Search Results label/The Persecuted Church

Sometimes I Just Want to Quit

December 8, 2008 By kristen

I like to blog about good things.

I like to encourage, challenge and remind other Moms they aren’t alone.

I like to remind myself.

I try not to rant and carry on about the things I feel negative about.

I don’t intend to start now.

But I do want you to know that sometimes, I just want to quit.

I hate even typing those words because I’m not a quitter.

I don’t intend to start now.

But sometimes, the want is there.

Like the other day when I told y’all how we were teaching our kids to be thankful. And then a spirit of unthankfulness and complain-with-every-breath swept through our house. It lurks its ugly head more than I care to admit.

Or when I shared my Advent calendar ideas, I didn’t expect my kids to whine when not all the the activities were fun and all about them! (see what I mean?).

I wanted to beat them.

I don’t intend to start now.

My life is messy. It’s not the clean, crisp (edited) life you always see. I yell (!) sometimes. I cry and whine and dream of a full time Nanny. At times I feel guilty and sad and completely unequipped.

And even though it may sound pathetic, sometimes I want to be what I blog. I set the bar high, occasionally I scale it, but usually I end up missing it entirely.

Being a Mom is hard.

I don’t intend to stop now.

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An Update on The Persecuted Church

November 18, 2008 By kristen

Persecuted Church:

Can I just say I am honored to be a part of these people’s lives?

I mean out of all the people in the world, why us?

I’m amazed God allowed our paths to cross.

And our lives to intertwine.

I am awestruck.

Last night, two dozen people I love, joined with me in blessing this family. We ate and laughed and offered gifts of love (bed sheets, a trash can, stockings for their mantle…just to name a few) to these refugees from The Persecuted Church.

Our friends.

Igor shared about his recent trip to the Russian block of countries. The Sport’s Conferences he held were very successful. He traveled to Khazakstan which borders his home country and he met with people from the Underground Church. They were so thankful to receive the duffle bags we sent.

I wanted to weep when he told about their two brief days together. They all had to sneak across dangerous borders to meet him. He saw his parents for the first time in two years! He said they were all so eager to fellowship together and pray for one another, they didn’t even take the time to sleep during the 48 hours.

Amazing, huh?

I thought my heart would explode when he told of the 100,000 orphans in The Ukraine alone that they held outreaches for and then introduced us to a Ukraine Pastor who traveled back with him. This Pastor has seven children, three who were orphans.

His name is Serge and he handed me a picture of his beautiful family. He asked us to put the picture on our fridge and pray for them.

The holidays are coming and our economy is unstable. These are difficult times for so many. And yet, I was reminded again today how much I have and how much I can still give.

If you would like to help, please click below. (So, many have you already donated and sent gift cards and gifts. Thank you).

Please keep us in your thoughts on December 1st. Our local Chick Fil A is hosting a Benefit Day and 20% of their proceeds will go towards this family and their ministry.

I’m praying a lot of people will get The Chicken Craving that day.

I plan to consume a lot of sweet tea.

It’s the least I can d
o.

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Our Family Advent

November 17, 2008 By kristen

Advent is a time of waiting for the arrival of Christmas.

And even though we are still more than a week away from Thanksgiving, the holiday spirit is in the air. Or maybe it’s just weather below 70 degrees (which puts Texans in a festive mood).

This year, I really want to slow down the faced-paced hustle that is the American Christmas and capture each day with my family. And so I’ve purposed in my heart and my calendar to do so.

I’ve been working on creating a special Advent calendar and I wanted to share it with you.

Our plan is to ‘open’ each day in the early evening hours after dinner, so we will have time to focus on the activity for each day. For this coming Saturday’s Do-It-Yourself Project (DIYP), I will show you exactly how I made mine look fun and festive. If some of my ideas won’t work for your family, use what you can and come up with creative ideas to fit your family.

I planned our days with my calendar in my lap. Some activities are time consuming and perfect for the weekends, while others can be done during the school week.

Many activities are just plain old fashioned fun that will help us spend quality time together. I hope some of the other events will remind my children the true meaning of Christmas. I also think it’s important this time of year to focus on others: those we love and those less fortunate.

At the end of this post, I’ve included a pdf of the advent calendar. Please feel free to print it out and enjoy it!

Sshhhh! It’s a secret from my kids…each day will reveal the following:

{December 1} Send a letter to our Compassion Child (Don’t have one? Talk about getting one in the New Year. I highly recommend sponsoring a child. It’s such a great way to teach your kids about others). Read I John 4:10

{December 2} Visit Santa at the mall or make a list.

{December 3} Let your light shine! ask: How can we do this? Read John 1:5

{December 4} Build a fort from blankets & sheets/ Read a Christmas book in the fort!

{December 5} Lay on the trampoline and stargaze, talk about your dreams for the future.

{December 6} Fill a shoebox for a needy child (Samaritan’s Purse).

{December 7} Go ice skating!

{December 8} Make paper snowflakes (here’s some great patterns) Read Ecc. 3:13

{December 9} Play a board game.

{December 10} Pray for poor people.

{December 11} Work on teacher’s gifts (we’re making these).

{December 12} Leave little notes of encouragement all over (i.e. the mailbox, grocery story, park, etc)

{December 13} Make hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows!

{December 14} Watch a Christmas Movie

{December 15} Give $5 to someone (find a needy person) Read Rom. 5:8

{December 16} yle="font-size:medium;"> Make cookies

{December 17} Pray for The Persecuted Church and Uzbekistan (You can join us in this one. Our Russian friends would appreciate it!)

{December 18} Make a birthday card for Jesus. Put it under the tree.

{December 19} Fix Mom’s hair/give her a massage (my 36th birthday!)

{December 20} Go look at Christmas lights.

{December 21} Christmas Carol at someone’s house.

{December 22} Make a spinner www.thetoymaker.com

{December 23} Take bubble baths with Christmas confetti (recipe).

{December 24} Read Christmas story from the Bible (children’s version).

Open Christmas Eve gift from Mom and Dad (snowman pajamas)

{December 25} Go visit NICU (Every year we visit the Neonatal Intensive Care and drop off cookies to the nurses and doctors who watched over our third child on Christmas a couple of years ago).

Click this link to print out a copy: December 1pdf

Here’s how I’m displaying my advent ‘tree’. It’s a fun, easy DIY project!

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One Month to Live

October 20, 2008 By kristen

I’ve thought a lot about life lately.

And death.

Yeah, I know. Probably not the way you wanted to start your day.

It seems like there has been a wave of sickness and danger circling around some of the people I know and love the last couple of weeks. In one day, I heard the word cancer 6 times.

And although I’m not really a ‘sky is falling’ kind of person, I seriously believe that our world is headed for some hard times.

What if you had one month to live? What would you do? Would you change things? Or would you live exactly as your living today?

Genny at My Cup 2 Yours is asking this question based on the same titled book by Kerry and Chris Shook.

Over the past two months, my life has taken a strange turn. I feel an urgency I can’t describe. I want to play a vital role in The Persecuted Church. I’ve been challenged slow down our lives and to turn off the TV.I desire to parent intentionally. And I want to give more than I ever have.

And before you vote for me to be Sainted, know that I’m just a Mom. Remember? And a major member of THAT family?

But I’ve been turned inside out. I saw the reflection of my heart and intent in the pure hearts of my Russian friends and I didn’t like what I saw.

If I had one month to live, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Because God is changing me.

How about you? Would you change anything?

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