Busted

This story is written by my son, Joe

This zip lock freezer bag weighed a good six pounds.  It was full of, “chromies.”  At least that’s what we called them.  When no one was around I would hold the bag up and shake it around a little bit and feel a sense of pride, like I had accomplished something great, like I was somehow victorious.  But I needed more.

You can find chromies on any custom car or luxury sedan, and even on select bicycles.  They’re really just air valve stem caps.  If you can pump air into it, it probably has one.  Most of them are made of black plastic.  Some of them though are chrome (hence chromies) and can have a square or rounded crown.  I’ve seen eight balls, and dice and just about everything else you can imagine.
     
And I stole every one that I saw.
     
My friends and I would go on secret missions looking for chromies.  They became collectables, like baseball cards or pogs, that we could admire and trade.  Every time we would unscrew one of these caps was a thrill.  We’d have a look out, and we were quick about it.  I felt invincible every time I walked away with one in my pocket, a rush that I have never felt before.
     
But I got cocky.  One day we targeted a black Escalade in the cul-de-sac where my friends and I lived-a little to close to home.  Just as I was pulling the last of four chriomies off the neighbors car, this angry bear of a man came storming out of his house.  We scattered.  Eventually though I had to go home.
     
When I got home it was all I could think about.  Did I get caught?  Did I get away with it?  What am I supposed to do?  My questions were answered by a knock at the door.  Nowhere to hide.  The jig was up.  My mom walked up to me minutes later to ask about the recent heist.  Natural instinct was to lie, right?  Say it wasn’t you, or blame it on your friends.  Pleading the fifth could buy you some time, say nothing at all.  What did I do?
     
“I’m so busted”  I cried.  I literally cried, I bawled.  I broke down.  I was so busted.  I didn’t cry because I thought it would get me out of trouble, I cried because I felt so ashamed.  There was nothing left to do but cry, and feel sorry.
     
My mom was calm.  She didn’t need to do anything.  She could see that I was genuinely remorseful.  This was stealing and I knew it all along, but the temtation and the thrill was so hard to resist.  I never stole another chromie again.
     
In my heart I felt sorry, my mom knew it.  She forgave me.
    
I feel the same way when it comes to my relationship with Christ.  When you are genuinely sorry for what you have done, your father knows it, and he is happy to forgive.
     
I’m glad I got caught.  I learned a very valuable lesson, and now we can all have a good laugh about it.  Twenty years later and my family still jokes with me as they sob and blubber,”Immm..sooo..buuusted.”{sniff}.

Don't Forget To Smell The Roses

There has been a question going through my mind, it seems like, all of the time lately.  I’m not sure when this question got stuck in my head, but I know it’s been there for months.

I recently saw a picture on face book of twins in a womb.  One twin was saying to the other twin, “Do you think there is anything out there after this?”

The Bible tells me that there is something after this life on Earth, but what?  I know there is a Heaven but what goes on there?  What is this life in this world for?

I have been spending a lot of time sitting on the edge of my bed, the TV on, but my mind is not into it.  Why watch TV?  Why do I do all of the things that I do every day, over and over and over?  I feel lost, like I’ve been wandering through a desert, just going through the motions.  Honestly, I feel useless, hopeless and aimless.  

Are we all just hanging out, like a child in a womb until we are done developing to a certain degree and then we move on?  

God told the Israelites not to be afraid or discouraged, after He had taken them out of Egypt.  But the people complained that the Lord hated them, that He brought them out of Egypt just to destroy them.  Again God tells them to not be afraid or this time, terrified.  God said that He had carried them as a father carried a child.

Twelve men went to check out the land that God was going to give them, the land of milk and honey.  The twelve saw men the size of giants and they were afraid.  

With all of their complaining and not trusting Him, God was mad.  The Israelites decided that they would fight but this time it was too late, God said that he wasn’t going to help them.  They blew it.

