Fun in the Sun and my theme for the week :)

Today we were blessed with a perfect family day! After church, the kids called some friends and we spent the afternoon at the lake. The weather was beautiful, the company was fun, and the laughter was in abundance! It was a great afternoon!!

This evening we celebrated my son Jake's (soon to be) 15th birthday. Holy cow! How can Jake be 15 already? Does anyone else have a hard time believing little Jake is 15?? He starts Drivers Training tomorrow evening. No wonder my red hair is turning white!

Starting tomorrow, 2 of my 4 kids will be spending their days at a Christian daycamp. What fun! :) It also means I'll have more time to share on my blog (Lord willing). I'm hoping to devote this week to an emphasis on prayer. One of my life's passions is PRAYER. I hope to pass along lots of downloads, resourses, ideas, stories, and more!! Check back tomorrow for my first PRAYER posting!!

Speaking of prayer....do you have a favorite "answer to prayer" story?? A question about prayer?? A favorite resource/book on prayer?? I would love to hear from you!!

May I leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Max Lucado on prayer....

When men work, men work...
But when men pray, God works!!

Let's pray...Oh Lord, how we desire to see You work in our lives, in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our world! Teach us how to pray, O Lord!! Please use our lives to draw others to You. For Your purpose and for Your Glory!! In Jesus Name! Amen.

Fabulous Friday!

Last night I surprised John with our Fabulous Friday date night! (A huge thanks to all of your fun ideas here. I used parts of all of them!).

Since John loves boats and we recently purchased one for our family, I decided to go with a boating theme. When he came home from work, I gave him a note with clues that told him to sit back and relax while I drove him to dinner. We ended up at Snug Harbor ~ one of our favorite restaurants in Grand Haven, Michigan. We had a front row table right along the water. The Lord blessed us with such a beautiful, clear night. It was fabulous!!

After dinner, we found a bench along the boardwalk. I surprised him with a photo album of different boats that John and his family have owned throughout the years. (A huge thank you to my inlaws for putting that together for us!). It was so much fun to look at his childhood memories together ~ and dream of how we can create new family experiences with our 4 kids. What fun!

Before leaving Grand Haven, we also went to watch the sunset. We went to a State Park that has steps up the sand dunes. We climbed all the stairs and were able to view the sun set from high up in the trees. It was a magnificent sight!!

So why do I share all of this??

To celebrate God's goodness and faithfulness in my marriage!

There was a season a few years ago where John and I weren't sure we were going to make it.

Our marriage was at a very low place. We were blessed with many friends and family members that dropped everything to join us in begging God for a miracle.

They prayed for us, fed us, helped with the kids, gave us time off of work, and so much more ~ journeying closely with us and speaking words of TRUTH to us along the way. It was a long, hard, painful season ~ but worth it to now experience the unconditional love and joy that we have in our marriage .

Stormie Omartian writes in her book "The Power of a Praying Wife"...

"The joy of seeing something hopelessly dead brought to life is the greatest joy we can know. The power that resurrected Jesus is the very same power that will resurrect the dead places of your marriage and put life back into it. (God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. 1 Corinthian 6:14) It's the only power than can!

But it doesn't happen without a heart for God that is willing to gut it out in prayer, grow through tough times, and wait for love to be resurrected. We have to go through the pain to get to the joy."

I have these pages in my book highlighted and underlined and starred. What a blessing to look back on those days where all I knew was that God was faithful, and see how He breathed new life and love into our marriage and resurrected it to life. Thank You, God!!

If you are married and things are going well for you, may I encourage you to stop and thank God for His goodness in your life. And if you are currently experiencing a harder season, may I encourage you to stop and pray for God to breathe His life and power into your marriage.

He is in the business of resurrections!

And if today finds you single, may I encourage you to keep your focus up. God knows what He is doing, and will bring the perfect person at the perfect time. May He grant you patience and peace as you wait on Him.

And for all of us, may the Lord continue to keep our hearts open and tender as He transforms us more and more into the men and women He desires us to be!! Let's pray...

Thank You Lord for Your goodness and faithfulness in our lives. Please help us to keep our eyes fixed on You and to be used by You to bless those around us. Thank You for being a God of resurrections and miracles and joy!! Fill our days with more of You. For Your purpose. For Your Glory alone. In Jesus Name! Amen!!!

Shhh! ~ Don't tell John! :)

Shhh! Don't tell John, but...I just confirmed a babysitter for Friday night. Woo Hoo!!

We haven't been on a date night for awhile (we've had nights out together....but mostly we just go to a bookstore, veg out, read mindnumbing magazines and enjoy the quiet). It's time for some fun!!

John has been working so hard ~ at work, at home with our 4 kids, supporting me with ministry opportunities, helping our family adjust to a summer routine, and so much more! I want to surprise John on Friday night and treat him to a "Fabulous Friday"!! He deserves it!!

I am so grateful to God for my marriage to John! Don't get me wrong, John and I have definitely had our challenges over the past 9 years (especially having 3 babies in 4 years - whew!). After a lot of prayer, hard work, counseling, and more prayer ~ God has really brought us into a special season in our relationship. I am learning a ton (especially that I need to be intentional about investing in my marriage), and am trying to grow more and more into the wife God intends for me to be.

