Callings

How does one understand a "call". I have really struggled with this for several years while I tried to figure out what God wanted me to do with life. There were always some things that I knew I should do, but how does one know what they are called to do?
I can remember when Drason and I were first married and I felt very strongly that I was supposed to be a good wife and later a good mother, but this wasn't God calling me to do these things, this was just common sense. As a Christian there are going to be some common sense things we need to do.
Later on I remember when Grandma Keen first started to get sick, and needed 24 hour a day care, I remember feeling a burden to help her and ended up staying with her 2-3 nights a week. I also helped organize other family members, and nurses aides, so that she would have 24 hour a day care. Was this God's calling? Yes and no. Yes we as Christians are called to care for the sick, among other things,(Matthew 25:37-46) Jesus tells the disciples that when they care for the sick they care for him. But this was not God's call to serve him with my life, I felt this was what I was supposed to be doing because it is God's will that we do these things, everyday, or whenever the opportunity presents itself.
From this experience I met a Nurse who asked me "Are you a social worker?" and when I told her I was not she said "You should be." Now that had never happened before, and I was looking for direction, purpose in my life, so I started back to college, and before long it was clear that this was where God wanted me. I found a job in the field after being in school a few months, and was able to work there until I graduated. During this time I felt on track with God's plan, I know that this was God's call for me, and all in all I have worked in the field for about 7 years. I have enjoyed being a social worker and now a counselor. I love being able to share my experience strength and hope with others who are struggling.
But in November of 2005 things started to fall apart for me. I lost a good paying counseling job, I went on unemployment and I struggled to find a job for almost 6 months. I ended up taking a job, in sales, that I knew(nobody is perfect!) was the wrong place for me because I thought "We have to have some money coming in." (Me taking control winds up poorly - I quit about 3 months later)
I felt resentful that I had lost that counseling job, and then resentful that the job I took in April 2006 was not the place for me. I felt angry with myself for creating this mess and then for sitting in it rather than cleaning it up. And I felt thankful that God is merciful, and forgiving, and is still patient with me. I had worked for LAPP during this entire time, on a part time basis, and I began to get more hours in September 2006.
Since September we have been financially solvent, however, I know that LAPP is not the place that God wants me, it is merely a stop over on the way to somewhere else. After all of this I started praying, God what do you want me to do? I still had some ideas about getting another counseling position, volunteer work in the community....but nothing seemed to pan out. (What are the odds of a non-profit agency rejecting a well qualified counselor as a volunteer? Apparently 100%.)
God is working even when we don't know it.
About 1-2 weeks before Easter Pastor Noel preached on experiencing a complete spiritual collapse, and I have to tell you I sat there thinking, "That was me."
Drason just told me this the other day, he said he was mowing the lawn last summer and listening to the radio. He said a commercial came on about a Christian music web cast that accepts unsolicited demos. He said that when he heard this he realized that he could get me a gift certificate to a recording studio for Christmas. He said God told him to do this.
My first question was - why didn't you tell me?- he says to me, because I wasn't supposed to, this was something you had to figure out for yourself.
So after Christmas, (because he gave me the gift certificate) I started thinking about this, and almost immediately dismiss it as a husband who thinks highly of his wife. But it kept nagging at me, that I need to do this, I need to figure out how to do this. I started praying about it and I felt like I wasn't getting any clarity, so I kept praying and praying and praying.
About 2-3 weeks ago this was so heavy on my heart, and I was driving in my car, I felt so strongly that I had to pull over, and emotionally cried out to God, "What do you want from me? What do you want me to do?" and He answered, clearly, without any doubt, without anything that depended on me- He answered.
Why did it take so long to know for sure? Maybe God was waiting until I was at the point that I was really listening, maybe he knew that I needed to go through all of these things so that I would know that he always provides a way for us. Maybe my heart wasn't right with him, and so he waited until it was.
Can a person be "called" more than once in their life? Yes, I think so. Just as we grow and change, the world is also changing. Maybe he calls us first to one place and then to another. I know I was called to be a counselor and that now I am called to something else.
The most important thing I have learned is that we can know, for sure, God's purpose for us. God has a plan for each of us, we just need to seek this plan and listen for his call. It's not about a feeling, or anything material or prideful, it is simply about His plans for you . Jeremiah 29:11-14 11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."

