Injustice

(Injustice) I did not take this photo but borrowed from a friend on FB who runs a baby house for abandoned babies in South Africa. Her house is always full of babies in need from tiny to about 2 years old.

 

Shepherd's Keep FB Page (click here!)

 

Injustice to me is instantly when I think of how many that are in need or that are the "least of these" are left with out families and parents. The babies in this home have been abandoned and left without mothers and fathers. I have read stories where infants have been found on the bed of trucks in the field of a park and even in dumpsters and then brought into Shepherd's Keep where they are loved and cared for by some amazing individuals who are truly the hands of God to those who are the most in need. http://www.shepherdskeep.org.za/ [Here is their web page if you would like to read more].

 

Yes God has a plan for every individual and a very special plan for the lives of each of those babies. As a mother I can't always stomach the stories I hear of children being treated wrong neglected or abused in any manner. As a Christan I am overwhelmed on how to deal with the emotions of these stories. How do we fit in and how can we help?

 

I don't know exactly what we can do but we have to support the  causes that are near and dear to our hearts and to be in prayer and a constant state of prayer at that asking where, how and when do we purposefully serve.

 

I do think strongly in our hearts that one day we will adopt a child that will join our family. For now I will trust in God and be thankful for the divine interventions he places in their lives such as Shephard's Keep.

 

Tomorrow "settle"

See- Lent Day 3 # rethinkchurch

(My daughter Hannah (5years old) looking through her glasses this morning)

 

 

Today well yesterday I took this picture of my daughter Hannah for day 3 of Lent photo-a-day for theRethink Church Lent Challenge.

 

For "SEE" I was drawn to Hannah and her precious glasses. When she was two her and my late Uncle Curt called them her "sees". It was the sweetest thing and I always think of him when I hear this.

 

She needs glasses to see the world more clearly. I love her sweet face in her frames and how she wears them without complaint daily and asks for them to be cleaned when they get smudges on them.

She will bring them to me and say "Mom can you clean my glasses" and I do and she puts them back on and we go on with our day.

 

This is really how we all see our daily walk with God and our faith each day. There are some days I feel like I have a little smudge but not blocking my vision and then there are other days that I feel like they are completely covered in thick mud and I am blinded by the dirt.

 

"See" where I am going with this??? ;)

 

How do you clean your "glasses". I need time in the word and quiet time with God usually in the car listening to praise music. This is really where I have my time and I cherish it!

 

Day 4 "injustice"



Return Lent Day 2

(My dogs looking out the window waiting on Dad to return)

 

Okay only day two and I had trouble getting to my blog to write but I did think about it all day. I have to say I LOVE that my husband is doing this project too and we are both focused on our blog and our path this 40 days. Follow him too at....

 

David's Blog (click here!)

 

The picture for today are our dogs Cezar and Addie waiting on David to come home from the store today. They don't know where he went and they don't know when he will be home but they do know that he always comes home. They usually wait right by this window and look for the car to pull up and run to the door to greet him.

 

 

The bible verse I was drawn to with "return" today was

 

Matthew 24: 42

"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come"

 

I think this really can become overwhelming to many of us and so much so that we become callused to the fact that Jesus is coming back! How do we live day by day knowing that it could be any minute?

 

When I was little I had a Bible that had a picture of someone sleeping on a park bench and it had a study day talking about "do not sleep always be on watch and ready". Well as a kid this page FREAKED ME OUT! I was so worried I would be caught off guard and Jesus would forget to take me too just pass on by because I was asleep.

 

Obviously that isn't how the scripture reads and not what God has intended for us but we do know that one day will come and heaven will come to earth. What will that look like? I don't know. I could look up many scholars and see what they think or how they perceive it to be but none of us really know. I do know that we have to continue to prepare our hearts and draw closer to God daily.

 

I try to remind myself of the "return" in life by the joy my sweet girls have when I come through the front door after work or after travel. They scream and yell and all run at me excited. (Sadly I know this will not be as big of an event as they grow up but for now I will look forward to it each day!)

 

I picture this type of pure JOY when we do see our Lord face to face.

 

Tomorrow... "see" (stay tuned and please subscribe to the blog to follow posts).

 

Blessings,

Stephanie



Who am I? (Ash Wednesday) #rethink church photo a day #1

(photo leaving our church with ashes 2/13/13)

Who  am I? This is often an easy question to answer in some occasions. I have to introduce myself at work constantly "Hi my name is Stephanie Black  I am faculty chair for the Second Degree BSN Program Option". Or when I am meeting a parent "Hi I am Emma, Hannah and Jenna's Mom" or "Hi I am David's wife" Or "I am Mark and Connie's daughter or Clint's (Amazingly awesome) sister ;) [just a side note to see if my brother reads my blogs].

We truly are defined in many ways it may be by our resume, by our degree, by our family tree, by our accomplishments, by the stores we shop in or any number of worldly things. Is this who we are? No it is how others know us.

What does the Bible say? WHO AM I?

Isaiah 43:1-2
But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are mine.                                        

How refreshing that we are called to be His. I was inspired this morning on my drive to work by a song that spoke directly to my soul (pretty much a daily occurrence, it's my only alone time coupled with ridiculous traffic in Houston and a lot of time in the car).

Mercy Me "You are I Am"
Mercy Me nails these lyrics as they share what God is speaking to us all I will admit......

"I've been the one to doubt your love I've told myself your not enough.....I've been the one to try and say I'll overcome by my own strength....and try to question who you are"

 



The great thing is Who I am may often be a perception of others so thankfully I can strive to live like the GREAT I AM wants me to. Do I fail?....Yup Daily!

This Lent season I am really striving to let God out of the box I have him in for my life. Follow along as I am going to post a photo-a-day tomorrow #return. @rethinkchurch

Love to you all!

