Three Little Tostadas

I love that our 3 little Tostadas love each other soo much! I feel blessed :)

A few more pics...

Disneyland!

This week we had a wonderful time as a family. Thanksgiving was wonderful with wonderful company, the weekend was restful, and to top it off our friend Henry got our whole family into Disneyland and California Adventure for FREE!!! We thank God for the blessed time He gave us as a family.

Sincerity

Okay so I've been listening to some more convicting messages.

Here is the thing I'm discovering.. I love listening to convicting messages because then I feel like I'm challenged to grow in my walk with Christ..... and my hope is by sharing these convictions those who have the same desire would also grow in some way.

So this is what I heard....

The two greatest commandments are
1) to love the Lord your God with all your heart,mind, soul, and strength
2) Love your neighbor as yourself

Here's the idea, if we as Christians really obeyed these commands.. If we sincerely Loved God and Loved people... then would we ever have to hear a sermon on sharing the gospel more or would we ever have to hear a message of being a community more.. the answer is NO.. We wouldn't need those types of messages because it would come out of the over flow of our hearts...

Many times what hinders us in ministering to others is a lack of sincerity.. We lack sincerity because we do things because it's the "Christian" thing to do.. We heard a message about reaching out more so now we have to muster up the will inside of us and go do more because it's what we're supposed to do..

RATHER it should be we just Love God and people sooo much that we cannot help but do these things.. I can't help but give to that orphan because I love that orphan.. I can't help but give generously to that person that has a need because i love that person.. Do we get this difference? It's not a religious obligation but from sincerity of the heart.

I'm not claiming I've arrived in this place of sincerity because that's why it convicted me. My prayer is that I would get there by the work of Jesus Christ in my life and being honest with myself that I live for so many other things than just Christ alone.. I need His help to help me truly live out to "Live is Christ" and to Die is GAIN!

Are you a Co-Laborer or a Customer?

Last night I was listening to some Francis Chan podcasts and I was really moved by the truth he had to share from God's word.

He started out with these verses:
Phillipians 1:1-5

Paul and Timothy servants of Christ Jesus, who are at Philipi with the overseers and deacons. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy because of your PARTNERSHIP in the gospel from the first day until now..

He then began describing different jobs he had and how at these jobs he would naturally bond with those he worked with and he would have a relationship with his co-laborers that was different from the customers. He gave one example when he was a waiter how all the co-workers would share in the back what type of customer they had at their table..some were funny, some were mean, some were lousy tippers etc...but when they actually served their customer they had to put on the fake smile, make sure that no matter what type of customer they had, that they did all they could do to make the customer happy. Therefore he had a different relationship with his co-laborers (or those that were his partners)than he did with the customers.

He went on to make the point that many churches today are customer oriented.. Is the customer comfortable, are they happy, does this program work, is the music satisfying? We try to create a bond with the customers that is unnatural. But we have a natural bond when we have co-labors (or Partners) in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we have a one track mind of telling people that we are sinners who need to repent, in need of a Savior named Jesus who died an exruciating death on the Cross for our sins and rose again on the third day so that we could have a relationship with Him and live with Him in eternity.. As we share that, that kind of mind set makes Christians Co-laborers and gives us a natural, automatic bond.

The early church was never customer oriented but they were Christ oriented which probably explains why they had a bond that we cannot seem to obtain today.

My prayer is for those of us that Love Jesus.. that we would live for Him daily and proclaim Him every opportunity that we have so that He may be known and in so doing we we can naturally bond as partners in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Quote of the Day

"A dog that follows everybody is no good to anybody"

"Your Hands are Full"

So lately when I've been seen walking around with my three kids I hear this quote most often..."Your hands are full".. and to that I just smile and say "Better full than empty".. I absolutely love having our 3 kids so close together and can't imagine it any different.. Here are a few perks that I have found in having them close together...

-they truly love each other and get along well
- non of them are school age yet so they can all stay home and play together
- I don't have to worry about dropping anyone at school so there is no rush in my morning
-they are going to grow up with having the memory of all 3 of them just always being together
-all 3 take a nap (on most days) at the same time and I get a nice 2 hour break in my day (this part is my favorite)

I truly feel blessed by my kids and thank God that He has given me "full hands".

Small Details..

Growing up I was always taught that God cares about the details of our lives.. but it wasn't until I was friends with Natalie Condron (at that time she was Natalie Gagliano) that I learned through her that God cares about not only the big details but the small details of our lives.

