Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations...

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

This passage of scripture is among the most amazing, miraculous, and beautiful of all scriptures, yet it is so humbling at the same time. This passage of scripture not only gives us hope but also gives us purpose. To think that the old sinful self that was me is no longer, that it’s gone, passed away, and that who I am today is a completely new creature, pure, holy, and beautiful in the sight of the Lord is to think of God’s great mercy and grace. And, to think that while I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me, is to think of a love that surpasses comprehension. So undeserving are we of Christ’s beauty and grace, His great love, His sinlessness, His righteousness, yet He has freely given all these to us limitlessly.

But, maybe even more humbling than all of this, if that were possible, is the fact that those of us who have been reconciled to God through our faith in Jesus as Christ and Savior is the fact that we have now been given the responsibility to act on God’s behalf in the world. We are “ambassadors for Christ.” And, He has “entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation.”

Wow! God has entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation, God reconciling the world to Himself, and doing it through us! Us! Unbelievable! Not only am I awestruck by the trust God has given to me and to others like me who make it our aim to live for Christ, but I am also humbled at such a daunting task. Do you really trust ME, God, to deliver your message of hope and grace and love to the peoples of the world? I want to be found trustworthy. I want to be found faithful. I want to be found being about my Father’s business, my Father’s business.

A few week’s ago, a guest preacher spoke at our church’s Sunday morning service, and he greeted us in this way, “Good morning to all my Father’s children.” That statement in and of itself is so profound. When we begin to see God as our Father, someone to love, someone to share our hopes and dreams with, someone we know cares for us, someone we can trust, someone who knows us and loves us like no other, then we begin to really care about Him, too. We begin to care about the things He cares about. We begin to care about the people He cares about.

Most of my good friends have children. I may not know their children like they know them, but I know my friends, and I care about what they care about. If one of Susan or Julie or Linda’s children needed anything, anything at all, and I was able to give it to them, I would. It would bring me pleasure to do so, because I love my friends, and I know that my friends love their children more than almost anything at all. Their children are their treasure. Their children are their joy, and if one of them is in need, then their mother is in need.

This is so for God.

God called Abraham friend, and we are friends of God when we love, trust, and obey Him. We bring joy to the Lord when we are what He calls us to be… Ambassadors for Christ.

Lisa Ann Muir-Taylor is a woman I’m getting to know better and better all the time. She inspires me, because she is the Ambassador for Christ God has called her to be.

I know Lisa Ann because our children go to school together. Her daughter, Sophie, was in Brooks’ class the year he lost his little brother, Bronner. Lisa Ann came to the memorial service, and she heard the passionate cry of a man who knew he had lost his son because of the sin of the world. She heard the Holy Spirit take over as Rick began to speak words filled with urgency for the message of the Gospel of Christ. Rick gave statistics that day that revealed a church satisfied with itself, a church not on fire for sharing their faith but more like the Laodicean church written to in Revelation that God says He will spit out of His mouth for their lack of zeal.

Something in what the Holy Spirit cried that day through Rick’s words went straight to Lisa Anne’s heart, and she began to pray for God to use her. This former nurse asked, “How can I share my faith with a lost world?” And, she heard God’s answer to her. It was hard for her to believe, though. Was she hearing Him right?

“Are you serious, God?”

“Yes,” He confirmed. It was so clear.

Lisa Ann knew God was calling her to start a CLOTHING LINE! Crazy, yes, but true.

Lisa Ann is a mother. She has four children. Sophie is her youngest, so she knew what was out there for teens and young people. Some of these stores that target youth are offensive to even walk into for a person of God. The advertisements are selling one thing, sex, and the more provocative the better. That is just not okay for a 15-year-old girl.

Where is the Godly alternative?

There wasn’t one.

But there is now.

Nations Outfitters was the answer to Lisa Ann’s prayer, “What can I do, God?”

“This whole thing has been so God directed,” Lisa Ann said. “He has even given me the designs. I can see them. I know this is a vision from God, and I know this is what He wants me to do. I would have never thought of myself as a clothing designer, but I guess that’s what I am. It’s just amazing where God can lead you if you really listen.”

Lisa Ann says, “It’s what you do in your clothes that makes you beautiful.” Nations emphasizes inner beauty, a beauty that gets outside yourself and thinks about others. She wants to help teens and young people realize their worth and their true potential as children of God. “It’s a lot easier to get out there and help somebody than you might think,” Lisa Ann said.

