Celebration of Freedom!

My life as a 'military brat" began at birth, my first traveling experience at the wide-eyed age of 3 months, now mind you my eyes were not as wide-open as they are today and I had no clue where I was going, but none the less, my journey of freedom had begun.

What exactly is a journey of freedom you might ask? For me, it was the freedom to go anywhere we chose as a family, to experience life from all angles, and to mingle with cultures across the world. Okay, before you begin telling me that my Dad had no choice where he went because the Air Force made that decision for him, I already stand in agreement with you, but, he did have a choice about where his family would live albeit by his side on all non-isolated tours, or safe with family and friends stateside. My Mom and Dad always put family in the top three positions - God, Family, and Country! When Dad was out protecting our country, Mom supported the family spiritually and made sure we were in church every Sunday and Wednesday (Baptist all the way) ;')

As I entered this weekend of celebration (July 4th) my heart traveled back to a time when my Dad said to me, "Honey, always respect our flag, our government, and our country. We stand for freedom across this world and other nations look to us to be the flag bearer of what is to come."

Today, I wonder... are we still that flag bearer? Is America, still the land of the free and home of the brave?

My desire in this posting is not to get "political" just to ask... is this the America, our fore fathers dreamed of when signing the Declaration of Independence?

I do feel free, I do feel favored, I do feel I live where opportunities abound, and I certainly believe I live in a country where at least for now, I have the right to declare my trust and faith in my sovereign God and Lord Jesus Christ.

So today... I pray for my country and those in power, that they will take to heart the purpose and history of the Declaration of Independence. I pray the lives of those who signed it were not persecuted in vain, that the trials they went through after wards were worth what we feast on today. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I'd love your thoughts... God Bless America!

Slowing Down in the Fast Lane

When you find yourself behind a slow vehicle in the left lane that seems to be heading nowhere fast, what do you do?

My natural response is to lay on the horn, and verbalize in no uncertain terms the dissatisfaction I am feeling at the moment. Especially if I am in a hurry, seriously don't I have a right to voice what I feel?

Okay, I realize I can't hear you audibly, but in my heart of hearts I believe my ears are ringing with the conversations bouncing off the walls, floors, and ceiling of this little cyber-room known as my blog. What I hear is, "Yes... you go girl, people like that should not have a license, actually they probably don't." "Wait a minute Linda, I thought good Christians were to turn the other cheek or steering wheel in this case." "Hey don't tell Linda to go for it!" "Come on, there is no such thing as a good Christian anymore." "Live and let live I say" etc, etc, etc.

Great, my mind is now cluttered with resounding wales of competitive resolutions and passionate sincerity. But who is right? Is there a right or wrong answer?

This past week, I attended a Renovare conference in San Antonio, TX and one thing I walked away with was the need to slow down... way down. I teach that we are to aim for eight to nine hours sleep each night and that an occasional nap, if not too close to bedtime, is actually good for you, but do I follow what I teach... the answer is yes for the most part. On occasion I will be found staying up late finishing a project or two or just winding down with the brain-dead activities on Facebook and FARM TOWN, she says in love.

What I am not doing, is slowing down in life as a whole. I seem to add more and more to my plate of "do good stuff" in fact it is found quite often to be overflowing, all my "do good stuff".

In as much as we desire for our cup to overflow with goodness and kindness and abundance from our Lord, the overflow of "do good stuff" simply falls to the floor making a big messy spot that I slip on... often.

Slowing down in the fast lane of life is actually beneficial because it allows us a moment to prioritize our focus and purpose. So how do I now slow down?

• Turn off electronics one day a week - cell phone, TV, radio, everything!
• Spend 30 minutes each week in solitude, no talking, no active thinking, maybe just a walk outside or sitting in a quiet place with the room cool, just me and my Abba.
• Spend an hour each week in silence, go out to the mall, clean my room, organize, read, anything I want with no words (texting included).

These are three ways I choose to slow down, it may not seem like much, but I have a sense of freedom in it. What do you do?

Teens and Summer Romance

As the mother of four great children... seriously they are wonderful!