So with this in mind I was thinking about my Keloid Scars and that there seemed to be no good options as to how to get rid of them.. Cortisone shots were expensive and didn't help other's that I know that have tried them.. cutting it out would only make another one twice the size appear, and I was told that laser treatment doesn't work on them...so I decided to ask God if He would do something about them but I also was ok with not having anything happen because it wasn't really important compared to things we would consider as important..

Well I am so excited to share that somebody told me about some silicone sheets that helped reduce the appearance of their big scar and it helped them so much that their scar is hardly noticible..so, i thought hey it's worth a try and purchased some(acutally my awesome husband did the hard task of finding them and he bought them). I'm not supposed to see results for at least 3 months but it's been a month and honestly I can tell that my scars are flatter and lighter..Yay!! I am so glad that God cares even about the small details of our lives.. God is good :)

A Grateful Heart!

Most of you know that Emily was home for 5 days after birth and then she was readmitted back into the hospital (if you don't know you can read about it on Victor's blog: thewonderfulnoise.com. Anyway, I walked away from that experience with a grateful heart.. Grateful because I was told we would have to stay in the hospital 10 days minimum and God worked it out to 5.. Grateful to be home with my family.. but most of all grateful that Emily had nothing serious.. I was surrounded by small children like my own that had things like herpes, cancer, and surgical infection.. I had parents around me whose children were suffering great pain. My heart hurt for them.

My problems that used to seem so big are getting smaller as I look at the sufferings of those around me. I know suffering is apart of what this world has to offer us and what Jesus said we would experience if we want to follow Him.. but the sufferings of those around me lately has made me have more of a grateful heart for the good things in life like family, health, and most importantly knowing that I have Jesus to look to in both the times of suffering and the times of great blessings!

God is good!

Emily Grace Estrada

She's here!!! Go check out Victor's blog for some pictures and even a video. Thanks

www.thewonderfulnoise.com

Happy Father's Day Sweetheart!

I am blessed to have Victor as my husband and my kids are blessed to have him as their daddy! Victor is such a loving daddy! He works so hard for our family and really shows us his care on a daily basis. I love to see how much our children adore him and get so excited the minute he comes home from work. Victor blesses our lives, brings a smile to our face, and shows us God's love....I couldn't have asked for a better husband or father for my children!

Happy Father's Day Sweetheart! You are loved and appreciated not only today but everyday!!

Oh Baby!

Most of you who know Victor and I know that we are expecting our 3rd baby any day now. I really thought this past Thursday night was going to be it as I woke up with some pretty strong Braxton Hicks contractions. I have been told that this baby will most likely come some time this week. Of course I have had children before and I know that these things are not always predictable.

The funny thing is I think I needed to actually think I was in labor because up to this point I had done absolutely nothing to prepare.. no bag packed, no car seat, no little outfit to leave the hospital with.. sheesh.. I remember being prepared with our 1st almost 2 months in advance.. our 2nd at least a few weeks.. and well.. as you can see with this one it took me believing I was in labor to get myself in gear.

So at least I am more prepared now and we'll see when this little lady actually will decide to make her big entry into this world.. Oh baby, I can't wait to meet you!

Any guesses out there as to when she will come?

Controlling Christians: Can they Coexist?

Have you ever met a person who claims to be both a control freak and a Christian? I know I have. So this whole concept has bothered me for a while because here is my logic.. As Christians we are to surrender ourselves to God and His will (a.k.a control). This process starts the moment you decide to be a follower of Jesus Christ. We "die" to our flesh. Yet I know it's a common thing to find ourselves as Christians in a constant state of surrendering new and old things over to God but at least the process is taking place and as time passes it should get to be more habit forming in the life of a Christian.

My problem is with those that claim (or who are without claiming it) extremely controlling and a "Christian" as well. I think to myself... Really? Can the two coexist? In my opinion.. I don't think so. If you want to control every aspect of your life continually... how in the world can you claim that you have given your life to God? I don't think you can.

This is just one of those topics that I never really talk to people about but I do think about.. Any thoughts?

"Your Will Be Done"

Yesterday I had a couple girlfriends over and we were talking about a sermon that we heard on prayer. One person mentioned how the speaker had said when we pray in faith and then add at the end "your will be done" that those types of prayers seem to lack faith.

Yet that didn't settle well with any of us. As I recall in Luke 22:42 as Jesus is praying he says "Father if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done."

