real

Ok let's get real.

I never post videos of myself playing.  Why do you ask, because it never is perfect.  Things need to be worked out.  Chords need to be put in tune and by golly more vibrato, more dynamics, more everything!

So as I'm being hypercritical of myself and you all are thinking "She's too hard on herself".  Friends who aren't musicians, I'm being to nice on myself and I need to be upping my game!

Music is all about tedious meticulous practice.  It is sitting in a chair and listening to one note stay in tune for 1 minute or more!  It is making sure that every single one of those notes are in tune and it doesn't matter if there seems to be a thousand on the page, by golly I am going to sit through each one to make sure it is in tune.

After the notes are in tune you better make sure the rhythm is solid, and you don't miss a beat or rush a part or take a measure to slow.  So you get your metronome out and practice the song at sloth speed until it's right and then you practice it at turtle speed, and then you're like ok a little faster than a turtle until slowly but surely you have the rhythm, but while you were working on the rhythm you forgot about the dynamics.

So you go back and listen to the song from one of the many people that play it better than you to see if you can get the dynamics and the feeling of the piece.  More likely than not you'll hear educators describe a couple of notes sighing, or joyful, or forceful and it is your duty as a musician to make those notes have emotion!

And let's not forget about bow placement, phrasing, articulation, breathing, and the numerous other things that make a song come alive.  This will be my life until August 25th, until the day of Amarillo Symphony audition.  46 more days but until that day, I need to practice and definitely make sure it's quality practice...

Punishment

Ok
I know I've said it before but I get rather sick when I talk about the parts of the Bible that are hardcore.  That are convicting to me.  These parts aren't fun, but truthfully when I think about it; if I didn't cover the parts that are hard it would be like saying to my kids "Hey, you have no consequence at all for telling me that I'm stupid and please continue to hit me while you're saying it."
Ah, that ain't going to cut it in my family because one I'm not someone to allow a child to hit me just randomly and two that's insane to not to correct your child and make sure they have a consequence like cleaning the bathroom with a toothbrush ;-)

So here we have Hebrews 10 this chapter is full of in your face real t.v. or real Bible.  The chapter talks about Christ's sacrifice, His beautiful decision to give us the ability to be forgiven for our sins.  The first part of the chapter is incredible uplifting and reassuring.  The next chapter is the punch in the gut it's the "now that I've talked about all this incredible stuff let's talk about how you need to act as a Christian".  In verse 24 it gives us the encouragement of stirring up love in one another and doing good works for each other, to not neglect in meeting with each other and to continue to draw near to each other as the Day draws near.  Then the hammer is brought down in verse 26 "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins".  The consequence to this is in verse 29.

Friends, this isn't someone who is walking life with Jesus and trying their hardest to live a life that glorifies God.  This is someone continually rejecting the ways of Jesus.  Someone who has trampled underfoot the Son of God.  For some reason they have been sanctified and have decided they need Jesus and then they choose to walk a path that rejects Jesus in their actions and words.

My question to you is, are you doing that?  How are your words to people, are you continually showing them Christ, or are you talking about them behind their backs using the "concerned Christian" as an excuse to gossip, are you lying to your kids and excusing your actions as just a little white lie, are you drinking and getting drunk justifying your actions because your at home with friends and they'll never talk about it with people at church, are you sleeping with someone outside of marriage?  If you call yourself a Christian and are purposefully not walking the life that Christ has asked us to do, you have profaned the blood of the covenant, you have outraged the Spirit of grace.  And truthfully I'm afraid for you, because never in a million years would I want you to fall into the hands of the living God.

Please Christian brothers and sisters think about what you signed up for when you first believed in Christ.

Working Out

Here are Todd and I.

It came to my mind that we’re not the young athletic and in shape couple that we used to be.  We’ve gotten lazy and quite honestly I like chocolate and Lays potatoes chips oh and my goodness I love Pepsi too!  This last weekend we have decided to start making healthier choices and to work out.

Ugh, I hate working out.  I hate the way my body feels afterwards and I hate the feeling of wanting to eat chocolate and chips but I can’t because of my decision to eat healthy.  Why does feeling sore after a workout feel like your about to get the flu!  That’s totally not fair, and it should be made illegal ;-)

What makes me motivated  though is toned and defined muscles.  I can do this!  For goodness sake I do not want my flabby arms swinging to and fro when I play cello!

So friends, if you see Todd and I or even think of us, say a prayer while we try to make healthier decisions.

iniquities

Sin

What in the world is it?  For my Christian friends we can go into great discussions and debates about what sin is.  For my friends who believe in something else this word is null and void.  There is no point to it.

