A Snapshot

We colored!

We used M&Ms

We baked!

We dressed in green!

On Friday's blog post I told you our home was going green for Mitochondrial Awareness Week, and we did just that. I thought I would share some of the snapshots I got from that day. It was fun and we learned a lot.

I also learned that I do not use my camera near enough to capture even the littlest of things. So my goal is to get back in the habit of taking more pictures because the lesson I learned is things can change in the blink of an eye and the only real thing we have is THIS moment because once the moment is gone is doesn't come back.

Live for today, for this very minute because only God knows and controls our very last minute on this earth.

Thank you Lord for the blessings in my life and the ability to recognize those blessings.

Going Green

Our household is going green today...and I don't mean saving the environment...more like saving human lives.

I had never heard of Mitochondrial Disease until I met a precious little girl who just happened to go to the same church as myself. She is full of smiles and personality! You would never know that something like this disease had any effect on her or her personality. However, after learning more about this disease I was blown away...there is so much this little girl has to endure. What made it even more striking to me was what her parents had to do to help their little girl survive. Yet through it all, their ups and their downs, their joys and their trials they are full of hope, full of love, and never stop leaning on God. Such a testimony through this wonderful family. I am humbled at the thought that anything that I have ever been through is nothing compared to what they go through every day. I am still learning more and more about this disease, especially this week. It is Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week. We are all going GREEN and learning some lessons in the process. My children have even gotten involved in wanting to do something to raise awareness. Today, in our home we are all going to wear green and we are going to make stickers to wear! We have already gone green on facebook. I have come across some coloring pages that the kids will color and we will talk about what this disease is and what we can do about it as part of their homeschool lessons! We will also be baking some cookies with green M&Ms! Yum!

So what is this disease I speak of?

Mitochondrial diseases result from failures of the mitochondria, specialized compartments present in every cell of the body except red blood cells. Mitochondria are responsible for creating more than 90% of the energy needed by the body to sustain life and support growth. When they fail, less and less energy is generated within the cell. Cell injury and even cell death follow. If this process is repeated throughout the body, whole systems begin to fail, and the life of the person in whom this is happening is severely compromised. The disease primarily affects children, but adult onset is becoming more and more common.

Diseases of the mitochondria appear to cause the most damage to cells of the brain, heart, liver, skeletal muscles, kidney and the endocrine and respiratory systems.

Depending on which cells are affected, symptoms may include loss of motor control, muscle weakness and pain, gastro-intestinal disorders and swallowing difficulties, poor growth, cardiac disease, liver disease, diabetes, respiratory complications, seizures, visual/hearing problems, lactic acidosis, developmental delays and susceptibility to infection.

Now that you know what can you do to learn more and how can you help?

~First check out the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation Website and GET INFORMED!
http://www.umdf.org


~Then if that doesn't work, check out the website for the little girl that I mentioned and maybe, by the Grace of God your heart will get stirred and you will want to know more
and GET INVOLVED!
http://www.helpcureanamaria.com/

~GO GREEN! Not just this week but everyday!

Thank You! Hope everyone has a blessed day and a wonderful weekend!

Mercy, Forgiveness, Submission, Obedience, Revival

Thank You Lord...for your mercy and steadfast love! Thank you for knowing the depths of my heart. For loving me enough to stir my heart when I haven't even realized I had drifted. For reviving me again and again when I didn't deserve it.

I was reminded yesterday and this morning in my everyday dealings with my children and in my quiet time with the Lord that I am in need of reminders. No it's not an age thing but a human nature thing. In raising my children I find that what do I expect from my children?

Submission and obedience.

I expect my children to submit to my authority over them because I am the parent. I expect their obedience because I am the parent. I expect it every time but do I get it? NO! Of course anyone who knows anything about raising children knows that submission and obedience doesn't come naturally and it is not something that you ever stop learning.
Isn't the same with our relationship with our Heavenly Father? We are His children and doesn't he want submission and obedience to His authority from us? YES!

How can I expect my children to do these two things when there are times when their own mother (ME) is not submitting her life to God and being obedient? I am constantly telling my 2 older children how their 2 younger siblings are watching their every move and behavior and how they set the example. "Monkey see, Monkey do!" I always hear myself saying to them. So why do I always get surprised when my children are disobedient? Shouldn't I be setting the example? Aren't I the monkey? (And no I am not referencing the theory of evolution here so please don't read to much into that.) Aren't I supposed to be submitting and obeying God instead of following the ways of the world?

Well Thankfully I serve a forgiving and merciful God. He knows my heart. He knows my struggles. He hears my prayers. He reveals to me my weaknesses. He never forsakes me. He doesn't see a lost cause. And thankfully He has given me the ability to show all these qualities to my children if I submit and obey God.

1 Samuel 15:22-25 - Samuel said, "Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king." Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I have feared the people and listened to their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the Lord."

Hebrews 13:17 - Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.

Deuteronomy 30:10-11 - ...if you obey the Lord your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. "For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach."

So the lesson for me today, is that I need to remember who it is that I am to be submitting to and obeying. Then I can come to expect my children to do the same. I am the example; I am the steward to my children to show them who God is so that they to may become followers of Christ. My disclaimer - Now I know my children will not allows submit and obey me because we live in a sinful fallen world, just as the Lord and I both know that I will make my own mistakes and will not allows submit and obey His commandments...BUT that doesn't mean that God doesn't require complete and constant obedience. He does and He disciplines and forgives. So knowing this will I stop requiring this of my children? No. Because God loves me enough to call me one of his own and to call, convict, compel, change and even discipline me when necessary.

Once again, it is time for the reviving of my heart now that I have recognized the spiritual drift that has occurred in me.

Psalm 85:6-9 - Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.

I am looking forward to hearing and learning more of what God has for me as I walk through the book of Hosea!

Thank you Lord for the revelation you have given to me today and loving me enough to show me the areas in my life that need your help and correction. Thank you for awakening my heart to you Lord. Thank you for showing me the sin in my own life. I pray that you give me a revived hunger for Your Word. I pray for all those who struggle the same way I do. Thank you for the hope and love you have shown me. Let me be an encouragement to others and just another example of how you constantly extend mercy, love and forgiveness to all. I also pray for my future stumbles, because I know there will be more. Thank you for the cross that I may be forgiven when I didn't deserve it. In Jesus name, Amen.