Defender of the Minivan

The intention of this blog is to defend the poor minivans in the world. As I’m sure you know minivans tend to have a bad rep among moms. I would know this because I use to be one of the typical moms that would say “I will never drive a minivan, they are such mom cars or mom mobiles, I want an SUV!” Well, then the day came when we had 3 kids and wanted a bigger vehicle. For nine months we smashed all 3 kids in the backseat of our car, we actually had to take the arms off of Josiah’s car seat and Elisha’s booster just to make it fit. Somehow we even managed to go on a road trip to Arizona with all of us in our car.

Anyways, it was really cramped so we knew we had to start thinking about a getting bigger vehicle. So of course I start researching SUV’s and after lots of research I realized that they didn’t make SUV’s in our price range. Then one day it hit me! And I have to contribute it to the wise words of my second favorite Pastor (Vince being my first) Steve Wilburn! He said, “Needing a minivan is the stage of life you’re in, enjoy it!” Then I began to wonder why didn’t I want a minivan again? Oh yeah, because that’s what mom’s drive! Wait, I am a mom! A mom of 3! When did this happen? I’m 30 and a mom of 3. It’s not like I’m a teenager driving my mom’s minivan. I am now “the mom”. I’m grown up and yes I think I qualify for a minivan. Yes maybe I look like the typical 30 year old mom driving a minivan but in my defense that is what I am! I am enjoying every second of being a mom! I cook, clean, wash laundry, change dirty diapers, get spit up on, homeschool, wipe off cute dirty faces, make cookies and drive a minivan. It’s the stage of life I’m in and I LOVE it! I love driving my minivan and looking back at 3 precious happy kids in the backseats! I also know someday when I’m older, and my kids are grown, and my minivan driving days are over I will look back and miss these days! So if you need a bigger vehicle save your money and get a minivan, I promise you will enjoy it! And don’t worry if you drive an SUV we can still be friends!

Wells of Grace

Some of us pastor's wives at church were asked to write on the subject of Grace. So here is an old blog I decided to re-write:) Because it is still applies to me today! There are a million things that come to my mind on the subject of grace but this is what stands out to me the most right now.Wells of Grace

Being a mom with 3 small kids at home comes with lots of joy, laughter, smiles, love, cuteness, busyness, and energy. My days normally consist of making breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, diaper changes, and occasional temper tantrums either the kids or me. There are plenty of times my days feel overwhelming or monotonous. But as I sit here looking around our house at crackers ground into the carpet, toys covering the floor, and the smell still lingering of a diaper I just changed, I can’t help but smile and be thankful for His grace on this ministry He has given me here at home.

I love that with kids you can get a kiss whenever you tell them to kiss you. A hug when you ask for one. You can dance to kid movies, crawl around on the floor or play hide and seek. All things you wouldn't normally do. I love taking care of our boys and I wouldn’t change it for anything.

When those times come and I find myself losing perspective of what God has blessed me with I often stop and meditate on verses like 2 Corinthians 9:8 which says, “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” I am confident that God will abundantly provide all I need. When I choose to rely on His Grace He faithfully pours it upon me. My daily tasks are then filled with joy, strength, contentment, love and delight. After I turn to God’s word I realize the very chores that threaten to drain me become wells for grace that God is pouring into.

The wonderful thing about these wells is God doesn’t just fill them but He overflows them. As a result the abundance of grace washes into the lives of my family and those the Lord sends my way. It blesses me to know that my need for grace will also turn into a means of grace for those that I love.

Our ministries can be hard at times with all that may be on our plates, but when we meditate on Him and allow the Holy Spirit to fill us, we will have the strength to glorify God in all we do big or small. Now if I just continue to walk in God’s grace while I'm scraping food off the wall, or refolding the laundry, He will use me as a channel of His undeserved favor to all that are thirsty for grace.

Awkward is okay

Why is it always awkward to invite someone to church? I carry flyer's for day 7 or other events at church in my purse, so if I’m out doing stuff and the Lord lays on my heart to witness to someone or invite them to church I’m prepared….or at least I try to be. When I had the privilege of going out witnessing each week with the high school ministry it was always those first few seconds that you approach someone that was AWKWARD! “Hi I’m Kim, and I’m out here talking to people about Jesus” Yep Jesus, someone that no one outside of church seems to talk about or know about. People always look at you kind of caught of guard for a couple seconds and then the conversation usually goes just fine. Most people are actually pretty open to talking about God, especially because it’s not an everyday conversation for most.

So yesterday I’m leaving Traders Joes and there is a girl sitting in a car right next to mine waiting for someone. I’m loading the kids in the car and putting my groceries in and thinking I should talk to this girl. I should at least invite her to church. Then I think, no it will be awkward, or to hard, the kids will start freaking out I just need to go. So then I back out of my parking space and again I think I should really at least invite her to church. By this time I’m driving away and I realize I ran out of flyers in my purse. Okay well I can’t invite her even if I wanted to, I don’t have any flyers on me. So now I’m leaving the plaza driving down the street and I look down and see a big stack of Day 7 flyers in the door of the car. So this whole time God is laying on my heart to talk to this girl and I’m basically trying to talk God out of it. Why? I don’t know. So then I decide to turn around and go back to the plaza and IF this girl is still sitting in her car and IF the parking spot next to her where I was originally parked is still open THEN I will invite her. So of course I drive back and the parking spot is still open and the girl is still sitting there. If it wasn’t awkward to invite her to church before it will be now! So I pull into the parking place and look over at the girl who looks at me like….(weren't you just parked here like 4 minutes ago?) Well I don’t know if that what she was really thinking, but that’s what I imagined her thinking. I Get out of my car knock on her window and invite her to church! And guess what… it wasn’t hard!