Which leads me back to Friday. Anyone have some fun, inexpensive ideas to create a great date night?? Would you mind sharing your ideas - please?!!

Random Updates and the Swimsuit Saga

First of all, I'm sorry to those who have noticed I'm not updating my blog very often lately. I'm trying to get into a good "summer rhythm", which will probably mean a post or two a week while my gang is at home.

In my former cheerleading days, I learned a cheer that went like this...
"Good! Better! Best! We'll put you to the test!
Because Good we are and Better we'll be!
Good! Better! Best!!"

I'm trying to use this simple cheer to help me prioritize my summer schedule. What is Good? What is Better? What is Best?? I can easily confuse my priorities. For this season, I sense strongly that one of the BEST things I can do (besides staying close to Jesus and loving my husband well) is pour into my kids and spend lots of time playing with them. Unfortunately they don't nap anymore (bummer!!)...so my computer time is very limited! I do love sharing what God is teaching me and how awesome He is...so please don't give up on my blog yet :)

And now for the swimsuit update. You may recall that I hate swimsuit season! (I bared my soul about this topic here.) In so many areas of my life, I am experiencing God's victory and "promise land living", but bathing suit season brings out my every fear and insecurity. Until this week, I hadn't been in a bathing suit since April 2008!

So, the other day I decided I would face my fears and take my kids to the pool. I was PRAYING like crazy about it all morning (Please, Lord, please don't let me see anyone I know...please). Of course, before I am out of the parking lot, I see a friend who comments that she thinks about me everytime she puts on her bathing suit (so she must read my blog and know my "issue"...how embarassing) And as I head into the pool area, a lady yells "Hey Bible Study lady!". Great, I'm thinking...this is going to be a great day, God....

The kids and I stayed at the pool until nearly closing time. My kids had a blast ~ going down the slides, splashing and swiming, being kids. And would you know...I survived. Nobody teased me. Called me a bad name. Made a funny comment to me. I made it!

Isn't it crazy how our fears can become so irrational and huge - and almost paralyzing?! And not until we step out into those areas of fear...out of our safety and comfort zone...can we see things more clearly. And Truthfully.

Like why in the world when I am nearly 40 years old do I still think someone is going to tease or reject me. Where does this all come from?? And, most importantly, how in the world do I move forward??

As I spent time praying about it later that evening, I rememembered something I recently learned in a Bible Study that was eye opening for me. Kelly Minter, in her book No other gods shares, "Satan will tell us what's true, but he never tells us the TRUTH".

Remembering that simple statement was like an "AHA" light bulb moment for me!!
Yes, it is true I was teased as a little girl for being "the chubby cousin".
Yes, it is true, I am not a size 6 (or an 8 anymore).
Yes, it is true, I have given birth to 4 children.
Yes, I'm not comfortable in a bathing suit. Yes, those things are true.

But the TRUTH is that I am beautiful and accepted by God....just the way that I am!!
The TRUTH is that God delights in me!!
The TRUTH is that I am secure, significant, set apart in Christ!
The TRUTH is that I am dearly loved by the Lord God Almighty! Woo Hoo!!

"Satan will tell us what's true, but he never tells us the TRUTH".

Kelly Minter shares..."Let that sink in for a minute. For example, if you're currently struggling with your finances, you might think something along these lines...I don't have enough money to pay my bills; I'm going to lose everything. It might be true that you don't have enough money to pay your bills, but the TRUTH is that God will take care of your every need (Matt. 6:25-30).

I think this is what we see in Genesis 3. Satan spoke a lot of true things, yet none of it was the TRUTH! This is where deception can play such a huge role in our lives. Though we all have succumbed to believing bold-faced lies, my hunch is that we have far more often been captivated by sheer deception."

Aha!! Satan tries to deceive us by telling us what may be true...but he never tells us the TRUTH! True vs. TRUTH. How about for you?? Are there areas of your life where the enemy is trying to deceive you? Is he filling your mind with things that may be true...but are not God's TRUTH??

May the Lord reveal to you ANYTHING that is getting in the way of experiencing all of the FULLNESS and FREEDOM that He has for you!!!

And if you see me at the pool this summer ~ please feel free to say Hi!! A good friend helped me reframe my pool experience from the other day. When I said, "Obviously God wasn't listening to my prayers on the way to the pool. Everywhere I looked there were people I knew". My dear friend challenged me and said, "What if Dana in the parking lot, and Rachel from Bible study, and the other people you knew at the pool were actually reminders from God Himself that you were not alone?? That He was with you." Hmmm....sounds just like Him, doesn't it?!

Let's pray...Oh Lord, THANK YOU that Your Word says TRUTH will set us free. Please, Lord, set us free from any fear, lie, habit, attitude, addiction that is getting in the way of the full LIFE that You have for us. Eradicate any unhealthy roots. Plant seeds of Truth. For Your Purpose. For Your Glory Alone! Amen :)

P.S. The picture is for my friends that still don't believe I put on a bathing suit. Watch out ~ by the end of the summer, I might be going down the slide!!! :)