Todd and I were talking yesterday during our walk about how I can explain what sin is to a culture that believes that good works will get them to heaven.  That's an incredibly hard thing to explain to someone who generally thinks they're a good person who doesn't do bad stuff.  A person like this doesn't need someone to save them because they don't think they'll have a consequence for how they have behaved.

So here's the deal about sin.  Have you told a white lie?  Have you ever been angry at someone and said something mean to them?  Have you ever thought something that wasn't kind?  Have you ever wanted to hurt someone?  All of these small inconsequential things seperate us from God just as much as the big time things like murder, stealing, and grand theft auto.  What I've read in the Bible is all of these things seperate us from God, the more we sin the farther we are from God.  

So here's the question, how close to God do you want to be?  Because if you want an actual relationship with Him, if you want to be able to talk to Him you're going to realize that you need someone to take the consequence of all those small little things you've done in the past and maybe the big things too.  That is why friend, Jesus had to come; to take the blame and consequence for your actions.  He is the whipping boy, the innocent victim who very willingly said I'll take their punishments so they have the option of having a relationship with God.

This long discourse is to finally talk about Hebrews 8:12

How beautiful is God saying I will be merciful to them, and I will remember their sins no more.  Oh to be loved so much that Jesus took my consequence.  That for me is why I believe in this faith because never before have I gone through a day without making a mistake.  I can try my hardest but but I always end up doing something that I regret.  If you're like me, you might just need Jesus to say "I'll take your punishment, so that you can get the blessings."

Love you and praying for you friend  

Romans 10:9-10 English Standard Version (ESV)

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

The Theory of Happily Ever After

Maggie Maguire is too smart for her britches and swears she'll never find love because of that.  Already jilted by her ex-fiance her two best friends rescue her and surprise with a singles cruise to promote her happiness book and to bounce back from a terrible relationship.  Will Dr. Maggie Maguire find true love or will it sink into the deep blue sea.

This was a fun book to start my summer vacation.  It had light hearted moments along with very in depth moments.  If you're looking for a fun read over the summer this my dear friends is for you.  So set sail with Maggie and her two besties Kathleen and Haley and read The Theory of Happily Ever After :)

*Yo peeps this book was given to me by Revell for my honest opinion.

Follow

I love this verse.

Generally speaking Paul is in your face; calling it like it is and not ashamed to make sure that the person who is wrong is told "Hey Buddy, stop having sex with your Dad's wife!"  (And yes he did write that). 

Here he is talking to Timothy telling him to be wise and listen to what they have been talking about.  To follow the faith and love that are in Christ.  Such simple beautiful words meant to encourage a believer in their daily walk.  To remember why we do what we do. 

Have a great day friend :)

Lularoe

Hello Sweet Friend!
It is summer :)  I can't tell you how incredibly nice it is to enjoy my family, and the ability to travel at any given moment.  One of the things that I'm always on the look out for is the perfect dress that can be dressed up or dressed down.  The dress needs to be comfy, but not show any of my butt cheeks ;-)  It's an added bonus if it has pockets!

To my lady readers, guess what?  I found the perfect dress.  The picture above is me in the Amelia by Lularoe, my friend Kelly Becktold took an incredible leap to open up her own small business and has done incredibly well by clothing women in comfortable, fashionable clothing.  If you haven't ever tried Lularoe I suggest you check out her website, you can click Here.

Here's another pattern of the dress and a full look of it :)

So friends :)  go check out Kelly's site and see if there's anything that might fit you.

Mom Guilt

Let's talk about Mom Guilt...

This is my Kylar Marie, she is beautiful and stunning.  She has a passion for all forms of dancing.  Every year around this time is Lone Star Ballet's Unleashed Performance.  It happens every year, around the same time.  Did I mention it happens every year around the same time?

So when you schedule a concert the night of a dress rehearsal, as well as a field trip that will be in Dallas on the night of her performance you can somewhat see why I have mom guilt.

It hard this year friends.  Why, because I very unknowingly scheduled my orchestra's concert and field trip on nights my daughter has her biggest performance!!!  What do I even do with that?  I have two options in handling this situation.  One feel immense guilt and wallow in self pity because my daughter will forever be traumatized and will need therapy for the rest of her life because mom made a mistake ;)  or I can fall on the grace of my Lord and Savior and admit I made a mistake and allow God to work through everything. 

Paul talks about this in Romans 3:23-25

23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.25God presented Him as an atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.

