Trumpet Vine

{ May 27, 2008 @ 4:32 pm } · { Ponderings, Uncategorized }
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Friday morning I awoke at 5:40a.m. to my 2-year old saying, “I need to potty, Mommy.”  So I dutifully arose and took him potty.  As I stumbled back to the bed, I very clearly heard my childhood pastor Bro. Phillips’ voice say, “Read Ezekial 17.”  I made a mental note, and climbed back into bed.  An hour and a half later, I arose to have my morning coffee and a little quiet time before the remainder of my family began to stir.  I opened my Bible to Ezekial 17 and the sub-title above the chapter said “Two Eagles and a Vine”.  I have always felt like reading the Old Testament was like reading a foreign language.  It has never been easy for me, and I sometimes find my mind wandering.  As I began to read about these two eagles and a vine, this time was no different.  My mind immediately connected with something I am all to familiar with-trumpet vine.  Trumpet vine is a bad word at our house.  It didn’t start out that way.  We had a beautiful vine with fragrant trumpet-like blooms in shades of orange growing on our storage shed in the backyard.  The vine attracted hummingbirds and bees and we became comfortable with having it as a part of our yard.  Then one day we noticed trumpet vine “volunteers” sprouting up in our “needs some work, but getting there” lawn and in a flowerbed next to the house.  We proceeded to keep the lawn mowed down and pull trumpet vine from the flowerbed.   Not long after this mundane process began, we noticed volunteers creeping up the side of our house and then, to our horror, between the masonary work and the windows.  We are being overtaken by the trumpet vine!  In an effort to cleanse the yard and our life of the trumpet vine, John decided to take vengance upon the vine.  In his haste, he cut the mature trumpet vine on the storage building to the ground.  “I am man-I will conquer!”, I think is what he growled as he wielded the chain saw and pulled 1″-2″ diameter vines from the earth.  But to his dismay, he only thought he was getting rid of this aggressive opponent.  Within a couple of days, we had 6″-10″ sprouts of new growth covering the area he had just conquered.  So, we went to the expert.  We asked a farmer friend what we should do and he provided us with industrial strength Round-up.  He guaranteed that it would not survive.  John not only applied the poison, he applied the poison about 5 different times.  However, once again, man failed and the trumpet vine lives on.  A couple of weeks later, he decided to purchase a tiller.  Surely, we thought, if we till up the ground we can destroy the root system that lies beneath.  He tilled up the ground where he pulled out the mature vine and he tilled up a new area so I could plant a flowerbed.  This seemed to have worked.  I planted my new flowers and tenderly began to care for them.  About a week after being transplanted to their new home, I noticed a small sprig growing in the bed.  How could this be?  The area where John had tilled the ground was also beginning to show signs of life.  We were astounded by this trumpet vine and it’s tenacity.  A Master Gardener from church informed us that we would not be able to kill the trumpet vine with Round-Up.  What we needed to do was to take a grubbing hoe and physically dig up every volunteer that we see coming up in the yard.  This is not such a daunting task the first time around, but when you walk out the next morning to find a whole new colony in the yard, it is very disturbing.  Pulling trumpet vine from the yard became a daily routine for us.  What we learned was amazing.  When we grubbed the trumpet vine from the ground, we found that they were attached to chunks of dead, dry roots.   Some of these chunks of root were only an inch long.  This plant is truely living up to it’s description of “aggressive”.  We are really getting tired of all of this trumpet vine in our midst.  People who have never had this problem look at us like we are funny when we express so much emotion about trumpet vine.  So, I decided to do a little research on-line to see if there was anyone else who has had this problem who could offer some advice or at least some sympathy.   We did find some new ideas that we are about to implement,  but the most comforting piece we found was on a discussion board.  Our new friend Karen says this about the invasive plant-” Trumpet vines and cockaroaches will be all that’s left after a nuclear holocaust!”  We happen to agree at this point.  No matter how pretty it can be, we will never look at trumpet vine the same. 

