The Government Can

Hey Everybody! Do you want free Health Care? College? Mortgages?

This is a hilarious video by a hilarious Christian comedian and seriously folks with what is happening in our government and what our government is getting away with is laughable. At least laughing is a lot less painful then crying.

Take the three minutes to watch this. Enjoy your laugh. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Celi

Moving

Many of you are already aware that my God has given a tremendous opportunity to my husband. Instead of the demotion and possible lay off he and I were preparing ourselves for, my blessed husband has in a sense been promoted. He will be working for the corporate office as an IT manager for both Phoenix and Tucson staff.

I feel like I have just gotten off a roller coaster ride and I am stumbling to catch my stance before I have to hop onto the next one. To watch God move as we prayed is astounding. Before James accepted this position we both prayed that the Lord would reveal His will with this. Do we stay? Do we go?

Well doors are flying open and James and I are grasping tightly to each other against the wind. Now it is time to prepare the home for a renter. This is our next greatest obstacle. However, there aren't any worries. If we are in the will of God He will provide what we need to leave. Hands down.

Yet we all know that the prayers of even ONE righteous man will avail much. So please pray on our behalf to our Father. Not because we are anxious but because our God commands us to do it.

With great love,
Celi

Preparing for Rain

Have you ever peered into the eye of a hurricane? I saw a picture of it. A boat lay in the middle of calm waters. The sun shining golden rays against the mast. Tranquil waters lapping around the base of it. Yet, around the stillness of this gorgeous day lay chaos in the form of walled dark clouds. Lightening boar momentary holes in parts of them.

It was beautiful.

I am sure the occupants of this boat stared at what surrounded them and at some point they HAD to admire it; however, their admiration for the power that walled itself around them had to be temporary knowing that in a moments notice they too would be engulfed in calamity.

I had a moment this morning where I felt like those boaters. Standing across from my husband I watched him sipping his morning coffee solemnly; bearing the weight of the world on the breadth of his shoulders and my heart ached for him. To be him, a man of God, knowing that the next two weeks may bring a storm we have yet to prepare for. Knowing that the welfare of this family is his responsibility...to make the hard choices, to have them lie at his feet, to be picked up by his hands and to wear them against his shoulders. This is something I have yet to bear. However, I know not a woman alive, who loves her husband, can watch him bear a yoke of this great nature and not ache for him.

There are many men in the bible who had to make the "tough decisions." I think of Hosea marrying a harlot for the sake of prophesy (Hosea 1:2-3) Or Jeremiah who prophesied for God countless times and was abused for it, lying in the stocks bound in an excruciating pain yet not relenting in his ministry (Jer. 20: 2) or Ezekial being foretold of his wife's death as a sign to Israel. His wife was the "delight of his eyes," yet he submitted to God's will for the sake of a nation. (Eze 24:15-27)

Today, I implore you to pray for God's wisdom for your husbands. Pray for Him to grant your spouse discernment in caring out His will. I pray for all of the good God-fearing husbands out there, strong in their love for Jesus, may they carry out His will for themselves and their families.

Go today and love your life partner with an undying, everlasting, agape love. Know that God knit him to you in a powerful way and with God as your lead you will not fail.

With great love,
Celi

The Foolishness of the Proverbs 31 Woman

" But Ruth said: Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people , and your God, my God."

Ruth 1:16

This is the woman I aspire to be. She is one of many exemplary examples of great godly women in our blessed bible. Ruth exudes many characteristics similar to the ones King Lemuel's mother describes in Proverbs 31:10-31, which is our classic example of the perfect godly woman. In fact, she has eight characteristics which are similar to the Proverbs 31 woman (all of these were taken from my readings of John MacArthur's bible study on Ruth):

1. Devoted to her family (Ruth 1:15-18 and Prov. 31:10-12, 23)
2. Delighted in her work (Ruth 2:2 and Prov 31:13)
3. Diligent in her labor (Ruth 2: 7, 17, 23 and Proverbs 31:14-18, 19-21, 24 and 27)
4. Dedicated to godly speech (Ruth 2:10, 13 and Prov. 13:26)
5. Dependent on God (Ruth 2:12 and Prov 31:25b, 30)
6. Dressed with care (Ruth 3:3 and Prov. 31:22, 25a)
7. Discreet with men (Ruth 3:6-13, and Prov.31:11,12,23)
8. Deliver blessings (Ruth 4:14, 15 and Proverbs 31:28, 29, 31)

