Dishing it up!!!

During such a scary time in our society where tragedy is occurring everywhere, it's important to lean into one another as a community.  Let's DISH UP some fun new relationships!

MY MISSION - IF I CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT (well, I did):

TO CREATE A TOOL TO... get to know some of the people we see in church or in our neighborhood, but haven't had the chance or tool to break the ice. We need ways to strengthen the body of Christ, and arm us that much more to reach the community.  

(It should not only be in the face of tragedy that causes us reach out to one another.)

Us moms who live in the kitchen already cooking for our family - how easy would it be to simply make another dish for someone we want to meet, bless, or get to know better.  

Introducing BLESSED BAKING - because not only do we bless someone else, but God always blesses us when we love those around us.

Since I'm a girl, I love pretty things - so I decided to make some fun colorful bakeware carriers.  I found the tutorial HERE

Next I decided the dish needed a little somethin'-somethin' so I etched BLESSED on the inside of the glass.

Then I commissioned my talented hubbs to draw a fun card that expressed the heart of this ensemble...to let someone know I'm thinking of them, praying for them, and want to FEED them.  For no particular reason...just because we need to lean closer together as the body of Christ then we currently are.

Card Front & Back

Card Inside

There are 3 things you can do with this dish:

1. Bake for a family or individual the Lord puts on your heart and encourage them to simply continue passing the blessing along.
2. Bake for a family or individual the Lord puts on your heart and tell them you will be back to pick up the dish within a week.  IN THE MEANTIME - be a prayer partner for them during the time they have the dish...and even look for other ways you can serve them while they have it.
3. If you are in a small group Bible study, home group, or other like group - designate a new group member each time you meet & give them the dish to fill with goodies for the next time you get together.  Whoever has the dish for the week is charged also with praying over the group individuals.

I LOVE how people come together during a time of crisis - my hubbs almost died...twice this last month, and I have been showered with calls, prayers, texts, visits, lunch dates, and food for our family.  It is a beautiful reminder that we need to be, and are here for one another.  

I want to see us grow closer together...in this world of such current discouragement.  Let us be continually mindful of those around us and knit even closer together as the body of Christ & community.  How powerful a light shining for Jesus can we be if we TRULY are working together!?

I will be putting the BLESSED BAKING kits up for sale soon.  Email me if you're wanting to get a hold of one now.  info@isaverb.com  I have a couple available.

My Husband almost died - 5 ways to walk someone through a hospital emergency

I just experienced the whirlwind of almost losing my husband to what they call the "Silent Killer". His blood pressure was so high that he had a stroke, and his kidneys & liver were shutting down.

The miracle of our loving God is that he walked away with NO damage from the stroke, or to any of his organs including his heart (which they said WOULD have damage because of the severity of his high blood pressure).

For eight torturous days, my husband was in the hospital having stays in several different departments including the ICU because of his critical condition, and even the cardiac open heart ward.  He underwent several tests & procedures for them to figure out the extent of the damage and try to rule out if there was any other cause to his high blood pressure.

I'm here to tell you he is a walking miracle - and I'm so thankful!!!!  I'm also here to tell you there were days I wondered if I was going to end up in the bed next to him.  As the fire hose of bad news from very matter of fact doctors came, I was feeling MY chest tighten, and my stomach churn.

In Jeremiah's absolutely-not-coherent-state right after being admitted to the hospital, he did what many people do...posted a selfie on Facebook.  Of course he doesn't even remember doing it, but the result was that I got a flood of messages & calls wondering why Jeremiah was in the hospital.  At first it was difficult to articulate what was happening, and I was not prepared to share at that time, but now I'm glad he did it because it brought a community of support I needed, but did not expect.

Upon reflection of this difficult journey, I want to pass on some nuggets of encouragement to those wanting to be a friend to someone walking a loved on through a hospital emergency.  I had sooo many people asking me, "What can I do to help?"  and I honestly had NO idea how to answer that because my head was in such a fog.