Stephanie

Lent

Photo a day for Lent....stay tuned as I will attempt to blog with each photo here to get up and running and warmed up with my blogger goodness!

http://rethinkchurch.org/article/lenten-photo-day-challenge

Hold up....wait a minute...SLOW DOWN

Well here it is the end of January. I turn around and the month is gone and I mean GONE! Where did it go? I am the only one who's life is speeding by at incredible speeds? Am I the only one secretly wanting something to pull me over and make me STOP?

I assume not  and if you know me I am sure you are also probably thinking "well....you do it to yourself!". I have had a struggle lately which I really only can interpret as God tugging at my heart to make a change.

But where do I start? What is it God wants now?!? (don't take that in a negative tone...wait maybe I did say it in a negative tone) Sigh.....

Long blog short is God hit me hard this last week and as usual it's when I don't expect it or see it coming. He's good about being sneaky like that! But what is He saying??? I recently worked with my students on a Mental Health lab called "hearing voices". I am starting to think maybe I have this condition :).

I feel God calling me to follow my heart, follow my passions and truly pour myself into what I love. I follow Proverbs 31 Ministries on Facebook. (If you don't you should too... http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Proverbs-31-Ministries/99550061960 ). Today this was the post

And of course I instantly thought of this song....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBDN8yWyNYU.

I have always been looking ahead and now that I am 30 (eeeekkkkk!) I really feel the need to chill a little and just be in the today.

I truly fear the looking back and missing out on something that I didn't want to miss with the girls as they grow up. Then my heart goes into some unspeakable rate/rhythm that is more of a panic. But the truth is

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" (Matthew 6:25-27 NIV.)

 

I am realizing the older I get....and MAN it is feeling older and older, that I can not "work" to cherish these moments. I just need to LIVE them. I keep a journal for each girl of little moments in their life for them to look back on and I am WAY behind in jotting things down in it. I am going to get back to those little moments that will be important to them and calm down about organizing their bedroom closets....they will not remember that mom keep things right where they should go (and let's face it I am losing the battle of organizing anyway so win-win)!

 

As I was on a LOONNGGG phone meeting today for work I looked up from my keyboard and see this.... and hear "Here Mommy I picked these for you, they are beautiful and you can love them forever"!

 

 

 

 Even though I know these weeds will die in two days on my kitchen window ledge and I will have to be sneaky about throwing them out at some point so she doesn't see that they are gone I will love them forever because of the precious little hands that picked them for me.

 

You see it doesn't matter to her what grade I get on that paper I stayed up late to write last night and it doesn't matter to her what size jeans I can barley squeeze into today and it doesn't matter to her what is in my bank account. What matters to her is that I love her. That's it...so to my mommy and daddy friends.... Stop being so hard on YOU. It is not our purpose and I know there is a giant finger pointed right at my face as I type this. I challenge me and if you want to come along too to a not so focused but purposeful life one day and one sticky popsicle face at a time.

 

Blessings--

Stephanie

 

New Year--Back to the "Good Old Days"

Raw Milk

Homemade bread

Farm Fresh Eggs

Do you ever have that fear of..."What are we really eating? What am I feeding my kids and family?"

I DO!

Just like any new year I always try to reflect on what I can do to better our lives. It really isn't mine that I am usually concerned with (although diet and exercise always creep in there somewhere). I am always thinking of how to better the health and quality of my families life. The hormones and preservatives in our foods have been haunting me for quite sometime now. For a while when we were in Missouri I only bought Braums milk because it was supposed to be hormone free. But it was a good 15+ miles away from my home town store so convince usually won out over better health choices. Living in a bigger city now I am a little more blessed with choices of "organic" things to purchase.

BUT--- What is really organic?? And is that really what I am after? The fancy labels and boasting price tags sure don't seem to appeal to me or my family of 5's grocery budget. I really want the knowledge of how to provide a safe and healthy lifestyle to my kiddos with the peace of mind of what I am giving them at the table (or in their sippy cups).

I have recently found that I LOVE to cook. Somehow it is soothing to me and I think in a twisted way it is a tool I use to please others and reap the rewards of someone praising or loving a meal that I have made (be honest you feel it too!!) Or is it that after a long day working behind a computer or with patients that I feel like I really could "rock the house-wife" lifestyle and enjoy proving it to myself? Either way it is something I enjoy doing and really want to pass this passion onto my girls. I also have to admit when I made my friend Misty's famous dinner rolls two group gatherings in a row and there were nothing but crumbs left each time I went to bed feeling very satisfied...maybe it's some sort of an addiction.

Back to the Healthy talk...If I could do it anyway I truly would be living on Green Acres ("Faaarrmmm living is the life for me"). Seriously though we would love to have a lot of land and a barn and our own horses, cows, chickens, pigs, goats; you name it. But we are currently living a little too close to the city for this to be accepted by my neighbors I am sure! My recent research has lead me looking for local farmers markets. I have found (thanks to my friend Leah) a wonderful Mexican open air market where we can stock up on fresh fruits and veggies and across the street is a Hispanic Bakery with wonderful fresh breads and tortillas. I am in search of local farm fresh eggs and my milk research continues. I have been reading from other bloggers about raw milk and how it is a much healthier fat. There are many links about how to drink it and how to store it too. I must say I am very excited to give it a try. It does meet my biggest concern of not having the hormones added. http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/how-to-drink-raw-milk-even-when-unsure-of-your-source/

The research that is keeping me up at night is concerning early puberty in girls and the link related to hormones that are infused into the meat, eggs, and dairy products that we purchase and feed our families.

Well I am off to dream of owning my own cow and chickens...I would love to know others thoughts if you have some in site into my research obsession!

Stephanie