Zoie Got a Blog Awared!

Hey Y'all,
Edie over at http://richgifts.blogspot.com just gave Zoie a Kreativ Award. Check it out, ain't it pretty!

Zoie has to say seven things about herself or me that y'all might not know....so I'm turning it over to her:

Hey Y'all
Its Zoie and these are my seven things:

1) I was born in Georgia....means I'm a cute little Georgia peach.

2) I accepted Christ as my Savior when I was 4 years old. When my dad baptized me, I was so scared I dunked him with me. I came up out of the water smiling and he was soaked!

3) I had prayed for a dog all my life. In fact, my mom says the very first time I ever laughed was at a dog at my babysitter's house. As you can see I must love dogs! I finally got one for my seventh birthday. Her name is Keekee bear and I love her! She is a miracle dog because she had parvo and survived it! Thanks to my parents giving her medicine every hour on the hour for 48 hours and my Aunt Amy giving us the medicine...her husband is a vet.

4) My best friend's name is Sunni. We have been best friends since 2nd grade. We are two blond chicks who try to do everything together. I will miss her when we move!

5) I was in my school's production of "The Sound Of Music." It is the junior/senior high production but they needed someone small enough to play Gretle. ;) So they chose me! One cool thing, was that the actor who played Rolf in the movie came to see our production and gave me an autograph! Now how cool is that?

6) You guys know I like to sing...This year, my granddad's quartet got invited to sing a concert at a church in NC. When they called him, they also asked for me to come and sing for them too. It was my first concert.

7) Since none of you have ever seen a picture of me on my mom's blog, I have blond hair, brown/green eyes, and I am almost as tall as my mom. In fact, I wear the same size shoe as she does. I got my ears pierced last fall and having pierced ears ...ROCKS!

Thanks again Miss Edie for the award.


I don't know who to give this award to, so I want all my mom's readers to tell us seven things. OK? PLease, I want to see how many responses I can get. Don't let me down...I'm only 10.

Bye Y'all
Zoie

PS. Don't y'all think I need my own blog? Talk my mom into it! She doesn't think its safe for me now.

A Poem For My Dad From Zoie

Hey Y'all!
I hope you all had a wonderful Father's Day Weekend. We did. Mike got to preach yesterday at the church he did interim work at last Fall. It was so comforting going back there and seeing Mike back in a pulpit.
We then went to my Dad's for lunch with the Thrift family. We had hamburgers and homemade banana-nut ice cream. My mother's homemade Ice cream recipe is so fattening...but so good!

Zoie wrote her dad a Father's Day Poem that I, as a proud wife of said father and mother to the author, just had to share it with you.
Here it is (Zoie asked me not to edit it, so here is it just like she wrote it minus the art work)

How do you know if your dad loves you?
I know that he loves me because he cares
and talks to God in his prayers.
My dad is a God follower and worships God
in his own special way.
I'm glad to call you my dad because of who you are.
To me you you shine like a star.
You brighten my day as you smile
and when you go shopping you go down every aisle. (What? You try rhyming the word smile)
So I am happy to say thank you, thank you
for being the best daddy a girl could ever have.
I love you so much.
Thank you for being my daddy
Happy Father's Day
Love Zoie

Do you think she gets her writing skills from her mom?
Thank you for letting me share this with you.
I love each of you dearly
May God bless you today because you blessed me by stopping by and letting me brag on my husband and my daughter.

Love Pamela

A Nanosecond Later.......

Hey Y'all,

This week has been terribly busy. I've started seeing a chiropractor 3 times a week, we've had VBS this week and then there is trying to get ready to move...if we get into the Army.

Do you ever contemplate how quickly life changes? A nanosecond is one billionth of a second...quicker than a blink of my green eyes. An event happens and a nanosecond later...life has changed. I'm not talking subtle changes...more of the life altering kind. Those "I will never forget..." moments that we look back on and know that life before was sure different than life after that nanosecond.

