Hey Punkin, what are you doing here?

Last January our ladies Bible study started learning about the women of the Bible. We started in Genesis with Eve and have been slowly working our way through. A couple of weeks ago we were in I Kings and starting on Jezebel. This woman was one that had to be in control, and would do anything to get what she wanted. The gods of her country were Baal and Asherah. She was pretty tight with the prophets of these gods, even feeding them at her table.
Elijah was a prophet of the one true God and decided to have a little contest with the prophets of Baal to see whose god was really God. He had the people bring two bulls and told the prophets of Baal to cut it however they wanted and then to pray to their god and he would pray to his God, and whichever God answered by fire was the true God. They cut up their bull, and started calling out to their god. No answer. They called some more. No answer. They limped, they cried, they cut themselves. No answer. Elijah comes up and says, “Hey guys, your god hasn’t answered. Maybe he can’t hear you. Maybe he is asleep, or on a journey, or reading Western Horseman while sitting on the toilet!” Their time was up, so Elijah had the other bull cut up, laid it on the altar and told the people to fill up four jars and pour it on the bull. Three times. The water soaked into the bull and filled up a trench around the altar. Then Elijah said, “O Lord, God, let it be known that You are God in Isreal and that You, Lord, ARE GOD!” Fire fell from heaven and consumed the bull, the dirt, the rocks and all the water and then the people fell on their faces and cried “The Lord He is God!” Then Elijah had all the prophets killed.
Somebody told Miss Jezebel and boy was she hot! She got word to old Elijah that by that time the next day he would be 6 feet under. Elijah, this mighty man of God, who had just seen the fire from heaven, started running. He ran straight to a cave. Many times in scripture a cave represents shame or fear. In Elijah’s case I believe it was both. He was hiding in this cave and the word of the Lord came to the cave and asked, “Elijah, what are you doing here?” Why does that woman’s condemnation scare you? Elijah began telling God all he had done for Him and that he was the only one left to do the work. There came a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire, and God wasn’t in any of those. After all that, there came a still small voice. Elijah covered himself and went to the opening of the cave. Once again, God asked, “Elijah, what are you doing here?” Once again, Elijah started telling God all he had done for Him and that he was the only one left to do the work.
Jesus did an amazing work for us and because of that we don’t have to live in condemnation. We don’t have to stay in the cave of shame. All the ladies at the study that night (including me) came to that table with a past.
Some of us find comfort in bringing condemnation on ourselves. We enjoy being in the cave, maybe even hang curtains and have a “home sweet home” sign on the wall. We can’t forgive ourselves. We live in defeat instead of victory. Jesus comes and asks, “Hey punkin, what are you doing here? You don't have to live here.”
One lady had family members who would remind her of her past. Remind her of her kids’ imperfections. She would run to her cave. None of us are worthy of His love. He gives it to us anyway. We can choose to stay in the cave or let others keep us in there. Or we can listen to that still small voice that draws us to another shelter full of grace. The shelter of His wings. Safe. Peaceful. Forgiven.

The Stars at Night are Big and Bright

Kevin and Kayla are moving to Texas! Last week I went up to Tulsa to help them pack and drive her car down as far as our house. They loaded all their stuff on a uhaul, grabbed Kevin's mom, Carrie, and drove down to Austin on Saturday. They are a couple of hours closer to us now, which will be nice. There is a part of me that is a little sad they are leaving Tulsa. I know it is God's will for them to move, but Kayla was keeping Eli for Jade and Kyle, so he was being spoiled like we think he needs to be spoiled! She also kept a precious little girl named Cameron that is the sweetest thing. I know she will miss them both terribly.

To be quite honest, I didn't help pack much. I held Eli, I fed Eli, and I played with Eli. He's so fun. He is crawling now and it is the cutest! We took a few pics of the little ones playing and some of Eli's bath.

Welcome to Texas, sweet ones, we are glad you are here!

