BBQ potato chips & water?

Needing a salting snack, I went to the cabinet and got out the bag of BBQ potato chips. It had already been opened and I knew that Eric & Abbie had had some the day before. When I reopened it, however, the half full bag was mostly wet. After questioning Abbie, I came to find out that she had put water on the chips, in her words, "because they were too hot." Well, that made alot of sense to a 4 and half year old child. Things are hot, you drink water to cool your mouth.

So, in many things in my day, I found a lesson from God. And you can look at it in two different ways and still find the Lord.

1. When we do something, with the best of intentions, but it turns out to be a real misjudgement: "I have a problem and I will fix. I do not need someone to help me with this. I know what to do." When you dump water on your bag of chips (to fix the problem), I think God just shakes His head and thinks: I love them but I want them to ask me for help. If only they had asked first, I could have helped them.

2. When God does something or makes something happen that doesn't make any sense to us, we question Him. Sometimes we have NO CLUE what is going on or is about to happen and, then, we question our Maker as to why. Why, why....because He knows better than we do. Maybe, He put the water (insert form of protection) on the hot chips (insert situation/problem)because He knew we were greedy and would get a big mouthful and be totally unprepared for the tongue burning that was to come.

Sometimes, God puts up road blocks as road blocks and sometimes they are just detour signs. A while back, Eric and I decided to trying to get a small loan to pay off a bunch of smaller bills. Well, for one reason or another, the loan didn't happen. We couldn't understand. We aren't buying heroin....we were trying to pay some bills. Why wouldn't God be on our side for this? ***There's that "why" again.*** It didn't take but a few short days for something big to come along that needed that money to go towards it. God knew better than we did. It wasn't a road block to stop us, it was a detour to make us go in a slightly different direction.

It's completely possible that none of this makes any sense to anyone else but it connected in my mind.

Recently, I had a discussion with a friend of mine. I love talking to this friend. I know him well enough to speak openly and yet not well enough to bore each other. It is always inspiring to hear him and his thoughts. We were talking about watching people age and how hard it is to watch people, especially people you are close to, change into someone else.....due to illness, age, etc. We talked about how it shouldn't be scary to think about dying but frequently it is. I, for one, am NOT afraid to die....eh, let me rephrase that. I am NOT afraid of being dead, a little concerned as to how I will get there...HA! HA! When, I wake up dead (again, HA! HA!) I believe, I KNOW that I will be in Heaven. There is no fear of what is after this life. When we were preparing last summer for our vacation trip, in a plane, our the ocean, my thought was not that the plane would go down....I would just be screaming as I prayed. My thoughts were, if that happened, what would happen to my children, who would raise them, would they remember me, would I see them in heaven someday? Our conversation then went like this. The Old Testament is full of talk and prophesies about Jesus and the New Testament is full of those prophesies coming true and Jesus' life & death, all the while people were being converted and becoming believers and followers. However, as far as numbers go, the majority of the people effected by the love and life of Christ has happened SINCE He died. So, from this I can gather that if I have lived the life I should have, taught my children about Jesus and His love, then even if something happens to me, I WILL see them again. If you live in such a way that is pleasing to God, people see it.....strangers, family, friends & your children. Long after you are gone, they will remember how you were, what you thought, and what you believed in.

Fern & Bamboo

This was sent to me in an email and I thought it was beautiful!

One day I decided to quit.... I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality..

I wanted to quit my life.

I went to the woods to have one last talk with God. "God," I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?" His answer surprised me... "Look around," He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?" "Yes," I replied.

"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo."

"In the second year the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo," He said.

"In the third year, there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit.

"In the fourth year, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit," He said.

"Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant. But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle," He said to me.

"Did you know, My child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots? I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you. Don't compare yourself to others," He said. "The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern, yet they both make the forest beautiful. Your time will come," God said to me. "You will rise high!"

"How high should I rise?" I asked. "How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return.

"As high as it can?" I questioned.