The people wept before the Lord and the Bible says He paid no attention to the weeping and He turned a deaf ear to them.  The Lord tells them that He has been with them all of the forty years that they had been in the desert, and that they had lacked nothing.  

The Lord led them here and there, until all of the people that disobeyed him had died, before he took the rest into the land.  

It’s not time to know what is next for me, but now I know that God is carrying me, and that I will not lack anything, at least His idea of not lacking.  So, I will try not to hurry, not to worry and I will try to stop and smell the roses.  

Making Cheese

Jesus said that we can have what ever we want, if we have enough faith.  And it doesn’t take a whole lot, just faith the size of a mustard seed is enough to move a mountain.  How do we get that faith?
     
Romans 10:17, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”
     
The word of Christ is the Bible.  We read the bible and we will receive, and build faith.
     
When I first became a believer, I was on fire for God!  I read the Bible every day, watched Christian shows, rented Christian movies, listened to Christian music and read all the books I could get my hands on.  One day, our van broke down.  Now we needed that van to get to our sign jobs and we relied on that van for our income.  We weren’t making a lot of money so the van not running was a very bad thing.  
     
The first thing we did after trying to start the van was to pray.  My husband and I said a long strong prayer.  The next thing we did was walk around the van seven times, still praying, like Joshua did around the walls of Jericho.  We must have looked silly out in the back alley of our apartment complex, walking around our van, hands in the air, but we didn’t care.  But to our dismay, the van didn’t start.  
     
The van eventually did get fixed but not in the supernatural way we had been hoping for.  I’m still not sure what we did wrong, or should I say, what we didn’t do right.
     
A couple of months ago, Mark and I studied some articles on how to make Mozzarella cheese.  It sounded a bit complicated but we were up for the challenge.  We got the items that we needed to make the cheese over a period of a week.  Then we got a couple gallons of milk the day we were going to make our cheese.  We mixed everything together, just as the recipe said to do, we brought the milk to the right temperature, we had bought a thermometer just for this occasion.  We used the right kind of pot, the right kind of milk the right ingredients, we followed the instructions, every one of them.  We waited we checked the milk and it still wasn’t cheese, we failed!  We never did find out what we did wrong but we haven’t given up.  We are planning to try again after doing more studying.  
     
You know, the same goes with our faith.  Walking around the van seven times and praying wasn’t enough to get our van running, and I’m certain there are people that have tried to move a mountain with their faith, fail or not, I don’t know.  What I do know is that we should never stop trying.  And what I also know is there are people that make cheese every day, for them it might seem simple.  Mark and I just couldn’t do it on our first try.   Whether it is faith or cheese, or getting our van running, learning should not stop until we reach the finish line and win our prize of everlasting life with our Lord.     

The Athlete

There was an article in the news paper about a top athlete that seemed very healthy but died at the age of twenty eight of a heart attack.  The article went on to say that research shows that a balance of exercise, diet and rest is needed to maintain a healthy body.  When we neglect one area we could become weak, or like the athlete, die.
     
Our spirit also needs a balance of things to stay healthy, and keeping a balance takes discipline.  Paul compares our lives as Christians to runners in a race.  Do you think that you could eat a diet of French fries and soda, exercise once in a while then win a marathon?  In 1 Corinthians 9:24, Paul tells us, “Everyone who competes in the game goes into strict training.”  A lot of us Christians are spiritually flabby, malnourished and tired.
     
If you eat unhealthy food and don’t exercise, you can end up flabby.  Too much rest and not enough exercise, and your muscles will become weak.  Even with a good amount of exercise and a healthy diet, and not enough rest, your body will suffer.
     
The balance of good health exists in the physical and in the spiritual.  Our spirit needs good food, exercise and rest.  When we get lax in one or more of these areas, our spiritual health could end up in danger.
     
Such a simple thing, but unless we train daily, like an athlete, it’s easy to get off balance, and not even realize it.
     
