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Showing posts from 2011

Addicted?

We were all sitting around the kitchen table last night when it happened. I was called out for my addiction. Actually, I think our whole family was called out on it. The conversation was about what it means to have an addiction. Our young friend, who was sitting at the table, said very bluntly "I know what your addicted to." I immediately braced myself for what would come out of her mouth next... Sugar?  Yes. Caffeine?  Yep. Chocolate?  Of course. Sleep?  Probably. Then it came out... "You are addicted to God." Yes.... it's true. I am absolutely addicted to God. Just looked up the definition of "addicted". Smiled when I read it. ad·dict·ed /əˈdiktid/ Adjective: Physically and mentally dependent on a particular substance, and unable to stop taking it without incurring adverse effects. Enthusiastically devoted to a particular thing or activity. Thought it was funny when she first said it. She believes

Celebrating The Gift

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Thanks so much for all the kind comments and for your prayers this past week. In case you didn't know... our sweet 5 month old great nephew passed away 1 week ago today. Dima Lee Heilshorn  My brother Bob (the grandpa) asked me to speak at the memorial service. Oh... Can I tell you?  It was so difficult. But God was gracious to give me the words. Just wanted to share them with you... On Wed. night as we sat at the kitchen table with Bob and Jean, Bob told us that he was going to be the one to do the memorial service.  I asked him if he was sure that he could handle it.  After all, this is his grandchild we were talking about.  Maybe we should have someone else step in.  He said that Katie (his daughter/the mother) wanted him to do it... and he wanted to honor her.   He then preceded to tell me he wanted ME to help him.   "Who me?" "Yep... you".   Since Katie had lived with us during her pregnancy, he felt like I would be

18 Years? Really?

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Due to extenuating circumstances, this post is coming a day late... Oh Drew! Happy 18th Birthday!!! (all the exclamation marks are just for you... I know how much you love them!) Our little "Drewbie Doo" Or as Aunt Kathy calls you... "Scooby Drew" Or your dad calls you...  "Drewders" Or Billy..."Jocelyn"... very long story. Or your cousins... "Gust"  (pronounced Goost).... another long story. Or Kessa... "Uncle Gust" !8 years ago my life changed forever. You... our sweet baby boy entered into our lives. After an emergency c-section... You were taken to to a hospital an hour away from Defiance. We were told... "broken blood vessel or aneurism on your brain". Your dad stood at the other end of the room in tears... I sat in my hospital bed in shock. After many tests, they said it was "apnea" and sent you home with us. The medications made you uncomfortable. You wou

The Leveraged Life

Heroes... seems like they are hard to come by today. Over the years I have asked God to bring older women into my life that can mentor me and "show me how to walk out my faith". He has been so good to do just that... always at just the right time. Let me tell you, I can sometimes feel like a misfit in the whole "christian woman" category. Seems like God has gifted me in ways that just don't seem to fit the mold. It can make me feel crazy. Enter into the picture... Shelley Giglio.     Seriously, she is a woman after my own heart. It all started when God began to reveal Himself to our family in huge ways through her husband. Somehow, in the midst of e-mailing back and forth with Louie... Kevin and I met Shelley. When we meet her,  we realized quickly that she is so very normal... and yet her faith in God is so very extraordinary. I have learned so much from her.  I keep telling her she needs to write a book. The last time I said th

Happy Birthday Lance!

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Mr. Alanson Joshua David Shock. Today... we celebrate you! 12 years old. Some call you Alanson. Some call you Lance the Pance. Some call you Mance. Grandpa Orv calls you Twerp. One sweet little girl calls you Uncle Mance. Whatever your name is... today I want you to know that you are so very loved... by so many! I remember the day you were born.   17 days early. You insisted on arriving on Grandma Punkie's birthday... How fun was that? You were named after your great, great grandfather. Alanson Huff. People still can't figure out how to pronounce it... We just smile and say "Call him Lance". Your name means "happy one". Anyone who knows you will agree it is the perfect fit. Remember when you were 2 yrs. old and I used to call you my little stud muffin? Then one day you came up to me and said "momma, I an egg." I replied "egg?  you are an egg?" You quickly said

Information Overload

Technology. Non-Stop. Bombardment. Which one? What's right?  What's going on? When will the information to my brain stop? Or at least... slow down? I don't want to sound old, but man... we are living in some crazy times. Remember the day when we had one exercise video to choose from? Jane Fonda? Today?  Take your pick... PX90, Insanity, 30 Day Shred, Yoga, Pilates etc. Remember when it was meat & potatoes and canned cream corn for supper?  Oh, and with a side salad made up of iceberg lettuce, carrots and celery? Now?  I am not even sure what to buy at the store.  I just saw an article the other day listing the 10 foods that can kill us -- potatoes, apples and canned tomatoes were on the list!  What in the world? Just when you think you are safe by staying away from the processed foods... now you better beware of the pesticides.  Ugh!  We can't all move to the farm!  [Side note... this post is NOT intended to start an "organic food" debate :

