Standard Knowledge

A “standard” is a flag or symbol that represents a governing body. A king’s standard is his flag, and whoever stands with that standard bows to and upholds that king’s government, or laws. When those laws, or rules, are broken, that same standard becomes the enemy. The same standard that was the protector, is now the punisher. It MUST correct the matter. The punishment must be submitted to in order for the standard to maintain its ability to protect and defend. As long as the rule-breaker stands unrepentant and defiant they are an enemy of the standard.

If you want God’s standard, the mightiest, unbeatable standard, to reign in your life against Satan’s standard, then you MUST submit to the correction that results of breaking the law of God’s standard. It's the only way to not become an enemy of God. Adam and Eve accepted the punishment of sin, therefore they found God's hand of grace, not removing their punishment, but helping them endure their time of correction. When Cain rebelled against God's standard, he did not submit to the grace of correction. His rebellion caused him to become hated of God, an enemy of God. We can see this in various lives throughout scripture. It's our clear warning of how we should behave when we have broken a law in the government of God. Submit to correction to remain beneath the power of His standard. 

There is another element of standard knowledge we must heed: If we happen to find ourselves properly living within the confines of God's law, yet discover a fellow-citizen has dared to violate the law of God, we must not find ourselves in alliance with the law-breakers of the standard. This is an alliance with enemies of God. Don’t find yourself swayed by those using self-pity in their unrepentant stance. BEWARE! Run to the safety and power of the right standard! Do not, I repeat, do not let sentiment cause you to risk a curse on yourself or your family! 

Mercy and grace does not negate the punishment of The King's standard. It involves the delicate task of riding into uncomfortable territory with an invitation to The King's banquet table. The King offers banquets of Meat, Milk, Honey, Fruit, and Living Bread. New Wine flows abundantly from His table even to the WORST of law breakers. And we are empowered and entrusted to be The King's messengers inviting those law breakers to HIS side, to HIS table, beneath HIS standard of law and government. Those who accept the invitation will not come blazing a sword of rebellion, nor will they be whispering treasonous self-pity. Rather they will attend with bold thanksgiving and tender humility. Do not be ignorant of these signs. In our assignments, we can't succumb to the folly of cuddling up to their standard due to our perspective of not sitting on the throne. The King sees the big picture and is ruling in more love than we can comprehend. Be careful that in your extension of grace and kindness you do not align yourself with the standard of an enemy of God. 

Rules are rules. God's mercy can remove the punishment of death, but he rarely chooses to remove the punishment of consequence. Love your fellow-citizens through the pain of consequence without aligning yourself with an enemy of God. 

NOTE: The church & the five-fold ministry are the physical representation of God's standard. Stand CLOSE to them.

The Piano

I wish I could adequately describe how amazed I am at Morgan's piano playing. It's not that I've never heard anyone play better. Besides my access to recorded music my entire life, I've traveled the world and seen many live pristine performances. But I'm so proud of Morgan for doing what she did not "have" to do. She plays our church music better than most, and as far as "needed" work, she's accomplished all that's needed. 

But Morgan decided to step it up and pursue a new, foreign genre; classical music. She had to get her nose back in the nitty-gritty theory books. She had to train her eye to read the music staff instead of chord charts. And for what purpose? She doesn't intend to be a concert pianist. She has put her nose to the grind because she should. That she should learn to be better is why I'm so honored to have her in my company. That she sees the value in work just to not settle for less than she can is heroic to me. 

So, I've been on a hunt for a piano. The poor girl has been learning on a $200.00 piano that is out of tune, is dilapidated by broken hammers, and worst of all, the ivory keys are chipped and splintered and she has suffered many wounds to her delicate fingers from her many hours of practice. Hangnails are annoying and painful enough. She has lived with perpetual, practice-induced hangnails for a couple years. Enough was enough. 

We've called about pianos in the newspaper, on Craigslist. I've asked random piano tuners in parking lots to please call me if they run across a piano for sale. I've taken Morgan to several homes to play pianos, and to many retail stores. We knew pretty early on that we didn't want an electric piano. As techie as I am, I wanted the "old world" feel of wooed, ivory, hammers, and strings. Many a'salesmen have tried to sway me with the glittering idea of money savings in the form of "you never have to tune it." But, I wanted this piano to not have a single volt of electricity. 