I cling to the knowledge that God knew this was going to happen, and that even though my mistake was huge I am justified freely by His grace through redemption that is in Christ Jesus.  We have all fallen short friends, don't let the mom guilt or guilt in general eat you up, but cling to the knowledge that Jesus has redeemed you.

P.S. If you would like to see my beautiful daughter dance tickets are on sale through their website and you can click HERE.  The performance are this Friday May 18th and this Saturday May 19th :)

Up

So I am up.

I usually don’t have nights where I can’t sleep but I’m guessing it’s one of those nights.

What do you do when you’re up?

I generally tend to troll Facebook and then when I really can’t sleep I start to pray.  I pray for those who have asked for prayer, I pray for those who haven’t asked for prayer but by golly really need it, I pray for those who annoy me, or are just plain ol’ hurtful.  If I know you, you were probably prayed for.  Now to figure out which one you are 😉

PS this picture is a picture of my son passing his first belt test!

Soul

Soul

What in the world is a soul?  How does one have it?  I still can’t wrap my head around it sometimes.  But Jesus talked about it a lot.

Merriam and Webster Dictionary describes it as the immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life.

Here in Matthew 16 this verse came after a whole lot of other verses regarding the the local Pastor’s of that day  the Pharisees and Sadducees.  These local pastors first asked Jesus for signs to show that He really was God, and Jesus warned His disciples to be careful of their teachings because they can mislead so many people.  After all of this we get to the end of the chapter where Jesus foretells His death and resurrection.  In the end I could see Jesus telling these people about why they needed to follow him.  Why it is so crucial for every person to understand His teachings.

For you can chase after the wind and pursue all types of incredible things but if you don’t believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again, beating death because He is God incarnate you forfeit your soul.

Please think deep about where your soul is going.

Excuses

So here's the deal.

I've been practicing for Amarillo Symphony Auditions.  And I'm starting to get that feeling in my stomach.  You all know that feeling.  The doubt is rising in my mind.  Things like...

"Breanna Laine, you really are too old to be auditioning"
"Honestly, you can't even play fast parts beautifully.  Why are you doing this"
"You're not going to make it, so why try out"

I really dislike those thoughts.  By golly,  I hate that my mind automatically goes negative when I would like to try for something.  So here are my excuses world!  Here I am inadequate, and you get what you get with me. 

This is not a very eloquent blog, just my open and honest self about what I've been struggling with lately. 

Here is God's Words to me and those who struggle with feelings of inadequacy.

Jeremiah 32:42
For thus says the Lord: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them.


Psalms 56:11
In God I trust; I shall not be afraid.  What can man do to me?

2 Corinthians 5:11
Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.  But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.

Psalms 42:5
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?  Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation.

John 7:17
If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.

Philippians 3:14
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Seed

I've been reading Matthew lately, and Jesus' words have been incredibly powerful.  Each day I read, I am convicted to love on the ones God has given me.  This verse spoke to me today.  I don't know about you, but I want to be the type of seed that falls on good soil and produces grain hundredfold.  I want to be nourished by my heavenly Father, and desire the water of the Holy Spirit to produce in me a desire to go and spread to hundredfold.

What do you want?  What does God have you doing today?  Are you nourished?  Are you desiring to love on those He has given you?

Go :)

Scattered

Hi Everyone!

I wanted to let you know that I’ll be taking a wee bit of a break this week from the blog.

My parents are in town, and I want to squeeze as much time with them as I can.  I might scatter a blog or two, but I swear that’s all!

So have a great week, and I’ll blog to you soon!

Book

Guess what I’ll be doing tomorrow :)
Reading this book by the amazing Kristin Billerbeck.

Can’t wait to give you the full review tomorrow!

Have a great day everyone!

Odd

Today in Matthew 3 I read about John the Baptist.  Now this dude was lit.  He wore camel skin and ate honey and locust.  He didn’t cut his hair and he was the announcer for Jesus.

If you read your Bible there is no way to take John the Baptist any other way.  You can not coat or cover up this man, he was the bringer of news about the upcoming events.  He also was the spokesperson for calling it like it is.  He called out the local pastors at that time calling them a brood of vipers, he said that if anyone doesn’t bare fruit that you’ll be cut down and burned up.  He talked about judgement and how it’s coming.

This dude was God breathed and God sent.  How come we never talk about him in church?  I have my opinion, I think because he hits a little too close to home.  He points out a lot of obvious things wrong with the local Jewish leaders as well as their followers during his time, and I think not much has changed within the Christian Church since then.

