I wonder...do you know him?

A Seven Way King

by Dr S.M. Lockeridge

The Bible says my King is a seven-way King:
He's the King of the Jews - that's a racial King.
He's the King of Israel - that's a national King.
He's the King of Righteousness.
He's the King of the Ages.
He's the King of Heaven.
He's the King of Glory.
He's the King of kings and He's the Lord of lords.
That's my King.

Well, I wonder do you know Him.

David said, "The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork."
My King is a sovereign King - no means of measure can define His limitless love.
No farseeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supply.
No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessings.
He's enduringly strong.
He's entirely sincere.
He's eternally steadfast.
He's immortally graceful.
He's imperially powerful.
He's impartially merciful.

Do you know Him?

He's the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world.
He's God's Son.
He's the sinner's Saviour.
He's the centrepiece of civilization.
He stands in the solitude of himself.
He's august and He's unique.
He's unparalleled, He's unprecedented.
He is the loftiest idea in literature.
He's the highest personality in philosophy.
He is the supreme problem in higher criticism.
He's the fundamental doctrine of true theology.
He is the core and the necessity for spiritual religion.
He's the miracle of the age, He's... yes He is.
He's the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him.
He's the only one qualified to be an all-sufficient Saviour.

I wonder if you know him today?

He supplies strength for the weak.
He's available for the tempted and the tried.
He sympathises and He saves.
He strengthens and sustains.
He guards and He guides.
He heals the sick.
He cleansed the lepers.
He forgives sinners.
He discharges debtors.
He delivers the captive.
He defends the feeble.
He blesses the young.
He serves the unfortunate.
He regards the aged.
He rewards the diligent.
And He beautifies the meek.

I wonder if you know Him? Well, my King---
He is the key, He's the key to knowledge.
He's the wellspring of wisdom.
He's the doorway of deliverance.
He's the pathway of peace.
He's the roadway of righteousness.
He's the highway of holiness.
He's the gateway of glory.

Do you know Him?

Well, His office is manifold.
His promise is sure.
His life is matchless.
His goodness is limitless.
His mercy is everlasting.
His love never changes.
His Word is enough.
His grace is sufficient.
His reign is righteous and
His yoke is easy and
His burden is light.

I wish I could describe Him to you.
But He's indes... Wooah, yeaaah! yeaahh,
He's indescribable - yes He is ! He's God.
He's, He's indescribable, yes, He's indescribable.
He's incomprehensible.
He's invincible.
He's irresistible.

Well, you can't get Him out of your mind,
You get Him off of your hand,
You can't outlive Him, and you can't live without Him.

Well, the Pharisees couldn't stand Him, but they found out they couldn't stop Him.
Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him.
The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree.
Herod couldn't kill Him.
Death couldn't handle Him and
the grave couldn't hold Him. Yeah !
THAT'S MY KING !
THAT'S MY KING ! YEAH !

And Thine is the Kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever
and ever and ever.
How long is that ?
And ever and ever.
And when you get through all the forevers, then
Amen !

GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY ! AMEN ! AMEN !



There is audio of this running around somewhere out there on the web, I 'm just not finding it to link here right now, but it is pretty powerful to listen to him preach it.

Today is a day where I needed to remind myself of these things, and so I am also sharing it with you my darlings. I have a quirky boss, house guests, and a bank account that keeps getting out of sync.  This week has not gone according to plan, and it seems that I like plans.  This revelation that I might not handle switch ups and breaks in the schedule well came to me in my Master's Commission orientation.  The director was going through explaining the weeks and what was expected, and then he proceeded to explain that these plans will change and that we need to be flexible and he looked directly at me, until I nodded in understanding.  I had really though I was good with change, and being flexible.  I'm pretty sure it's because in many instances I assume there will be change, it is already a part of the plan.  This week I'm going with the flow, and things are going well, now that I know I will not have my regular schedule.  I'm getting settled into this new living arrangement, I think we are all doing quite well considering none of us had ever planned for something like this.

