been meaning to share this!

Today is my first guest blog!

I loved this when it was shared with me, and I asked permission to share it with you.

I actually asked months ago - and he gave me immediate permission!  but i guess the time wasn't then.  its now

so i hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

******

Jesus Loves You, but...

Copyright (c) 2010 by Dann McCreary

It's not often that I sit down to write a devotional.. but here I go! I'm in New Hampshire for a few
weeks, working (thanks to my "portable office") and babysitting my brother's dog Koober.

During a work break, I thought I'd head to the Chocorua General Store on Route 16 to see if the
owner might be there. Maryanne and my wife Pam shared a hospital room in North Conway, where
our second son Christopher was born shortly after Maryanne's Kimberly. Sure enough, Maryanne
was there but she was helping some customers and didn't notice me come in. I proceeded to look
around the store, browsing while waiting for Maryanne to finish with the others.

I found a small oval ceramic plaque – blue lettering on an off-white background with a curly flower
motif below the lettering – that read as follows:

Jesus Loves You

but I'm His favorite.

Now, Pam will tell you that this is completely uncharacteristic of me; I immediately took the plaque
down off the wall and up to the front register where Maryanne was almost finished with her
customers, and after reminding her who I was (yes, I have greyed out considerably.. yes, the beard
is substantially longer,) I bought the plaque on the spot. After exchanging a few pleasantries, I left
and went back to work.

Strangely enough, I virtually NEVER make an impulse buy like that, especially not something cute
or decorative. Whatever could have possessed me to buy a knick-knack like that plaque?

During the last few years, I have simply felt so intensly loved by our Lord Jesus that I've found
myself being almost apologetic to my fellow believers, occasionally finding myself making
comments like "I don't understand why the LORD loves me more than you, but it's just obvious to
me that He does." I have watched in wonder as the LORD has so kindly and graciously resolved
issues that I had despaired of ever seing an answer to.

In reflecting on this, I recalled the Apostle John. When I was younger, I always wondered why it
was that, in the Gospel of John which he wrote, John never referred to himself by name. Rather than
saying "John" or "me," John spoke of himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." (See, for
example, John 19:5, 20:2, 21:7, and 21:20)

I am finally coming to this conclusion: the better we get to know the Lord Jesus, the more we will
all come to think of ourselves as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." I no longer wonder why John felt
that way. It was obvious to John that Jesus loved him more than all the rest! It is just as obvious to
me that John was wrong, because Jesus couldn't possibly love anyone more than He does me!

Sometimes Jesus' love is tough. Sometimes it's as gentle as a summer shower. How about you? Are
you "the disciple whom Jesus loves?" Wouldn't you like to be? Just get to know Him better, and
you'll soon find out that I'm wrong, that it's you He loves the most!

******

Of course Dann is wrong, He does love me the most :)
hehehehe

Le :)

a time to be born

and a time to celebrate that birth :)

i thought that i had gotten on here on my birthday!!! but i'm looking back over my blog and laughing that i did 3 posts thispast week and realizing that i only did one for the whole month of July!

wow, lazy bum!

so i guess now i'm making up for it!  hehehe

I not only celebrated another year of life for myself in July - but also another year for my hubby and another year for my baby boy Joey.  who is my big boy really.
our firstborn!  only one more year until he is eighteen!!!

i can remember his first steps like it was yesterday.  so crystal clear in my mind.  his little legs walking down the hallway in our vacation condo in Ocean City, Maryland.

wow.  time is a crazy thing.

on my birthday, as i was driving him to school, we passed by Margi and her kids on the road.  we hit a red light, she asked what we were up to, i shouted with a massive smile and upraised arms "Its my birthday!!!"  in the goofy way that only I can.

she said "come over!!!"

we did - and i had the best impromptu birthday time in the world!!!  i love you Margi :)

we walked (of course), we talked (of course), we had lunch and then we were on our way.

**before i go any further.  Margi walks with an insane pace.  unreal.  my shins were BURNINGGGGGG. LOL  ok back to the bloggie.**

5 years ago she and Michelle surprised me at my house for my bday - and now 5 years later she did the same again! hehehe  this is becoming a fun tradition.  i suggested that for the next bday 5 years away, she might want to celebrate it with me by surprising me with a trip to Fiji.

just a suggestion LOL

and then around my bday... I got an amazing donation to the well.

like the kind that makes your eyeballs pop when you do the double take.   it wasn't FOR my bday, but it sure did make that bday week something special.  I couldn't have asked for a better bday gift :)

I think this second well is definitely going to be sent this year - and I'm so excited for it!

I thank the Lord for all of your generosity.  You have made a huge difference in the lives of one entire community already and we are "well" on our way to doing the same for another community.

do you love it???  i do and i love you too
Le :)

a new ache? COME. ON!!!!!!!!!!!

why did i think that i would be getting FEWER aches and pains as I continued jog/walking.

by the way... i hate saying jog/walking.  isn't there a word for that?  i need to create one.

jalk?

yeah - i'll keep thinking about that one.  that sounds stupid.

how about wog?  "I'm going for a wog."  "How was your wog today?"  "Anybody wanna go for a wog with me?"

hahahaha i like it.  wogging for a well.  it still works :)

back to my train of thought... so i finally kinda found a way to decrease the pain from my heel.  it hasn't gone away completely - its more like.. at bay.

which is cool - cuz it keeps me faithful in my stretching.  when i don't stretch, i am painfully reminded of how necessary it is.

but now the OUSTIDE of my foot is hurting!?!?!  (i know. i know.  i'm running on the outside portion of foot.  I got it.)

but apparently walking on the outside of my foot didn't really aggravate anything.  stepping it up to jogging, with all of its jarring motion, has made me now aware that I even have an outside portion of my foot. LOL

isn't that funny?  you forget about certain muscles - until you overwork them.  You don't even realize you need certain body parts until they're out of commission!  you take your body for granted until its compromised.

speaking of which... saw Soul Surfer this week.  amazing movie.  nah... amazing girl.  the movie was cool - but her testimony spoke volumes.  craziest thing that I took away from the movie was - months before the shark attack - she and her mother had been praying that the Lord would use her in a mighty way.

