MY FAVORITE QUOTE

I'm going to internally combust if I don't share this with you.

This is my very-favorite-of-all-times-numero-uno quote:

"BY PERSEVERANCE THE SNAIL REACHED THE ARK"

-Charles Spurgeon

This quote just begs me to think deeply and to move determinedly.

When I want to give up, I just imagine Noah and ALL the animals hanging out in the ark...getting impatient, wanting to close the door, ready to go.

I imagine Male-Snail and Female-Snail going as fast as they can, but the ark seeming so far away.

I imagine that nobody or no animal got off the ark to go and help the snails.

And I imagine that nobody or no animal had to.

'Cause the snails had God, and He was gonna make sure they made it.

And we know, to this day, that they did.

Hey, I'd love to know what (if at all) this quote speaks to you.

Jesus and DJ

Ah, isn't DJ too cute here? This is one of my fav pix of him. Well tonight as I helped him with his snack, he stopped mid-snack & struck up a conversation with me.
I'd like to tell you about it:
"Mommy, I want to ask Jesus into my heart."
"You do? Do you know what that means, DJ?"
"It means I'll get to go to heaven."
"What else?"
"It means that He will help me read and write."
"Uh, hum, well, uh...." (Me, trying to come up with a smart-mommy reply)
"Can you pray it with me, mommy?"
"DJ, do you know what Jesus did for you?"
"He helps me do everything." (DJ)
"Do you know what He did on the cross for you?"
"He died for all my sins."
"DJ, let's ask Daddy to pray with you, cause he's your daddy AND your pastor!"
DJ hopped down from his barstool, went up to Raul and told Raul he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart.
Raul took DJ by the hand, they went to his room and they prayed.
When DJ and Raul came back into the living room, DJ came up to me and whispered in my ear, "Now Jesus can speak to me."
I'm sorry, I need a moment, my eyes are really watering as I type this....OK. Better.
Let me land this plane...
I don't know how this all unfolded in our home tonight. I may never know. I wasn't prepared, I didn't have time to call a parenting hotline. But here's what I know for sure: Jesus makes himself known to all people, everywhere, all the time.
For five years and 12 days, He's been making himself known to DJ Palacios.
Tonight, DJ Palacios chose to make himself known to Him.
And for me, there is not a bigger celebration.

Green Baggin' It

Being the good mama and wifey I try to be, I make several trips to Publix every week (where shopping is a pleasure). I do this to ensure that my little family has plenty-o-sustenance to nourish their manly, little bodies. Tonight was no exception. After the kiddos went night-night, I went to Publix. When I got back, my Cuban was kind enough to help me bring in the groceries. And then he proceeded to make fun of me AND my new green, recyclable Publix bags (see photo). I cautioned him that if he made fun of my bags that I'd blog about it. Uh-hum. Look, I'm not some crazy tree humper-hugger-granola-no deodorant weirdo. But I do have a heart for God's Green Earth, and the preservation of it. It devastated me when we lost 2 palm trees in Hurricane Wilma. And when DJ started to axe a tree in our backyard with his sword, we had a serious talk. We need trees. I don't know all the reasons why, but I know we need 'em. They are a part of God's creation & surely they were bountiful in God's perfect Earth called Eden. And, well, that's really all I need to know to do my best to preserve them. So, here's to green baggin' it and if you want some for yourself, go to www.greenbag.info and get some, & then let my Cuban know you did. : )

Decisions for DJ

For our firstborn, DJ, it was a rough first week of kindergarten.

Raul & I knew we had to take this on, seek God, and do something.

But what????

Our options had equal (+)s and (-)s.

Don't you hate that?

It's like, "God, PLEASE, I'll do anything you want, but PLEASE tip the scale one way or the other!"

But He didn't, and that's OK.

By the end of the week, we blindly proceeded with our seemingly sensible decision. But it's what God did afterward that reminded us that He never turns deaf ears or blind eyes to our cries.

In this week of not knowing what to do,

I am so glad that God did know what to do.

Oh, sure, we could ask, "Well then why didn't He do it?"
He did.
He LET us pray to Him and He let us be heard.

He LET us be the recipients of HIS wisdom THRU others.

He LET us come together as a husband and wife and lean into each other for DJ's sake.

He LET us make our decision (to put DJ back in K4).

And then He LET us know, (after the fact) that His peace and His contentment are some of His favorite gifts to give when we are blindly faithful.

