Resurrection Day Service at TLCC

We had a great service last Sunday. I don't know why the pictures got all out of order. Top picture is our church getting ready to release balloons (after the service) to show that we are ready to have risky faith, show sacrificial love, become the walking redeemed, or fulfill our divine destiny. We each picked up a balloon of the area we wanted to be challenged in and released it as we said the Lord's prayer together. We released them as we said, "Your kingdom come!"

The next picture is Jezra saying his monologue as Edmond in Chronicles of Narnia talking about sacrificial love. The third picture is after the balloons were released. The last one is Breanna and Katie playing "Oh Sacred Head Now Wounded" for the offertory. It was a very meaningful service challenging us to fulfill the purpose Christ has for each of us. He died and rose again for a reason...so we can reveal his nature to the world and that his kingdom will come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Happy Resurrection Day!

I'm so glad that my Savior lives and paid the price for my sins! Hallelujah!

A Tree-climbing Dog!

I was watching Cinnamon bark at a squirrel in the tree when I saw her jump up to the split and come through it. I had to watch a long time for her to do it again for the camera but it was worth it! She was in the tree between the two big branches! What a dog!

Time change for hoosiers!

We survived our first time change! Last Sunday, us non-time-changing hoosiers had to set our clocks ahead one hour on Sunday morning. It's been a little weird for me because I feel like I'm getting up so early! And at 10 p.m. I don't feel tired enough to go to sleep. It's also weird for it to be light outside until almost 8 p.m. Monday night Breanna said, "Dad, why are you home so early?" I said, "Breanna, it's 6:15." It was still sunny outside and not getting dark at all so it felt very early to be eating supper! The nice thing about it will be having a lot of daylight after supper to get yardwork done and to see Dustin run in track. It also means that I will always be on the same time as my sisters!

It's spring break this week so our kids don't have to adjust to the earlier time to school until after they are adjusted to the new time.

I'm sure all of you who've been changing your time for years and years don't have much difficulty with it anymore. I know it will get that way for us hoosiers, too, unless our silly legislature decides to change it back to the way it was. I wouldn't put it past them!

Dustin's new baby sister, Kiana

Fun with the fire burning up the little branches

New game with a stump!

One tree down (it was mostly dead) in our back yard

Dance, Dance Revolution (Computer dancing game)

Kyle and Amber and trying to step on a pad on the floor at the proper time in step with the music. It's hard, I've tried it!

Our youth group is going to Mexico next summer for a mission trip. Last Saturday evening they held a Mexico-themed banquet fundraiser to raise money for the trip. I was looking forward to going since I heard about it but alas, Saturday I developed stomach flu along with a fever and horrible headache and couldn't go. I told Bob to take pictures so I felt like I was there. Even though pictures are nice, it's just not the same! Breanna played her contest solo for part of the entertainment. At least both her grandparents and her dad got to hear it. (I was at contest when Bob was traveling home from New Orleans.) I sure wanted to be there. The food was great. The desserts are shown in the middle picture.

Mexico Fundraiser Fun!

Armor of God Prayer

I've been through some tough times the last week and a half. Today, I came across this prayer that I prayed every day for about 2 months or more about a year and a half ago. I had forgotten about it until I saw it today. My prayer is that it will help you in whatever circumstances you may be facing right now. I got this prayer from our 2004 Ladies Retreat speaker, Cheryl Weaver.

Armor of God Prayer
Lord Jesus, I thank you for assuring me of victory today if I will but follow Your battle plan. So by faith, I claim victory over every hardship, every challenge, every trial, and every temptation that I may face today.

To prepare myself for battle, by faith I put on the belt of truth. The truth about You, Lord, is that you are a Sovereign God who knows everything about me, both my strengths and my weaknesses. Lord, You know my breaking point and You have promised not to allow me to be tempted beyond what I can bear. The truth about me, Lord, is that I am a new creature in Christ and have been set free from the power of sin. I am indwelt by the Holy Spirit who will guide me and warn me when danger is near. I am Your child and nothing can separate me from Your love. The truth is that You have a purpose for me today; someone to love, someone to share with, someone to encourage.

