Counting it all joy ten years later!

Ten years since I've held my third son. Ten long hard years. Whats more is who knows how many more I have left to go, until I will see him again. Talk about a heartbreaking way to learn patience! When i was pregnant with Levi, there was a verse that continued to perplex and trouble me. James 1:2 Consider it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. On the day when I thought I would never feel joy again, I did. When I was at the very bottom of despair, I looked up and realized all hope was not lost. Levi was not dead. My son is alive and he is with Jesus and not only that my friends but that I will see him again ONLY BECAUSE God gave up His son to die would I now be able to forever be with my beautiful baby. Talk about JOY! I finally understood, comprehended  and experienced first hand that verse that had trouble me for so long.
        Fast forward ten years to today. I am reading a book called, A Call to Die, by David Nasser. Its broken down into 40 days. Each day begins with a verse that the following story expounds on. I took that book and my Bible to the cemetery and sat down in the grass above my baby's name. I opened the book and decided to go on and read tomorrow's day because I wanted a fresh word. May I tell you that the words leapt off of the page at me. God is amazingly personal and He cares more about us and our pain more than we could ever imagine. Here is proof. The verse that I read was.... James 1:2 Consider it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. WOW! I think God was saying, " ten years , Wow! Keep going daughter, you can do it! God , thank you for building my trust in YOU over these last ten years! YOU Abba, deserve the best , thank you for always being there and and protecting me. Ate Logo Levi!

Life is meant to be lived, so be CONSPICUOUS!

Who are we to hide and become INconspicuous? God did not make us to be invisible! He breathed life into us to show His glory through our lives. Humility is not self depravity. There is a significant difference. God desires our best and He wants to flow through us and point others to Him and how can we do that by remaining in bondage to the idea that we are not good enough? Shall we believe the lies that tell us that we are not worthy of love? The lie that says if we were more this or more that or less this or less that then we would experience the love our heart so hungrily desires? God's love is UNCONDITIONAL AND FOREVER! He is enough to satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts! When He sets you free... OH goodness YOU ARE FREE! Stand up and Glorify God today! LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE my friend, so that men may see your good works and glorify NOT YOU but your father who is in heaven! :) YOU ARE LOVED!   

The Egg

Sometimes we are touched by people in so many ways that are very unique.
Each person we have any relationship with for quite sometime is never forgotten.
You see, each one of us have a special meaning of existing on this earth with God.
Life is really very short on this plane even though we may feel it is long to us.
Most people look at what they can get out of life,  not what they can do with it.


We usually look at the outside of people instead of what's inside each person.
There will always be someone in our life that will always be with us til our end.
This world is not ours and we can not live forever here, we all will leave someday.
It's not who we are on the outside that everyone can always see with their eyes.

If everyone in this world would treat everyone else as if they were themselves.
Then they would not tend to be so selfish in their thoughts and their actions.
To truly care about someone, this emotion must naturally come from your spirit.
God has chosen each and every one of us to have a special role on this earth.

The shell that we are in now is either hard, medium, or soft on the outside.
Sometimes people are so hard on the outside that you can't tell what's inside.
Then there is the one that sometimes may show you but not very often.
And the ones that are willing to pour out to you what's inside, True Love.

His plan was laid out for each one of us before we were even born into this world.
But we are given a choice, to either follow the road to Him or without Him.
What we have is a soul, our inner spirit inside of us, given to us from God.
Someday God the Father will judge us from within like The Egg.

----------- written by My Daddy , Ricky Smallwood

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,  
And sorry I could not travel both  
And be one traveler, long I stood  
And looked down one as far as I could  
To where it bent in the undergrowth;           

Then took the other, as just as fair,  
And having perhaps the better claim,  
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;  
Though as for that the passing there  
Had worn them really about the same,           

And both that morning equally lay  
In leaves no step had trodden black.  
Oh, I kept the first for another day!  
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,  
I doubted if I should ever come back.           

