Confirmation/Affirmation

If we follow the Leader, He will confirm/affirm us. 

As I search for my place, my position, my soil to bloom in, 

I ask questions, I pursue, I dig.

Some days it seems useless, 

Some days it seems like time is not on my side. 

And as a faithful servant, 

The affirmation comes by way of the most unexpected source,

YOU! My peers. 

Thank you dear friends for following God's lead and the prompting of the Holy Spirit, 

In your affirmation. 

You will never truly know the impact you have had on my life, 

In just those few spoken words of encouragement, discernment, prophecy and love. 

Not answers, not expicit direction, not details, 

but just the words I was supposed to hear, 

at the time I was supposed to hear them. 

 

YOU are a blessing to me. 

Thank you for doing YOUR part in my life. 

April 2012

 Levi James Palmer March 30th, 2011

 Look how tiny my feet are!

 The Monster and the Frog

April 2011, Waco, TX

Haughton LA

We now call Haughton Louisiana home. Haughton is a lovely place just outside of Shreveport/Bossier City Louisiana. I have no idea how big or small it is; I only know how blessed we have been all the way from beginning interview til even last weekend at Jeremy's ordination service. The service was fantastic! We are so blessed!

One year later

To say it has been a while is an understatement! I am not sure how time got away from me like this. Then again so many things have happened...how shall i even  catch up? For now I will blame facebook. Lets start with pictures of Levi James Palmer. Born March 30th 2011. 2:55 am. 6 lbs. 4 oz. 19 3/4 inches.

Dissatisfaction:

Is your dissatisfaction a jumping point for sin or for success?

Joshua 7, Achin

(Kyle Cox, 3.20.11, Highland BC)

Achin's sin started with his "dissatisfaction with the manner in which God had ordered the affairs of his life".

Achin's sin was:

Demonstrated in his covetousness and his disobedience. 

Resulting in his deciet in stealing objects and hiding them (guilt), 

Consequences his whole family dies, and

the entire tribe of Israel loses the battle of AI. 

 Are we more capable or satisfied with our own ability to set order to our lives than the God who set the boundaries of the oceans and the land and the heavens and the earth?

Give me my own inheritance and let me go my own way.

Pagans run after the newest and best of everything, 

they worry about what they will eat or drink tomorrow, 

a worthless result. 

 What part of God's will do you push back against?

God orders our lives just as He sees fit,

with our best interest in mind and the big picture. 

When we live outside of that plan, 

the grass is always greener elsewhere. 

Dissatisfaction in and of its self is not sin.

Is your dissatisfaction a jumping point for sin?

Is your dissatisfaction a reminder to refocus on HIM and reach for Christ?

Achin was dissatisfied with is life.

40 years in the desert will do that to a person!

He justified his actions against God's commands, 

The consequences were dire. 

Are you so dissatisfied with your life that you take matters into your own hands? 

Are your hands better equipped to satisfy you? 

Really?

God feeds the birds and the flowers,

He set the oceans and the land apart,

He made the heavens and the earth,

His plan is way better than anything YOU can come up with on your own. 

Do you trust him? 

Are you dissatisfied with where HE has PUT you?

Wake up people!!

If you are IN HIS will, 

There is NO WHERE else that is GREENER. 

Stop dreaming.

Live in the present. 

NOW. 

God really does have your best interest in mind, 

Trust HIM. 

March 2011

(great lesson in SS today, just had to share)

ETA: 20 days

ETA: 

20 days. 

Ha ha ha

Like they even know when babies arrive. 

March 2011

9 months pregnant---Forced to Slow Down in a Fast Paced World.

How slow can you go?

Life is a bunch of fast pace races,  separated by a minimal night's sleep, only to begin again the next day. 

I was driving my car-- Slowly. Life racing by me. I take my time to get everywhere. I waddle in and out of stores and doctor's offices. I PLAN ahead and give myself several extra minutes,--even to stand up and "re-align" my hips before I dash off to get the kids from their classrooms at church.

During the precious time of gestation, God provides a drastic reduction in function. 

Strange, we say. Should we not function at our best during this time?

No, the answer is No. 

To function at our best, we actually must function at our worst. 

What? That is crazy!

