Captain's Blog

Being full of the Holy Spirit is tied to many things in the Bible. Prophesy, speaking in tongues, boldness, courage, filling others, confidence, power, joy, sense of fullness like being drunk, wisdom, signs and miracles are all attached to the power of the Holy Spirit.

I'm thinking that least a couple of these qualities might appeal to you. If they are appealing, here's the deal. The best anyone can ever be is not good enough. We will always fall short of being perfect. God is perfect and requires us to be blameless. In the old testiment every time a person messed up they were suppose to sacrifice an animal to get back to a right relationship with God. So God decided to send his only Son Jesus Christ to be the ultimate sacrifice for all of our sins. No more sacrificing animals!!

So we have to accept that Jesus died for our screw ups. The times we missed the mark. Otherwise his "sacrifice" isn't for us. Ask Christ to come into your life and clean you up to restore that right relationship with God. When we do that God gives us a deposit of his Holy Spirit to live in us and help us as we walk out the rest of our life. We have a free personal counsellor for life! He gives us all those qualities I talked about above.

Your life will feel complete. You will have a renewed purpose. Have you ever wondered why so many people who have all it all commit sucide? Without Christ in our lives there is no sense of purpose, no lasting hope, no anything good that lasts.

Is this a religion? I personally don't see it as a religion. I see it as a personal relationship with God who is wants to restore a relationship with His kids.

Many relgions you have to do something to get something. It's "man" reaching to a higher seemingly unreachable and unpersonal power. What I described is God sending His son for us. We accept and recieve it.

Too simple? Children get it and us adults who have to reason it all think it's got to be more complicated. :)

Got questions? God can handle your questions and even your doubt. Ask Him to show you if He's real.

Where are you at?

For those who have asked Christ into their life, I encourage you to ask God to continously fill you. We are sponges and sometimes dry out. Get back to that uninhibitied realtionship with God. See what happens. Nothing like it.

Encouraging you.

Alanne.

In the Bible it talks about being filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. Now there are many arguments whether those two go hand in hand or not. I'm not here to debate that. I will say they are both great and I encourage you to check them both out more. Especially being full of the Holy Spirit and having sex with your spouse! (more on that topic to come, stay tuned) Ok so this is proving to be an interesting, straight up post.

So initially I was going to talk about being Full of the Holy Spirit and I will touch on that however, when I went to do research on www.biblegateway.com I discovered a whole bunch of things people could be filled with. Search "Filled Spirit"

filled with the Spirit of God

filled with power

filled with the spirit of wisdom

filled with rage

filled with Holy Spirit

Whatever you are filling your life with, evenutally you will be full of that. Deep I know. When you are full of something it causes you to act. Here we go.

Full of words -you want to speak

Full of Holy Spirit - you want to do God's will

Full of wisdom - you know what to do and want to do it

Full of Faith - you want to do

Full of doubt - you tend to question or avoid

Full of fear - you tend to hide or lash out

Full of shit - well garbage in garbage out

Like the example I gave my kids about us all being 341 mL coke cans. (If we are open we are crushable and if we're full and sealed we can't be crushed but realisitically we don't ever stay sealed very long.)

So 2 questions for you....

What are you filling your can / life with ? What does that make you full of ?

When the pressures of life come and squish you what are you going to spew onto those around you?

Pressures will come. Don't be ignorant as I was to that.

Fill yourself with Christ.You will do things that will blow your mind. Luke 9:1When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

We are to be his disciples so guess what you have the ablitiy to do those things too.

You won't be bored. Freaked maybe but not bored. And life will be way more than you could ever imagine.

Want some?

Alanne

Scriptures for "filled"

Exodus31:3

Exodus 35:31

Deut 34:9

Esther 5:9

Micah 3:8

Luke 1:15

Luke 1:41

Luke 1:67

Acts 2:4

Scriptures for "full"

Job 32:18

Luke 4:1,2

Luke 10:21

Acts 6:3

Acts 6:5

Acts 7:55

Acts 11:24

Romans 8:4

Romans 15:19

Scriptures for "power" and "authority"

Rev 12:10

Luke 9:1

Luke 10:19

Thanks to www.biblegateway.com

Recently I posted a Recycling Challenge. Thank you for all who responded, shared your recycling ideas and more importantly took up the challenge. The draw winner is Christy Fisher!!! Congratulations. I will be delivering your BeautiControl Product shortly.

Alanne Schellenberg.

I wanted to share a couple things that have impacted me over the last few weeks.

Here are the titles...

Big Decisions, One Liners, Challenges, What we're here for.

Big Decisions

I was listening to the radio in the van and there was a snipet from a ministry called Love Worth Finding Ministries with Adrian Rogers and Adrian shared something that really impacted me. He said "One big decision takes care of a whole bunch of small ones." Is there some things in your life that you are mulling over? Sometimes a bigger decision that you have made or will make will take care of some of those smaller details.

A couple big decisions that I can think of would be accepting Christ's sacrifice on the cross for you, making him center of your life. Or the decision of marriage. Are there any other big decisions that you can think of?

One Liners

This topic came about by a conversation I had with a dear friend. We both share similiarities in our lifes in that we love on people around us and then get "whelmed" by all the directions we feel pulled in.

So here's your chance. What would you do if you were in our shoes?

Challenges

"I want to see more miracles and less TV." Adam Browett

"The music style, volume, or speed of songs sung at a service does not change God or our need to worship Him." - me

"A heart of true compassion, and a heart of love combined with wrong teaching and direction is disasterous." - me

What we're here for

And I'll leave you with this thought, It's from Isaiah 60:21b

"... They are the shoot I have planted,
the work of my hands,
for the display of my splendor."

Living life with you, beside you, for the display of His splendor.

Alanne Schellenberg

As I sat a t a red light,I watched the drivers turn infront of me. I watched them as they made decisions and acted on those decisions. I was thinking about how people obey the rules of the road how they make educated guesses about what the other drivers will do next.

Just as there are rules of the road there are rules in life. For some people they obey just the bare minimum and some are extreme legalists. I'm wondering where you are at? I'm thinking about where I'm at.

What rules do you live by?

The curious,

Alanne.

Go to Youtube and type watch?v=zCdZwitrNoY

This was so great I had to share.

Alanne

I love to communicate and communicate well. I believe it's important. For me though, I'm learning to shut up already!

I need to gear up to fight the good fight, not just sit around talking about the fight I should be fighting!!

Today at church Pastor Dave Wood delivered a powerful message called The Fourth Tabernacle. It should be available to listen to soon on www.weca.com. At the end of his message he said "There's no victory without at battle, it's hard but I've read the Book, we win!"

"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.Proverbs 25:11 My mom drilled this into me.

There's a time to talk, there's a time to pray, there's a time to fight and I need to know when to to what. And maybe moreso, just do it!

Fighting with you. :)

Alanne.

PS If you'v read this and you don't understand what I'm talking about, if you don't understand the spiritual battle that goes on around us but want to know more, email me. I'd love to talk with you and hopefully help answer some questions you might have. Life is hard but knowing some key things will help. Thinking of you and praying for you. Alanne schellenbergs@shocotech.com

This morning I learned a lot reading the Bible. I love learning new things. And being Saturday I didn't have places to be I went to lie down and I prayed a quick thoughtless prayer asking God to help me remember that. How selfish of me.

At Evangelistic Tabernacle in Nanaimo I went on (and later helped lead) and Encounter weekend. It's a weekend packed full of 18 sessions that walk through what the Bible says about being a Christian to how to walk that out. It's intense but so good. One of the sessions was a soaking session. A time where everyone grabs their pillow and sleeping bag and
"soaks" while quiet music plays in the background. (Sounds great hey?)

I got thinking and this question came to my mind. "How can something cool I've learned soak in without soak time?"

So the challenge to me was not only to read the Word but to take the time to let it soak in.

Philippians 4:8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

In this busy world take the time to learn and then time think on it.

Thinking on this this morning.

Alanne.

I was at my BeautiControl Unit Meeting and the Director closed the meeting by reading a quote from the book "If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat." By John Ortberg. It encouraged us to get motivated in our business by discovering and getting over our fears. I'm going to check it out. If you've read it let me know what you think.

Alanne.

Maybe I just liked the title. Had to share.

By Bob Gass

Mow Your Own Garden - Not Someone Else's
What is that to you?... follow Me!
John 21:22 NIV
Peter had strong opinions about others. Maybe you are like him. One day he started meddling in John's business, saying, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus answered, "What is that to you?… follow Me!" There's an important lesson here. Learn to identify 'who owns what.' If it's their garden let them mow it, or live with the weeds.(Love it!) If someone can only get what they want by playing the martyr or guilt tripping and manipulating others, that's their issue; don't make it yours! If they're living with consequences, it's their consequences not yours! If they deny their problems or can't think clearly on a particular issue, the confusion is theirs. It's your responsibility to love and pray for them, even offer help, but it's not your responsibility to fix or rescue them. If they don't seem capable of showing appreciation or apologising when they're wrong, that's their problem. Only when they have an attitude of gratitude and the humility to acknowledge their mistakes, will they grow. In the meantime it's their garden, stop trying to mow it! If your hopes, your peace and your happiness are dependant on anyone other than God, learn to detach. You're a joint-heir with Christ, not a joint-tenant with Him (Romans 8:17).
Has it occurred to you that God could be waiting for you to get out of the way so that He can go to work in their situation? The truth is, you are powerless over them, but God's not! He may let them stumble before He lifts them, but He'll do what's right and what's best. So follow the Lord - and mow your own garden!

Strong words but good to chew on.

Alanne.

I have to add some details (read the last entry called Challenge) as now my kids want to get involved. They have challenged Kevin if they get their friends to recycle that he should get a toy for a draw prize!! I'm excited about this and possibly other challenges.

The draw will happen at the End of February and depending on how it goes we may move it to the end of March!

So for anyone who challenges their school, workplace, community or city/government to also take on this challenge will get 5 extra entries into the draw. (the government is already on board but people don't get fined for not recycling. - If you get that changed I'll just hand you a product on top of the draw!)

I'm excited! Feel great about what you are doing and be a great example to those around you.

Alanne.

It's tough as a mom to add something extra to our plates. It's so much easier to toss something into the garbage than take the lid off rinse it out and then walk it down the stairs to put it into the recycling.

It was easier in Nanaimo, if you don't recycle you get a fine, plus you are only allowed one garbage can per week so it only makes sense to recycle. I know in Ladysmith, just south of Nanaimo, they have even gone a step further and you have to seperate your compost for roadside pick up. Edmonton is a different story, recycling is optional. It's definately easier that Nanaimo as we had to sort it and here we don't!!!

So my challenge to all the mom's/ladies in Edmonton and I'll even go as far as to say all Alberta, is to recycle everything possible. Get your kids to be involved. It is good for the environment. It is good training for your kids and as we all well know actions speak louder than words.

So take the challenge. I tell you what..... I will have a draw. For every response I get I will put your name into a draw and I will give you a free product from BeautiControl. And if you share this with 12 friends let me know and I will enter you twice. I trust that you are challenged and will do your part to help the environment and train your kids.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Alanne Schellenberg

www.alanne.info

We start each day new. It's great. We could get up and do nothing or get ready for work or to take care of kids or??

Having 4 kids is busy. Many people have asked how do you do it? And somehow I still find time to make cards and do spas. So my question is what fills your day? Everyday we have 24 hours. That's 1440 minutes (if my calculator and mind did it right). Well it takes me say 3 mintues to wash my face and brush my teeth in the morning. Do you have 3 minutes in the morning? I do my quiet time most mornings and that takes me about 15 minutes. Do you have 15 mintues? I think you get the idea. We all have the same amount of time. We all have different lives and time schedules etc. But somehow the bottom line is that we have time for what we make time for. Maybe that sounds silly but I recall having a conversation with a young lady who didn't have 8 hours to attend a training day. Ok but the same person has time to see up to several movies a week. It's about what we make priority.