So here’s a little bit of what John said to the people, and I think you should take it literally and apply it to the culture of Christians and the leaders who preach to them.

“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭3:7-10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Have a great day everyone!  Don’t be like the brood of vipers that John called out! 😁

And go read the whole chapter!

Ceasing

Pray without ceasing, such a little verse with such an incredible impact.

We don’t do this enough, we don’t take prayer seriously I feel too.

When we’re directed to pray without ceasing, I’ve come to the conclusion that God wants to be involved in every single detail of your life.

Yes.  Every single detail.  Why?  Because He loves you absolutely, He wants to hear about the test, He wants to hear about the students who you’re frustrated with, and He wants to hear about what lunch you made your kids.

He wants you to pray without ceasing.

True

What’s amazing to me, is that the line of Jesus has been tracked since the very beginning.  Not just tracked but names given.  I can track to my great grandparents and then I’m like whelp that was fun on to something else :). But the whole chapter of Matthew 1 is about genealogy.

People spend huge amounts of time tracking down their genealogy, and we believe wholeheartedly what the web or documentation tells us.  Why is it so easy for us to believe a birth certificate from the 1800’s but not a document that has been kept carefully recorded without mistake over thousands of years?

If anything, we know Jesus existed.  He has the documentation to make him a historical figure.  What is up to you is to ask yourself, is He what He claimed to be?

Disagree

So this is my Todd :)

I love him a bunch and a half, he is my peanut butter to my jelly, my peas to my carrots.  He's my best friend.

Every morning we wake up and go sit in our perspective chairs.

And we have a quiet time, sometimes it's just that.  Me praying and him reading his Bible or me reading my Bible and him praying.  Sometimes we have discussions and sometimes we agree and then other times we disagree.

For instance, he hates selfies.  I for, one love them :)

He doesn't agree becoming a member of a church is Biblical, I for one want to be a part of a body of Christ.

He very strongly believes that we are nearing the end times, I for on believe that I need to live each day as if it's my last, but I really don't do the research to see if it actually is my last.

These are disagreements that we have discussed sometimes rationally and other times not so rationally.

Ladies this is to you.  Are you respecting your husbands stance on things?  Or are you belittling him to the ground and pestering him until he changes his mind?

We as Christian women, children of God are called to come under our husband to support him.  We're called to respect him and do our very best to honor him and the choices he has made.

Am I perfect in this?  No, by far my mouth has gotten away from me and said some mean things.  I have bickered and badgered Todd for disagreeing with me on a topic.  I'm not in any way the model wife, but I do see the times where I listen respectfully to his side and I try to understand where he's coming from and I gain something.  

And maybe just maybe they'll bend a little too and take a selfie with you even if they hate it :)

Flash Sale

Who wouldn’t want 70 percent off!

https://www.mymaryandmartha.com/18012/shop/catalog.aspx

Go get them before the sale is over April 21-25!

Rain

I never fully appreciated rain until I moved to Amarillo.  Now when it rains a feeling of thankfulness overflows.  Tonight I sat on our front porch while it rained down in our sweet neighborhood.  Kids came out to laugh and shout, neighbors laughed with them at we all just watched the water fall to the earth.

Thank you Father God for the rain.

Vent

ok peeps I need to vent about something...

As I was leaving Chic Fil A (one of my favorite places for breakfast and lunch) I looked over at a family of five and the Mom and Dad were both on their cell phones.  Completely ignoring each other and their kids.

This drives me nuts, you have three amazing kids right there!  Engage with them, communicate with them!  Find out if your son likes the blue or red truck, tell your daughter how smart she is!  For Pete sakes get off your phone and spend some quality time with your kids and for goodness sake look at your significant other and see how they’re doing while you’re at it.

Get. Off. The. Phone!

Breakfast

I once was at a mom's Bible Study and they had a speaker who said I make my kids breakfast every day.  As I was sitting in the back because I arrived late (my three kids all had explosive diapers and Kylar pooped in her underwear) sleep deprived, and looking like an utter mess I thought in my head sarcastically how nice that would be.

To this day I struggle with the fact that the woman who was speaking that day had it all together.  She made cookies and froze them, she made extra casseroles and froze them just in case someone in the church needed a dinner!  She was the ultimate wife, and I was angry at her!  Why do you ask was I angry at this woman?  Let's be honest when you're a mother of three and God didn't bless you with an organizational gift or even a tiny bit of being put together, woman that have it all would make you angry too :)

I was and probably still am a complete and utter mess.  I've come to the realization though, that I'm ok with my mess.  I will never be that woman, and guess what she will never be me either :)  Mom's, are you ok with being you?  God created you beautifully you.  I hope you can understand that, I hope you don't feel despair (like I did) when you hear about another woman's gifts that God gave her.  I hope you rejoice in the things that Jesus gave you and celebrate that each woman was given a purpose for the unique situation that she is in.

