Friends!!!!

I wanted to write a short little blog today about my friends. I have been blessed with some incredible friends!
Over two years ago, I had written an email to two of my Pastor's at church in regards to my inability to make friends at church. Not the superficial, "only see ya on Sunday" kind...but deep, stink together, family kind! I was so frustrated and discouraged about that. It is hard to live away from family and raise your child on your own.
Today I can say all has changed! I have some very close friends that I just consider part of my family. Today I want to write a thank you to them and give a shout out about how awesome they are!!!
I leave Saturday for Ukraine for a short term mission trip. Lindsey is staying home. But she is not alone. Last night I sat in the foyer area of our church with most of the members of our worship team all crowded around me...some where rubbing my back( they could tell I was feeling the physical stresses of the day and the trip coming), others were imputing on how they would like to help with Lindsey, others still were giving me financial blessings for my trip, others were sharing phone numbers amongst each other in support if the need arises that Lindsey needs anything at all. There was encouragement happening, and comfort being given...and I was totally blessed!! I have an awesome family, and a GREAT friend Amanda, and these awesome friends as well!!!!!!!! As I took this all in last night I was reminded of that email I sent to Pr Travis and Pr Bob those couple of years ago...and realized that God had taken that great heartache of mine...and not only healed it...but granted me an abundance!!!!!!! So today I say thank you, I love you and God bless you, to each one of them!!!!!! Here are their names:
Greg and Amy
Tony and Beth
Laura and Paul
Donna
Laura
Jean
Stacy
Wanda
Pam
Pr Bob
Jodie
Peter
Amanda
Chantel
Mom
Dennis
Pr Bill and Melanie
Dad

and I am sure I have missed someone...and this extends to all the rest of my family, co-workers and friends I am just beginning to know!

God bless each of you and thank you for your commitment to me and Lindsey!!!!!!!!!
What an honor and privilege I have to go to Ukraine and not only work to help these flood victims, but I GET to share who God is...How much He loves them, what He has done in my life and to leave with them His message of hope and love!!!! I get to also lead worship with this team and the villagers in their church....I am soooooooo humbled!!!!!!!!!! When God called me to sing, He told me something was coming and He said "I need you to be there when you need to be there." And I have prayed that prayer of "Lord help me to be there when you need me to be there", completely not knowing what "there" or "it" was...until God revealed that to me the other night....this opportunity is the "there and it"!!! I am humbled!
Thank you all so much for loving me, loving Lindsey and praying for us....and especially for not just making us friends...but family!!!!!!!!!!
Lots of Love
Lorrie

Zephaniah 3:14-17:
Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel!Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!The Lord has taken away your judgements, He has cast out your enemy.The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; You shall see disaster no more.In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands be weak.The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save;He will rejoice over you with gladness,He will quiet you with His love,He will rejoice over you with singing.


Isaiah 43:18-19
18 " Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.

Bent like the pipes under my sink!

