Thursday, February 28, 2013

Homecoming 2013










A student took this picture and posted it on facebook, lol
I blogged about Homecoming this time last year as both my boys were nominated as Prince and King Candidates and they had just begun attending Lincoln High School.  Well, this year they were again nominated and this time their fellow students had a better understanding of who they are.  It was pretty cool.  Cameron's girlfriend, Elissa, was also nominated so he got to escort her.  Christian, on the other hand, escorted the tallest girl in the entire Senior class.  We did have a good chuckle about this, anyone would have been dwarfed by her but Christian definitely isn't the tallest little fellow.  She also wore heels.   It was a fun evening, the boys didn't win but Cameron's girlfriend did win Princess.  Cameron had a fabulous game, he played really well and Christian took a "new" girl (new to us) to the dance which has now become his girlfriend.  This is the girl he unexpectedly brought to the house the other day without warning, she came to church with us the following day...she is very sweet...and she is a redhead...
 

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

The Liebster Award

The Liebster Award

My amazing cousin (wink), Jenn, from http://whitetrashmama.blogspot.com has shared a Liebster with me, an award given to

bloggers who have great content but not too many people may have heard of them yet; it is only given to bloggers who have less than 200 followers. "Liebster" is German for favorite, and the award is presented by a fellow blogger as a sort of pat on the back "you've got a great thing started" type of award.'

I was inspired to start blogging after following white trash mama, I don't keep up with it like I should.  I love being able to look back at stories from even a couple years ago when I started, seeing my kids and reading the quirky and silly things my family does and is.  It keeps those memories fresh.  Blogging enables me to share a part of myself I probably wouldn't otherwise. 

Liebster rules require sharing:

1. List 11 facts about yourself

2. Answer 11 questions posed to you

3. Ask 11 questions

4. Give to 11 bloggers

5. Thank the giver, with a link back.

My 11 facts:

1. I can't sit still for very long, I feel the need to "clean" something when I should just sit down and relax.

2. I love to sing for the Lord and feel blessed to do so every week at my church.

3. I adore teenagers...I know, weird, but I do.

4. I love to read although don't make the time to do it enough.

5. I am terrible at keeping up with people I love.

6. I can be extremely silly and then other times be quiet and serious.

7. I like to play board games and am very competitive at fast card games and word games.

8. I love wearing heels, makes me feel elegant and skinnier, lol.

9. I like shopping but am very frugal so I head straight to the clearance rack...this has been passed on to my kids, or at least one of them.

10. I don't worry much about anything and am maybe don't worry enough about things but afterall, God is in control.

11. I laugh at everything, mostly myself.

11 Questions:

1. How many kiddos? How many grade levels?  I have two boys, ages 18 and 16, or Senior and Sophomore.  They are awesome!

2. Latest life lesson? You know...those deep talks when you think, you hope, this time they GOT it!  Maybe not such a deep talk but Christian brought a girl home without notifying his mother and this time she actually was taking it easy and not worrying about the house.  He has to make sure the house is immaculate before he goes anywhere from now on.

3. What do you feed them for lunch?  If they get lunch at all, just kidding, well....maybe, they usually fend for themselves.

4. How do you manage to feed them and teach them and get anything done?  Good question since I work outside the home, lol, but in the evening I do feed them, not much teaching going on and throw laundry in and either clean the kitchen myself or make Cameron do it.

5. What is a recent favourite read-aloud?  I haven't read aloud anything in quite sometime, one of my faves is "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing", so fun.  I take that back...the read aloud part, we did some advent stuff.

6. Coffee black or cream or sugar or cream & sugar?  I like my coffee with flavored creamer, plain creamer is gross, I can drink it black as well but almost always have flavored creamer.

7. Cake or Pie? Yes.

8. What is a recent read that has been speaking to you and helping you grow?  Just started reading "Enemies of the Heart" by Andy Stanley, amazing book about the "heart".  I will blog about that when I am finished reading it.

9. What is a recent read that you've just plain-old enjoyed?  "Riven" by Jerry B. Jenkins.  Didn't get into the left behind books he wrote but this is a different kind of book by him and sooo good.