Praying for you.

When I would read this in the past, I would gloss over it.  Why?  Because I didn’t really have a master and I definitely wasn’t enslaved (thank you Father God).  But here’s the deal friends, the more I thought about this the more I realized that I kinda am.  I have have several bosses: my superintendent, my cluster director, my fine arts director, and my principal.  Isn’t my livliehood based on making these people happy?  If I make them angry or do something really stupid I can be dismissed from my position.

Now when I look at this verse I read it with my thoughts towards my employers and I ask myself am I working with sincerity or am I being a people pleaser and just giving them eye service?  Because in the end I’m serving God.

Now here’s where the other shoe drops.

Look, at the very last sentence.

“For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.”

Now that’s scary.  Be careful to my friends who are bosses or have power over people because God is just and if you take advantage of the ones under you, or mislead them it is very clear that there will be no partiality.  This is a good lesson for me too to remember, that since I teach and have God’s beloved creation under me that I serve them as Christ would.  

What do you think?  How are you going to serve today?

reread

Colossians 2 was really interesting today.  So interesting in fact I had to reread it several times to get the gist of it.  Sometimes that’s how life works, right?  You don’t get a concept so you have to go back and relearn the concept. Ugh... that is so annoying, my mind just doesn’t work like that.  But if anything there is an importance to going back and doing that.

This is what I got in Colossians 2 that being legalistic can be just as harmful as loving everyone to the point that you allow sin to swallow them up.  That the appearance of wisdom i.e. big talk can be incredibly damaging and won’t in any shape or form help you conquer problems.  In fact!  There is no value in that.

What are you doing today?  How is Jesus Christ shaping you and drawing you closer?  I for one know that I can be high falutin’ at times and I can act like there’s a stick up my butt.  Father God change me and mold me to your likeness in every way, speaking only when the Holy Spirit moves me.  Making sure in all things I do, that it is done with the love of Christ Jesus shining through.

Meagan

This is my sister :)

Meagan is older then me by about 9 years.

When I was younger she would pick me up at school and we would go get candy and soda.  She would organize birthday surprises and take me to the newest Disney movie.  I would look at her and see this incredibly beautiful woman.  To this day I still think she is the most beautiful person who is put together.

I love how she loves on my kids, she is intentional with each one of them.  My oldest Kylar will have days where she just needs to talk to Auntie MeMe.  I absolutely love that they can relate.

Now before you think the Fiedler girls are perfect and have the best relationship there were years in our lives where for the life of us we couldn’t get along.  I would say stuff to her just to get a rise from her.  She would say stuff to me that would hurt.  Mom would constantly say to us (as adults) you have got to start treating one another as friends.

For years I would intentionally avoid talking to her because I knew it ended up with us fighting.  Everywhere around me I saw sisters seemingly loving on each other and getting along.  So I started praying for us, that I could understand where Meagan is coming from, that I would learn to think before I speak and for the love of Pete please Lord help me to not be annoying :). Slowly but surely God starting showing me where I would cross the line in our conversation and I would listen to His voice.  I would pull back from what could have been harmful for our friendship and listen more then talk.

That’s the thing with prayer, prayer will almost always change the person who is praying.  So many times we think that God will change the situation or the opposing person, but I think that it’s you who is praying that will change.  You’re insight and a peace that only comes from Jesus Christ will change to be more like His.  Prayer is extremely powerful and life changing if you haven’t ever prayed I suggest you do, but be prepared for you to change before anyone else does.

Press On

Press on

It makes me think of ordinary days.  Of the days that are generally monotonous.  Isn’t that what life is like sometimes?  Each day not being extreme, but a routine that each person has.  When I read this verse I was encourage to press on.  To not become dragged down by the ordinary but to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me His own.

So today friends, press on.  Not that we have already obtained this or are perfect but because Christ Jesus has made us His own.

Night

So every night when I put the kids to bed, I go play my cello.  I asked the kids earlier this week if they minded and Kylar said “Mom, it’s one of our favorite things.”

I actually never meant for it to happen, but God created in me a desire to make music.
 A passion to play.  This is my time to let off steam to play some enjoyable music and to truly relax.  The house is quiet and calm has come over our household.