She organized a Habitat for Humanity Day this summer where students from around Birmingham came and helped build a house for a family in the Wylam Oaks Community in Fairfield, and she hopes to continue to do more and more community projects. Go to her website at www.nationsoutfitters.com and you’ll see photos of high school and college students on mission trips, doing volunteer work, and giving of themselves. “That’s the kind of person we want to highlight,” said Lisa Ann.

To top off all of that, the clothes are awesome! They’re kind of funky and fun. There’s lots of color and movement. It’s the kind of clothing young people like to wear. It’s just a new a way of thinking about your clothes.

It’s not an in-your-face Christian clothing line. Everything is done subtly. The name, Nations Outfitters, comes from Matthew 28:19 which says, “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.” The logo, a descending dove, represents the Holy Spirit who helps us to do the right things of God, who comforts us in trial, and who strengthens us for battle. But, the best thing, to me, is that there’s a bible verse inside each garment. I’m wearing a Nations shirt today that has this verse pressed inside, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

Lisa Ann came to know the Lord as an adult. She was at a Rolling Stones concert when someone handed her a little slip of paper with this verse written on it, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6; Joshua 1:5; and Hebrews 13:5)

She wanted to know who it was who would never leave her nor forsake her and so began her journey in pursuit of the Lord.

"Seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened unto you." (Matthew 7:7)

Hebrews 4:12 tells us that “The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

The word of God cuts through to our hearts, so, yes, one verse can make a difference in someone’s life. Lisa Ann hopes her clothes will be used to help expand God’s Kingdom directly through the truths shared in each article of clothing but also indirectly by highlighting good works and by enriching the lives of those students who have already begun their journey with Christ.

I remember when Lisa Ann first told me about this vision she had. It was about a year after Bronner had gone to heaven. We went to lunch, and this woman of action had already laid the groundwork for her new company. She had sketches of clothes for me to see. She had already hired someone to help her. She was getting ready to go to a fabric show. She had the name and the branding ready. She was well on her way. She told me she had waited to tell me until she knew for sure this thing was really going to happen.

But, she was very excited and wanted me to be excited too because she saw Nations as a part of Bronner’s legacy. She gave me a determined look and said almost sternly, “I want you to know this wouldn’t have happened without Bronner.”

I was at her house this week trying on the “Sherri Shirt” from the new fall line and gave her a picture of sweet Bronner. She wanted one for her office. She never really knew Bronner, but she knows that my sweet baby, God’s baby, is a bold pattern in the tapestry God is weaving through her life. And, I’m so glad. So many people told me after Bronner went to heaven that God had changed them through Bronner’s story, but with Lisa Ann there’s something a little more there. God has not only impacted her personally through precious Bronner and his story, but He has used him in Lisa Anne's life to begin a whole new ministry. There’s just something wonderful in that, and it makes a momma’s heart so glad to know that her child can be used of the Lord is so many unexpected ways.

So, I am Lisa Anne's biggest fan here on earth, but I know there are some bigger fans watching from above. And, I know Nations Outfitters is going to make a difference in this world for young people, because God is behind it. And, when we give God control of our lives, there's no limit to what He can do.

Allied Women

In my last blog, I told you about a story in the bible in which a good king seeks God’s help and receives it. God says, “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) I told you that I had noticed a pattern from the Old Testament of how Israel usually follows their king. If Israel has a good king, the people are good, but if they have a bad king, they follow his evil ways and go after other gods. There’s a lesson in this for us as Americans.

If we elect Godless leaders, then our nation will become Godless, but if we elect Godly leaders…

Someone has said, “So the laws go, so the culture goes.”

When Roe v. Wade legalized abortion…

When prayer was taken out of public schools…

America as a nation has been on a downward spiral away from God for a long time now. It certainly didn’t begin with the Obama Administration, but hopefully we have reached the climax with him and can turn the nation around and begin a march back toward our roots as a Christian nation.

Some friends of mine and I began praying during the last Presidential campaign not really believing what was happening. We prayed 2 Chronicles 7:14 a lot, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

I realized during that time that this verse was talking to me and my friends and others who are called by the name of Christ. “If MY people who are called by MY name, humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from THEIR wicked ways, then…”

American Christians, in general, aren’t on fire for the Lord. We’re weak in our faith and strong in the world. And, frankly, we’re too nice. Sometimes God requires a fight. Our apathy and our worldliness have gotten us where we are right now. It’s time for American Christians to be bold, to fight, and to put our working shoes on.

