"I Recognize That Apple"

You've heard the phrase "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." To be quite honest I have never really understood this phrase. Of course it doesn't. Apples fall from the tree and they stay on the ground near the tree. Where else are they going to go? It would seem strange to say, "that apple fell from that tree and ended up way over there." Do you see what I mean? The same is true with our children. When they are raised in our home and with us day and night they are going to resemble us. Good or Bad!!! This week I have had no trouble recognizing my little apple. Matthew is so much like me in so many ways. I see many similarities that are me made over today and some that resemble who I use to be when I was younger. Matthew has a precious heart all the while standing for truth and justice. The first day of school he came home and shared with me that he was having trouble knowing how to minister to a certain young girl in his class. "Mommy, she doesn't believe in Jesus and I don't know how to share with her." Matthew has prayed for this young lady this entire school year. He has taken every opportunity to share the love of Jesus with her even to the point of standing up to a band of bullies that were picking on this friend. Matthew shared with me today after some dramatic circumstances which I will share later, that he has one week left to share Jesus with this friend and he feels like he is failing. Earlier last week Matthew decided to write her a letter as one last attempt to plead with her to accept Christ. Possessing his mother's lack of grace and his father's lack of tact, this is what the letter said, "Please become a christian. I know you believe something else but if you don't after you die you will spend eternity in hell.(i am not cussin) But God has given us a second chance. You see every one (except Jesus) should be in hell. But God sent Jesus to die the most painful death so we could go to heaven. Please become a christian." Don't get me wrong, I am so proud of his boldness and his zeal and love for the Lord Jesus. I love that he prays and hears God speaking to him. He has prayed about how to share with this friend as the year end approached and God told him to "Be Bold." I love that he heard God and he obeyed. He and Matt had a long talk about focusing on the aspect of Heaven and rejoicing with Jesus instead of focusing on the impending doom of hell. Even though we know hell is a real place and we believe in it, we want unbelievers to understand the joy of spending eternity with Jesus. I shared with Matthew that salvation belongs to God. It is not Matthew's mission to save his friend. Only God can do that. Matthew has done what God has called him to do. He has been the light of Jesus this whole school year. He has been her friend and he has stood for truth. He may never see the fruits of his labor. He may merely be the seed planter, but he has been obedient and he has been bold. That is all that God has asked of him. What an awesome learning time for Matthew. Yes, he scared a little girl. Yes, he upset her parents who are of a different religion. Yes, Matt met with the assistant principal to find out about all of this, but oh such a small price to pay to learn how to obey Jesus and then have the faith to the leave the results in His hands. I do not want Matthew to back up, let up or shut up. I want him to continue to share the love of Jesus. We are helping him work adding grace and tact to his presentation and on having the faith and patience to leave the results to God. Matthew has had a defining moment of growth this week, but so have I. I have had to ask myself the question...when was the last time I shared my faith so boldly, not walking in fear of rejection or consequences. Matthew also gave his teacher a letter saying he would receive any punishment that might be coming as a result of his letter, but he had to obey God. He was not punished in any way, but he was willing to face punishment if necessary. His heart was obedience and the focus of his existence this year has been to see this friend come to faith in Christ. He may never know the outcome, but he was obedient. I love him for that. May you and I be as bold and share our faith with as much zeal, passion and persistence as Matthew has this year all the while leaving it in His hands. Salvation belongs to our God, who sits upon throne.

Matthew 28:19 NIV

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 28:31 NIV

Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.

"Talent Turns To Testimony and The Things Memories Are Made Of."