I have no deadlines that I need to meet or demands to play in public, but you all are more then welcome to sit in our music room and listen while my kids slowly fade into dream world and I play.

Introducing

If you were to introduce yourself to a group of people how would you go about doing that?  What would be the first thing you said?  How would they know who you are and what you do?

Paul’s greetings in each letter is always unique and tells me a lot about what he thought of himself.  For instance take his greeting to the Philippians,  “servant of Christ Jesus”.  Does that not intrigue you?  Who in their right mind would want to be enslaved, or willingly choose a career that consists of working for other people?

For me, this introduction made me really look at how I go about life?  Would I be considered someone who truly helps and lives to serve, or would people look at me and see someone who is out to succeed no matter what the cost.  I came to the very realization that I want my life to be about serving Christ in the small details.  So even in the boring grind of life I can proclaim that all I have done is an act of worship and service to our Lord Jesus Christ.

What is your introduction?  How will people look at your life after you have past on?

Talk

When I first start becoming friends with someone, they can sometimes give me a weird look because I seriously will start praying with them anywhere :)  I like to talk to God, I like that He listens all the time!  He literally has never not listened to me.  He's my best friend, confidant, and He hears the good the bad and the ugly.

Friends, are you talking to God?  In this verse Paul specifically says "praying at all times".  Are you praying at all times?  I can assure you that if you're not talking to God you're not close to God.  And don't get all affronted like how can you say that!  Whelp, if I'm not talking to my husband on daily basis will my relationship with him fall apart or will it be as close as ever?  If you said as close as ever you might want to check if you're feeling all right.

TALK TO GOD!  Pray at all times, in the Holy Spirit.  Always be alert, persevere, and pray for your Christian brothers and sisters too.  And if you're my friend, just be prepared for me to start including God in our conversations, that's just how I roll peeps.

Respect

Ephesians 5 seems like it covers the gambit of topics.  From loving one another to staying away from sin, then it jumps to exposing the darkness of sin, to submitting to your husband, and loving your wife the way that Christ loves the church.  It is full, and you need to read it!  We finish this chapter with this final verse. Husband’s love your wife (I’m not going to address that, but men your burden of loving us comes with a higher responsibility) and wives respect your husband.

Ladies, how do you do that?

I’ll admit that some of Todd and my worst fights came from me unknowingly disrespecting him.  Even to this day I can say something and Todd will say that’s really disrespectful.  I seriously did not mean for that to be disrespectful but to him it was.  Now I have the opportunity to look at him and apologize and be heartfelt in my answer, or I can rebuke him and say that wasn’t disrespectful.  And our fight continues on...

If you haven’t fully looked at this verse you need to.  Because when I do, I come to the realization that men need respect more then they need love.  So my question for my lady readers is are you showing respect to your husband?  Are you giving him that?  Because if you’re not you need to be asking yourself why aren’t you if God is telling you to.

Tenderhearted

These two verses hit me in the gut today.

If you’re like me it’s a whole lot easier to let all bitterness and wrath sit in you for days.  That’s not what God said though, he said put it all away.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.  Now here’s the important part as God in Christ forgave you.

This is a good reminder for me and I hope for you too.

Holy

Sometimes, when I'm reading a chapter my Father God convicts me of certain habits that are slowly sneaking up in my life.  These habits aren't necessarily bad but they aren't necessarily good either.  As I was reading Ephesians chapter 2 Paul was comparing the body of Christ to a building, but not just any building but the holy temple, a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

This made me stop and really think about what I put into my body.  Whether it's food or mental, because when you read the Old Testament it is littered with people treating the temple of the most High God with disrespect and paying with their lives.  So I had to stop and really think about what I was allowing in my life that could very well be disrespecting the holy temple, the dwelling place for God.

This is for my Christian brothers and sisters.  You are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with incredible heroes of the Bible.  You are a member of the household of God.  This household was built on the foundation of apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus being the cornerstone.  This is your legacy.  You are a part of this holy temple, that is the place where our Holy Father resides.  What you put in your mind matters, what you drink and put in your body matters.

Do not let anything that could tarnish the dwelling place of our Lord be put into it.

Listen

When I started working as an orchestra director my mind could not handle another musical note.  I know that’s sad but for the love of Pete please don’t give me another basic chordal progression that today’s top Christian musicians use, I can’t handle it!  So...  I started listening to the Old Testament while I drove (oh my goodness I sound like my Dad who listens to Fox News while he drives).