A "Light Bulb" Moment

Have you ever had one of those "light bulb" moments? One of those "ding, ding, ding - wake up... what have I been thinking?"  kind of moments??? When it comes to my relationship with Jesus, that is just what has been happening with me of late. I am thick headed though, so maybe it just hasn't been a "moment"... takes a little longer for me.  I'd say more like a process. A few months ago I heard a sermon by Louie Giglio about how so many times we see Jesus/God as this intimidating boss in the sky.  You know, the one who we go to with our requests hoping he grants us what we are asking for... then we just walk away saying "glad that's over". This Jesus that we are talking about is the same one  who in Revelation 3:20 says... "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me." He wants relationship.  He wants to sit down a

A Lesson Learned…

Ok… bear with me. What I am about to post started out as a prayer in my journal. Somewhere in the midst of the prayer... it turned into a blogpost. Normally doesn't happen… and I was going to rewrite the whole thing. Then I thought, maybe… just maybe, you all might want a look into the way my ridiculous brain works. :) Saturday 11/26/11 You are all I need God.  You are more than enough! Sometimes You, in your sovereign plan… no, a lot of times, You bring people into my day, my life, my world, to give me what it is that You know that I need. But, too many times, I take it upon myself to appoint others, especially my husband, as my Savior… the one that will sweep me off my feet and rescue me out of all my troubles.  I lay a burden on the poor guy that he was never meant to bear. For example, this past Monday [I think this is where it turns into a blog instead of a prayer btw], I was so excited that Kevin was going to be there with me for Andrew's surgery.  He couldn&#

After Thanksgiving "Thanks"

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Thanksgiving has come and gone. I have been hesitant to even post anything about it. It just all seems so cliche. This year it has been especially crazy. Dad was in the hospital last week. Drew had surgery on both feet on Monday. Kevin came down with cellulitis in his foot on Tuesday. We think Alayna has strep. I have changed ice packs and Depends. I am the resident nurse and pharmacist for the whole household. I have spent more time in the hospital/dr. office than a recovering hypochondriac can handle. Not to mention… Everyone keeps talking about how grateful I should be to have both parents with me on these holidays… And when I don't feel very grateful, I feel very guilty. That being said… When I walked in the door tonight, Mom and Dad were having pumpkin pie by candlelight, listening to the local radio station play Christmas music. At first I was teary eyed just looking at my parents… it was precious! Just then, on the radio, came my very LEAST favorite

Crazy Thought

So, I was downstairs exercising this morning, and because I was pretty close to death (need desperately to get into better shape), I had this thought… What would happen if I keeled over and died right now? To that I answered… It would be great.  I told God that I would absolutely love to see Him right now... that I totally trust Him with my husband and my children if He wants to take me home right now! A very sweet peace came over me right then. I trust God in my dying. Then I thought… What is wrong with me that I don't trust Him in my living????  I don't totally trust Him with my husband and my children if He wants to keep me here on this earth today. Crazy thought huh?  It kinda seems like the worry and anxiety that I carry around day to day is based on the premise that I am in some sort of control… as long as I am here to save the day (or ruin it) of course. For today… I am going to set my heart and mind on 1 Peter 5:6,7 Humble yourselves, therefore, unde

It's Still Hard For Me To Believe

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I know it's been a long time since I have blogged.  I have a whole lot of thoughts about blogging, just seems like I don't ever have enough time. But yesterday while I was out on my walk, I just got to thinking… I am not sure that I've ever really written Kevin and my story out on paper.  We've told it countless times…and I'm sure if you are our friend or in our family, you have heard it countless times :)! Today though, I just want to record this story of redemption…and what a better way to do it than here… in blogland?! So here we go... If you knew me when I was young, you might say two things about me ~~  I loved Jesus & I loved boys!  You can already see where this is going.  In high school, I went to all the christian events I possibly could.  I really wanted to follow Jesus, but I know my friends would definitely say that I talked more about guys than I ever did about my God. The summer after our freshman year in college,  Mr. Kevin Shock asked me

Here's What I Do Know...