Did Jesus lack faith? Of course not! I believe this prayer serves us a great example that things come into our lives that are difficult but God's will is of the upmost importance and if our circumstances (whatever they are) as believers is in His will, it will be used in some way for good like promised in Romans 8:28 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose."

I say we ought to pray as Jesus did with all our prayers "not my will but yours be done."

Bitterness or Betterness

I really feel like God has been teaching me a lot lately... especially about hard times. We all have a choice when we face trials, tribulations, tough times (call em what u want) on how we respond to them. We can let bitterness root into our hearts and produce some pretty rotten fruit or we can allow God to use it to make us into better, stronger people that produce good fruit and build character within that we would not have otherwise. I pray that as those times come our way (cause they will) that God would help us to choose betterness and not bitterness so we can be used to the fullest to glorify His name.

Technology: Friend or Foe?

Lately I've been sick of technology and the war I find myself in. Don't get me wrong I acknowledge that technology can be a good thing because it can help us to connect with others, update people on what is going on in our lives and help us to get things done easier and quicker. On the other hand I find that things like video games, internet, t.v shows, and the cell phone (in my case) hinder me from more important things like spending time with God and my family. I think technology can be a good friend if I can carefully set boundaries on how much of it I will allow in a day.... but lately it's been my foe and I am deciding to ask God to help me with this new disipline of not allowing technology to out weigh the time I spend with Him and my fam. Anyone with me?

God is my Protector!

I don't know about you but I've always told people that God is my protector. Last week I realized that I say that a lot but those words were challenged when Victor left for a few days for a Hume retreat. The first day he was gone I was resting in my living room while the kids were asleep and I was startled by somebody jerking at my front gate. I figured I locked the gas man out or something like that but when I opened my front door I was surprised to see a guy with long hair standing there. I asked him if I could help him and he looked as though he was trying to think of something to say. He did say that he wanted to talk to me about his U.C.L.A project and then I told him I was not interested. The suspicious part of the whole thing is that he had NO papers on him at all and it was around 12:45 in the afternoon when most people aren't home.... So needless to say it really shook me up. My first thought was ... of course this would happen when Victor isn't here.. But then my second thought was THANK YOU GOD for protecting me and for putting the idea in my head to lock the gate since it's not something I always do.

That night I will admit that although I realized God had protected me I still had fear. I had some weird dreams and then woke up with the thought that I should not fear man but the one who has control over the soul. I knew God was speaking to me and wanted me not just say He was my protector but to believe and live like He is. I know this is something that He wants for me and with His help I can start living what I've always have said I believe!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEAUTIFUL CHA CHA!

Rachel turned one today! Rachel is such a huge blessing in our lives! She always keeps us smiling with her special little dance that she does when she's excited and her deep belly laugh. Rachel is a very sweet girl and she loves to cuddle. She is a wonderful sister and daughter. Happy Birthday Birthday Beautiful Cha Cha!! May the Lord bless you in every way :)

Modern Day Pharisees

Today when we read about Pharisees in the Bible we see how foolish they acted and how Jesus responded to them. Time after time we see Jesus getting frustrated with them and calling them out on their sinful ways.

One story (out of many) that sticks out to me is the story in Luke 13:11-16 where it says " And there was a woman who had a disabling spirit for 18 years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her " Woman you are freed form your disablility." And he laid his hands on her and immediatley she was made straight and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath said to the people "There are 6 days which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed and not on the Sabbath day."
The Lord answered You hyprocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for 18 years be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day? As he said these things all his adversaries were put to shame and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him."

We look at story's like that and think to ourselves how ignorant could they be? But those type of people still exist in our 20th century and they can even go by the name "christian". Oh yes, you will recognize them by their pride in their own self righteousness. They often compare themselves to "sinners" and are prideful about not being like them. They do good deeds for the wrong reasons. They want to glorify themselves and not the one to whom the glory is due.

True followers of Christ walk humbly and know that they can not take any credit for what Jesus has done for them. They recognize that it's only by God's grace that they can now have a relationship with him and all their good deeds mean nothing apart from Jesus. They recognize that they don't deserve this great gift and that's what keeps them humble and dependent on the work of Jesus.

A good example of depending on Jesus is found in Luke 23:39 " one of the criminals who were hanged railed at him saying Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us! But the other rebuked him saying Do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly for we are receiving the due reward for our deeds but this man had done nothing wrong." And he said" Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom."
And he said to him Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.

