Its 1 a.m.

Matt and I were lying in bed, resting after a very relaxing day at home. The day was simply amazing. We started out by sleeping in, then we hung out in the living room eating lunch and watching TV. Matt worked in the yard, and I did some deep house cleaning while the kids played. Around 4:30 it was time for dinner, we warmed up left overs, and watched a movie called "Four Brothers", it's an awesome movie. We retired to the patio, for strawberry shortcake, yum yum, and a few games of Go Fish with the kids, after they played in the water. We played cards under the patio lights until 9:30. It was just a good day. Easy going, we enjoyed just hanging out. We didn't spend any money, not even on gas. We just hung out together enjoying life. At one point in the day, the kids were playing on the computer. Zach and Abby were sitting in the computer chair together. Matt was telling Abby he was going to throw her in the shower with her clothes on, we kept razzing her and finally we picked her and put her in the shower with her clothes on. Not wanting Zach to feel left out, we drug him to the shower as well. I know it was silly, but it made us all laugh. It was great fun.
Then we all went to bed. We know we will have a long day tomorrow, so we went to bed rather early. We apparently missed the 5 phone calls that were made on our cell phones, but they were followed up with our door bell ringing at 1 am. My heart dropped and I was so scared to answer that door. So scared that someone had died or hurt terribly bad. At that point and time I was too scared to cry, too scared to answer the door, but the door bell kept ringing. It was my dad, he told Matt to get his shoes on, he needed him to go with him. He still had not told us why, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know. Fortunately it had nothing to do with someone dying or being in the hospital. But it's really not much better.
It is going to be a long night. I am going to ask that you pray for this situation. I know that I didn't tell you what it is, but God knows what it is. Pray for my parents, because I know they are dealing with a lot of emotions right now, and they really don't deserve any of this. I am sitting here crying, it's now 2 am. I have been on the phone with Matt and my mom, trying to keep each other updated on the situation. My heart is heavy, and I wish I had the words to say that would make this better. But the truth is, this person needs God in their life. I'm afraid that until then, that this won't be the last time we go through this.
Here's to 1 am phone calls, and ringing door bells. May God touch the lives of anyone else who is receiving those very same things. Inevitably, it's not happening because of something good. I pray for peace amongst the lives of everyone who is receiving phone calls and ringing door bells in the middle of the night. I pray that God will begin to break the sin in people's lives, that he will break them down spiritually, emotionally, financially, or whatever it takes to get them to turn their lives around. How low must a person go, before they feel like they hit rock bottom and finally look up to see that God loves them?
I hope all of you had a much more peaceful sleep. God bless you all.

What does it take?

What does it take to win the Stanley Cup? According to the coach of the Redwings, after winning the first 2 out of seven games in the Stanley Cup Finals, he says that playing the game sometimes seems a bit redundant. You get out their week after week with the exact same goal of winning the game. You never feel as though you are so good that you do not have to practice. When I ask what it does it take to win the Stanley Cup finals,
1. Practice, everyday you must practice.
(In our Christian life we call this prayer and reading. Everyday you must read and pray, no matter how redundant it seems. These are the tools in which Christ has given us, and unless we use them daily, we will fail. Our marriages will fail, our church will fail, and you have just given the devil the ability to inch his way into your life and take over. The less you have of God in your life, the easier it is for the devil to come and take over. If the Redwings didn't practice everyday, do you think they would have taken home the Stanley Cup? This is the number one team in NHL and they know they must never feel they have it right. Never get to the point where you feel you have everything completely figured out. If you are trying to figure it out without prayer and reading your bible, the answers you are getting are not coming from God.)
2. You must strive to win
(What are your goals in your christian life? Some of you, right now are thinking, are we suppose to have goals? You should have goals in your christian life. Maybe it is a goal of reaching someone at work, or the person next door. Write down your vision for your church, where do you see it going, how do you see yourself getting involved in your church. If your answer is that you do not see yourself getting involved in your church, then you are not doing the first thing. I promise you, if you are praying and truly seeking God's will in your life, you will know that you must become a servant to the people. God is not going to tell you to sit on your rear and do nothing. God is first, and he is always first. If work, sports, going to the lake, your family, paying bills, is coming before God, then don't be surprised when that ton of bricks falls on your head. If your kid spends more time playing sports than they do in church, don't be surprised what becomes of their life. What you put into a life is what comes out of it. It's kind of like eating, I can feed myself with nothing but crappy food such as pizza, chocolate cake, fried chicken, gravy. It tastes good while I'm consuming it, but it makes me fat and unhealthy. If I eat baked fish, vegetables, and fruit, not only have I fulfilled my hunger but I have also made my body feel better. I have more energy, no high blood pressure, no high cholesterol. Those other foods are great, but they are slowly killing you. Start filling your life up with God and not worldly stuff. That person you witnessed to at work is going to heaven with you, that brand new motorcycle you just bought and want to ride instead of going to church or reading your bible is staying here. The bible says that we should store up heavenly treasures, not earthly ones. Strive to store up heavenly treasure.That bible verse you read today, it stays with you. God will use them in your life, and will use them to touch the lives of others.)