Great Day today

We had a super day today. The boys had fun at their sports and their auntie Kim came to cheer them on.
Macguines hit the ball, but was tagged out on first. He has been doing really well and loves to play, he even stayed awake in the outfield, rather than playing in the grass like a lot of the kids do.
Marshal was supposed to play today, but their game was cancelled, he will play next week for sure.
Mason is in soccer and he is very good at this. He is one of the best on his team, (this could just be parental bias, nah) maybe it is because he had his brothers to practice with.

On another happy note, Kim, my sister, is coming to church with us tomorrow - yea! - She currently attends Spring Hill Baptist in Granville with our parents, and will be coming out to Heath just to check out the new Sunday school class for young adults. She is kind of shy about going to Sunday school by herself, so make her feel welcome.
It is really neat to see how God will draw people to where he is working!

Love you all bunches and talk to you soon,
Amanda

Hi :-P

Hi Everyone,
This week I have been babysitting my sister, she had 4 wisdom teeth pulled on Wednesday and has had a rough go of things.
The last tooth that had to be removed was grown into the bone and when it was pulled it flew out of her mouth and hit the wall. Poor Kim!
Also just as an FYI, I am posting the boys schedules for Baseball and soccer. All events are at TJE

Mason
Saturdays 9a-10a for the next 8 weeks

Marshal and Mac 10a-12p for the next 8-10 weeks.
Mac is hitting from a pitching machine and Marshal is still in t-ball, so we are super busy.

By the way, Kim is single and 20. She is convienced that there aren't anymore nice guys out there. I have invited her to come to the new sunday school class that is starting up this Sunday. Pray that she will come!
Thanks
Amanda

God has a plan

We had such a busy week this week it is hard to know where to start, all I can say is the Lord provides for all of our needs, even before we know we need them.
Wednesday we finally broke down and bought Drason a riding mower, the poor guy had been push mowing since last fall when our rider blew up. We were just happy that we had the money to do this.
Then on Thursday we got a call from park national bank that they were going to take the car. The Taurus was part of Drason's grandfathers probate estate and although we had been making payments on it, they would not allow us to keep it unless we refinanced it, which at the end of the day was not worth the cost, and they were not flexible, so they demanded the car immediately. We really weren't sure what we were going to do for a vehicle. We had looked around a bit last month when we found out that this might happen, but we really hadn't settled on anything. As it turned out we both had Friday off, so we set out to find a car.
We asked God to show us what he would have us do, and lead us to the car that we were supposed to have. We visited about 4-5 lots but nothing felt right, one car would have too many miles, another would be too small. All day, it kept coming up, that we might want to look at an SUV, we had seen one that we liked about a month ago, but it was priced so that we weren't sure we could afford it, but for some reason it kept coming up. We kept praying, and looking, and finally we both came up with the same thing, we felt we should go out and check on that SUV from a month ago. All the while I was thinking, this is going to cost too much, we have already tried this once, they probably have sold it already, and all of the other reasons why I thought this wouldn't work. We went anyways, because we felt such an impression that we should do so. (Thankfully the Lord is still patient with me.) We pull into the lot, and ask to see inside the vehicle, and the owner says,out of the blue, "We just lowered the price on that one a few days ago." and shows us the car. The price had been lowered significantly. GOD PROVIDES. We ended up paying less than we were paying on the Taurus. What a blessing.
After we left the dealership, as the owners of the SUV, we couldn't help but think that this had all been planned to show us that God will always take care of us, no matter what the circumstances are, no matter how disappointing it is when things don't go the way we thought they would, God has a plan for us. I have to say that approaching big decisions with prayer really pays off. Wednesday we prayed about the lawn mower, we were paying cash and it was a lot of money to part with, but we both felt at peace with the decision. God knew what Thursday would hold, but we did not. Because we prayed about both decisions first we had a peace with them. When Thursday came we didn't freak out about the lawn mower because we knew that He would not have led us into trouble. What a blessing we received knowing that God care enough to supply the little things in life, comforts us and is sufficient to supply all of our needs.

On top of all this Marshal turned 6 on Friday( we were joking that he got the SUV for his birthday, but he wasn't buying), had his party Saturday and had several school friends over to the house. He really loves all of his toys and especially the robot dino that grandma and grandpa gave him.

