To the coward behind the computer screen

Just so there's no confusion as to who I'm writing this to...this is to the one who continues to send his anonymous emails harassing my family and my staff family. Funny to me how sometimes we think we can be anonymous with God but He knows exactly who you are and is all about bringing to light those things we do in the dark and think it will remain a secret...that brings perfect peace.  I hold to Matthew 5:11-12 as I know I'm in good company. I also know that what you mean for harm God will turn it around and bring good. I've NEVER blogged to or about someone EVER but this person makes email accounts and deletes so you can't respond and now he has chosen to contact me via the blog again through a phony email so this is the only way to correspond AND since I detest with a holy horror those who won't do the face to face thing or are unwilling to own your words by signing your name here goes.  I know that lots of things I blog people may not agree with but at least I own it. Before this even is written I'm going to claim ISamuel 24:12-13...look it up yourself.  So many times God muzzles me and I've learned to not speak even when given permission by man but this time God has given perfect peace to speak some truth and I am thankful.
First of all since through these kinds of things it's hard to tell tone, let me tell you that my tone is definitely not anger or even hurt because you have no power over me.  You're not a friend and I don't respect you and so   actually I feel nothing.  I'm sure you thought this would send me in a tail spin but it's too pathetic to even do that.
First of all as I hit my knees this morning and continue on my knees as I type this...this is what I prayed over you...That God would show kindness to you because it's kindness that leads to repentance and then to salvation and I want that for you.  However I also prayed Nehemiah 4 on you, that too you can read for yourself.  I'm also praying that you would be freed from your personal prison of bitterness and hatred.
In answer to your email...
It's so obvious you are just not in the know when it comes to Millbrook.  You have no access to the facts so because of that I'll just say you're wrong.  Not gonna cast pearls before swine here.  You also obviously don't know what the word unscholarly means or you just don't know my husband.  And the most obvious thing to me is that you have no fear of God as you attacked not only my husband but what God Himself has called him to preach.  Even I would not dare tell him or even suggest what he preaches or how he preaches to the people he's been called to.  God judge you for that too.
As for my family...again WRONG.  To claim that we are here only because it's convenient for us proves your ignorance.  This is the least convenient place for us to be.  Three of my four children are in the upstate along with my new and precious son-in-law.  My brother's family is there who I miss terribly and long to see more often and see my darling nephews as they grow especially in the Lord.  My parents are in their 70s and my mother struggles with Alzheimers so I would love to be near them.  My only son left at home would probably benefit greatly from attending one of the high schools up there and could play ball at any of them.  SO to say it's most convenient for us shows you know nothing of what you said.
We are here and will stay here as long as GOD ALONE leaves us here.  We will not be run off by the likes of people like you who harass and stalk and spew venom.  As long as we are here we will serve the people here with our whole hearts and souls, with every ounce of energy and love we can muster and that God will pour on us and in us.  If that's a problem for you then you can fight that one out with God Himself.  We don't roll with what is convenient for us as you obviously don't get.  He's given us a love for His people here and only He will make us leave them.
Thank you so much for your email.  It confirmed several things to us.  It confirmed that we are on the right track because persecution always comes when you follow God closely.  It also confirmed what we have been believing about His work here and that is He is getting ready to work mightily.  You see Satan and his spokespeople get angry when God begins to work in and through God's people and He is definitely at work among His Millbrook people.  Things like this also cause great bonding among the staff that we have now as we support and are loyal to one another because we are all on the same page and moving towards the same goal.  You just helped to energize all of us as we stand united and tightly together.
"Contend O Lord with those who contend with "us" fight against those who fight against  "us".
May those who seek "our" life be disgraced and put to shame. May those who plot "our" ruin be turned back in dismay.  May they be like chaff before the wind with the angel of the Lord driving them away.  May thei path be dark and slippery with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.  Who is like you O Lord? You rescue the poor from those too strong for them the poor and needy  from those who rob them."
In closing can I say a huge thank you to all who so often send messages of love and support.  We love you so and believe me we DO know that these types of people are few and far between.  We will not cower to them or run from them. We are also very much aware of the spiritual warfare going on and our need to stand firm.  So thankful that we are headed to a series of sermons on that, we all face it and we all need to understand it.  Thank you to so many who say that you pray often for us in regards to spiritual warfare as well as our staff who are on those front lines with us.  We love the family of God and it's a privilege and honor to serve where He has called us.

