Wednesday.

At Home
Ready to get back to painting the house. I guess I should be honest and say that I do very little painting. My wonderful husband does it all. He is such an awesome painter and is meticulous about the whole thing. When it is done it looks perfect! So right now the laundry room is dismantled ready for a fresh coat. I have a whole pile of things in my garage that I need to get rid of. Thought of having a yard sale, but I think I'll just give it all away. Times are tough. God's been good to us. I need to give back.

At Work
I work from home and my "busy time" starts in early May and continues really through the end of the year. I've been really blessed to be able to make a little money from my home office. I don't know how long it will continue, but I'm very thankful for the time I've been able to do this.

At Church
We are about to wrap up our first year of teaching children at our church. We have had the most precious 2nd grade class this year. In June we will move to the 8:00 am Sunday School hour and teach 3rd grade. We'll have to be at church by 7:45 each week. What were we thinking??? Oh, I know. We were thinking that we will be home from worship by 10:45 every Sunday! That makes for a very nice Sunday nap!! I've also committed to be the coordinator of the Living Proof Live Simulcast with Beth Moore at our church. So if you live close to Thompson's Station, let me know! I would love to see you there! The planning will keep me busy for a few months, but it will be worth it.

The Kids
Taylor and Lindsey are about to finish up a great school year. I think they have 14 1/2 school days left. I can't believe that Taylor will be moving on to his last year in Middle School and Lindsey will be in 3rd grade. Time sure marches on! This time eight years ago, I was about to go into labor and gave birth to Lindsey the next morning. Seems like only yesterday!

The Word
I've been listening to some great teaching on being wise. And I read a great definition of the word "wise" as it is used in Ephesians 5:15-16: "Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." The word "wise" in this passage is a Hebrew word that is one that is "not necessarily implying brilliance or scholastic training, but the ability to apply with skill what one knows." (Key Word Study Bible) I stopped and thought about that for a minute and was reminded once again that just having a whole lot of head knowledge about God doesn't necessarily make us wise. But really taking the time to read God's Word, study it, let it take root in in our hearts and then turning around and applying it based on how He has revealed Himself to us is the key to wisdom. I picked my next scripture verse to memorize and it is Proverbs 28:26 NKJV: "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered."

Lord, make me a woman who knows You and wants to know You even more so that I can walk through each day and ask what Andy Stanley calls "The Best Question Ever" no matter what the situation, "In light of my past experience, my current circumstances and my future hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing for me to do?" Help me not to ignore the principal of wisdom, but to walk carefully and use wisdom in every opportunity that You give me so I won't miss Your best for my life.

Blessings,
Dori

Update

We were able to get to my parent's house tonight.

They are so blessed!! They only have exterior damage, lost only one window, lost all of their trees, etc. But not one of the huge trees in their yard fell towards the house. Everything that fell or blew into their property fell parallel to the house -- front yard covered, back yard covered, but no one thing hit the house except for a 2x6 that went through their garage roof into the garage. They had probably 7 or 8 very old and huge trees in their yard and then another 7 or so 20 foot evergreens lining the driveway. Nothing is left except for one dogwood tree.

Their neighborhood is devastated. Houses on their street and on the street that runs parallel to their street are completely gone. The center of the tornado literally passed within 100 yards of their house -- at the very most.

Their electricity is back on tonight which is a huge praise. Their cars were spared. Little things that make it easier to get back to some normalcy. The police are protecting their street so they don't have to worry about looters.

Thanks for praying! Happy Easter!