I have been blessed to be a part of my hubby's family, and they have been wonderful in taking care of their father.  I have also learned from my mom, to do what needs to be done, and take care of the loved ones in your life.  Whether or not you were born to them or not.  The tricky part is that they don't always like to be helped, since you know, they are older and have been completely independent for quite some time.  I would hope that one day should I ever land on the other side of this type of situation that I will be a gracious guest, and understand that healing take time and patience as well.

In other recent developments, the stickers are slowly disappearing... and I'm not the one doing it.
This is not the first battle with paintings and fish I've had.  I did a mural a while ago for my church, but after getting married and moving we got a new pastor who decided that the fish did not fit, and so they had to go.  I heard that there were protests, and many people were upset, but they were still all painted over.  But there was a lively discussion of avenging the fish, some of the comments can be found here.

Main Album for Mural

Divers & comments

Turtle

Giant oyster with pearl covering the doors of the maintenance room

The end of the World and Ballerina's

There was a bit of a rumor going around about the rapture going to happen, and the end of the world, I made plans anyways.  I'm not letting a crackpot with proven inaccuracy ruin a perfectly good weekend for me.  It seems that everyone was in a jovial mood about the whole affair, it's sad because one day it will happen, but who will take it seriously when it does?  I'm not going to try and tell you what to believe, or how to live your life, but when you figure out what you believe you should live it.  I believe that when the Bible says we will not know the time or the hour, we won't know, not for certain.  That being said, we should live everyday like it is our last, but plan for a very long future.  Having lost my mom, when she was so young, made me remember to enjoy every moment.  We should be quick to love, laugh, and forgive.  Life is short, even if we live over 100 years, in the grand scheme of things, that is nothing.  So, live for the moment, enjoy every breath you take.
 
Saturday I went for a bit of an adventure, family time can happen like that.  Waking up is not my favorite thing to do, but it was so worth all the fun of today's events.  I was able to watch my little niece dance in her first competitive performance, they won first place.  It does help when you are the only one in your category.  This first performance had the largest group of girls in the performance.

First performance of the day (song: A Whole New World)

They had another performance, it was a bit more formal being on stage in front of a larger crowd.  This time the group dwindled between the side curtain and the stage.  One of the little girls ended up loosing her nerve as well, but they were still adorable.

Second performance (same song, different stage)

We had a great time, eating, and watching frog jumping.  My little niece rode a pony, and other rides, and then braced up to do her final routine.  This time the teacher had them holding hands and walking on stage together, and she sat them in their spots.  They did a fabulous job, and the crowd loved them. 

Third Performance (same song, same stage)

After all of that we were all tuckered out, and my little niece fell asleep the minute the car starting driving home.

Dinner tonight

So, tonight dinner was not the first thing on my mind, and it was a bit hot.  I love our George Foreman Grill for hot summer nights, we can have grilled chicken with out heating up the house.  So this salad was all from our Farm Fresh to You delivery, not really a CSA but it's similar.  Local, organic, and seasonal it's just perfect. 

Salad

Grilled chicken breast
broccoli
radishes
strawberries
lettuce

Valentine's Day and my birthday celebration

 The Birthday Cake I made - GF and LC

My hubby's family celebrates pretty good.  We all get together, have a great meal, there are lots of presents, and we always have fun.  I thought these poppers were cute and brought these for the first time to our party.  We will try these again, but through a different maker.
The cake I made was another variation of this one I had been contemplating Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese

I doubled this cake:

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake 

• 1/2 cup almond flour, firmly packed
• 1/3 cup coconut flour, firmly packed (usually this amount is doubled if sifted instead of packed)
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp  baking soda
• 3/4  cup  honey
• 5  eggs
• 1/2 cup  butter, melted
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1/4  cup  strong brewed coffee, hot
• dash of salt

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Whisk together wet ingredients, except coffee.
3. Add dry ingredients. Combine well.
4. Whisk in coffee.
5. Pour into greased pans or cupcake tin lined with wrappers.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes for cupcakes or until cake tests clean with toothpick.
7. Remove from pans, cool completely before icing.