I feel like the Lord led me to Ezekial 17 because he wanted to give me an even more in depth study on the trumpet vine.  I love analogies and I can see a powerful analogy between trumpet vine and sin.  The trumpet vine just began to give us problems this year, although it had been in our backyard for over 20 years.  Sometimes we become comfortable with the sin in our life.  It can even masquerade as beautiful and fragrant as long as we keep it under control (or so we tell ourselves).  But the Bible clearly says in II Timothy 2:21 that we should “purge” ourselves of sin in order to become vessels of honor.  When we do rid ourselves of sin, we must not be decieved.  Sin can be compared to the trumpet vine in that it also lays a strong root system and produces “volunteers” that seem to just pop up in different areas of our life.  These “volunteers” also have to be addressed or your life will once again be overtaken with sin.  Romans 11:16 says, “if the root be holy, then so are the branches.”  We must establish a holy root system.  The Bible tells us how to do this in John 15:5.  Jesus says, “I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”  So, it is time.  Rid yourself of the trumpet vine.  In place of the trumpet vine, plant a healthy alternative.  Instead of sin, plant yourself in holiness.  This is not an easy task, but with much determination and focus, you can make wise choices that will lead to a life of happiness and fulfillment in Christ Jesus.  And in the meantime, please pray for our yard! 

 

 

 

 

Something about Sam

{ April 29, 2008 @ 1:00 am } · { Sam }
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I just want to share some of the cute things Sam has said lately.  My sister-in-law is in town and she took Sam with her to have lunch with some friends.  As they were leaving, Sam told them all, “Nice to meet ya!”  He is so polite! 

Later that night John and I were in the restroom giving him a  bath.  We got him out of the tub and I was drying him off when he looked me right in the eye and said, “Stupid Mommy.”  Not so cute and not so polite.  He got his mouth popped for that one.

A couple of days ago, our dog Hydro hurt her leg.  She could not walk on her right front paw so she would hop.  Sam kept chasing her and we would tell him not to chase the dog because she is hurt.  At one point, he laughed and said, “Hydo is bouncing!  Look at her bounce!”  I never thought about it before, but she did look like she was bouncing around the house.  What perspective!

Finally, last night I was watching re-runs of “What Not to Wear” and Sam was in the room with me.  He got my attention and said, “Shut Up!”  Of course, I told him not to say that and then I wondered aloud, “where has he heard that?”  Then in the background of my thought, I heard Stacey (from the show) say in her sing-song voice “Shuuuuut Uuuuup!”  I turned the t.v. off and we went to say our prayers and go to bed.  No more watching t.v. with Sam.

Expectations

{ April 29, 2008 @ 12:47 am } · { Ponderings, WLC }
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When John and I run to Midland to take care of different errands, one thing we always look forward to, like many Big Spring residents, is eating a meal out at somewhere other than fast food or Furr’s Cafeteria.  This particular Friday night was no different.  We discussed our options-Abuelo’s, Chili’s, Venezia’s, Outback, and the list continued on.  It didn’t take long before our taste buds were activated and particular cravings began to set in.  One of us suggested Logan’s, because we love steak and Sam loves the peanuts.  And we happened to be driving by there at the time.  Once a decision was made, the cravings became more specific in nature.  There is now a visual in the mind and attached to it there is a shape, a size, a smell, and a color.  The expectation is taking form and growing into a desire. 

            We have all experienced something like this in life.  It might not be associated with food, but we all have expectations.  Expectation is defined by the Encarta Dictionary as “a confident belief or strong hope that a particular event will happen”.  We expect a certain outcome from a situation, we expect certain behaviors from other people such as our friends, our spouses, our children, our pastors, our employers, etc.  We have expectations for ourselves, and we even have expectations that we place on God.  Job said of God in Job 6:8, “Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for…” The problem with expectations is that sometimes we are disappointed and many times we are looking in the wrong place or at the wrong person for fulfillment. 