Here are some examples from my own life...both good and bad.

The moment I took my first step....I would never crawl again.
The moment I realized that God was more than I could ever dream and gave my life to Him.
The moment I decided in second grade to never make a hundred on a test again, so the kids would stop calling me a cheater....boy, have I ever regretted that decision!
The moment a boy told me I was the ugliest girl he had ever seen in 7th grade... battle with my looks ever since.
The moment a revival pastor told my story without knowing it and I knew God was calling me to a Christian vocation.
The moment I accepted the call to go to Colorado as a Semester/Innovator missionary and work at a ski area with handicapped skiers.
The moment I decided to go to Seminary.
The moment My Granny died and my best friend Paula became my best friend as she and her, then boyfriend (now husband), drove me 9 hours home because I was shattered.
The moment I forgave my Aunt Dyan...we were both healed that day...her from 20 years of drug abuse, me from 11 years of hate.
The moment the man I believed I would marry betrayed me in the most heinous way ever.
The moment I saw Mike walking across the room at church and asking me if I was visiting....I was actually on staff at the church.
The moment Mike laid a piece of paper in my lap....it was pictures asking me to marry him.
The moment I said "I do."
The moment I screamed "Is it a Zoie or a Zachary" and Zoie let out her first cry.
There have been many more moments but I think I've given you too many to read so far.

We all have these moments. But blessed be the Name of the Lord....No nanosecond can change Him. He was there during each of those moments and will be for every other moment. We are never without His eyes on us...His hand shielding us...His heart loving us.

Thank you Lord for not even letting a nanosecond...no matter how life changing powerful it is, to ever surprise you or even make you blink.

I love you!
Pamela

I'm a Garbage Truck Princess!

Hey Y'all!
I looked at my blog and could not believe it had been so long since my last post! Time has whizzed right by me and I feel like a spinning cartoon character!

A little over a week ago Mike and I were in Atlanta for the Chaplain interviews with our denomination. Now it is wait and see time again. We will know something after the 21st. That is when they will decide for sure. Pray that the trustees will see the call we believe God has for Mike as a Chaplain and give us the endorsement. Mike still has some hoops to go through for the Army too, so pray that they will go smooth and get scheduled quickly.

My school let out last Friday and I am no longer a teacher there. It was my decision. I was only part-time and felt that since there is a high chance we will be moving either in December or March that it would be easier on the school to hire someone for a whole year and I could get us ready to move without worrying about having to work. So come next fall, I will be subbing and doing some testing for the school...but not teaching. It is bitter sweet. I love the school! I love the people I have worked with there! I will miss being a part of the everyday climate there. But it is right....hard but right.

Did you see my title today? No, my dad does not own a garbage trucking business. Neither does my husband. The truth is that I am a princess. Always have been ...always will be! However, (Big sigh......) I am also a garbage truck!

For years I have let the events in my life gather its stinking garbage in my truck bed. I have stuffed down offenses, I have sucked up hurts, I have turned my head to tragedy and heaped more and more of life's garbage on my back to carry it along. Only like a full garbage truck, it has sometimes been caught by the wind of life and has spewed out onto others that are passing by. Many times, I have flipped a little out on a passing driver who did not drive like my policeman daddy taught me to drive. Or better yet, it has spilled over onto my family since they are always around and don't seem to mind too much. I've rationalized this by saying, "Oh! They know me and know I didn't mean to hurt them. They are family and they are safe. They know I love them." But my garbage would spew or fly at them and anyone who got too close everyday until I have officially become a self proclaimed garbage truck princess!

AHHHH! But you see last Tuesday in counseling, I let the Garbage Truck King clean out my truck! He isn't like me. He doesn't keep heaping garbage on his back. His garbage doesn't even belong to him! He collects other's garbage and instead of carrying it around to dump someplace else...do you know what he does? He burns it up right there! There are not even ashes left! No remnants or even the odor of garbage! Truthfully, there is not even a smell of the smoke! Nothing! Well, one thing is left....can you believe this....bright white clean...with the fragrance of forgiveness and love.

