I knocked on my neighbor's doors this morning to invite them out to the Easter service despite these obstacles:


This was NOT on my "to-do" list today... or ever.  But after praying this morning, "Father, Hallowed be your name..." I felt compelled by the Holy Spirit to GO right now.  The Spirit brought to mind, Jim Donohue's message last, last Sunday... in particular these points:

I knew that if I put this off for "later" that I would end up talking myself out of it.  So I scribbled on the
"Introducing God" invitations information about our Easter Service (not too classy but functional) and headed out the door with the kids (Caden in a stroller).

I started by knocking on the door of the guy, Jon and I refer to as "the angry guy across the street".  He's big, has tattoos, never smiles, yells a lot. I gave Ky the invitation ... his wife came to the door and I said, "Hi, I'm your neighbor from over there and just wanted to invite you to my church's Easter service" and I for the 1st time introduced myself and asked her & her husband's name.  Now, I can pray for them by name.

I got to talk to one lady who has recently retired from teaching and goes to a Presbyterian church nearby... got to know what was happening in her life... until Caden started crying... but it was cool getting to know the person behind the face.

I then took the boys for a walk to CVS to invite the manager but on my way there, there were some boys and a mom at the playground so I stopped to see if the Lord had anything here for me....

Long story short, me and this mom ended up hitting it off right away, despite our apparent differences (age primarily).  She took my # (alas, I didn't have a pen on me or I would've taken hers). She is a non-practicing Catholic whose been to our church b/c her husband helped to build the new portions of our church and brought her to the site (when they were done doing construction) to show her how beautiful the finished product was.  This all started with a simple, "hi" and "how old are your boys?"

The irony is that my flesh, has already asked me to pinky-swear that I will NEVER talk to strangers again... but I'm praying that the Holy Spirit would change me... and that enjoying Care Group, the rich fellowship with friends, seeing the goodness of God through singing songs, experiencing the power of the gospel in my marriage, hearing God's word preached each Sunday.. would loose my lame heart to leap to my neighbor's doors... and invite them to our home... so they too can know the joy of being reconciled to God.

Today I sent out 4 books and am waiting to get 2 books in the mail that I've wanted for a while but just didn't want to buy.  Well, if you love to read and collect books, this is for you too! 

You can get rid of the books you have that are cluttering up your house and get credits to get other people's books that they don't want (which happens to be the very book that YOU want!)  And if you are picky about what condition the book is in, you can set your preferences to weed out what you don't want.

No fees.  No risks.  No lugging the kids to the Post Office.  Everything can be done at the convenience of your home.  Check it out here: LINK

They also have the same club but for swapping DVDs... I haven't used this site yet but if it's as good as the book one, I will be soon.  Link to it below.  And let 'em know that I referred you so we both get perks, my login is: michelleybelly@msn.com

Caden was twirling around and around last night and Ky looks over at him and exclaims, "he's a PRIC-NESS!"  (pric-ness= princess). 

Just now, I was admiring Caden and saying things like, "he's such a cute little baby" and Ky from the breakfast table says, "No, he's a skunk."  lol... he wasn't trying to be mean-spirited or anything it was just random... I'm not even sure if he knew that skunks were smelly :O).

Ky says a ton of cute & sweet things but I keep forgetting to write them down!
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Caden started singing his own tune last week.  He woke up from his nap and sang, "Gu-key, Gu-key Ga-Ga-Ga-Ga" over and over again (Gu-key is how he says "Monkey"... "Monkey" is a new stuffed animal that he loves but not as much as Puppy of course.)  He sings this same song now but with a "D" at the beginning.  He also hums along with me sometimes when I sing him the Gospel song during bedtime... it's so sweet.

Caden is A LOT more verbal than Ky was at this age but isn't as nimble as Ky at this age .  He currently can say (for my own memory's sake):

- Die-pa (for Diaper)
- Poo-poo
- Guy (for Ky)
- Gu-key (Monkey or Brown Bear or any brown stuffed animal)
- Wassdat (What's that?)
- Mom (Mama- Me!  He just one day decided to start saying "mom" instead of "mama" which is what Ky calls me)
- Peez (Please)
- No-No!
- Car
- Hel-peez (Help please)
- Da-du (thank you)
- Do-do (Love you)
- Byeee (Bye)
- Hi-eee (Hi)
- Ga, ga, ga (Go, go, go)
- Ni Ni (my mom)

Caden is still "mom's" boy too.  Often throughout the day he'll still run to me to get a hug and is very affectionate towards me.  I am going to soak it all up before he becomes all about dad. 

These quotes kick my butt every time I read them... which probably means I haven't grown much .  But I'm grateful that God hasn't hardened my heart to them....

When I Don't Desire God How to Fight for Joy by John Piper

Scripture memory quotes:

"The joy producing effect of memorizing scripture and having it in my head and heart are incalculable.  The world and its God-ignoring, all embracing secularism is pervasive.  It invades my mind every day.  What hope is there to have a mind filled with Christ except to have a mind filled with his Word?  I know of no alternative."

"I spend this much time on Bible memory b/c I believe in the power of the indwelling Word of God to solve a thousand problems before they happen, and to heal a thousand wounds after they happen, and to kill a thousand sins in the moment of temptation, and to sweeten a thousand days with the "drippings of the honeycomb."  I am jealous for you, my readers, that you would "let the word of Christ dwell in you richly" (Col 3:16).  This is the path to solid joy and all the service of love that it sustains.  Christ will be seen as the fortune he is when we treasure his word more than money, and when the joy it awakes overflows with sacrificial love (2 Cor. 8:2)."

Spending time in God's word quotes:

"I earnestly recommend that it be in the early morning, unless there are some extenuating circumstances.  Entering the day w/out a serious meeting with God, over his Word and in prayer, is like entering the battle w/out tending to your weapons.  It's like taking a trip w/out filling the tires with air or the tand with gas.  The human heart does not replenish itself w/sleep.  The body does, but not the heart.  The spiritual air leaks from our tires, and the gas is consumed in the day.  We replenish our hearts not with sleep,but with the Word of God and prayer."

See Jonalee's post:  http://earlesfam.blogspot.com/2008/11/please-pray.html

Also take a look at this article if you haven't already, it's written by John Piper's daughter-in-law who lost her baby last year, you'll learn, "How to Help your Grieving Friend" (thanks Rach!)

Mourning,

Michelle