Two thoughts

These are things I picked up this summer from some really wonderful women.

1st I was on retreat in August and one of the beautiful ladies that had come to retreat as well had this to share on our last night.

GOD had given her a verse to really read over. It was the story of the lady who washed JESUS' feet with her tears. The host started to complain and JESUS said, "Do you see this women?"

That is the thought that GOD wanted my friend to dwell on for the weekend. HE kept telling her, "Do you see this women (you)? I do and I love her."

HE asked my friend to look at herself and realize that HE knows her and loves her, HE sees her.

Beautiful.

I have another wonderful friend who I spent an evening with just chatting. She is absolutely amazing and GOD has really blessed me and other by her and her story. She said something in our chat that has stuck with me.

You can't identify yourself with labels. Mom, employee, wife, etc. All of that can change and if it does what do you have? She said the only label that will never change is that she is a child of GOD.

Beautiful.

You Can't Make Me

Here is a thought that I think everyone needs to absorb.

NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL ANYTHING!!!!

You might hear someone say, "They make me feel so inadequate." Or "I feel like a failure when I am around that person."

Someone may treat you horribly but only you can feel horrible when they do. You need to hold on to who you are. You need to choose to accept only GOD'S approval of you. You do not ever need to believe in the lies that pull you down and cause you to feel like a failure. You need to choose joy and confidence.

Below is a new song by Skillet it has been a great example to me of how I felt 3 years ago when I realized that I was allowing myself to be abused. I have been holding on to the truth of this idea when I am working on relationships that need healing now.

It is obvious that this is a breakup song. I don't intend to use it that way. I am just making a point that you can't allow others to make you feel bad. You have the power to choose to feel good no matter how others are treating you.



Let's get the story straight
You were a poison
You flooded through my veins
You left me broken
You tried to make me think
That the blame was all on me
With the pain you put me through
And now I know that it's
not me it's you

It's not me It's you
Always has been you
All the lies and stupid things
you say and do
It's you
It's not me It's you
All the lies and pain
you put me through

I know that It's not me
It's you You
You
It's not me
It's you,
you

So here we go again
The same fight we're always in
I don't care so why pretend
Wake me when your lecture ends
You tried to make me small
Make me fall and it's
all your fault
With the pain you put me through
And now I know that
It's not me it's you

Let's get the story straight
You were a poison
Flooding through my veins
Driving me insane
And now you're gone away
I'm no longer choking
From the pain you put me through
And now I know that it's
not me it's you

GOD told me this morning that HE is not finished with me yet. Yeah, I know I have a lot of growing to do. That isn't what HE was talking about.

HE said HE still had things I was going to do. Tasks and jobs for HIS kingdom. What a comfort. I have felt like such a failure lately. I began thinking that there was no way I was usable for HIS work. I was just to "Me-focused."

HE made sure I understood that these were things I was going to do. HE sees me doing them.

HE followed this thought by reminding me of John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

I am in this world and I am dealing with a bit of tribulation right now, but oh the joy, HE has already overcome, and I get to join HIM in the victory.

Jeremiah 38:17-21, 23 (King James Version)

17 Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:

18 But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.

19 And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.

20 But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.

21 But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the LORD hath shewed me:

23 So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.

Sometimes GOD lays out a choice.

"Do 'this' and 'this' will be what happens to you, but if you do 'this,' 'this' will be your consequence."

To often our first response is to look at both choices and weigh them against what would be most socially acceptable. We don't seem to even hear the outcome of each choice that HE has laid out for us. We complicate it even more by trying to justify the easier choice with "Religious" reasoning.

"I need to be credible to the lost. If I start doing 'crazy' things they will not take me seriously."

Take this example from Jeremiah and King Zedekiah.

Jeremiah was ridiculed by the proper social groups (princes) that surrounded the king. They sent him to a prison to die. All because he was preaching a message that was negative. However, he did not fear mans reproach.

Look at verse 20 in his response to the king. He is saying (in my simplified version), "What can they do to you that is any worse than what GOD has promised if you don't obey?" This is the understanding of his own faith. This is what he lived by.

Later Jeremiah was allowed to live like a free man among the Israelites left in the land after the king of Babylon took over.

King Zedekiah choose to not do the "crazy" thing and everything that GOD told him through Jeremiah came true.

Jerusalem was burned the walls were broken and the people were taken captive. More than that Zedekiah was forced to watch as the king of Babylon killed his sons then gouge his eyes out and drug him away to a dungeon somewhere.

The key to this little message is verse 20 But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.

Zedekiah was looking at possible issues that weren't even on the table. GOD said "do this, and this will happen, or do this and this will happen."

We have to simplify we have to take GOD at HIS word. HE knows what is going on, and I am confident that HE doesn't miss anything. HE isn't sitting there after the fact saying, "Whoa, didn't see that coming."