10. What is the one subject you just never seem to get around to doing enough of?  I can clearly tell my cousin wasn't thinking of me when she wrote these questions but I wish I would have instilled a better yard work ethic in them.

11. Who do you look to as an inspiration to be the best mom you can be?  I cannot name just one, so I won't. 
My incredible and fun cousin, Jennifer, because she takes time to 'be' with her kids, she looks at them like they are the gift they truly are.  And she is not afraid to be silly and fun.
My wonderful friend Niki, she really cares about family...her own family and the family in general, its importance.  She has a caring spirit and really goes out of her way to make people feel loved.
My fabulous friend Jamie, whose mission is to help people have Godly marriages and models it every day.

I don't know if I have 11 blogger friends to give this to but will do my best.

Thanks Jenn...I will treasure this award ;)  Check out  the white trash mama, she is an amazing woman, a talented writer, wonderful mother, and dear friend.  And best of all, she's family!

I really don't know how to do this either so I will cheat like you did Jenn.


My 11 Bloggers...yeah right


11 Questions: (to my 11 bloggers)
1.  Who is your favorite author and book?
2.  What are you gifted at?
3.  Who do people say you look like?
4.  What major event in your life changed you and made you who you are?
5.  What do you do for fun?
6.  How is God using you right now?
7.  What's your favorite thing to blog about?
8.  What is something difficult for you that you wish you were better at? (I know...not proper grammar)
9.  What is your favorite thing about being a mom?
10. What are your favorite blogs to read?
11. If you could change one thing about "your own little world" what would it be and why?


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Living Like Jesus ~ Learning to Love Your Haters


http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/2013/02/learning-to-love-your-haters/

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Sunday, February 24, 2013

NOLA 2013 ~ Mardi Gras 3

Monday, February 11, 2013
Bourbon Street
Many in our team went to Bourbon St tonight, we passed out a lot of tracts, I talked to several people.  Had a good conversation with a young man about the Lord, talked to an older gentleman and asked him who Jesus was to him and he said that Jesus was his Lord and Savior and that he would be going to church on Wednesday.  This is the attitude of many who come to Mardi Gras.  Most of our group left, I stayed and along with two others from our group went further down Bourbon Street.  The bars got rougher, strippers and the like.  I saw a young black woman with her little girl in tow, she was probably around 7 years old holding her mama's hand.  She had beads around her neck and was very wide-eyed.  I tried to give her mama a tract but she said no and walked quickly away.  The little girl, still holding her mother's hand, turned her head back to look at me.  I won't forget those big brown eyes with a look that was pleading for someone to rescue her.  How many times has she seen the vulgarity here?  Will she continue to grow up in this culture that says "sin, repent, repeat"?  Will she ever know there's more to life than this, that God loves her and sent His Son to die for her and save her from all of this?

Zechariah 10:2
For the household gods utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; they tell false dreams and give empty consolation. Therefore the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd.

Mardi Gras in New Orleans is like entering another dimension, it is a difficult trip to go on mission.  I found myself praying without ceasing and I realized that after I was home and at a basketball game that I hadn't been constantly praying.  Although we know people all around us are lost, we don't take the time to look at each individual as if they were and we don't look at people and act like we even care that they may be heading to hell and an eternity without God.  Why are we so calloused?  This is why I go on this mission trip, to step outside my normal every day, to have the Lord fill me up, to make me broken for the people that don't know Him, to share His love and come back to my amazingly blessed life to my family and friends that still don't know Him and share the gospel with them as well. 
Romans 13:12

The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.


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Living Like Jesus - Week 6 ~ How Should We Practice The Sabbath?


http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/2013/02/luke-week-6-howshouldwepracticethesabbath/

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Saturday, February 23, 2013

NOLA 2013 ~ Mardi Gras 2

February 10, 2013
Some things I wrote in my journal...
Psalm 91:14-16
14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. 15 When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Psalm 25
1 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

2 O my God, in you I trust;
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
6 Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
8 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
11 For your name's sake, O Lord,
pardon my guilt, for it is great.
12 Who is the man who fears the Lord?
Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
13 His soul shall abide in well-being,
and his offspring shall inherit the land.
14 The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,
and he makes known to them his covenant.
15 My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
bring me out of my distresses.
18 Consider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins.
19 Consider how many are my foes,
and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20 Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for you.
22 Redeem Israel, O God,
out of all his troubles.