John MacArthur says the word "virtuous" in Proverbs 31:10 is the same Hebrew word used of Ruth in Ruth 3:11. It is also theorized that King Lemuel's mother is actually Bathsheba which would make Ruth, King Lemuel's great-grandmother. Therefore, Bathsheba would have verbally passed Ruth's spotless reputation along to David's son Solomon. MacArthur further theorizes that "Lemuel" means "Devoted to God" and that this could have been a nickname for Solomon. He refers to Jedediah in 2 Samuel 12:25 in order to back up his theory.

Take this as you deem fit. I, personally, like it.

This intrigues me because accomplishing the traits of the Proverbs 31 woman is an impossible feat, but to be given an example in human form, Ruth, makes this gigantic pill easier to swallow.
Furthermore, Ruth is not as perfect as the portrayal of the Proverbs 31 woman. She is a Moabitess by birth. The Moabites were infamous for child sacrifice, pagan and idol worship amongst other dastardly deeds that caused our Lord to weep. Ruth, of course, marries a Jewish man who then leaves her widowed. This woman abandons all worldly security and any means of survival to follow her also widowed mother-in-law, Naomi. This is all common knowledge and what else is common knowledge is that during these days widowed women often became destitute and died. They couldn't work, would probably have a hard time remarrying. Through the glasses of the natural man it seemed certain Ruth and Naomi were going to die and Orpah was the wiser of the daughter-in-laws because she remained in Moab.

The passage in Ruth 1:16 reminds me of what many believers go through when we choose to abandon our worldy securities and our lifestyle in order to pursue our calling in Christ Jesus. One filled with comforts in the Spirit, of faith and of the unseen (Hebrews 11:1. )

My loved of this world call me a fool. The decisions I make as a wife, as a mother, as a woman, and as a child of God are mocked by those I love - by my own flesh and blood. Yet, I believe they are right. I am a fool but PRAISE GOD He finds great use for this foolish vessel. Please do not take this rant as a stepping stool for victims. We are not. We are chosen. I encourage you to take your role as a woman of God seriously. Let others mock you and PRAY FOR THEM. Paul says our battles in this world are not with the flesh but with the spiritual and he is right. (Eph. 6:12 also 2 Cor. 10:3-5 for further reference) People are people. The world is the world. What makes one fool different from another is Christ Jesus. Pure and Simple.

I am a young wife, a young mother, and a young believer. I have struggled with my own decisions and my own sins. I have become a woman I never thought I would be. I have taken up the Sword of the Spirit and I fight in a battle I had no intention of fighting. And I find peace. All because of Christ.

Case in point: Ruth is a woman of diligence, delighted in her work and devoted to her family. I pray for these characteristics. When I worked in the world, I took delight in my work and I worked well. When I left that work behind and became a homemaker I was astounded with the tasks at hand. Yes the housework (i.e. mopping, dishes, dusting) are qualifying tasks for even the most intellectually challenged lab monkey but there is so much more to this job than anyone who has yet to undertake it can imagine. To manage an entire household, to rear children in the admonition of the Lord (1 Tim 2:15, Eph 6:4 - word "father" is the same greek word as parent BTW) If all of this is monkey work than I am much more dim-witted than this monkey.

Through constant prayer our gracious redeemer has helped many in our chosen role. We find great joy in tasks others deem "mundane" and "lowly". We find immense love in the blessings of our children others may call "burdens", and finally we find great love under the headship of our husbands, which others may look at as "weak" and "pathetic."

Embrace your role. Become your Ruth and wear your glory for God in this high calling. Understand that the world is the world and as fools they make themselves wise (Romans 1:22)but understand that this is the NATURAL man or woman.

Without Christ we are all fools which slip away beneath the crevices of His mighty fingers, lost and without purpose.

"according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death."

Phillippians 1:20