3. Never Give Up
4 games into the Stanley Cup Finals, Redwings has won 3, Penguins 1. The Redwings only had to win one more game to take home the cup. Game 5, Penguins win in 3 overtimes. Talk about not quitting. They kept fighting until the end. We will be in heaven forever, we only have a few numbered days on this earth to reach people. Can you imagine being able to look into the window of hell. Oh, there is that kid next door, there is that lady that sat next to me in my office for 15 years, there is my kid brother, my aunt, my uncle, my cousin, there is my son or my daughter, there is that girl who needed money on the side of the road, there is that guy who works the cash register at the store, there is my spouse, my best friend, my teacher, my boss, that poor girl that got pregnant when she was 16 and I turned my head --I didn't talk about her but I didn't help her either. Who will you see? Ask yourself this question, pretend you are looking in the window of hell, how many people do you see that you had an opportunity to witness to and didn't. I pray that when you look in that window, you don't see yourself. Never give up. God wants to use you to save someone from going to hell. Quit thinking that it is not your responsibility and that Gods will is for you to do nothing. Living a good life does not save people. If your child was drowning, would you want someone to jump in and save them or simply walk on by and hope the next person will get them out before they drown.

I know I do not do enough for Christ, I know I am not reaching every soul that I can reach. I know that I am not helping every person in need that I can help. But my goal is to allow Christ to touch as many lives as possible through me. Your body is God's, and if you are not allowing him to use you, you are not in God's will. If you think that it is you that touches the lives of others, it's not. It is God that works through you. It's your choice to live for Christ, and to win souls for Christ. It's your choice as to whether or not you feed your soul with God's word and prayer. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to become spiritually mature? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to grow your church and win souls for Christ? Are you willing to help the children, make food for funerals, help people in need, set up chairs, sweep floors, do video's, take pictures? Are you willing to be a servant for Christ? You must first have a servant's heart, before God can use you to lead. Jesus was a servant, his disciples were servants, why do you think he would expect anything different from you?

What is true love?