Graduation Day

A couple of weeks back, I went out the back door to our makeshift chicken coop to change the water and feed the chickens. It seems like overnight the baby chicks had grown in to adolescent chicks. The baby chick poop had changed to adolescent chick poop. The smell was almost unbearable. It didn't blend well with the Creme Brulee' candle burning in the kitchen window. It was time for a move into the big boy and girl chicken house. Hannah, Rachel, and I grabbed up some chicks and headed out to the barn. Bogey and Bacall (the grownups already in the chicken yard) weren't too sure they like the new residents, so I stayed out there with them while the girls made several trips back and forth with their arms full of chicken. I was standing in somewhat of a daze watching the chickens running around finding things to eat off the ground. The horses were in the pen next to us and I thought to myself, "Is this my life? Really? Standing in a chicken yard and loving it?" I kind of time travelled back to the halls of Denver City High School, and don't recall one time ever thinking I would one day own a horse or come up with movie star names for chickens. But I do. And I really like it. Then reality hit again when I had to go back to the house and move the 6 foot tub we used for a nursery. The girls and I lifted it up on its side and they rolled it to the back of the yard behind the trampoline. I shoveled most of the stuff out of it and threw it over the fence. I forgot about it until last Saturday when we were cleaning up outside. I walked over with the hose to finish cleaning it out. It smelled awful, but as the water hit it and spilled out on the ground it was exactly the color I've been wanting to put on my living room walls!
A real pale shade of green. I believe that Lowes wouldn't appreciate me bringing a sample of that to put in their color match machine. I'll just have to find a color swatch like most other people do. Anyway, my back porch is finally back to normal. Smell and all.

Here are a few chicks that already have names. George and Martha Washington, and Phyllis Diller. Obvious, huh? It looks like George is sitting for his presidential portrait!

Keith, Sherri, and Avery

Keith and Sherri live in Canyon, Texas and work with the university students at West Texas A&M University. We met Keith at Stillwater and he ended up working with Michael at University Heights Baptist Church as an intern. Michael and Keith would sit for hours studying the Word and playing chess at IHOP on Sunday nights. They soon started calling their time "Mission Ihop" and other students began joining them until they sometimes had over 20 students. The Lord sent us different directions to work, but we all hope one day to be back together in ministry. Sherry has a precious heart and loves the young college girls she teaches. The Lord blessed them this past November with beautiful little Avery. We're really hoping that one day our little Eli will marry Avery so we can legally claim Keith and Sherry as our own. We already claim them. We love these guys so much. When our kids come home they usually ask if Keith and Sherry will be here too. We are so grateful for this sweet family and feel very blessed to call them part of "the fam".

Fresh Eggs For Sale - in approximately 24 weeks

I got a call from the Post Office here in Chatfield Monday morning and I heard "Carol, your chickens just got here!" We live in downtown Chatfield, so Rachel and I ran to the van, drove down our drive, turned the corner and then another, to pull into the Post Office parking lot about 1 minute later. We heard those little furry balls of baby chick the minute we walked through the door. You can't help but smile when you hear 40 little chicks chirping at the top of their little bitty lungs. Life is sweet.

We have two large chickens, Bogey and Bacall. Bogey is a rooster and Bacall is a career hen, I guess, because she hasn't given me one egg. Not one. No maternal instincts whatsoever. So we decided to order more. I think we got a little carried away, but there were just so many to choose from. So now we have forty chickens outside our back door with two heat lamps to keep them warm and fencing around the tub to keep dogs out.

I guess I could blame Daddy on the chicken thing. When we were little we had an old record player that had belonged to my grandmother. The records were cylinder shape. You would slide the cylinder on this little thing, wind it up with the crank handle on the side, and lower the needle. Whenever Daddy would let us listen to it, he always played a song called "Chicken Reel". He'd play it, we three girls would dance. We loved that song. You could hear chickens singing in the chorus.