Many times I have come and placed part of my garbage with this King. But this past Tuesday he wanted the hidden messiest stuff. He went after a memory...a horrible memory that I wanted no one to know about. A memory I didn't want to believe even happened. A memory I had buried in the darkest corner of my truck bed. I had covered it with years of other garbage. But the Garbage King wanted to clean that corner. And BOY HOWDY did He ever clean it out.

I will share this story with you soon. Because now that it has been cleaned, the King told me I had to share it with others so He can clean out theirs too. But first I want you to pray for me as I share it with my family first. They need to know first. Pray also that I will go everyday to let the Garbage King clean out more so that neither I or my spiritual enemy will try to fill it up again.

One last note....Thank you Jesus for being my Garbage King and cleaning out all the garbage in my life. Thank you for desiring your princess to be a Limo not a Garbage truck! I love You!
Pamela

Limitations

Limitations!
I hate them!
Don't you?

This post comes out of the urge to ask for your prayers on several things for us right now. Things that involve limitations.

First is my mom. She had surgery Wednesday on her neck to help her vertebrae not press her spinal cord. The condition was putting limitations on her arms and legs. Pray for her as she recovers and gains back mobility this limitation caused. Another temporary limitation has been placed on her during her recovery time, that needs a prayer word from you. She can't drive for 5-7 days. She is an active person and this is not going to be easy on her at all. It also brings me to the next prayer request.

Mike and I are gong this coming Monday -Wednesday to interview with our denomination concerning him becoming an Army chaplain. Zoie still has school and will be staying with my parents. My dad will take her to school every morning and my mom will pick her up. It will barely be 5 days but she got permission to drive only to the school and back. But please still pray. Pray that Zoie will be a help during this time they have togethern and not add to or become frustrated by mom's limitations.

Lastly, pray for the limitations that Mike and I have discovered are on us both because of unforgiveness that resides in our hearts. We are going through God's training and redirecting right now in our thoughts and heart beliefs. It is painful but good. I can't wait until I am on the other side and can share with you completely. For now pray with us!

Thank you
We love you all!
Pamela

Canceling The Payback

Hey Y'all!

It has been an interesting week. You know if somebody decided to secretly film my life and put it on TV as a reality show, no one would believe it wasn't a soap opera!

OK, so maybe it isn't that bad, but I would love having one week of carefree time...I'd settle for one day!

I'm not going to bother you with details, just pray...everything is minor but piled up!

Onto my thoughts about payback.

God has been teaching me a lot about forgiveness lately. He has shown me that although I follow the steps of forgiving someone and even say I forgive them. Although I ask God to forgive them and even try and reconcile when it is appropriate to do so, I have found that I have still not forgiven. I could not understand this. I have prayed for years asking God to help me forgive. I finally came to the wrong conclusion that forgiveness must be something you keep having to do until one day it just sticks. Like memorizing math facts. But then, something new would pop up and wham-o! I would realize anew the unforgiveness that was in my heart. I knew that something was missing! There was something I wasn't doing or needed to do to make forgiveness complete.

I'm so excited....God revealed it!

So...most of you may know this but I promise I did not!

True forgiveness means there is no need for payback! In fact true forgiveness means I ask God to wipe away the entire account....just like He did for me!

I finally got it! The account is wiped clean! I would say that I forgave that person but still expect some consequences or payback. I wanted either an apology (And lets be honest do we really get all those we deserve...or even give them?) or I wanted the person to get punished. But that isn't how God did my sins! He wiped the account clean. There isn't a ledger of past sins that are just marked forgiven...with God there is no ledger at all! Everyday starts a new account! Now....I am NOT GOD! But I can ask that He wipe the ledger clean for the ones who owe me. That is forgiveness!