Another pattern I’ve noticed from the Old Testament is that when God makes a promise to Israel, it doesn't always happen right away, and many times it requires some effort on their part. Case in point, when God first gave Israel their promised land, it was inhabited. God had said it, so it was theirs, but they still had to fight for it. So, they marched into battle and won their land away from the wicked people who had lived there before them.

That's what we need to do, draw up a battle plan, bath it in prayer, and march into battle against the evil that is trying to destroy us.

Here’s what my friends and I did. First, we got ourselves educated about political issues. We have a conservative think tank here in Birmingham called the Alabama Policy Institute, so we met with its President, Gary Palmer, to talk about what we, as concerned citizens, could do. We learned that taking back our nation doesn’t begin with the White House, top to bottom, but rather with a more bottom up approach.

He advised us to work to develop a strong state government that could defend itself against big government ideology coming down from Washington. State government also feeds itself into the federal government. Governors become Presidents, and State Legislators become Congressmen. One of the big problems we have, Gary told us, is that good people are hard to come by. They just don’t want to get involved in politics. We need people to be willing to run for office. It’s icky out there, so I understand. But, in order to make the changes we need and want, then we’re going to have to put ourselves out there.

But, if you’re not ready to run for office yet, like me, there’s still so much that can be done. What we did was form an organization called Allied Women. We are a grassroots organization dedicated to changing the political landscape of Alabama in order that our home state can help change the political landscape of the nation. Our aim is to educate and to encourage activism. We have also set up a PAC in order to support candidates we feel reflect our conservative Christian views. We feel we can be the most effective in the November 2010 election by trying to overturn the Alabama State Senate.

Here’s why: Although Alabama ranks as the most conservative state in the nation, we rank 4^th in the nation for political corruption. There’s really something wrong with that. The people of Alabama are for the most part conservative Christians, but the people we elect aren’t always. There are some good politicians here. For example, Governor Bob Riley has served this state well over the past eight years and goes down in my book as the best Governor our state has seen in quite some time. First, he fought against illegal gambling in our state. He fought because no one else would. He stood alone on the front lines of the battle many times. He also organized a great team to bring new jobs to our state. His economic developer, Neal Wade, is ranked as the top state economic developer in the nation.

But, Riley’s type of forward thinking and active approach to governing isn’t the norm in Montgomery. Gambling money runs deep into the pockets of many in our State Capital as does money from special interests groups like A.E.A. And, money gets people elected for some reason. Believe it or not, advertising works.

The Allied Women PAC has identified some key races in the 2010 election that we’d like to help influence. Top on our list as a “got to go” guy is a State Senator from Cullman named Zeb Little. He’s the kind of person who helps Alabama get that #4 ranking in political corruption handed down by the United States Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section. The ranking is based on the number of Alabama public officials who have been convicted of crimes. I personally have on file the newspaper article detailing Little’s D.U.I. He was arrested April 4, 2009 for driving under the influence, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, violation of the open container law, and driving with an expired license.

One of my good friends’ brother-in-law is still recovering from a coma one year after he was hit by a drunk driver. A couple who came to Date Night at the Grand, a marriage retreat Rick and I spoke at last month, told us they had lost their 18-month-old daughter due to a drunk driver. Then, there’s Siran Stacy whose wife and four of his children were killed by a drunk driver. We could go on and on and on about drunk driving… We all know this is bad. But, it’s not just that Zeb Little has been convicted of a DUI that Allied Women would like to see him de-seated.

We want to see Alabama State Senate seats filled with people who will fight for truth and transparency in government, who really care about the future of our state and our nation, people who stand for the conservative Christian values that we believe in, who aren’t controlled by special interests groups like A.E.A and those who want to see Alabama become a new Nevada. We hope to put through candidates to the Senate who will protect and preserve what is good about our state and will move it forward in an ethical and honest way.

One issue we are particularly concerned about is gambling. Here’s why… There is really no end to the money these people have to target our state, and once they’ve got us, they rule us. What I mean by that is that one of the biggest things you have to worry about when you legalize gambling is corruption in government. They start buying people off, buying votes, making things go well for themselves. This is what I mean by special interest. If a politician is concerned about what the guy over at Country Crossings wants him to do then his judgment can become skewed and he no longer has the best interest of his constituents as a whole in mind.

