What do you do when your head becomes so full of thoughts, ideas, understandings, messages, and just stuff that you feel like you’re supposed to tell others about or verbalize in some way and you just never seem to find an outlet that relieves the pressure?  I’m on brain overload.  What happens if I never get it out?  Does your brain just implode?  Will my body just absorb it till it’s gone forever?  Will it deposit like fat on my thighs and belly?  I know that writing it down will help, but for some reason I have had no desire to sit in front of my laptop and take the time to turn my thoughts into blog posts.  I wonder if I am becoming impatient.  Or maybe I’m starting to feel that blogging isn’t good enough or loud enough.  I don’t know… but I’m ok with exploring the possibility that I am getting ahead of God’s plans for me and trying to push things along myself.  God knows how to knock you down if you start to puff yourself up.  I’m humble enough to admit that maybe He is doing that.  So, this is what brings me back.  I will just continue to force myself to write until it starts to flow out on it’s own.

Now, what should I write about?  Should it be how I have discovered my soul mate?  Cause’ that’s a really good story.  Or should it be about everyone’s ability to become a triple threat?  Maybe I should write about the secret to power is to boast that you’re weak.  Oh, maybe about seeing the signs! Ummmmmm….I don’t knoooowww!   Poop, it’s not working!  I am so impatient!  I need to just chill out and focus.  My copout has been to just throw down a quick poem and call it a day, but that doesn’t really satisfy.  See, I think the problem is that my thoughts come with so much passion behind them that writing it down doesn’t do it justice, or at least that’s how it makes me feel.  Whatever it is I need to stop whining and start writing.  Wanna help me out?  Tell me what to write about.  Either something that I mentioned above or throw out your own faith based topic…that’ll get me goin’ for sure : )  I’m curious to see where this goes.  I don’t have many followers.  There are only 35 of you out there, but I’ll give it a try. 

-T.S. 

Inspired by Ash Wednesday and 40 days of Lent, I thought I would put up last years Easter post called “The Golden Egg”.  Let’s all focus on this time and the events that took place in the life of our Savior as He walked this earth for 40 more days.  “Thank you,  Jesus!”

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking this week about what happened close to 2000 years ago.  I try to imagine what Jesus was doing and how he was feeling and I start to get very emotional, but that’s nothing new.  This is the time when the most amazing man, the son of God, walked the earth and was tortured and crucified on our behalf.  He didn’t deserve it, but He knew it was going to happen.  I’ve always appreciated Easter but I have never felt so connected to this time as I do now.  It’s really amazing how much I have learned over the past week or so about this last week of Jesus’ life between reading the Bible, church, and my kids school.  I am so grateful for this holiday and what it means.  If it weren’t for my kids, I would probably just shoot peter rabbit and eat him for dinner.  Rabbit stew anyone? I’m just kidding….sort of : )  I actually put a lot of effort into fusing the fun stuff for my kids with the most important and historical event of all times.  The greatest gift you can give your child at Easter is the understanding of the gift that Jesus gave us all.  He gave us the gift of eternal life.  Just believe!  It’s impossible to open a gift if you won’t recieve it….how rude.  Take it, open it, and be grateful.

We are smack dab in the middle of what is known as Holy Week.  It starts on Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.  The crowds gathered greeting Him by waving palm branches and laying them on His path.  They knew who He was.  They heard about and saw all the amazing miracles performed by Him.  They listened to Him preach and teach.  They loved Him and praised Him.

Tomorrow is Maundy Thursday.  This is the day that Jesus shared a traditional Jewish Passover meal with His disciples.  This is what we know as The Last Supper.  Maundy comes from the Latin word mandatum which means commandment.  It refers to the commands that Jesus gave to his disciples that evening to love with humility by serving one another and to remember His sacrifice. Jesus demonstrated this by washing their feet.  At the end of this meal Jesus blessed the bread and broke it into pieces, shared it, wanting each one to eat in the remembrance of His body given to us as the final sacrifice.  Then praying over the wine they drank it as a token of God’s new covenant to save us through the blood shed by Jesus.  This was the first act of communion and is the reason we do this at church.  For Christians this truth is the priceless treasure we protect in our hearts.