Fun Times as they grow

If there's anything better than being a parent I wish someone would tell me and then you had better have a lot of ammunition to convince me.  I loved it when my babies were actual babies. I loved the toddler stage when they were learning so much.  I even loved and love their teen years.  It's just all good.  Anyone who knows me at all knows the struggle I had when it was time for one to get married in August and in that same month two left for college for the first time.  So thankful to have one still at home but that time is winding down quickly.
There are good things too about seeing them grow up.  I love seeing my married girl enjoying her amazing man and knowing that they are ministering together and expanding the kingdom.  Must say I wish I could see them in action with their students but I know God is doing great things there.  My other girl is enjoying her college experience.  She's growing so much through her life group bible study and made some good friends with strong Christian girls. She's continued her Upward cheerleading coaching in Spartanburg and it's been a blast to watch her cheer for SMC.  She wraps up that season Thursday night.  John will start his junior baseball season with a tournament game this Friday.  He will be on the mound and we are going into this season expecting and hoping for some great things from the Tbreds.
Eddie and I went to Newberry College yesterday.  SMC was going to be there for a double-header and Stephen was getting the start on the mound in the second game.  What an awesome sight!  Seeing my boy in that college uniform making his first college start pitching.  Everything in the world goes through a parent's mind.  It's all kind of in slow motion as the years keep flashing.  I kept seeing him in that gold team Tshirt at Citizens Park at age 9 when he first started pitching.  I saw him in all of those AllStar uniforms representing his city.  I saw him as such a tiny thing in the 7th grade playing for his high school with all those boys towering over him.  I thought of all the travel ball and the boys he played with from 10 years old on and their families that still are a part of our lives.  So much good stuff.  I was so proud of him.  He didn't appear a bit nervous.  I told Eddie when he was throwing long on the field that I just hoped his heart wasn't pounding as hard as mine was.  I'm always amazed at how calm he appears.  The mound has just always been his comfort zone.  He has an amazing way of tuning everything else out and going into this zone.  I know I've headed into the bragging mom area but I was so proud of him.  He's worked so hard to get to this level.  He had a great outing...4 shutout innings, only 2 hits, first pitch strike and his first college W.  We ended up winning 5 to 3 which is the most important thing, the team got the win. My he's a lot bigger now than that 7th grade kid.  Eddie asked me on the way home if I ever thought I would see him play college ball...honestly yes, because I knew he would work as hard as he had to to accomplish that goal.  As hard as it is to see them grow up, there are some good things about it.

Monday Morning Perspective

Wow...another awesome message in our family series from Ephesians.
I love series like this that are so practical, encouraging yet convicting as well.  I also love how this message was a great word for children but also a word to parents.  We saw that children are called to obey and honor not because parents are always right but because it is right.  Also love how Eddie pointed out that disobedience in the home is a downward spiral and can set the tone of your life.
The word he gave to parents was very helpful.  Pointing out the things we need to avoid...fault finding, favoritism,  overprotection, neglect, abuse and pushing too hard as well as the things we need to incorporate...clear and consistent discipline as well as lots of love and time was so helpful.
Favorite part today...the sermon after the sermon.  I loved the leadership my husband displayed as he shared the importance of keeping the main thing the main thing!!  Some things just don't matter in the whole realm of eternity and we need to recognize the things that do matter.  Very thankful for a pastor who keeps the main thing in front of us even if it steps on our toes...that's what God calls our pastors to do!  Thank you for being faithful to do that when we need it, I love you!!

