Our Magical Mom

Sunday, January 29th would have been my Mom's 74th birthday. I miss her on a daily basis. She was one I always bounced idea's off of.  Many times she gave me answers I wasn't thrilled to hear, but most of the time, she was right. When we were younger she was very diligent in handing out the discipline. We kept a clean house, and by we, I mean my sister and myself. Of course it was clean to my Mothers standards, not ours. She took us on adventures and always made everything we did exciting. Even though we grew up in a situation that wasn't always pleasant, I never knew the gravity of it until I got older...because of my mother.  She just plain out, all in, unconditionally loved us. And we felt it.

When we were growing up one of our most favorite places to go was Disney World. We were there when it all began...before Space Mountain was a glimmer in Walt's mind. We loved it! When you walked down Main St you were suddenly transported to a world where everything was good and happy and clean. I have eaten enough frozen chocolate banana's for a lifetime.  And my mom was the one who made it all so special.  As we got older and began to have our own families, we just passed it all down to them.  We have spent many a happy day on that specific property. 

So, on Sunday, in honor of the birthday, we decided to head down to Kingdom and step into the magic. The children, the grandchildren and the great-grandchildren were all in attendance. We chose the Studios for different reasons and once again, WDW did not disappoint. It was a day to have lots of family fun and remember our mom in a special way. There was a lot of laughing going on....well, some screaming and a few tears, too.  But it was a day to remember.  On the way out of the park that night, with my children and grandchildren walking ahead of me, I turned to look back once more down the main street and then looked ahead to my mothers legacy walking, laughing, punching and loving each other.  Each one at different stages and places in their lives, but all of us coming from a mother that loved the Lord with all her heart and loved us as well.  As I froze that frame in my mind, I breathed a prayer of thankfulness for all that has happened and all that will be. I bet my mother did that a time or two herself.

Thanks for all the memories, Mom. We miss you.

God Calls. Who Will Answer?

Within the realm of the Christian life, we are commanded to go and reach people for Jesus. Many of us take it for granted that "others" are more equipped and "more called" than we are and we sit idly by letting them do the ministry that we, as believers are all called to do. And while there are many ways and many ideas to reach people for the Gospel, we have to get up and actually put it into action.

On Sunday, our church heard a presentation on The Praetorian Project. While I have heard it before, it again became fresh and new as the vision was cast. Pillar Church, in Dumfries,Virginia is a body of believers that sits on the outskirts of Quantico, the "Crossroads of the Marine Corp". God has given their pastor, Clint Clifton...aka my son-in-law...and the people of Pillar a ministry vision that has an explosive future.

The apostle Paul said, "my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel...so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard.."  In this passage comes the premise of this project.  Pillar church doesn't want to measure her success by the numbers in attendance each week. They would rather "measure her success by the number she is able to scatter to establish new churches".  They are endeavoring, with God leading the way to establish churches at the four major Marine bases; three in the U.S. and one in Japan. It's huge, it's mind-boggling, it's way beyond their scope of completion, but not beyond the God who ordained it.

Take a moment and look this up:

www.praetorianproject.org

You will be blessed. You will be inspired. Most of all, your heart will be touched by the fact that God can get His story out using ordinary people like us.  We just have to be willing and say, "Yes, Lord".