I shall be telling this with a sigh  
Somewhere ages and ages hence:  
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—  
I took the one less traveled by,  
And that has made all the difference.

     I love this poem, but also makes me very sad to think we cant travel both roads. I hate to leave something undiscovered. We are forced to make choices in life and we cant turn back around and go see what we missed. Sometimes, that could be a very merciful thing I suppose. Looking at my children I see them and wonder what road they will choose for their lives. How will the choices I make influence theirs and that can be an overwhelming thought. Thank God that in the end I know that He is able to override all my mistakes, shortcomings, and ineptness and that He alone can speak like only God can.... and reach down to the depth of my children's hearts and engage them and invite them to follow Him. Because of what He does in me, they in turn reap any rewards from my faithfulness. Likewise, my unfaithfulness overflows too which I try not to think so much about.
      Nevertheless, we all at some point begin making our own choices. Thats the scary part of parenting. Knowing when to let go and allow them to fall down and get back up again. I think honestly, nothing about letting go comes naturally to me as a mother.There have been more days than I can count when I have asked myself if God made a huge mistake when He entrusted these young men into my care. I guess just their being here is answer enough huh? Well, in that case, I will pick myself up and dust myself off and do the best I can and leave the rest up to more capable hands than mine. God.... they are yours.... teach them how to choose wisely. You see both roads, guide them down the one less taken. All I ask is to be allowed to stand along the side and cheer them on to their destiny and give YOU all the glory. 

Forever Home

When you feel the world rise up against you....
         Go Home
When you have lost or forgotten your purpose....
         Go Home
When pain threatens to drown you in its ocean....
         Go Home 
When your mind seems muddled and questions reign....
         Go Home
When your heart is crushed and torn apart....
         Go Home
When sadness rolls in as an ominous storm
         Go Home
When you cant explain the how and whys
         Go Home
 When you need to be held and picked back up
         Go Home
When and only when your race is run
Then and only then, you will hear..." Well done..."
The God you love declares the final battle won
While you will be safely resting in the Son
    Forever ....... Home!  

Winter Treasures...... for someone who hates winter.... :)

     Looking out my window at the gray winter sky, the snow covering the ground and the trees. I can't believe i am gonna say this, but yes... it looks beautiful! The bleakness brings a certain calmness with it. It feels good to relax and not feel hurried about driving here and there. Thank goodness we live in Tennessee where everything stops when we get snow. hahahha! Hot chocolate and hot coffee and warm fires in fireplaces. Reading books and being lazy are favorite winter activities I love. The kids coming in with runny noses and pink cheeks with big smiles excitedly telling sledding stories. The tingly feeling of when your skin starts to thaw out after being outside. The cozyness of being inside knowing that the blessing of a home is a gift to treasure.I will admit that winter might not be so bad after all. Happy Winter!      

The sky is falling.... wait ... thats not the sky, those are birds!!!!

3000 birds fell from the sky! This simply can not be explained away in my estimation. What a freaky thing to happen, and all shortly before midnight on New Years Eve. I did a search and came up with quite a funny story written by a complete stranger. I sense a spiritual disturbance... if you will. I bet Al Gore will be  trying to profit  of this so I decided to head him off and do some reading. This is what I found. Read THIS......

