Mostly about my friends

The battle I was thinking about was Joshua. He started with 22,000 then went to 10,000 then went to 300. They went to war with a bugle in one had and some sort of empty jar that held a torch in the other hand. God even specifically states that He wants people to know that HE won the battle and not the soldiers...maybe I should learn to play the trumpet...just in case.

Today, I went shopping, leased a copy machine for the new school, left multiple phone messages for people, read with my children, read a book (until I took a nap), jogged for about 35 minutes, and read with my children some more. In between all that I kept lifting up some dear friends of mine in prayer.

The first is my friend, Kelly. She lives in Seattle WA now, but when she lived here she was diagnosed with breast cancer. That was 'eliminated' but then it came back in her lung. It was a miracle that the doctor was able to remove all traces of that but they still had her do another go with chemo. And she was in remission when she moved to Seattle with her newlywedded husband. She has been through so much. It breaks my heart.

I recently found out the cancer has returned in both her lung and her brain. The rumors are that she can no longer walk and doesn't speak well. I say rumors because I have not been able to speak with her and communicate with her at all.

I am not one to ask why. I am more likely to ask why not? But I wonder 'why not me?' Kelly is so vibrant and full of love. She has guided me in so many things and has let me see first hand how to be an independent woman without being a feminazi about it.

I must say that she has been an inspiration to me and I am SO honored that Jesus allowed her to be a part of my life while in Texas. Here, I can ask, "why me?" why did I get the honor of her friendship?

Kelly is someone who starts a conversation with a stranger at Starbucks and within the week you two are best buds meeting up at the Kimbell to discuss art!

When I prayed for her today, I prayed a selfish prayer. I prayed that she would have a healing to live pain free for at least another ten years. Her mother died at a young age from cancer. Her little brother died as a teenager with cancer. I just want her around a little longer. I may never see her again because of the distance between us, but it is important for me to know that she is still befriending those coffee drinkers in some other part of the world!

The other person I am praying for is Christi. She is 26 and has a 5 month old son. Her husband was killed in a car wreck last week. She and I do not formally know each other, but we are part of the same college sorority: Sigma Alpha. She had his funeral today. I just can't imagine.

When I attended another friend's husband's funeral (her name is Denise and her thirty two year old fireman husband died of an anerism), they played a song that I had sang many times before, but it was so meaningful that day. "You give and take away. You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, Blessed be the name of the Lord, Blessed be your name, Blessed be the name of the Lord, Blessed be you Glorious name!"

I like My heart will CHOOSE to say. We cannot understand the mind of God. And when life sucks and we want to scream and tear down the curtains, we can do those things but we can also make a choice to not blame God, but to praise him for whatever insane and crazy thing He has in store for us later down the road.

Please join me in prayer for my friends. They need peace that transcends understanding, love unconditional, comfort for their mourning, and maybe an angel won't hurt either.

Textbooks as a tool for Satan

Enrollment is going well. I really was hoping for 50 students. I was going to cap the classes at 10. And I thought that was a low number. We only have 30. It is enough of a reason to open the school, of course. And, like what Pastor Zach said, God asked for our obedience, not our success. And our Lord will be glorified whether we have 10 or 1000.

I think my biggest dissappointment was realizing how low my 6th grade numbers were. I kind of wish I had stopped the grades at 5th. And I am at a loss on how to market sixth grade only.

I am reminded of all the Old Testament battles. There was one where God kept removing half the army until there were only like a couple of thousand. A tiny number to win a glorious victory. Will that be our campus? And what victory are we marching after? Truth. Making sure our children know the ENTIRE story and everyone's perspectives of historical events, or why an author writes certain things, or that a Science book has many theories represented as accurate.

I want the next generation to have information that I never had. My textbooks were so biased and boring. School was an obstacle I had to get through so I could make my parents happy and I could start my life. It wasn't until my master's that I realized how little I knew and how much I wanted to know. And I was SO disgusted by the lies and untruths taught to me in my public school education.

Surprisely, my purpose for sharing this vision, is not a religious one. It is not to directly spread the Gospel of Jesus. My purpose to sharing this mission is to bring families together again. To have time to play ball, go to the park, or hang out and watch a movie with each other. And maybe, by spending time together, they will slow down enough to see they are missing the foundation in their family -- the love of Jesus Christ.

(Hold on, I am about to sound charismatic and conspiracy theoried): Satan has found an outlet to destroy God's first institution, not the relationship between Adam and Eve, but the relationship between Man and God. This outlet is a slow, unconscious, brain washing of the USA through our public schools. It's not the politicians fault, it's not the parent's fault or the teachers or the students. I blame Satan's use of mammom in relation to giant textbook companies and their lobbiests.

I know, I know. The Christian Coalition opened a whole can of worms when they started attending Texas's Textbook Adoption hearings. It was a good effort, but all it did was to eliminate MORE information from our children. I want the children to have ALL the information and have them compare it to Truth (aka The Bible).

Children are very wise when it comes to Truth. Many times they act foolishly, but many times they innately know when something is true. If fact, they get so caught up in truth, like on the playground, that they will tattle on their best friend before they participate in a group lie. Christ said, "Unless you come to me like a little child" We attribute this scripture to believing in Jesus without "thinking". I disagree. I think the children were thinking very clearly. I think Jesus was saying, "The kiddos know who I am. Don't withhold information from them. If they believe in me, I can guide them to know the Truth, and not Satan's lie"

In fact, I would almost venture to say that by not telling our children about the 'bad stuff' or the religions we don't believe in or agree with, then we are saying, "Jesus, I don't trust you. I don't think you can really guide them into your Truth."

Visited NW Bible Service

Today we visited Northwest Bible Church. It was exactly how we expected. Very kind, loving people. The sermon was short because of they celebrated the Lord's Supper and had some very impressive choir songs.

I especially enjoyed the clarinet (I used to play as a child). At the close of the service, we visited with the congregation over fajitas from El Paseo's. They are very much a loving family and Jack and I felt honored to have 'broken bread' with them.

BTW, Dr. Pinto preached Chapter 15 in Romans. Love Romans.