Sure we've gone through the bumps and bruises of relational-learning but, I will say without a doubt, I'd claim them as mine hands down any day of the week. Now back to where I was going with this thought before I chase something else shiny, I have four children ranging in age from 32 down to 14, well he would argue that a month away is almost as good as here, so for all purposes, he is 15. There I go again, stop... leave shiny stuff alone... stay on target... I have a 15 year old son and summer is here... help!!!

Is it just me or do you agree that life is different today than for those of us in our forties to fifty somethings? Actually, I'll increase the range to include thirty somethings... here it is, I think girls are more aggressive and boys need stronger reins. What do you think, is it just me?

I mean, I have two of each, so i don't easily jump out there to criticise, but why have our girls gone off the deep end when it comes to dating? I was talking the other day to a young lady who said, "I like a new guy, he's great and he's 16." "Well, that's not too bad" your thinking, but she's only 13 and a young 13 at that. Goodness!

I looked her in the eyes and said, "You have to be kidding me, you're dating?"

"Well", she started off, "It's not like we go out a lot of places or anything, but I like him so much."

It must have been pretty obvious with my mouth wide open and deer in the headlights look that I wasn't leaning her direction any time soon to offer positive feedback to this discussion, I mean "Really!" A thirteen year old should not be thinking about the opposite sex, they should be keeping up with the latest and greatest cartoons and watching Veggie Tales videos!

I guess that's asking too much from the youth of today, right?

Wrong... whatever it takes, especially today, we must preserve the innocence of our young people, not with coercion and threats but through active day-to-day participation and sound guidance from mom and dad.

I had youth advocate, Sean McDowell on my show a couple weeks ago and he quoted an incredible statistic, "40% of families across America had no father in the house." Imagine, neighborhoods filled with girls who have never had a daddy say, "You are beautiful and special" or boys learning how to "be a man" from peers who don't have a clue. Is it any wonder, we have babies birthing babies and young people taking their own lives... all because they think sex is LOVE, but their not getting the results they desire when they give in to the worlds lies.

Time to take a stand... what do you do to empower your teens? How do you let your kids know you really love them? Tell me your secrets and I'll tell you mine.

Dog Daze of Summer

It's true, that summer is considered official around the 21st of June but here in Texas... it's summer already! Hot days, hot nights, hot inside and out, thank goodness for ice and tabletop-fans. It takes everything to keep moving without sticking to something, yes, the dog days of summer are upon me.

My life seems to be in a 'daze' of sorts here lately too. Overload, overwhelm, and the desire to get everything done, right now. The only thing missing is the additional 15 hours in my day - he he.

What has you wrapped around it's little finger of intent? If you are anything like me, I intended to keep my blog current posting every few days, HA! I intended to prepare a nice meal everyday with the family eating at the dinner table at least once, double HA! The list could go on, and it does, but why tell you what I haven't accomplished, when I can share what has happened in spite of my daze-of-intent.

I have spent more time reading the books I love, here is one you need to check out for the summer, it's called, SATURDAYS WITH STELLA, written by an incredible author, Allison Pittman. Allison has a three book series called, Crossroads of Grace and her newest novel, Stealing Home. All of them are awesome and will fill your summer read itch, but I'm thinking dog daze here, so this one fits wonderfully.

I have spent more time with my family this year, traveling back and forth from San Antonio to Austin, stopping in San Marcus as well. I have renewed friendships and maintained current ones, with an occasional breakfast, lunch, or twitter. And most of all, I have spent more time with God on a weekly basis than I have in years.

I am really loving the new Facebook group I started a month ago: Quiet-Timers:30-Days in the Word   Join me a a great group of believers as we meet each week on the Discussion Board posting our thoughts about the truth and life application we have received from God's word. If you are not a member of Facebook, do it if just to be a part of this incredible group.

My daily quiet time empowers me to keep going and to be the child God desires me to be, because on my own... it's just not happening.

Let me leave you with this, as the days get hotter and life seems unbearable, let the One who created even the hottest days, quench your thirst for rest and refreshment as He has done for me.

