The line...

 This is the last week for Shelby Jean to play baseball this season.  She still hasn't gotten a hit yet...I have unfortunately froze at all but one game(crazy spring in the south)...and I have learned some valuable lessons from her.  I love this little girl of mine and am grateful for the things she teaches me!

Several weeks ago, Shelby had a  game. This is the first year that she has played ball and this was her third or fourth game. She is seriously the cutest thing in her little uniform and her "guiser"...also

known to the general public as visor.

That night her coach got a wild hair and decided to let the queen play pitcher. She doesn't have to pitch...the coach does that...she just plays the position. She has to wear a face mask and everything. When I

Saw her out there I said to my friend Lydia.."lawzee, they have no clue what they have done"! She has never played the position...thus she has no clue what to do with the ball.

The ball got hit in her general direction a few times but she wasn't going after the ball...she stood in her area and would not be moved. We soon realized that Shelby thought that she couldn't come out of the circle...the pitcher's mound has a chalk circle around it. Towards the end of the game a ball was hit to her...it landed about 8 inches outside of the circle. She charged the ball and then got to that white line and stopped. She then proceeded to step over and then back into the circle like 4 times. You could see the inner struggle of wanting to get the ball, but thinking the line was her boundary and not wanting to break the rules. Everyone saw it and everyone was dying laughing. It was so funny! Her coach quickly came over and explained that she could come out of the line...and she just smiled at him!

Shelby thought that the chalk line was a boundary that had been set up for her to tell her where to be. She was willing to follow that "rule" even if it mean letting the other team score 4 runs!

Far too often we live our lives like we have no boundaries or even worse...we want to toe the line. That we are free to whatever we please...we will walk as close to that line as we can without "crossing" it.  We fail to take into consideration what this does to our lives and the lives around us! God is very clear in the scripture about the guidelines he has laid out for our lives. He laid it out all throughout scripture...old testament and new...of what is expected of us. Moses preached on  the law from Mt. Sinai... Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus...Corinth...Phillipi..and others where he spoke of what we, as Christians, should and should not do...Jesus preached on specific guidelines at the Sermon on the Mount...there were obviously boundaries in the Garden! It's no suprise that boundaries and rules have been laid out for us since the beginning of time...then why do we disregard them?

We disregard them because we, being born sinful people, are selfish. We feel we have a right to do whatever we choose.  We want to live life just like the world, but yet "do" church, and because of that say we are Godly.  I can't tell you how many teens have asked me..."where is the line", and I automatically respond..."if that is your question, you've already crossed it...your question should be...how do I stay as far away from that line as possible".  We aren't in the Word enough...we aren't "putting in" the things of God...we are consumed with the worlds standards and fitting in.   We must be saturated in the Word...aware of the boundaries that have been placed...acknowledge them and obey them. It's for our good, whether we realzie it or not. 

I pray that I would know the guidelines and boundaries that God has laid out for me...that I would be aware of them...fearful of breaking them, just as Shelby was of that chalk line.  The game went on while Shelby was battling with her line...just as the world will  go on around me, but regardless of what is around me, I still have to be focused on obeying God!  May I know His word so that my life would a testimony of one who obeyed His commandements and one that chose not to cross the line!

Read these two verses below...may we obey!

(Deuteronomy  28:1–2) And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and sovertake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.

(Deuteronomy 28:15) “But lif you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and movertake you."

Welcome Home...

Friday night we loaded up in the van to head to the airport.  The long awaited day was here.  Signs were made...kids were clean...hair was brushed...and Momma was smiling.  We headed down to the gate with our friends to wait for them.  My friend Heather and I were were whooping it up in the parking lot because we were so excited to see our men!  People surely thought we were nuts running through that airport with seven kids...seven signs...and us two were as giddy as we were on our wedding days!  We couldn't wait to see their faces again!

The guys had been in Ecuador for 8 days, beginning the process of planting our church in a town called Zhud.  They are the "people of the hill"!  A people in need of a church building...a people that need to hear about the love of Christ.  We are beyond excited to start this...beyond expectant of what God is going to do!  It's gonna be awesome!  So lets go back to the airport where kids and excited wives are waiting...

We wait patiently as person after person comes down the escalator...each one gets a sigh because "nope..that's not dad either"!  Everyone smiled at us...thought the kids were so cute...a few even said they wished they were "DAD"!  Then we saw them...saw their shoes...and then the squeals started.  As soon as they came through those revolving doors the kids were off running...you may have to watch the video a few times...just to watch the kids run to the different dads.  Each one is pretty cool...and if you pay attention to the left screen you will see Mrs. Carol go up and hug her husband, Bro. Joe!  She missed him so much!!!  I loved the kids reactions...loved their excitement...and just love that Ric is home now!








The guys dished out the kids gifts...they were all so excited with each personal item that the men had looked for and bought.  It was a special moment for sure...one I will never forget.  As we rode home that night...hand in hand....I listened to Ric tell me story after story about what God had done in the hills of Ecuador...the funny stories...the heartbreaking tales...the hope that lies among those beautiful green hills.  That hope is found thru Christ and is in a little church called Iglesia Evangelical Bautista.  I can't wait to go there one day...to love on the people...to share Christ's love with them!

This Mother's Day is a grand one for sure...because of my sweet four kids that call me Mom every day(even if it is like 50,000 times a day).  Because of my unbelievable Mother that is such a great example for me...a great friend to me...a bearer of my burdens...she has taught me well and I just love her to pieces...Happy Mother's Day Momma!!!  To a great Mother-in-law that raised the man that I was so excited to see on Friday night...she is so good to us!  And because my man is home...home from the hills for now!  I am so thankful he is here...so thankful for the time he had...expectant of what God is going to do!  What a grand day for sure!