Update :)

Wow, so it has been too long since I have blogged! Honestly, there just has not been time! So that means I have a lot to catch up on. Here we go...

In February, Zeke was offered and accepted a position as the Minister of Worship and Students at First Baptist Church Carthage. We are so excited about this opportunity! :) So for the last few weeks we have been traveling back and forth between Shelbyville and Carthage, and will continue to do so until the school year is over (May 27th - not that I have that date memorized or anything!).

Along with the excitement of moving comes the excitement of purchasing our first home! We are super excited about that! I have bee out running around Carthage today getting all the utilities set! We get the keys this Saturday! Here is a picture of our new house! :) I will post some of the inside later!

We are looking forward to all that God is going to do in and through our lives during this time, and all that He is going to do in the lives of those in Carthage, Smith County, Tennessee, and ultimately around the world as FBC Carthage follows after Him! :)

I am still teaching first grade, but on Spring Break this week - yay! :) I am really enjoying my time with these students! Here is a funny story I have to share with you about my little first graders: The other week, they were all excited to tell me about their Easter plans. So I heard stories about egg hunts and family dinners, and one little boy told me that He was getting baptized on Easter. One of the other students heard him and asked "What's that - Baptized?" Before I could answer, another student, who in the past has presented some interesting views about church tells the one who asked "It's when you get saved and the Holy Ghost comes all up in you." to which the one asking the question responds "Oh, my momma got that. There's no ghost!" I was trying my best not to laugh at that moment, but inside I was laughing so hard! I am definitely going to miss my time with these precious first graders! :)

I am going to post again in a little while, but that is all for now! :)

Above all else...

So my dad posted a question on facebook today and it got quite a few comments and some of them started me thinking about different scriptures and God just laid this on my heart. I did not want to post it as a response to my dad's status because it began to veer off the topic. So I figured I would just post it on here. Here goes...

Above all else our call is to know God and this occurs as we daily spend time with Him. As we spend time with Him and come to know Him more, what is on His heart will be on our hearts. And His heart is for the nations. "Go therefore and Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." Matt 28:19 This is something that we can do only as we daily lay ourselves down before Christ and surrender to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives. "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.." Romans 12:1 As we surrender to the guidance of the Holy Spirit He empowers us to share the love of Christ with those around us. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth..." Acts 1:8 As witnesses to those around us we are called to share the hope that we have in Christ with gentleness and respect. Understanding that God is the one who brings about conviction and reveals Himself to those we share with. "But in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame." 1Peter 3:15
I think that the problem is not necessarily ignorance of God's Word, but ignorance of the God of the word. There are many people who have a great knowledge of God's Word, but do not truly know God through and intimate personal relationship. As you grow in that relationship, through spending time with Him, you come to know Him more. The more you know Him, the more you love Him. The more you love Him the more you want to know Him. The more you want to know Him, the more you spend time with Him.

My Funny First Graders!

Ok, so i haven't blogged in a while! First grade has kept me busy! But today one of them told me something that was so funny I realized I should share some of the funnier moments of first grade here on my blog in an effort to remember them myself and maybe share a little bit of the joy these precious kids bring into my room each morning!

So one of the first funny moments I had this school year was sitting in the gym for a talent show. The students were asked to bring in $1 for "admission" to the talent show as a fundraiser for the music department. We were about halfway through the talent show (having heard Miley Cyrus's Hoedown Throwdown about 5 times by this point!) and the little boy sitting beside me looks up at me and asks "Is this what I paid $1 for?" I just smiled and said "It sure is." :)

The other day I was sorting through some papers and came across a project we had worked on for the 100th day of school. the students were given a piece of paper that said "When I am 100 Years old I think I will look like..." and there was a space below where they could draw a picture. We had lots of projects going on that day and I had not had a chance to look at every student's drawing, so I was taking this chance to look through them. They were all really cute and were pretty much just pictures of people walking with canes. But then I saw it...one of my students had drawn a picture of a hill and colored it completely black and there were dark gray clouds in the sky with lightening bolts coming down from them and then I took a closer look and saw that he had written the word "cemetary" - well, his version of the word - across the top of the page! So when asked what he will look like when he is 10 years old, this first grader had drawn a graveyard! LOL!