Lord, by faith I put on the breastplate of righteousness. Through this I guard my heart and my emotions. I will not allow my heart to attach itself to anything that is impure. I will not allow my emotions to rule in my decisions. I will set them on what is right and good and just. I will live today by what is true, not by what I feel.

Today, I put on the sandals of the gospel of peace. I am available to You, Lord. Send me where You will. Guide me to those who need encouragement or physical help of some kind. Use me to solve conflicts wherever they arise. Make me a calming presence in every circumstance in which You place me. I will not be hurried or rushed for my schedule is in Your hands. I will not leave a trail of tension and apprehension. I will leave tracks of peace and stability wherever I go.

I also take up the shield of faith, Lord. My faith is in You and You alone. Apart from You, I can do nothing. With You, I can do all things. No temptation that comes my way can penetrate Your protecting hand. I will not be afraid for You are going with me throughout this day. When I am tempted, I will claim the victory out loud ahead of time for You have promised victory to those who walk in obedience to Your word. So by faith I claim every victory even now because I know there are fiery darts headed my way even as I pray. Lord, You already know what they are and You have already provided me with the way of escape.

And now, Lord, by faith, I put on the helmet of salvation. You know how Satan bombards my mind day and nith with evil thoughts, doubts, and fears. I put on this helmet that will protect my mind. I may feel the impact of his attacks, but nothing can penetrate this helmet. I choose to be obedient and take every thought captive; I will dwell on nothing but what is good and right and pleasing to You.

Last, I take up the sword of the Spirit, which is Your word. Thank You for the precious gifts of Your word. It is strong and powerful and able to defeat even the strongest of Satan's onslaughts. Your word says I am not under obligation to the flesh to obey its lusts. Your word says that I am free from the power of sin. Your words says that He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world. So by faith I take up the strong and powerful sword of the Spirit, which is able to defend me in time of attack, comfort me in time of sorrow, teach me in time of meditation, and prevail against the power of the enemy on behalf of others who need the truth to set them free.

I choose now to pray in the Spirit today on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests, keeping open the lines of communication with You. With this in mind, I will be alert, keeping my spiritual eyes open, constantly praying for all the saints.

So Lord, I go now rejoicing that You have chosen me to represent You to this lost and dying world. Here I am, Lord, send me. May others see Jesus in me. May Satan and his hosts shudder as Your power is made manifest in me. To God be all glory, honor, and power. In Jesus' name, amen.

Music Contest for Breanna

Breanna played in 2 ensembles and played a solo for the music contest last Saturday. She got a gold and silver for her ensembles and a gold for her solo. Her solo was so hard. It had lots of 16th notes and her fingers were moving very fast over the strings. I had tears in my eyes as she played. When she finished all who were watching her (her private teacher, Matt and his parents, and two friends and one set of parents) were very impressed! That's when she said that she put her music on the stand and slid the second page over so both were showing. As she got to the second page, she realized that that sheet was upside down! She said she almost stopped but then realized that she could play it by memory. We never noticed a missed beat! We were laughing and laughing at her. I think her private teacher will tell that to all her students! It was so amazing that she could make it through that and not mess up. She said she changed her expression and kind of messed up a little but I didn't notice. Her private teacher said the only thing she did wrong was play it a little bit too rushed. I'm so proud of her. It was a piece hard enough to qualify for state but she choose not to be in the level that could go to state for her very first solo at contest.

More about his time in New Orleans

There were 7 men and 4 women from our church who went to New Orleans last week. They left at 5 a.m. Sunday morning and returned home Saturday at 1 p.m. They stayed in a church in a bad part of New Orleans. The first floor of the church had been completely under water. There were two other crews there to work. They all slept on the second floor that was pretty much undamaged. The other crews worked on the main floor putting in a drop ceiling and doing trim work. Bob's crew worked on the pastor's roof until Wednesday or Thursday and then split up and did other jobs. Bob helped put a new floor in the pastor's father's church. He's 81 years old and has quite a story.