Last night around 6:30 Caleb informs me that he wants to be in the talent show at school in the morning at 7:30. Now this was the first I had heard about a talent show that would begin in approximately 13 hours. Caleb decided to play the guitar, which he does very well. Problem...his guitar had a broken string and needed to be tuned and he happens to be the only musically inclined person in our home. God has strategically placed us on a street, in a neighborhood that we love, with incredible friends and neighbors. Mr. Nate to the rescue! Mr. Nate went to Target and bought new strings and put them on Caleb's guitar and he tuned it for him. Caleb was ready to show off his talent. Matthew then decides at 8:00 that he wants to be part of this talent show. After all it was going to be held in the multi-purpose room for the whole school and a $50 dollar gift card was the grand prize. Sign me up...I got talent! Well after 30 minutes we finally decided on a good talent for Matthew. He would accompany Mercy Me's "Little Drummer Boy" by playing the snare drum. So by about 9:30 we were ready, instruments by the door and a plan in place. We were sure a Hawkins would take first prize in the "talent show." We marched in the front doors of the school noticing a few strange glances as we carried the cumbersome ticket to our gift card. The principal met us in the hall and was curious as to what the Hawkins boys were doing with instruments. "We are going to be in the talent show." "What talent show?" "You know the talent show that is in the multi-purpose room for the whole school with the gift card prize of $50 for the winner." "Guys, I haven't heard about that." "Well, our cousin is in the 3rd grade and she is in a talent show." The principal walked them down the third grade hall to investigate. There was in fact a talent show, but just for that one third grade class and the talents did not involve instruments, but poetry and songs "just for the class." My children had not checked out the facts. They were embarrassed as was their cousin, but then something beautiful happened. Something that took mere talent and turned it into a testimony and some fabulous memories for these precious cousins. This third grade teacher along with the principle asked if the boys would like to share their talents with this class and their parents. After getting the go ahead from their teachers, they stood before the third grade classroom and shared their talent. Keep in mind that we attended a program earlier this week for Joshua where the words to We Wish You A Merry Christmas were re-written to say We Wish You A Happy Holiday, We Wish You A Happy Hanukah, We Wish You A Happy Ramadan and A Happy New Year. So needless to say the presence of Christ is not openly advertised within our schools, but let me tell you that His presence was felt there today. Caleb played a song he had written that said "Jesus, we worship you. All day long we worship you. Only you do we worship. We worship you." Matthew played his drum as the children and teachers heard these words...Come they told me, Pa rum pum pum pum, A newborn King to see, Pa rum pum pum pum, Our finest gifts we bring, Pa rum pum pum pum, To lay before the King, Pa rum pum pum pum, Rum pum pum pum,So to honor Him, Pa rum pum pum pum, When we come, Little Baby, Pa rum pum pum pum, I am a poor boy too, Pa rum pum pum pum, I have no gift to bring, Pa rum pum pum pum, That's fit to give the King, Pa rum pum pum pum, Rum pum pum pum, Shall I play for You?, Pa rum pum pum pum,On my drum, Shall I play for You? Mary looked at me and nodded, The ox and lamb kept time, Oh I played my drum for Him, Oh I played my best for Christ, Then He smiled at me… As Matthew finished the class erupted in applause and Ashlyn, Matthew's cousin jumped from her seat and ran up front and hugged Matthew with such a look of appreciation and love. As I looked around the room, I noticed there were tear filled eyes. Even the teacher had her hand over her heart and said..."Oh my that was wonderful." Let me set the record straight and let you know that Matthew is no expert drum  player and Caleb is no professional guitar player, but what their peers, parents and teachers saw today were children who love the Lord and family (cousins) who love each other, cheer for each other and share a common love for Christ and for hearing His name proclaimed. You could not have left that room today and not have been touched by the love these kids had for one another and the love they share for the Lord Jesus. Who says Christianity is dead in the school systems? I assure you it was alive in the hearts of three precious children I know today. As long as it is alive in their hearts and lives, it is a testimony everywhere they go. We could have all been embarrassed today and rushed the instruments to the car and never mentioned another word about this day, but I believe in my heart of hearts that this was not mis-information, but a divine appointment destined in eternity past for these children, for these teachers and for these parents to hear the testimonies of these precious cousins. The truth of Christ may not be openly shared in our school systems, but as long as we are encouraging the hearts of our children and they love Jesus...He is ALIVE and His WORD is ALIVE in our schools. We made some precious memories as a family today, but my prayer is that lives were touched, even just one.

"Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart."  1 John 5:10

"Gone Fishin"

Our family loves to go fishing. Sometimes we succeed in just feeding crickets to the fish as we throw out our pole and the crickets disappear. Pop pop and Grandma bought Jacob a spiderman fipping (fishing) pole. He was a natural. He learned immediately how to cast it out and reel it in. Over and over again he would throw it out and reel it in. If you have ever been fishing, you know that it takes patience. A lot of patience!