Next week will be a new week for DJ - he's going into a new class so he can do better.
It'll be a new week for me too - I'm going into it with a new outlook on God, I'll do better too.

WORDS! WORDS! WORDS!

In case you're still in the dark, I love words! I just can't get enough of words and the assembling of them. If Raul would let me keep one book in our bathroom, it'd be a dictionary. I subscribe to a word-of-the-day email. I've been doing crossword/word- search puzzles since middle school. When I'm waiting around, I love doing the vocab quiz in Reader's Digest. Its so important to stretch our vocab. Just because we aren't learning grammar in school anymore doesn't mean we should stop learning grammar. The Second Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary contains 171,476 words in current use - but just how many of those words do we know, much less, actually use?

I thought I'd share some of my favorite words & how to use them.
If you're feelin' it, add 'em to your word reservoir and try to use them sometime this week.

1. JUXTAPOSE- place side by side: "The fauvists juxtaposed strong colors."
2. EXPONENTIALLY - in an exponential manner; "inflation is growing exponentially"
3. QUANDARY - The school was in a quandary over the needful size of a playground.
4. COPIOUS - She thought about the planets all day and wrote copious notes to them.
5. QUINTESSENTIAL - Of, relating to, or having the nature of a quintessence; being the most typical: "Shakespeare was the quintessential romantic"
6. COMPELLING - having a powerful and irresistible effect; requiring acute admiration, attention, or respect: "a man of compelling integrity."
7. CAPSULIZE - To capsule: capsulized the news every 30 minutes.

iPhone at A9?

No, this is not a google image. This is the real thing. I was really in the Dallas airport, I really saw an iPod vending machine, and I really took a picture. And yes, I really did check to see if there were any iPhones in there - there weren't. But is this a trip or what? Vending machines started off with providing us sustenance to keep our bodies functioning. Just insert coins, select A9, get a bag of pretzels and the hunger need is satisfied. So this just begs the question: has iPod become so vital to our existence that it has crossed over from want to need? Is it so pertinent to our daily lives that we need iStuff in accessible machines at daily locations? So we can drop quarters into a big, steel box & select A9, to get our fill? Or maybe...our fix? I'll let you answer that. Here's how I can answer it - this vending machine caught my eye, but it didn't get my money.

Retro-Heather

I've kept my little poem-journal since 1986! Though I stopped writing in it years ago, I thought it'd be kind of cool to revisit. In 1995, I wrote this one when I was all screwed up in my life and frustrated with my faith. I was 22 years old. Its totally cheesy, but does remind me of some important matters of the heart.

I stopped being a Christian
I gave it up for two days
I became a compromise
Things didn't go my way.

I stopped being a Christian
I thought my prayers weren't heard
Isn't anybody out there?
Isn't anyone concerned?

I stopped being a Christian
Although nothing wasn't bad
My nothing didn't get better
Now nothing was all I had.

I stopped being a Christian
But He spoke up and said
You don't stop when you're with me,
if you get up, I'll take you ahead.

www.mynakedpastor.com AND Bill Murray

1. Wanna be a VIP guest at the naked pastor's launch party? Go to youtube, make a video telling us why, and you just might be!

2. This morning, even before my morning joe, I downed an Aleve. I woke up with a brainache because I had too much to do in the next 16 hours. You say you did too?

Here's some advice from a great scholar, Bill Murray:

Sometimes our life IS Groundhog's Day - the exact same minute-by-minute insanity, day in- day out. I have to accept this, I have to deal with it. Wake up, turn the alarm off, get out of bed, start the day. At least I am able to start each day - there are many who aren't even that fortunate.

I don't need to look at my day as A DAY. I need to see it as steps WITHIN my day.

Step one: wake up. Yes! Did it! Victory!

Step two: quiet time. Yes! Did it! Another victory!

Step three: got DJ to 1st day of kindergarten. Yes! Did it! And yet another victory!

And on it goes.

An entire day is too much to sum up as worthy or wasted.

But steps we take within each day

provides more reason(s) to be glad.

Thanks, Bill Murray! Your movies are hilarious and helpful.