Now there is nothing wrong with doing what we want. My challenge is be honest about it.

I am being challenged to pray and fast. My life is currently not busy. I have my regular must do's, feed the kids, clean the house etc. but on top of that I have some time. I am feeling like I deserve some "me" time. I have had a busy couple of months. But I know I'm called to pray. So do I flip on the tv or start a project or do I simply take time to hang out with God. The tv and or projects make me feel good. They make me feel accomplished (muchly desired in the life of a mom) But it's temporal. It's self satisfying. For me it's not right. So what's the right thing for you? Only you can answer that.

I need to think about what is eternal. I need to be disciplined about reading the Bible, praying and fasting. No distractions. (including Christian books or music) There is NOTHING WRONG WITH CHRISTIAN MUSIC OR BOOKS as long as your not ignoring God. :)

Ps 94 says "Does he who implanted the ear not hear? Does he who forms the eye not see? Does he who disciplines nations not punish? Does he who teaches man lack knowledge?.....

Unless the Lord had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death."

So what's filling your day?

Served Straight up.

Alanne.

Good morning! Ladies I am asking that you lift Kevin and I up in prayer. In this fast paced life we cannot survive with out fuel, maintenance and the occasional overhaul. Satan wants to rip apart a great thing and destroy God's work. Thank you for your support and prayers. You're the best.

Alanne.

Thanks to my dh and cousin Dennis for working this into our conversations, I believe it's a Cadillac commercial.....

"The nail that sticks out gets hammered down!" :)

Happy Saturday to you! Hope you are having a good day.

Alanne

What does a friendship look like to you? I asked this question on facebook so it's only fair that I share what it is to me.

A friendship to me is when someone is there for me, they take the time to hear me and remember what I've said. They are funny and make me laugh. They let me cry on their sholder. They challenge me in love and encourage me to go further than I thought I could go. A friend makes me a better me. A friend will love me more than the friendship. They will tell me what I need to hear even if it could possibly destroy the friendship. Foundationally my friends are working on being who they are suppose to be in Christ. Quoting Pastor Dave Wood, "You will only ever have a handful of close friends your whole life." I am blessed with an amazing family and extended family and amazing close friends. I love them and cherish them deeply.

I just read a great article my cousin forwarded to me. My cousin and her husband pastor in Medicine Hat Alberta.

These are the most exciting words for me to hear and yet the hardest. How much of what we say or explain is fact and how much is our opinion or swayed by our opinion?

That being said how do we present the gospel or solve problems when we are sinful people swayed by our own opinion, formed mainly by our own experiences? Lets go to the Word and see if we can gain some understanding.

Paul writes, "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel - not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of it's power. " 1Cor 1:17

Later on Paul writes "I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my reaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."

We need to tread carefully "...lest the cross of Christ be emptied of it's power." Wow that is concerning that our "human wisdom" could do that. How do we avoid that?

Through out the upcoming chapters of Corinthians you see Pauls honesty and how humble he is. He quotes Jeremiah9:24 in 1Cor 1:31b "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." He also talks about the "rights" of Christians and how he does not "use any of these rights" 1 Cor 9:15a

Being a Christian is complicated and yet simple. The wisest don't understand and yet children get it. So where does that leave most of us? Well thankfully as a friend encouraged me with scripture, "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Cor 12:9.

So this blog does not have a conclusion. All I can end with is that I don't have all the answers and my opinions are biased but I love my Savior and am encouaraged that He loves me and uses me. I encourage you to get to that place too.

Alanne.

So much has happened this summer. It has been amazing. I will give some highlights and some verses that God has spoken to me through shortly. Just wanted to say hey and I'll write more soon!

Blessings.

Alanne

Carpe Diem is the name of my brother and sister-in-laws sailboat but the saying has been on my mind lately.

The meaning "seize the day; enjoy the present, as opposed to placing all hope in the future. "

So I've been working on this. "Being in the moment" or as a good friend shared "Be in the Zone".

This is tough but something to work towards or improve on in our lives. Recognizing we need to improve is a first step. Taking any size step towards improving is worth a pat on the back! As I said in a previous blog entitled "Throw yourself a party". Celebrate small victories.

I get all too wrapped up in the bigger picture that I forget that even small steps are progress. Right now I believe where there is progress there is growth and there is real life.

There are so many examples I could choose from. Exercise, eating habits, getting enough rest.

A quick example before I head to bed. Exercise. I love to work out, to work on getting in shape, to be active and get into that positive cycle. Because I haven't had or made the time to get to the gym I give up on everything to do with exercise. This is not making the most of my moments!

Do something active. I don't need to be at the gym to do something active. I just need to do it. Don't get me wrong when I get to the gym it will be great.

When you become a little more disciplined see it as a positive. When I put off having that treat, even if I had it later, I took a positive step. When I was patient with my kids, even if I lost it later I took a positive step. For me I was disciplined even if it was only for that moment. When I recognize that I have taking a positive step I will feel good about it and next time work harder to take more positive steps. Hence a positive cycle.

My kids teach me a lot about not giving up. Sometimes they need encouragment sometimes they need a break. Who am I that I don't think I need encouragment or a break as I work towards improving?

So be encouraged, encourage others and take a break when you need to.

Alanne.

I have been feeling very overwhelmed with all the demand on me lately. Especially with the extra stress of the accident and everything that has to be done in regards to that. I prayed about it and asked God to speak to me and guide me today. Here's what I read.

Acts 6:1In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."

5This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

7So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Now to break it down.

Acts 6: "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. "

Now waiting on tables in this case was important, valuable and a notable cause as the verse before explained...

1In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

Point number 1- they recognized it was important.

Secondly - they deligated turning it over to very qualified men. Verse 3...

3Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them...

Thirdly and perhaps one of the hardest - they let go and focused on the task at hand.

4and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."

How often do we do "important" tasks but not the right one? or How often to we try to do the right task and a couple other things as well?

As a result of their choice to deligate, let go and focus on the task at hand great things happened!

5This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

7So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

WOW!! I'm not sure why that surprizes me but it does. I am encouraged that I'm not the only one who gets off track and goes on tangents doing other "important" jobs whether I instigate them or I allow others to put pressure on me and give in.

The other thing that I noticed is that they were speaking life. Why would they say "and give our attention to" the task at hand if it wasn't something that perhaps some or all of them had a issue with?

Ladies hear my heart. I am learning this. I'm not there yet. But I'm speaking it into existance. I'm putting it out there and now I'm accountable. (eeek scary!)

Blessings to you as we prioritize, deligate and focus on the task at hand. Enjoy the freedom, peace and increased growth that will come with that. And remember to be thankful.

Alanne.

Celebrate small victories….

As a Christian I think that victory is leading someone to Christ or speaking at a women’s convention or something big like that. Those are victories don't get me wrong but I often forget or don't consider the small victories.

This week would feel like defeat if I was to think only of how many people I brought to Christ or how many women's conventions I spoke at.

It takes effort to be the women we are called to be. It is anything but weak to be the submissive wife, to be the patient mom, to be a supportive available friend and get everything done in a day that we need to get done!!

So to help us get there lets look at these points.

1. The Bible says let your yes be yes and no be no. Say yes when you need to and no when you need to. Let any guilt associated with a no roll off your back and don't feel like you always need to explain why. (Be discerning sometimes it is good to explain why)

2. As I have said before make a list and then ask God what He wants you to do and change what you need to change.

3. Get plenty of rest so that you are thinking clearly to win battles. I will be more likely to loose my cool when I'm tired or not focusing where I need to focus. Check your HALT Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired Do what you can to make sure those are limited.

4. Make a plan. What part of the day do you struggle with? Make a plan to tackle it and celebrate and feel good about yourself when you win that victory. Share it if possible.

5. Expect conflict. This is a tough one for me. Why would I want to expect something that I see as a negative? Well is it negative? Maybe I should change my perspective. Perhaps I should look at it as a challenge. I'm ok with a challenge. (ok more so than a conflict)

6. Reward yourself. What does that look like for you? Schedule a coffee with a friend, buy something (in our budget something inexpensive), book an evening to make cards (or whatever it is that you enjoy doing), take some "me" time and pamper yourself (in my case with spa treatments) Do whatever will lift your spirits. Be sure to plan the time to work for your family and be sure to do it (speaking to myself as well here)

Blessings ladies, as we tackle our days and celebrate our victories individually and together.

Alanne

I want to encouarge you if this is where you are at to check out today's post on www.girltalk.blogs.com

The other article that I think is appropriate for many ladies who are into what fashions are in right now is the post from May 7/07.

Blessings and don't forget to get your cards out to your mom's ladies!

Alanne.

A huge thank you for all who have been praying for us and supporting us over the last couple of weeks. Last night it really felt like something was broken off in the spiritual realm. I felt lighter, freer (is that spelt right?), I saw the beauty of the sunset. Funny how that is stolen.

Interestingly, today I am reminded that I am doing what I am suppose to be doing. I can be busy with BeautiControl or whatever "work" I choose to do but I find when I "work" the less I want to do what I'm called to do. Be a Home Manager. When I am at home and doing what I am to do I have a joy, a peace that I am doing what I am suppose to do. It's the most amazing place to be. So why is it that part of me longs to be doing something else? Well I believe that would be what the apostle Paul also wrestled with. Well hey if he wrestled with it I guess I'm ok. I just need to stay in the word and remind myself that this is what I am to do and continuously surround myself with people who encouarage me and love me enough to correct me when I get out of line.

I don't like housework. I don't like playing things with my kids that I don't like doing myself. I'm not great at cooking. It's a job that is the most sacrificial and lowest paying category. So why will God bless us and take care of us financially when I choose not to work for money and work my behind off at home making no money. Again that's where it doesn't make sense to the human mind. I know it doesn't make sense to me. That's where I have to continue to learn trust and to grow faith. We don't need a lot of faith cause if we had a lot of faith lots of mountains would move from BC to here! Matthew 17:20He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Thanks for listening, learning and supporting our family through this time.

Blessings,

Alanne.

Life is very busy and sometimes chaotic. Responsiblities and self inflicted business keeps us hopping. When we feel unhappy or feel that God is not with us, well we don't even know where to begin to find out what it could possibly be.

How I came to thinking about this began last night. I took my oldest son Levi to an Improv Night at our church. We both had a blast. We were out later than his bed time though and I knew that today would be a little rough. Forgetting that Levi did not get enough sleep I responded to his impatience as I normally would.

So how does this tie together? Well Levi had another factor to consider when he faced the day. He was tired. Children that have a schedule don't have a lot of extra factors to figure out why they are having the type of day they are.

How many factors do we have to sift through to realize why our day is going the way it is? How many things do we blame God or satan for when we are not disciplined about our time and sleep?

I am guilty of this myself. I am selfish and want to stay up late to have "me" time cause I think I deserve it. "I" don't deserve anything. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. I deserve death. Wow that's harsh. But looking at it that way wow I am blessed to be alive. I am blessed to have my amazing family. I am blessed to have an amazing extended family. I am blessed to have great friends and I am blessed to do the work God has planned for my life.

Get back to the basics. The world will try to tell you that basic is boring. Living a "basic" Christian life will be anything but boring.

Life is short. Be diligent with your time. Be disciplined in what you do and say. Say no sometimes. The Bible says let your yes be yes and your no no. That means it's ok to say no! I had to grow in this area. I can't please everyone and I shouldn't try. I am to please the Lord that's it.

Be blessed as you look at your day and your life and think about setting a schedule. Don't just let your life happen by chance or do what you feel like doing. I'm sure Christ didn't "feel like" dying. We are to die to self everyday. I'm thinking that would be easier than dying on a cross. Die to self and live for Him.

Alanne.

Marriage is much like owing your own business. Let me explain.

I have been a consultant with BeautiControl for over a year now and every month they have what's called a Unit Meeting. Consultants get together and several selected people share what they find works for their business and all the consultants are free to ask questions.

Sometime I don't feel like going but when I do I get renewed energy and new ideas on how to propel my business forward.

