Carpe Diem

I have recently been in the habit of telling my son, Max to "Carpe Diem" on the way to school. He is in Kindergarten (almost age 6 as he likes to let everyone know). I know the saying is cliche and corny. I have never liked to use it before, but I do like the message it gives for all of us. I had a talk today about how Max could "seize the day". We talked about the fact that no matter what the day holds, whether it is full of accidents, mistakes or others treating us wrong, no matter how good or bad the day may be, we can still seize it for Christ. We all have a choice to live for our Lord or for ourselves.

I asked Max what he could do if he had a bad day and still wanted to seize it for Christ. He didn't know, so I suggested that he could do something nice for someone. If no one is nice to us and things go wrong, we still have the power to change the day and seize it for Christ. Our actions, with God's power, can have a powerful affect, not just on others, but on ourselves as well. By the way...this makes Satan and his demons scream and run from us. They can't stand it. So if you feel under attack or just in a slump...praise God and seize the day, do a random act of kindness, bless and serve others. This is the key to true joy and success.

This choice to seize the day is part of our free will, the gift of God given to us. We shouldn't ignore it. He paid a high price for it so that we could use it to do His good will on this earth and in heaven. So what do you say? Let's seize the day!

Giving up Chocolate

I recently received this email - if you haven't seen it, I think you'll like it . . .


I was walking down the street when I was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless woman who asked me for a couple of dollars for dinner. I took out my wallet, got out ten dollars and asked, 'If I give you this money, will you buy chocolate with it instead of dinner?' 'No, I had to stop eating chocolate years ago', the homeless woman told me.'Will you use it to go shopping instead of buying food?' I asked.'No, I don't waste time shopping,' the homeless woman said. 'I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive.''Will you spend this on a beauty salon instead of food?' I asked.'Are you NUTS!' replied the homeless woman. I haven't had my hair done in 20 years!''Well, I said, 'I'm not going to give you the money. Instead, I'm going to take you out for dinner with my husband and me tonight.'The homeless Woman was shocked. 'Won't your husband be furious with you for doing that? I know I'm dirty, and I probably smell pretty disgusting.' I said, 'That's okay. It's important for him to see what a woman looks like after she has given up shopping, hair appointments, and chocolate.' I just know you're laughing!You're gonna send it on - aren't you?

The Bible and Your Birthday

Did you know that the Bible has a special verse for everyone's birthday? Look up your verse now... This site is very neat, and may help you find a meaningful life verse for you or anyone special in your life.

http://www.birthverse.com/mybirthverse.cfm

More on the Blood

I was just thinking the other day about the blood speaking to us and another thought hit me, one most of you have already thought about, but here goes...DNA. Blood does have a way of speaking to us and for us. Even the dead can have thier DNA speak for them if need be (e.g. coroner, police, etc.) So yes, the blood of Christ does speak to us and for us in more ways than one. His blood is recognized as belonging to the Son of God. When Jesus died for us and shed his blood for us, when we accept it to make the payment for our sins it cleanses us, pouring itself over us so that God recognizes us now as new. Our DNA signature is different, it is Christ's. Our sinful, ruined bodies and spirits are no longer tainted, but pure because of Jesus. His blood is seen on us, covering us, replacing ours with his purity, his inheritance, so we can be adopted as belonging to God. No longer are we enemies of God, but adopted sons and daughters. We are now children of God with his blood over us and his spirit in us, making us new. Wow!!! Talk about "Life Giving Blood"!

Only Christ's blood can do this for us. We cannot do it for ourselves. No matter how hard we try, we cannot save ourselves or anyone else for that matter. Only the blood of the sinless can suffice...and that is only found in Jesus. Thank God for his blood. We tend to think of blood as gross and dirty. We don't want to touch it or be contaminated by it. It represents hurt, death, pain. But truly it represents for the largest part-LIFE, healing, rest, refuge, comfort.........all the good God has for us. We need to rethink our opinion of blood. The blood of Christ is Beautiful beyond measure. We need a daily transfusion of it, or even more often, by spending time with him in prayer (adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication) and in his word. But the work of the blood for salvation/saving is already done for us. Once and for all it was shed. We just need to accept it! Hallaluiah! Like I said last week, "By his stripes we are healed," not by our blood shed but his.