Matt has recently been preaching a series called "Go Fish." Afterall, we have been called to be fishers of men. As I have listened to the Word of God and what Matt has been teaching, I was taken back to that day that Jacob learned to fish. Oh the patience of that little guy to continue to throw out the bait and reel it in. How often do we as believers throw out the bait and actually fish for men? We lack patience. We throw out the bait and we don't get a bite so we quit. As I watched Jacob that day, the first bite he got, scared him so that he threw the pole down and ran. Have we ever done that in fishing for men? We got a bite, now what do we do? We do just what Jacob did, we pick the pole back up and we throw out that bait again, over and over and over again, with patience knowing that the outcome is not in our hands, but in the hands of God. We are just obedient to fish. The funniest part of that day was when Jacob threw out his pole with no bait because the crickets were gone. He threw the line out and caught a fish with no bait, just a hook. Why did he catch a fish? Because he was faithful to throw that line out, bait or no bait, his patience was rewarded. He was ready, he was watching and he was faithful. Oh, that we might have the patience and the faithfulness of a 2 year old as we fish for the souls of men.

Matthew 4:19 NIV

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

Matthew 28:19-20 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

"No, No, My Wock (Rock)"

Tonight we had back to back soccer games! During the break Jacob and I decided it was a good time to walk to the potty. On the way back from the potty, Jacob stops in his tracks and began to sob. Being the loving, caring mother that I am...I kept walking and said.."Come on. Run. You're ok. Stop crying. We are going to watch Caleb's soccer game." I walked on thinking I would call his bluff, he would see that he was alone and he would run to catch up. He continued to cry and stand in place. I decided I had better go and see what was wrong. The closer I walked the more I could see how deeply hurt he was. When I got to him he said, "Mommy, me drop rock. Me find it!" So, I helped him look and look until we found what he thought was the lost rock. He picked it up and said, "My rock! Now me can run!" He had lost his cherished rock and he wasn't taking another step until he found that which was lost. His mind was made up, he was standing firm and once he found his lost rock, he could run again. Remind you of a story from the Bible?  Luke 15:4-6 "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep."

Jesus, our shepherd cares about His children so much that He will wait and seek after the one that is lost. Isn't that a comfort to know that He loves us that much? Yes, this is comforting, but it is also an example to us told as a parable so that we might learn a lesson. When was the last time you stopped and put everything on hold to find one of those lost sheep? When was the last time you even allowed yourself to be inconvenienced for the sake of speaking a kind word to the clerk at the grocery store or helping an elderly person unload their groceries into their car. We are so "busy" and wrapped up in ourselves that we rarely stop and take the time to help others, much less intentionally going out and looking for a "lost" sheep to take home and rejoice over. There was a time that I prayed and asked the Lord to bring people in my path that I could minister to. I prayed that the Lord would make me sensitive to the needs I saw in others and He was always faithful to bring those people. I never saw it as a inconvenience, but I also did not have to "sacrifice" much except for my time. Pray with me that the Lord would begin to bring people into our paths that we can serve and minister to. We can also take it a step further and pray that He would bring people into our "lives" that we can minister to. (This takes a greater commitment.) It has been a while since I have had the privilege of introducing a lost sheep to their shepherd. It's Time!! "Thank you Jacob for reminding Mommy to "seek that which is lost."

Too Tired For a Battle Cry!

Here in the "deep south" Saturdays in the fall consist of one thing. FOOTBALL!! War Eagle!! is the battle cry I hear, its all over Facebook, their are Auburn flags flying high (including mine), everyone is decked out in orange and blue and Auburn University is one excited place. People actually pulled into town in their motor homes and began to tailgate on Wednesday. (Do people not have jobs anymore?) Anyway, don't take my cynical attitude wrong, I enjoy Auburn football. My husband use to play for Auburn, so we are fans! But as the rest of the South East is screaming their battle cry today, I am screaming "HELP!" All I see is a pile of dirty laundry, food on the floor, toys everywhere and the remains of what looks like s'mores that my children made for breakfast. (Yes, I slept in!) I am too tired for a battle cry today!

Do you ever feel that way in your walk with Christ? I am too tired to share his name, I am too tired to share my story of how He changed my life. Yes, I am a fan and Yes I love Him, but I am tired! I am reminded today of Isaiah 40:29-31 "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

This is my prayer today! Yes at game time I will say "War Eagle!" But my hearts desire is that I will never be too tired or too weary to yell "His battle cry of salvation."