Award

So, it's a double posting day. I guess I will make up for not posting on Tuesday. I was passed on an award from another blogger, whom I've never personally met, just connected through blogging. Please check out her blog at http://sandimahorsky.blogspot.com/



I've never been given an award before, so I was pleasantly surprised, and humbled, to receive it from her. The award is listed below:



Excellence in Discipleship
For those who are regular readers of management by God, you know that being about God's Word is very important to me. Since I have started working on this initiative, I have discovered that there many others that have a similar heart to share God's Word, and further His Kingdom. The role of a disciple of Christ is to carry His message to the ends of the earth. It is with this heart that I have created the Mathetes Award. Mathetes is the Greek word for disciple, and the role of the disciple (per the Great Commission) it to make more disciples. In the spirit of this award, the rules are simple. Winners of this award must pick other "disciples" to pass it on to. As you pass it on, I just ask that you mention and provide links for (1)this post as the originator of the award (Dan King of management by God), (2) the person that awarded it to you, and then (3) name and sites that you believe are fulfilling the role of a disciple of Christ. If you know of other deserving recipients of this award, and would like to start a new string, then please post a link to where you've started in in the comments to this post. I would love for many deserving bloggers to be blessed with this recognition.



I pass it on to my dad at
http://www.intothewildministries.blogspot.com/

and my friend at
http://www.mangymooseacres.blogspot.com/

Surf's Up

For those of you who may be new to reading this blog, I have been posting updates on Brandon Adam. He grew up in Sandpoint and was part of our youth program while he was in 5th and 6th grade. He is now 21. Brandon is in the army and was serving in Iraq, when he lost both legs in early May, due to a bomb. Here's the latest pictures of him.

Are You Aware?

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

In October we take time to:
*honor those we have lost to this disease
*support those living with breast cancer
*celebrate breast cancer survivors
*increase awareness of breast cancer and what is necessary to cure this disease

Today I write for my friend Jenny, who is an incredibly strong woman, despite her battle with this disease. She is someone many look to as a friend, a source of inspiration, and a hero. Her battle is very hard, but she looks to God for her strength and relies on Him to take care of her. I pray for her to have strength, peace, courage, hope, and healing.

Today, I also write for my aunt Alice, my cousins Lori, Barbie, and Deb, for my friend's grandma Patty, and for other friends and family members who have faced the giant named breast cancer. I pray for each of you, for strength, health, faith, and perseverance.

Today I also write for Grace, Lizzie, Hannah, Megan, Taylor, Courtnee, Kelsi and all others in the younger generation, that soon there will be a cure. I pray for a cure, that your generation will be able to slay the giant called breast cancer.

Today I pray for everyone affected by this disease. Today I challenge all women to do self examines, and get checked by your gynecologist, and if you are overdue for a mammogram, why not go get one during October? Do it for those in your life who love you. Be aware, and pray for those around you who are in the battle.

For further resources:

http://www.nbcam.org/

http://cms.komen.org/komen/index.htm

http://www.wnbc.com/breastcancer/index.html

How You Live

This is from a new CD I got. This is one of my favorite songs. The words speak so much to how life should be lived.

___________________________________________________

How You Live (turn Up The Music)

by Point Of Grace

Wake up to the sunlight

with your windows open

Don't hold in the rainbow

or leave things unspoken

Wear your red dress

use your good dishes

Make a big mess

and make lots of wishes

Have what you want

but want what you have

And don't spend your life looking back

Turn up the music

turn it up loud

Take a few chances

let it all out

You won't regret it

lookin' back from where you have been

Cuz it's not who you knew

and it's not what you did

It's how you live

So go to the ballgame

and go to the ballet

And go see your folks more than

just on the holidays

Kiss all your children,

dance with your wife

Tell your husband

you love him every night

Don't run from the truth

'cause you can't get away

Just face it and you'll be okay

Turn up the music

turn it up loud

Take a few chances

let it all out

You won't regret it,

lookin' back from where you have been

'Cause it's not who you knew

and it's not what you did

It's how you live

Oh wherever you are

and wherever you've been

Now is the time to begin

So give to the needy

and pray for the grieving

Even when you don't think that you can

'Cause all that you do is bound

to come back to you

So think of your fellow man

Make peace with God

and make peace with yourself

'Cause in the end there's nobody else

Turn up the music

turn it up loud

Take a few chances

let it all out

'Cause you won't regret it

Lookin' back from where you have been

'Cause it's not who you knew

and it's not what you did

It's how you live

'Cause it's not who you knew

and it's not what you did

It's how you live

Sleepless Night

You know how there are those people that you meet and you instantly feel connected to them, those that you want to hang out with more just so you can glean some of their knowledge, those that make you feel important the moment you meet them, and you feel like you've known them for years because they make you feel so comfortable around them? I am getting to know a gal who is like that. She is kind and caring, and someone I look up to as a Christian woman. She has a big heart. She is a woman of knowledge and she is a giver. Because of her, I didn't sleep last night. Her husband was killed by a train yesterday, and all I could think of was the heartache, the extreme hurt she was dealing with and my heart hurts for her. They were both just retiring and she was so excited to get to spend time with her husband, as they traveled around and enjoyed the rest of their lives together. Unfortunately, that dream ended last night. None of us know why these type of tragedies happen. We can't answer the why's, and how comes. So, I will continue to pray for her and her family. None of us know how many days we have left, how many breaths we will take until our last one. We aren't guaranteed tomorrow, so live today with great love and passion. Live like you want people to remember you when you are gone. Live a legacy. Live your life so you don't have any regrets.