Monday Morning Perspective

It's so cool to be able to blog about the sermon on Valentine's Day when the sermon was about doing marriage God's way.  God is such a God of timing, only one of the reasons I love Him so.
What an awesome sermon!! It reminded me of how important it is to not only do marriage God's way but life His way.  I'm thankful for the reminder of how dangerous it is to listen to the wrong voices.  Why do we look to celebrities and listen to those secular voices when it's one failure after another and yet somehow think that's how we will find joy and happiness?  God's way has proven to work and His voice is the only one we should be listening to.  If our homes are built on anything but the foundation of Jesus Christ, we are in serious trouble.
I'm so thankful on this Valentine's Day to be able to thank my man for being the Christian husband/father God has called him to be.  It hasn't been a perfect walk because we are imperfect people but we have served a perfect God who has brought good when we messed up and picked us up when fell down and every day has shown both of us what perfect love looks like.  It's a sacrificial agape love that never gives up on us and always seeks the best for us and loves no matter what.  That's how we are called to love and it cannot be done apart from Christ.  May we all seek to love our spouse that way every day, not just a day that the world has set aside for us to love.
I was also reminded this morning how grateful I am to have dated my man in the days of letter writing.  I have a box full of letters he wrote me in our dating years.  Sad to say it's been a while since I sat down and wrote him a letter.  I know the techno world is wonderful and aids in quick communication but there's nothing like that hand written letter!! Happy Valentine's Day to my sweet man and to all!

God flipped my day around

I had so many different things planned for today but things took a turn.  Poor Eddie got so sick last night, started feeling yucky right before dinner and it gradually got worse and worse.  Needless to say it was a long night most especially for him.  Anyway, plans changed and I stayed put with my sick man at home.  Days like that used to bother me much more than now.  I've come to learn that it's all within His plan and His timing so I try to go along with His flow.
So happened after my quiet time I tuned in to The Today Show and it kinda got my blood pumping or rather boiling.  They were doing a segment on butt lifts and the whys and hows and what fors.  That may not be a new thing but I guess this morning it just seemed to wash over me in a way that I sat there and thought "just what lengths are we going to go to to get that perfect self we so want". They had celebrity butts that they wanted theirs to look like, unbelieveable!!  What in the world!!! I listened to those women explaining themselves and my mind raced to all the things God has taught me lately that is the exact opposite of everything that was before me at that moment.
Back up to yesterday...I was listening to a message about how obsessed we are with celebrities and getting attention on ourselves at all cost, even if it's bad attention, at least it's attention.  And how so many people may not necessarily want to be a celebrity, although many do, but they want to be all around it because somehow that makes them feel good about themselves and they begin to believe that somehow they relate.  My poor hubby came home for lunch about that time and I pulled him right into that and we both thought "how interesting, explains a lot".
After The Today Show God sent me scurrying back to some other studies I had done and digging through some stuff. He led me to some things about how obsessed women are with gaining attention from men whether it's their husband or any man even men they don't know, just have to feel that somehow they can catch his eye.  We are just desperate to feel good about ourselves it's just odd that we look in all the wrong places and go about it in all the wrong ways.  And I don't just mean teen girls, I mean women.  This show was about grown women wanting in my words "fake bodies created by some doctor to look like some celebrity that they are infatuated with".
I also thought about a young girl brought to my attention by someone that is just obsessed with guys.  The funny thing is it seems that any guy will do, actually not too funny.  One boy even made the comment that "she doesn't even have a type, like she likes all of them and they all look different and are very different, she just has to have someone".
And we think we women have made progress, I'm not so sure.  The thing that tears at my heart the most is that this isn't just lost women, it's women who will tell you they have a relationship with Jesus yet it's so opposite from what He teaches us and tells us.  He created us the way He wants us to look and He loves us no matter what and He's longing to give us the attention we so desire if we will just give Him the time it takes to do that.
I'm pretty thankful He flipped my day around. He used it to teach me and reteach me, now may I apply it in my own life.