Now that I've walked through this craziness, here are my thoughts on being a friend...

1. Visit & Feed:  Many hours would go by as I waited for Doctors to come share news & the next step and I didn't want to leave & miss any information.  It was so beautiful when people would come just to bring me lunch & pray for us.  But, there were also windows that I knew I needed to get out of the hospital even for an hour (when I KNEW there would be no news...like RIGHT after a test when Jeremiah was still conked out from the meds and they told me it would be later that day before we'd hear anything).

2. Be company during tests & procedures.  When tests & procedures were underway, those were difficult, lonely and torturous times.  The enemy loves to play on our fears, and our mind wanders to the worst case scenario & we're playing the procedure like a tragic tape in our head.  Distraction from the mental torture is so beautiful.  One time, our pastor happened to show up at the heart cath lab when Jeremiah was in a procedure, and it was beyond refreshing to have him sit with me right at that moment.  I will be forever grateful for him.

3. Make sure the kids are taken care of.  The whole first day when I realized this was going to be longer then a quick visit to the emergency room, all of a sudden I'm now needing to figure out what to do with our girls?  I can't be at the hospital, and at home with them, and they CERTAINLY can't be at the hospital with me the whole time.  It took such a burden off me to have people quickly scoop them up & take them home for the week.

4. Offer to help at the home.  Days prior to finally heading to the emergency room, Jeremiah was not well & there was a level of chaos at our home that showed on the counter of unfiled paperwork, strewn schoolbooks on the table, and laundry & dishes that were crying to get washed.  We as moms especially want a place people are proud to call home - so as our journey at the hospital was nearing it's end, I wanted to figure out how to get my home clean for the return of the family, but I couldn't be in two places at once.  I KNEW this homecoming was different than any other.  Jeremiah was needing a nice place to recover, and the girls were needing a nice place to reconnect with their dad - without anyone going into chore mode.  It was so nice to have a sweet angel sister come to the hospital with me, then follow me home to help with the straightening up process.  We put on worship music, busted out the vacuum, and she was such a companion & help-mate that broke the deafening silence & fear rattling in my head & heart.

5. Coordinate meals for a few days for the homecoming.  It was a struggle to get to the store & do my normal meal planning and chores with needing to keep a very close eye on Jeremiah.  So it was such a burden off me as the home manager when I got that call that dinner for my family is hot & on the way.

The body of Christ - working together

Now I'm a very avid prayer warrior who loves Jesus & trusts Him with all details of my life, but in times such as being thrown into the chaos of having your husband knock on death's door - THAT'S why God speaks of community - to bear one another's burdens.  Even Moses needed Aaron to hold his arms up during battle.  We were only meant bear SO MUCH on our own, and the rest is meant for us to walk together - the body of Christ.

The Miracle of Meeting my Neighbors

Meet our neighbors????  How can we find any space for another task?  The last thing we want to encounter is another "to-do" for us to fill when our own needs are pretty over-powering.

The truth is, when we take the time & energy to reach out to people, God uses the seeds we sow to grow something beautiful for US, and very often fill a need in our own lives. We sometimes forget that God asks us to bless others - not only for them, but often, its more for us.  

For the past six months, there have been tremendous changes & growing pains in my own life & family.  The REEEEALY painful ones - like having teeth pulled without numbing medicine kind of pain. You know - the changes that ache, contort, stretch, and have made the life I knew unrecognizable.

I'm an extrovert by nature, and thrive seeing people come together - community. I'm forever looking for creative ways I can spread the gospel of Jesus to people and through people.  But I've surprised even myself because in this time of heartbreak, I have just wanted to crawl into a cave, be by myself & lick my wounds.  

In the past, I have facilitated many neighborhood barbecues so people can meet those in their community, but this time, I didn't have it in me.  We moved to a new neighborhood, and of course it was brought up - "When's the BBQ???"  Not now.  I'm tired.  I don't have the energy.

But God...lovingly nudged the issue.  So I took a step forward and started the process - kinda hoping people would turn their nose up & not want the event.  But they did want it, so the planning went underway.