Jesus didn't say to the man... well attend church twice a week, dress the right way, and become a member of the church... Nope.... he saw that the criminal had put his full trust in him and he could do nothing but merely call out to Jesus and ask him to remember him. What an awesome testimony to keep our eyes on Jesus and not rely on ourselves. For apart from Him we can do nothing!

"It's moral, it's religious, it's helllish"

Have you ever encountered a religious person and been annoyed far beyond what words can express. I know I have. I really believe the following article by John Piper gives us a good look at why Religion is "hellish" and why religious people are annoying. Read the article below. I think it's well worth the time.

Galatians 4:1-11
I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no better than a slave, though he is the owner of all the estate; but he is under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe. But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir.
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were in bondage to beings that by nature are no gods; but now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months, and seasons, and years! I am afraid I have labored over you in vain.
I want to talk this morning about a typical way demons go to work in contemporary religions, including the visible Christian church. I think you will find that this particular method they use is fairly antiseptic. They often avoid the appearance of evil lest they be exposed for the merciless, life-destroying demons they are. Therefore, the work they do in the church is extraordinarily deceptive.
Of course, not many people today believe that there are such things as demons--evil spirits who oppose God and blind the minds of unbelievers, and do their best to deceive, if possible, even the elect. There is such a difference between voodoo, witch doctors, black magic, divination and exorcism on the one hand and space technology, micro-surgery, word processors and psychotherapy on the other hand, that the emancipated, enlightened, high-tech West finds it hard to believe in demons. Even though our Lord took demons with deadly seriousness, we find it hard to take them seriously because in our culture we don't see many of the kinds of strange supernatural manifestations we typically associate with demons.
But if we reject their reality we reject the counsel of Jesus and all his apostles. "If by the finger of God I cast out demons, the kingdom of God has come upon you," Jesus said (Luke 11:20). Paul said, "We are not contending against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers … against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12). Peter said, "Your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Pet. 5:8). James said, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). John said, "Every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already" (1 John 4:3). What we need to realize is that already in the pre-scientific first century the apostle Paul, under divine inspiration, exposed a typical demonic scheme which is quite prevalent in twentieth century Western society and just as destructive as any voodoo or witchcraft or divination. It is clean, it is moral, it is religious and it is hellish. Paul lays it out for us in Galatians 4:1-11.
The main point of the passage is, don't turn back from Christ and become the slaves of demons. Notice verse 8: "Formerly, when you did not know God, you were in bondage to beings that by nature are no gods." Paul wants to reserve the word "God" for the one true God. But he knows that formerly the Galatians were in bondage to beings which they called "gods." And what's important for us to see is that he does not deny the existence of these beings. He only denies that they have a nature which qualifies them to be called gods. We see the same thing in 1 Cor. 8:5, "For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth--as indeed there are many 'gods' and many 'lords'--yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things." In other words, though he doesn't like the titles they carry, Paul admits that other so-called "gods" or "lords" do exist. And in 1 Cor. 10:20 he makes clear that these beings are demons: "What pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons." So in Gal. 4:8 Paul is saying that formerly the Gentile Galatians had not known the true God but had been enslaved to demons, who exercised their power through religious practices.
The danger they were facing now as new Christians is that they might turn back and become enslaved again after having tasted the joy and freedom of Christ. Notice verse 9, "But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits whose slaves you want to be once more?" It is clear in the RSV that the translators regard the "weak and beggarly elemental spirits" (in v. 9) to be the same as the enslaving beings of verse 8. Verse 8: You once were in slavery to these demonic beings. Verse 9: How is it that you want to turn back now to those same enslaving elemental spirits? But other versions don't use the translation "elemental spirits." The KJV has "weak and beggarly elements." The NIV has "weak and miserable principles." And the NASB has "weak and worthless elemental things." The Greek word behind all this (stoicheia) can have all those meanings: basic principles, elements of the material world or spiritual beings standing between man and God. So the question is, which one fits the context better?
I think the connection between verses 8 and 9 makes it very likely that the best translation is "elemental spirits," because verse 8 talks about former bondage to spiritual beings and verse 9 talks about the danger of returning to that bondage. But look at the connection between verses 9 and 10. This would suggest that the Galatians are returning not to evil spirits but to Jewish law. Verse 10 says, "You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I have labored over you in vain." These probably refer to Jewish holy days and festivals. So, when you read verse 9 in the light of verse 10 the elemental things would seem to be legal ordinances rather than spiritual beings.
