From Summer's Heart

Family Photos

2011-10-01T17:52:00.000-07:00

I decided to post a few family photos. God blessed me with a wonderful husband and two sons. I also posted our family pets too: Sunny is our golden retriever and Charlie is our cat. We have another dog, Sandy but no photos yet. My nephew and niece are in the 4th photo. Enjoy.

How does this look?

2011-09-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. (NIV, 1 Timothy 2:9-10)

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. (NIV, 1 Peter 3:2-5)

God has put it on my heart for some time now to write a blog entry on dressing for God. This is a hot issue in churches, youth groups, and schools today. Ladies I encourage you to read this blog before rolling your eyes and thinking the way you dress doesn't hurt anyone. It can and will hurt others and yourself.

Read the above verses again. The Bible states we should dress modestly. You may ask, What does modesty mean? The definition of modest is below:

modesty- adj. having shown or showing a moderate or humble estimate of one's merits, free
from showing extravagance; having or showing regard for decencies in one's dress
or speech.

You should not dress to draw attention to yourself with plunging necklines and tight jeans. I know the fashion world totally disagrees with this thought, but I could careless. Other's opinions of what I wear are NOT going to get me into Heaven. What many women fail to understand is .....the way you dress really DOES affect others. Take for example a teenage girl goes to school in a low cut top and short skirt. All day long teenage boys and men look at parts of her body that should be saved for her husband. Seeing lots of skin and wearing clothes clinging to every inch of your body can make a man's mind go all over the place. It makes them stumble in their walk with Christ. Do you want to be a stumbling block for your brother in Christ? You may say you cannot control their thoughts, but you can help what they have to look at. Am I saying you need to wear an ankle length skirt every day along with a turtleneck.....NO! You can still dress fashionable and modestly.

Also, too many times a day I see women posting seductive or promiscuous pictures of themselves on facebook. Is that how you want others to perceive you? You must remember if you are SAVED, you are a representative of Jesus Christ. Pictures of women in skimpy clothing and women playing it up for the camera are not what comes to mind when I think of glorifying my Lord.

I know this blog was a little more bold and direct than my others, but I truly felt like it needed to be said. So the next time you are getting dressed and look in the mirror, ask yourself....How does this look for Jesus today?

Forgiveness

2011-08-03T05:05:00.000-07:00

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven."
Matthew 18:21

Being a stay at home mom I learn many lessons from God through my two sons. My boys are around each other all day so every once in a while I'll hear an argument from the playroom or a cry from the kitchen table. Noah has taken Tucker's toy, or Noah didn't share a snack and the other one was offended. Quickly after I save the day and settle the argument my boys are best friends again. That is forgiveness.

As adults we can get offended easily in our workplace, in our home, at the grocery store. How quickly do you forgive others when they offend you? Maybe your husband has done something to betray your trust, have you forgiven him AND forgotten, or do you remind him every day? What about a friend? Has a friend hurt you years ago and you haven't spoke to them since? That is not forgiveness.

I used to be guilty of this. My husband and I went through a lot of ups and downs the first years of our marriage and he didn't some pretty rotten things (I did too.). The problem was that I would bring up his mistakes every day and remind him how bad he hurt me. I had become bitter. This so WRONG! This was a very selfish thing I did. When you bring up some one's mistakes constantly you usually are putting your needs and wants before others. You are secretly wanting them to hurt like you did and ARE STILL hurting. This led to even more arguments in our home. It says in Philippians to put others before yourself. Even though my husband had hurt me I was not putting his needs before my own. This was at a time where I was saved and he was not. I should have been an example. Finally I learned how to forgive my husband the way God would and our marriage has been truly blessed.

When Peter asked how many times to forgive someone when they have wronged him seven times, Jesus told him not seven times but seventy times seven.

I wonder how many of us say we have forgiven someone, but secretly avoid them because we have been hurt. I wonder how many of us say we have forgiven someone, but still bring it up every single day?

If you haven't completely forgiven someone in your life today please do so. Today could be your last.

Southern b.e.l.l.e.s.

2011-07-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

We have begun a new ministry at Second Baptist Great Falls. This is a women's ministry designed to disciple women and teach them how to grow and share in their faith. B.e.l.l.e.s. has very special meaning:

Believe
Exalt
Live
Love
Empower
Surrender.

We will meet Tuesday nights at 7 beginning August 23 at Second Baptist. Our first study will be a series called When Wallflower Dance: Becoming A Woman of Righteous Confidence by Angela Thomas. Books/Journal for the study will be 12.00. T-shirts are coming soon. I will have the design out soon. They will be approx. $10.00.

Ladies I pray if the Lord lays it on your heart to give extra so that someone who cannot afford a book may have one, I urge you to do so.