            Let’s revisit our quest for the perfect meal.  Soon after being seated, we were brought a basket of fresh-from- the-oven bread.  So far, so good.  Then the dinner salads were brought.  Uh, oh!  I forgot to ask for the dressing on the side.  I tried to enjoy it, despite the fact that it was drowning in ranch dressing.  After all, I was the one who forgot to order it the way I like it.  Many times we want to blame others for disappointments in life and we fail to recognize when we contribute to the demise of our own expectations. 

            I dismissed the salad incident and continued to look forward to the juicy steak with grilled veggies that was on its way.  The picture on the menu displayed bright yellow squash and luscious green zucchini.  My favorites!  When my plate was placed before me, disappointment again began to rise when my eyes fell upon the ashen-colored mushrooms and dull green peppers.  I gingerly moved them out of the way to reveal two small pieces of squash and zucchini.  This was definitely not looking good.  Next, my fork tentatively lingered over the sizzling piece of steak.  I prepared myself for more disappointment-“Is this an expectation for failure?” I ask myself. 

            Sometimes we unconsciously lower our expectations.  It is a natural tendency.  We judge by past experience or by things we hear and then we automatically make assumptions from there on whether there will be a positive or negative outcome.  We must be careful in doing so.  Sometimes it is good to have high expectations.  A great example is the beginning of the school year when a teacher is about to meet her new class.  I have learned from experience that if I expect my students to believe in them selves that they can learn new things and be challenged, then more often than not, they rise to the occasion and leave my class more knowledgeable and more confident.  It is a good thing to have high expectations, just remember that when other people are involved, those expectations might not be met. 

            I had to remind myself of that very thing when I cut into my steak.  That piece of meat did not cook itself.  Someone was back in the kitchen working hard preparing meals for upward of 100 patrons that evening.  At first cut, the pink juices began to seep out the side and my taste buds were anticipating the unknown.  I set aside any expectation at all and waited until the initiation of the first bite came to completion.  I wasn’t surprised by the result.  It had great flavor.  It was cooked to perfection.  “It is not the most tender piece of meat, though”, I began to tell myself.  Looking for the negative.  How many times do we do that in life?  God blesses us and we want to focus on the one detail that disappoints.  Don’t do that to yourself.  Focus on the blessing and learn from your disappointments. 

            I encourage you to explore the world of expectations or hopes.  You do have them.  You might not focus on them.  You might not realize that they can set you up for failure or success.  You may not see how they affect your own choices in life.  I believe we make many decisions based on our expectations.  God’s word says, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  Col. 1:27.  Let that be the hope that you live by.  Expect great things, keep your eye on the prize and let Christ reside in you!  Be blessed in Jesus’ name.

Infusion 2008

{ March 25, 2008 @ 7:48 pm } · { WLC }
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The WLC (Women of Life Church) are proud to present Infusion 2008-A Women’s Conference.  I am so excited about the progress our committee is making with this year’s conference.  This is our fourth annual conference, but the first year that we have branded the name.  Every conference from now on will be called Infusion.  Our theme this year is “A Dance with Destiny”.  We are bringing in a new speaker named Judy Brisky.  She is a member of Gateway Church in Southlake, TX.  We are so excited to have her come.  Our pastor, Kami Collins will also be one of our main speakers.  She is a very dynamic speaker who uses her wit and humor to deliver the truths of God.  Our conference this year will be June 20th-21st at Life Church in Big Spring, TX.  I look forward to seeing you there!

He Did It!!