This is where it really gets heart wrenching for me.  As much as I am so grateful for Jesus’ sacrifice, my heart hurts thinking about the torment He went through, both mental and physical. Later that evening after the meal Jesus and His disciples went into the Garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus went out alone to pray.  This was not just any prayer, this was a face in the ground anguished prayer.  Jesus asked that this cup (His day of crucifixion) be passed from Him, but not of His will, but the will of His Father.  He prayed this prayer three times throughout the night.  Jesus was just as much human as He was God.  He knew His destiny; He knew what was to come, but also feared it they way we would.  But, He did not fight it, knowing this was to fulfil the scriptures of the prophets and the will of His Father.  Jesus was betrayed as He said he would be and was taken captive.

It is now Friday, a day we call Good.  This is the day that Jesus is crucified.  This is the day that Jesus became the Lamb of God and was the human sacrifice for our sins.  This is the day that the blood poured out of Jesus’ body and covered our transgressions.  This is the day that Jesus died.  Good it is because this was in God’s plan to save us; but, in my human, finite mind all I can think about is the pain and suffering this amazing, loving, humble, innocent man and Son of God had to go through. Don’t think that because of who He is He didn’t suffer.  He had to endure hours of agonizing pain.  I have seen the movie The Passion of Christ and I have never cried so much in my life.  If you haven’t seen it, this is a good time to check it out.  There were many witnesses to and writings about this historic event with no known contradictions.

Easter Sunday…..Jesus has risen! This is the day Christians celebrate because it is the day of resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, just as foretold and prophesied about in the scriptures.  He rose from the dead and revealed himself to His disciples as well as many other witnesses.  Many of the people who denied Jesus as being the true son of God, the Messiah, became true believers and dedicated their lives to spreading the Gospel at the high price of martyrdom.  Why would they do this if not completely confident in the true identity of Jesus?  They saw, they believed, they preached, and they lived by the truth.  I don’t need to see with my eyes to believe.  I see it with my heart.  I have complete confidence in the historicity of the Bible.  There is enough scientific, archaeological, and cosmic evidence to back the scriptures.  Go look.  Faith is not blind.  Faith is trusting in God’s word and His word is proven time and again to be true.  I also have the validation of internal peace and transformation of the heart as proof.

What an incredible holiday to celebrate.  It’s the culmination of our Savior’s life on Earth and the beginning of our lives in Christ.  It’s not just about bunnies, chicks, eggs, and candy.  Make sure your kids’ baskets are also filled with the truth of Easter.  Tell them about Jesus and His love, sacrifice, and forgiveness; and about the peace, joy and hope we have in the promise of enternal life when we believe.  That’s the golden egg we all are hunting for!

John 3:16-17    For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.

John 11:25-26    Jesus said to her, ” I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even though he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.  Do you believe this?”

Now, that’s the do or die question!  I pray you have the right answer.”

T.S. – Easter, 2011

Can it be that our lives are too noisy and we just don’t notice, or is it that we just choose to ignore the battle cries coming from our own backyard?  Is it possible to be so wrapped up in our own selfish lives, warm and cozy in our comfort zones, that we intentionally choose to pretend that everything is ok?  There seems to be this odd trend of thinking that our kids are capable of surviving and navigating through the minefields of each day on their limited understanding of the truth and reality that God warns us of.  The attacks and distortions on all things true and good are warping the minds of the impressionable.  My thought is that Satan knows exactly how to make all things bad appear to be an obvious choice for those with kind and loving hearts fearing the title of judgmental or narrow minded.  How naive you are made to feel if you profess to have faith and believe that the words of wisdom declaring truth, warning and promise that God has left for us are actually to be taken seriously.  What is so wrong with believing that all things were created with a purpose, out of love, by an Almighty God?  Why must people attack and try to steal our peace and hope?  Why must they feel the need to aggressively pilfer it away from our kids by dangling acceptance and entitlement in there faces if it were not because of the direct threat it has on the enemy of God?  What would be the point?  To me that right there validates Christianity as the truth.  Believers all over the world are being attacked, criticized, humiliated, abused, belittled and even killed.