We were having some issues with students being quiet in the bathroom so I decided we needed bathroom monitors. One of my students was so excited about us having bathroom monitors that he would ask me a question about them everytime we took a bathroom break. The only thing was he did not quite understand the name "bathroom monitors" he kept asking me questions about the "thermometers"! I tried to tell him "yes they are the bathroom monitors," but he still called them thermometers! :)

Today, one of the girls in my class was getting her backpack all packed up and she had a new purse that she was showing me and telling me about, then she said "and my mom got me a new video game yesterday!" and she pulled something halfway out of her bag to show me. I was looking through some papers so I only caught a glimpse of what she pulled out. It took me a second to register what it actually was that she had pulled out of her bag. When I realized, I asked her to show it to me again. She pulled it out and I almost dies laughing! It was a digital thermostat! She had it in her purse and she thought it was the neatest video game! She said she played it last night before bed! :)And that the screen lit up all green and you have to find the right numbers! :) So precious!

That's all I can think of right now! I hope you enjoyed those! :) I am sure I will have more later! :)

Latest on My Parents

So we finally got the test results from my mom's stress test yesterday and they saw what they think might be some blockage, so they are going to do an arteriagram (not sure if that spelling is correct) this afternoon. If there is a blockage they will balloon it or do a stint while they are in there. I will be over there with her with in the next half hour. She is at Vanderbilt Hospital.

I am currently at Centennial Hospital with daddy and Mr. Marty. (Watching the Price is Right - Daddy's normal routine!) Daddy is doing great. He has already been up walking and right now is sitting up in the chair and has been on the computer this morning already. He has not had much sleep thanks to the morphine drip machine. It is set to beep when his heart rate gets above or below a certain number and as soon as he gets to the point where he can sleep his heart rate gets below that number and the machine goes off on him! but he is well taken care of here at Centennial and as far as we know things are still on for him to go home tomorrow. We should know more after we hear from the doctor - he has not come by yet.

So, we are doing good just a little scattered at the moment! :) Please continue to pray that Momma and Daddy will continue to heal and be able to go home soon! :) Well, I am gonna leave it at that so I can head over to be with Momma. If you want or need to get in touch with us you can call my cell, 702-672-4833, or call Zeke @ the house and he can get you to us!
Thanks so much for your prayers! :)

Update!

Ok, so just to let you all know what is going on...We went this morning to Nashville and my dad had another colonoscopy done just to double check that everything looked good and would be ok for surgery tomorrow (Wednesday). So we waited forever for them to take him beack and they finally did and less than 15 mins later the procedure was done. Everything looks fine and we are on for tomorrow morning @ 8am!

However, on the way home, my mom started having some shortness of breath and chest pain. We got home and ate lunch and she wasn't feeling any better, so I went with her to the ER. They did an EKG and took blood and did a few other tests but nothing seemed abnormal.
Momma had already been referred to a cardiologist that she was going to go see on Thursday morning. But since this was the second time this week that she had been seen because she had shortness of breath, the cardiologist decided to play it safe and have her go on to Vanderbilt and stay overnight and have a stress test done in the morning. This is simply precautionary - she has not had a heart attack or even had severe chest pains. The doctor just wants to figure out what the problem is so that the issue can be resolved.

Momma is upset about having to go because Daddy's reversal surgery is tomorrow morning and she hates to miss it, but we all know that she needs to go and make sure everything is ok with her. Please pray that everything will go well tomorrow for both of them!

Paula is going with Momma to Vanderbilt tonight, and is going to stay with her through the night and until she is finished with everything tomorrow. They just left about 20 mins ago so they should get to Vandy about 11pm. Pray that everyone gets rest tonight and that tomorrow goes smoothly!

Thanks so much for all your prayers! We truly appreciate them! :)

Overwhelmed

So Today has been insane! Last night it took me almost an hour to quiet my mind and stop thinking about jobs, bills, etc. so that I could go to sleep. Zeke and I have sent out so many resumes and filled out so many applications over the last few weeks that we cannot even count them all! And we have heard nothing back! So to say the least we have been overwhelmed.