I am sitting here in front of my computer bent like the pipes under my kitchen sink. I am so angry right now that I have been sitting here literally saying out loud...."it is okay Lorrie...some people are just lost and clueless." But needless to say...that has not abated my anger. I should probably pray for all of the people who in their ignorance do not know any better than to criticise and judge the character and integrity of others...when they A: do not know them...B: never walked in their shoes...and C: idolize themselves as the "AUTHORITY" on morality, character and parenting. Yep, you could say that someone started my fire and it is flaming!!!
Over the past couple of days, since John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate, there has been an incredible amount of talk on TV, in the papers, online and on the radio about who she is, and can "SHE" as a woman lead....after all...she is a woman...a mother of 5 and her daughter is pregnant....she must be a BAD MOM!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can expect this type of discussion from a male dominated media...I see and hear it all the time. I even see and hear it in my job...."Oh they let women drive the ambulance???" or "oh...are you a nurse??" Here is one...Amanda...you and I hear this one all the time...."wow...you girls can lift this....must have eaten your Wheaties..." and we answer..."we have to take the same physical tests the guys do." and people are just amazed!
So what lit my fire??? The comments about how Sarah Palin must be a bad parent because her teenage daughter is pregnant...and that means she could never lead this country. Really??? REALLY!!! Seriously...people have been saying that. So if a woman's child gets pregnant and isn't married...that is a tarnish on her(the mom's) character...but if the PRESIDENTS of the United States....a.k.a....Bill Clinton, JFK...ect....can have flings....and that doesn't tarnish their character....what gives!!!!!
Don't get all defensive that I am slamming the Democrats either....this isn't political...it is moral!
So let me lay it out there .....I was raised a believer in Jesus Christ....was raised by parents who loved me and set up good moral values in our home. I grew up knowing right from wrong...and what sin was and that it has consequences....and yet...at 19 I was at college and met a guy...dated...had sex...bang...got pregnant. Consequences!!!! I had grown up a very intelligent young woman...who at 19... made a very adult decision...and found out that I wasn't such a grown up after all. What did my parents do....they told me they loved me...that they would support me....but that I had to now enter this phase of adulthood, parenting and marriage as an adult. And I did! Does that mean that my mother's character was bad??? That she wasn't a moral person..or that she should never be viewed as a person worthy of leadership??? All because of my choice???? Sounds a little silly when I say it like that doesn't it!
What about this...after 3 children, a marriage lasting 16 years...a divorce..and now a single mom for the last 8 years...does that make me a woman of lesser character???? I went to school full time, worked full time and raised a family full time....when my marriage ended...I still supported my children, and myself and paid my bills and was responsible...all by myself. No welfare...no food stamps....I worked. Did I struggle...yep. Was everything always easy...nope. Is is always easy in the best of marriages??? Nope. Do children always listen to their parents??? Nope. So who are these people who stand in judgement of a woman's character??? Now I am not saying that people can't or shouldn't voice their opinions...cause that would generate a whole string of nasty comments about "constitutional rights". Believe me...I get that people have those rights...cause I have to keep my mouth shut and smile and be nice (ignoring my constitutional rights) when anarchists shout their rights and throw rocks...poop....urine at people all because they have the constitutional rights to freedom of speech.(show me where is says in the constitution they people have the right to throw poop! really!!)
What I am saying is that right now there is a media storm that is leading the charge to question a woman's character and ability to be a leader...all because her daughter, not the woman...the daughter is 17 and not married and pregnant. Yet those same people will over look the moral actions of Bill Clinton or JFK...in fact...JFK has been idolized and celebrated as a womanizer!!! Hello..........are you really that hypocritical???? This is where I am now going to through in the comments of political party....people are so biased by political party that they idolize the who they think are the "Heroes" of their political party based only on that person being a liberal or conservative...and trash the moral character of those not of their "party" and make excuses for their own party's candidates...leaders...Presidents...."but they did a great job with the economy" but look at that Republican....her daughter got pregnant....bad person!!!! What is that?!
So...I got pregnant....and my mom isn't a morally corrupt woman....I am a single mom...and I am not a morally corrupt woman....(yes I sin and am not perfect but I am not a morally corrupt person...lacking any morals or values!) and my oldest daughter is the mother to an incredible two year old girl...and her and her boyfriend have lived together for 7 years....so that makes me someone who shouldn't be in a position to lead...or have authority??? Wow....the next time someone calls 911...I better just say..."no...I can't go....I can't make any decisions in authority or leadership or live saving skills...I got pregnant at 19, I am a single mom...ect..........." Now how stupid does that sound? Exactly!
Billy Graham's son, Franklin, was a drug user when he was a teenager....so that meant that Billy Graham was someone that lacked moral character and it was his fault that his son did drugs???? Really??
Laura and George Bush's two girls did some things that got them into trouble in their teenage years...so Laura and George Bush are bad parents???? Really???
Your moral character can only be judged by your own actions. Not those of your children.