How often do we think our marriage will just work on it's own? I know I often do. We need to work at it and getting new ideas by talking to friends and seeing what works for them is so helpful.

I am truly thankful for the friends that God has placed in my life. I am thankful for my extended family. I am thankful for who I am in Christ.

I did this illustration with my boys today. I put a sealed full can of coke and an empty can of coke in front of each of them. I told them that they are things in the world like bully's, sickness, bad things. And that the coke cans are them. I explained that when we ask Christ to be the Lord of our lives, He sends the Holy Spirit to live in us. Everyday when we ask the Holy Spirit to fill us we are like a sealed coke can. So I asked them to crush it. They couldn't. Then I asked them to crush the empty can. They did easily. Then Gabe said well we didn't crush the full one hard enough. So I said go ahead crush it harder. Didn't happen. They got it.

I hope you get it too. We need the Holy Spirit to fill us and we need to surround ourselves with Godly people who will tell us what we need to hear not just what is not going to hurt us.

Life with God is amazing. Your highs are amazing. Your lows are raw and real but good. You know that you are living to the fullest when you can experience every emotion and say it's good.

I think of Ben Johnson a speaker from CLA Vancouver who was speaking at a teen sports camp. He started his message and he was completely awkward. He even said that it was awkward. I was thinking come on here you are talking to teenagers, get it together! Then he went on to share that if we embraced awkward moments how many of them could be used for God. When describing an awkward moment he let out an emotional, adrenaline rush roar and said "That's good."

What is good? Easy is what I used to think. Fun is what I used to think. Not anymore.

Over this last week I have really given thought to what Christ went through on the cross. I know that He went through so much pain that perhaps no human has experienced before or since. I know He said Father let this cup pass from me. I myself have said this week. I don't think I can do this. My friend reminded me that I can and that it's good. Perhaps God said that to Jesus. You can do this and it's good. Perhaps you need to hear that you can do this and it's good.

Raw, real emotions are amazing. Embrace them. Feel them.

Be blessed as you live out today.

Alanne.

Sometimes we see glimpes of God's plan but not the whole picture. When you get glimpes take my advice and ask God what the next step is. Sometimes the glimpes we see are His plan but not yet. So what does that have to do with Life, God and Sex. Well hang in there and lets see if I can explain.

This might be 2 posts worth of information but I'm sure they will tie together, here we go.....

Just in case you didn't know submission has nothing to do with equality. We are all made in the image of God and we all heirs. All equal. Different roles.

Now to speak directly to submission,

Dr. Wayne Grudem says "The idea of headship and submission never began! It has always existed in the eternal nature of God himself. And in this most basic of all authority relationships, authority is not based on gifts or ability; it is just there...[The relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit] is one of leadership and authority on the one hand and voluntary, willing, joyful submission to that authority on the other hand. We can learn from this that submission to a rightful authority is a noble virtue. It is a privilege. It is something good and desirable. It is the virtue that has been demonstrated by the eternal Son of God forever. It is His glory, the glory of the Son as He relates to the Father.

I guess I've always thought of "submission" (in a negative conetation) as thought up in the early days when women started to try to work outside the home and men didn't want them to. This is more like when the problems began. And why might the problems have begun then? Hmmm. Women outside the home?

Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

Mark Twain "I have far more trouble with the things I do understand in the Bible than the things I don't understand." :)

Now here me out. I have resisted this my whole life. I'm no femanist but I have rights! Yeah only to submit.

Carolyn Mahaney in Femaine Appeal "...the submissive wife - far from being the weak willed woman our culture portrays - is actually a model of inner strength. By God's grace, she has conquered this oppostion within her own heart. It is actually weakness on display when a wife is not submissive; she is only caving in to her natural inclination to usurp authority and demand her own way. That doesn't take any effort at all!

After I read this I thought wow. She is bang on. This just sat right. Not easy to hear but it is true and something inside me agrees with every word and wants to fight with all I have to possess inner strength.

The other day I was at Toys R Us, we were buying a present for Orin for his birthday, and I saw the ugliest scene. A women was arguing with her husband in a not so quiet way, not yelling but definately disrespectful and demeaning. I would have thought nothing of that before. In fact I have done that and felt like my point was being made if not heard. Selfish! Now that I am aware of how ugly that is well I want to be far from that in my life. I felt awful for the husband cause he was very meek, definately not trying to make a scene and reason with his wife.

Ladies, I'm not fully there but I'm encouraged to grow in this area.

Now for the kicker. I was thinking about my sons and who they are going to marry one day. How do I want my daughter-in-laws to treat my sons? People say we marry our opposite sex parent. Would I want my sons to marry someone like me? Would I want my daughter-in-laws to treat my sons like I treat Kevin sometimes? Ouch. Am I the only one feeling that?

The saying goes I can yell at my kids but don't you dare. I can demand that my kids submit but I won't. Messed up!

God is clear and satan is trying to make everything fuzzy. God is not a God of confusion. He is clear. It is simple to grasp. We just need to choose to do it. Easier said than done, however that's why we have each other.

Hebrews 10:24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

Be encouraged as we fight our natural inclinations.

God said, "I am with you" Jeremiah 30:11

Go warrior princess.

Alanne.

Lately for many Christians the focus has not been on the Ten Commandment and the Law. We have moved to focusing on Christ. The problem is

that we forget that God gave us those laws and they were not just for the people in the "Bible Times".

"a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true" Merriam-Webster

This to me really describes Christianity and the life of a Christian.

How can submission be freeing? How can less be more? How can giving be better than receiving? How can death be living?

Do you struggle with any of these questions? Ask God to show you the truth.

John 14:6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Blessings,

Alanne

Zephaniah 3:17 says "The Lord... will quiet you with his love,.."

I thought about that verse for a while in comparison to my life and these other verses came to my mind.

Psalm 46:10
"Be still, and know that I am God;.."

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians4:6-8

So these verses really challenged me with my time. Many things in my life are "loud" and busy. The world may think these are ok for a person following Christ as their personal savior but it's not. At times sure but not the norm. Let me explain.

Being still and peace and quiet are necessities in the core of our lives at all times. We can be loud and very expressive but when we are doing the will of God and thinking on him in all we do we "are" experiencing inner peace and quiet and stillness. If you are not I challenge you to throw off inner noise or that chaiotic feeling and business. Give God your all and ask him to sort it out and reveal what your priorities should be.

I love the quote I read on my friend Rebecca's profile on Facebook. "The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face to rule it." HL Mencken

How many times does something in our lives have a false-face? Eek I'm speaking to myself here. Like Pastor Dave would say "oh now I'm medaling".

So all this to say have discipline with your time and be accountable to someone. Make a plan. I've done it. It doesn't make the temptation less but it helps keep you on track.

Blessings as we walk together.

Alanne.

Well that's not exactly what I was going to talk about but it is something that has been consuming much of any free time that I might have and then some. So nothing real "spiritual" to say... (I know what you are thinking...)

As many of you know I have been doing BeautiControl for over a year now and have been doing well with it on the Island. Edmonton so far is another story. It has been very challenging. All this to say that I'm realizing something about myself. When things go well for me I sort of see it as normal and when things don't I look for someone to do something about it. How selfish is that? Well I don't intend on being selfish but wow Suck it up sista! (that is note to self)

I have been encouraged at my Unit meeting though. Now to find the time. Well I guess if I was putting some effort into BeautiControl and spending less time on Facebook..... :)

I am going to put in some work this weekend and see how it goes.

Bless you this Easter as you reflect on what Christ did for you and as you learn more about yourself in relation to Him.

Alanne.

As a friend of mine, Sandi Meyerhoff said "If my feet hit the ground at the same time as my kids, I'm already behind." How true is that!

I am struggling in my life to balance everything I "need" to get done and everything that gets done. So this blog is pretty much about me to encourage me. Come along for the ride! If I treated my life like a business I think it would look very different. I am a very professional person. I do struggle with organizing but have definately improved in that area by finding systems that works. So how can I be professional as a Home Manager?

I believe all successful businesses start with a plan. So I need to make a plan. To begin my plan I need to spend some time with the Lord. I often want to make a plan and then ask God to approve it. Backwards!

So I will be doing that right after this as long as the kids allow me a few minutes.

I do want to leave you with one last thought that was running through my head this morning. On the thought of running my home like a business, Why don't I look good for my job? I spoke resently and one of the headings was "Looking Good and Being Attractive." If I was going to a job outside the home I would look good (or at least presentable) If I was heading out with friends, same thing. Why am I not treating my Home Manager job like that?

I am challenged. I still feel overwhelmed, inadequate and scattered but I will work on a plan.

Thanks for coming along.

Alanne.

I heard Chuck Swindoll share this one morning on the radio.

A father told a child to sit properly in his carseat. No was the response. Again the father told the son to sit and the child said No! Again the father told the son to sit and the child said No! Finally the father got the child to sit and in response the child said I may be sitting on the outside but I'm standing on the inside!

Thoughts?

Some of my thoughts were

The child did obey and that is good. However first time obedience must be required. Don't be a threatening repeating parent. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. (The first time!) We are called to be in charge and friendship is our goal for when our children are adults not now.

My final thought is this shows how parenting is so much more than providing for our childrens needs and getting them to behave a certain way. We need to train the heart. You can get a child to behave however you want but when they are grown they will chose what they want.

Shepherding a Child's Heart by Ted Tripp "The things a child does and says flow from the heart. Luke 6:45 puts it this way, "... out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." "

I recall one specific insident when Levi was young he came to me after he had done something wrong and said "Mommy I need a consequence, my heart hurts." Levi recognized that this helped his heart feel better. Children want structure and discipline and consequences. It helps for a happy healthy heart. They feel secure, loved and have the freedom to be a child.

Parenting is hard. Get support read Shepherding a Child's Heart. Pray.

Blessings as you do your best to raise your children and help those around you who are.

Alanne.

exhibiting a spirit proper to a follower of Jesus Christ; Christlike

a person who exemplifies in his or her life the teachings of Christ

decent; respectable

www.dictionary.com

So I had a few thoughts that I wanted to share and haven't gotten around to posting them. I will post them but just to take some time and say it's been a really tough couple of weeks.

We have been sick but this week I have been down. A bit depressed? Am I above being depressed? NO! Do I have reason? Not really. That time of the month? part of it maybe. Attack from the enemy? He's sure trying to keep me from doing my quiet time!

Through all this God has blessed me with "lights". Friends have encouraged, given gifts, and listened and and and!!! I have so much to be thankful for. So I think part of what needs to happen here is taking my own advice that I had heard and shared yesterday at Bible Study. "Stop listening to myself and start talking to myself."

Speak life! My soul, my soul must sing! And press in.

At Bible Study last night Julie shared ...

Phil 4:4-9Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I think I need to write this out, speak it out and post it somewhere where I can speak it to claim it.

Focus on good things and be honest.

So some of the things I wanted to share were ...

We are to let our light shine. Just as Psalm 118:27a "The LORD is God,
and he has made his light shine upon us."

My question is does your face shine? Are we a reflection of Christ?

"Lord let me shine, shine like the moon, a reflection of you all that I do..." Song "Shine" by Salvador.

We are to look different than the world. Maybe not radical in what we wear etc but our face should glow.

I am very sensitive to this. God allows me to see past the surface many times and I don't think I'm the only one who is able to do this. People who are not yet Christians can spot a hypocrite a mile away. Can they spot you reflecting Christ a mile away.

I am being challenged in this. Am I a reflection of Christ this week when it's been really tough? I should be. How? Well part of it is being honest. Part of it is speaking God's promises into my life like what I read this morning Zechariah 2:8 For this is what the LORD Almighty says: "After he has honored me and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye- 9 I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them. ^[a] Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me.

"...for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye- 9 I will surely raise my hand against them.."

I am the apple of his eye and he's going to kick anyone's butt who touches me!

Cross Rocks! - Thanks Camille.

Blessings ladies as you "face" your day.

Alanne.