CROSBY MINT FARM (of St. Johns, Michigan/Mint City, USA)

"In addition to having what appears to be the oldest surviving still in the country, the Crosby Farms operation also appears to be the oldest mint farm in continuous operation in the United States. The key word here is "continuous" - that it has cultivated and processed mint since J.E. Crosby purchased the property before World War I." Ephraim K. Smith, President; Heritage Production, Inc.

This farm is being foreclosed on and the redemption period is over on August 14th, 2009, the first day of the St. Johns 25th Annual Mint Festival! The bank will own the farm and will be in a position to start eviction proceedings.

With enough inventory to pay the debt, $325,000 worth of mint essential oil products needs to be sold byAUGUST 14TH

Please visit http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102640802846&s=3305&e=001f4sCvwQ-kw-pcci94HTi-RyarBRrbSgoHnuVT3I5dTNlpMO51UzWWA0-Nw-OAGk7CbaJdfG0dc01bkgw8-ByQGmt9ATiAIEvVlDuUiRLu6YGWt6c02BG4Q==or call 1-800-345-9068 EXT. 101

Any purchase will go towards our goal!!!!

Check the Headlines...
Clinton County News
Lansing State Journal
Chicago Tribune

You can help by:
1. Placing an order at http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102640802846&s=3305&e=001f4sCvwQ-kw8G02jIjbAY1qvTWzyP_wxjzpE9Y8tCJJI4LPoLCzyFpTZkZ26ehTe9NyfqLUWJZ8ktEbGDRYd5wJMTT9zTC9zuRJTkbP4RWsg=
or donating your mint oil to a charity.

2. Call 1-800-345-9068 ext 1012. Please pass this email to everyone in your email address book!!!

3. If you have a blog, please post our story?!

4. Join the facebook Preserve Historic Mint Farm Group

5. Twitter our MINT story! and follow us on Twitter

6. Join the Get Mint Trading Co fanpage

7. Print copies of this email and pass out your to friends, retail stores, schools, church groups...and any social group or network

8. Call your local TV stations, Newspapers, how about emailing or calling about Oprah?!

9. Learn about the uses of mint on our YouTube Channel

10. Visit the Crosby Mint Farm on August 15th & 16th to show your support during our first annual Mint Jam!

Call 1-800-345-9068 for info!http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102640802846&s=3305&e=001f4sCvwQ-kw_DBe2tqr9T7vl6htJ189fTrwIKFlG6j54s3QFHM3ToRPjjIsI_SP9hCKBqxEajmBE4HWaYIX9p2QNTDEAg75SsDM0G6EglK6hMkFCcjRsMww==
BUY NOW


Uses of Mint

Eases migraines and tension headaches
Promotes healthy gums, tongue and teeth
Reduces congestion and sinus problems
Treats muscle tension and arthritis
Aids in digestion and IBS
Helps relieve menstrual and abdominal cramps
Attacks cold and flu viruses
Fights acne, razor bumps and get a closer shave
Cools the skin on muggy days
Soothes sore and tired feet
Asthma
Arthritis
Anti Viral
Anti Bacterial
Anti Funga

In Captivity

A few weeks ago I heard this message at our church. The speaker is Marvin Williams and he was able to eloquently lay this out. I cannot begin to relay the message so please take some time to listen here.

http://trinitywired.com/video/090628-leaving-gath

About the same time I picked up a copy of The Pilgrims Progress. And as so many times before GOD allowed them all to come together in one teaching for my soul.

HE showed me that Gath is in a deep valley. And the City of Light and Freedom is on top of the mountain. I want to be released from Gath but the climb is treacherous and steep. Each step is on rocky ground that can crumble under foot.

It is so easy to stumble and fall back to Gath and be captive again. Other times we can get some momentum going and be making strides away from the wretched city but then we get too confident and loose our footing and begin to slide.

If we cry out and reach up we can grab on to our SAVIOR and hold on to HIM. HE will stop our slide but we still have to continue to climb.

Some HE will decide to just lift up to the Freedom they seek because HE doesn't feel they need to go through the climb. Others need to strengthen their resolve. They have to climb. It is hard and HE knows that but HE designed it that way so that we would be able to withstand the future temptations.

A Lesson in Forgiveness

As I was growing up someone who was supposed to love me hurt me. As a teen I learned at Camp Barakel under the teaching of Tom Harmon that I was supposed to forgive anyone who had hurt me. I realized that I had become bitter toward this person who had hurt me so GOD showed me how to forgive them.

I thought everything would be okay from there. Recently, however, this person has hurt more people that I love in much the same way they hurt me. I find myself being very cruel about them and the bitterness has erupted in me.