Hugs!

Headaches a Plenty!

This has been one of those weeks... no, months. Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about, everything that can go wrong has gone wrong and some things have gone wrong... twice.

Hmmmm... so what did I do? Cry out to God with indescribable sounds coming forth from my depths of despair? Reach out to friends, family, or the best tech person I could find? How about all of the above? Yes, all of the above and still I set, with my desktop hard-drive looping insanely, as though it had a personal vendetta against me.

Do I really believe my computer has it out for me? No! But someone does... and I'm not alone on the battlefield. The evil one is causing havoc in the lives of so many sisters right now, it's hard to imagine what will happen next.

Each of us have our personalized battlefield; family, technology, job, health, marriage, children... the list can go on and on. I guess the question is how do we prepare for the battle?

A morning quiet-time is my best defense, yet I have found a few days this week, it's become my late afternoon quiet-time, or I'll get to it tonight quiet-time, can I get an Amen? It seems when I need to spend time with Him most, I don't. What's up with that?

I'd love your thoughts... I don't believe I'm alone here.

Finding Courage to Encourage

When I think of encouragement, several pictures run through my mind. Teachers giving instruction to their students in the classroom, parents urging their nine month old to take that first step, fathers handing the car keys to their youngest child saying, "You can do it son, I'm proud of you." These pictures have one central thread, can you guess what it is? Give up? Each encourager is in the "has to" position, you know... the teacher has to motivate, it's her job, the parent has to work at getting their child to walk or else suffer the consequences, and the father, well, the only way the son can get out of the house sooner is if he learns to drive, gets a summer job and heads off to college, so he has to train him well.

What if we have nothing vested in a person who needs encouragement, what if, what they did or didn't accomplish had no direct connection with us? Would we choose to encourage anyway? What if our encouragement came in the form of taking off work to ensure they got to the doctors office or grocery store? What if our encouragement required an outlaying of cash, would we reach deep into our pockets? What if our encouragement cost us a raise or a promotion...

It takes courage to encourage today. I humbly admit, I'd be hard pressed not to answer no to some of those encouragement opportunities and I'm a speaker who teaches about encouragement, so what's up with that! The truth is we all fall short of the glory of God, even in the area of encouragement.

So what do we do to find the courage to encourage? For me, I seek out my sisters-in-faith and ask for prayer. And like the flood-waters of a tsunami they pour out to over flowing... some on their knees, others in silence, still others in written prayer and yes, even those who place their hands on me asking for God's mercy and grace. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound... especially when it resounds out of the mouths of your children oh Lord.

This is a picture of me and some of my sisters, celebrating Pam's birthday, downtown San Antonio. I am blessed to have others to go to when I need encouragement as well.

Do you find it challenging to encourage when there is a cost involved? Let me know.

Do You Know How to Play?

There is a test that shows how old we are in real time compared to our chronological age. It is based on our activity level, fitness level, and mental clarity. Sadly, many find their ranking older than their actual age, I believe it's because we have lost the will to play.

The busyness of life sucks us in with the promise of financial freedom, dreams come true, and a life worth living. Reality shows up with damaged relationships, broken marriages, disfunctional children and a life filled with remorse.

My husband chose to step out of his comfort zone to learn how to play video games with our youngest son, they enjoy their time together on a weekly basis. This also opened the door to a weekly bible study for both of them together - playing & praying together, it's an awesome thing.

I on the other hand, have spent so many hours working at my ministry, I have lost opportunities to "play" with my kids. Now, I make it a point to step back from the computer at a resonable hour to go outside with my son, sit and attempt to play some of his games with him, go to the zoo, or whatever he wants to do. It takes more than desire on my part, I actually have to plan and be proactive.

Traveling an hour from home to be with the older kids and grandchildren doesn't happen as often as I like but I truly love our time together when we have it. I desire to be the fun Maw-Maw... please pray for me to succeed in this.

What do you do to have fun with your friends & family? Do you find it as challenging as I do do put work to the side to have fun?