Life is crazy around here. Dad seems to be getting worse... He is still so cute though. Mom gets very frustrated with him... She still loves that man so much. It is raining. I have to pick up Dad's van from our mechanic. I haven't even thought about supper. We have a co-ed bridal shower for 3 couples tonight at community group. I am bringing the meatballs... and cupcakes (courtesy of Kristen, Christen & Alayna). I so love our community group. Katie might come :). We have so much to do for She Has A Name . I cleaned our bathrooms this morning! Alayna is trying to finish up Math for the year today. I adore my husband! God is on His throne. We are taking our first ever alone family vacation on Friday. Atlanta here we come! The very God who placed the stars in the sky and knows them by name... He cares about me... and what is going on in my house and my heart right now. When I thirst, I need to turn to HIM... All my fountains are in HIM! He is the well

A Sweet Mother's Day

We just sat at Bob Evans with my mom and dad, Kevin's parents, our kids, our grandbaby and our niece Katie.  Hard to believe we had 4 generations (on both sides of our family) enjoying everything from pancakes... to fish... to a big ol' burger.  Bob Evans is a great place for such an age span :)! I realized as I was sitting there just how special this moment really was. I so wanted to savor every minute of it.  Crazy how fleeting time is. We just sent Alyssa and Kessa off... back to their new home in Indy. Right before they took off we captured Kessa on video... singing her precious rendition of The ABC Song for her mom, grandma and 2 great grandmas. We were all so very proud :)!

Go Ahead... Stand On A Chair!

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Alyssa and Kessa are here. She (Alyssa that is) just sat down at the piano... Playing Grace Flows Down . It was beautiful. Asked her if she would play my favorite... Help Me To Find You  by Todd Fields. A song that we learned at Passion '05. We sang it in our leader's group. Had never heard it before. I think it is one of my all time favorites. When Lys plays it, I stand up on a chair... I am not even kidding (there are people who have witnessed this...). And sing it at the top of my lungs... It ain't pretty. But I don't rightly care. The kids don't even laugh at me... They know I mean business. After singing today, I found it on youtube. Just want to share it with you! Feel free to stand on a chair and sing once you catch on :)!!!

One Life Can Impact So Many

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Some might say my mom has a "simple faith" .  Actually, that is what she calls it.  I would say her faith and trust in our God truly are the furthest thing from simple ~ She has a deep, beautiful, trust in a very personal Savior.  I can tell you this... she hasn't ever read Systematic Theology or studied The Doctrines of Grace, but if you have had an encounter with my mom, you have had an encounter with Jesus. I am the baby of 5 children... not an accident, a pleasant surprise :)!  The span between me and my oldest brother is 18 years.  He was going into the Air Force when I was born.  Needless to say, when I came into the world, my mom was already a very busy lady. With kids in high school,  jr. high,  elementary school, and a full time job, she definitely had her hands full. I have to tell you though, she was never stretched too thin to have time for me. She was a rocker.  Not like "hard rock music" rocker...  but "sit in a rocking chair and rock me u

My Prayer For Today

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This video is really speaking to my heart right now. A sweet new friend pointed me to this song. It's not easy when you are in a position of leadership... OF ANY KIND... Whether it's ministry, family, or just plain blogging. I just hate it when my ego gets in the way... When I long for the approval of man. Makes me seriously want to just give up... Hand in the towel (is that how you say it?). In this video, Lecrae is has done an amazing job showing us how to pray. For today Lord... YOU LEAD!  I can play the background... Let me rest in YOU and play the supporting in role in your unfolding story!

To Honor Our Moms!

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Mother's Day is right around the corner. I know,  Easter first right? BUT... Easter is coming late this year, which means we can all take a minute right now to plan ahead on just how we can make Mom's Day extra special this year! I love my mom... shout out to Punkie :)!  She is so precious! I plan on writing a blog in her honor on the actual day --                                       there are so many great stories (beautiful and funny) to tell about that woman... OK... wasn't going to do this now, but here is just one... When I was a senior in high school some of the guys in our  class decided it would be funny to T.P. our house...  I won't name names... or maybe I will (my hubby, Geoff, Scott, Jon, Rob etc.) Anyway, as they were in the process, Mom came out of the house and instead of yelling at them, she invited every single one of the villains in for some  HOT CHOCOLATE!  Who does that????   Oh yeah,  Punkie does :)!!! For now though, I have co

How It All Got Started...

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It's been a long process... wrapped in a whole lot of prayer, asking God how we can be a part of what He is doing among the poor and marginalized... in our city and throughout the world. It started with praying over Isaiah 58:9-11 and believing His Word is TRUE... 9  Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.' If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, 10  if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. 11  And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. At the same time, we were introduced to the fact that slavery still abounds, not only in foreign countries, but even right here in Columbus Ohio.