THE SHOCK FAMILY

I am loving the new David Crowder Band CD -- Church Music.   The words to the songs just hit home, and it is the BEST MUSIC EVER to run to!  My favorite song so far on the cd is Shadows. The lyrics are incredible... When shadows fall on us We will not fear We will remember When darkness falls on us We will not fear We will remember When all seems lost When we're thrown and we're tossed We remember the cost We rest in Him Shadow of the cross What a word picture!  When I listen to the song, I can feel myself kneeling in the shadow... Resting there... Peaceful there... Safe there... No worries there... HOPE there! It reminds me of a sermon I heard by Matt Chandler ( I wish I could remember which one it was). He said (and I am paraphrasing)... The cross is not something we lean against and tell others they had better come over here and kneel down... No, the cross is place where I myself am kneeling and telling others ...

Here it is...  I am Charlie Brown -- Satan is Lucy -- I keep falling for the same old lies! Proverbs 26:11 As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly .  Everytime I watched this cartoon as a kid, I always just wanted to scream at him  "Stupid Charlie Brown! Why are you falling for it ONCE AGAIN?????"  Is that not what we do all the time?  same old lie, maybe packaged a little differenly . My friend Jane pointed this word picture out to me last week.  I keep thinking about it, and it has helped me sooo much!  I am putting this picture up all over my house...  I will NOT kick the football! watch video here: http://www.hgtv.com/videos/the-elusive-football/8751.html

My only sister! She thinks I will have nothing to say about her... believe me, I have plenty! Kath is 13 years older than I am, and I am pretty sure I have been following along in her footsteps my whole life.  From being a majorette, to homeschooling, to reformed theology...  the way that she has lived has so much shaped who I am!   Of all of the women I have talked about so far, I have to say...  she is my favorite!  Can I say that :)???  All of the others have come in and out of my life due geographics and circumstances beyond our control...  but Kath...  she has been the one "constant" in my life.  She has always been there...  no matter how far apart we live!   One of her gifts is that she is such a good listener...  and we all know that is a must if you are in my life :)...  she will listen, and listen, and listen some more... and then have such encouraging words to say at that end, always pointing me back to Christ...

Ok... I know the Big Game is only a few hours away, but I want to tell you about my dear precious friend Cindy... and then I promise I will put my "game face" on! I was just thinking about her a little bit ago, and how she said to us one day "I'm tired, and I could go take a nap, but I think I'm gonna go for a bike ride instead. After all, energy breeds energy ya know!" I LOVE THAT!!! I want to LIVE that out in my life... She is the older woman that I had been praying for since we moved to Columbus. I just kept praying that an older, wiser woman would step into my life... and God answered so hugely with Cindy! Last fall, I met her when we worked together out at Leed's Farm. I could see instantly that she has such a peace about her, and I admire that so much. At that time we were in the heat of wedding planning, and I was stressed to the max. Cindy would just keep reminding me to ENJOY the time... it would go by fast. She was so right! I w...

Momma Lori! What can I say about Momma Lori? Better known at Blackhawk as "Korban's mom"... and at first that is exactly how I knew her... but when she and David started coming to our small group, all of that quickly changed! It was so nice to have some gray hair in the midst of all of us "20 & 30 somethings"! She became not only my mentor, but my biggest cheerleader... she so has the gift of encouragement!!! Kevin and I would go to the Miller's house and sit on the couch and eat some of David's famous popcorn... and just listen to them... ok, maybe I talked a little ;).... they had so much wisdom to pour into us about child rearing, ministry, relationships etc.! I got to see up close and personal just how Lori could befriend someone at work and bring her into the family of Christ~with Jane Treece. Jane is an amazing testimony of how Lori could love someone and lead her into a vibrant walk with the Lord! My favorite trait of Lori...

I am half way through "My Tributes"... and I have to pause and say something. This morning as I was out walking/praying/trying to run, I had a sort of revelation. I'm just gonna be honest here. I realized how much I am wondering if the three ladies I wrote about have seen what I wrote... wondering if they liked it, if I offended anyone, if I did not do them enough justice (sidenote, they all 3 know me well enough to know that I would be thinking that :)!). In the midst of all that thinking, Chris Tomlin's "All The Way My Savior Leads Me" came on my ipod. As I was listening, I felt like God was saying to me (not audible btw!) "Ya big geek (ok, maybe He didn't say that, but it sure did sound like it), Why are you so worried about what others think? I am right here.... THANK ME for those women in your life. Who do you think put them there? Who knew EXACTLY what you needed and when you needed it? Who gave these women the words that t...

I am so excited to write about Laurie D.! If I had to use one sentence to describe her it would be "She walks with God"! The first time I met her was in a youth leaders meeting at Blackhawk. we were told to write notes of encouragement to each other. Laurie wrote one to Kev and me (I still have it)... she signed her note "Desiring Him Alone"... and Oh, is that true in her life! Laurie taught me so much about living for Christ every waking moment! I remember being at her house for bible study and thinking she was CRAZY for not having cable and not going to the movies. One time, somebody asked her if she was fasting from TV… her response was, "yes, I'm on a life-fast from TV." NO WAY could I EVER live like that! She explained to me that it isn't about saying "NO" to that stuff... it is about saying "YES" to Jesus! The more we draw near to Him and "taste and see that He is good", the more we notice the th...