For the young ones that walk amongst us, that interact with us, that we employ, that we order from, that we drive next to, that fill our schools, that attend our churches, I will not stand for the kidnapping of their souls.  There seems to be a fire raging in me, and in my desire to live for my Creator, longing to be an active soldier for Christ, I find myself feeling as if time is of the essence.  I feel an urgency within and no matter how distracted I get with my own duties as a wife and mother, it just continues to build stronger everyday.  My mission trip needs no passport, no donations or flight reservations.  God wants me to fight this battle in my own backyard.  These kids are our future and I wont let their salvation slip through the cracks of our geographic commonality.  You don’t have to travel to a third world country to find people in need.  Some are called to minister to their neighbors.  My duty is to build up the next generation of Christian soldiers making sure they are educated and outfitted in the full armor of God.  It is imperative that we build an army of strong believers who will be able to take on enemy attacks much more powerful than what we see now.

So, what does a person with no real influence do with a head full of thoughts and ideas fueled by an uncontrollable passion?  It’s so hard to know what God wants me to do.  Go slow?  Write it down?  Hurry up?  Speak now?  Discouragement is always trying to push it’s way forward reminding me of my lack of education, my humble position and all the insecurities that haunt my confidence.  A fear of judgment is a problem that I have to take care of every single day.  It’s only in the power of the Holy Spirit that I am able to continue on this path.  I am so happy to say that even with all this junk in my head my Heavenly Father is truly taking care of me.  To counteract the self inflicted attacks God gives me validation.  He builds me back up showing me that the things in my head and the passion in my heart are from Him and are there for a reason and a purpose.  I will not be wasted, and I ask that prayers go up for me as I forge ahead not sure of where I am going, but confident in my direction.

Thank you for all your continued love and support even when I sound a little crazy.

-T.S.  

“Let there be WHITE!”  That’s what I say to this world that is turning gray.  People use the term “gray area” all the time to describe something that is not clearly understood or that is undefined.  Life is like one big gray area.  It’s a mixture of black and white, right and wrong, fact and fiction, truth and deception, good and bad all thrown into one big pot and stirred and stirred until it becomes a messy ugly goop of confusion and misunderstanding.  The master chefs, all dressed in black, have purposely come up with this recipe so that none of the ingredients are recognizable or distinguishable.  It has no flavor and all the nourishment has been cooked right out of it.  Well, guess what?  This gross goop is exactly what this world is feeding us.  This is what our kids are being fed.  It’s literally being forced down our throats.  The majority of earth’s population is completely malnourished and are falling in line with mouths wide open anxiously awaiting another big heaping spoonful  they can ingest, digest, and…well, you know the rest.  It’s garbage in, garbage out.  For the deceived this seems to be their only option. They fear starvation if they are not being spoon fed by something seemingly greater than them.  This concoction that society is feasting on is turning everyone gray.  We are no longer taught right from wrong.  We are no longer given a choice.  Truth is now subjective.  It’s a sad twisted world we live in.  The bright, white light of truth has been diluted and mixed with the darkest black of deception and evil to create something more palatable for the masses, rather than allowing the true colors of reality to speak for themselves.  Are we losing the spice of life?  Is salt becoming a thing of the past?  Is the light and flavor of this world being drowned out by this ugly gray cloud accumulating from the belching mouths of this society, causing an increasingly offensive stench to fill the air that we breath?   Yes, and the smell is making me sick!