Besides realizes that I’m getting to be more like my Dad, this has been so helpful to me. I don’t know why, but my mind wanders when I try reading about inheritance and names I really can’t pronounce.  It has also helped me see how messed up God’s chosen people are.  Yet He chose them to be His people, to this day He hasn’t abandoned them.  What a beautiful thing to see how God fully loves.  Even in the midst of bad choices and consequences from those bad choices He is ever present.

So friends, if you’re like me and can’t handle another techno beat with the same 5,4,1 chordal progression try the app Bible.Is

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Step

I absolutely love when you have the near perfect weekend followed by a ginormous crash.  For example, yesterday when my two oldest kiddos got into a huge fight in our front yard that ended with Kylar throwing Drew to the ground and Drew's brand BRAND new glasses breaking. 

After hearing all that went down it came out that Drew was taunting her.  As Kylar puts it "I couldn't walk away any more."

Now dear friends,  how do you as a parent handle this?  Todd and I prayed with each child, we grounded each child from t.v. and tablets.  Where now they will instead of enjoying time of rest when they get done with their homework will be cleaning after school.  Drew was guilt ridden and felt bad.  Kylar and the other hand was filled with a justified anger.

She felt fully justified for her actions and she didn't feel bad about how she reacted in the situation.  It was the first time I looked at her and saw my very own actions in her.  Isn't that funny how some of the very qualities that you absolutely dislike in yourself are in your kiddos.  That night, we prayed and then had a very real and hard talk with our oldest.  About justifying our actions when it was sin regardless of who threw the first punch.  Finally the light came on inside her head that she was at fault.

Friends, how many times do we do that?  Someone in our own life throws the first punch (in words, or actions) and we go off on them, feeling justified for how we treat them even if it is full of anger and sin.  Galatians 5 is full of wide open truths that packed a very real picture to me. 

The Galatians unlike the Corinthians were rule followers.  They tended to follow every single rule to a tee.  For them the law became a chain tightly wrapped around them restricting them from being able to live freely with Christ.  In part of the chapter Paul even recognizes that with this verse.

Galatians 5:4 English Standard Version (ESV)

4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified[a] by the law; you have fallen away from grace.

What a difference from the Corinthians :)  I'm more like the Galatians, a rule follower wanting to do right but can so easily justify my actions when I sin.  I can even see my actions and words that I would use to God if He were to ask me.  I would say "See Lord I followed these rules and those people didn't!  I had every right to throw the first punch because they kept on taunting me."  Man that sounds a lot like the excuses my daughter used.

There's one thing that will give us checks and balances friends and this being is part of the Holy Trilogy.  The Holy Spirit,  if you read the verse in the image above it says to walk by the Spirit.  This way we will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  Whether they are to follow the rules so well we miss grace, or to be so free that we allow the desires of the flesh to consume us.

I was convicted today by this chapter and once again God revealed to me what I needed to do to not be hindered.  What do you need to do?

Galatians 5:7 English Standard Version (ESV)

7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

Family

So when we moved to Texas we left a whole lot of amazing friends and family.  Holidays used to be difficult...

Then my mom said something that was really quite good for me.  "Breeze, you have to make your own traditions."  So now each year I try my hardest to make each holiday not about me, but about the family and friends who I serve.  So this weekend we celebrated Christ Risen from death.  If you don't believe that, I would love to talk to you!  NOT in a beat your brow my way is better, but in a discussion that two adults with a differing opinion have (I know that's rare these days, but by golly when you sit down with coffee how can you not have a discussion;)

Our Good Friday started out with lunch with an incredible double date at one of my favorite places to eat Public House :)  These friends of ours are people who will walk life with you, laugh, pray (we pray a lot), and keep you accountable even when you don't want to be.  After that we received a little surprise from those great friends kids.  Our yard was egged!

They left one egg empty symbolizing that Jesus was not in the tomb either.  Still on Good Friday we skipped services to go see the #altannie.   The kids laughed so hard and enjoyed the whole show, what an incredible time we had!

Saturday was rest day and even our Lady Parker's Canon rested.  Our rest day is much needed, we eat whatever we want, we watch way too much t.v. the kids have no limit on their tablet play time.  Neighbors play at our house they go to neighbors houses.  It's a blast!  If you don't have a do nothing day, friends you need one!

Sunday was full :)  I played two incredible services filled with the Holy Spirit even when times of stress was around.  Being a musician you can really see the inner workings of church staff and how they handle stress.  Believe it or not Holidays for church's can be extremely stressful, and playing during those times can be just as stressful.  This weekend was so incredibly beautiful and fun.  It was a joy to serve at our church.  Finishing the day was dinner at our house.  We had turkey, fruit, mashed potatoes, and green beans. 