But God totally threw us for a loop today - in a good way! And why am I saying just today - He has been throwing us for a loop since Spring (and honestly much further back than that! :) From the time we got ready to move to TN, God amazingly provided the exact amount of money we needed to get her safely and on time. Since then, He provided financially for every bill we have needed - we have not missed paying a bill yet! And we have not had jobs since May! When we were moving here we knew that the first two months here we would be ok because Zeke had camps lined up to lead for and had a job lined up for a few weeks, so we knew we would be able to pay our bills. But we also knew that when August hit, things would get tight! Really tight! But we knew that He would provide, somehow! However, over the last few weeks as we sent out resume after resume and application after application our situation became pretty discouraging! I still knew that God would provide, but it was still getting discouraging. It was hard to grasp that God would not provide a job more quickly so that we could have some source of income, but the other side of the situation is that this only means that He has another plan of providing for us.

So today God revealed Himself to Zeke and me in such an amazing way. Through friends and family God provided financially all that wee needed to pay bills for the rest of the month and some that we will have the first of next month. Amazing! It finally made sense. God could have easily given us any of the jobs that we had applied for, there is no doubt about that. But we would never experience His provision in this amazing way if that had been the case! How incredible! To sit at the feet of a the God of the universe who is faithful to provide - not necessarily how we think He should, but in His perfect way and perfect timing!

And not only that, but for our family and friends who were faithful to do what God laid on their hearts! A reminder that when God calls us to do something, we need to be faithful to obey because our obedience effects others. Think about it this way...because the disciples were obedient to follow Christ, we benefit from their obedience! They went into the world and told others about their relationship with Him, and through that many people have come to know Christ. Amazing!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord." Isaiah 55:8

Random Thoughts

So it has been a while since I have blogged, and I should probably use this time to update you all on some of the things going on around here. Zeke and I are still in Tennessee, and will be staying here for a while. We really feel that we need to be here to help my parents as my dad continues to recover. So since we are staying, we are searching for jobs...and finding nothing as of right now. We are trusting that God will provide and He will provide in His timing! Please pray that we will continue to lay this at His feet daily!

As far as my dad's recovery process, things are going well. He went to the doctor today and had some tests done to make sure that the leak they found before was repaired so that he could have the ostomy reversed. Thankfully everything has healed just like it is supposed to! So he will go in for the reversal surgery on the 26th (next Wednesday). I am not sure of the time right now but I think it is going to be first thing in the morning. We are very excited and my dad is definitely ready for this surgery! He has been able to do some work from home the last week, but he is ready to get out of the house!

God has truly blessed us through this whole situation! I remember when i first found out about my dad's cancer and how overpowering it seemed. Through it all God has reminded us that He has placed us here! This is not something that we simply wandered into and He never saw coming. He knew that we would be here before the foundation of the world! Amazing!

Zeke and I just celebrated our first anniversary! We still cannot believe it has been a year already! So much has happened in this last year that it has gone by insanely fast! However, we have enjoyed it thoroughly!

Zeke starts seminary classes online through Liberty University this Monday. He is really excited and I am too! I am looking forward to learning some of this stuff along with him! :)

God is continuing to grow in our hearts a passion for the world! We are daily getting more excited about what God has for us here in Shelbyville and what the future will hold. For those of you who don't know, our long term goal is to plant a church in Hawaii, the big island, in Hilo where Zeke is from. God has really burdened Zeke's heart for the people there is his hometown, and the more I seek after God, the more my heart is burdened for these people. A great friend of ours sent Zeke a video on Facebook last week and it completely encouraged us about this long term goal! God is continually reminding us that if we are followers of Christ we will follow after and fight for His heart. And His heart beats for those who do not know Him to be reconciled to Him! I am constantly reminded that our Amazing God is a God of Reconciliation and Redeemption! Thank Goodness - otherwise we would not be able to have an intimate relationship with Him! Back to the video...it was of a Pastor from Alabama who spoke at this year's Sothern Baptist Convention. He spoke about how the church was commanded to GO and yet we are not willing to risk what we have to follow after Him! "Are we dying in our religion, or are we dying in our devotion?" He read these verses in Hebrews 13 "So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through His own blood. Therefore let us fo to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured." (Heb. 13:12-13) If we are ever going to impact the world for Christ, we have to be willing to endure the filth, dirt, and suffering to see the precious reconciliation that lies outside the gate! The unclean things were outside the gate. Jesus went outside the gate. The servant (that's us) is not greater than the Master (that's Jesus). We must go outside the gate! I am going to embed this video so you can watch it too! Please take the time to watch it! You will be encouraged and challenged!

Thank you all for your prayers for me and my family! Please keep them going! :) Love you all! :)

David Platt: SBC Pastors Conference 2009 from Todd Thomas on Vimeo.