This world is suffocating the life out of people. Vital information is being withheld. Today people scoff at setting clear boundaries and teaching our kids the truth in God’s Word.  Why can’t we just lay it all out there in black and white without mixing it all together?  The reality is that there is overwhelming evidence clearly defining and making known to us what the truth is.  If our true history was taught to people there would be no question.  If the clear facts, the Divine nature of the Bible that is like no other book, the archeological evidence, the cycle of life, the miracles, and all the fulfilled prophecies were taught truthfully with no gray area, no opinions, no interpretations and no prejudices, my guess would be that the mass majority of human beings would, without a doubt, believe in Almighty God. They would believe He is the Creator of all, the Holy Bible as His Word He left for us, the truth that is told in those Words, the deity of Jesus Christ, His Son and our Savior, and they would have the wisdom they so desperately seek.  The Bible gives us all the answers and does not try to sugarcoat or dilute the truth.  The Bible puts it all out there exposing the harsh reality whether we like it or not.  There is no gray area.  He is honest and to the point.  God loves us and wants us to love and believe in Him.  He wants eternal life for us.  He does not want to be separated from us.  He warns us of the power Satan has and explains that he will try to confuse, discourage, and deceive us into not seeing or knowing or understanding the truth.  Satan is the paint mixer, creating all these shades of gray.  He is the pot stirrer, mixing and over cooking all the ingredients.  He is the one hiding in the “not-so-bad’s” of this world.  He is the musician writing beautiful music for lyrics that lie.  He’s the master of disguise, camouflaged to blend in.  We are given the ability to see through Satan’s deceptions by the power of Christ in our lives.  When we believe, love, trust and surrender we are then able to discern, understand, obey, and overcome.  Go and learn from the only source that will lay the facts out for you clear as day.  Rely on the Bible to learn the blacks and whites of this world.  The Bible writes out a simple recipe for a dish that has all the flavor you could ever want, satisfying your every craving, and at the same time being the ultimate source of nourishment, giving your body, mind, and spirit the strength and endurance to survive the rapidly declining conditions of this world.

If asked to walk into a direction with two clear choices, the first being a white lightened path and the second being a black darkened path, which path would you take?  It’s obvious that every sane, loving person would choose the white lightened path.  White light is beautiful and warm and we are all naturally drawn to it.  The non-disputed evidence is that light appears white and it contains all of the colors in the spectrum.  The color white reflects light.  White is associated with innocence and purity; in other words, good.  The color black does not reflect light.  Black is associated with fear and evil; in other words, bad.   Look what Jesus says in the Bible about light and darkness:

John 12:46
”I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me would not remain in darkness.”

It is your choice, believe in Jesus or don’t believe in Jesus; you decide.  Walk into the light, or walk into the darkness; you decide.  The Bible isn’t telling us what we have to believe, but it does lay it out in BLACK and WHITE giving us all the information so that we can make a smart decision understanding the outcome and consequences of our choices.  It can’t be any more clear.  God makes it so simple and Satan intentionally complicates it.  Get your head out of that gloomy cloud of deception and confusion and get the facts.  Let your understanding of this world be based on all the evidence and escape from the dense fog .  Don’t just follow the heard and eat from the public trough.  It’s time to take responsibility for yourself, get educated, and start feeding your soul on the bread of life.

John 6:35
”And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

I want the truth to be told. I want people to be confident in their understanding of who they are because they have all the facts. Blinded by the haze, lives are lived with no joy and no purpose. Understand the difference between black and white and begin to view this world through eyes wide open seeing the beauty of God’s creation all around. Discover how special and unique you are.  Feel the love of your heavenly Father.  Embrace your Savior, Christ Jesus.  Live strong in the Holy Spirit.  Rejoice in knowing Heaven is your eternal home.  It is now that you can clearly see the difference between black and white, no longer being deceived.  So stand firm, stand tall, and let your light shine!

Where to find the truth in black and white:  Apologetics Study Bible For Students- hard questions, straight answers

Gray is out!  Expose the Black and fight for WHITE!!!

-T.S. 

I GOT IT!!!  I think I have finally figured out what God has called me to do!  What a relief!  I guess my prayers have been heard and He has finally decided to reveal to me my life’s purpose.  Ready?  Here it is: He wants me to give surf lessons!  Yay!!!!  Can you believe it?  I know, you probably just said, “WHAT!?!”   She can’t surf!  Does God think that just because she lives in Southern California that she can surf?  She doesn’t even have blonde hair!  Maybe God is mistaking her for her niece, Karly?  Now she’s the cute blonde surfer of the family.

Well, my friends, I am no longer a beach bum.  I haven’t been one for a while.  A few years ago I brushed off my sandy cheeks and decided to have some fun.  I learned to surf.  It took some time, but I started with the basics, the fundamentals.  But I don’t surf any ordinary wave, I surf a much scarier wave.  I ride and conquer the waves of destruction and deception on my sturdy surfboard I call TRUTH, defending my faith.  So now I’m a surfing soldier for Christ.  As a passionate believer with a Christian worldview I have learned that TRUTH will never let me down.  In a sea of secularism the constant barrages of skepticism, and false doctrine are aggressive and unrelenting; but I know that with my feet planted firmly on TRUTH I have the wisdom and understanding to take on each swell of attacks.  With every crashing wave that fails to shake the foundation of my faith it’s an exhilarating ride that sharpens my skills and prepares me for the next.  This is what I want for our youth, my kids, your kids.

