HAVE YOU CHOSEN A WINDOW SEAT?

Before I left for vacation last week I read a passage of scripture about a young man named Eutychus. In Acts ch 20 7-13 .

The Name Eutychus meant"very Lucky" and "Fortunate."

Well you tell me if you think he was very lucky........ The story of Him simply states he showed up for the first day of the week church service, chose a window seat and sank into a deep sleep and lost his balance and fell three stories. Paul the guest speaker that was bringing an amazing message from God, had stopped speaking for a moment went down and fell on Eutychus embraced him and restored him.

I see this as a very UNFORTUNATE CIRCUMSTANCE WITH A FORTUNATE OUTCOME! I guess his name does mean LUCKY!

I really related to this story when I left on vacation. I was in the middle of a very unfortunate circumstance that God made Fortunate in the end!

The first day of our trip my son Ben woke up early and was suddenly very ILL. I knew deep in my mothering soul this was just not a flu or bad cold. He was crying in pain and vomiting uncontrollably. He could not even stand up, he had no balance. Within a few hours of trying everything a mom could do I called his Dr at home and they instructed me to go to ER immediately. Yes as a mom I was afraid, scared and hurt to see my son in agony. Remember we are on vacation and I had made plans for this day a long time ago! The plans for this Monday was to hit Lake Michigan and jump waves and possible hit some evening rides at Michigan Adventure! Now come on friends...... we all have plans when we go on vacation! I did not plan long trip to ER in the back seat of a car holding my son, praying he would not puke on me! LOL!

Hours later we returned home and he was diagnosed with VERTIGO. This is a type of dizziness where you feel that you and everything around you is moving or spinning. You have trouble balancing and it causes you to fall down and vomit. Strange, I know! But the good news is he was restored!

A great lesson came out of this for Ben and I. It related back to the young man Eutychus that fell out the window 3 stories! remember he lost his balance and fell.

What we learned was all our plans for tomorrows activities can be shattered by a thousand unknowns. Everyday we are all at RISK for things beyond our control. James 4:13-14 states "yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say"If the Lord will, we will live and do this or that."

If we choose a window seat in our walk and relationship with God, we will loose our balance, doze off and then in the midnight hour fall. A window seat is the most comfortable seat sometimes. You can stare off and get distracted on the things going on outside. When you get bored and doze off you will fall asleep. I believe this is what happened to this young man "Eutychus" God never intends for us to get bored in our relationship with Him. He has great plans for you and your children. What we learn and KNOW about God prepares us for our tomorrows.

If we choose the window seats in our relationship with God, when the BIG unknown happens in our life we can get dizzy, loose balance and Fall! We will all have midnight hours!

Without KNOWING GOD we will never have an adequate perspective on situations. My son may have been very dizzy that day but I did not loose my balance. THANKYOU JESUS!

Ephesians 2:7 The immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness are toward us"

He blesses and makes himself known to you when you pick a better seat then the window seat!

He will walk you thru your darkest hour and pick you up when you do fall!

I pray this whole circumstance helped my son and reminded him that God has great plans for Him!

oh by the way.....

Ben refused to ride the TILT a WHIRL at Michigan adventure! LOL

God is So Good,

Heather!

We still have a month of summer left! ENJOY

MY TWO HORSES

Don't you like my homemade clip art!

The "WILL" of God is like a cart pulled by two horses. Their names are MIND and EMOTIONS. You must get both horses moving in the same direction to move the cart forward.

I have been pondering this little saying for the past month and sharing it with many women. It has really helped me in my walk and desire to understand and stay on the path of Gods plans for my life! But often my mind and emotions can begin to go in many other directions. Am I the only one?

I have friends ask all kinds of questions like..... What is Gods plans for me? How do I even get moving forward in them? I wonder who God has for me as a mate and when I will find him? What will I be when I get older? What is going to happen with our finances? My husband was just diagnosed with cancer what will the outcome be? I hope to find the perfect job? the list goes on and on.................................

Well I believe our answers will come together when we focus on the saying above. We have to train our two horses, mind and emotions. Now as we all know horses are very, very strong animals yet very trainable. So in the same way is our minds. In 1 peter 1:13 it tells us to gird up our minds. We have to discipline our minds by taking all loosely flowing thoughts, speculations and opinions and train them to be in the same MIND which was in Christ Jesus. Phillipians 2:5

As I pondered a horse I was lead to Psalm 32:8-9"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with my eye. Do not be like a HORSE or like a mule which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they come not near you.