This week is "Global Focus" week for our church. This is basically a revival centered around missions, both near and far. Keep our church in your prayers as we move forward with this. This is something that Drason and I had really desired in a church and it has been a blessing to be a part of a church that believes in outreach.
That's all for now,
Love you all bunches and hope to hear from you soon,
Amanda

Great Day

We had a great day at Church today. We got to meet the prospective worship pastor and we had a good turn out.
Macguines was baptised and was really happy.


All of his Grandma's, Grandpa's, Aunts and Uncles were there to see him, too. Thanks to everyone for coming! and we were especially happy that Grandma Keen could come out to Church today. She seems to be doing better and she hopes she will be able to return home soon.

Thanks for all of the prayers and continue to pray that she will be able to return to her home soon.
Love you all bunches and see you soon!
Amanda

Happy Easter!

I am a little late in posting this as we have had a super busy week this week.
The boys looked so cute in their Easter suits, unfortunately I didn't get a great picture of them. I'll try again this week.

Macguines is growing up so fast it is amazing to me how much children understand. Macguines asked Jesus into his heart about 2 weeks ago, we have talked to him and although I never would've thought that he was ready at such a young age, I feel that he is genuine and understands his decision. He is going to be baptised at Church tomorrow. Praise God!

Tonight was the Last Call Outreach, Open Arms Shelter, Benefit Concert. I was so please to have been able to sing at this event!
I have said it before and I will say it again, if you don't know what Last Call is check out the link at the bottom of this page. They are doing some AMAZING things there and I hope everyone of you will get involved.
At church, our new Worship Pastor arrived and I was able to meet him briefly tonight before the concert.

Like I said we have been super busy but also super blessed!
That's all for now,
Love you all bunches and hope to hear from you soon
Amanda

How do bunnies lay eggs?

This is what Marshal asked me yesterday and I was sort of taken by surprise. "Bunnies don't lay eggs!" I said. We had a little talk about Easter. It seems like we have this conversation every year, when asked what Easter was about Marshal said, "Bunnies and chicks and eggs."
I reminded Marshal that Easter is about Jesus, and that Jesus died for us so that we could live.
"Then who puts the eggs down on the ground?" he asks
"Adults do, so that kids can find them, is that weird or what?" I replied. WE talked a little bit about Jesus and why he died for us.

Satisfied for now, Marshal went upstairs to play. Marshal is at the age where he is full of questions, I am so thankful that he asks them. Even though we have talked about this is our home, he was still wondering. This makes me more conscious to look for ways to protect him for secular messages, and instill in him the truth about the matter.

I remember my parents giving Easter baskets and always including a bible verse in the plastic eggs, or "another gift from Jesus" in the basket. I believe I was given a bible for Easter one year.
I have continued this with my own children to help in teaching them the true meaning of Easter, and to spark just such a discussion.
This is one of my favorite times of year, Jesus is risen! Praise God!

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

It is SO cold outside that my fingers hurt typing this. I just got home from choir practice and I can hear the boys playing upstairs, they must be excited about Awana's I heard they received a "jewel" tonight. Macguines had a good night tonight, more on that later.
Drason and I celebrated our 8Th wedding anniversary yesterday, yippee! We both had to work so we didn't celebrate yet, I think we will go out this Sunday.
In other news...... we have a new worship pastor (song leader for those of you who are wondering) coming in around April 14Th?? and we are really excited to meet him, I've heard that he and his family are about our age and have kids too.
Think spring and hopefully it will be here soon, I can't wait until this Sunday, it should be great, I was getting kind of teared up during one of the songs we are singing this week. In case you are wondering we are having 2 services this Sunday, one at 8am and one at 10:45am that's First Baptist Church in Heath (Big church on 30Th street) See you soon!

Busy day at church today

We had quite the busy day at church today. The boys sang in the children's choir they did such a good job, even though they had trouble standing still.

After the sermon Drason and I were baptised.
Drason and I had been "sprinkled" after we became Christians, I think for the convenience of the churches we each attended at that time, however today we were dunked :-)

I wasn't really sure what I thought about this, but after looking into it further we thought this was probably best. First off because in the Bible people were baptised by submersion, as a symbol of the old passing away and the new life that had begun, but also as an act of submission to our new church.
All in all a great day! Mom and Dad and brothers and sisters came to church with us today, too. We like having them and hope they will continue to come, their churches senior pastor recently resigned so keep them in your prayers
Love you all bunches and hope to hear from you soon
Amanda