How shall we honor both verse 8 and verse 10 in trying to understand verse 9? Verse 9 says the Galatians are turning back from Christ to slavery. Verse 8 suggests that the slavery is to demons. Verse 10 suggests that the slavery is to legal ordinances about holy days and festivals. I think the way to honor both verses is to let both be true and let them point us to a profound and subtle relationship between demons and the law of God.
It is true, as verse 10 suggests, that the Galatians were in the process of accepting the Judaizers' teaching that circumcision and dietary laws and holy days should be used to show God that they are worthy of blessing. Verse 10 fits perfectly with all we've seen so far about the dangers of legalism. In fact, Paul's fear in verse 11 that he has labored in vain sounds just like Gal. 3:3-4, "Did you receive the Spirit by works of law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? Did you experience so many things in vain?--if it really is in vain." Both in 3:3,4 and 4:9-11 the danger is that these new Christians will turn back from dependence on the Spirit of Christ to dependence on themselves (the flesh). The danger is that they begin to use the law of God as a divine job description to help them demonstrate their moral accomplishment to God in the hope of obtaining the wages of blessing. So verse 10 fits in perfectly with all we've seen so far about the dangers of legalism.
But what verse 8 does is to give us an even deeper understanding of what happens when a person uses the law like that. Verse 8 show us that bondage to the law as a job description is really bondage to demons. "When you did not know God, you were in bondage to beings that by nature are no gods." The most astonishing thing in this passage is that Paul says Galatian Christians are in danger of going back to the slavery of their former Gentile pagan religion when they turn to the legalism of the Judaizers. Remember these new Galatian believers were Gentiles whose past was not Jewish law but Gentile paganism and idolatry. So the Judaizers—these rigorous, moral monotheists out of Jerusalem—must have been thunderstruck to hear Paul say to the Galatians: if you begin to use the Jewish law to show God the merit of your virtue you come under the sway of demons and are no better off than in your former idolatry. In other words, Paul has uncovered for us a typical demonic scheme which is just as prevalent in the religions of the twentieth century as it was in Paul's day. It is clean, it is moral, it is religious and it is hellish.
One of my duties as the pastor of this flock is to help you stay alert to the deceitful methods of Satan. He is relentless in his efforts to destroy your wholehearted dependence on God's sovereign grace. So if he cannot make you disobey the commandments of God, he will bend every effort to make you obey them with the wrong spirit. Do you recall how Rom. 7:11 says, "Sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and by it killed me." Paul could write that very thing about Satan and the demons: they love to take God's holy law and use it to deceive us and kill us if they can—by tempting us to use the law as a vehicle for self-righteousness.
There were some false apostles at Corinth who were missing the law like this. Listen to what Paul says about them in 2 Cor. 11:13-15, "Such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is not strange if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness." That is a daring statement: Satan and his servants achieve some of their most destructive work in the church by becoming "servants of righteousness." What kind of righteousness? The kind described in Rom. 10:3, "Being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God and seeking to establish their own righteousness they did not submit to God's righteousness." Satan and his demons specialize in taking the commandments of the law and alluring people in the church to make those commandments a basis of self-righteousness. And therefore Paul saw behind the legalistic teaching of the Judaizers an age-old demonic scheme to destroy genuine faith and with it the church. Small wonder that this letter bristles with Paul's righteous indignation.
Do you see what this means now for us? Satan does not care if you try to keep the ten commandments, provided that you take the credit for keeping them. In fact, he will assist your moral resolve if you will do it that way. Satan does not mind if you come to church, or teach Sunday School, or preach, or work for the freeze or lobby for a human life bill, or seek prayer in the schools--he's all in favor of whatever your moral agenda is, provided you rely on yourself instead of the Spirit of Christ and take credit for it yourself instead of humbly giving all glory to God. So do not be unprepared. Our adversary has a clever scheme by which he aims to ruin us and the church.
But we are going to close with a strong word of hope.
And though this world with devils filled
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim,
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure
For, lo, his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.
An example of the word that can fell Satan in our lives is Gal. 4:3-7, "When we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe. But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir."
Do you see what that means? It means that when the appointed time came God looked down on his own world under the dominion of Satan and said to his Son, "Prepare for the invasion. The artillery of the enemy will be heavy. In fact, before you get very far on the beach you will be killed. But I will raise you from the dead and the beachhead you established will spread until it invades every tongue and tribe and nation. And I will free town after town from slavery to demons and slavery to the law. And we will draw into our movement all those who trust in you, my Son, and we will send your Spirit to empower them and bring them to glory. And they will be my children and heirs of everything I have. Satan will be vanquished, all unbelievers will be banished to outer darkness and our glory will fill the earth like the waters cover the sea."