In order to get a horse moving forward a bit and bridle is needed. It is used to put pressure points on specific areas of the horse so the direction of the horse can be controlled. The horse then moves in a forward direction as the rider pulls on the reigns!

I am so in need of the bit and bridle to train my mind! The pressure points in the mouth help the horse stay moving with control in a forward motion. The word of God to me is a huge pressure point to keep me moving forward. I feel the reigns tugging at my heart and adjusting me accordingly, so I stay moving forward with HIS thoughts and plans. The bridle on my head helps me stay focused. I am often lead in different directions from family, friends, old habits, attitudes, emotions and more. Just as a horse can get SPOOKED so can we! Things come in our pathway daily that make us question life sometimes, we can have that fight and flight mentality too! BUT GOD can pull on our reigns and regain control if we desire and allow Him the complete control! We need to trust the rider of our life. A horse learns to gain trust in their rider . Just as we need to trust in the plans God has for us. Some of us need to even begin to understand that God has a great plan for us!

If a horse cannot trust a rider it will never get to the point of pulling a cart! That really amazed me, if we cannot begin to trust and grow in a relationship with Jesus our rider and owner, we will never pull the cart of Gods DREAMS for our lives!

I hope you desire to move forward into Gods great purposes! So much adventure is on the path of this life! The questions on the pathway of life that we don't understand will not SPOOK us if we have trained our minds to trust our owner! Ephesians 4:23 "be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the NEW man which was created according to God."

Remember he will instruct and teach you in the way you should go! psalm 32:8

Blessings

Heather!

Let me know how the training is going!

My horse can get pretty wild at times! LOL!

READING A LITTLE OF THIS BOOK HAS CHANGED MY LIFE!

Hello friends!

The summer is ticking away day by day! Lots of great fun and many memories being made with my crazy family! We spent the night at my dads house last night. I woke up extremely early this morning, before a single person even rolled over to catch another few hours of sleep!

As I was making some coffee I spotted my dads Bible on a nearby table and noticed a piece of paper hanging out of it. I opened the bible to the piece of paper and was blessed to read a note I wrote to my dad a few years ago. It stated......

Dad,

Reading a little of this book each day has changed my life! As you read Exciting things will happen! Make time dad, 10 minutes a day and you will see! Do not miss out dad!

When God thinks of you dad, I bet He sees your compassion, devotion to others and your tenderness. But He is also looking for your eagerness to read His word!

I pray great things will be in store for you in 2005! I love you so much dad!

A great place to start is the Book of John or Psalms!
Proverbs 1:7
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge
BUT fools despise wisdom and instruction"

Love, Heather

I then looked at the inside cover of the Bible and noticed a note from my son Ben. It said.......

Pa Pa,
This is the BEST book! Read a tiny each day and watch how Real God becomes in your life
Love, Ben


I was blessed this morning by these little notes and God reminded me of Psalm 1:1-3 It talks about how BLESSED the man is who delights in the law of the Lord! It explains to us that we will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. That brings forth its fruit in season. Whose leaf shall not wither; And whatever he does SHALL PROSPER!

God does want to reveal great things to us and He wants to prosper us in GREAT ways. We often MISS it and wither because we have not spent time in His word. I have been guilty of being to busy. But I have also experienced the withering seasons because of my business! I have discovered the stress of life is not worth it!
I have also heard many friends tell me "The Bible thing is not for me" well, the Lord tells us in His word that in this world we will all have troubles and tribulations. ALL of us will experience hard times. But He is waiting to be our sheild and hear our voice! Its all in psalms chapter one!
If you desire to turn to Him during your withering season I promise you will realize how personal God wants to be in your life and how he can take our withering times and prosper us in great ways! We will be less likely to say "Its not my thing" but you may be convinced He is "Your ALL in ALL"
I was so excited to let my Dad know how real my God is! I am that excited to share this note again with you in a personal way!
Enjoy the summer friends! I am off to the Plymouth Art in the Park!
Blessings,
HEATHER

The fall bible studies are being put together at all locations great stuff is coming!
Also Our Fall Ladies Large Event with great speakers the theme is "Wonder Women who are Wonderfully made" does anyone remember wonder women and or Linda carter???( I will keep you posted on more info VERY SOON, Its Gonna be a WONDERFUL weekend!