Have you ever experienced true love? Yesterday I visited my Aunt, it has been five weeks now since she lost her true love. I can't imagine losing my soul mate, spending 42 years of my life with them, only to lose them. The words, "it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all," comes to mind. As much as I know she hurts right now, if I were to ask her if she would do it all over again, she would most definitely say yes.
I have visited with her several times over the past five weeks. Her heart grieves so deeply, deeper than I can truly comprehend. She has had some really tough days, and I know she has more ahead of her. Saturday she received a phone call from someone who did not have knowledge of my Uncle's passing, she picked up the phone and was asked if Leon was there. I can imagine in her heart, for a brief second it probably felt so normal, picking up the phone and hearing someone ask to speak to Leon. But then, it all came crashing down on her as reality set in, she began to explain his death to the person on the other end of the phone. She spent the next few hours making phone calls, and trying to find someone to talk to. She just needed someone, anyone. Every number she dialed, it seemed no one was available, leaving her alone to think about everything she did not want to think about at that moment.
I went to visit her yesterday, we spent an hour talking to each other. She was able to spend the day with a friend and get out of the house. I was fixing to leave, and she told me to hold on a minute. I walked back to her bedroom with her, she had been going through some of his clothes and wanted me to take some of them to my dad. She had 2 shirts lying on the bed, and she picked them up and asked me to smell of them. She picked up one held it to her face and breathed in through her nose, she said this one still has the smell of his cologne. She picked up the next one and once again lifted it to her face before asking me to smell of the shirt. She said this one has been washed, but it still smells just like him. The shirts were lying on her bed because she sleeps with them at night. She wants to be able to smell him lying next to her while she sleeps.
As much as she hurts, she would never wish this hurt on him. She told me that if one of them had to go before the other, she was glad it happened the way it did. She said she would have never wished this kind of hurt on him, and feared that she did not feel it would have been something he could have handled. That is true love. Every second she grieves for him, she proves the love she has for him.
I know I have the same love in my life. My husband never misses a moment of showing his love to me and appreciating me. Sometimes I catch him just staring at me, and there is the most loving smile on his face. I know there is nothing he wouldn't do for me. He doesn't talk about how pretty women on TV are, he always lets me know how beautiful he thinks I am. He always makes me feel as though I am the only girl he wants to look at and be with. I don't feel like I have to measure up to all of the other beautiful women in the world. I love my husband with all my heart, and I know one day one of was will be grieving the same way that my Aunt grieves today. But our love is worth it all.

It's not an ordinary day

As our pastor said today, it's our choice to make this an ordinary day. It was not an ordinary day for my house. It's not even an ordinary week. Today I taught the kids that we all have choices to make. We must choose to brush our teeth everyday, if not our teeth become ugly, and they begin to hurt. We must choose to feed ourselves everyday, because if we don't our bodies become weak, and we will not survive. You may be wondering what choices my family made this week to make it an un-ordinary week for us.
First I want to say that I am so proud of my husband, because he is choosing to live a healthier lifestyle, he no longer must take blood pressure medications. We would think that little things like watching what we eat so we could be healthier would seem an easy task, but it's not. I know I have an addiction to food, i just love the taste of certain foods. My husband and I were talking, and we decided that we should not think of food as something we desire to have, yet it is fuel for our bodies. I know it has not been an easy choice for my husband to make on a daily basis, but he is starting to feel so much better.
Second, I want to say that as a parent this is one of the proudest days of my life. Matt and I have been talking to Zach and praying with Zach all week. the other night, I watched Matt as he taught Zach how to build a bird house. It became a lot more than a father and son working in the shop, that night his daddy taught him much more than how to build a bird house. That night his daddy also taught him how to accept Jesus into his life. The week went on and Matt and I continued to pray with him and teaching him that he was the only one who could make this decision in his life. Tonight I sat in the floor, with my baby boy sitting in my lap. Tears streaming down my face, I began to explain to him that I knew the day he was born that God had special plans for his life. Time and time again God has spoke to Matt and I through our son. As I began talking to him about the salvation of Jesus Christ, he began to cry. Wiping the tears from his eyes, and the tears still streaming down my face, he told me he was ready to accept Jesus into his heart. He wanted his Daddy to come and pray with him, and Matt lead him through accepting Christ into his heart.
My family will all be together in heaven some day. What a great peace and great joy for my family, knowing that we have all made that decision. It is not an ordinary day in the Duke house. Soon my daughter and son will be baptized together, and I will cherish this very un-ordinary day for the rest of my life. I am thankful for the love of Jesus Christ, my heart is so overwhelmed with joy right now that I can't even think of the right words to say. Other than I am very thankful for this most wonderful day.

When God Speaks..........