"When you can't find common ground, it's kinda like pig wrestling, you're both gonna get nasty and the pig likes it." - Jack

2 Timothy 2:24
"And the Lord's servant[a] must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil"
-this scripture goes with the above quote from Jack.

Today...I met some interesting people, I still don't feel like I'm doing enough, although I believe God would speak the right words into my heart if I needed to say more.  I do know that I need to be in the Word more, just soaking it in.  All of the sudden, I'm exhausted.


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NOLA 2013 ~ Mardi Gras

Day 1 in the French Quarter
Prayer walked today, it wasn't raining this year!  Last year it was very overwhelming, hearing about it through other people's experiences, seeing things on tv, etc. an never prepare you for being in the middle of all of it.  I knew "kind of" what to expect this time, there's always something shocking or new.  Gay men kissing, nudity...darkness everywhere.  The hardest part to swallow (there are many) is the mockery of Jesus, whether it's outright rejection of the gospel or other "christians" condeming people, showing no grace, mercy, or compassion for the lost; the pure evil here, it's unnerving - I just pray without ceasing as I walk by the tarot card readers, fortune tellers, you name it.  Today we prayed in front of an occult store...what can you say?  So many being misled.
Tonight I went to Bourbon Street to hand out tracts and maybe have an opportunity to talk to people, someone.  Some are polite and take a tract and then move along, some will ignore you, some will blantantly reject you, it comes with the territory.  I met a man tonight that wouldn't take anything with Jesus on it because he was drinking.  Most of these people are very aware of their sin, they just simply don't care, they don't want to see the truth.  I looked around at all these people, all the sin and despair, and felt so blessed.  Blessed that my Lord protected me from every having a life-style like what I've seen tonight.  Not that my sin is less than theirs, just that I didn't have to experience these things before He bacame my personal Savior and Redeemer.  Tomorrow my prayer is for hearts to be opened and soft and for me to be an effective witness for my King.

John 3:16-20
16 “For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

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Saturday, February 16, 2013

Long Journey Home


I went to Mardi Gras again this year on a mission trip and I met a man named Dean, he was a new addition this year from the Branson group that we partner with.  He has been completely transformed by the gospel and it beamed from him, I was drawn to him.  I asked him if I could share his story on my blog and he said, of course.

From the gates of Hell to the Grace of God
By Rocky (Dean) Proctor
aka Dogface

There have been a lot of things happen in these past few years.  I feel it necessary before I go further to say some things on behalf of my Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus.  For without Him there is no doubt in my mind I would not be here writing this story, which by the way is a true one.

The fact that I still have a working mind, with brain cells that still work if proof beyond measure of what God has created, and what He has done for me.

At this moment, I am sitting in a federal prison cell.  I have been locked up for the past five years.  For some of you readers it might be hard to understand how a man in this situation could come from the heart when he says "I'm blessed and highly favored."

There is not a day that goes by that I don't thank God for taking a hand in my life.  The Bible tells us, He will not leave you or forsake you.  My name is Rocky Dean Proctor, and I am living proof, that is true.

When I was a young man, of my own free will, I chose drugs (all of them I could get my hands on), alcohol (all I could drink), and all the other hazards that come with a fast and hard life.  I stayed on that path for more than thirty years.  The paths it took me down, the places Ihave been and seen, I would not with on anyone.

Over the past thirty years, I have found myself addicted to and hooked on every form of "speed and/or methamphetamine," that has been made in the United States.  I am not real proud of this fact but I am being honest and this is a true story.

I have smoked it, inhaled it and mixed it in a spoon.  And over the years, I have "shot" literally pounds of it.  Through all of those times, God has been with me.  Praise the Lord!  I have said it before and I will say it again:  "It's not over until God says it's over and not one moment sooner."  This is why I believe in my heart, I am still alive, and daily, I thank the Lord for my life, the lives of my family and loved ones.  I pray and will continue to ask, and make myself available to Him.  The Lord has truly spared my life.