Through JUST the planning & invitation process, I met people, people met people, and some of our own family's deep silent needs/prayers were answered - and I heard numerous testimonies from others that I'm not alone in feeling the healing of our community coming together.  Why?  Because God uses people.  He often connects people to answer prayers, & meet needs.  

I believe with my whole heart that's why the enemy works sooo hard to bombard us with stress.  The result?  We feel bogged down, busy, overwhelmed, and we close off from people.  We are the loneliest busiest society.  We work so hard to accomplish our goals, but forget often God uses communities to build the beautiful places that healing & peace dwell.  We don't need to do it on our own, in our own strength, we weren't created to do it alone.

We are stronger, sharper, and HAPPIER as the body of Christ 

when we work together.

A beautiful time it was, & lots of new friendships forged. (For the privacy of our neighbors, I'm not posting pics of the participants) I saw numbers exchanged, laughter and conversations had, and community formed.  I KNOW more events will come for this area, and I'm super excited to see what God will do with it all.

During the BBQ I was approached by someone with the idea of cooking & delivering door to door Thanksgiving dinners to those in our neighborhood who have no family to share the holiday with and are physically unable to "go" to an event... NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!!!!!!

I passionately love the church and all it gives out to people - but I'm committed to spreading the word that we are to BE the church (outside the walls) so much more than ATTEND the church. We need to look for opportunities - even if it's just a simple smile with compassion towards people no matter where we go.  Jesus is not a Sunday hobby, He's a healing lifestyle. I know so many of us are willing, but just not sure what our part is.  Let's start next door. 

My 40th Birthday...All Things Disney Style!

Because this was a milestone birthday, my family - who loves to be creative - decided to transform our home into "The HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH" to celebrate.  I'm going into my 40s with GREAT anticipation, so why not reflect that with all things that make me smile.  Everything was hand crafted and drawn (and chocolate dipped), but my disclaimer is - it took WAAAAAAY longer then we all anticipated, so my girls and hubbs are VERY over coloring and cutting things out for a while...hehe!  AAAAND, we have a new appreciation for "Tangled"  how DID she keep her hair smooth!?

Let me know if you would like a follow-up post with some of our "how tos" Hope you enjoy some of our projects as much as we did.

The "Up" themed door wreath

The Princesses with Hershey Kisses

"Beauty & The Beast"...Beast's Rose

Home made Chocolate dipped strawberries

Twizzlers

Homemade chocolate dipped pretzels

Fork station

Main food table

Rapunzel's tower my hubby drew

Rapunzel's hair from braided yarn...a pound to be exact

Hand drawn "Remy" from Ratatouille

Meatballs

Ruffles & Goldfish crackers - hubby drew Mr. Smee

I burnt the edges of the sign to be more pirat-ey

Most of the candy had been eaten before this picture

Drawn by my hubby, put in front of the fire pit

Drawn by my hubby - hot chocolate station

My wilderness - COUNTING IT ALL JOY???

I ran into a special lady this week who I haven't talked with in a long time.  I asked how she was doing - I was sad to hear her answer because she is normally one of the most smily positive people I know.  Her answer was, "We're alright, but not sending out Christmas letters this year because it would read a lot like the book of Nehemiah."  If you don't know what that book is, it's not exactly the book of warm fuzzies - not one you'd choose to read over hot coco wearing your cozy slippers by the fire. Nehemiah was doing some wall building with one hand, and fighting off bad guys with the other...that's the ultra quick version.  I break a sweat just thinking about that chaos.

The thing is, that's how my Christmas card would read too.  My friend was thinking the same as me - who wants to read THAT Christmas update, but isn't it a tiny comfort to know you're not alone in your fight & build?!

People would say to me, "Count it all JOY when you face trials of many kinds..." quoting James to me (as the life I once knew was disintegrating before my eyes).  They meant well, but can I just honestly say I didn't appreciate that.  But...if I am going to be truthful, I've said the same thing when people I love have gone through their own personal hell.  Let's not tell people that when they're in pain anymore.

