My Tuesday Morning Girls.

I am amazed at the extent of which God takes care of me. I have been involved with this group of girls that meets every Tuesday to learn about the Lord and discuss what that means in our lives. This group is amazing! We are about 12-15 girls and from all seasons of life. Some are just starting out having kids, some have grown children my age. It is beautiful. It didn't take long to feel the sisterhood in that room! Today, we met as usual to talk about our previously studied chapter in the book we are studying (Lord, only You can change me-Kay Arthur). But it is so much more than that. We are "doing life together". It is such a safe place to be real and open and not be judged. But deal with issues, pray for healing and strength, and just be equipped to be the wives and mothers and women that God wants us to be. When one of us is in break down mode, we stop and pray for the Holy Spirit to give guidance or clarity. It is so utterly holy. God is with us in that room. (Where two or more are gathered in My Name, there I will be also. -loose paraphrase, you get the idea)

Here is the most amazing part to me. We moved here only 6 months ago. I had my roots in South Bend, IN. So deep, in fact, that I still grieve over not being there! I have my friends and family there, but they are so much more than friends and family they are my "people". But, get this, God came with me...and has provide for me another network of my "people"! No, my Indiana "people" haven't been replaced, God has just provide for me an extension of His family. He doesn't only provide for our physical needs, He handles our hearts very gently and lovingly!

She is Me.

I have come to a realization...want to read it? Okay. As Matt's wife and the boys' mom I have a lot of responsibilities. Yeah, there are the dailies like keeping them all fed, clean, hugged, kissed and on schedule. But there is so much more to who they are. They aren't just these physical beings requiring only physical things. More importanly, they each have heart, mind, and soul. I am here, on their behalf, to engage in the "spiritual battle". Is there anyone who knows a husband better than his wife? Or children better than their mother? Who has the down low on their situations, and attitudes...with context? She is me! EUREKA!!That is it! I need to be on my face before the Heavenly Father, interceding for them. Covering them always. What power there is in that!! Thank you, God, for this honorable responsibility...privelage!

Freedom of Simplicity

In the past eight years, Matt and I have been involved in several small group bible studies. Some of the books we read were "The Freedom of Simplicity"-by Richard Foster and "Making Room for Life"-Randy Frazee. It has taken this long for me to start understanding these concepts. We have been stripped and willingly letting go of the "NOISE" in our life. God showed me a minor glimpse of the freedom this past week while I was rearranging and decluttering our living room. Very minor but decent analogy. Hang in there with me...

For those of you who have been to my home, we have a big space that is(was) used for dining, living, playing, television watching, surfing, wrestling, football, everything. Well, this past week I had a day that I couldn't take all of the noise anymore. There were WAY too many things going on in there! Like our lives, way too many things going on in there! There was no focus. No relating, just chaos and noise. Kinda like our lives sometimes!

When we first read those books, the authors were mentioning some pretty radical ideas. Things like leaving the "rat race" and a major slimming down of your activities(ours and the kids). One of them also, mentioned this group of people called the Bedouins. They are a people that lives and moves in the dessert. Nomads. Everything they own and everything they do can be packed onto a camel and transported in no time, flat! Matt developed a love for that type of life. Me on the other hand, I did not develop the same liking. I like my stuff, my house, my security...

Well, since we moved last summer, I have really started to think in the Nomadic direction. So much stuff that we think we need. No we don't!!!!
We think that we need these "things" to help us be more free...oh contrare! Ditch it! Give it away, sell it, give it up for the more important "things".

So, in removing somethings from our living room, and stripping down the amount of activities going on in that one space, I learned that God wants me to be in a place in my life that it is simple, room for focus on Him!

I took the tv out, the toys out and cinched together the furniture to make a smaller, more intimate place to gather and talk and relate. We still have the dining room in this space but that makes sense to me. And we can still bring in the laptop to watch movies together, but it is SIMPLIFIED! No, we can't fit it all onto a camel...baby steps! :) Anyone up for a garage sale?

Boundaries

When I hear the word "boundaries" I usually think of limits or lines to cross (or not cross). Or I think of setting boundaries with others, how you are willing to let others treat you. Or I think of the boundaries that Matt and I set for the boys as far as their behavior. There are a trillion ways that we keep boundaries.