{ March 24, 2008 @ 6:16 pm } · { Sam }
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O.k I have to share another Sam success story.  We have been really working on potty training for about a week now and somedays have definitely been better than others.  We would have no accidents all morning and then, UGH, dirty underwear again!  I know I have always heard this from others who have gone before me in this, but why, oh, why is it harder to poop in the potty than it is to pee?  It is just so gross.  But, anyway, back to my story…We put a little yellow dirtbike on the counter in the bathroom and it has been dubbed as “Sam’s Poo-poo Prize”.  It has been there for about a month and every time he would pee in the potty he would ask me, “Can I have the motorcycle?”  I felt so bad having to tell him “no”, especially when he would get all excited and say, “I get the motorcycle!”.  But, I held my ground.  He did not get the motorcycle.  I am sure after looking at it for month he probably thought, “I am never going to get to touch that yellow motorcycle.”  But today, after having two pee-pee accidents and mom about to lose her patience, Sam sat on the potty to pee-pee.  Well, I was sitting in front of him on the floor and I happened to glance up and see in the potty between his legs and he had poo-poo coming out-well, I was so excited.  I started telling him, “push, Sam. You can do it!”  I guess he got irritated with me because he told me to leave him alone.  So I left the bathroom and he called me back in about 5 minutes.  He had done it.  He conquered the two-year-old little boy Mt. Everest.  He had pooped in the potty and man did he poop.  He was so excited!  So, I cleaned him up and gave him the motorcycle.  I thought, “He is going to play with that thing all day.”  Well, he went and layed it on the table and hasn’t touched it since.  I guess the prize had lost its appeal after seeing it sit on the counter for so long.  I hope that the grand feeling of success that he felt is enough to prompt him to continue to poop in the potty, because I just don’t know if I have the energy to clean up another mess!

I need to write…

{ March 24, 2008 @ 6:03 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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I haven’t written in over a month.  Sometimes I just can’t seem to find the words to use.  And, honestly, sometimes I am just too busy to even think about having time to sit down and write.  But, Sam took an early nap today and I am caught up on laundry, so I am going to attempt to write something inspiring today.  I don’t plan to inspire anyone except myself because, truthfully, that is where I am at right now in my life.  I need to be inspired.  I have this list in my brain of all the wonderful things I need/want to do with my life (even my day), but somehow I keep finding myself falling short.  Here is a brief example of my list:

  • be a wise and successful business owner by learning the trade and pouring into the employees that we have been blessed with
  • be a great wife to my awesome husband 
  • be a patient and kind mother to my son (who is in the process of potty-training, God help me!) 
  • be a women’s pastor who is organized and driven by Christ to reach out to other women and lead them to become all that God wants them to be

Even though this list does not seem long, every item on the list is very involved.  I cannot possibly spend 30 minutes a day on these things and expect to be successful.  I do feel that I am great mom, not perfect, but I do a good job.  Sam is still alive and he is learning to use the potty and he brings joy to just about everyone who knows him.  So for that I am most grateful.  I do feel like I am a good wife to John, however, I know there are still areas in our marriage that need work and I am trying to work on them.  The Women’s Ministry at Life Church is growing and becoming much more active.  We send out a monthly newsletter called “girltalk”,  we have a quarterly women’s meeting called “girltalk live”, we have a quarterly girls’ night out, and we have an annual women’s conference called Infusion.  The women’s ministry takes up a large portion of my time.  I do enjoy it, but I am feeling like I am neglecting our business.  I am at the shop on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Friday afternoons.  I usually have time to pay bills, pay taxes and do payroll.  But as far as learning how to manage the shop and find innovative ways to bring growth to our business, I am pretty much useless.  I think I have way too much going on right now and I feel very guilty about my lackluster committment to our business.  I feel as if I am letting God down, because He is the one who blessed us with the shop and brought us to Big Spring; and I feel like I am letting John down because I know that he needs me at the shop.  The thing is the only other item on that list that I can let go in order to free up my time is the position as women’s pastor at Life Church.  So either I have to give that up or God needs to give me some super powers so I can manage my time more wisely.  Nothing is impossible for God and I know that I have to get that from my head to my heart if I am going to continue on in life the way I have been for the last 8 months.  I just know that I cannot do it on my own.  I need to be empowered to keep on keeping on.  Since words of affirmation is one of my love languages, feel free to offer some.