Floridians in Texas

My naked pastor and my naked pastor's wife are with me in Texas
(ok, kidding, I'm with them and yes, I'm the 3rd wheel).
We are Floridians in Texas cause my naked pastor is teaching at Fellowship Church (& leaving his church in good hands with our non-naked pastors.)
On my VIP-LeadHer list, Troy & Steph have held the 4th spot for a long time (following God, My Cuban, my P.'s)
But while drinking good coffee, I had some good convo w/ them & learned some good things:

• Talk to strangers: a waiter aspiring to be a dee-jay ; a hotel guest on the elevator. For two reasons: a stranger is still a neighbor; we could also be helping an angel.
• Be me. Don't be gray, don't be black-n-white, don't be a prism of many colors, as much as I just gotta be moi.
• When its my darkest hour; lean into others. Oh sure, it's a risk, but it's the BETTER of two risks (if the other risk is to walk through my darkest hour with no one.)

Have a great day, my blogger-friends. I'm so grateful you stopped by here today. Will you please pray for a few things? Our hurting Lima, Peru, the hurricane heading toward Texas, and the miners who are missing and the lives who were lost searching for them.

Job

Lately, I'm hanging out with Job. This morning's passage really jumped off the page and slapped me on the face. So I thought I'd share, and I cap'ed the words that slapped...
"Yet if you DEVOTE your heart to him and stretch out your hands to him,
if you put away the sin that is in your hand
and allow NO evil to dwell in your tent,
THEN you will LIFT UP your face WITHOUT shame;
and you WILL stand firm and WITHOUT fear...
You WILL BE secure, because there IS hope;
and you WILL look about you and take your REST in SAFETY.
You will lie down, with NO ONE to make you afraid,
and many will court your FAVOR."
Job 11:13-16, 18-19, NIV

Post 2 - My Life in 1985

I received my first journal in 1984 as a Christmas present from my grandma. Thought I'd share a couple entries from it...

April 16, 1985

Today was my 1st day of cheerleading [practice]. I was superb. I did everything perfect and the teachers were amazed. I have a cheer that I hope is okay well I'll find out!

April 22, 1985

I didn't make cheerleading. It makes me mad because the reason I didn't make it was because I missed to much school. The stupid judges didn't say anything about not being in school, its not my fault. I'm not trying out again, I'll probably get the stupid same excuse. Its going to be hard to go to school tomorrow. But I can do it. I feel sordove [sort of] depressed I guess. I'm going right up to Mrs. Ware the head judge and I'm going to ask her why I didn't make it.

Man, as I reread this, I can tell my personality hasn't changed much, eh?

(Mom, Dad, Sue, are you cracking up at the tone and verbage of little Heather?)

Its intriguing...I see pride issues in the 4/16/85 entry, anger issues in the 4/22/85 entry,

and the continual struggle of both 22 years later.

What a discovery this is, to see that I haven't changed much;

what a reminder this is, to know that all I need is God to start trying.

Post 1 - earthquake

Right now, our FRC campus in Lima, Peru is our urgent prayer request.
Could you please pause right here, right now, and pray for the devastation and the victims in Lima? And for our FRC leadership there?
---------------------prayer pause----------------------, amen.
Thank you.
"Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them."

DJ Boo-Boo, part 2

At the end of this day, DJ ended up smiling. Pastor Allen and Miss Sharon had given him a little jar of "Boo Boo Cream." I told DJ this will help his eye in 2 ways: help the ouch, remove the tears. So at first, I was gonna blog that's just like God! He gives us Boo-Boo cream too, for the same 2 reasons. But that seemed too trivial, too trite. So I drilled down a little deeper with this idea (Troy, Fuller, Heredes) & discovered a more penetrating revelation (to me, anyway):
In my quiet time, I am reading Job. What I'm learning is that God paradoxically works:
Sometimes HE allows the boo-boo; eventually, He offers some boo-boo cream.
When does He offer His boo-boo cream?
For some of us, we'll get it on Earth. For some of us, we'll get it in Heaven.
Two examples:
. I used to be obsessed with my image. I had done ALOT of stupid things to myself and to others all in the name of image (or, lack thereof). This was a serious boo-boo. At 25, God sent boo-boo cream in the form of a book, "Search for Significance"--been healed ever since. I'm significant because God made me and the only thing I need to believe, as far as image is concerned, is that I was made in HIS IMAGE!
2. There's a couple of things that have been done to me that I will never understand why. I'll never be able to confront it. I'll never know justice to these matters on Earth....I'm learning I don't need to. I think, sometimes, some of our boo-boos matter SO MUCH to God, that He'd rather wait til we get to Heaven to receive His healing.
Where He doesn't just offer boo-boo cream, but where He can embrace us as He heals us with it.
Maybe you are right here with me.

Whether God heals with the tenderness of his fingerprint today, tomorrow, or forever,
I am tightly holding to His promise that He always will.