And, what do I mean by transparency in government? Well, take PAC-to-PAC transfers, which are currently legal in our state despite the fact that a bill to ban them has been put through the Alabama State House of Representatives for years now only to get torn apart in the State Senate, for example. Currently, one PAC can give to another then to another and then somewhere along the line the candidate will receive a donation. Following the money trail here in Alabama is almost impossible with that kind of behavior going on. The candidate will surely be informed of who is giving him or her the money, but John Q. Public will never know who the candidates he’s voting for are beholden to. This is one of the reasons it’s so important to overturn our liberal majority Senate in this November election, so it will stop stifling ethics legislation that could help Alabama turn around that #4 in political corruption problem we have here.

For these reasons the Allied Women PAC has identified 10 candidates for the Alabama State Senate we hope to support and elect come November. They are:

1. Paul Bussman (against Zeb Little) in District 4 which includes Cullman, Lawrence, & Winston Counties
2. Clay Scofield (against Tim Mitchell) in District 9 - Blount, Madison, & Marshall Counties
3. Gerald Allen (against Phil Poole) in District 21 - Hale, Pickens, & Tuscaloosa Counties
4. George Flowers (against Harri Anne Smith and Jennifer Adams) in District 29 including Dale, Geneva, & Houston Counties
5. Paul Sanford (against Jeff Enfinger) District 7 - Madison County
6. Bryan Taylor, Goveror Riley’s Policy Director (against Wendell Mitchell) in District 30 in Autauga, Butler, Crenshaw, & Elmore Counties
7. Tom Whatley (against Ted Little) in District 27 – Lee, Russell, & Tallapoosa Counties
8. Danny Joyner (against Marc Keahey) in District 22 which includes portions of Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, & Washington Counties.
9. Phil Williams (against Larry Means) District 10 - Cherokee & Etowah Counties
10. Greg Reed (against Brett Wadsworth) in District 5 - Jefferson, Tuscaloosa, Walker & Winston Counties

We would sure like your help in this.

Allied Women is hosting a Nuts & Bolts Workshop on August 28^th from 9 a.m. until noon at Cahaba Grand Conference Center on Highway 280 in Birmingham. We’ve partnered with American Majority, Eagle Forum, and Alabama Policy Institute to bring you up to speed on everything you can do to make a difference now.

Register on-line at www.alliedwomen.org.

Lamentations

I was driving through a quiet neighborhood in my community today on my way to pick up my boys from a little summer camp they were doing at a friend’s house when something caught my eye…

Old Glory, The Stars and Stripes herself.

It was a one of those surreal moments that seemed almost in slow motion, and it brought tears to my eyes. It was just a normal size flag someone had mounted onto a tree in their front yard, but it wasn’t faded, torn, or tattered the way so many are. Its colors were vibrant and majestic, and the flag swayed ever so gently in the summer breeze.

As I drove the 25 miles per hour demanded on this little road, I passed by quaint houses in rows on either side of me. There was little activity going on since it was midday neither were there many other cars on the road. I began to think about the people who live in those houses. I wondered about their lives and how they had come to live in that quiet and picturesque neighborhood. And, then I began to wonder if their lives were about to change. I had an e-mail I had received earlier this week on my mind.

Here’s what the e-mail had said:

Subject: Chilling News From Ohio

Just thought I would share with you a little bit of what we heard at last night's Republican dinner here in Crawford County, Ohio. John Kasich (running for Gov. of Ohio) was the keynote speaker. Also present were many politicians, most notably, Bob Latta, our U.S. Congressman.

Mike and I walked up to Bob and thanked him for his conservative voting record and voiced our concern about what is going on in Washington. He made some funny botox remarks about Pelosi and then agreed with us that we have every reason to be concerned. As there were others waiting to talk to him, our time was brief, but what took place later that evening should make chills run up and down everyone's spine to hear.

The congressman had asked to speak a few words at the end of the night. Latta went up on stage and proceeded to tell the crowd how bad things really are in Washington. He said he only had a few minutes to speak, but if he could tell us even half of what the agenda is and what this administration plans to do to our country we couldn't sleep at night. He said he only gets about 4 to 4 1/2 hours of sleep a night and worries constantly about what they want to do to this country. He said that Pelosi, Reid and Obama have to be stopped.