Something about Sam

{ February 21, 2008 @ 4:51 am } · { Sam }
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Sharing the M&M’sDinner with the Cars

Sam is my two year old.  Well, let me correct that.  My two 1/2 year-old.  He corrected me on that yesterday.  We have lots of fun in our home with Sam.  Johnson & Johnson got it right with their slogan “Having a baby changes everything.”  Having Sam changed our world and that world continues to evolve on a daily basis.  One of his current activities is watching the movie “Cars” and playing with all of his cars from the movie.  He doesn’t really “play” with them, though.  It is actually more of an interaction that he has with them.  At most meals, he lines them all up on the table so that they can “watch” him eat.  Every now and then we even have to offer them a bite or two.  (smile)  The other day he was eating M&M’s for a snack and he asked me if he could share them with all of his cars.  Because I desperately want to encourage the habit of sharing in my precious, only child, I said, “of course” you can share them.  He then proceeded to carefully place one M&M in front of each of his cars.  I am still not sure who actually ate the M&M’s (was it Hydro the dog or Sam???).  Maybe it is time for us to have another child?!

Purpose

{ February 13, 2008 @ 9:36 pm } · { Ponderings }
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This past weekend our church held their annual Summit Conference.  The guest speaker was Dr. John Stanko who has written several books on finding one’s purpose.  Unfortunately, I was at home sick all weekend and did not get to attend the conference.  I have, however, read one of his books before titled “I Wrote this Book on Purpose So You can Find Yours”.  It is a very good book.  My husband is a changed man after hearing Dr. Stanko speak.  And after listening for days to my husband spout off about what his purpose is and seeing how driven and changed he appears to be, I have begun to think more and more about my own purpose. 

I was a teacher of elementary aged children for about 5 years and I absolutely loved it.  I was driven in the classroom and passionate about my work.  I have not been in the classroom for two 1/2 years now and I miss it so much.  On the other hand, I am raising a beautiful son and I help manage our business.  I am also the Women’s Pastor at our church and the president of our women’s conference committee.  I think about how I came to this position sometimes and I do not feel qualified.  Sometimes I think I am there simply by default because noone else has ever stepped up and said, “hey, I can do that!”  So, I have really been questioning my purpose with the women’s ministry and in general.  If I know my purpose, I can work on it, toward it, etc. 

Today, I was sitting on the couch watching t.v. and thinking that when this show is over I am going to turn the t.v. off and ask God about my purpose.  If my purpose is to teach in a classroom then I am pretty much doomed because at this point I don’t see my self in the classroom again until Sam goes to school.  And then I remembered something that Dr. Stanko said.  If you are in a position where you cannot pursue your purpose then that might not be your purpose.  Let me give a better example.  A mother should not say that her purpose is her children because one day her children will grow up and leave.  Then that would leave her without a purpose.  God gives us all a purpose.  So, I realized that I need to look deeper than just the classroom.  What is it I am doing in the classroom that fuels me on.  What is it that led me to become the Women’s Pastor.  And it is amazing how quickly God spoke to me.  So, get ready….here is my purpose.

My purpose is to see the potential in someone and to help them see it too!  Not just help them to see it, but to show them that they can do it, learn it, accomplish it.  Whatever “it” is.  The reason I love the elementary classroom is because children are so much more receptive than adults.  I can tell a seven year old how smart they are and they say, “yeah, I am smart.”  I don’t have to work quite as hard with them.  They trust me and they love me and they want to be what I see.  It is definitely not that easy with women.  But, now that I know that is my purpose, I am going to be more focused, more determined and I am going to lead this ministry on “purpose”. 

I am finally going to do this

{ January 11, 2008 @ 1:58 am } · { Uncategorized }
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My sisters, one in particular, have been encouraging me to start a blog.  So, I officially set up a wordpress today.  I’m not sure how interesting I will be or how often I will be able to blog, but I am going to give it a shot.  For now, I am off to watch the movie Cars for the third night in a row.  It’s a good thing for Sam, my two-year old son, that I am not opposed to Disney cartoons.  Well, I’m not opposed to Cars, anyway.  I’ll blog more tomorrow.

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