God put this ministry idea on my heart a few months ago and I've been praying about it since then. Please keep this new ministry in your prayers so that we may create women of great faith and share the gospel with the lost.

God bless you all.

A Hopeless Prostitute used for God

2011-07-13T11:59:00.000-07:00

If you are not familiar with the story of Rahab found in Joshua of the Old Testament, you better dust off your bible and read up because you're missing a good one! My husband preached a sermon about Rahab once and it was one of the best I've heard. Remember Rahab was a dirty prostitute in the sinful city of Jericho. There were rumors spreading like wildfire that the Israelites would invade their city. The city of Jericho lived in fear as they waited for the city to be destroyed, but Rahab decided to turn her FEAR into SALVATION! Rahab assisted the Israelites which in return did not harm her or her family.

It would have been easy for Rahab to join in with the others and live in fear and sin, but Rahab sensed the mercy and grace of our Lord. Today it is easy to become wrapped up into what the world wants from us. This might be our careers, money, friends, or even family. BUT God wants to use us in a mighty way. YES all of us! If God can use a prostitute I am positive He can use you. The question is: Will you give your life to him and allow Him to use you? Do not let fear stop you from asking God to use you the way he wants. Turn your fear into faith just like Rahab and you will be blessed!

Love you all and may God continue to bless each one you!

Big Revival, Small town

2011-07-07T05:49:00.000-07:00

Who said a revival can only last Sunday through Wednesday??

We have AWESOME news from Second Baptist. Our revival began June 26 and was scheduled to last through Sunday July 3rd. I am so happy God doesn't work just when we schedule him to because our hearts have been truly blessed. We felt in our hearts that revival needed to continue so last night we completed day 11. We have seen 17 Salvations and a few re-dedications also. God is at work! We have preachers lined up to speak through Sunday July 10th. WOW! And who is to say we won't keep going? We have a team of dedicated individuals meeting for midnight prayer ever since revival began.

My husband's sermon last night was exactly what our church family needed to hear since we are in the middle of this unspeakable revival. He preached out of the book of 2 Timothy 2:1-13. This passage teaches us not to focus on worldly things but the Father. It speaks of how we are not to let distractions take away from the mission we have as Christians. Zack told it is imperative to remember the stories of salvations from revival, but more importantly to remember THE STORY: Jesus Christ. I pray this revival will continue for as long as God allows and the revival in our hearts will never fade.

Please keep our church in your prayers as we seek God's guidance for this revival.

A Woman's Work

2011-06-28T14:27:00.000-07:00

"Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."

Proverbs 31:31

Every woman should read chapter 31 of Proverbs for inspiration and instruction on how to be a Godly woman. Let's look at some of the adjectives used in this chapter to describe a woman of faith: merciful, observant, trustworthy, helpful, energetic, reverent, dignified, and wise. WOW! I have a just a few of those traits on a good day much less have all of those traits all day every day! :)

Jesus knows we are not perfect, and he loves us for being imperfect. A few of you may look at this chapter in Proverbs and feel overwhelmed that you will never measure up to what God desires. My advice to you is to substitute the overwhelming feeling with the feeling of inspiration. These biblical traits should always inspire us as women, and set off a burning desire in our hearts to grow closer to God every day. God bless you all!

Words

2011-06-27T12:26:00.000-07:00

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger."

Proverbs 15:1

I have to remember this verse A LOT now that I am a wife and parent. As humans we tend to say exactly what we want to and care little about others feelings. We all remember the saying "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.".....not meaning to put this bluntly but whoever said that is a big fat LIAR! :) Words can hurt. As Christians, our words should mimic what Jesus would say. We must choose words that are compassionate and rich in Spirit. Don't get me wrong moms sometimes there are times when we should have a harsh tone and correct our children, but never should we yell in anger towards them. For all of you that read this blog today my prayer for you is that you stop and think before you speak. Are the words that are coming out of your mouth ones that Jesus would say?

God bless and feel free to leave comments for discussion.

Who am I?

2011-06-26T14:10:00.000-07:00

Some people would call me shy, some people would call me funny, some people could refer to me as a wife, mother, sister, daughter, or friend, but I would rather be called a Jesus Freak. That's right! A JESUS FREAK! I love my Savior and that is who this blog is for. I feel God has encouraged me to start a blog for others to follow our walk in the ministry. I am talking about my husband Zack and our two sons, Tucker and Noah. We currently serve at Second Baptist Church in Great Falls, SC where my husband is the pastor. We long to reach people through Christ's love and see many souls SAVED! My goal is to write a blog every few days keeping you posted about our family and share some thoughts on God's word. May God continue to bless each of you and please pray for our family's daily walk in the ministry.

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.

1 Peter 2:11