Mental Illness or Demon Possesion?

A few months ago I had a conversation with some friends about demon possession. One friend asked why we don't see it today like other cultures do. I replied that I really think it's all around us but I think we don't recognize it because our society has wrapped it's mind around physchology so much that we have a logical answer for everything. Therefore leaving no room for the spiritual realm of things.

I've had a couple encounters this last year with some people that would probably be labeled "schzophrenic" but I really believed them to be demon possessed. I know this is not the most sociably acceptable topic.... and I'm not saying that mental illness doesn't exist but what I am saying is that demon possession exists just as much as mental illness. My reasoning for thinking that these people i've encountered are demon possesed is because my Spirit is stirred inside of me well before a word comes out of their mouths and usually the words that come out of their mouths are confirmation of what I was already sensing.

I'm sensitive to this first because I have the Holy Spirit but also because I grew up in a house where my grandmother was into demonic activity. I don't talk about this stuff often but I think it's important to recognize that yes this stuff does exist and it is around more than people would like to acknowledge. I write this not to scare anyone but more as a call to open our eyes to truth.

The other side of this truth is that if you have the Holy Spirit then He is our protector. Our confidence should be found in Him and our hearts should hurt for those that do not have the Spirit of God in them. I pray the reality of the spirtual realm of evil that exists around us would cause us to pray more, draw near to God, and be alert as we seek to live our lives for Jesus.

True Pastors

Today I heard an awesome message on how a Pastor is to be a Pastor at home first if he has a family before he ever reaches the pulpit. He should be teaching the word to his family and praying with them. He should be studying scripture and growing in the word. Furthermore he said that if this is not happening in the pastor's home before he reaches the pulpit then he has no business being up in the pulpit.

The pastor went on to say that essentially all husbands that are followers of Jesus Christ should be pastors in their own homes. God may never call them to be up front in a pulpit but those who are lovers of Christ have a great calling to be pastors in their own homes.

I couldn't agree with this sermon more. Ministry starts in the home and that is truly where I think a person's true heart and character is revealed. Anyone can get up front and speak some fancy words but who is it that practices what they preach in their own homes consistently or who is it that may not be preaching in a pulpit but is living out the calling of ministry to their family.. that my friends is a true pastor.

Placenta Previa Part 2

I had my second ultrasound recently and I am so happy to announce that the placenta previa problem is resolved and I no longer have the problem.. Thank God!! Thanks for all of those who joined me in prayer over this.. God is good :)

A Good Experience...

Lately I've been needing to take it easy because I've been getting early contractions... I don't go shopping much but yesterday I decided to go to Target with Victor since we needed a few things and I knew they had those motorized carts so I didn't have to be on my feet very long. The experience I had for that half hour really made an impression on me. First it was funny to see how many people gave me looks like why in the world is she in that thing... but the thing that was most interesting was to experience how hard it was to get down some isles and how I constantly had to wait for people so that I could finally get through an isle. Also, I thought to myself if I was bound to this chair there were so many things that I could not reach and I would be very limited in what I could and could not get. For instance i had to pick out a card for a friend and I decided that I wanted to stay seated and pick from just the selection that was in front of me. It was tough not to see my other options and even if I could get a glimpse I certainly was not able to reach it. Nobody was around to help either. Obviously I could get up if I wanted to but I just thought it would be interesting to see what it was like in someone else's shoes that had no other choice. This experience made me realize that I take a lot of every day things like walking for granted.. It made me realize that people actually treat you differently and very often act like you are bothering them if they need to move to make more room for you. This was just my experience but it did two things for me. First it made me grateful for the things I take for granted and second it made me more aware of the perspective somebody in a wheel chair may have and to remember how I would want to be treated if I was in their shoes. I'm glad I got to experience this and I hope it's something that I won't forget.

MY MAN ROCKS!!!

My husband rocks... he just does.... I'm not talking about just the guitar and music thing... no, no, he actually really rocks. I mean really can a guy that makes a face like that not rock? I think not. You ROCK!!!

Happy Birthday Monkey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been so blessed by Victor and love having him as my husband. I have the priveledge of knowing him well and seeing his loving heart. Victor has a genuine love for God, his family, and others as well. I love that Victor is so fun to be with and yet has a sincere and deeper part of him that is so amazing. I love you with all my heart my monkey and we are blessed by you. Happy Birthday!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Matthew Boo!!

