Modus Operandi

I just read a verse that rocked my world!

I Thesalonnians 2:8 We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.

As we minister to children that is what we are doing. We love the children so much that we share our lives and the gospel with them.

I am honored to serve with a team where we care for one another.

Good news part 2

I won't pretend to ever think that we are past sin. We were created in God's image, but then Eve partook of the fruit (I would like to get her take on this now and can't wait to talk to her in Heaven). Obviously we are not sinless. We are creatures that have choice in a world full of sin. So how do we, claiming to be Christian, make the right choices and eliminate sin?

Romans 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

And how does grace play into this whole scenario? I guess I'm baffled at times that we serve such a loving heavenly Father and we continue to sin. One who gave His blood for my sin. I'm guilty. I sin. We all sin. We have an assurance of being saved from eternal wrath and have the hope of an eternity with Him in Heaven because of His sacrifice.

How do we serve an intangible God in a world filled with instant gratification and more importantly how do we lead others toward that life of accepting Christ and moving toward a growing relationship with Him? And how do we do this while remaining sinners.

Isn't that why the hypocrite statements abound? Many wear a tag that says I'm a Christian, I attend Down the Road Church, My stuff doesn't stink. Then we are seen by the unchurched as lowly sinners and how dare we invite them to church after what we have done. How do we lead others into a relationship when they see our sin?

I think the answer is complex. Sin will always be around as long as we live on Earth. We should go boldly before the throne to find mercy & grace. It's all about a relationship. We know we are sinners and need grace. He's our loving Heavenly Father and will give it when we ask. He was tempted, yet in His perfection He did not sin.

15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are,yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Father, today I come to You as a child with sin. Please take away the sin. Cast it into the sea of forgetfulness. Let Your grace and mercy wash over me. Allow me the opportunity to grow in relationship with You. And let me have opportunities to lead others into a growing relationship with You. Let them not see my flaws, but rather the hope that is found in relationship with You.

Good news

Well today Dr. Smith called and he said that the pathology came back good so I don't have to have any more surgery on the precancerous mole. Yeah.

So, I was thinking about this situation. First, I have a mole that looks a little bad, not too bad, but menacing. Then I find that after shaving it off it is actually worse than first thought so the Dr. removes a 1 inch margin and sews me back just to make sure it never comes back as cancer.

What about sin? That little sin. That sin of say eating too much or gossiping or lying. At first it's just a little white lie or overeating once. Then we feel guilty and try to quit. But the news comes back bad and we overeat. Or our friend gets mad at us and we call around telling anyone who will listen about the injustice.

So how do we create margin around sin so it quits growing and affecting our lives? Genesis 4:6-8 God tells Cain that sin wants to master us. How do we become the master? How do we overcome? Psalm 3: 3 states that God is a shield around us. So He creates the margin.

How do we totally remove sin in the first place at its roots?

How? More tomorrow...

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California

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Mike & I celebrated our fifth anniversary in March. I had the stomach flu so I dined that night on grits. His mom was sick at the time so we decided to postpone a celebration until fall.

So on September 20 we got on a plane and headed to LA. Brooklyn was jealous that we were going to Hollywood. There were three highlights of the trip for me:

1. Watching DL practice with Mitch Kupchak, GM of the LA Lakers. Mike hung out with him at Carolina so we contacted him when we knew we were going and he graciously invited us over. It was fun getting to see their practice facility and some court action.
2. The VIP tour at Warner Brothers. I really wanted to do the five hour tour but it was sold out (next time!). So we did the 2.5 hour tour which was a lot of fun. It gave me some interesting ideas for props for CM.
3. Nine days with no responsibilities except turning on Garmin Girl as soon as we got in the car and making sure we had a few plans for each day.

Other interesting things: The beaches, the weather (it rained for the first time in 150 days while we were there), Venice Beach, Santa Monica...they were holding auditions for a new dance show while we were there and we weren't smart enough to realize it. There were so many stars there that we could have seen :(, Balboa Island, Wilma at Balboa Island, a 755 sq. ft. house for a mere $6million at Balboa Island, Laguna Beach, Hollywood, Rodeo Drive (calling Stephanie on Rodeo Drive), donut searches, San Juan Capistrano, walking the whole gas lamp district in San Diego and ending up eating at the place we started, Trader Joes (yummy), Garmin Girl - what would we have done without her and jet lag.

Thank you Mike for realizing how important it is for us to have quality time away. I had a great time. You are a wonderful husband.

Peace, Love & Vitamin C,

Tina

Great news

On a personal note thanks to those of you who have been praying for me. I had a wonderful vacation with Mike. I'm so glad to be home as I missed Brooklyn so much. I'll post some pictures and tell some stories later this week.

I went to the doctor this morning and she said the meds are controlling my Lupus. We had a great discussion and I think we have a game plan to do some long term controlling.

I went this afternoon and had my precancerous mole reexcised for margins. I have felt little pain. It's in a sore spot, but it will be fine after it heals.

Your prayers matter. Pray for the CM Team, pray for their health, safety and for their families. Pray for the CM Leadership Team as they help me make decisions. Pray for my family as we craft family time away from ministry time. And pray for me that I will be able to listen to God, hear when my family needs me and spend some me time occasionally.

Peace, Love & Vitamin C,

Tina

Surprises

Well, I tried to surprise her. Last year on Brooklyn's birthday I told her she better enjoy her party because it was the last one until she turns 13. My mom gave me a surprise party when I was about 10 so I thought I should do the same.

I didn't have a ton of money to spend and neither did her dad so we planned a small bowling party. She spends half the day with both of us on her birthday (I've only had to miss one of her birthday's because of a test at work that I could not miss). So he planned to bring her to the bowling alley at 2:00 pm and we would all already be there.

So I ran around and got the cookie (she didn't want a cake) and we had to get drinks from the bowling alley. I sent emails to all the moms because these girls are such good friends I was so afraid one of them would tell her.

She got to the bowling alley and Mike was standing in the front door watching the Carolina Football game. I was just telling him we needed to move. Well, I backed up - right into a table of golf balls. They went everywhere. I said to Brooklyn, "Surprise!" I was hoping we could all be down there and surprise her. So I ruined it a little.

But she was actually speechless. It was wonderful. So much fun! And she is quite the bowler (she won both games).

I love being a mom!