8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Rejoice letting gentleness be evident

Do not be anxious but present everything to God and Peace will guard your heart and mind

Think on whatever is of God, practice what you've learned and the peace of God will be with you.

"My environment is forever going to change and therefore I can't allow it to decide my walk with God."

-Emily MacKay

Bless you.

Alanne

So this was the message that I spoke at the Spa Ladies Brunch. Spa Ladies are groups of ladies who meet to encourage each other in their walks with Christ. When I refer to "the spa" I'm refering to a physical spa as well as a small group of Bible believing women who meet regularly. These could be called care groups, life cell groups, Bible study's, small groups, etc.

If you are not apart of one I encourage you to find one. Read on and see why.

Life and the Spa.

Imagine : Waking up to soft music, surrounded by natural rock and next door to a mineral pool. You get up to have breakfast served while you are in a white robe and towel twisted on your head. Then you sit back while your nails are done. You lounge while reading a book and then in the afternoon you have your feet attended to. Lovely hey? Too bad that wasn’t our everyday!

Hand gestures Life One hand Spa other hand.

We’re going to look at Life and the Spa.

Role of the Spa

A spa helps us look good and sets us up to face the world.

We should look good and be attractive.

You look good ladies!

If we look good we often feel better. The main reason we should look good is to bring glory to God.

I said we should be attractive. How do we “be attractive”?

In the book Femanine Appeal Carolyn Mahaney says

Although our daily actions might not be covered on the evening news, our lifestyle speaks loudly to those around us. How sobering it is to realize that our behavior has the potential to discredit the gospel. But how exciting it is to think that we can actually commend the gospel! …..

Several years ago while we were on a family outing, a gentleman approached my husband and said, “Sir, I’ve been observing you for some time, and I have never seen a family relate like yours. How do you do it?”

My husband explained that we are simply a family of sinners – but sinners whose lives have been transformed by the power of the gospel. And that was the reason for the difference this man observed.

Although we might not always be aware, people are watching our lives. If we exhibit the qualities from Titus 2 such as love for our families or purity or kindness, we are promoting the gospel. And the unbelievers who see us – be they family member, friend, neighbor, or stranger – may actually be drawn to the gospel by the way we live. How extraordinary!

How their family interacted was attractive to an onlooker, in the same way what we do speaks loudly to those around us. By living life as God wants us to it is attractive to those around us.

What should a spa do for us?

1. Relaxing,

2. Detoxifying,

3. Rejuvenating,

4. Polish,

5. Takes us away from the world in order to ready us for the World.

Christ often took time and went away to spend time with God. When he went to pray it was like having a spiritual spa. He went away from the world.

Christ made it a “holy habit” to spend time with his Father. When he was not “at the spa” he was ready to go. He was ready to preach, pray and prophesy. He didn’t say to those who needed to be healed, Can you wait here for 20 minutes I need to go seek my dad’s advice. He was ready to go! He was prepared to face the world.

When Christ had “spiritual spa” time He had direct access to the Father.

Ephesians 2:18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

We have the ability to do what Christ did and just as he did we have direct access to the Father.

When we take spiritual spa time we can approach God directly and He listens.

1John 5:14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he heards us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him.

We have access and we can approach God. That thought continues to blow me away.

Spa Ladies is here to help you

1. Relax

2. Detoxify,

3. Rejuvenate,

4. Polish – Not always comfortable….

5. Takes us away from the world in order to ready us for the World.

How important is the spa? Why is it important to come together to talk about the things of God.

Jean Fleming in her book A Mother’s Heart says

God is honored when those who fear God, not evil, talk with each other. (QUOTING SCRIPTURE SHE WRITES) “Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.” (Malachi 3:16). I see the Lord looking down on a scene that delights Him. Those who take Him seriously are talking with each other about His faithfulness, His promises, His tender mercies and loving kindness. They may be enjoying tea together or suffering in a dreary dungeon; they may be mothers rejoicing over the robust spiritual health of their children or looking to God in faith for wayward children. The situation is immaterial. The spirit and content of the meeting is everything: God is taken seriously.

The scene is so pleasing to God that He calls in heavenly scribes to record the conversation, to capture permanently this high point in humanity. For after all, in God’s eyes aren’t the high points of history those times when His people count on His character and His Word?

When we gather together to encourage one another in our daily lives, it makes high points in history!

Someone needs to get that in their spirit today. You make history.

When you gather together to talk of the things of God it is high points in humanity.

What needs to happen at home before and after a spa?

Maintenance - we need to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

1. Drink plenty of water

2. Get lots of rest

3. Eat a balanced diet

4. Exercise

5. Spend time with God

6. Proper Hygiene

7. And like my mom says about make up “If an old barn needs painting by all means paint it.”

What we do at home sets the stage for success.

Rev Les Markham says “Everything is to the glory of God, there is no distinction between secular duty and spiritual service. Everything is to the glory of God.”

Whatever you do in a day is to the glory of God. Say again.

Lets look at our maintenance duties a little closer.

1. Drink plenty of water.

Experts tell us that we are suppose to consume 8 or more glasses of water per day.

Make a plan to do this. Perhaps fill a container with 8 glasses and make sure it’s gone everyday. I wouldn’t suggest you drink it all before bed.

So point number 1 Drink plenty of water.

2. Get plenty of Rest

Sleep is a gift from God. Psalm 127: 2 In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to ^[a] those he loves.

I just started setting for myself a bed time and trying to keep it.

What time do you need to go to bed in order to serve your family and do all God has for you in a day?

Set a time and work on going to bed then.

Get plenty of rest.

3. Eat a balanced diet.

Do we need to go here? Yes. I just recently read an article on fasting and wow how much extra our bodies have to work on digesting when we eat more than what we need It explained how when the body has focus so much on digesting, how much less energy etc your body has to properly function and “heal” itself. Blew my mind.

Food is fuel for our bodies. Eat what you need and if you’re going to have a treat make sure it’s worth it!

4. Exercise.

Yes we need to go here to. Exercise will look different for everyone. Do something that works for you to get your heart rate up. Take a walk. Join the gym, take a class, borrow my taebo video’s. Exercise is great for the body and we just need to do it. Again set a time and a schedule that would work for you.

5. Spend time with God

Notice that spending time with God is simply part of the “maintenance” we must do everyday.

We need to spend time with God in order to prepare us for the day.

I can’t tell you how many times I have done my quiet time in the morning and it related to something that happens that day.

Fill your mind with things of God.

On your own ….

A. Be in the Word, - This is what I refer to as my quiet time. (but it doesn’t have to be quiet)

B. Pray – conversations all day. Everything we do is to the glory of God.

C. Surround yourself with books, magazine and music that bringing glory to God.

Side note – Bible needs to be our foundation. Not just “great books”

Philipians 4: 8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

I want to play a song. I want us to take a moment and listen to the words and think on the things of Christ.

Song “Again” - by Jessica McLean

Point number 5 spend time with God everyday.

6. Proper Hygiene

Take time in the mornings to maintain a good look.

Take care of your skin.

Smell fresh or don’t smell.

Always have an emergency supply of breath mints on hand.

A friend of mine shared something she learned “Be prepared to preach pray and prophesy at any moment” It’s quite distracting if the person praying for you has bad breath. – So chew and mint. J

7. Paint the Barn?

I’ll leave the make up thing up to you. My only thought is don’t overdo it. Enhance your natural beauty.

Conclusion

The spa is amazing. We need to make time to go there.

Remembering though we don’t live at the spa. Your daily maintenance is to be done at home.

Let your spa know how to help prepare you.

You will need to look much different going to a wedding than to the mall.

Share where you are at and where you want to go. – Prepare yourself to grow. Get ready to face the day everyday.

Let’s pray.

Ladies,

God has just been blowing my mind. I have some things that I have fears about and if I know I have to do them I freak! So God has not been telling me ahead of time. Funny hey?

I'm very excited about a couple of new opportunities that God has set me up with. I know that there will be tough times but right now I'm soaking in God's goodness and faithfulness. As has been pointed out to me I'm in the dessert with God and He's loving on me and encouraging me and teaching me to trust.

Blessings ladies as you grow in your relationship with Him.

Alanne.

I have had a great few months here in Edmonton inspite of how cold it has been. For me that's what's expected for around here. I definately had a couple days where I have to say I was a bit tired of the cold and all the winter gear but that was about it.

I hope you had a great winter and looking forward to what God has next. Isn't spring pruning time? Spring cleaning for sure. Lets make sure we do that physically and spiritually.

Blessings and sunshine to you.

Alanne.

So today is a great day. It's my sisters Birthday. Happy Birthday Chris-Ann!!! Hope you had a super day. If you are in Nanaimo give her a hug for me!!

On a completely unrelated note our government has decided to start daylight savings 3 weeks early! I'm not quite sure who decided when daylight savings is and how it is run. Is that truly something that the goverment can decide? I guess but wow they are allowed to tamper with a lot of stuff!!! Some cool some not.

Enjoy today,

Alanne.

Encouragment is a powerful thing. It could be in the form of a word, a note, a smile, a hug, a listening ear.

The earthly mind would say it would be easier to not experience pain or discomfort of any sort. I know that is part of life and really living. Now is experiencing separation "really living"? It's incredibly painful but it is something is true and concrete in a world that is full of whatever feels good is best. Hear me. It doesn't make it easy but who said easy is always right? How come when we watch movies like Braveheart we cheer at his courage for dying for freedom? Because at the core of the human life we know that that is "really living".

How you feel doesn't make God real or not and what you go through doesn't reflect on his goodness. Romans 8: "28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

If you want to live life to the fullest, try a Christ-centered life. You will have the highest highs and some painful lows but that's life. It will be the best and you won't regret a moment.

Blessings,

Alanne.

Currently in progress..... :)

"If you think you can do it on your own, good luck with that." - Laurie

So much fun! We woke up had pancakes, hung out, had lunch, went to a mall on the nNorth end that was having family events. One of the things they had was people dressed up in full costumes from Star Wars. Our kids have not seen the movies but are really into Star Wars Lego and Star Wars Lego game cube games. So they were loving it. We forgot our camera. Can you believe it?! How can you see Star Wars characters and not have a camera. Thankfully we remembered that our handy dandy phones have cameras!

Someone was handing out Free McDonald's hot chocolate coupons and we saw Giant snakes and then we had our kids charicaters done for free (our kids drawn as cartoon characters) Too cute. We're framing that one!

And then we hit McD's on the way home to get our hot chocolates. How fun!

I hope you all had fun whatever you were doing.

Blessings from our family to yours.

Alanne.

It's always good to be thankful but I really feel like we ought to be more thankful when someone give us the gift of time.

Time is a precious gift and limited resource. I have often found myself thinking or saying (to my kids) "Don't waste my time!" (then I explain to them that when they don't clean up their toys I have to do it and it takes my time away from something else - they seem to get it then) How we spend our time is very important and while I could go off and say make sure you are spending time in the word and prayer, that's a given so make sure you are doing it!

When someone takes the time to be helpful, answer questions, or lend an ear, thank them. They have stopped what they were doing and spent time on you. Now good friends willingly do this it's a bit of extra spending when it's not a good friend.

I have found Edmonton a very helpful city and people are very willing to open a door or take a minute to give instructions/directions or explain how things work here. They may not feel they need to be thanked but I would encourage you to do it and make it a habit.

Thanks for taking the time to be encouraged and challenged.

Alanne.

If as a wife our main responsibility is to be our husbands helper then there must be a simple answer for children and their responsibilites. There is! Children obey your parents.

Eph 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Col 3:20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

Kevin and I have done and taught the parenting course Growing Kids God's Way and we highly recommend it. On the topic of obedience here are a few quotes from the course.

"Children will rise to the level of expectation of their parents. Many parents expect to little and receive exactly that." -Growing Kids God's Way

Have you found threating a time out or ? or counting to 3?