This was his quote, "You know, you always hear this is the most important election blah blah blah, but I am telling you people...whatever you have to do to wake people up you need to do! We have got to vote them out in 2010 or with the things they have planned for this country we won't even be a country by 2020.”

Ten years! You could see the look of almost desperation on his face. He talked about the huge debt. He talked about how the CBO gets their "figures". He sits on a finance committee of some sort and listens to the ramblings of Geitner and Bernanke. He said, "If you think that the Chinese won't hold this over us with all our debt you have another thought coming. Our children will have nothing. I don't care if you have to go out door to door, tell at least 10 people who will then tell 10 people. We have to do this. This is the single most important election ever in the history of this country. The change that Obama promised us is NOT the change people thought he meant."

Chilling.

Chilling indeed. It’s all eerily reminiscent of the story in the Bible of the nation of Israel being carried off into Babylon as captives. Ever read Lamentations? It’s a book of the Bible written by Jeremiah, the weeping prophet. He wept for good reason. What he saw happen to his beloved country staggered his imagination.

Jeremiah begins lamenting over Israel like this, “How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave.” (Lamentations 1:1)

The prophet mourns over his country like this, “(God) has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago.” (Lamentations 3:4-6) He goes on to say in verse 17 that he has forgotten what happiness is.

“But this I call to mind,” says the prophet, “and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.” (Lamentations 3:21-25)

I’m reading through the bible with Brooks and Brody this year using a daily bible that includes a reading for each day of the year. Everyday, we read something from the Old Testament, something from the New Testament, and something from the Psalms and Proverbs.

I’ve noticed a pattern. When Israel has an evil king, the whole nation, besides a few, always turns away from God, but when Israel has a good king, they turn back to God. When they are seeking God, they find Him, and He lifts them up and blesses them. But, when they turn their backs on God and begin to worship idols and worthless things, God’s favor is taken away. When God is with Israel, they win battles. When God is not with Israel, they lose and sometimes even become slaves.

We can read about one of the good kings in 2 Chronicles, Chapter 20. The king’s name is Jehoshaphat. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea.” Jehoshaphat was afraid, the bible says, so he set his face to seek the Lord. The king proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah, and all the people assembled together to seek help from the Lord.

Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, and prayed this prayer:

“O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and who they avoided and did not destroy—behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

Then the word of the Lord came to the people and was spoken by Jahaziel who stood in the midst of the assembly, “Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s.”

The king, Jehoshaphat, told all of Judah and Jerusalem, “Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established.” He appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army saying, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir causing them to fight against each other. When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and they were all destroyed. Not one of them had escaped.

“And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.”

Let us Americans use this model given to us by God in His word of the good king Jehoshaphat and all of Judah who set their faces to seek the Lord keeping their eyes on Him and knowing that they were powerless without His help. Let's trust the Lord for our own salvation and give Him thanks and praise for what He will do for our nation when we believe in and honor Him.

To Be or To Do? That is the Question.

I ran into a group of girls yesterday at the nail salon who had met each other at a Christian camp for girls in the Carolinas a few years ago and had become friends. The camp took up five weeks of their summer. It had been a good five weeks when they were there, but the girls’ summers had gotten too full to do the camp again. They were opting to go visit in the homes of each girl one week every summer instead. Last year, they spent a week with one of the girls in California, and this year, they are in Birmingham.

I was sitting next to a girl from Mississippi who was telling me their story. She had said they were having trouble finding things to do in Birmingham. Their host had even told them, “There’s really nothing to do in Birmingham.” I told her they should try to get golden tickets seats at the Rick and Bubba Show. She, having no idea that I was Rick’s wife, said, “I’ve heard of that.” I also told her to go see Vulcan, it being the second largest statue in the United States and the largest cast iron sculpture in the world. “Try a hike or canoeing at Oak Mountain State Park,” I said.

But, after I left the girls, I thought, “Birmingham really is more about being than doing.” I’ve heard this complaint before, “There’s nothing to do in Birmingham.” I live here in Birmingham, and I’m doing something ALL THE TIME, so there must be something to do here. But, the city really is more of a living city than a visiting city. If I were going on vacation and I lived somewhere else, I don’t think I would pick Birmingham either. We’re not a flashy town except I guess for Vulcan, but we are a vibrant, healthy city filled with families going to school and church and playing ball. We’re a community, not a destination.