Blessings,
Dori

Yesterday

Thank you all for your prayers for my parents. The tornado destroyed their neighborhood yesterday and passed right across their street only 3 or 4 houses down. Those houses are gone. Houses across the street are gone. Their house is still standing and is fine on the inside. The outside is severely damaged. No trees are still standing except for the Dogwood tree that my brother's doctor planted 19 years ago on the day before my brother passed away that evening - one of the little blessings as the tree means the world to my mother as you can imagine. They have no power. Houses only two or three doors down are completely leveled as the path of the tornado crossed their street. My brother called and said he was walking the neighborhood and he had counted 10 houses so far that were leveled. Please continue to pray as my disabled grandmother lives with them and she refuses to leave because she wants to be in her own room. They have a generator to run the fridge and one light off of. My mother said she saw the warning, took a minute or two to get my grandmother to the hall, heard the noise of the storm, heard the window shatter and then it was gone. She said she looked out and couldn't believe the devastation that happened in a matter of seconds. In light of what their neighborhood looks like, Mom and Dad are blessed to be alive. Many of their neighbors were not home like my Mom and Grandmother when the storm hit. We are blessed. Please pray for the city of Murfreesboro and please praise Him for protection for my family and for the hundreds of people affected. Please pray for the family who lost the young mother and baby and for the father who is in critical condition.



Blessings,
Dori

Find Rest

"Get some rest!" That's what I keep hearing God say to me. "Find yourself a quiet place and get some rest!" I don't necessarily mean sleep -- I mean rest! Rest from the worries of the day; rest from your "to do" list; rest from going here and there; and rest from doing this and that. I don't mean ignore important responsibilities that must be handled. I just mean steal away even for a few minutes and just rest...IN HIM!

When the disciples and Jesus were going about doing good, there came a time when the crowds were many, the tasks at hand were pressing and the men were exhausted. Scripture tells us that they didn't have time to take care of the necessity of eating a meal. As always, Jesus immediately saw a need and began to make a way for that need to be filled.

And He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while." (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) (Mark 6:31 NAS)

The NIV says that He implored them not only to go to a secluded place and rest, but to join Him there:

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." (Mark 6:31 NIV Emphasis mine)

I love Jesus for so many reasons, but I cannot thank Him enough for being a "need-seeing and need-meeting" Savior! He gets our attention in whatever way He thinks best, shows us what we need, and then begins to make a way for that need to be met.

Next week we celebrate the reasons He came and the sacrifice He made! He came to make right everything that seems to be in chaos in our lives. He came to bring us good news in place of the bad. He came so that we might have our broken hearts mended. He came to proclaim freedom for us, the captives, and bring light to our prisons. Because He came we no longer mourn -- He comforts us and makes us glad. He came so that He could lift our ashen faces and place a crown of beauty on our heads. He came because God saw despair and wanted to hear His children praise! And, yes, when we are tired, He brings rest to our souls!

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly. (Matthew 11:28-30 THE MESSAGE)

Find rest and be blessed!
Dori

Reversal of Destinies

Today is Bible study day and I've just finished up Week 8, Day 5 of Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman by Beth Moore. This study has been fascinating to me because it was a book that had rarely been cracked in all of the Bibles that line my shelf. I love how the pages of this book look worn and well-read having come this far in the study.

Don't get me wrong. We are wise not to study God's Word or a Bible study written by man or woman just to gain more knowledge. We could be the most knowledgable people in the entire universe and still miss knowing the Living Word! If at the end of our time studying a particular book or subject matter our hearts are still in the same shape than when we came, our time was wasted.

The living and active, energizing and life-changing Word, breathed by God Himself, is to be our very life. Never look again at the Bible that you hold in your hand as merely a book. It is God's very Word spoken to the depths of your dry and weary soul. It is God's message to His people and through it, God makes Himself known to His people -- providing a lamp to where they find their feet standing right now and illuminating the next step to be taken.

In Esther 8, because God's providence still ruled in a book of the Bible that never mentions His precious Name, the jews living in Susa saw their circumstances reversed. Once a people who only 10 weeks earlier had found themselves in a pit of despair because it seemed that their fate had been sealed by a cruel man who had been all too persuasive to a weak king.

But God...

He has the final word and he turned their mourning into celebration, their weeping into joy, their fasting into celebration and feasting and their wailing into gladness. They now found that Providence had stepped in and reversed their destiny.

And God...

...will do the same for you!

Where in your life do you need the hand of a powerful and mighty to save God to reach down from on high, lift you out of a pit of despair and turn your mourning into dancing? Ask Him for a great reversal of what appears to be your destiny. If you are suffering, ask Him to bring relief. If you are in a pit of sadness, ask Him to bring you joy and even happiness!

Reversing what appears to be your reality and destiny is why Jesus came.

The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:17-21 NIV)

Blessings,
Dori