Jesus, could You please tell Daddy that I just got 40 chickens? I know he would get a kick out of that. Oh yeah, and could you tell him Happy Birthday? And that I really miss him? Tell him that I've never heard anyone laugh like he did but when Kyle laughs, I see him. Tell him Adam has his sense of humor and Kayla has his eyes. I even see him when I see little Eli's ears! Does he know about Eli? Could you make sure that he knows? Tell him he would love him so much. Probably call him "Clawhammer" like he did Kyle. I don't know if I ever told him how great he was at being Papa. Could You tell him? He was so gentle and got so much joy out of each one of his grandkids. Tell him he would be proud of all of them. And he sure loved us girls. There was never a question about that in any of our minds.

Maybe I just look for him in our kids, I don't know. I just know it makes me feel good when I think I see it. I think of him often and tell Hannah, Leah, and Rachel about him because I want them to know him. Could you tell him I have a hound dog named Pearl but Michael calls her "Blue" most of the time? He'll know why I wanted him to know that. You can tell him anything else You want, except maybe, that I have a horse. I'm not sure how he would feel about that. Happy Birthday, Daddy, I love you, and miss you terribly.

Well, back to the chickens. In about 5-6 months, I'll have enough eggs to supply most of the metroplex. I'm not going to name all the chicks until I see their personalities. I usually name my chickens after old movie stars. Marilyn was my best laying chicken out of the last batch until we couldn't find her anymore. She laid in the barn, the horse stalls, buckets, anywhere she could fit, she'd drop an egg. Hopefully I'll have another Marilyn. I believe the odds are in my favor.

Come to the Table

We have just finished a three week study on Ruth with our ladies on Monday nights. I love the book of Ruth. When we lived in Stillwater we had the college and high school girls over on Sunday nights and we studied Ruth. She is called a virtuous woman by Boaz and she is a great example for our young ladies to follow.
This time when I was studying, something stuck out to me that hadn't really hit me before. In chapter 2, she is invited to eat at Boaz' table. The table in scripture represents a place of fellowship. Boaz was the owner of the land in which Ruth was gleaning during the barley harvest to provide for her mother-in-law and for herself. When Boaz asked her to come eat at the table, he also told her to take some bread and dip it in the wine. Does anyone else see the significance here? Boaz is a picture of Jesus here and Ruth is a picture of His bride. When we take the Lord's Supper (the bread and the wine), like He did with his disciples in the upper room, we are taking on His identity. Picture yourself reclining at His table. He wants you there. He wants to fellowship with you, for you to take Him in as bread and as wine and be intimate with Him. The invitation is there, but we are so often too busy.
I have a red Bible that I've had for 10 years. Red is my favorite color. It is the Bible I got when I first started knowing what it was like to dig in His word, and find all these treasures that make me feel so loved by Him. I have another Bible that I am using more and more, but I always go back to my red one. It is comfortable to me. Peace to me. The leather and the pages aren't worth much, but what's inside . . . oh my, it's what's inside that sometimes makes my heart sing, sometimes brings me to tears with the reality of love that is tucked away in there. For the last two weeks I've heard this whispering in my soul "come to My table". The way I do that is to open up that precious Word and drink it in. It says there that Ruth ate until she was satisfied and then took some home to Naomi. Naomi was one needy lady. Or so she thought. Her name meant "pleasant" but she told her family and friends to call her Mara, which means "bitter". Sure, she had been through some tough times, but she's the one that chose bitterness. God didn't change her name, she did. Ruth filled up and then overflowed on the one who was spiritually needy. If I sit with Him awhile, I'll have something to give to those who need it. I also think about in Song of Solomon where it says "He brought me to His banqueting table and His banner over me was love". I picture me reclining at His huge table, with someone fanning me on one side and someone holding a straw in my mouth long enough to reach the Route 44 Sonic diet coke on the other side. He's standing behind me holding this big banner up that says "I heart Carol!" Smile. He does love me. He keeps asking me to come to His table. I love that.