Spiritually, I thought I was doing fine, until one day I noticed that I was depressed and edgy, snapping at the kids and spouse, yelling at the dog and complaining about every little thing.  Then like a bolt of lightning, it hit me.  I said, “What is wrong with me?” I told myself, “I read my Bible once in a while, I go to church at least once a month, but it’s so hard to find the time, I have so many important things to do.”  It’s like saying, “Why do I feel so bad on this diet of potato chips and chocolate bars, I eat a carrot once in a while.”

Eat right + sleep right + exercise = Good physical Health

Reading and hearing the word + praise and worship + ministry = good spiritual health

Remember to keep your balance, and stay healthy.

Jude

I was having another break down, temper tantrum, or what ever you want to call it.  I was sitting on the bathroom floor, crying, and praying. Not the kind of prayer that most people usually pray, though.  Today I was mad at God, and I was letting Him know it.  It seems like I’ve been breaking down and complaining to God monthly, and I’m really not proud of it.  
     
This tantrum started about a week ago.  Along with my every day problems, I had a few new ones.  I broke out with shingles, I missed my nieces wedding shower because of the shingles.  My husband, Mark, went into the hospital for a couple of days, because of congestive heart failure, that didn’t help my mood.  

We got a sweet little dog, we got him home and found out that he had worms, not the kind of worms you can get rid of with a cheap pill from the drug store.   I ended up borrowing my sons allowance to take this puppy to the vet.  Along with these little problems, we’ve had money problems, every month.  We just scratch by, barely making it.  And the last thing  was, my daughter, Liz, was going through some life problems, and I was actually aching for her.  
     
Dealing with all of this on top of dealing with my health, and Mark’s health.  Well, everything fell apart for me, a week ago and I did something that made me feel terrible.  I put a fleece before the lord.  I don’t want to say exactly what I laid before Him but it had to do with money.  Needless to say, I didn’t get what I wanted from this fleece and I was disappointed.  
     
I spent the next week mad at God, then mad at myself,  and then where I ended up; sitting on the bathroom floor, crying.  I felt like I just couldn’t take it anymore, what was God doing?  I didn’t understand.  And that scripture, that one that every one wants to throw at you when you are just about to break, “God won’t give you more than you can handle” was going through my head.  

“But why God,”  I cried “Why can’t I handle this anymore?”  I sent a text to my daughter, Christina, and I told her how I was feeling.  She called me and gave me a scripture.  I had not remembered hearing this scripture, before.  2 Corinthians 1:8, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia.  We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.  Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death.  But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.  He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us.  On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.” 
     
Then, today, I got my message from God, and the message was, “Jude.”
     
Jude is that little puppy I had mentioned.  Sweet, black with a few tufts of white hair, and so loving.  I took him to get his shots today.  Later today Jude was in such pain, I could hardly stand to see him that way.  I called the vet and she said to give him some children’s pain medicine.  

I ran out to get the medicine and when I got home with it, I put some into a teaspoon and offered it to Jude.  He took a lick and turned his head.  I tried again to give it to him and again he turned his head.  Finally, Mark held him and I put the medicine in his mouth.  He swallowed it!  Then he slowly limped over to the bedroom door, weary, he sat there looking at my husband and myself.  The look on his face, must have been the same look God saw on my face a week ago when I laid a fleece before him.
     
Mark called him, “Jude, come.”  I called him, “Jude, come.”  but he just sat there giving us that look, the look that said, “Why.”  

It was then, that I realized how much I hurt God!  The look on Jude’s face said it all, “Why did you do this to me?  You must hate me!”  The same way that I had been feeling about God.  But all I could feel for that tiny dog was, love.  And it all became clear to me, God, also, loved me.  And what did I do?  Put a fleece before Him.
     
Then I remembered the scripture that Christina had shared with me, and that made God’s message, complete.  My life isn’t perfect, but I’m not the only one suffering and that suffering doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love me, it means that he loves me so much he is willing to do the hard stuff for me so that I can become a healthy adult Christian, in spirit and body.  
     