"How is it that a child will obey the third time but not the first? The reason is that the parent is finally resolved to force conformity. If a child obeys by the third request, why not by the first?" - Growing Kids God's Way

Anything short of first time obedience "only serves to lure a child into sin...". I don't want to be guilty of that.

Straight talk parenting may not be my most popular post. Ladies there is a standard to be met. It's a high calling, it will produce fruit.

A verse that I read this morning stuck out to me but I wasn't sure how it would fit in today's post. God knew.

Matthew 21: 43"Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. .."

Not that "you" are a bad person. We all need to grow and improve. Take this info, raise the standard and produce fruit.

In this with you raising our kids His way.

Alanne.

It's from the Femanine Appeal book. It's new to me and has completely changed my way of thinking. I recognized it in my own life and the lives of other wives but did not realize it was or could be a problem.

This is the line that changed my thoughts. "you should not experience guilt when your friend saves twenty dollars a week on her grocery bill by clipping coupons if your husband would rather you spend that time on other tasks than save the extra money."

Wow ladies this was huge for me. How many times have I pushed my agenda with Kevin cause it would save time, money, energy etc. when I really needed to be asking on a regular basis "How may I help you?" and How would you like this home managed?

Think of it like Carolyn pointed out in the book. "With any managerial role - whether in a large company or the local McDonald's - a job description is essential. Scripture has provided a job description for us as managers of our homes, and it is suprisingly simple! We are to be our husband's helper (Gen. 1:26-31;2:7-25;1Cor.11:8-9).

"What will most help my husband?"

If you walk into a marriage knowing this it will save you bigtime. If you are in a marriage it may revolutionalize your life.

I'm excited and encouraged. There is so much freedom in this. Let me know when you get it. :)

Blessings,

Alanne.

It really spoke to me about speaking life to my kids, encouraging them and having them catch me speaking highly of them to someone else.

I've been told that I am encouraging. Would my kids say that about me if you asked them? (retorical question:)

What do others say you are good at? Do you show the same exceptional quality/service to your family? I have to be honest that I haven't. I am however encouraged to change.

Dawson Trotmand said "I believe with all my heart that one of the greatest soul saving stations in the world is the home." I do believe he was referring to inviting people into the home but think about it this way with me.

My family for example. There is Kevin and myself and 4 boys. Now Kevin and I could reach out and "go into the world and make disciples" and we do, however I would go as far as to say I have failed as a mom if I reach out to someone else before my kids. Ladies I've done it and done it lots. I now want that to change. Think about how much more effective it would be if I make disciples of my kids; grow up 4 Godly men. Why add when you can multiply!

Now Ladies I believe you know me well enough to know I'm not saying you have to have kids or lots of kids (you are however suppose to have as many kids as He's called your family to have no more and no less. We'll save that topic for another day:)

Where ever you are at put your family first. God has designed the family to be a unit and has created those people to love you, grow you, prune you into who He needs you to be.

A quote from Femanine Appeal specifically about mom's but if you are alive you are part of a family. So take what God wants you to out of it.

"When onlookers see us thriving in our role as homemaker, and when they observe the exceptional quality of family life that our efforts produce, this can pique their curiousity. They may want to find out what our secret is!" (italics mine)

Does your home have exeptional quality? Some may and there is always room to improve.

"Lord help me to build the kind of home where all who enter find it 'impossible to keep from thinking of God.'" (quote Femanine Appeal inside quote Peter Marshall former chaplain of the US Senate)

Priority number 1 Quality Time with God (make time for this one don't take time - set a regular time)

Priority number 2 Quality Time with Family (it won't become a priority by itself)

Priority number 3 Quality Time with Extended Family and Friends (set time for this however often or seldom it is make sure it is scheduled and important to you - they will see your efforts and appreciate it)

In summary give your best to your family. Prioritize and set boundaries so that your prorities happen.

Bless you as you join with me to make our homes places that family and others find it 'impossible to keep from thinking about God'.

Alanne.

"Whereever I go that's where the party's at!" First thoughts? Sound Cocky? Of course it could if you walk around proclaiming it loudly from the highest hills of Edmonton! I want you to know deep down that where ever you go that's where the party's at. God has designed you to be fun, to live loud and to laugh and cry hard.

So think your not fun? Well I have heard something recently that was very cool. "Stop listening to yourself and start talking to yourself." At the leadership class I took recently they discussed this. We were to complete a receipe card sized paper with things that were positive about ourselves and we were to speak it 3 times a day out loud to ourselves.

We receive the first negative comment we hear right away and yet we need to hear positive things way more to believe them. Try this exercise.

So if you need me to say it....

You are fun.

You are fun.

You are fun.

YOU are fun.

You ARE fun.

You are FUN.

YOU ARE FUN!!

Jean Brand said "Did you know that sausages and beans taste different if the person serving them is glad to do so, or if they are hating it?"

Ok so what do beans and weiners have to do with anything. Well lots! Very often our perspective and attitude determines how we see the day and how things taste and how we feel about ourselves.

I encourage you to spend some time asking God to show you how He sees you and what He has for your life. It may not be the direction you are currently walking. Maybe you know that and don't want to surrender because you want to go that way. Ladies please trust me it will end in disaster. You will experience stress and unrest. All that to get where you were heading and realize it's not all everyone said it would be. You are left with that empty feeling that you thought would be fulfilled when you reached your goal. Don't waste your time and energy. Life is too short.

What God has for you is pure, right, holy, perfect and is truly the deepest, original desires of your heart. When you trust Him,God may surprise you in a huge way with revealing to you what you truly desire or may just simply confirm that the desires that are already there are from Him.

Get into his love letter to you, everyday. Read it and let Him tell you what he thinks and remember what He thinks is all good. A story that is our family favorite and I encourage you to buy is "You Are Special" by Max Lucado. (the long version). I can't read that book without choking up with the overwhelming feeling of love from our Maker.

Blessings and you learn to that whereever you go that's where the party's at.

Alanne.

So in response to describe the phileo love. (not exactly philly cream cheese :) Phileo love "describes the love between very close friends. It is a tender, affectionate, passionate kind of love. It emphasizes enjoyment and respect in a relationship."

"Titus 2:4 "So train the young women to love their husbands." The form of the Greek in which the New Testament was written employs at least five words to distinguish various kinds of love. The word for love used in Titus 2:4 is phileo."

As a wife and mom "I get so busy serving him that I overlook enjoying him." Book Femanine Appeal.

This was a real challenge for me. I want to enjoy my husband and my kids but the pressures and demands sometimes cloud that. Which I'm sure that keeps satan pleased.

There's something to be said if the Bible specifically tells older women to teach younger women to phileo love their husbands. This doesn't come naturally. Women have a terrible talent to be able to serve inspite of hardened hearts. This is what satan wants. Do whatever you want as long as you have a bad attitude about it.

Determine to phileo love your husband and kids "Or will I wake up one morning lamenting, 'I wish I had spend more time with my kids!'"

"Finally, it dawned on me that "good" days were those days when I scratched lots off my "do list." "Bad" days were those days when I could show few tangible results for my day's efforts. ... I realized that if I lived my life for what made me feel good at the end of each day I would give my life to things of secondary importance." Book A Mothers Heart.

Blessings as you determine to Phileo love your family.

Alanne.

So the word of the day is (drum roll please) Persistent.

A couple of definitions from Merriam-Webster

-continuing without change in function or structure

-continuing to exist despite interference or treatment

This seems to be the word that God dropped on my heart for today. Be Persistent. Wow how tough is that when we are tired worn down and tired of hearing no for an answer. I was asked about whether I had work or not outside the home and I was able to share what I do as an Independant Consultant with BeautiControl. I have to say that it's only been in the last couple of years that I have discovered we need to be living our Christian walk like our own business that we need to succeed. We need to be persistent. I love BeautiControl and the products that they produce so using them is not hard. Sharing them is not hard either but trying to convince everyone to try the products for themselves is tough. May people have reasons not to try them or book a Spa Escape. Understandable however I know that when they book with me they will love the evening of fun and even if they never buy I'm sure they would think of friends who would also have a blast. Same thing with Chrisitanity. It works for me. I even share my experiences but when it comes to letting other people know they need to try it? Well that's when you hit a lot of brick walls.

So what does that have to do with persistent? Well simply that we need to be. Pastor Dave charged a team from our church that is going to Grenada in February on a missions trip to be persistent in favorable and unfavorable situations. Well let me tell you that charge was not just for those going. I'm exhausted and almost ready to quit. I can't I need to persist.

I typed in "run race" on biblegateway.com and here we go.

1. 1 Corinthians 9:24
   Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
2. Galatians 2:2
   I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.
3. Galatians 5:7
   You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?
4. Hebrews 12:1
   [ God Disciplines His Sons ] Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

I think we need to be persistent. To persevere. So in the words of a wise Godly woman. "If you think you can do it on your own - Good luck with that"

Lord please help. I press in and say Father I'm weak, I'm exhausted and I can't run the race on my own. Father I can't hear another no. Lord you know my heart, you know my deeds. I give my all to you. Please help. I love you Lord.

Blessings,

Alanne.

"whether it's the pleasure of being a wife or of raising children or of making a home - (these) were, until the day before yesterday, considered the most natural things in the world."

Danielle Crittenden

For the single or the married here's what marriage is all about. If you're in it here's your job description and if you are not don't walk into it blindly.

"The man needs the help; the woman needs to help. Marriage was created by God to provide companionship in the labor of dominion. The cultural mandate, the requirement to fill and subdue the earth, is still in force, and a husband cannot fulfill this portion of the task in isolation. He needs a companion suitable for him in the work to which God has called him. He is called to the work and must receive help from her. She is called to the work through ministering to him. He is oriented to the task, and she is oriented to him.

Douglas Wilson

(Gen 1:26-31; 2:7-25; 1 Cor.11:8-9)

I just added some great links. Check them out. They are the ones that are different colors, till I remember how to change the color!

Alanne

God thanks for today. Another day to love my family. Another day to serve them. Another day to enjoy them another day to teach them. Another day to wrestle with them. Another day to laugh with them and to cry with them.

The other morning I got out of bed early to do my quiet after having a crappy sleep. I was awake most of the night and then to top it off I had a wacko dream. (My mom got remarried - not that that is a bad thing if that is what she chooses!)

Anyhow I had such a fear of dying that morning. A healthy fear. I was scared but I think more than that a realization yet again to remember how precious each moment is. It reminds me of that song that my sister showed me the video for. Nickleback I think? A good band that still need Christ. But in the video everyone had a number over their head counting down till they were to die. Brutal but true!

Love those around you. Prioritize and make your family and close friends feel that they are your prority. Love, love love. Research the definition of love. English is so limited when it comes to the word Love. I love hot dogs, I love my child, I love my husband. Those are all different!!!!

Our first scheduled time to get together didn't work so we rescheduled tea till the next day. This was ok but then I have to make sure my house presentable the next day again! My challenge for you. "Our LandLord" (The Lord) may come at any moment. Is your "house" presentable? There is a tract that mom has and we grew up with mom quoting it over and over "If Jesus came to your House" I'm sure my sister and I could quote at least the first few lines.

If Jesus came to your House.

If Jesus came to your house
to spend a day or two --
If He came unexpectedly,
I wonder what you'd do.

Oh, I know you'd give your nicest room
to such an honored Guest,
And all the food you'd serve Him
would be the very best,
And you would keep assuring Him
you're glad to have Him there --
That serving Him in your home
is joy beyond compare.

But when you see Him coming
would you meet Him at the door
With arms outstretched in welcome
to your Heavenly Visitor?

Or would you have to change your clothes
before you let Him in,
Or hide some magazines,
and put the Bible where they'd been?

Would you turn off the radio
and hope He hadn't heard,
And wish you hadn't uttered
that last, loud, hasty word?

Would you hide your worldly music
and put some hymn books out?
Could you let Jesus walk right in,
or would you rush about?

And I wonder -- if the Savior
spent a day or two with you,
Would you go right on doing
the things you always do?

Would you go right on saying
the things you always say?
Would life for you continue
as it does from day to day?