I thought about Brandi and her friends when she comes home from school in Philadelphia. She and “The Tribe,” as they call themselves, like to go out to eat lunch or dinner together, shop, go see movies, but mostly they like to just “hang.” You know, just hang out together and talk and catch up on all the happenings at their various college campuses.

I have a friend who used to live in San Antonio and has lived in other parts of the country as well. She said it really was culture shock to come to Birmingham. They used to take their out of town friends down to the River Walk and the Rodeo and to Six Flags and to Sea World San Antonio and Splashtown, but when they moved here, they were like, “You want to go to a movie?”

I told her, “Well, when Rick and I want to do something with friends, we normally just invite them over for dinner. We eat and talk and have coffee while the kids play.” We really are homebodies, and I guess that’s the way we like it. I say all that in the midst of a summer vacation for my boys that has included a trip to the beach, Vacation Bible School, an Auburn football camp, the first day of guitar lessons, and a speed and agility camp at the high school they’ll be attending in a few years, and they’ve only been out of school for TWO WEEKS!!!

We do “do” a lot, but our favorite times are when we’re just together maybe at the farm fishing or picking blackberries or at home for family movie night with a bowl of popcorn to share, playing games together, or going for a bike ride or for a swim. Being together is the most important thing no matter what we’re “doing.”

I wonder how those girls will do this week. I suspect they’ll do just fine. They sure looked like they were having fun just getting their nails done together, but my prayer is that this week they will just be, be together, be friends, be kind, be light in a dark world, be Christ. They did meet at a Christian camp for girls. And, I hope they find that being is always better than doing. “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

This summer, I hope to find time to be still before the Lord, to rest, to rebuild, to rejuvenate, and get ready for more kingdom work. I’m just as guilty as everyone else in the busyness category. We’re all always worried about what we are going to do when we really should be more concerned with who we will be. My prayer for us all, especially those of us here in Alabama where I believe there are almost as many churches as in the entire Northeast, is that we will be light in a dark world and in an ever-increasing dark nation. Don’t let the light be darkened. But, let the light shine in the darkness piercing it and eliminating it.

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.” (John 3:19-21)

Just being…

Sherri+

Brooks & Brody on the Farm

Bronner's Birthday Blue Dasher

This baby blue dragonfly greeted us as we arrived at Bronner's grave on his birthday. I had already dropped the flowers by that morning, and the whole family went together later. When we arrived, we saw this beautiful blue dasher who had lit right on Bronner's flowers. The baby blue also lit on the balloons we were planning to release that day. I had dropped off seven balloons that morning, because that's how many people would be there, Rick, me, Brandi, Brooks, Brody, Nana, & Pop. Blake was meeting us at the beach later. But, when we arrived one of the balloons had popped just like before when we were releasing them following Brody's baptism in the pool. When we released the balloons, I knew why. There were only six balloons to fly into the sky that day, and as I watched the six of them fly away, I thought about the rest of us left here, Bronner's family, his mom and dad and brothers and sister. We'll fly away to him one day, but our seventh member, our baby blue, is already there. Our seventh member has already flown away, and, as King David said, he shall not return to us, but we WILL go to him.

Bronner was born this day in 2005

Today is my baby's birthday, May 27. He would be five today. I'm not really sure how old he is in heaven. I think he's probably still two. I hope so. I have this dream of raising him up on the new earth, Rick and I together with our little Bronner.

We wanted to do something really special to honor Bronner today, and I believe we have. The video we've posted today not only honors our sweet baby, but I see it as a sermon in and of itself.

(Click here to watch: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1495122219857&ref=mf )

We had a beautiful baby boy, and we loved him with everything we are. He was taken from us. We praise God anyway. We suffer as Christ suffered, and we are assured of an eternity not only with Bronner but with Christ Himself. Jesus has promised us life everlasting if we put our faith and trust in Him. Our faith not only sustains us and comforts us but empowers us to testify to the goodness and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know Him in a much deeper and more intimate way than we did before our suffering. We have been tried in the furnace of affliction, and as Job said of Himself, "We will come forth as gold." We can never be what God desires us to be without being humbled under the mighty hand of the Father, but... in this we rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, we have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of our faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6-7)

And after we have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called us to his eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us. (1 Peter 5:10)

Death has no victory here. Our Bronner lives just as our Lord lives!

Happy Birthday, baby. Mommy and Daddy will be there soon and very soon.