Check out the parable in Matthew 18: 21-35. This is the story of the debtors. Read it with this in mind...as you know the king is God. You and I (Believers) are the 1st debtor. I heard recently that this man's debt was so big that it would have taken over 200,000 years to have payed it back. The truth was that just like you and me this man could not payback what he owed. We can't payback God with enough sacrifices to settle our sin accounts either. When the King had compassion he wiped the debt clean. (I had somehow thought that he allowed the man to begin paying it back) But it states clearly the debt was forgiven. Then the debtor left the Kings presence and demanded payment from a man who owed him much less. He punished this man both physically and punitively by putting him in prison. That too is me. I want punishment/justice from those who truthfully owe me far less than I have ever owed God.

So I have started going through my list of unforgiven people and been canceling their debt. Leaving the account to God not me.

This does not mean that I now run into the person's arms or place myself in harms way. It does mean that I am now free and they do not owe me anything!

I'll write more on this later I'm sure...this thinking is new to me...so I know more insight is sure to come.

What do you think? Am I the only one who has struggled with this?
Let's talk!
Pamela

An Invitation

Hey Y'all!

Do you like getting invitations? I do. We recently got a wedding invitation from a friend and it was beautiful. Crisp black and white with black ribbon and lettering. The elegant and joyful look of it makes me want to go to the wedding. Even though I do not know the couple well, I want to attend the festivities because of the invitation.

I like party invitations too. Hmmmm, if I'm really honest I just like being invited.

When I was in Seminary, I had a friend who would often call me at 2:00 in the morning to go get coffee and a hot doughnut at Krispy Kreme. (At that time I could do that and not worry about it. Now, just a lick would add 8 inches to my hips.) As soon as the phone would ring I'd jump out of bed and say, "I'll meet you downstairs." I never turned that invitation down. Not because I was a big doughnut fan, but because I was asked, included and loved my friend's company.

I have rarely turned down invitations. I have had to as an adult with responsibilities, but it is still always hard. I like pleasing people. I like feeling wanted and needed.

But there is a line.

I can remember one invitation that I turned down that cost me my best friend at the time. I was in high school. My friend K and I were inseparable. She lived in my neighborhood and if we were awake we were together. Now, we did have other friends and did things with other people on occasion.
K said she was going to throw a party at her house. I was one of the first people she invited, and I was excited about the party. Then she invited some kids that were into drugs and drinking. She said that her mom was cool with them drinking there, as long as it was at her house and no one would drink and drive. This bothered me or rather, tormented me! I didn't drink or even want to try it. My over-active good-girl-gland was waging a war with my wanting to be included and attend this party. It was illegal for kids our age to drink. I had seen my older cousins in drunken states and it had been disgusting. I did not know what to do. So at first I lied...made up an excuse not to go. Unfortunately, I wasn't very good at lying and K soon found out. I had to tell her about my reservations for not wanting to come and take part. She begged...we wont ask you to drink....but I couldn't do it. I couldn't go or even be at her house when I felt what they were doing was wrong. Our friendship ended that day.

I can't say I handled it right. I believe my convictions were right but as a insecure teen, I don't think the way I presented my case was right. K felt judged. I felt left out and alone. I have learned a lot since then, about how to say no to an invitation without the other person feeling judged.

Mike and I received an invitation this week that we can not say no to. It is an invitation to come and spend three days with our denomination's endorsement board for Army chaplaincy. We are excited because this is one of the most important steps in our pursuit of becoming an Army Chaplain family. The big interview! It will be June 1-3 so we are asking for your prayers. We have already accepted the invitation and plans are now settled. Pray though that our words will be filled with wisdom, grace and passion. Pray that God's plan for our lives will be revealed not only to us, but also to the one's who's endorsement we are seeking. This invitation will change our lives no matter which way it turns out.

There is another life changing invitation that is put to everyone. It is the invitation of Jesus Christ. Have you gotten that invitation yet? Have you received His love-gifts of salvation and eternal life with Him? You can....consider yourself now invited!

Love you!
Pamela