The Semester has Officially Started!

First year students moved in Friday morning...the rest of the students get back on Monday! YEAH! We have a lot of things already planned for ACF (Arcadia Christian Fellowship) so we can hit the ground running this year. Check out the flier we put up all around campus. Notice our brand new logo designed by a friend!

We are so excited about this semester and can't wait to see what the Lord is going to do!

One, Two Punch

It has been a while since I tortured you, um I mean shared with you some family pics;)

Caed and Abby think that Cole is their very own rag doll. Now that he is crawling, pulling up and climbing he is a rag doll that wrestles! Poor baby!

This is Caed showing off Cole's nasty one, two punch on his friend Matthew.

I love that everyone in this pic is happy but Cole.

Ummm, Wow!

Friends and Family,
Before reading on, take a look back at the 5-40-106 Challenge that we gave our students in April. The first section challenged our students to "pray regularly for opportunities to share Christ with 5 friends." I also took this Challenge and was praying for 5 people. In all honesty, I wish I could tell you I was more faithful about praying regularly than I actually was! God is still gracious and is delighted to answer according to His purposes.

One of the guys I was praying for was "Sam". Sam and Dave were good friends and were the first two guys to come to the Guys Night I started in February. We built a good relationship but one that has only yielded a couple conversations about God and faith. Until last week. I've edited (and punctuated) the conversation he started with me over text last week.

Sam: Hello There old friend.
Greg: Hey! You back?
Sam: Not yet. This weekend though... quick question. You're a Christian, right?
Greg: Yes.
Sam: I wanna find a religion to believe in. I'm so lost as to what's out there, so I could use some guidance. I know there's more out there and I want your help to explore it all.

How exciting! Pray with me for "Sam" and the opportunity the Holy Spirit is giving me to share Christ with him.

Before the Throne

This morning I read Rev 4. In this chapter John describes what he saw when his spirit was ushered unto the throne room of God.
This is what Beth Moore had to say on the subject...

"John had the perspective-changing opportunity to do something all of us secretly wish we could do. For a little while recorded in Rev 4 and onward, he got to see life from heaven's perspective. His description implies something tremendously profound: everything else in existence is most accurately described only in its relationship to the throne of God."

How would our view of the world, our lives and struggles change if we viewed life as it stands in relation to the throne of God? Do we believe that the King of Kings can manage our life and problems?

I have been singing this song all morning since I read about the the throne of God...

Collected Thoughts

There has been a recurring theme in my life the past 2 weeks. You know the kind...when it starts as a whisper of an idea, then it comes up in your day to day life, then it comes around again and you get blindsided and it nearly knocks you off your feet!

Here is the concept.

The Lord uses the circumstances in your life to help you more fully understand His Word.

Illustration:
The apostle John was sent to the island of Patmos to work until he died of exhaustion, starvation, or exposure, whichever came first. I can imagine his aged, wrinkled skin hanging from his bones as he worked on that rocky island while He wondered why the Lord had not yet chosen to take him home to heaven. Then the Lord blessed him with this revelation from heaven. John saw many wondrous things, but what I read in chapter 7:15-17 brought me to tears. Read it like you were John on that Island...

15b He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
¹⁶Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
¹⁷For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

I love that the Lord gave John this promise right when it would mean the most to him.

The same God uses his same words to reach us right where we are.
READ and LISTEN!

We are BACK HOME!

Abby, Cole and I are back in Philly after our 2 weeks in Florida! We had a great time with my sis and her family. Tiring, but fun! I didn't realize how exhausting it was until I got home and just collapsed!

Slowly but surely we are getting back into the swing of things. The kid's school has not started yet, so we have a couple weeks to chill before things get going.

I have a few thoughts to share about what the Lord has been teaching me these past couple weeks. I will go collect them while I fold and put away a MOUNTAIN of laundry and then get back to you.
Thanks for being patient and coming back to check up on us. I did not have a lot of free time to blog in fl. ;)

Resting

This is the view Abby, Cole and I have had the past couple days! Nice, huh?

Friday night I drove up to Ponce Inlet to visit with Greg's parents for the weekend. The kids have been sick and not sleeping well at my sister's house so it has been nice for all of us to rest for a couple days. We are headed back to Melbourne tonight...

Sorry I have not been able to blog much. Taking care of 4 kids age 4 and under takes up the bulk of my time these days ;)

What a difference a day makes!

Monday morning I woke up, made a menu/shoping list for 2 weeks worth of groceries, went to the store and started my week. Little did I know that 24 hours from then I would be on a plane to Orlando!

My sweet sister had back surgey 5 weeks ago. I have heard that recovery is long and hard for any back surgery, but she also has 2 toddler boys to contend with during the whole recovery process. Praise the Lord she has had lots of help from family and friends. So when she called Monday afternoon to see if I could fly down to help out I jumped at the chance to spend some time with my sis and her family!

Soooo Tuesday afternoon Abby, Cole and I flew to Orlando! I was certainly nervous to fly by myself with the kids, but the Lord went before us and we had a smooth journey. Here are a couple pics I took on the plane:)

We are here for the next 2 weeks so Caed and Greg are on their own for a bit. I have a feeling there will be plenty of dinners consisting of cereal and OJ!

Choices

Thanks for coming back. I have had a few health problems that have kept me away from y'all but I am back now. Obviously ;). But I have to be completely honest. While I was down physically I was also down spiritually. Why does it always happen like that?

I am so grateful that the Lord has my heart no matter what. He never lets me wander far, and there is always a lesson learned in the journey. As a matter of fact I am still learning the lesson. Here is the idea I am working through:


What type of woman do I want to be?
God created women with influence. How are we going to use that influence?

I am not in any position to expound on the right and wrong ways to influence. But I can point you to an interesting contrast in scripture. This contrast starts with the picture of Thyatira in Rev. 2. Stick with me here.

Under Roman rule Thyatira was a thriving commercial center in Asia. We have 2 portraits of 2 different women from this city and they could not be more different.

Jezebel was a powerful woman. She was controlling and used her influence to lead people into sin.

In contrast Acts 16 describes a woman named Lydia. She was a successful business woman, but she saw her need for the Lord and led her whole household to be baptized.

These two women have given me a lot to think about. Do I want to use my influence to control and manipulate to get what I want? It sounds like a silly question but we do it without thinking about it!

NO I want to be the type of woman the Lord created me to be. Influential and Powerful...not to get what I want, but to accomplish what the Lord has for me to do.

Definitely something to think about.