Wow.

in case you haven't heard - this is the story of the surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack and came back to surfing with a vengeance!  amazing girl!!!!  in the movie, you assume she's 17 or something - but in the documentary - you realize she was 13 at the time of the attack.  when the shark took her arm, she didn't even scream.  its so much more than a movie about a shark attack.  i recommend it.

but this week as i get up from my chair, and it takes literally 10 seconds for my hips to feel normal... ( i swear i look crippled for the first few seconds!!)  i am just thinking...  in 10 seconds i will be able to move normally again.  what about people who will never be "normal" again?

Thank God for healthy bodies.

I know I've said that before - but I'll keep saying it.  I thank my God for my healthy body.  The healthy bodies of my children.  The healthy body of my husband.  Look around you.  be thankful for His blessings.

so... i have more aches and pains now that I've stepped up to wogging.  (like how i just threw that in there??)

There will always be new struggles with new experiences.  Just opportunities to gain perspective and appreciate who He is.

love it.  love you.

The Right Stuff

so is it a bad sign when you log into your blogger account and it says "Leah who?"

hehehe  just kiddin.  Blogger forgives me for my lack of social network time.  I'm sure you do too....   :)

Before the summer started, I remember asking our home school teacher for a bunch of books to keep us "busy" through the summer.  To which Miss Maria replied - Leah - its the summer - enjoy it!

oh no... we need to keep movin!  we need to read and study! maybe just a little... but at least something!

well i'm here to tell you - its 2 months later and not one school book has been cracked open.  and we are loving it!  Aren't you so glad that God CREATED rest!!!!  I know I am.  Sometimes we get into the mode of work work work.  sometimes for good reasons, sometimes not so much...  Work is a good thing - its ordained by God!  But so is rest :)

I'm not saying that my bloggies are work!  well - sometimes they can be.  but i do enjoy them!  Its just that lately - I've been on my walk/jogs - and I'll have something hit me on mile 0.56, and I'll be like - oh wow - that will be a great blog for today!  then mile 1.4 comes along and i'm like - hmmmm never thought about that one, Lord - that will be a better blog!    Mile 2.3 brings another set of lessons, and I'm thinking wow - as soon as I get back - boy - this will be one great blog!!!!

and then mile 3 is over, and i'm tired, and i get home, kick off my shoes and think - hmmm what did i want to say again???  how did it flow so smoothly in the moment, and then get lost in the space of 3 miles??

that's ok.

so... today's title.  "The Right Stuff".  for those of you around my age and older... remember that movie?  the astronauts?

Yeah... I just read a GREAT book about going to the moon.  (hehehe inside joke to some of you.)  and now i'm uh... *ahem* "onto" the sequel....  so I guess I have the moon on my mind.

But today - the "right stuff" isn't referring to traits that would make you a good astronaut.  I was on my walk with my 1 year old boyfriend, David, this morning - and trying out his brand new jogging stroller.  (i did try to jog but when i would pick up speed, the front tire would start to jiggle... anyone know why?
i was almost convinced that i was just jogging SO fast - that the stroller was pushed to its limit...
mm hmm.  i said ALMOST.)

anyway - jogging didn't work so well - but walking?  oh my goodness.  the ride was so smooth.  if you're not familiar with strollers - the regular ones come with 4 wheels and are pretty  much intended to just carry the baby, carry baby belongings, and just basically buggy everything around somewhat easily.  they can be cumbersome, and walking up the mountain... you can just feel how heavy everything is!!!

but jogging strollers are so streamlined.  they have 3 wheels - they turn much smoother and faster - and the wheels are more substantial. - almost like mountain bike wheels.

i felt like i could just keep on walking!  i could barely feel the extra weight!

(oh - plus - it has speakers.  for real.  so cool!  it has this little container in the front that you plug your iphone into and yes - it has 2 little speakers that amplify your music while you walk.)

now THAT'S the right stuff!

ever try to get through life with the wrong stuff?

i have.  name anything other than Christ - it just wasn't meant to fulfill us.  it just simply wasn't meant to be the stuff that we depend on, we rely on, or we need.  we're not designed for that junk.

The days when I find I'm relying on anything but Him are the days that I find I'm "pushing that heavy stroller up the mountain".

Today was such a sweet moment of clarity.  gliding up and down hills, feeling the distinction, amazed at what a difference having the "right stuff" makes.

I know my analogy kinda breaks down at some point... like all analogies do.

if it were a real example of what Christ does for us - I'd be David.. sitting back in the stroller with Christ pushing me up the mountain.

It's so good.  He's so good.  I wish everyone in the world could experience it.  I pray you do.

love you :)