DJ Boo-Boo, part 1

DJ, in his happier days with uninjured eyes.

DJ, in his not-so-happier days.

It gets your heart racing when you hear break-the-sound-barrier shrieks from a kid.

It gets your heart racing when you run to the scene and blood is pouring from their eye.

That's my little man, DJ, up there.

He got poked with a sharp metal stick thingy and unfortunately it cut his eye, right on the lid, just beneath the lashes. But fortunately, it missed his eyeball (thank you for your protection, God).

The doctor couldn't use the glue stuff cause it was to deep so they actually had to needle those 2 stitches right in there.

My poor little guy.

If you feel sorry for this kiddo, send him a comment today.

He's laid up today and would get a kick out of reading them.

Cool Quotes From Cool People

In the last week, I've heard some really cool people say some really cool things. Some are from a leadership conference I attended. Some are not. But here it is, in their words. I hope one of them hits you right where you are.

1. "He didn't make you a leader to deprive you a vision." - Billy Hybels
2. "Let them all know that it was a miracle." - Pete Guyon
3. "The way to solve the F's is through the A's." - Marcus Buckingham
4. "I want to be remembered that I served truthfully and left behind a good family...positions are fine but they all come to an end." - Colin Powell
5. "The next generation's bread will be determined by the grain we leave behind." - Troy Gramling
6. "In your word it says even the rocks will cry out to you, I don't know about you, but I don't want a rock praising Him more than me." - Brian Fuller
7. "I had made mistakes but I had made a difference." - Carly Fiorina

Psych...literally.

I was wondering what you would think if I told you I saw a counselor last week?
I was wondering if you'd think....what?!
But isn't she, like, one of those Christian-people? a pastor's wife? a leader at her church?

Doesn't this quote-unquote leadHer have it all together?
Would anybody check out of this blog if I told you I saw a counselor last week?
Please hear me, I'm not on the defensive, I'm just wondering....
With this blogging thing, one thing I'm deeply convicted about is honesty.
I'm not gonna waste blogging air-time, or your time
if I'm just good at typing lip-service or disingenous thoughts.
This blog is gonna be for real.
I'm really gonna be honest and the day I feel lured not to be,
I'm no longer open for business.
God's just not gonna honor dishonesty on this blog.
'Though it's tempting to blog on things I feel strong about,
I've done nothing if I'm not honest about the things I feel weak in.
Folks, look, straight up....here's the deal...I went and saw a counselor last week.
Bam. There it is. I said it.
And you wanna know something funny? I have been seeing counselors since I was 10 years old.
When I was 10, my parents found a letter of mine that raised concern, so they had me see a counselor....and I've never regretted that.
All my life there have been 2 constants: my struggles and my counselors.
And you know what the bond is between the two of those?
God.
God knows my struggles and my counselors know God.
And as long as I'm on this globe, I can not imagine a world without both.

A Woman Named Carly

I gotta tell you about this chic named Carly Fiorina. I've never met her. Until today, I had never heard of her. And when I did see her, I only saw her from a distance for only 20 minutes. Bill Hybels
was interviewing her at the Willowcreek annual Summit Conference in my Windy City.
As he did, I couldn't take my ears off her words, nor my pencil off my journal as I wrote down every one of them.
As if my leadHership had lost some voltage, God used her to electrify it.
Immediately following her interview, I bolted to the resource table to buy her memoir, "Tough Choices."
She is woman (duh).
She is a leader.
She is a change-agent in our world.
Just ONE of things I got from the interview was her relentless pursuit of truth. Great leaders come w/ alot of great qualities, but her defining quality was truth. You'll have to read her book to get all the scoop. But here's the deal. When my leadership gets racked over the coals, when my leadership is put to a flaming test, do I...will I...ALWAYS go for the truth?
Carly was blind sighted at a board meeting when she walked in and was fired and was told to cover up the truth w/ some budge reason that it was her choice to step down to pursue other things. THIS is what THEY wanted HER to tell the media and the company. But she told the truth. And I think in her life, in mine, in yours....when we do, HE sets us free. He sets us free to what? To see that on the other side of telling the truth, HE has something better.

