1,000 Gifts. . .still going!

51.  Warm days in November
52.  Old pictures to remind you of great times
53.  Blankets, a bed, and a pillow. . .never forget to be grateful for this if you are blessed enough to have it
54.  People who work tirelessly for orphan care and foundations like "The Apparent Project" who make it easy to care for the orphan and the widow!
55.  A church that isn't so structured or too large to allow room for the Holy Spirit to move. Time is not pressing for us, so if God is speaking then we can speak. Love that freedom!

Praying that you are recognizing gifts today. The Word says in James 1:17 (NASB) "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow."

(in speaking about gifts) If they are good, they are GOD! (quoting Beth Moore from James Bible study, which ROCKS by the way! If you never thought James wasn't focused on faith. . .try again!!)

Keep on Counting

Apparently, I am lousy at counting my blessings! When I went to see what number I was on, it was 40. Pretty prophetic considering yesterday I had a milestone birthday. That being said, I have a lot of "gifts" to count, but not the tangible, unwrap kind. Not the kind I put on my feet or hang on my shoulder. (I love shoes and purses!) The REAL gifts! God's gifts!
40. Time with family. They gave me a great celebration on Saturday. A time full of laughter, inspiration, and just good ole togetherness! I treasure each moment. And though the bday gifts they gave me aren't the important parts of life, this year's gifts are going to be hard to top! Thank you for reminding me of my sweet boy to come through your gift-giving!
41-49: For 8 "Fabulous Females" who celebrated with me tonight. More importantly, thank you for loving me and being dear friends! I miss working with you terribly! For this gal who grew up with a close family, in proximity and love, it is hard to be separated. . .even at 40! So, if I have to be away from my family, I know that I have these wonderful women who shaped much of who I am professionally! Thank you! Your celebration meant a lot to me!
50. A man that God gave to me 19 years ago! Yes, it seems an obvious gift, but I think I received the best gift available! He was designed for me, and I am forever grateful to Jehovah Jireh for this provision. God continues to show how much He cares for me! I love you Jesus!!

1 Kings 18:21

"Elijah went before the people and said, 'How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.' But the people said nothing."

My interpretation: If you really believe that God is God. . .then go where He leads. But if your God is __________ (fill in the blank: money, TV, video games, your family, your job, status, your friends, your boyfriend/girlfriend), then follow it. What God knows is that who we follow already shows which one we believe. The problem is that we aren't always honest with ourselves.

I love that the Word is into my business!! God always puts me in check because He loves me and wants the best life for me. Following Him ensures that!

Be blessed!

Humbled

This picture is amazing to me and humbles me greatly. Does my sin bring me to my knees begging for the mercy of a holy God? Yes, I know I'm forgiven. Yes, I know that there is no condemnation now that I'm in Christ. BUT, there should have been a point when the weight of my sin had me crawling to the person of Christ. It should bring me there daily. I should never be so comfortable in my sin that I don't DAILY beg Him for His forgiveness, then PRAISE Him for the shame and guilt that He takes from me. I'm afraid as a society we have lost this. We don't want to be in a church that might make us think about sin, that doesn't make us feel all giddy and emotional inside, that might call a spade a spade. We have this "feel good" mentality. However, I urge you to hear me on this: When you experience freedom in Christ, when that weight of sin is lifted, and it is no more-THERE IS NO GREATER FEELING! We are so used to carrying around the burden of sin (b/c no one wants to offend us) that we don't know what it's like to be FREE. Yes, I will continue to sin because of this imperfect body but I don't want to CARRY it around. I want to LAY it down. Please, if there is something in my life that is hindering me, tell me. I want to be FREE!
In Luke 7, there is a familiar story of a woman, known as a sinner, who enters a Pharisee's home where Jesus was dining. WAIT! So, right there, this woman is SOOOO desperate to see Jesus that she, a KNOWN sinner, entered the home of a Pharisee. GUTS! She was serious about seeing Jesus. Am I that serious? When I know I have sin separating me from my Savior, will I set aside all pride to rush to Him? Then, she pours perfume on his feet. She DUMPS out her expensive perfume on Jesus. So, I have thought about that part when I've previously read that chapter. It was worth a lot, and she gives it up freely. That is definitely a lesson, in and of itself. But this summer in a Bible study, we were reading Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge. He made another point that I hadn't thought of. IF she was a known sinner, my guess is probably a prostitute (although I'm no Bible scholar). But, if she was, then perfume was probably a pretty important commodity for her business. She was essentially saying, "Jesus, I am giving my sin up for You. I am pouring it out on You. Take it from me." Mr. Eldredge pointed that out in his book, and I was like "WOW". Isn't it just like God to have a "sin offering" poured out on Jesus prior to going to the Cross. I LOVE it! He is so amazing!! Jesus, please never let me grow callous to my own sin, but convict me to pour it out to you. You already put it on you, but I want to give it to you too! I love you! There is no other God that would do that for me!!