I started to think...here we go!!! Ready or not...I was thinking about boundaries in relation to love. There is a song with a line that says this, "Jesus, your love has no bounds". Why would we need to tell God about His love? He knows all about it. I think that song is for us, meaning those who enter into the love of Christ. To remind us that His love is perfect, unconditional love. His love isn't bound by anything, other than our rejecting Him. I think that song is necessary for us to sing because our human love DOES have boundaries. It is common for someone to say, "I love you unconditionally." That is a bold faced lie! The reality is that humans are incapable of doing that, on their own. We set boundaries like how much we will let someone hurt us. And when they cross over knowingly or not, that is it!...we are done! And sometimes, in dangerous situations, that is correct. But really, we are full of conditions when it comes to loving others. Not letting others in after a certain amount of "violations". How sad!

Confession time: I...am...human! A human being with major faults! I hurt and dissapoint people all the time. Most importantly, I break God's heart daily(and so do you). I have crossed many borders and people have said to me, "That's it, I am done!" I am just wondering if we (as Christians) should open the borders a little. Learn what forgiveness means, learn what real love, through Jesus Christ, is. Hurts or not. It is a journey that is worth taking! And like any journey there are pitfalls and slip ups...not always clear paths to walk down. Let God carry you through. For the sake of His kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

No, not like a pan.

I had to clean the house today! I have really been lagging this last week, just haven't felt like doing much in the chore area. I hate when I get in those slumps because (as read in the "I think the mom's gone crazy" post) I think I have some sort of illness. Seriously! I have been beating myself up all week for the way the house WAS! Yahoo, it's clean today! Floors done, kitchen done, bathrooms done, bed made and so on...

That isn't what I wanted to post on. I wanted to urge all of my "readers" to be listeners...listeners of Skillet! No, not like a pan. Skillet, the ultimate in rock bands! All of their albums are AMAZING! I put them on when I started cleaning and whoa...they rock hard core for Jesus!! That's the best part. They are singing unto the Lord in holy moly rock and roll! Check 'em out! My family and I are long time "Panheads". We have all of there cd's downloaded. And have been to many of there concerts! I think Calvin was just a newborn when he went to his first live show. YUP, they rock! Oh, and they have an awesome chick drummer!(the blonde in the pic)

This post sponsored in part by...

Chocolate Turtle Chex Mix!!!
Never have I tasted such salty-sweet perfection!
And less fat that regular potato chips.
Mmm..Mmmm...Mmmmmm!


(too bad they aren't really sponsoring me)

Is it really a change?

Something came up today with my "Tuesday Morning Girls". That when we pray it can change God's mind. Just thought I would think about that more...
I tried to picture God hearing a case for something and saying, "Ya know Steph, that isn't a bad idea. I'll do it." Some how that doesn't seem accurate.
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So, it is dinner time and Connor asks me, like he does everynight, "What's for dinner?" I started rattling off the menu, "Tonight it's cheeseburgers on a wheat bun, salad and...." "Mac and Cheese!", Connor interupted. Little did he know, that was next on the list. So, I said, "Ya know Connor, that isn't a bad idea. I'll do it."

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Maybe that is what it is like for God and us, too. Maybe when we pray and ask for what's in His perfect will, He says, "Sure!" I don't know....

What if my plan for dinner wasn't cheesy macaroni? What if the plan was green beans (for his own good, of course)? Something to really think about, but not essential to understanding. Mystery is sometimes good!

Laundry Day

Ready for a deep, inspiring, life altering post? This isn't it. Just a weird though on my mind...

In the Lundy household, Monday is laundry day. Every Monday, all of the laundry gets done. Okay, so I am only human...sometimes it leaks over into Tuesday. Anyway, for our family that means at least 6 loads! UGH!

So, as I am switching the most recent loads from one machine to the other, I realize that there is a ton of lint in our trash box. Literally a ton! What is that all about?! I mean, are all of our clothes just turning into this weird, kinda gross substance, lint. Am I going to open the dryer door to nothing? I was wondering how fast do your clothes transform into lint. Is there some sort of statistic? "From T-shirt to Useless Fuzz". Can we recycle lint...that is a funny word, lint. Can we use it for insulation? Something?! I hate to waste stuff.

Lint makes me sneeze.

Go Bono!

Matt showed me this little snippet in the Discipleship Journal. (a mag he gets) Thought I would share it with you.

Karma Interrupted
"At the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye...Along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that...Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed...I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to be my judge. I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the cross."

-Bono, lead singer of U2, quoted in World, August 6, 2005

All I have to say about that is...three cheers for Bono!! Hip, Hip...

What are we doin' Mama?