Weekend in Pictures

We covered a lot of ground this weekend, from Rathdrum to Twin Lakes to Spirit Lake to up above Hayden Lake. It was a beautiful weekend to be out and enjoying the Fall colors. We had a little rain on Sunday afternoon, but it was still beautiful.

Brandon Update

Here's a picture of Brandon Adam. He is up to 5'6" now!

Change of Season

Fall arrived early yesterday! I had to drag a coat out of the closet, turned up the heat, instead of iced tea, I had hot tea, and I tried all day to stay warm. There is fresh snow in the mountains, which seems to have arrived much too early! There was frost on my plants yesterday morning, and when my husband took the covers off the tomatoes, he said it was a sheet of ice. I can tell the tomatoes got nipped but hopefully we will get a few more tomatoes to enjoy. I have an aster that hasn't even bloomed yet, so I hope it survives this cold and blooms soon! The leaves on the trees have rapidly changed this week and some are already very beautiful around the area. This morning, the sure sign of change of the seasons is here-fog! It's the one thing I really don't like about living in this area. Somedays, fog fills the air for the entire day and we are left with a lovely hue of gray. It's on these gray days that we have to find our own sunshine. We have to decide not to let the darkness bring us down. In our daily life, we have to do the same thing. We have to look to Jesus for our light and allow him to penetrate our lives, and not let the darkness creep in. We have to let our light shine bright for others to see so they know they can make it out of the darkness. We have to be a lighthouse in this dark world so those around us can find hope.

You light a lamp for me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness. Psalm 18:28

Jesus once again addressed them: "I am the world's Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in." John 8:12

Beauty, Despite the Smoke

I took these pictures over the weekend. The smoke was so thick in the air, it was hard to breathe, but it made for an amazing sunset!!

Lazy Day

It's been a lazy morning. I haven't had one of those in a very long time, so I'm savoring every moment! I slept in a bit, listened to Beth Moore on Life Today, answered long overdue emails, made a few phone calls, and now I'm getting around to blogging while listening to John Waller's CD The Blessing. I love the first song on his CD called Calling For a Flood. There are a lot of great songs on this CD, and in a couple weeks I will get to see him live in concert with Casting Crowns. I'm very excited for this concert. We are going with some friends and I know the concert will be great, as well as time with friends.

I also have plans today to sit down and read, maybe take a nap, and just enjoy my day off. One thing I definitely need to do is figure out this fantasy football stuff. I don't care if I beat anyone but my hubby. We are a bit competitive, and his team has beat me the past two weeks. I have a great team, too, so can't figure out what I need to do, but maybe I will find that magical player this week and get a win. I really don't get it, but I'm trying. I like football, but this fantasy football is a whole different world!! I also need to catch up on laundry and clean the house up a bit, but for the most part I am planning a lazy day. I think we often feel guilty if we aren't continually on the go, doing something all the time, but it's not healthy to be pushing ourselves all the time and I've been pushing it pretty hard the past couple weeks, so need some time to rejuvenate and rest. Why do we feel guilty to take some down time? Why has our society conditioned us this way? I remember when I was a little kid, that people actually took time to rest. Most stores were closed on Sunday and everyone survived, probably better than we do now, because people did take down time. If God took a day to rest, and he is GOD, shouldn't we take a day to rest as well? How can we ever recuperate our souls, our bodies, if we don't STOP for awhile and just slow down this crazy life we live?

So, I'm off to slowly meander downstairs and outside, to water my tomatoes. I may have to exert a little energy because my dog loves to play catch while I'm out there, so I may have to toss her tennis ball across the backyard. I will probably need a nap after exerting all that energy, though.

Jesus said, "Come off by yourselves; let's take a break and get a little rest." For there was constant coming and going. They didn't even have time to eat. Mark 6:31

Words

“Never lose a chance of saying a kind word.” — William Makepeace Thackeray

We live in a world where people don't always connect with other people, so we have a lot of lonely people on this planet, in our towns, in our neighborhoods, at our jobs, and maybe even in our homes. Last night, a friend of mine was telling me about a kid who was contemplating suicide, but he came to youth group and an adult leader went over to him and said hi, shook his hand, and asked him a little bit about his life. A year later, that kid was up telling other kids his story, and said that because the one adult came up and looked him in the eye and talked to him, he felt he had some hope in life, and that someone actually cared about him. We never know the impact of our words. Personally, I try to smile at people when I'm in stores. I look them in the eyes and smile. Many people respond with a smile back, some people are taken off guard and give me a weird look, and others give me a cross look and go on grumbling through their day. The last group of people always makes me laugh as I pass them. I probably should feel sorry for them because their lives must be miserable, but instead I just giggle to myself, usually inside, and think how thankful I am that my life has hope and that I can smile as I go through life. Even though I do work on this most of the time, I am going to be more intentional to take time today to smile at those I meet, say hi, and look them in the eyes. I think just even noticing people makes a difference, because may people don't even do that now days, as is obvious as you drive around this area! I'm also going to be more intentional to talk to those around me, at my job, in my neighborhood, in my church. Like the kid above, we never know when we might make a difference in someone's life, just because we took some time to care.

Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit—you choose. Proverbs 18:21