Would your family conversation
keep its usual pace,
And would you find it hard each meal
to say table grace?

Would you sing the songs you always sing,
and read the books you read,
And let Him know the things
on which your mind and spirit feed?

Would you take Jesus with you
everywhere you planned to go,
Or would you, maybe, change your plans
for just a day or so?

Would you be glad to have Him
meet your very closest friends,
Or would you hope they stay away
until His visit ends?

Would you be glad to have Him
stay forever on and on,
Or would you sigh with great relief
when He at last was gone?

It might be interesting to know the things
that you would do,
If Jesus came in person to spend some time with you.
~Author Unknown~

Yes this poem is talking about your physical house however I want to refer to your spiritual house. Your temple. I am challenged to keep my life in order everyday. Life is short and getting shorter everyday. Set your "house" in order. Like I love to say "Live Loud".

Alanne.

A great friend of mine said to me once "If my feet hit the floor at the same time as my kids, I'm already behind." Ok so I was challenged by that but didn't actually do something about it. Sound familiar anyone?

So to start I have set up an alarm clock by my bed and set it for an hour before my kids get up. 6:30 am. I thought this was so early till I visited with a long time friend from here in Edmonton who shared that she gets up at 5 am 3-5 times a week and goes to the gym. AHHHH Ok I'm really challenged now! Proverbs 31 she rises early!

Blessings as you allow God to set your schedule.

Alanne

Our family has had an amazing week of visiting family, old friends and meeting with new ones. Now we need a holiday from the holiday!

As our family prepares to step back into what is to be the norm for the next part of the school year I am challenged by a friend and amazing woman of God Lindsay as she shared with us what she was told when she was in Bible College.

Be prepared to preach, pray and prophesy at any given moment.

I am challenged by this. I don't believe this was just from school or for just her. I believe this is for everyone.

I encourage you as Lindsay said to check yourself at any moment and are not ready, get ready.

2 Timothy 4

1In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

I love you ladies,

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1Thes 5:11

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. Heb 3:13

24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Heb 10: 24-26

Words in bold my emphasis... But in the words of Pastor Dave anything said more than once must be important.

Blessings as you resolve to set your eyes on him for this year.

Love,

Alanne.

First off, Happy New Year!!! Our family had an amazing Christmas with Kevin's family in Manitoba, and a fun New Years. Our New Years began with playing games with our new friends the Youngs, who just loved on us since we've moved here, and ended with a romantic evening on the couch ringing in the New Year watching Holms on Homes!! Not even a grand ball which I've dreamed of forever would have topped it. One year I'm sure it will be fun to do that too.

So the New New New stands for...

New Day

New Year

New Perspective

I want to encourage you today to be thankful for the New Day and New Year facing us with exciting New Challenges, New Found Friendships (I have a story to share on that one...!) And to seek to gain a New Perspective.

Personally I don't want to walk into this New Year with my old perspective. For example this was my quiet time after reading Matt 7:7-12. (Ask, Seek, Knock)

Lord I ask for patience and self-control. Lord I seek to be the wife and mom you want me to be. Lord I seek to find your heart. I seek you and to do your will. Lord I knock, I bang at your door and ask you to provide our daily bread, I ask that you would open doors of opportunity to teach my children. Lord I ask for opportunities for phileo love, I ask for heaps of phileo love! Lord thank you for this New day, New Year, and New Perspective.

The New Perspective is finally surrendering (or working towards surrendering completely) to God's original design for women. I'm thankful for the people and resources that have brought new light to this.

I want to seek to live my life in Gods will. Now just to be completely honest I'm probably wanting it for selfish reasons. My life is full of inner peace and joy when I follow his will. I WANT THAT!!!!

Matt 7:13-14.

The Narrow and Wide Gates

13"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Lord I want this life, Help me to choose this road everyday.

So my plan today is to plan my days. To rise early and get things done so that when my family arises I'm ready to greet them and serve them being prep'd and looking good for the day myself.

Lord Help! :)

Alanne.

So I just found an amazing website and a life story that I want to check out over the next little while. Annie Johnson Flint (1866-1932). Wow.

http://www.blessedquietness.com/journal/homemake/annie.htm

So I read a bumper sticker today that I thought was very profound. It said "You don't have to believe everything you think"

Neat. I'd say if I was held at gunpoint and forced to put a bumpersticker on my car I think it would have to be that one.

Seriously what a great conversation starter. :)

Thoughts?

Alanne.

Ok I guess I missed the Tree out at the front yesterday.

So who plays nickie nickie nine doors at 7:30 on a school night at the back door. This is so amazing! 2 Turtle's Doves (bars) in a Liz Claiborne box! I love it! Plus the Partriage that fell out of the Pear Tree yesterday!

I have to suspect it's Kevin but he's denying it. So who are you?

Alanne.

Ok so I opened the door to send my son Gabe on the bus to bump into a tree on our step! I'm assuming it's for me and not for Kevin (pink ribbon - just a guess). Well I love it! It's beautiful and the presentation is amazing. So if Kevin didn't send it will the my true love please step forward?!

I love it. You made my day.

Alanne.

Scripture to ponder, speaking of trees... Matt 3 "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance."

Some of what I might have said,

Who am I really and what do I want?

Wow this was an incredibly challenging question to answer. I can tell you all about someone else but when the fingers are pointed at me, well I'd rather run.

I am a student who loves learning. A wife wanting to love and be loved. A mother wanting to bring balance and truth to my children.

I am a woman wanting to lead others. A mentor a mentee. An author wanting to be published. I am an athlete and sports lover wanting to participate. A collector of coins and precious stones wanting complete collections. A Creationist wanting to gain knowledge to bring light to the scientific evidence of Creation. I AM A CANADIAN!

Daughter of the King, Warrior Princess. I am Alanne. :)

There you have it. Some of it.

Blessings,

Alanne.

Are you in the place you are suppose to be? You know the place. If you are not whoa you're missing out!

I can't even fully describe it. It's real it's raw. The feeling that Laurie put it into the words "I get it!" Do you get it? You truly need to get it. What is it? Where is that place? It's nowhere and it' everywhere. Get it? The book Experiencing God says find where God is working and join Him. That's it! That's where.

Your thoughts your everything needs to be taken into captivity.

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

So I was emailed the following email. Wow. Interesting. How come there is more death, more disease more sickness now? It's hard not to think that as the world gets worse so does the punishment. Sure there was sin back then too. Sure they had their own issues too. Maybe that's me not able to get past the "Hide and Blame" nature of human beings......

A good read anyway.

Blessings, Alanne.

On the way to take Kevin to work we were listening to our current favorite band "Need to Breathe" and one of the lines from a song said "If you don't know just what to think then put your thoughts away and keep em out of reach". I love it!

Think on Him today.

Bless you today as you focus on our Lord and Savior.

Alanne.

Thanks Emily for our chat today! I'm inspired! Emily shared what is ringing over and over in her head and I realized that I had something ringing in my head too. It's what one of the Directors of BeautiControl shared at the last meeting.

"Anything can be said at a spa as long as you say it with a smile on your face."

Often I worry how what I need to say will come across. So stick a smile on your face and say it. Another way to look at this is care about the person you say things to. People can see through a fake smile. Sometimes a real smile is hard to put on though.

At the Leadership class they shared something that you probably have heard, no one cares how much you know till they know how much you care.

If you don't care enough and don't need to say something then don't! But if you do or are suppose to then I'd say you'd better do it (I'm smiling!).

My mom always said show me your friends and I'll tell you who you are. The people you associate with I don't mean help or are around at times, the intimate people the ones you desire to be around.

Surround yourself with great people. You are great.

Alanne.

We've been asked to answer these two questions. Who are you really? and What do you want? Paragraph form and we need to present it next week. I'm freaking out! I love it though, my adrenaline is pumping and my mind is racing. It is a great feeling.

So I've written a couple notes so far. How do you describe yourself? Who am I? We'll see how it goes. Scary.

What's next? Edmonton Public School System here we come. ;)

Love,

Alanne.

How many bad things would happen if we didn't sin? But is that a fair question? Well yes and no. First of all obviously we are all sinners the Bible tells us that. Isaiah 53:6. But for the sake of arguement how many"bad things" are tied to sin? The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Romans 3:23. Is physical death the only consequence of sin? Some people don't even see death as a consequence for sin.

Suffering and sickness can be a result of sin. Suffering can also remind us of God's goodness. What? Those don't sound like they can go together. Well it's complicated. But think back to a tough time in your life. You really wanted something to happen a certain way and it didn't or you didn't want something to happen and it did. At the time you can't see past the situation you are in. You can't think past how you felt at that time. I couldn't several times. I can say for sure one of those times, I'm glad things didn't work out the way I wanted. My life would have been very different. The other thing I'm still working through. I don't see how it would have been so bad but I need to remember He knows best. He's God I'm not!

God as we wrestle with the questions we have please help us keep in mind that you are the focus not the question or the answer.

Big blessings as you seek Him and He will walk with you whether He lets you in on the answers or not. You are not alone.

If you have a chance check out the family room website. http://www.covlife.org/familyroom/

A great resource for families. I love their title at the top!

Alanne.

So learning life lessons is hard. School/work learning I enjoy cause I can apply it and get instant results, instant gratification ,a pat on the back.

House work doesn't get me a promotion or a pat on the back most days. It's just there constantly. It has to be done and it has to be done in a way that my husband is happy with it. I could care less about dishes. I want to be out, away from home.

Lord give me a love for housework. Give me a personal desire to make it happen. God you want to see marriages succeed and I don't want to have a bitter heart about doing housework so please help.

Being honest. Been there?

Alanne.

So there's this cool band that I am really into right now. It's called Need to Breathe and like my "sista" said it's probably just what I needed right now. The music and to keep breathing. (And drink more water!)

What does that have to do with People first? Nothing just check out the band. People first not titles. When you meet someone or hear about someone our mind has expectations that it sets. Mainly cultural I'd say. Do they meet the North American standard, below average or exceed. PUT A STOP TO THAT. Work on it. It will take time. People first then titles. Something on my sisters blog might help.

Recently I was downtown when a filthy, smelly, somewhat intoxicated man asked me for loose change. I gave him the few coins in my pocket. Before we took ten steps, my wife wondered why we weren't buying him supper. So "Bear", Carla and I sat in McDonald's (his choice) eating Big Mac's and fries and I got to hear his story. I learned that he is a man. A man with emotions, needs, likes, and dislikes. A man with children who love him and long for him to clean up. A man who has never been able to get past the emotion of his father's death. A man.

Blessings as you be real, love and set boundaries. (a reminder to me too)

Alanne.

Both your Tithe and your Time need to have God considered first. How much does He want you to give? In what form? To where?

This week has been brutal! And I thought our mornings were tough in Nanaimo!

So God really wants me to learn not only Money Management but Time Management as well. When I get time mangament down it will include an eating schedule, exercise schedule, quiet time schedule all on top of everything else I have to do in a day.

When I had school and work in my life, life was a whole lot easier because someone else managed the majority of my day. Now that I am the manager with a very tight schedule it's tough.

Anyhow ladies,

As you think of it please pray for me. And have a look at your day and see that God is considered first.

Blessings,

Alanne.

Good morning Ladies,

Sorry it has been a while. I've been bit busy and overwhelmed by the move.

Highlights so far.....

Driving here following Kevin through the mountains and seeing thick fog that was blue, pink, yellow and other colors as well. I've never seen anything like it.

After every construction site they have a sign that says "End Construction" It struck me funny.

Yesterday (the first day the boys attended school) The principal after making the announcments comes back on and says "Oh I forgot one very important announcement. Tomorrow is the start of the Edmonton Oilers Season and they would like the whole city to honor that by wearing Blue and Copper the colors of the Edmonton Oilers."

GO OILERS GO!

I miss my dear friends from Nanaimo. Bless you. I love you. Thanks for your prayers as there has been hard times as well as these great times. As a great friend told me, read the below from www.girltalk.blogs.com

Lots of love,

Alanne.