Yes we all know about the double standards that exist in our world. If we have the constitutional right to freedom of speech...why not actually use it to stop the double standards instead of adding to them just because you are a supporter of another political party. Think about it....how quick are we to spout off about the things others do...or their children do...all while refusing to talk about the decisions the person we think is sooo perfect is making. We excuse who they support and defend....but trash the opponent on the lack of moral character ???? Double standard...and it is pathetic.
So that is my rant today.
Oh and about a woman's ability to lead?? Check out what the Prophetess Deborah did in the Bible. Or Queen Esther. Or Naomi and Ruth. Or some of the women of the New Testament.
That's where I look when I want an example of moral character!
Thanks for enduring that fiery rant....
Lots of Love,
Lorrie

Built with Stones of Tourquoise

Isaiah 54: 11 states...I will build you with stones of Tourquoise.

Interesting...at least that phrase is interesting to me. I make jewelry and I am always looking at a new way to make something or a new "signature" piece for something I am making. I am always checking out what others are wearing, or what is in the stores. In fact, many of my friends have oooed and awed over things we see in the stores only to hear me tell them..."I can make that for you if you would like". So I am always looking for the interesting, the unique and the unusual. And many of those who see the jewelry I make ask if I can make them one...and I usually answer "sure but I would like to make it special for you and not just a copy of what I am wearing." I want that jewelry piece to speak something about them. To be an original...just as they are an original made special and unique by our God.
Well this morning I was reading over my devotional for yesterday (yep...didn't get to this one yesterday morning) in Streams in the Desert. And there is the scripture that I wrote above. Tourquoise is a very unique stone...not one piece is the same as another. I like that about stones. Just the other day I got a beautiful Lapis ring at the Farmers Market...and it too is the kind of stone that is not like another piece of Lapis. That is what I like about both types of stones....anyway............back to the message here...
So I am reading the message for September 1 and I just marveled at how it applies to each one of us on this journey in life....and I loved the idea of being a stone of Tourquoise. Let me pass along to you the message and then you will see what I mean.
I will build you with stones of Tourquoise (Is 54:11)
The stones in the wall said, "We have come from mountains far away---from the sides of rugged cliffs. Fire and water have worked on us for ages but have only produced crevices. Yet human hands like yours have make us into homes where children of your immortal race are born, suffer, rejoice, find rest and shelter, and learn the lessons that our Maker and yours is teaching. But to come to the point of being used for this purpose, we have endured much. Dynamite has torn at our very heart, and pickaxes have broken and split us into pieces. Often as we lay disfigured and broken in the quarry, everything seemed to be without design or meaning. But gradually we were cut into blocks, and some of us were chiseled with sharper instruments until we had a fine edge. Now we are complete, are in our proper places, and are of service. "
"You, however, are still in your quarry. You are not complete and because of that, as once was the case with us, there is much you do not understand. But you are destined for a higher building, and someday you will be placed in it by angelic hands, becoming a living stone in a heavenly temple."
In the still air the music lies unheard;
In the rough marble beauty lies unseen;
To make the music and the beauty needs
The master's touch, the sculptor's chisel keen.
Great Master, touch us with Your skillful hands;
Let not the music that is in us die!
Great sculptor, hew and polish us; nor let,
Hidden and lost, Your form within us lie!

So that is a rather interesting way of looking at who we are...and what our lives are like, and can be like through Jesus Christ our Lord...the Great Master, the Great Sculptor.
When we look at a beautiful stone...whether diamond, emerald, ruby, topaz, lapis or trouquoise...we always marvel at how beautiful it is...yet it doesn't get that way by accident...great force, elements and sculpting went into making that stone a beautiful gem....why not us too!!!
Things to think on maybe???
Lots of Love!!
Lorrie
Oh and 11 more days til I leave for Ukraine!!!! Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!