Jedi Squirrels

I got this pic in an email and laughed really hard because I think the squirrels in my yard have those abilities!

But, after laughing, I realized that it's true in my life as a Christian, too.

I have a powerful sword that I can not see...the Word of God! I may look like these squirrels with the natural eye, but when I wield my sword, I can do some damage in the heavenlies.

These squirrels don't care what they look like - believe me they do. not. care.

And, if I stop caring what other people will think and use my Sword as if I believe that it's powerful and that it's REAL, then great and wonderful things will happen.

God always responds to belief! It's what He searches for in the hearts of His children and when He finds it, He smiles and responds.

Phew!

As I mentioned before, I've been directing a play this semester (the Lion, the Witch, & Wardrobe). It's been a couple of weeks, but I'm just now recovering from the whirlwind! So, here's the scoop...
It was AMAZING!! What an incredible experience! Through the entire semester, God came through again and again...providing for every detail...even details I didn't know I needed to think about! I learned so much! I'd never done a production of this caliber, so I had much to learn. And the kids were great...they learned more lines than they'd ever had to before and were able to not only remember them, but act out their characters as well! I was simply amazed at their performances.

The production ended up being 2 hours long including a 20 min. intermission. Four of the moms learned how to do face paint from a professional make-up artist - and it all looked so professional! (I wish I had pics of the cast with make-up, but I don't yet). Several families made our props - incredible...the wardrobe, the backdrops, the stone table, the beaver's home...just incredible! (Again, no pics of these yet, either). And the costumes - one grandmother volunteered her service of making the costumes - absolutely amazing! Aslan's mane was velcroed on so that at the Stone Table, we could "shave" off his mane...and then he could re-enter with his mane on again :) So cool!

I must say that we couldn't have pulled off such a large production without the help of every parent! Or without the help of my buddy, Josiah...a homeschool teenager with drama experience who volunteered to help me coach the kids - 3 days a week for 3 months!! Wow! What a commitment - he did a great job!!

So, here are a few pics - again, without make-up or props - but just an idea! My Rebekah was Susan (one of the 4 Pevensie children...she's got long brown hair and a gold cape). Alyssa was the Unicorn and Anna was the White Stag :) I was so very proud of my girls!

Pevensie Children

Fenris Ulf (Malgrim), White Witch, the Dwarf

Aslan (center) & his army of animals (some do not have their costumes and again, no make-up...I hope to get a pic of their make-up, it was that good!)

Laminin

This video is worth 8 minutes of your day!
check it out and comment on how AMAZING our God is:

Deliverance

In the last 6 months, we've had 2 huge pine trees cut down in our back yard. Not only for safety and plumbing reasons, but also because we'd like to have a vegetable garden. Alas, we couldn't have one... not only were the trees in the way, they also blocked all of the light into the yard.
After cutting the trees, a few things were immediately obvious:
It completely changed the view from our house, allowed tons of sunlight in, and actually will (eventually) change the landscape in the yard as well.
Then we needed to have the stumps ground up in order to kill the roots...because otherwise the roots would have continued to live, and grow into our pipes, for up to 20 more years!! Now that's determined, huh?!
The stump grinder had to go 18 inches deep to really kill the root. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to haul off all of the ground up roots yet. So, now, my backyard looks like a giant gopher has been playing in it along with 2 of its friends! It's a mess!! It's mounds and mounds of mess!! And, though we now have plenty of sunlight, and our pipes are root-free, we can not plant a garden until all of these roots are hauled off.
So, as I've look at it day after day, I realized that this whole experience has been a perfect illustration of how the Lord has been delivering and setting me free this year.

For many years, I have been cutting down problem "trees" in my life, but the roots have continued to flourish. It hasn't been until last year that the Lord began to expose the root of those problems and go deep to take it all out. I've been desperately willing to have Him do this work in my heart. Just like our trees...we didn't get them cut until we were truly tired of the effect they were having on our home.
However, I learned, too, that when the Lord removed something from my heart, it left a mess...holes that needed to be filled with good stuff, like Truth and His Spirit...and rubbish that needed to be hauled out! Thankfully, it's not taking the Lord as long to haul off the rubbish as it's taking us to do the same in our yard :)
After the Lord delivered me, He began to heal me...and like the results in my yard, my perspective has changed, there's more sunlight (or Light from the Son) coming into my heart, and the landscape is slowly changing as well.

Thank God for deliverance...from trees and roots!