2 years ago we were blessed with our little Matthew. He has been such a joy to our family. We have enjoyed watching his personality develop over the past couple years. He already has a sense of humor that constantly keeps us laughing and he has a genuine love for music. The thing that touches me often about Matthew is the care and concern he has for others. He's always ready to give his sister a hug when she's sad and already looks out for her. We are so proud of our little Matthew Boo and pray that God would continue developing him into the man He desires him to be.

Happy Birthday Matthew Boo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mountain Buggy Urban Triple stroller

Anyone want to give us one? :)

I love this quote....

"We don't serve to convert, we serve because we are converted."

Dream Job...

Recently I heard that one of my best friends may be getting her dream job. This made me think about myself and my dream job.

Growing up I had so many friends that had so many dreams of what they wanted to do and be as adults and I would always stay quiet about what my true desires were. I truly desired to be a wife and a mom but stayed silent because I feared my dream would not be accepted. It was not until college that I finally stopped caring about acceptance and started sharing my heart's desire with those around me. College for me was not to become a more educated person like it is for most people, it was to waste time until God brought the right person into my life. When people used to ask me what degree I wanted, I would reply a M.R.S degree and smile. 

I knew deep inside above degrees and even a family that God wanted my heart to be all His and to make Him my first Love. I decided that's what I wanted too and shortly after God brought Victor and I together. 

I am continually reminded that God is to be my first Love and that is something I've been trying to keep at the forefront of my mind as life has gotten busier.. I want to always make time for my first Love for He is the one that gave me my dream job and loves me more than I can comprehend. Thank You Lord for Loving me and thank you for my family!

Cheerios.. Pure genius!

I can't say enough thank you's to whoever invented cheerios. Both my kids Love them. They're a great breakfast item, snack item, or just give it to your kid to make them happy and keep your sanity item.. I'm such a big fan of these little O's :)

Quote of the day..

Yesterday Victor, myself and the kids went into some clothing store at 5 points in H.B. When we were about to leave Victor tells Matthew to say good-bye to the store because we were leaving. Matthew looks over at the headless manican and says "bye bye arms". We thought it was so cute and funny. Now that Matthew is talking more, it's so much fun to be surprised by what comes out of his thoughtful mind and mouth :)

Sunday Morning Madness

Church has been a challenge for me to get to lately. Having a 22 month old and 8 month old to dress, feed seperatly, change, and get out the door on time is tough. Oh yeah, did I mention that I need to find time to get myself ready, eat, and I'm pregnant? 

I know there are many women who go through this on a Sunday morning for reasons that vary like being single, or having a hubby whose job takes up his Sunday morning or even having a non believing husband.. etc.. I have more compassion now for those women.. The awkward and ironic part of this whole situation for me is that my husband is at church weekly before I even get there. Obviously since he works at church he needs to be there early. So it's not that my husband is not at church or can't be there, it's that he IS there and we can't leave together because of his work schedule vs. our kids schedule. I completely understand the need for him to be there.. but I can't help but think about what a Sunday morning would look like if I had his help at home, or even getting the kids from the car to the nursery together.. It never crossed my mind that Pastor's wives who have young kids have so much to do on a Sunday morning (or whatever day they attend church) until I became a Pastor's wife.

 It's funny because I think many people have the idea that a pastor's wife is to do some type of ministry(not a bad thing) but I say more than that, we need to be ministered to in many ways. Being a Pastor's wife can be an unseen, demanding job in many ways. I've just listed one here.

 Any thoughts??

Placenta Previa

Yesterday I found out I have a mild pregnancy condition called Placenta Previa. This basically means my placenta is lower than it should be. I've heard that most of the time this problem takes care of itself as the pregnancy progresses. I will have another ultrasound in about a month to see if it does move up as it should. I thought I would take the opportunity to ask those of you who like to pray, to pray that it would move up and all would be well. I will update you on this the next time I have an ultrasound. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and prayers.

Judas and Deception

I heard a message yesterday on K-Wave that talked about the life of Judas and how all the disiples were fooled by him.. but the great part of the message was that Jesus was not fooled and He saw straight into His heart. I'm sure Judas mimicked the other disiples so well since Jesus told them that one of them would betray Him and non of them could figure out who it was. 

Today we have modern day Judas's who mimic other Christians so well. They say the right things and even do what other Christians do but what is different about them is where their heart really is. Although we can be fooled, God cannot be... This is why it is so important to fix our eyes and hope on Jesus. 