* This recipe can also be used in a 9×13 pan, 2, 8-9inch round cake pans, or 1 dozen cupcakes

With Cherries on top

I used the canned cherry pie filling to layer in between each of the layers, and home made whip cream.

Dinner - a Crab Feast! This is my favorite birthday of the year, and it is my brother-in-laws favorite as well.  I hope that we can do a crab feast every year to celebrate my birthday!

a Balloon bouquet from my mother-in-law

I love Star Gazers

My niece decorating her uncle, He's so patient with her

presents and the cake

The cake looked better before our drive to my mother-in-laws house, in this picture it just looks like it's bleeding to me. My sister-in-law also brought a Boston cream cake, another favorite.

The Family

The Birthday Loot

I received lots of wonderful things, and have been having a great time putting all of these to great use.  That is a real Wizard of Oz lunch box, the metal kind large and pretty.  I had to take it to work to show it off. 


On my birthday, I did have to work.  Luckily my boss believes in celebrating birthdays.
My office was decorated and the party was set for lunch.

My office space decorated

Birthday lunch Celebration, the pink hat is mandatory for the festivities

along with my gift, I was presented with this and the compliments that are pasted on the board now.

My weekend of celebration was wonderful.  We had a great time with family, I had a lovely work party, and we got to spend the night dining together to celebrate both my birthday and our Valentine's day together.  Everyone celebrates holidays and birthday's in different ways, but what ever your celebrations look like, enjoy them.  Savor every moment, life is to short not to enjoy these moments.

Thank you, for those from whom I have learned the most

 Paternal Grandparents - one known as the "Dragon-Lady"

Mother and daughter's

Today I have been thinking, dangerous I know, but today it's been meaningful.  I've actually been thinking about this for a very long time, and today I've decided to put it out there.  I have learned most things from my mother, who really should be up for sainthood, and if we were Catholic I would try.  But honestly there are others I have learned a great many things from, one of whom is my little sister.  She is stubborn and feisty, and all sorts of other good and troublesome things, but one thing she did was teach me how to love the unlovable.

My cousin and my little sister

I have many life stories to tell, and some day I will share them all, but today I will focus on one.  My grandma, the one nicknamed the "Dragon Lady". She had a great relationship with me, and my cousins, but not my sister.  I did not really notice it that much until one day when I was in Junior high, and we were visiting for Easter.  Walking around the Phoenix Zoo was not really a cool thing in my book back then, but I was looped arm in arm with Grandma and we were shopping.  Shopping was always fun with Grandma, she loved bags and jewelry and I loved those things as well.  As we were leaving the park, my sister came to join us, to also hug on grandma and to loop her arm through her other arm.  That's when Grandma became someone I had not known before, she physically pushed my sister away.  My parents noticed, I saw it, the whole world took notice.  I really was like time stood still. How could a grandparent push their grandchild away? Isn't there an unwritten rule, Grandparents must unconditionally love their grandchildren?  Maybe not their own children, but their grandchildren, yes they are the innocent and loved ones.  Not having been able to be old enough to make mistakes, talk back, and fight with grandparents, how could they not be just adored?  My father did something that day that was impressive and scary, he took a stand.  It was the best thing a father could do for his child, he would not allow his daughter to be treated like that. 