Unspeakable Peace

Posted by Kristin Chesemore on October 04, 2006 at 01:07 PM in Living Purposefully | Permalink

Hi everyone!

Sorry it's been a while things have been a bit busy for us. We are moving to Edmonton for October 1st. Go Oilers Go!

Wow God has really worked out the details and not only are things falling into place, He is completely blowing my mind. Thank you to all who have been obedient to His will. Not only has God used Christians, He has been using "pre-Christians" to bless us and speak into others lives! What a great opportunity to "highlight" to them how God is using them.

Ok so I thought this was going to be short but on that note I have a cute story from a book called Mousetales.com.

The short version a Christian lived next to an an atheist and he was very vocal that she was a fool. One day she was out of money and prayed for God to provide groceries. The atheist thinking he'd show her that God wasn't real got her groceries and put them on her door and hid. She praised the Lord! Then he told her God didn't do it, he did. Well she praised the Lord even more and said she knew God would provide but didn't think he'd get the devil get the groceries!

The point being that God uses people and they may not even know it. They may think it's of their own will or thoughts.

So now on to what I really wanted to share. Setting boundaries. Jeremiah 5: 18-24.

Ok I think I just noticed that my blog got recommended for the most active and the most commented on? :) Keep the comments coming, we're winning. Not that it's a competion ;)

Blessings,

Alanne

Ok so what kind of a question is that? Yes I'm attractive! :)

Let me explain...

I have been giving a lot of thought to "my style of parenting". (I dislike that phrase) What are my kids going to think of how I parented when they are adults? What do they think now? (Great question to ask your kids... as a friend of mine did and shared! - Thanks!)

As I was doing my quiet time this morning this is what I wrote. "Lord help me to relax with my parenting. Set up boundaries yes, punish disobedience yes. Don't expect perfection. Be ok with them making mistakes. Love them, love them, love them. Show love, talk to them, encourage them to do what is right. Are we making obedience attractive?"

Ouch! That one stung!

After that last line I stopped and then wrote this..."Lord forgive me. Help me to live louder than I talk and to stay calm and to love, love, love. In words, in actions, in all languages."

So in conclusion and a couple other cool thoughts for the day.....

Make obedience Attractive Live it loud

As the CBC kids host shared today (on Manitoba kids time) "Unexpected Happenings - that's what life is all about.... Even if physics can tell the future I don't want to know about it!"

With God you'll never be comfortable, safe but never comfortable - quote from a Great woman of God.

Praise God for Canada. Pray for each province and what they are dealing with. The PM, his role and his family.

"Watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation.... The spirit is willing but the body is weak. " Somewhere in Matthew 26. Jesus hung with "sinners" and loved them even after they fell asleep on Him! Be encouraged.

It's been a great couple of weeks, I'm having a blast with friends, Kevin's family, doing some spa stuff and am getting in some great bonding time with my sister in law. Like I said before these are the best days of my life.

Thanks for everyone who has prayed for me and my family. Bless you big!

Love,

Alanne.

Thankfully God doesn't take vacations. I couldn't imagine if you went to pray and you heard. "God will be out of the Universe till next Friday" AHHHHH

Our family is preparing to go on our vacation. God has taught me a lot leading up to our vacation and I have a feeling God's not done yet. I do feel that he will give me rest and refresh our family before we do what God has planned for the fall. I'm looking forward to coming back to hear what the Pastors have decided our church plans and directions to be, to get our kids into school. Starting preschool with Orin (and I'm sure Rueben will want to do what Orin's doing :) Getting together with my friends and being real with everyone.

I just want to leave you with a quote from the girltalk.blogs.com website.

Vacation is great. I can get in a car and drive away from many of the responsibilities of everyday life. I can clean my house and not clean it again for two whole weeks. I can leave behind the errands and the meetings and the emails. But as much as vacation is an "escape," there is one thing I can't get away from: sin.

As my dad is in the habit of reminding people: indwelling sin doesn't take a vacation. As long as we're in this world, we can't escape it. We can't get in the car and leave it behind. We take it with us. Everywhere.

In fact, it seems to me as if new sins sneak into my luggage. Serving others sometimes seems like more of a sacrifice on vacation. I'm often more tempted to be impatient and self-centered. Worst of all, is the temptation to spiritual lethargy; the lure of pleasure and ease that seeks to pull my soul away from communion with God.

Because sin doesn't take a vacation, I cannot—I must not—take a vacation from dependence upon God. I desperately need His help to fight the sins that surface on vacation. But, sadly, I must confess that all too often I have neglected the spiritual disciplines. I start off with good intentions, but by the end of vacation my soul is cold and lacks passion for God.

That's why I need others on vacation. My husband challenges me and encourages me in my walk with God. My mom and sisters and I trade off watching the kids so each of us gets time with the Lord. They all provide an example that inspires me.

But even though sin travels with me, the good news is that I cannot escape the grace of God! And I don't want to! The gospel tells me that God sent His Son to redeem vacationing sinners like me. And even better—one day I will truly escape from sin, and spend eternity worshipping Him!

Remember sin doesn't take a vacation either so please pray for our family. Please also pray that we will be refreshed and renewed on this trip. I will try to post from whereever we are to keep you updated.

Blessings,

Alanne.

Hello Ladies,

Sorry it's been awhile, I've been thinking about you (my readers!) and I'm finally getting around to it. So I may have already written about this but as Pastor Dave would say Anything said more than once must be important, anything said more than once must be important. He he. So spiritual surgery.....

One lady that I was praying with at the alter shared with me that she doesn't want to cry anymore. She just wants the past to be the past. I just shared with her that if she's feeling pain God may need to reopen the wound in order to clean it out so that it will heal properly. Ouch!

Take the time to let God do the deep works He needs to do. Don't settle for a bandaid.

I love you.

Alanne.

4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit^[a] of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

If there is a portion of scripture devoted to discerning spirits we need to sit up and pay attention. Who are you listening to. I know for myself it is a constant battle to keep on track all day. I can easily get off track and do what I want to do and ignore my responsibilities. I think the image of the person with the devil on one sholder and the angel on the other is not far off. There's always talking even when there is silence who are we listening to and moreso who are we going to follow.

Accountability and being in the word are 2 very important things. Also I would say schedule your time. Don't even allow moments to be wasted.

Bless you today.

Alanne.

So unless you are suppose to be in the Word or talking to someone, Set the mood and get the job done!

If you are unmotivated or just plain bummed, do what you need to do to get motivated. Crank the tunes, open the curtains to let the light in, open the windows to get fresh air and get the job done!

This is what I had to do this morning. I turned on www.air1.com and wow the words to the songs hit me where I'm at and really got me back on focus to what is important. And my song for the day is Jonah 33 Faith like That, I believe it's called.

So here's the challenge, from me to you. Listen to a Christian radio station or your fav Christian CD and when a song hits you and becomes your song for the day, email me the title and artist. I'd love to hear words got you through the day. Or if you are write songs, write a song!

Christian music whether your style or not brings glory to God. So ditch the secular and find a Christian station that works for you. Check out www.christiantuner.com which has pretty much every kind of style you could want.

Blessings as you search.

Alanne.

I'm trying to bring discipline and structure to my life. I need to get adequate rest in order to serve.

I will serve God, my family and myself well by getting the rest I need and being disciplined. This is incredibly hard. It's really easy to let life just happen and to do what you want especially as a mom. I'd love to do what I want and often I keep busy because I don't want to do certain things. (Laundry, dishes etc) Seriously I want a maid.

For seasons after I became a mom I embraced the house work and what I needed to get done and I know that at those times I was more disciplined and had a structure to my day.

Implimenting a structure for me is hard especially when I have been out of one for a while. It is also especially difficult as I have to do this on my own. I have to make this happen.

But I'm better off for it and so is my family. So here I go. Trying. I'm heading to bed by 10pm.

And by the way..... www.girltalk.blogs.com is a must see. Starting at Just a suggestion. Be blessed.

Alanne.

Decide in your heart in advance how much you will give.

I believe giving is of money and time (which in some cases time is money). So decide in advance how you will spend your money. Decided in advance how you will spend your time. I recently did up a budget for my time. Wow. I don't have a whole lot left if I do all I'm suppose to do. But I'm excited. Now I just have to follow through.

Bless you as you decide in your heart how you will spend your time and money this week.

Alanne

It's completely amazing to feel the peace that comes with Holy Spirit being in charge.

2 Corinthians 3:15-18 15Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect^[a] the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Wow life at 30 is more learning than ever.

I have been walking through grieving processes, and God has been there. I have been learning to respect more, and God has been there. I have been working on spending quality time with my kids and God has been there.

The coolest thing is when I forget things (mom brain) it is ok because what I need to remember Holy Spirit will bring it to mind. And what I don't need to remember we'll I can't stress it when I don't remember what it is :)

I just want to tie this in to submission in marriages. This is something I learned about 2 years ago. The freedom in submission. Ladies we must submit to our man. If it isn't a truth to you yet, I want to hear from when it is.

Blessings,

Alanne.

If there is a natural body, there is a spiritual body. 1 Corinthians 15:44b

Truth. There's nothing quite like it. Straight forward. No crap.

Later in that chapter it says, For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

Sci Fi can't even compare with the scriptures and the battles that go on on a daily basis.

Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Hard, brutal, persecution, heartache, but not in vain.

It's hard to keep in mind that our battles are not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers. Especially when it is people we see and that are often used to get to us.

Lord please help. I need you.

Alanne.

Here's what we talked about at Mom Moments (or renamed Life Therapy :)

Everyone has at least one spiritual gift. What's your gift? How are you you growing that gift? Our goal is not perfection it's improvement. Yah! Where are you going to grow your gift? Through your father, husband (1Corinthians 14:26-end) Cell Leaders or Leaders that you are regularly accountable to.

Life Therapy. - People pay for therapy, self help books. You can get the Bible for free. Cell's are free. (If you don't have a Bible and want one talk to your pastor or cell leader.)

Bless you as you grow.

Alanne.

PS. It's tough to grow. Like I shared at the end of the Mom Moments, I'm not going to loose weight by simply having an elipical in my living room. You have to use it. Learning is work. The results are worth it.

Do you have an unhealthy fear? I found out I do. And it affects my relationship with God and everyone around me.

I have felt some rejection as a child and as an adult and I just blew it off. It has affected me more than I thought. So how does this affect my relationships now? Well in order to not feel rejection I keep busy. Now I'm not always busy in order to not feel rejection. I am a go go go kind of person and I have a lot going on in my life that is not a coverup for the rejection I feel. I'm talking when it comes down to actually just sitting and spending time with someone getting to know them and actually loving. It freaks me out! I am extremely outgoing to a fault. I want to make everyone feel welcome and in and of itself that is not wrong. I like people to feel good. To the point where I'm not being honest to myself and to them. And because relationships freak me out when I meet people and they want to hang out I end up rejecting them. Go figure how fear of rejection turns into rejecting.

So what now? Well I say that admitting where you are at is the first step. So there. I'm one step closer to perfection!!! Yeah right I mean my goal of improvement. (As we will never be perfect so give it up now:)

Lord it's really tough to not be perfect. Thank you for your blessings, thank you for my family and for my friends who love me dispite my faults. Lord you are good and your mercies endureth forever.

Blessings to you as we improve together!

Alanne.

Idols of the heart is what we talked about this week. Anything that is more important to you than God. And God tied it in nicely with the second part that He wanted us to learn. "If you're hungry eat at home!" A book I'm definately checking out "Idols of the Heart Learning to Long for God Alone." by Elyse Fitzpatrick. Thanks Laurie for sharing!

If church or some kind of meeting is where you feel you get "fed up" :) I mean get fed in a week, and that's it, that is a major problem. God wants an initmate one on one relationship with you. EAT AT HOME. It's like interacting with someone you love only at a celebration like their birthday party. Great Party. Where's the intimacy in that?!

Check out 1 Corinthians 11:17-end.

