BURNING QUESTIONS
1. Do you struggle with a sense of self-worth? How do you perceive this has affected the way you are able to 'keep your head upright'? If not, do you know someone who suffers in this area?
My self-worth is something that I have struggled with all my life. And the trauma of my college years didn't help matters a single bit. When I was a young girl, I had very short hair and a gangly frame. I was told over and over what a "pretty little boy" I was. Then in high school, there was no doubt, the curves don't lie!!! But then, because my two best friends were sizes 2 and 4, I began to see myself as huge and fat. To this day, I constantly compare myself to others, and struggle greatly with the media images of "beauty". Needless to say, the trauma of my college years didn't help matters a single bit. Only in the last few years, as I have learned to allow Jesus to heal me and restore me from the messages (or flaming arrows) of my past have I learned how to hold my head upright. But PRAISE HIS NAME, I have finally come to the point in my life where I can lift my eyes up to the hills, for THAT IS WHERE MY HELP COMES FROM!!! Amen!!!
2. What are you most afraid of? Does this fear affect the way you move through life? (Ex. Are you overprotective with children? Afraid to take risks?)
I get this question a lot through email memes. I have to say that I usually say that I "plead the 5th" here because I don't want to give the devil any more ammo than he already has in his arsenal of weapons for me. I will say that I am learning to confront my fears...to "face my giants" so to speak. God has given me great strength and courage in this area over the last several months. And one by one, they are tumbling!!!
3. What is one of the most marvelous ways God has provided a need? I can't wait to hear your stories on this one!
I wish I could narrow it down to one particular instance, but I can't!! God is SO AWESOME!! Our Jehovah-Jireh has provided for us in countless ways financially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Here's just one example...
About 4 years ago, we hit some serious financial turbulence. We had closed on the purchase of the home we currently live in, and were supposed to close on the sale of our other home that same day, later in the afternoon. (The closing had been postponed due to a "glitch" in the buyer's paperwork.) Chris and I had prayed extensively for God's will to be done in this area of our lives, and believed that His hand was all over the move. Well, about two hours before the closing, we got another phone call that the buyer's loan had fallen through!!! We were devastated!! Here we were with TWO house payments, and TWO home-owner's insurance bills and TWO tiny little mouths to feed!! (Not to mention utilities, etc...). We prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed. Chris came to me one night and asked me what I thought about suspending our tithe for a while...just until the house sold. I went BALLISTIC!! I vividly remember pulling him close to me one particular evening as we had been holding and crying on one another, not sure what to do, and I looked into those big, beautiful, brown eyes of his and said, "How in the world, can we expect HIM to deliver us through this trial, if we quit giving Him what is His???". From that moment on, there was no question. We tithed!! Less than a month later, our house sold. It took us a while to get out from under that financial burden of four months worth of double bills, but we learned one very valuable lesson. GOD IS FAITHFUL!!! and HE PROVIDES for his children!! (We've said it a million-gazillion times..."it doesn't make sense on paper, but somehow the money was always there!!) THANK YOU JESUS!!
4. Steve Brown, a Moody Broadcasting Bible Teacher, is one of the first people I ever heard teach the concept that God was not mad at me. I grew up in a denomination that led me to believe He was in a continuous state of disappointment over my failures. How about you? Though in your heart you know God says He loves you, does Satan in your mind ever try to convince you otherwise?
Satan is always and forever trying to convince me that I am not good enough, and that I am not worthy of the Love of my Father. But I know that I am valued as a "pearl of great price", because JESUS PAID IT ALL for me!! He loves me SO MUCH, that if I had been the only poor, wretched soul on this planet, He would have still chosen the cross just to save me!! He's not mad at me!! NO!!! "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but that the world, through Him might be saved!!" (John 3:17). PRAISE HIS NAME!!!
5. How close are you to your own Promised Land? Not at all, 1/2 way, almost there? By this I mean the place of abundant living and effectiveness here on earth, not the ultimate fulfillment in Glory! Though I hope you are going to heaven, I don't want it to be today! :)
Sister, I am so close I can almost taste the milk and honey!!! I am closer than I have ever been in my entire life, and this is the most wondrous feeling in the whole entire world. To truly be IN HIS PRESENCE and know that HIS PURPOSES are being accomplished in and through me each day!! Like Beth Moore, I stand in awe that He calls us into ministry for and with Him, just as He called the twelve disciples. He could minister on His own, with His very words, just as He created the earth. Instead, Our Marvelous Savior chooses to use plain earthen vessels, mere jars of clay, to carry out His plans and purposes. TO GOD BE THE GLORY FOR THE THINGS HE HAS DONE!!
complete his/her Jedi Training and prepare for the trials on Tuesday, September 25, 2007. Transport to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, will be departing promptly at 6:00 PM at the The Reeder System Docking Bay . Please advise the Jedi Council as soon as possible whether Padawan ___________ will accept the challenge of the trials. 
Here's a picture of my family and our "athlete", Brandon. (I jacked it from 