Praising in the Midst of Loss

Counting blessings are most important, I believe, when we are in the midst of a dark time or season. Please don't misunderstand. . .I'm not saying it's easy or always natural but I want it to be. To continue my thankfulness, I'm trying to get 1,000 gifts listed, I will get back on track today.

37. For people who have demonstrated their love to us through this adoption process. It seems like it should be an easy road but it can sometimes feel lonely or like you are on the path but on the path with strangers, who have felt the same calling.

38. For the shelter I have, which is not necessarily the shelter I want, but it does the job!

39. For godly men and women, who walk the walk, who encourage us when we are in the midst of places and people that aren't focused on God's call, and who give us the courage to continue walking the walk as well.

This was true about a dear co-worker and friend that I lost this week. His name was Doug. You know when you meet those rare people who change the face of Christianity, who exemplify how you wish Christians were so that perceptions would change, who are who they are in and out of the church building? That was Doug. Not only was he a pastor, but he was a behavior coach who worked with children, children that sometimes struggled to keep it together, and he did so with the greatest patience I have ever witnessed. You see, I'm not patient, and I deeply admire people who are. He could soothe you with his voice in the midst of any crisis. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't perfect and He's not Jesus, but his voice was always how I "hear" Jesus's voice during the storm when the disciples were panicked. A voice saying, "No worries! The King of the Universe has this one covered! Trust Him!" However, he had reasons to be worried. Even when life was cruel and his family was hurting, his faith did not waiver. He was a testimony to an entire community! In addition, he spoke the truth. He didn't back down on his beliefs just because it might be uncomfortable, but he was strong in his beliefs. However, he expressed his beliefs with deep love and respect for those around him. At the end of the school year, I had announced that I would be leaving this school that I have loved for 13 years in order to be on the same schedule as my children. I hate change!! To say the least, it was hard to keep the tears back in those last few days, but he greeted me with a smile when I entered the building on one particularly hard day and was sorry I was going but with this amazing, encouraging attitude indicated that great things awaited me. There was just joy for what was happening in my life. Thank you, Doug, for being real, for speaking Christ through who you were, for showing us all how to love kids with unconditional love while growing them into stronger people, and for being a "hero" at our school and in the community. I know you wouldn't have wanted to be called a hero (most real ones don't), but you were! And, now you are face to face with your Hero and mine! Can't wait to be there with you! What a joyous day that will be!

Adopting From Haiti: Children of the Promise: It's Not (Just) an Orphanage. . .

So, as I was googling "Haiti" today trying to find some fundraiser ideas, I stumbled upon this blog. And, guess what? Not only is the writer of the blog adopting from Haiti. . .his children are coming from Children of the Promise, where our child is! How Awesome! I've been wanting to find a connection!! And, it should be no surprise that they are using the same adoption agency as we are!! This is so cool!

Please read his blog post for a much better description of Children of the Promise at the link below!

Adopting From Haiti: Children of the Promise: It's Not (Just) an Orphan...: A favorite movie in the Sleasman household right now is Night of the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian .  One of our favorite scenes is whe...

Our God is Greater!

Have you experienced the greatness of God lately? Thanks to a little church camp in a small town, I have! Through the testimony of God's children, I have seen a child of God walk away from an accident that doctors said was medically impossible to do (he even ran track less than 9 months after the accident), a former drug addict rescued from addiction and saved from suicide before his Senior year of high school, and a boy cry out to God because he knew that he couldn't "stop" his sin but that he needed Jesus!
Yes, our God is greater, He is healer, He is all powerful. . .what is there to worry about?

Rom 8:31:

 "What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?"

No one!! We are His chosen people. Be strong and courageous! If the one true God is for us, who can possibly be against us!

Be blessed!