This was convicting to me because I want to look at these opportunities like the HUGE privilege that it is! To be used by GOD and tell others about him! So, if God lays it on your heart to invite someone to church, or to simply walk straight up to them and tell them about Jesus. Then do it! Don’t debate on if you should or not because it’s a waste of time and you could loose the opportunity. Plus God always wins! It might be ackward at first, but that's okay! As you can see I’m preaching to myself ;)

I love your blog

I have to say how much I enjoy blogs. It has almost become a hobby to me to check my friends blogs and update my own. Especially since i'm a stay at home mom it makes me feel connected to the real world. Before I had kids I always enjoyed writing, so this is a little way to do something I enjoy. I love reading my friends blogs. My friend Veronica has the cutest blog and up until she had her 2nd baby "Isaac" she was always so faithful to update her blog. I'm giving her a little slack on keeping up since she has a newborn now. I don't get to see her as often as I use to but I still feel like I know what she up to via her blog. Veronica and her husband Daniel have been awesome friends to Vince and I over the last few years. We go back to when we were all brand new parents. I remember telling Veronica when we were both pregnant with our first baby that we can't eat ketchup anymore because it had something in it that is toxic to our babies ( I thought I had read this somewhere). We both freaked out and talked about how much ketchup we had eaten up to that point. I went back to what I thought I had read and I was totally off.

Then I always keep up on Hannah's blog. Hannah is one of the sweetest people I've ever met. The very first time I met Hannah she gave me loads of baby clothes that happen to be in her car. She also told me she had a crib that I could have, which her and her husband delivered to me the very next day. She is ALWAYS a blessing to others and I pray the Lord's continued blessing upon her. I don't get to see her that often either but I can keep up with her because of her blog. Which by the way always has pictures up of the cute things her 3 year old does. And the most precious pictures of her baby girl.

Next I read Alyssa's blog. We go way back! I remember her when she was just going into High School. I also remember when she first talked about a boy named Jon that she met. Now she's married and her husband "Jon" is the Jr. high pastor at Harvest. She is always so sweet and it's refreshing to run into her at church because the Joy of the Lord shines through her!

Then lastly I read Alicia's blog. I met her years ago also and she just happen to stumble upon my blog a while back. Which made me check out her blog and i've been reading it ever since. She has some AMAZING cooking skills and I love how she has posts recipes with pictures on her blog. I still am trying out the recipes in her archives of things she's made.

So the point of all this is nothing besides I love your blog. Watch for my next post called I love your myspace. Just kidding :)

My first year doing Woman's bible study there was a girl in my group who shared something that stuck with me. She came from a big family, she had like 8 brothers and sisters. Anyways, she had a verse she picked out for each of her family members that she would pray that verse for their lives. So I decided to do the same.

When I was choosing verses for people in my family I thought about what they might be going through in life. For instance my aunt and uncle are in the process of adopting a child. So the verse I pray for them is Proverbs 16:9 "A man's heart plans his ways but the Lord directs his steps." So, As my aunt and uncle pray and seek the Lord and plan the process of adopting I pray God will direct their steps. It will be awesome to see the Lord answer this prayer when they receive the child God has for them.

My brother and sister in law awhile back were praying about moving to Utah. I would pray Proverbs 24:3. That they would have wisdom and understanding on where to establish their home. They did move to Utah and I believe the Lord definitely directed them. It is really cool to write down the answered prayer then find a new verse for them.

For my cousins who are coming into those pre-teen years I pray Romans 12:2 upon their lives. "And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

These are just a few examples of the verses I pray for some family members. I really enjoyed picking out a verse for my husband, my children, parents, in-laws, my brother, and other family members. So as I pray the verse I picked for them it is a springboard on how to pray for them. It has really helped me to stay focused and to remember each persons needs. So I just thought I'd share this in case anyone wants to do the same:)

My Uncle Mike

This is my uncle Mike. He went home to be with Jesus right after Christmas last year. This is the only picture I have of him. I didn't know him that well , last Christmas was only the 2nd time I remember meeting him. Mike randomly called and said he was coming down to Riverside for christmas last year. It was Kinda odd since we had never spent a Christmas with him before but we were glad to see him. While he was here my parents brought him to the Christmas eve service at church and he gave his heart to Jesus. Although he didn't walk forward, he told us he had said the prayer in his heart and that he meant it. And Jesus heard him. A couple days later after Christmas he flew back home had some problems and was hospitalized and put in a induced coma. A couple weeks after that he died while in coma. Mike didn't live his whole life for Jesus, but we have a gracious God who loved Mike so much that he gave him another chance at eternal life. And Mike accepted it!! :) My family and I didn't get to spend much time with him here on earth. But we have an eternity to spend with him worshiping Jesus in heaven!

The Sand at the beach

When we were on vacation Vince watched the kids while I got some alone time with the Lord on the beach. As I sat there I couldn't stop thinking about Psalm 139:17-18. It talks about God's thoughts toward us and If I should count them they would be more in number than the sand. I kept running my hands through the sand and thinking about how much sand was in my hand, and then how much sand was all over the beach everywhere. God has that many thoughts about ME??? Read Psalm 139 if you get a chance, It is all about how much God knows about us! He knows us better then we know ourselves. Which I find soooooo true in my life. A lot of times I don't know what my motives are for something, what my thoughts are for something, or even if I really desire something. Let me put it this way....sometimes I'm just confused in my head. Probably partly due to talking to a 2 year old all day. But it's so comforting to know that God knows me and has everything planned out and under control in my life. All I have to do is surrender to Him and His plans....So I don't' have to worry:) So Again, Read Psalm 139 it's awesome!!!!!

P.S. Veronica & Brandi......do you like the title of my post??? It's the best I could do (inside joke)