Living not striving…

Despite many attempts to figure out how to make things work I am having to sadly part ways with freeblogit.  It is sad since this site has been good to me.  I kind of feel like a sell out but watching other blogger friends navigate so easily while I struggle… I just decided it was time to move on.  So as of tonight, thanks to Mark, you can now find me at www.erikaivory.wordpress.com .  I imagine you can find my old stuff here for a bit but soon this will be deleted.  So come on over and any new info will be at my new site.  Thanks old friend:)

I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, although I try to hold my own in most conversations.  I do hate to admit though that when it comes to politics I rely strongly on Mark to keep me informed and make wise decisions.  I can follow Sean Hannity a bit, he at least keeps my attention for a little while and I even read his book.

But I have to admit that I am fascinated by Sarah Palin.  I can’t wait to read a biography on her.

Some reasons I find her incredibly interesting:

-she was a hockey mom

-she is from Alaska (who do you know that is FROM Alaska?)

-she has 5 kids (I come from a large family)

-she had a baby late in life and he has Down’s

-she does not come from a political background, yet has risen to vice-presidential candidate

-she is married to a man’s man

-she has made many political stands to reveal fraud and push for what is “right”

-she points at the camera and grits her teeth:)

-she is standing behind her 17 year old who is 5 months pregnant in the midst of this campaign when it very realistically could have been easier to just not run

-she was gutsy enough to sell a jet on ebay

-she actually is pretty and feminine in a “girl next door” kind of way

-she named her kids Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig

I would love to meet her.  Not sure about all of it of course, but in many ways I’m thinking she rocks.

At around 8:00pm this evening, Wednesday, Sept. 3rd my sweet little sister Maura Prelich gave birth to her second child and first little girl, Layla Destiny Marie.  She weighs 7 lb 3 oz and is 19 inches long.

I can hardly wait to meet my precious little niece.  She appears to be a feisty little one.  She arrived in this world a little earlier than we expected.  You see the midwife was called and on her way but Layla decide to make her debut with just her mommy and daddy in the room.  So her daddy truly stepped in as her true knight in shining armor.  Go Ben!  You rock!

I will share pictures as soon as I can get some.  What a great story, huh?

Cindy Foote

I have shared a blog entry from my sweet friend in Texas a few months back.  She is awesome and tonight I hope at least a few of you will check out her journey and thoughts again.  Warning: her blog entry is really long, but so authentic and I truly believe will really resonate with many if not most of us.  Of course it is from a woman’s perspective but I challenge some of you men to read it (particularly the last half) because I know that a lot of wives/women out there feel the way she does.

So take a look…. www.followthefeet.blogspot.com

Okay, more from Grace-Based Parenting. The following are some excerpts from a chapter on “A Strong Hope.”  Developing a strong hope within our children.  The author Tim Kimmel makes the point that Children develop a strong hope when their parents lead them and encourage them to live a great spiritual adventure.

Let me preface these excerpts by saying that many of the examples he uses (that I do not include) pertain to older children and when he discusses “safety” he is not talking about health and safety issues particularly regarding young children.  This section offended me initially but as I read and reread it, now I am challenged and fired up!  I would love to hear what some of you think and I hope this pushes you to pick this book up and read it through for yourself.

You may not want to hear this, but raising safe Christian kids is a spiritual disaster in the making. Your effort will produce shallow faith and wimpy believers. Kids raised in an environment that stresses safety are on track to be evangelical pushovers. They will tend to end up either overly critical of the world system to the point where they won’t want anything to do with the people of the world system - an idea that comes directly from Satan’s playbook. Or, they will become naive about the world system, which ultimately makes them putty in Satan’s hands. He chews up these kinds of people like they are spiritual McNuggets and swallows them whole. When they’re finally confronted with the full thrust of the world system as young adults, few know how to turn it into an opportunity for spiritual impact.

Safe Christianity is an oxymoron, like “jumbo shrimp.” Living your life sold out for Jesus Christ has never been a way to enjoy a safe life. It may be a way to enjoy a good life, but not a safe one. That’s because Jesus isn’t safe, but He is always good. On the inside of His goodness (read “grace”), He offers a safe haven for a dangerous life to be lived out. That’s what a grace-based home can offer, too - a safe set of parents and siblings around whom a child can make life-changing decisions such as who’s going to be the master of his life.