Being above the darkness that lurks in the waters below is really the only safe place to be.  I see so many of our young Christians just sitting on the beach while wave after wave crashes into them leaving them weak, confused and defenseless.  They are literally living on a prayer.  They call themselves Christian, they say they love God, they go to church, they are told that Jesus died for their sins so they say they believe.  Is that enough for them to paddle out?  Are we maybe asking too much of our kids when we expect them to believe in God and the Bible just because we tell them to?  Are we investing our blood, sweat, and tears into helping our kids build their faith and relationship with Christ on nothing but an abandoned beach when it’s high tide in stormy weather?  I know this is Southern California, but come on, these warm Pacific waters pack a powerful punch.  By leaving them stranded on an island of godlessness, chaos, and confusion without TRUTH to protect them is it possible that we as good Christian parents are really just setting our kids up for failure?

It is all too clear that the environment that our kids are growing up in is drastically different from the one we grew up in.  It used to be that if you grew up in a Christian home just believing what you were taught was good enough.  We were able to mature in our faith in a time of calmer seas and low tides.  We were able to frolic in the sand and never really worry about learning to surf the waves.  The storms attacking our shores were few and far between, but the violent waves that seem to be breaking right on the shoulders of our kids are rolling in from every direction.  The youth of today are dragged further and further away from us in the overwhelming currents of culture and we just sit by and watch as the precious years we have invested in their faith, going to church, praying, and trusting in God is all washed away.  All the teachers, professors, friends, celebrities, rap songs, Facebook posts, YouTube videos, twitters, books, movies, or even just the signs on the side of the road that attack, disprove, contradict, demean, insult, disrespect, reject, or scoff at Christianity are part of the endless set of small but powerful swells that keep pounding into them until they no longer have the strength to stand anymore.   And just like that, they’re swept out to sea.  It is then that we are left with trusting in Proverbs 22:6 that says if we teach our youth about the way they should go; even when they are old they will not depart from it.  This verse gives us peace in that there is hope that no matter how lost our kids may get they will never truly depart from it.  But wouldn’t it be nice if we could keep our kids from getting lost to begin with?

It’s time to teach them to surf!  It’s time to lay out what they need to know in black and white.  I want to help these kids build a strong foundation of TRUTH that they can stand on and start riding the waves instead of getting beat up by them.  These kids want it, they are begging for it.  I know, I’ve been to the beach lately and heard them asking.  They are very smart and would love the opportunity to learn what makes the TRUTH true.  It’s time to raise up strong Christian surfers, preparing them for the stormy waters that are coming their way.  Let’s teach our kids this exciting sport.  Let’s show them how their faith can be fun even in the middle of a hurricane.  It’s the solid fundamentals, biblical doctrine, the basic truths of the Christian faith that will be the surfboard of TRUTH that will give our kids the ability to carve out their place in this watered down world.  Our kids need to know why they believe. They need to be able to defend their faith, live with confidence, and passionately fulfill their purpose in life being a bright light in this dark world.  The new generation of strong Christians need to be armed with the understanding and knowledge that there is an overwhelming amount of evidence for them to examine; historical evidence, archeological evidence and inspirational evidence along with all the biblical evidence that is full of consistencies, witnesses, prophecies, revelations, codes, miracles and the list on.  No longer do they rely on blind faith.  We have the goods to back it;  and let me just say, “Thank you. God!”  With this information and instruction they will feel confident enough to surf even the North Shores of life, victoriously conquering the massive waves and the strong riptides of deception, doubt and confusion.   Moving forward with a Christian worldview will give them a new perspective and the storms wont look so ominous.  Everything makes sense when you are dropping in for the first time and you feel the rush of adrenaline as you start defending your faith.

We can’t allow our kids to become beach bums.  Let’s give them the gift of TRUTH to carry with them at all times, teach them to surf like pros, and then when the tsunami hits, they’ll be hangin’ ten.

Ephesians 4:14
”Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.”

Surfin’ the waves of life all for His Glory!!!

T.S.