You see...in a months time:

• I lost our beautiful home I thought was mine forever.  
• I lost my beloved Grandma who was THE family pillar in my life.
• I had several people close to me bring DEEP betrayal to my life...one being my husband.  Yes, my husband.

COUNT. IT. ALL. JOY.  were the words I couldn't figure out.  How DO you?  When people ask how you are doing and you're an honest person like me, do you say, "WONDERFUL!"  Not so much.  I'm not feeling the joy.

Now I've gained a new perspective on "Counting it all Joy".  It's not a belly laugh when your heart is shattered and you feel like you have no hope - it's standing on the truth & promise that things WILL get better.  Jesus wasn't grinning ear to ear when he was hanging on the cross. Job wasn't snickering with his friends & playing monopoly when he lost everything and writhing in physical pain.  Nehemiah...up for the task, yes - but feeling the giggles, probably not.

The joy James was talking about is a KNOWLEDGE.  Knowing that ALL things work together for HIS good, even when we don't understand what that means or looks like. Just know the end will be BETTER.  

Counting it all joy is KNOWING God is not ignoring my pain - He did not ignore the pain of His SON on the cross, but was crying alongside Him and looking forward to the moment when this trial was over, and victory is HIS, and OURS.

The JOY of the Lord is our strength is also the simple reminder that HE is not some God out up in the sky that we are to revere.  Instead, when we put Him in the center of our heart & circumstances, we can hold onto JOY that whatever we are going through with Jesus as our guide, best friend, and rock, EVERYTHING will work out...so count THAT joy.

There were days that I felt like I got hit by a cannon ball - and each time I was hit, I had NO IDEA what to do in that moment...but I had the peace that passes all understanding; the unexplainable peace knowing somehow things were going to be ok.  My peace would leave when I would go into my natural mode of "problem solving".  That's when the anxiety, worry, and stress would creep in...because I'm trying to "fix" this big mess.  One (of the thousand) nuggets  I got from this season is to stay in the place of "I have NO IDEA what to do - but I know who does, so I'm just going to leave it to HIM."  That's where I can count it all joy.

The day of my Beloved Grandma's memorial I was terribly sad because I couldn't make the trip to be a part of the service. I was thousands of miles away, and my family was all together...but me. It felt like boulders had settled in my heart, but instead of sitting at home, we decided to have a family day.  We reflected on all the beautiful things she sowed into my life.  She loved being a mother & grandma (since we're dutch, she's my OMA)...so I spent the day being a mom, and I laughed with my daughters that much more.  The Joy of the Lord is my strength.

The Christmas season is upon us.  Now every time I hear the song "Joy to the World", I am reminded it's not always a fuzzy feeling type of joy, but a knowing THE LORD IS COME.  LET EARTH RECEIVE HER KING.

Join Us #2 "Meet Your Neighbor with YUM YUMS" and free download

In our extremely busy lives, how do we take the time to get to know our neighbors?  We have heard report after report that it is just one of the hardest tasks to get to on people's priority lists.  Our theory is that it's just ONE-MORE-THING to accomplish on our already very taxed schedules.

We ALL know it is important to form community, and know those among us...but HOW?

So we decided to come up with a 

SUPER EASY & FUN CREATIVE WAY TO MEET YOUR NEIGHBORS!

 (Click on the Image for a free download)

Step 1 - Choose a day for your BBQ event.  We suggest Sunday afternoon - most are off work, out of church, and ready for some GRUB!  All you need is a small place to set up (driveway, front lawn, back yard...) a grill or two, and a couple tables.

Step 2 - About 2 weeks before the chosen event, deliver your flyer to about 4 to 5 homes a day so it doesn't seem a daunting task to spread the word all at once.

Step 3 - ENJOY THE FELLOWSHIP!  It's not at all just for you to meet people, but for neighbors to meet OTHER neighbors they hadn't had a chance to get to know yet.