These types of homes have families who rest in the confidence that God loves our children. The best time to begin building this kind of confidence in our children is when God gives them to us as babies. They need to spend the early years of their lives watching their parents live on the front lines of culture. But as your children get older , you need to allow them to experience spiritual dilemmas that enable them to trust in Christ and strengthen their hope in His goodness.

There are risks. We must put our confidence in a God who would not bring anything unpleasant into our children’s lives except for those things that He deliberately desires to use to mold them into His image. This overriding certainty should guide us as we make decisions on how to grow our children’s hope into a strong hope.

Another “rock your boat” challenge from Mark Batterson.

“I want this to come across as more of a challenge than a criticism, but I’m afraid we’ve turned church into a spectator sport. Too many of us are content with letting a spiritual leader seek God for us. Like the Israelites, we want Moses to climb the mountain for us. After all it is much easier to let someone else pray for us or study for us. So the church unintentinally fosters a subtle form of spiritual codependency…..
But do you really think God’s ultimate dream for your life is to see you sit in a pew for ninety minutes every week listening to a message and singing a few songs? Is that the barometer of spiritual maturity? No way!
I wonder if we’ve forgotten that when we leave church we don’t leave the presence of God. We take the presence of God with us wherever He leads.
It is so easy to turn church into an end instead of a means to an end. We go to church and think we’ve done our religious duty. We learn more and do less, all the while thinking we’re fulfilling God’s plan for our lives.”

Hmmmm….

Some excerpts:

“Jesus likened the working of the Holy Spirit to the wind. Sometimes the Spirit is a light wind from the south. Other times He is a gale-force wind that batters our ship. Sometimes the Spirit is a headwind that seems to frustrate our plans. and other times He is the wind at our back.
Chasing the Wild Goose is recognizing which way the wind of the Spirit is blowing and responding to it. It requires a moment-by-moment sensitivity to the Wild Goose. And you have to trust His promptings more than you trust our own plans. Instead of getting frustrated by fighting the wind, you appreciate the fact that something uncomfortable and unpredictable will get you where God wants you to go.”

“What is most lacking in the church of Jesus Christ is not education or resources. Of course, we should keep learning, but most of us are educated way beyond the level of our obedience. And of course, we should keep giving, but we do not lack the resources to alleviate poverty or fight injustice or spread the gospel. We are the most resourced church in the most resourced country the world has ever known. You know what is most lacking? Good old-fashioned guts!“

Once again Mark Batterson takes a topic that is blandly taught and generally misunderstood and clarifies the mystery. Batterson issues challenge after challenge while making sense of so much confusing theology revolving around the Wild Goose.

Batterson has a gift for motivating, challenging, firing up and then kicking you in the butt.  Wild Goose Chase is a must read for understanding the Holy Spirit, but even more so for daring you to jump on board for a wild ride!

If you would like to buy a copy or find out more info on this awesome read go to www.chasethegoose.com .

And lastly Vanessa, congratulations you won the drawing for the free Wild Goose Chase book!  (Mom, I promise you can borrow my copy:)

Thought I would share some fun pictures from our trip Friday with Grandma Chapman to Edventure.  Of course the Pat and I ended up much more tired than the boys somehow, but we had a great time!

I meant to post this earlier in the summer.  One day after a trip to the beach I opened my dryer and this fell out all over the floor.

Not the best picture, but do you see how many tiny little seashells were in our bathing suits and towels even after being shaken out before washing?

Now that is a good time at the beach!  Ah I will miss summer days…

I am soooo excited!!

Last night I received Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson in the mail.  Like I mentioned in this post, not only one copy arrived but TWO!

If you would like to possibly receive that second copy then send me a comment with your email and on August 19th when the book is released.  I will be posting my review of the book and the name of the “blessed” reader that will receive that book.

I already have two faithful readers (maybe my only two readers) that are vying for the book.  Yes, Mom I do have to consider other people:)  So let’s see who wants a great brand new book… for free!