The parents

 Mind you, I'm not sure where this part of my father has gone now, but at the time he was completely there for my sister.  He stood up to his mother and exploded, letting her know that she was not allowed to treat my lil' sis in such a way.  My grandparents had a choice, they could choose to love and appreciate both of us, or see none of us.  When we left from that vacation we did not see them except holidays for a long long time.  When we did see them again, my grandparents had decided to treat us both with equal fairness, but I'm not sure if my grandmother really knew how to love my sister.  I saw though how my sister loved on my grandmother, through all her prickles and nettles, my sister hugged her anyways.  She visited her when she lived near her summer home, and no one else was there to take care of her, and somewhere during that time my grandma started to love and appreciate her back.  Grandma even took on the school where my sister was at, to claim the time that she was promised, to have my sister's company.

This was the trip, and here are my grandma and my sister

Love is messy, and problematic, and mostly it's a choice.  We don't get to choose our family, or how they will behave or respond to us, but we do get to choose how we respond to them.  I firmly believe in standing up for your children, and protecting them from those who would hurt them.  I believe in walking away from those who can not appreciate the gifts they have been given in their family.  I also know that I have a family member that has not loved me, and that I need to love through the nettles and the barbs.  I'm not sure how all of this will play out, and while my sister needs to do all she can to protect her family from a similar rottenness that she experienced, I have to still be there to point out the profound idiocy and hurt to the ones who are being hurtful.

Keep your family close, and protect the ones you love.  Learn the life lessons you need, and pass on the ones you can. Today I'm sharing a life story, one I've learned from.  You have stories as well, things that you have learned, hold onto the good.

Hope and the prayers of a child

Lady at the foot of the Cross- Dawn Marie Black

I love my niece, she has been praying for us to have twins.  It started when she wanted to know what to pray for us, and my sister told her that I wanted to have babies, so the logical choice would be twins.  My niece is 6, and adorable, she recently added that the twins should be girls.  I'm pretty sure that the hubby and I would like one of each, but we aren't picky, healthy is perfect.
I've been praying myself for years, mostly with tears, sometimes with humor, mostly begging and pleading.  Family asks why we haven't had kids yet, like this is our choice.  It wouldn't hurt if it was our choice, but since it's not, it just doesn't feel fair.  I believe in God, and I pray, but some how it makes me feel so much better to have my little niece praying with us.  She has no fear, nothing has shaken her faith, she has not suffered disappointment and heartache, all she has seen is answered prayers.
Mark 10: 13 - 16
"13- People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14- When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15- I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." 16- And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them."

These kinds of things continue to give me hope through the challenges of PCOS, and life in general.  So, bring on the twins, it will be so much easier to not have to hear when we are having another after we finally have the first.   One day I will post that I am a happy healthy momma, and that is my prayer.

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Earlier I posted a video about Keiko Zoll, who won for her "who i am  video" the link I posted was the list of winners from the first to the last, but it did not have their entire videos but more of a collage of all of them, so here is her video.  It makes me cry, but I think it helps bring understanding. "Who I Am"
(http://vimeo.com/11214833)

Let me tell you a little bit about me, I believe in God, but as I'm learning not everyone who even believes in the same God feels the same way about Him.  My understanding is that He is both love and Justice, but He is not out here putting desires in people hearts to torture them. I could go and quote all sorts of Bible verses, but for those of you who do not believe the same way it is more important for you to understand that even people who sit in the same church and listen to the same words they interpret them all a little bit differently. Find the things that encourage you and surround yourself with it. Do not surround yourself with negativity, it only brings you down and sadness and depression are not helpful for your well being in general.

What ever gives you strength and courage and hope, hold onto it.  My beliefs would encourage you, so I will share the encouragement with you.

"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

For other sources of encouragement, I also watch "Facing the Giants" facingthegiants.com This movie is mainly about a football team, but there is another story between he and his wife, trying to conceive.

"For then you will delight in the Almighty And lift up your face to God. Job 22:26

"You have given him his heart's desire, And You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah."  Psalm 21:2
 "When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul." Psalm 94:19 
"He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them". Psalm 145:19 
"Then you will take delight in the LORD, And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, For the mouth of the LORD has spoken." Isaiah 58:14 
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." Matthew 7: 7-8