Was this weekend different then what I grew up?  Yes it was incredibly different, actually the only thing that was the same was playing my cello for church, but even then I used to play in the orchestra with my whole family right alongside me.  Now it's just me.  I could very easily fallen into despair over the fact that everything has changed, but I made a choice long ago to create new traditions.

So friends, how was your weekend?  Did you have an unexpected life change?  Do you now have to make new traditions that don't look like what you did in the past?  If that is what is happening, know that I'm praying for you, those life changes can be hard, but in the end so full.

2 Corinthians 9:8 English Standard Version (ESV)

8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency[a] in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

Not Here

(Photo taken by a Mary and Martha customer)

“And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise." And they remembered his words,”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭24:2-8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Apart

Set apart, made unique.

I've always been that individual who was slightly awkward.  Good gravy as I was walking onto a stage yesterday I tripped.  In front of everyone.  In front of the whole church!!!  Now that's set apart :)

Paul isn't talking about that kind of set apart.  This kind of set apart was something that happened even before we were born.  We were unique in our Father God's eyes before we were even created.  I don't know about you, but that's incredible.  To be loved in such a way and to be treasured.  In doing so we are called by His grace.

Friends, if you're having a rough day, if you feel that the world is against you and things aren't going your way remember you are the chosen.  You are a holy blameless child of God set apart before you were born, called by Him who loves you, by His Grace.

Now that's a treasured thought.

Conundrum

Sometimes when I read the Bible I run across a chapter that I think in my head, Say what?  And so reread it again, I’m like mhhrrrr, I don’t know how to take that... and I’m compuzzled (compounded and puzzled, I made the word up).

Like this verse and chapter I had to reread it and then reread it again.  I’m still confused.

Friends, I want you to know that that’s ok.  The Bible is filled with incredibly awesome, epic, and sometimes mysterious words.  I feel as we walk on this journey with our Father God that some things He’ll reveal at a later date.  So after I got done rereading this chapter and then the verse.  I prayed to God asking Him what it all meant.  How do I test myself?  How does one make sure you are in the faith?  Possibly just simply asking God “ am I in the faith?”

If anyone knows I would love the answer 🙃

John Crist

If you’re a Christian and haven’t heard of comedian John Crist you all need to start hearing about him.

He is hilarious!  I can’t help but crack up every time I hear one of his skits (do you even call it a skit). So because Easter’s coming up, enjoy this video 😂

And if you want here is a link to his website so you yourself can check him out.
Click Here

Cunning

So today in 2nd Corinthians 11 Paul gives a hard scary truth.  If you haven’t read this chapter let me give you a quick synopsis.  The Corinthians have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior they believe that He died on the cross and rose again.  That Jesus conquered death and in doing so broke the chains of bondage in order for us to have an intimate relationship with God.

Now as they  are growing in their faith and time has past by Paul is seeing an unsettling amount of stumbling blocks.  I can see how easily I would fall on these blocks too.  One of those blocks he addresses is verses 3 and 4 in chapter 11.

     “For I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve”

Stop right there and consider that.

He didn’t say “Hey you idiots!  You’re listening and believing all this mumbo jumbo!”  No, He was afraid, not very much scared Paul.  He had walked through so much in his life and I can only assume not much scared him, but the thought of even one of the followers of Christ being led astray scared him enough to write to them.

Now go ahead and look at verse 4.

“ For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus.”

What does he mean by that?  So many times we are looking for the obvious abnoxious loud unclean spokesman proclaiming that he’s Jesus.  I want you to consider this though.  This could be anyone preaching something slightly different then what the Bible says.  This could be someone going over a book of the Bible and skipping the chapters that might not seem relevant to today’s culture.  This could mean someone saying well I  think the Old Testament is an allegory.  Friends, this is dangerous grounds we’re on here and unfortunately too many people put up with it readily enough.

You want to know if you’re being deceived by a cunning serpent like Eve was?  Read your Bible.  I would never allow a professor to lecture me in college and simply use their lectures to study for tests.  I would read the book to make sure everything was covered before I took the test.  Why in the world would you take another person’s opinion on the Bible when you can read the Bible for yourself!  Now am I saying that you shouldn’t go to church and listen to your pastor? No!  But for goodness sake read your Bible and hold your pastor to the standards the Bible puts on everyone not the other way around.

So please, whatever you may think.  If you’re a Christian read your Bible so you don’t readily fall to another’s opinion of who Jesus is.