Isn't it nice when someone calls you just to say hello, and to let you know they are thinking about you. I know it means so much to me, to get an e-mail with words that were meant especially for me, or a phone call. It means even more when God takes time to let me know he is thinking about me, and lets me know that he cares. I have days that my head is sometimes filled with doubt, or stress, and then someone will send an e-mail and say, "I don't know why but I have had you on my heart all day and I have been praying for you." That day, my uncle had passed away and this person did not know it. But I could hear God saying, "hey, I'm here and I'm taking care of you," audibly through someone else. I'm a kid like that sometimes. Wanting my daddy to give me a hug and tell me he loves me and just assuring me that everything is going to be OK.
We all have days when we feel so much less than ideal for anything God wants to use us for. I can't tell you how many times another friend of mine has come to me at church and said, " I really feel like I am suppose to pray for you," not knowing why or what was going on, but almost everytime I would sit there with tears streaming down my face as I listened to my heavenly daddy speaking to me once again. My friend did not know why she was praying or what she was praying about. I thank God for friends that are obedient to God. I thank God for speaking to me through my brothers and sisters in Christ. Every time he speaks to me, I feel as though he is telling me his grace is sufficient, and I am sufficient to do God's work and that no matter what he is my daddy and he loves me.
Next time you feel like God is telling you to pray for someone or call someone, be obedient. They may need to hear what their heavenly daddy is trying to say to them. They may need a little lifting up.
Have a blessed day.

Words not spoken......

As you have read my last few blogs, death weighs heavily on my mind. I sat with my Aunt yesterday and listened as she talked. Some things that she said really lies heavy on my heart. She said if she had only known that day was going to my Uncle's last, she would have said so many things.
Unspoken words typically have an eternal effect, whether it be on your life or the the life of someone else. If you never ask Christ to be your personal savior, then eternally you will burn in hell. Once you die, it's over. All of those things you wished you would have said or done, you will no longer have the opportunity to do. Once you die, the eternal effects of the words you never spoke will begin to reap havoc on your eternal life. Some people may say they do not know if they believe in heaven and hell, I will tell you this, the only way to truly know is in death and then it's too late.
As for my Aunt and the words she never spoke, those are things that will haunt her memory. We all have things we wished we would have said or done. Truth be known, she was with my Uncle 24/7, I am sure he knew how very much she loved him. She showed that to him on a daily basis in every little thing that she did for him. Sometimes love is shown more in what we do and not what we say. Once again that too can have it's eternal effects on your life as well as the life of others. My Aunt has been blessed with that over the last week. People have been stopping by, people have been praying for her and listening to her. The actions of people have truly been uplifting to her, in a time that she describes as the worst pain she has ever felt in her entire life. No words can take away the pain she is feeling right now, but she says that she can feel the prayers of her friends and family everyday.
Who do you know that needs to hear about the love of Christ? Who do you know that needs for you to show them the love of Christ? How many prayers have gone unsaid because we don't have the time? Once again....unsaid prayers are unspoken words. It's time to quit thinking that we have time. It's time to stopping thinking that someone else will speak to your neighbor or that person you work for. It's time to stop thinking that maybe tomorrow, I will stop by the house of that person who just lost a loved one. Today is all we have. Let's not leave to many unspoken words behind.

In Memory of Uncle Leon

The parking lot overflowed , onto both sides of the street. People poured in, relatives, friends, and neighbors of the deceased. Every seat was full, and people were lined against every wall. What an impression he must have made, for so many to come and pay respects to Uncle Leon. Music played, that was dear to his heart. I could visualize him on stage singing, "On the wings of a snow white dove." Words were spoken, memory's were shared, many tears were cried, and even some laughter filled the air.
The lights were flashing as the line of cars preceded to the grave. Hands to forehead, there was one final salute to be made. Flag draped over the casket, the sounds of the trumpet rang clear. My son standing in front of me, on his head laid my tears. Respectfully, the flag was folded in an orderly fashion. Then placed in the hands of my dear Aunt Patsy. People passed through one last time, to give comfort to the hurting and give their final goodbye.
He is home with Jesus, probably playing his guitar. I can hear the tunes he's playing, probably some Ole' country song. One day we will be home with him, first we have more work here on earth to do. But when we are done, Uncle Leon, we will be coming home with you. I can't wait to see how beautiful heaven must truly be. Because our father in heaven, created it especially for you and for me.