Lean On; Lean In

You remember that big-hit song in the 80s, "Lean on Me"?
"Just call on me brother when you need a hand, we all need somebody to lean on..."
It was a remake but man, was it a hit.
"Lean on me" is also a cliche. I tell others, "Hey, man, lean on me anytime," and others tell me the same.
But sometimes it is so tough that I need to be absorbed by something stronger, steadier, more stable.
Leaning on humans is good, but not enough.
That's when it calls for a lean IN.
Doesn't God tell me I am his lamb? his child? and under His wing?
All those metaphors are more about leaning in, than leaning on.
I can lean ON when I am equal to another, you know, shoulder to shoulder.
But when I feel small & weak, I need to lean in to God.
Absorbed by his love and protected by the shelter of his wings.
Where I am the helpless--foldng and buckling into the arms--of the Helper.
I've had to lean in to God more and more. Maybe you have too.

Str8 from My Gut

How do we know what to do, what is right?
How do we do it when God's not in sight?
We pray, "Please whisper in my ear today,
seems like some answers are just clicks away."
We're dependents, desperate to hear from Him,
pain travels to the heart where answers begin.
It is there where we once asked Him to live,
The Answer is there, and He's ready to give.
He doesn't need to be the other side of our sight-
to know what to do, what to say, what is right.
He's closer than anything we can visualize, see,
He's in our heart, the Answer, the center of me.

MY NAKED PASTOR

My church is getting naked, and so is my pastor! No...not that kind of naked, a new kind of naked. A revolutionary kind of naked. A nakedness that has no shame; a nakedness that would make God smile. Beginning Sept. 9 at 8pm, our church is putting our pastor on a 24-hr webcam. We are going to see him in his fishbowl - the good, the bad, the great, the ugly - for FIVE weeks. Not too exalt him, but to realize, thru him & with him, that we're all fish in a bowl. Which simply means the more transparent (naked) we get, the more permeating Jesus Christ can be. We aren't called to be children in hiding, concealment, or shame. God has called us by name, we are His, and we are to be naked and unashamed in HIS light for HIS glory. So, get ready, 'cause on Sept. 9, Flamingo's going in a bowl.

Times r a Changin'

• In Ancient Greece, a courier named Phidippides could run 155 miles in two days.
• The Pony Express could travel 1,966 miles from Missouri to California in 10 days.
• Using email, I can send a message around the world in a few seconds.

Times are a changing.
Thankfully, so am I.

• Before being hugely influenced by my pastor & his wife I would judge people within a few seconds. A couple yrs. ago, I remember judging Joel Olsteen. I merely saw him and immediately judged him. I had some nerve.
• Last year, I remember prematurely judging a new person to our team. Though not within seconds, but still...within days. Right after this person came on board, I calculated in my head what they would and would not be able to do. It's been over a year, this person has not only done what I thought they could do, but also shown there is nothing they won't do. Gosh I'm ashamed.
• Today, I had an opportunity where there was no time to judge. As I exited a ramp and slowed down to wait at a stoplight, a woman walked toward me with a sign, "Please help. Homeless. God Bless You." I rolled down my window, handed her a $20 along with a Flamingo card and continued driving.

I hate it that I judge. Hey, no offense, but I think I'm gonna finish this post with God today. God, I stink at judging. I'm so sorry. Please continue to evolve me into a girl who judges less and loves more. Please remove my planks.

My Cuban

Many of you know the following about me: I am not mushy, I don't kiss in public, I don't sing songs or write poems to show my love. I am more likely to annoy the Cuban than dote on him. I don't always hide my conflicts with him. I usually forget Valentines Day & our anniversary. Ten years ago, I told him, "I can open my own car door." After he proposed to me, he was confronted by 2 concerned pastors who advised him to not marry me. This Friday, we are doing an interview on the topic...of all things...fighting.
So, for the most part, the general public has only seen a very odd-couple in action.
But the Cuban and I embrace our oddness, and we aren't ashamed to let the world see it and there are a few things I'd like to add...
1. I am fiercely protective of him and I think I will hunt down and break the teeth of anyone who hurts him.
2. In 2000, I almost left him. I will spend the rest of my life staying as close to him as I possibly can get. And I will never let go.
3. The Cuban is my best friend. After God, there is nobody who has my greater trust, love, sacrifice, or devotion. The Cuban is truly the man.
4. Despite our oddball ways, we have a strong marriage. And it isn't strong because either of us hold it up. It is "bulletproof-vest" strong because a few years ago, when we couldn't hold it up anymore, God did. And we believe He's never stopped.
5. The Cuban isn't the wind beneath my wings or the wind in my sail or any of those sappy cliches. He is the antonym of me. Every weakness in my life, is his strength.
And I am thankful.

OK, well, there it is.
I felt it, so I had to write it.
Thank you.