PS: Getting a bounce house was a HIT!!!!  It drew all the families with little kids that may not have otherwise participated.

Another thing the hosts passed out is our fun Neighbor Fridge Magnets. Email me at info@isaverb.com if you'd like any info on ordering these...our store is under construction right now.

Finding a Flower in the Mud

This past month we have experienced the death of 2 very close people to our family, the loss of most of my hubby's clients (therefore finances), the loss of our home, betrayal of people in our lives, and most recently the loss of heath (I know it's just a cold, but on top of everything else, life just feels just down right muddy.)

I have always been a big advertiser of loving people, and on the best of days it's pretty easy.  When you are feeling the weight of life crushing your body & soul, are you still a joyful giver?

Luke 6:38... Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.”

Deuteronomy 15:10-11...Give freely and spontaneously. Don’t have a stingy heart. The way you handle matters like this triggers God, your God’s blessing in everything you do, all your work and ventures. There are always going to be poor and needy people among you. So I command you: Always be generous, open purse and hands, give to your neighbors in trouble, your poor and hurting neighbors.

Proverbs 11:24..The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.. 

Can the enemy muddy-up our lives enough to discourage us from being there for one another, or will we push past the crud and still foster community?  We are such a lonely society because when we hurt, we fold up, and try to "get through" on our own.  We know people around us have enough on their plate.  Life is BUSY.  We say, "I'll give____ when ____ calms down, or when ____ problem is fixed..." But can we push past the mud to give some flowers?

So one morning I prayed my pitiful "Lord help me put one foot in front of the other" prayer, and the thought that dropped in my heart was to buy some flowers for a very special friend.  Boy, that brought a smile to my face - it took my thoughts off the current crushed pieces that used to be my life (I mean, I can't put the shards back together anyways - so why stare at them?), and put my thoughts on how to bless my friend.

The flowers I purchases were not for me, but in a sense they were.  I was able to get past my feelings, and give when my heart still feels so hurt.  This act turned my day around more than I can describe.  When we take our minds off of our life, and put them on serving others, it just feels good.

Join us #1 - Sunshine In A Box

My amazing cousin said something very profound to me yesterday.  It's something I have always felt is the absolute truth - but I love how he put it.

"We are all on the blue marble together. With soo much negativity and fear, it is hard to make a difference, but necessary to try... if you are not part of a solution, then you are part of a problem"

This was said one day after our VERY loved, beautiful, and amazing Grandma passed away.  So during a time of life where it's easy to want to fold and say, "It's too hard", the message is to turn our energy into making a difference instead.

Life is full of grief & not just loosing people we love - I KNOW I don't even have to list what grieves people's lives...we ALL have a huge list of our own.  We COULD spend  ALL our hours, days and concentration processing and trudging through our own junk - but that will never end - because junk just somehow just keeps-on-a-comin' but instead:

Turn Grief into Blessing 
(a much better use of our time on this blue marble)

My hubbs & I started a group.  Call it what you will...a church?  A posse? A family? A community?  The goal is to make a small dent on this big blue marble; we're coming together as the body of Christ, making a difference - one beautiful life at a a time.

We all have much on our plates - loooong hours at work, kids to raise, school, families, meals to cook - so when someone says, "Take time to love one another" the question that gets slung back to me is "HOW?!?!"

One. Life. At. A. Time. Just like my laundry pile...it gets whittled down a load at a time; but there's always more to do. So I consciously, never-endingly chip away at it...so we don't stink.
 
Our amazing group/posse/family has done many outstanding things this past month - and this latest project is way too beautiful not to share.

A dear cousin to one of our members is struggling with terminal cancer in her 30s.  Of course the feeling of helplessness is overwhelming to our amazing giving friend.  "What can we do?" she asked me.

SUNSHINE IN A BOX!!!!!!!!!