I guess the next thing to do is to learn to depend on God, as 2 Corinthians 1:9 says.  I also need to ask God for His forgiveness and I have to remember that God always loves me, in the good times and in the bad!    
      

Jump

This story was written by my daughter, Elizabeth Bien

Sometimes God says, “Jump”  And although you want to say, “No way.” The best thing to do is respond with, “Yes father, how high?”  This can be the most difficult way to go, but if you make that jump with complete faith, and get through the trials, you will find an amazing reward at the end of each journey.
     
My husband and I were living in a horrible neighborhood in Southern California a few years back.  We were both struggling with some major addictions and getting into more trouble than one person can handle on their own.  Our priorities were completely mixed up, and we were heading no where fast.  We were trying to justify our sins, making excuses for our lack of change, all the while digging ourselves deeper and deeper into a hole
     
My in-laws had moved to Oregon a couple years prior, and trying to convince us to make the leap to a new state, in many ways a whole new world as well. I felt deep in my heart that it was something that God wanted for us but I made myself believe that God wouldn’t ask so much of us.  For a long time I came up with reasons why this was a bad idea.  My husband had a great job,  I was close to getting hired at a good company, myself.  We had lots of friends and I was really close to my mom.  I could name reason after reason why we should not move.  But I was reluctant to accept the reality that this was a command from God.  I was scared.
     
Well, almost all at once, all our reasons for staying, fell apart.  My husbands company began to fail. I was turned down by the company that was so close to hiring me.  Our friends turned their backs on us,  and my Mom and I stopped talking over a ridiculous argument.  It got to the point where we were completely out of excuses.  Finally we accepted God’s command and said, “Alright God, how high are we jumping?”
     
In less than three days our apartment was completely cleaned out.  We packed up the absolute necessities only.  We sold what we could for gas money and we either gave away or threw away the rest.  We were all ready to leave when our trials really started!
     
Satan was definitely trying his best to hold us back.  He knew that what God had in store for us was going to be awesome, and Satan did not want that for us.  The day we were set to leave, my car, that I had just made a payment on was repossessed.  We shrugged it off and used some of our gas money to rent a mini van.  Once we were on the road, my two year old son got a sudden fit of car sickness.  Once we got cleaned up and he was feeling better, we got lost in northern California.  Almost an entire day later, we were back on track, when our front drivers side tire blew out.  It was such a powerful explosion that it broke the entire drivers side rear view mirror clean off!  As my husband and I were on the side of the road, digging through our belongings for the spare tire, I had a complete emotional melt down.  I buried my head in my arms and sobbed like never before.  I felt lost, I wanted to turn back, but to where?  We left everything, we had nothing.  I should have been praying to God for strength, but instead I was cursing my life.  I felt like we had made a huge mistake, and I hated myself for doing it.  I asked my husband, “What were we thinking?”  When suddenly a big white truck pulled up behind us. 
     
A woman with a big golden retriever and an even bigger smile got out and started toward us.  After making sure we were okay and didn’t need her help, she handed me a little card and quietly told me, “God bless your family.”
     
I settled back into the passenger seat of the beat up mini van and read the orange card out loud. At the very top it read, “Encouragement.”  And below that, “For the eyes of the Lord range through out the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9.
     
For the first time since leaving our small sad apartment filled with discouraging and depressing memories, we both smiled, and we continued on our way!  What felt like no longer than an hour later, we pulled up the long rocky driveway, right up to where God had wanted us to be.
     
Although I knew that this was only the beginning of our new lives, and we had plenty of work ahead; I still felt the first bit of hope, the first bit of peace, and a great deal of confidence in what was to come!
     
It’s never easy to let go of what we think is right in life, and follow God to our leaps in life.  Once we are able to put our full faith in the Lord, and do what He wants of us we find that the things He has in store for us is a thousand times better than anything we could achieve on our own!
     
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”  James1: 2-3.