I want forgiveness. I want peace. This not only affects how I interact with this person but this reaches into my everyday life. I am finding that I am not a very nice person. I can be so cruel. How can my Light shine before men with this black cloud surrounding it?

Last week GOD really impressed on me that I had to forgive. HE explained I am exactly the same as the person that hurt me. I hurt GOD by my sins before I was saved. I asked for HIS forgiveness and HE by HIS promised grace granted that request. Then I go out and hurt other people that GOD loves. HE doesn’t sit there and bash me for offending HIM. No HE forgives me over and over for my treatment of HIS loved ones.

I have to do the same. I will never be perfect because I am human and others will never be perfect for the same reason, but my GOD continues to love them and forgive them so should I.
This morning I pulled out the book “The Secret Power of Speaking GOD’S Word,” by Joyce Meyer. I went to the chapter, “Forgiveness,” this is what I read.

If I forgive people their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], my heavenly Father will also forgive me. –Matthew 6:14

I knew that I have needed forgiveness, but I have felt the prayers bouncing down from the ceiling. My heart was willing but my flesh is weak. I trust that this understanding and action of forgiveness will lead me to follow my LORD more closely. This sin that continues to plague me will no longer have control over me, because I am focusing on my GOD.

Lovin' the activities.

We have finished kindergarden and we are now getting used to not running out the door in the morning. We are still running all over the place though.

DH and I are really involved in the car ministry at church. The church has leased an actual shop with lifts and a waiting room. I get to clean the waiting room up and make it comfy for the people who are waiting on their car repair.

Here is the shop from the outside. We have the whole area you can see from the glass entry door to the two garage doors.

Here is a shot of the inside the day we started cleaning.This is from today. Just the front waiting room. I didn't get a shot of the counter. I put a kids area in with a TV and movies. Soon someone will be donating toys for that. We have kid books and a bookcase. It looks great.

We are working on what to do for school next year. I am looking into homeschool, private, and the local public. For the summer I am doing an expierament in homeschooling. I am just using a curriculium I found at Sam's and some I print from online. We have reading skills, numbers, Bible and some basic following directions and alot more actually. I am having fun getting ready for each lesson. I also have enjoyed teaching each of them the same thing yet on different levels. Like DS is learning to identify letters and their sounds and DD is using the Letter of the lesson in reading words and short sentances.

DD2 is turing 2 tomorrow. We had her Birthday Party on Sunday. She was so fun with this. She is a hoot. She loves to sing and pretend with her toys and her borther and sister. She is getting so big. She is actually growing out of the 18 month clothes. When we do letter flash cards she stands there and yells the letter with the kids. So much fun.

The garden is coming right along. I had a wonderful time working with friends as we planted it. I went out today and noticed the ground was beginning to crack and lift up in the rows of beans. They are amazing. I love this work with GOD. He created Adam and Eve to cultivate the Garden and I know that it is still human nature to do the same.

Here you can see the flowers already on the tomatoes. I LOVE IT!!

This is a green bean coming up. It is kinda hard to see.

How can I face the morning?

I began a new schedule about a month ago. Since DH gets up around 6:30 I would get up at 5 and do my quiet time, That way I wasn't trying to pray while he was trying to get ready to go to work. By the time he would get upstairs I would have finished my study and could exercise until he left at 7. Lately, however, I have had a hard time getting up that extra hour early. I wake up at 6 and don't want to get out of bed.

I have told myself that I am just overdoing it and my body is tired. It is okay because I still read my Bible and do my prayer. But my prayer time is rushed and I just don't really talk to GOD. It's a bla-bla-bla kinda thing and then I jump up and run on to the day. I have to say that I am exhausted as I jump in each day. I don't want to deal with my kids and I especially do not want to deal with my hubby.

This afternoon I was reading an article in the newsletter from my church. The author was writing about how to spring clean my life. Point number one, "Seek GOD early in the morning."

I kept reading but GOD interrupted my thoughts. HE said, "Do you know why you don't want to get up?" I immediately knew what HE was referring too. There is a sin I struggle with. At times I think I have it beat and yet it finds its way in. I just give in to it so easily.

Well, HE dealt with it last week and I had to confess it to someone who I was hurting with it. I thought that was it I thought it was all over. Yet it has been hard to not be tempted and give in to the temptation. HE still has protected me from crossing the edge but "it" is still on my mind.

HE said, "You have not confessed it to ME. You get up every day and you don't want to face the morning because you don't know how to face ME. You feel to guilty and you don't know how to ask ME to forgive you and let it go."

Then HE said something that washed all the anxiety out of my spirit. HE said, "Why don't we take care of this right now so you can face tomorrow?"

What peace. And I haven't even gotten down on my knees yet.

LORD, I want to face tomorrow. I want to face it with YOU. I want to sit at YOUR feet in the morning and dwell in your Holy place.