I have talked to many people since 2001, many of who have accepted Christ Jesus as their personal Savior.  I will gladly share my experiences with anyone who will listen.  My message is that there is a better life, you can have true happiness, it is a gift to you, and it is free.  But the price paid, was paid in blood and flesh, for they nailed my Jesus to a tree.

It is a very personal relationship I have with the Lord.  He is more than just a story or a religion to me.

In 2001, I found myself surrounded by the Federal government, facing drug charges.  My addiction and life style had finally came to a screaming halt.  I hit so hard and fast it was more like a train wreck, than an arrest.

This has been an almost 20 year long, non stop run.  My health was gone and my wife was almost dead.  Our life was over.  Our marriage was a mess, the drugs and alcohol had finally won the race, or had they?

It may sound anyway you want to take it but I am not trying to impress you.  I am just being honest with you.

Most people try to do it on their own and nearly every single one of them have failed.  And.  In most cases by the time they realize this, if they do before it kills them, then, and then alone, will they cry out to God.

I was no exception in that aspect.  I was, however, an exception to God.  He has saved my life, my marriage, my soul, my children and every single person who has asked for His Mercy and has accepted His Grace.  Everyone I know, who has called on the name of the Lord, both those individuals and their families are doing great, they have been healed of their addictions.  Once again, I say praise the Lord.

When a person shows up without even so much as their hat in their hand, how are you going to treat them?\

That is how I came back home to my Jesus, on my knees.  My legs were swollen to twice their size, the veins were all shot out of my arms, legs, and hands.  The blood was literally running down my arms.

This is not easy to write, and to most everyone who knows me this will be the first time much of my story has every been told or heard.

I have decided to look back this one last time.  Not because I miss it, because as God is my witness, I do not.  But to look it in the eye.  I have always thought that was important and still do.

Being in federal prison, needing serious medical treatment, is a lot like being homeless with no health insurance.  I have been in both situations, at least on the street you can go to an emergency room and they will treat you, not so here in federal prison despite the stories you have heard.

I want to talk to you about the healing power of God.  The human body is wonderfully made.  God made no mistakes.  However, it can be destroyed.  That is where I was when I called on the Lord.  Black and blue, and in a pile.

When I arrived here at this prison in 2002 I weighed 289 pounds.  I am 5 feet 6 inches tall.  I could barely walk, but by the Grace of God I was still on my feet, barely.  The last thing I had done before being brought here was talk to the Chaplain and the Christian Administrator of the Green County Jail, Mr. Frank Reynolds and Mr. Charlie Cameron.  I had been studying the Bible with them there for the past 14 months while I awaited trial.  They knew my story; we had many long talks about God and life.  They knew I had been baptized when I was a child and that I had spent my whole adult life back sliding.

I want to get something straight here.  I love the Lord, and I know now where I stand with Him.  But at the time, I was unsure on some issues, so I asked their advice.  They are both men of God, of that I was sure.  I wanted to rededicate my life to Jesus, to be baptized again as an adult.  But was not sure if that was proper.  After talking to both of them, they assured me that it would be proper if I was a sinner, and I surely was.  So a couple of months before I was sentenced by the federal government, I was baptized as an adult.  That has been over 4 years, and even being in prison, I will have to say I feel truly free, spiritually free and in 4 more years, Lord willing, I'll be physically free.  Home with my wife and family.

Since I had been locked up, the Lord has allowed me to be part of one of the greatest things every to happen in my life.  My wife has accepted Jesus as well.  We now read the Bible and worship God together.  That may not sound like much to some folks but most folks have not been as far gone as we were.  It is both a blessing and an honor to be in the presence of the Lord as man and wife.

Amen.


Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Living Like Jesus ~ Comment Time!

2 Corinthians 7:10 says
”Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but wordly sorrow brings death.”

Loved this from the Good Morning Girls blog!

Chime In: How can others see fruit of repentance in your life? Please share your testimony of repentance in the comment section – we’d love to hear and be encouraged.

I'll share if you share :)


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Living Like Jesus ~ Fruit of True Repentance


http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/2013/01/luke-310-14-evidence-of-true-repentance/

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