Calvin and I took a walk on the beach today. What a wonderful time we had. The lazy waves were crashing very gently and the sun beaming on us without a cloud in sight. For a while Calvin ran ahead stopping to throw big rocks into the sea, looking back to see if I was coming. Then we walked slow together looking for shells, my son asking "What are you doin' mama?" Me answering, "We are looking for shells, honey." We came to a pile of wood, mostly skinny sticks, but there was one big stump. We sat watching waves and talking about what we were doin'. On the way back down the beach we held hands making foot prints in the wet sand, all the while my youngest son looking up at me with sweet eyes saying, "What are we doin' mama?" And me answering with our plan. Isn't that how God is? Always here watching us as we stop to throw big rocks, or sitting with us on the stump and always answering our question, "What are we doin'?" I think that is what he wants from us. To continually be with Him. Contiually look back for Him. Look to Him for the answers to our questions. Rest in Him.

"Heaven" is knock, knock, knocking on your door.

There is this idea in our society that heaven is some goal to achieve or some prize to win. I personally have been mulling this idea over and find it rather annoying. The whole idea that "if I fight the good fight and run the good race" I will go there when I die. That is, to me, consumer Christianity. Meaning,'' what's in it for me?'' ''We don't want to waste our time or energy if we aren't even going to get anything out of it''. Right? ...WRONG! No way!!! We need to have a shift. Our lives are to be lived in Christ. IN Him. Not towards Him. Not around Him. In Him. Constant connection, in the very core of our being, our soul. The very air we breathe.

When Adam and Eve fell, the human spirit was broken. But for all who accept him, our spirits were restored when Jesus Christ was crucified and then ascended into heaven to sit a the right hand of the Father. My broken, ugly, detestable sin nature was provided a way to be back in right relationship with my Father! Made clean. Nothing that I did or ever will do can accomplish that! There is no amount of trying to be righteous or holy that is going to put my spirit in tune with God's. I can't do that! Human beings can't be holy! God makes me holy. Jesus Christ makes me righteous in God's eyes. The Holy Spirit guides my path. I do need to open the door. Choose to be led. Choose to be still and know the He is God. Choose to listen to His voice and obey His commands. All of this, though, is built on knowing Him. Walking, talking, and living in Him.

I am just scratching the surface myself. God is giving me an abundance of understanding and cleaning out my mind and heart. He is helping me to see how simple it really is. Not easy, but without clutter and noise. He is stripping away all of the layers of junk that I thought were necessary. The only thing that I see now is Him. That is heaven to me, being in the presence of the Lord. In all of His glory and perfection. That is my prayer for all of you.

Now that it's not, it is.

I just came to this epiphany last night! After all this time with God, I am only just know understanding who He is. His essence, character. I used to say to myself, "I don't feel any different." after giving my life to God. I would certainly never admit that out loud, what would people think!? I thought that everything would change for me as soon as my surrender prayer was sent up. Sure, a lot of big things changed like smoking or drinking. But what about my spirit? I am still very broken. God showed me a while ago that there aren't different parts of you that you should treat differently. Such as "my work life", "my marriage", or "my parenting life". He was trying to get it through to me that all of these lives stem from one spirit. I needed to be the same me in all of my "lives". But more than that!!! I need to allow my spirit to be healed and then be led by His Spirit. All that I do, say, feel, all that I am! It has been years since I started to search for the feelings, and now that I understand God a little more, he is filling me with so much joy, happiness, and peace that surpasses all understanding. Now that it isn't about searching for the "feelings" He is giving me all that I ever wanted to feel. Amazing to me!! Just amazing!

BFF

There is this thing that we go through (mostly girls) in elementary school and up. We attach to our best friends. I remember getting those "best friends forever" charms and thinking that was it! Now, we will never part! Now, we will be friends forever. What is a best friend? What is a friend, even? Sometimes it is the person who has known us the longest. And if you are lucky enough to keep in contact with that person for your whole life, maybe it is. But for me, the girls that I so thought were going to be with me forever aren't. Time and life has gone by, we have taken different roads. Yeah, we contact and say "hey, how are you ?"randomly. But those friends don't know me as I am now. Whole, sober, and loving my God. I think that the Lord has put different types of women in my life at different times to spur me on and teach me things. But as for a "B.F.F." I have Stacy. I was thinking about this because I was really missing her! We live a country apart and although we don't see eachother, we are with eachother everyday! I think of her and what she means to me, everyday. We talk on the phone as often as we can. For years I prayed for someone (a friend, mentor, "sister") to come into my life and God gave me Stacy. She knows my crap, and still loves me. I know her crap, and still love her. We have shared in a ton of joyous celebrations as well as horrible pains. Stacy Garton is my 'best ever friend'!