This re-aligns our priorities. What are your priorities? 

In this case, our own personal health and the life we are responsible for. 

When we simply have to slow down, we learn to appreciate each and every task and the energy required to do each task.

Taking the time to wake up, go to the bathroom every hour, and then get up and function the next day is God's way of preparing us to focus. 

What are we focusing on?

We are to focus on what is really important. Really. Important. 

Our next task will be the sole feeder of a tiny defenseless infant. 

If we can't get up and pee every hour without getting angry and bitter......How, then, shall we get up every 2 hours and sit for 40 minutes of the next hour to Calmly feed our helpless babe? Only to repeat this every 2 hours, day and night for several weeks/months and get up and function the next day?

Nope, not exaggerating. 

I will be asking God about this when I get there. It is not nice. God's purpose is supreme. 

Thank you for preparing us......(even though I don't agree with you).  

March 2011 (baby due in approx. 20 days).  ha ha ha.....

Our Focus

Each day we wake up. 

Each day we are given a choice. 

Is today going to be a good day or a bad day?

The question is not:

"are my life circumstances better or worse 

than someone else's?"

There are SO many people out there, 

and even SO many people so close to us,

who's life circumstances are worse than ours. 

What is our focus?

Does our day suck more than your day?

Does our day suck more than yesterday?

Are we going to let our day suck at all?

Permission:

We do have permission to have a bad day. 

We do not have permission to be ugly about it. 

We have permission to "be in the dumps" for a moment. 

We do not have permission to "stew" on the moment. 

God calls us to rejoice, have faith, and trust in HIM for the future. 

No matter what the "level" of our "bad circumstances". 

In all reality, there is always SOMEONE, 

who "has it much worse". 

Where is YOUR focus?

February 2011

In Faith....

In Faith, 

I am packing my whole house. 

In faith, 

I am telling my children that we will move in June after school is out.

In faith, 

I am accumulating baby things,

with the assumption that all will be well and baby will be born healthy and on time.

In faith, 

I am giving my daughter "scary" medicines in hopes that they will improve her quality of life.

In faith, 

I move about my day intentionally. 

I am moving towards a goal that is unknown and uncertain. 

It is ridiculous to Assume we will get a great job straight out of seminary. 

In this economy, who are we kidding?

(God specializes in the ridiculous.)

In faith, I stand, the plan is God's. 

the chore to follow through is mine. 

LET'S GO GET 'UM!!

(can you tell they are still asleep as I write?)

January 2011 

The Power of Relationship

The power of relationship is the dividing line. 

Do you think you have the "right" to say certain things to certain people, 

Just because, you have a certain kind of relationship with them?

I can say "you stink, you need a shower" to certain people.

But if I said that to others, they would be offended. 

Relationship matters. 

Can we trust God?

YES. 

Is it easy to trust God?

NO.

What is the role of relationship in this trust/ease factor?

If we have a consistent relationship with God, 

Then it is easier to say "I don't trust that this will be OK". 

And, guess what?

God understands that. 

He does not condemn us for "oh, ye of little faith" moments.

However, if we do not have a consistent relationship with HIM, 

It is much easier for us to fall into the category of:

"I don't trust"
and mean it. 

Thus spiraling into the depths of despair. 

The only thing that keeps us afloat is THAT relationship. 

How is my relationship with God right now?

Do I trust HIM enough to say "I am having trouble trusting you?"

and KNOW firmly that HIS plan is big enough?

January 2011

Pain?

What is Pain?

What is painful to me vs, what is painful for you?

How much pain is good to share?

vs. How much pain shall we "endure" alone?

My heart is breaking for some friends. 

Is their pain worse or more important than my pain?

Do I "dwell" in their pain to escape the pain in my own world?

The comment:  

"Don't worry, everything will be fine. Give it to God"

Does that just cover it and now it is over?

If we pretend like it does not exist,

Then, is it still happening, is it still real?

If we become overtaken by fear,

are we less of a Christian?

Do we have less faith?

In the quiet moments in the middle of the night, 

who reigns?

Shall we let our minds wander to the point of exhaustion?

Or do we go straight to the source of all comfort?

IMMEDIATELY.

January 2011