Love you,

Alanne.

Wow it's been a tough 2 days! All I have to say is laundry! (and not just that i have a lot of it either :)

It has been hard saying good bye to a great friend and mentor Pastor Dave Wood. He left for Edmonton yesterday and it was pretty tough. I have to say I haven't been hit like that since my dad died.

I definately have a lot of questions and will have to go through a grieving process.

In the mean time I am thankful for the trememdous example they set and standards they set and reached by being who God called them to be. I have and will continue to learn by the examples they set.

I am blessed and truly grateful for the relationship I had and will continue to have with the Wood family. I love you lots.

Alanne.

I love these guys cause they love God and they go hard. It's so encouraging. Put it on and if you are married well Holy Spirit drunk sex here we come! Wow. :)

1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

Then it goes on to talk about strict training. Run Hard. Christianity is not for wimps. Too many wimps have given Christianity a bad name. "Change your name or change your behavior."

If you don't have strict training I challenge you to go on an Encounter weekend. (Kinda like Christian military school. :) If you have a church you attend, encourage your leaders to teach on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Power, authority, boldness all accompany the infilling of the Holy Spirit. If witnessing is hard for you study the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

If you are reading this and are a bit shocked or wondering what the heck I'm talking about, well let me tell you life with Christ is not boring. It's the biggest ride you could ever take.

Gotta close. Run hard!

Love, Alanne.

I have to say it has been an amazing 2 days. God has blessed me big with amazing friends who have loved us and supported us and held our arms up when we couldn't any longer.

Thank you Lord for what you are doing and what you've done. Lord be with the people going on the Encounter weekend Lord prepare their hearts Lord. Father I trust that you will work everything out and Lord as the leaders look to you that you will give them your peace. Father I'm excited about what you are doing in the hearts and minds of the leaders who are walking the vision. Lord thank you that even though I doubt your sovereign and Lord once again I don't need to feel like I have to do it all. (yeah I'm learning) I love you Lord.

Wow can't wait to see what tomorrow holds. :)

Good night.

Alanne.

Just to clarify yesterdays blog.... We can't assume non Christians have the same values as Christians. Our friendship with them should and will look different than with other Christians.

I love how 1 Corinthians 6 talks about working out disputes between Christians. Let's work things out and deal with things as they come up. Don't miss or overlook things. (speaking to myself here :)

Gotta go but check out the scripture for yourself. Alanne.

Well God has really been working on me in this area. I have been so blessed over the last two days.

1 Corinthians 4:4a My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.

"You did what you knew how to do and when you knew better you did better." Poet Maya Angelou

I've learned some things over the last couple of days and wow, I am trusting I will "did better". :)

1 Corinthians 5:9 I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."^[b]

God, the in words a a wise woman "you are so smart" and another "you are so amazing" and in mine "you are so balanced" :) I love you Father. Thanks.

Be Blessed.

Alanne.

So what is dressing inappropriately? Well I have a website that you need to check out. The last seven or more posts were all talking about modestly. It's amazing!

So why should we look good? That would take time and energy when you don't have either! Well we have to look at Proverbs 31 something about rises early. Ouch! That smarts. Rising early means going to bed when we need to not when we want to. Yes I am speaking to myself here. :)

What is inside us should be reflected on the outside. Christ. We are the temple of the God. 1Corinthians 3:16&17 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

I remember a lady who spoke at a ladies weekend at our church and she looked radiant. When you saw her you saw her inside and out. There was no difference. I am guilty of not spending time to look good for my husband, after all he married me and he'd better think I'm beautiful! I know he does but I would be showing him that I care about him and our relationship if I spent time to look good.

The funny thing is when I read these articles on modesty at the girltalk website, I think to myself I really need to go shopping! Instead of I really need to get rid of some stuff.

What do you think after reading those articles?

Your sis,

Alanne.

1 Corinthians 3 1:15

1Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.

5What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.

10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 14If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

My passion is that we, you and I are completing our assigned tasks for our common purpose.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

We all have different tasks. We all have the same purpose. Love God and Love others. That is our common calling like Pastor Mike shared at Tehillah.

So let's start small. Lets start with giving it all over to God. :) yeah real small - NOT.

A test for you. The "are you ok?" check.

Bang your knee really hard accidently. If you blow your cork, chances are you have too much on your mind. (Why would I know this? yeah you guessed it.) If you can live in the moment with only the thoughts for that moment then you will be better able to focus on the situation / pain and deal with it.

Often times the issue is not the issue. Yes it hurts. Yes it was the last straw but if it was the only straw it wouldn't be as big of an issue.

"the fire will test the quality of each man's work."

Let God get to your heart. Let him hold everything. "I want to be the one to hold you high, I want to be the one to give you glory."(the song in my head)

I love you. I'm living, learning this. Glad to walk and share and learn with you.

Alanne

Lord you are so good. You are faithful and wow when people walk in your will, POWERFUL. You are gracious and you tenderly love us. Lord help me to be like you. To tenderly love others beginning with my family.

Wow we just had the most amazing Mom Moments!! Thanks Laurie for allowing God to share through you today. It was such a delight seeing you passionately speak and touch lives. Let's just say if you weren't here you missed out!

If you think "I can't, or not me, I'm not educated enough, who am I, or I just don't have the strength. THROW IT OFF! I don't say that lightly but be very aware that satan wants us down and out so that we will not do the work of the Lord.

1Corinthians 1:26-end, 2

26Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him. 30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."^[d]

1 Corinthians 2

1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.^[a] 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

Wisdom From the Spirit

6We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"^[b]— 10but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.^[c] 14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:
16"For who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct him?"^[d] But we have the mind of Christ.

But we have the mind of Christ. Anything said more than once must be important.

Blessings, Alanne.

Good morning! What a great morning! It's my son Gabe's birthday today. He's 5! I can't believe it.

1Cor 1:10-17 Talks about quarrel's. I love how God gives us insite and like I shared yesterday gives us instructions for the day through His word. Thank you Lord.

Lose the quarrels and useless arguements. As it says in 1 Corinthians Agree and be united. Is Christ divided?

"For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel - not with words of human wisdom (wisdoom) lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power."

Lord please make us aware of what is useless arguements and how to be united. Help us discern today what is not of you.

Blessings today,

Alanne.

I Cor 1:9

I have to say I love all the things I've read lately and all the colors of light I am seeing through my "God glasses".

My son Levi and I were talking today about selfish attitudes and how we need to be in the word to hear from God. He said, "I don't hear him Mommy." I said God doesn't speak out loud like mommy does very often. He speaks to us through His word. (Blank look on his face). I continued to say the Bible is God's love letter to you. (still a blank look) Levi it's like an instruction book. You know when you are trying to put a toy together and beside you is the instructions but you don't look at them? It's frustrating. (the light when on) Well the Bible is our instruction book for everyday life. How to live and what to do and be like.

He got it.

Put the glasses on - be in the word and talk to the Inventor. Life will look very different. :)

Blessings, Alanne.

Hi Everybody,

This Easter has really hit me hard. We just watched the Chronicles of Narnia or whatever it is called and wow. (Definately not good for kids.) But I loved watching it especially at Easter.

I went to bed after and cried. It has been 11 years since my dad died and he died on April 16th Easter Sunday in 1995. Tomorrow is Easter Sunday April 16, 2006. I miss him lots and life is so fragile. The concerns I have for my kids and the love I feel for them. Wow.

Thank you God for loving me. Col 4:2-6.

Thanks for listening and Happy Easter.

Alanne.

5Put to death,(present tense) therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.^[b] 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self (past tense - done) with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

18Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

19Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

20Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

21Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, (not do whatever) work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism. (don't worry about it and it's not your responsibility to repay).

Deut 32:35 It is mine to avenge; I will repay.
In due time their foot will slip;
their day of disaster is near
and their doom rushes upon them."

Thank you Lord for your word and Truth.

Alanne.

My mom has always said to us growing up "For every unnecessary word we will give account..." I guess this is her take on Matt 12:36.

But if you think about it. We waste many words a day. We waste many minutes in a day.

I will be as bold as to say that if we do only what God wants us to and say only what he wants us to say we will have the perfect amount of time everyday for everything.

So practically what does that look like? Well our relationship with God is supposed to be an open line. We should be in constant communication with him all day.

You know how when you hang out with your best friend or someone you love hanging out with it's fun talking and doing things together but there are times even when it's just cool to be in the same room. When your busy doing stuff you have the assurance that he is there just hanging out with you in the room.

I don't know about any religion where you can just hang out with your creator (and He wants to).

Lord forgive me for the minutes I have wasted and the words I have carelessly used. I love you Lord.

Blessings,

Alanne.

For those of you who didn't get the skateboard thing in yesterdays blog, just know God cares about the smallest detail.

Today in prayer I was thinking about God as a parent to us. I thanked Him for always being there and being available. He's not off working at his job and not available (not that working is bad when needed). He's available whenever for whatever. He loves us. We're his kids. I know in my head that he loves us more than anyone could ever love another but to think that he loves us more than I love my kids? That blows my mind. I'm typing all this while my baby lays across my lap and has his bottle. The love I feel for him right now is huge, it's all consuming. God is all consumed with you. Right now. He's looking at you and loves you with his whole heart.

Don't resist. There's no time for that.

From my heart.

Alanne

Thank you Lord. You are good.

I have to hit the hay. Good night

I just had an amazing quiet time. I loved what I have blogged so far but I really wanted to get more personal. So what are my ambitions and why?

(and now I have learned to save my blogs while typing them so little fingers don't accidently erase what you just wrote.)

Romans 15:20 Paul says, "It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation."

My ambitions are to be a reference point. To connect people to whereever they need to be in order to grow in God. Often times it's to a cell or to a person that would be able to impact their lives. I find though that because I am friendly and outgoing people want to connect only to me. Pastor Dave has said that in your life time you will have only about 6 close friends. I have to realize that I can't be a close friend to everyone I meet and some how I feel I need to express that.

In the Children's book The Legend of the Three Tree's I would have to say I would most likely want to be the Pine Tree (I think it was) that wanted to stay on the mountain top and forever point people to God. Interestingly enough though as the book says the dreams of the trees happened just not in the way they expected and that pine tree was the tree that was chopped down and made into the cross. Ouch.

Blessings to you as you think about what your ambitions are and why.

Anything repeated more than must be important. Anything repeated more than once must be important. :)

Romans 14:1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.

Later in Chapter 15 verse 1 it states "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves."

Acceptance and support for the weak in faith. We've all been there at some point in our walk.

Then again in verse 7 "Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God."

That's what life is all about bringing praise to God. One way is to accept and "..bear with the failings...".

vs 5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragment give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

vs 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Good night ladies.

I have been raised with this verse....

2Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

As Christians we need to be like Christ. I see 3 types of people the ones that stand out in the negative, the ones that don't stand out (and who don't affect their surroundings) and the ones that excel in the positive.

In the book "A Mothers Heart" by Jean Fleming the author shares that as Christians we need to be especially good at forgiving. Espeically good not just good.

Romans 13:5 The verse I was trying to find!!!

A huge thank you to James for setting this whole thing up! We appreciate you and we treasure your friendship.

In this space I want to share what I am learning in order to encourage women of faith to go deeper. I will encourage you, challenge you and do whatever it takes to help you grow.

Some things I say may offend you as I want to present the truth. My intentions are not to hurt but sometimes we need to hear things we don't want to hear and apply things we don't want to apply in order to grow.

My goal is for all ladies to reach the highest standard. To be examples and be united in purpose. I am not perfect just to put that on record. Your responsiblity is to check what I say with the Word of God. I am open to reading your comments although I have limited time.

I love you and look forward to the walk. Blessings.

So I was very encouraged by my Pastor's message on Sunday. He ended with 2 questions.

1. Do people enjoy being around you? and

2. Do you feel comfortable in the presence of God?

If you can't answer with an honest yes, there is a problem.

Romans 13:1-7.

Fear or Peace which will you have?