"Yes." He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can." I left the forest and brought back this story.

I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you........

Where to begin?

I am Stephanie. I am married to Eric ( ecopas.blogspot.com ) and we share 2 wonderful children: Nick, which is 12, and Abbie, which is 4 and a half. We are both nurses here in the currently icy abyss of southern Ohio. My family attends Sunshine Church of Christ, in Minford, Ohio. ( sunshine-church.blogspot.com )

Every year, our church puts on a Father-Daughter Valentine Gala in our local high school. Some come because it is an excuse to get dressed up and be silly. But if you are really paying attention, the actual underlying theme is: to depend on and have a relationship with your Heavenly Father. It is really touching but hard to get across because the group has fathers and daughters of all ages. This year, I was asked to be responsible for the photography end of it. I love that sort of thing and was flattered by the thought of it. We have around 300 Daddies & Daughters come through the door and they get their picture taken and can pick up the printed out photo after the rest of it ends. I really work best under stress. My best work comes out of staying up all night the night before a term paper was due, finishing it up. I don't like stress but it likes me. So three days before the Gala, two days before I have this weird-freckle-thing removed from my right shoulder, and one day before Nick's Science Fair project is due, and I am sick. Really sick. Then it was cold, the kids were snotty, the phone wouldn't stop ringing....the list goes on and on. I was so crazy for a while, I couldn't tell which way was up. Then, it occurred to me. I know what's going on here....SATAN WAS IN MY LIVING ROOM. I have seen him before but this was just bold. Anything that could be wrong was going that way because it made me doubt whether or not I was doing what I should have been doing. I looked up to my ceiling and with a smile said, "Nice job, Satan, you're really working hard, aren't you?" then I looked another direction and said, "God, I know you are there and I know you can handle this. Please, make him leave so I can do what I need to do. Thank you." IT WAS AMAZING! In the blink of an eye, I felt better, the phone stopped, the kids stopped. God made a miracle happen in my living room. God moves when HE wants to move. I don't say "wants" to imply He's some spoiled child that does things when it just strikes Him, with no thought to anyone. He can see the beginning, middle and end of us. He moves when it is right to move, when it is best for us...even when we don't understand why it took Him so long to do so. The Science Fair project got finished. Actually, Nick placed 5th place in the whole 6th grade on Thursday and gets to go to the County Science Fair. Whoo Hoo! Yes, the thing was removed on Friday, leaving me with 4 stitches in my shoulder. Oh, did I for get to tell you I am VERY VERY right handed and that I had to roller paint 8 sheets of particle board (front & back) in preparation for the Gala. My arm and shoulder HURT for three days, but things got done and the Gala was a screaming success. ***Special thanks to Julie, Tim, Zack, Nick, Steve, Jake, my Mom, Irmalee, Beth, Mary, Meaghan and my wonderful husband Eric. Right now, it is Friday evening 2 weeks after all these things happened. I am happy to report the pathology tests came back clear on the freckle issue and the stitches came out reasonably easy. Praise the Lord! The doctor had mentioned that he thought it might look like skin cancer. I was surprised and then again, I wasn't. I like to bake by the pool in the summer. Nothing gives me more pleasure than to be nice and brown in my shorts and tank top. Well, those days are over. This morning everything in southern Ohio was covered with a layer of ice. I stay at home with our children but my husband had to get to work this morning. He drives 45 minutes to clock in at 7am. He got out of the driveway just fine and a couple miles up the road. Then, the car slipped on a patch of road that hadn't gotten as much salt or grit as the rest of it. He ended up nosed in the guardrail. He's okay, called off work and drove the car home. That sad car looks like it has Belle's Palsy. The bumper is sideways, the hood is sideways, the passenger head light is busted out, and that fender is bumped up some. It had a stroke in the ice. Eric, on the other hand, is fine. A little stoved up in his arms and neck, but he's okay. I don't know what lesson is to be learned from this, from God, but He definitely kept Eric safe and for that I THANK HIM!