I had each person from our group bring something YELLOW.  From sunglasses, to nail polish, her daughter made a pennant, juicy fruit gum, socks, a lady made a fleece blanket, even a box of mac & cheese...YOU NAME IT, IT CAME.  We made a card expressing our support & prayers - and to Texas the box went!  So simple, yet filled with such love.  Most of us didn't even know her - but we wanted to be an extension of her cousin's arms. 

We love you, Leslie!!!!!

All packed and ready to go!

This is a time in our world where we need one another more than we realize or want to admit.  I know we were raised to be independent, strong, and goal oriented - but the true gospel is to link arms & love people.  That's what Jesus came to teach.  To be there for each other.

These last few days while processing & grieving the passing of THE most important person in my life (besides hubbs, my girls, and bro) - my Oma - I'm OVERWHELMED by the support of people who have called, brought gifts & food, took me out, texted me, and just generally went out of their way to be my support & community.  It's what has got me through.  The love of people.  Remembering I'm not on this blue marble all alone. My arms were being lifted when I couldn't raise them myself.

So JOIN US!  Put a box of sunshine together for someone who needs a smile.  Remind them they are NOT alone in this world.  This blue marble DOES have loving people on it - let's be the reminder of that...not matter how small the act of love, it's love indeed.  

All we need is love - John Lennon

Which are you?

So the question I continue to ask myself is:

Which one am I??? 

A pond 

or

 springs of living water?  

What IS a spring of living water?  It's when we are brimming, and FLOWING, and spilling everywhere with Jesus. Our water is always refreshing and doesn't stay in one place,

John 7:38 - He cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says.” 

Of course I want to be a spring, but it's SOO easy to get dammed up - build the rock wall bit by bit, and the water slowly grows bacteria.  Of course the enemy of our soul doesn't want us to be flowing springs of living water, so he's sneaky.

We were not created to live for ourselves, as a standing pond.

The first reaction when we realize our water is stagnant & dirty, is to "CLEAN IT UP!"  So we look for ways to fix the problem and make the water healthy.  But the simple solution is BREAK DOWN THE DAM, let the water flow.  Running water doesn't grow algae.

The 3 reasons we become dammed up are:

1. We're BUSY.  We've locked ourselves down to get our schedule accomplished.
2. We're STRESSED.  We shut down and say to ourselves, "I can't deal with any more."
3. We're OFFENDED.  We feel hurt so we build walls up to prevent further destruction.

When I get an amazing revelation of being the living springs of Jesus to either people close to me, people groups, church groups, neighborhoods...you can bet the enemy is going to push one of those buttons on me so my knee-jerked-reaction to is "dam up".

BUT WE NEED TO USE A BIGGER SLEDGE HAMMER TO BREAK THE DAM.

Push through the schedule, feelings, & hurts.

All through scripture, the answer to ALL our life problems is BUILD THE KINGDOM.  Here are just a couple references I have found, but I could list pages, and pages...

- "Seek ye FIRST the Kingdom and His righteousness, and ALLLLLLLL these things will be added to you."  Matthew 6:33
- "...Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."  Philippians 4:9

It is SOO easy to go on with our daily lives and consume ourselves with the troubles that just today brings.  But I know in my knower, and by reading the Word of God, that being purposeful in building the Kingdom of God plays a VITAL ROLE in being an over comer of our troubles.  When we are about HIS business, HE will be about ours.  So we need to be much more purposeful in being kingdom minded, using Jesus as our example, and flowing to the world around us with the Love of Christ.

Let's practice waking up, and saying, "Jesus, what can I do to work with YOU today to seek first & build the Kingdom?"

Why do we often wait for a tragedy to happen before reaching out to people we love?

SOOOOO...for the next few weeks, my girls and I are doing some servant projects. 

This week, we're going to PEEP IN on our neighbors.  

Since we just moved into our neighborhood, we're bringing these over to a bunch of our neighbors:  

Peep cakes & Neighbor Fridge Magnets!

 

 I hope you will do some with us.  Let's incorporate being the hands and feet of Jesus into our regular lives.

 If you want more information about our Neighbor magnets, you can read about them HERE.