I think it's ok to look up to more mature Christians and desire to be like them but I think that sometimes we can find out that we've been deceived and let down and that's when we have to remember who we truly follow. Not people, but God.

Not To Us

Today I was listening to the song Not to Us by Chris Tomlin.. I love the words in the song that say Not to Us but to Your Name be the Glory. So many times worship songs can become about us, our feelings, and what we felt we got out of it. I love that this song reminds us that we sing for God's glory. Everything is made for His glory... including us. What a great reminder of the mind set we should have.

Boy or Girl?

So yesterday we found out the sex of our baby. I know Victor got some people's guesses on his blog on what they thought we were having. I'm not going to ruin the surprise because we made a fun video that says what we are having and Victor is going to post that soon on his blog. So if your curious about what we are having go to thewonderfulnoise.com and the video should be up either today (if Victor has the time) or tomorrow. 

We are excited about our new little additon :)

Date Night :)

Tonight Victor and I had an awesome date night. We went to Gabbi's mexican food at the circle, looked at a cool antique store, got ice cream from Right-Aid and got some goofy pictures of us printed from our time at the circle. Then we had a cool time of prayer as we drove to Target. We found some sweet sales on clothes there (i'm talking about nice stuff between $5 and$7) which was the frosting on the cake for us. I love these nights where we do random things and just enjoy each other's company. I am blessed by Victor and thank God for such an amazing husband. 

I knew it would come..

I knew one day it would come.. I knew one day I would die my hair for a reason other than boredom.. I knew one day I would find the dreaded white hair in my head. I didn't know that day was going to be yesterday. Yup, it's starting. I'm starting to find white hair on my head. I guess the only benefit to this new found problem is that I actually have a good excuse to die my hair. Who knew the day would come so soon for me though.

Disappointed

About a month ago I was invited to a women's ministry event at our church where we enjoyed a yummy dessert, fellowship with other fun women, and got to hear from a very nice speaker about giving gifts from the heart. We were given a cookie recipe from this speaker as a gift to us titled the "perfect sugar cookies." I was so excited because the speaker came up with this recipe all by herself and I also have not found a good home-made sugar cookie recipe. Well today was the day I decided to make them. They were time consuming, made a big mess, and left me tired when I was done. All this would have been worth it if they were the "perfect cookies" that I was excited to get but they were far from perfect. Actually they weren't even slightly better than other sugar cookies I've tried. I'm not trying to put down that nice speaker in any way, I'm mostly just disappointed that my expectations of some awesome sugar cookies where not met :( I'm not looking forward to cleaning the mess I made either.. ugghh

Hell and Love

Today I was thinking about Hell and a conversation I had in high school with my atheist history teacher. I remember one day he asked me if I thought he was going to Hell and I said yes if he didn't change and acknowledge that he needed Jesus in his life. I remembered that he said I was judging him. I told him that I was actually loving him because I was willing to tell him truth and not pretend that he was going to be ok without Jesus. That was a wonderful moment for me to share truth in love. 

I share this because I feel like Christians have become afraid to talk about Hell and just want to talk about God's love and grace. Believe me I love that about our faith but I also believe we are not loving people if we can't tell them about Hell and the truth of their destiny if they don't have Jesus Christ in their lives. I think that we should be more concerned about telling truth in a loving way then trying to skim over parts of truth to try and not offend. I rather love and offend then to never offend at all.

I'm terrible long distance friend

I have a confession. I am a terrible long distance friend. I was just thinking about all my friends that have moved away and how I can only count on one hand those I have actually kept in touch with. I don't know why this is the case.. 

This also makes me wonder who would put effort into keeping in contact with me if we ever moved away.. Just some thoughts. I guess I won't know until we are in that place.

What are they thinking?

Matthew and Rachel were having a ball together, making each other laugh and just being themselves. I pulled out the camera to try and capture the moment and they both gave me the same look you see in the above picture. What do you suppose they are thinking?

Check out my munchkins..

I love how much they entertain each other.. what a blessing!

Christmas Pictures

Update..

I just wanted to thank everybody who was praying for us. Matthew's fever finally broke yesterday after 5 straight days of trying to keep his temperature down. Rachel did get sick too but her fever was not peaking as high as Matthew's which we thank God for. Rachel's fever seems to be breaking today. Yay!! It's been a lot of sleepless nights the past week and now we are starting to get rest. We thank God that our little munchkins are okay and that we are on the up side of this flu. Thanks again for all your prayers!