The Real Story of Chicken Little™

ne fine spring day, Chicken Little awoke, and before going out for his morning seed, he looked outside his window. The snow on his roof was melting and the eaves were covered with long dripping icicles.
"Oh my gosh, the Earth is warming," he cried! I must tell someone.
Poor Chicken Little was less than a year old, and nobody ever told him that it got warmer every spring. He got on his motor scooter, and sped off down the road.
Henny Penny was outside pecking at seed. "Henny Penny, the earth is warming," cried Chicken Little! "I saw it! All the snow on my roof is melting!"
"Why, you're right, said Henny Penny." I thought it felt warmer today." Henny Penny was much older than Chicken Little and she could feel the weather in her bones. "We must tell someone!" They both got into Henny Penny's Corvette, and sped off down the road.
They drove down the road until they ran into Turkey Lurkey.
"Turkey Lurkey, the Earth is warming." they cried! "Chicken Little saw it, and Henny Penny felt it in her bones!"
"Nonsense," said Turkey Lurkey. "Why look here at my Turkey thermometer. It's as steady as a rock."
"But maybe it's warming so slow that we can't see it move," said Chicken Little.
"Well then, we'll do a scientific experiment."
He looked at the thermometer. It read 40 degrees. He then put the thermometer under his wing so nobody could see it, and pulled out his pocket watch. "We won't look at it for five minutes, and see if it has changed."
When he took it out from under his wing it was almost 100 degrees. "Oh my," said Turkey Lurkey, "It's warming at such a rapid rate, that it will be a thousand degrees in less than an hour if we don't do something."
So they all got into his Volvo station wagon, and went driving down the road at a very high rate.
They ran into Ducky Lucky. "Ducky Lucky, the Earth is warming," they cried! "Chicken Little saw it, Henny Penny felt it, and Turkey Lurkey proved it with science!"
"Well if we don't do something, we'll surely all be roasted," said Ducky Lucky. "That's what happens when birds get too warm, they all get roasted."
"Whatever will we do," they cried? "None of them had ever been roasted before, but it didn't sound very nice.
"We should tell the King," said Ducky Lucky! "Come on, we can all fit into my truck!" So they climbed into Ducky Lucky's truck and headed towards the palace.
Further down the road they met Foxy Woxy. "Foxy the Earth is warming," they all cried! "Chicken Little saw it, Henny Penny felt it, Turkey Lurkey proved it, and Ducky Lucky is certain that we'll all be roasted."
Foxy Woxy stroked his beard and thought for a while. He leaned his white paw on the hood of Ducky Lucky's truck. It was very warm. He looked at the truck, and looked at the birds and said.
"Why it's probably your cars that are causing the Earth to get warmer. I think you should stop driving right now."
The weren't sure if that made any sense. Foxy Woxy was not a scientist, but he was a recent graduate of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. He certainly had a much higher degree than any of them.
They got out of the truck. "But how will we get to see the King?"
"Don't worry about the King," said Foxy Woxy. "I'm good friends with him, I'll talk to him for you." He got into Ducky Lucky's Truck and drove off.
So Ducky Lucky, Turkey Lurkey, Henny Penny and Chicken Little all turned around and walked home. When they got home, they saw that Foxy Woxy had towed away, Turkey Lurkey's Volvo, Henny Penny's Corvette, And Chicken Little's Motor Scooter. "As long as it stops the Earth from warming" they all agreed.
The next day, there was a knock at Chicken Little's door. It was Foxy Woxy. "The King said that your wood stove is causing the Earth to get warmer too. He assigned me to gather up all your firewood to save us all from roasting."
"But what if it gets cold again," asked Chicken Little? "Certainly it is better to roast than to freeze."
But Foxy Woxy wouldn't hear of it. He gathered up all Chicken Little's firewood, and threw it into the back of Ducky Lucky's truck, which now had "Foxy, Woxy, and Associates" painted on the door. He drove on down the road and took all the firewood from Ducky Lucky, and Henny Penny, and Turkey Lurkey, as well. They wanted to ask if it was really on orders from the King, but because they now had no cars, they couldn't go anywhere. Still they agreed, it was better than roasting.
That night, there was a blizzard, and Ducky Lucky, Turkey Lurkey, Henny Penny, and Chicken Little all froze to death. The next morning, Foxy Woxy loaded them all into Ducky Lucky's truck, which had a new sign painted on the door, "Foxy, Woxy, and Associates. Purveyors of Firewood and Frozen Poultry."
And they ended up getting roasted after all.

© 2005 Tim Slagle