There were 29 people sleeping on cots in a small area. The women all slept in a 10x10 room. The four of them had very little space in that room. There were two toilets (a women's and men's) and one shower for all of them. They had to wait in line for a 2-minute limit in the shower! They always had hot water but had to have the water turned all the way to hot to get it!

I'll let Bob tell you more. You can always call and ask him to tell you about the trip. He loves to talk about it!

9th Ward

The damage was so great here and still almost 5 months later, the debris is mostly just pushed off the streets. A lot of houses were on the streets and those streets are still not opened up. This was very sobering time for the crew. The barge is the one that came over the levee.

Bob didn't take a lot of pictures, but the rest of them did. We will get a CD with everyone's pictures on it. Anyone who wants to can call and we will be glad to set up a time when you can see them all. We should have them all before this Sunday.

Garden District

Bob didn't take pictures except on the first day and then the last day when they went sightseeing. This was the garden district and he loved the huge houses. He said they stay in the family. They never sell them. If no one wants to live their, the family money keeps it up until someone in the family wants to live in it.

A better picture of the pastor's house

New Orleans Trip

This is the pastor's house where Bob and the 6 other men worked at putting a new roof on. This area didn't get much flooding but the winds tore shingles off and water got in. It's a much better part of town than where the church was that they stayed at night.

A week of single parenting

Bob left at 5 a.m. Sunday morning for a week of hard work in New Orleans. He will be back around noon this Saturday. That leaves me spending a week as a single parent. I got up and took him to where he would meet the others on Sunday morning and saw them off, went home a slept a couple hours and then went to church all alone (the kids came a little later than me). It really felt strange being there without Bob! The big adjustment for the week is having to make all the decisions and handle any discipline issues all by myself. I can talk to him on the cell phone--he has a good signal, he said--but don't want to interrupt him so I'm letting him call me as much as possible.)

I'm praying that nothing breaks down or stops working while he's gone. I'm also praying that he has a great time with lots of divine appointments and times of seeing God's glory in the devastation. He said he's in a pretty bad part of town (right in New Orleans) and it's so devastated. It was quite a shock to see it in person. Some of the guys were ready to turn around and go back home, it was so shocking.

He's got the digital camera so I'll be posting pictures when he comes back for all of you to see.

Official students and a sermon

Bob and I are official students in the In Christ's Image Training as of Thursday last week. We are both enjoying it so far. The material is very inspiring. I find myself saying, "Yes!" a lot while I'm listening to the teaching CD's and underlining a lot in the chapters we have to read. It's two chapters a week and two 20 minutes sermons/lectures by Francis Frangipane.

Bob spoke a sermon on New Year's Day at our church. He told me I was to stand up there with him while he asked me a few questions. I didn't have any idea what the questions would be ahead of time. It was very powerful and I was crying by the time I got done (about 5 minutes of his sermon). He asked me like Jesus was asking me questions like, "Marla, will you follow me no matter what happens?" "Will you feed my sheep, teach my people?" Bob said that as my husband, he was commissioning me into what God had for me this year and he wanted to support me as much as he could as my husband.

Bob spoke on Joshua 3 about crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land. Then he talked about us taking up the sword of the spirit and being ready to follow the Lord across our Jordans. I had a lot of people say that they were impacted by his sermon. I'm looking forward to what God has for us and for our church in 2006. I feel like we are on the brink of entering the Promised Land of rest and work.

Bob is going to New Orleans the end of January for a week with a group of men from our church to gut out 5 houses, put a drop ceiling in a church there, and possibly re-roof the pastor's church. It will be a good experience for him. Everyone who has gone says how they are impacted by the devastation there.