.  If you’d like to learn more and get help from painful effects from your past specifically dealing with Mom, check out this book, The Mom Factor by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend.  Mom’s are God’s gifts to each and every one of us …even if she didn’t seem like a ‘gift’ to you growing up.  God won’t leave you hurting and void of those needs you have that your mom may not have met.  His love for you exceeds that of your mother’s …will you let that love transform you?
 

Wanna see more pics from this year’s Mother’s Day? http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=256344&id=668255034&l=e502921c51

Recognize this fella??? Hard not to, if you’re hooked on this season’s reality TV show American Idol. Year after year, the show seems to suck me in, and my heart aches for those ‘real’ contestants …you know, those who are doing the show because God’s given them something to say with their life and their specific story.  And what really stands out and causes me to want the contestant to soar to the top and be featured in the Finale is their 1. heart for the Lord and 2. their humility.  Kris Allen is definitely one of those guys this season.  Though there are arguably other singers who show off those ‘pipes’ more, or seem to possess that artistic ‘flair’ in a more grandious way, nothing says ‘genuine, real, and humble’ I believe, as this fella who’s shocked face captivated the television screens across America last night when he learned he would be one of the Top 3.  And what immediately comes to my mind is this verse from I Peter 5:5 – All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  Especially with a show entitled ‘American IDOL’, humbleness is all but a star quality in this affluent and fan based culture.  And yet, people are obviously voting for Kris and, as I believe, God is giving him His favor because of this humbleness.  And could we Americans have a more visual reminder on this National Day of Prayer too?  Our culture and many of it’s dominating leaders count pride, accomplishment, and power to be their gods.  But what will God allow on America, if we do not humble ourselves and pray, and turn from our wicked ways? We want Him to heal our land, but that only happens as we put Him first, and, like Kris Allen has so eloquently reminded us, humble ourselves.  Where is your heart before God today?  Will you allow HIM to be the God above silly TV shows, our popular culture, and even our President?  If God’s people, who are called by His name, would humble themselves and pray, and turn from their wicked ways, He WILL hear us from Heaven and heal our land.  What’s can you do today?

Travis and I arrived at Banquets Unlimited 9:30am on Saturday, May 2nd 2009. The room was beautifully decorated and we were wonderfully welcomed by the 80 ladies present for Calvary Baptist Church’s Ladies Banquet where I was their Keynote Speaker. After setting up, eating an awesome lunch at a table of such amazing ladies, my part of the program began. The banquet’s theme verse was 2 Corinthians 2:15-16: “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these many things?” I don’t believe it was just a ‘coincidence’ that the Lord had me share this specific program with these ladies, nor the fact that each woman received a bookmark with the above scripture on it to take home with them. Dealing with our past and receiving Christ’s healing from fear and pain in our pasts will dramatically affect what kind of aroma we truly are to those around us. We can be the fragrance of Christ, if we chose to! So many ladies responded favorably, giving their stories to Jesus, asking Him to show them how their past is effecting who they are today, and asking for His healing. Forgiveness from pain they’ve caused to others’ stories took place too. Many hugs, some tears, and words of how God ministered deeply to hearts encouraged me as we chatted at the programs end. God is so good …thanks for being so open to seeing Him work, ladies! I count it a treasure to have been with you!  Click here to view more pictures from this beautiful event: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=252953&id=668255034&l=db4b8dced6