The Blood of Christ

I was reading through an old bible study lesson I had attended at my church. I had saved it because it was so good. It was about the blood of Christ. It talked about how the blood speaks (Genesis 4:10, Herews 12:24, and Hebrews 9:11-15 and 21-26). It is such a cool thought that it "speaks" to us. My mind automatically went to God creating the heavens and the earth with just a word spoken and it was done. Words are powerful. Words can harm and they can heal. We must be careful with them. We alone, of God's creations (animals) have been given the gift of speech. (Yes, my writer aspirations and speech-pathology ways are seeping out of my thoughts again, sorry---I love words!) Anyway, that just struck me as powerful. That is why the blood does all the work and we don't have to, we can't/couldn't even if we tried. Salvation is a gift, bought by our precious savior. Thank you Jesus! By His stripes and by his blood we are healed. We just have to accept the gift.

Blood is the universal symbol of life and that is what Jesus gave us...His blood, His life, His standing with God as a beloved child of God, an heir. God gave His son to reconcile us. Another word is "atonement" or as you can think "at-one-ment". It makes us one with God and takes away the effects of sin that separates us from God. Now we have "at-one-ment" with Him.

Now, since Jesus has spoken for us through his blood, shouldn't we speak for him and tell others the good news? We should freely share the blessings that our Lord is doing in our life. Be not ashamed for He is not ashamed of you. In our retched state of sin He stepped in and spoke for us, died for us and saved us. Would you do the same for someone else? You don't have to shed your blood, just tell them about the one who already did!

Little Blessings

HAPPY SPRING BREAK! I hope everyone is having a great time and enjoying the extra time with family, especially the kids. I know I am. What a blessing! Sam's latest phase is to tell me that he "changed up his mind" (changed his mind). He also likes to frequently tell me that "I'ts ok mom, it's nothing you need to worry about." He also likes to pretend to be a circus cat named FaahAaahAaah or a dog that lives in my purse (a blanket he wraps himself up in) named Freejah. Yes life is definitely entertaining.

Max, on the other hand, is having epiphanies that he explains to me. The current one occured when I was driving. An elderly person was in front of us and not driving well, as if they didn't know where they were going. Max was frustrated and wanted to know why. He hates any traffic to slow us down and complains about it. I told him that when people get older they have a harder time remembering things and sometimes forget. His face lit up with a deep understanding as it all clicked for him. Then he said "Oh, that's why daddy is so much smarter than you, because you are older than him." Yes I am 3 1/2 years older than my husband, but I didn't think that I was so, so, so "not smart". I was livid. I quickly explained that daddy was not smarter than me, that we were both smart, just in different ways. Max acted like he felt bad and told me it was ok. But that dad was always the one who had to fix things because I didn't know how. To my consternation he was right. Ugh!!! Yes my ego was shot that day. Anyway, my husband got a kick out of it. I had to admit later that it really was funny.

Sam has been asking frequently about why we can't see God and Jesus. I told him that we can't see the wind or air, but that we can see its affects when it moves things. This is how God and Jesus work. When he still kept asking, I also reminded him that our eyes don't work well, but when we die and go to heaven we get new bodies that are perfect (like superheros, which they like) and that then we will be able to see him with our new eyes. That seems to pacify him, not that he doesn't need reminders. Anyway, if you run into the same question, maybe that explanation will help.

Kids are certainly a blessing from God. They keep things interesting and they keep us hopping. Enjoy this week with your little blessings!

The Baby's Hand

Many of you may have seen this email which has been going around lately. In case you haven't, I wanted to share it . . .

A picture began circulating in November. It should be "The Picture of the Year," or perhaps, "Picture of the Decade." It won't be. In fact, unless you obtained a copy of the US paper which published it, you probably would never have seen it. The picture is that of a 21-week-old unborn baby named Samuel Alexander Armas, who is being operated on by surgeon named Joseph Bruner. The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and would not survive if removed from his mother's womb.! Little Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta . & a mp;n bsp; She knew of Dr. Brun er's remarkable surgical procedure. Practicing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, he performs these special operations while the baby is still in the womb.


During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and makes a small incision to operate on the baby. As Dr. Bruner completed the surgery on Samuel, the little guy reached his tiny, but fully developed hand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger. Dr. Bruner was reported as saying that when his finger was grasped, it was the most emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during the procedure he was just frozen, totally immobile. The photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity. The editors titled the picture, "Hand of Hope." The text explaining the picture begins, "The tiny hand of 21-week-old fetus Samuel Alexander Armas emerges from the mother's uterus to grasp the finger of Dr. Joseph Bruner as if thanking the doctor for the gift of life." Little Samuel's mother said they "wept for days" when they saw the picture. She said, "The photo reminds us pregnancy isn't about disability or an illness, it's about a little person." Samuel was born in perfect health, the operation 100 percent successful. Now see the actual picture, and it is awesome....incredible . and hey, pass it on. The world needs to see this one!

P.S. Don't tell me God isn't awesome!!!!!
There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. Albert Einstein