And today I hit the mother load... I truly can see myself developing a full blown novel from the history of this piano I bought today.

The piano was originally purchased (not sure of the exact year yet. I'll get the details as I go,) by a physician in Gainesville, Florida for his two daughters. When his daughters were grown and, in fact, grandmothers in their 60's, their elderly father sold the piano to the couple we met today for their daughter's use. The daughter has been grown and away from home for over thirty yeas. Today, I bought the piano for MY daughter's use. 

I can't tell you how it makes my heart glow to know that it seems this particular piano's purpose of existence is to be "the daughter's piano." The elderly couple today found great comfort in that idea as well. As sad as they were to close their own chapter of this beautiful piano, it was comforting for them to know Morgan's very heart would be caressing those aged ivories. 

There's yet one more delightful story about our new piano... 

Sometime in the early 1940's (I believe he told me 1942) they had owned the piano for only a couple of years when the misfortune of a fire was started somehow in their civil war era house. After all of the family were safely out of the house they began to panic about the safety of the piano. They begged the firemen to save the piano. The 92 year old man told me in much emotion today how the firemen tore out a wall to rescue the piano. Once the piano was out of the burning house there was nothing else that could be salvaged, and the entire structure burned to the ground. They had the wood of the piano restored and greatly loved and valued the sounds of joy it sent through the halls and years in their new home. 

I'd rather have this piano than any other piano in all of the world. I'm not opposed to Morgan fulfilling her dream of owning a Steinway someday. But her glowing smile as I related these stories the man told me today assured me that she understands that she's not getting "just another piano." She knows this one has love and commitment rubbed into the grains of its wood far deeper than any beautiful stain could penetrate. It radiates history and passion and purpose. 

I think God led us to the perfect match for our imaginative hearts and minds. 

The beautiful path we took to find our beautiful new family member. 

My Role Model; Wisdom

The FIRST creation of God was wisdom. 

Proverbs 8:22-32

Proverbs8:30 I was the architect at his side. I was his constant delight, rejoicing always in his presence. 

1. I enjoy that Wisdom is depicted as female.

2. I enjoy that in ancient times a woman is depicted as an architect. 

3. I enjoy the picture of a healthy marriage described here. Hubs is boss, but wife is the architect of newness, she DELIGHTS him, and rejoices in hub's presence. 

I'm graced by my opportunity to pursue wisdom. :) 

Remain Ready

The LORD said to Moses, “Walk out in front of the people. Take your staff, the one you used when you struck the water of the Nile, and call some of the elders of Israel to join you. Exodus 17:5

1. Don't forget how God uses what we deem "ordinary" (For Moses, his walking stick) to do extraordinary things. 

2. Just because your gift hasn't been used for a while doesn't mean it's not needed again. Keep your gift (in this symbolic case, Moses' staff) at the ready and in your hand. 

3. Call the elders in your community to join the miracle God has placed in your heart. Not only will they "prove" your gift (via testing, as gold is "proven" by fire) it will add joy to their life.

Helps

Prayer is vital to a human's health. People ask for various helps and tips about prayer all the time. I need prayer helps often as well. Some of the tools I make for myself and others will be made available here: Prayer Guides

My "Whatever is on my mind" blog is here: Le Muser

My devotionals that supplement Proverbs memorization is here: Wise Guys Devo

I've lost 90 pounds. A lot of people want to know how I did that. The journey is here in the 2010 catalog: Get Fit - Feel Pretty

People can purchase my music from here: iTunes and Bible Memory Music

Homeschool Inspiration

AWESOME read about #homeschool. (This started as a tweet that turned into an FB post, that turned into a blog. Link of inspiration is at the bottom.)

There is a “fix” to schools, of course. Get rid of your cookie cutters & stop forcing ALL materials into the same box. Glue is less messy in a squeeze bottle. Ice, on the other hand, doesn’t do its job well in a glue bottle. Besides kids’ uniqueness, even parents’ styles and needs are different from each other. Schools generally act like we live in the 1960's and all work the same hours, and all eat at the same time, and... STOP! None of us do anything like they did in the past. Whether we like it, or not, we now live in a very unique place in history where majority doesn't rule. Creativity rules. Colleges will take an athlete with low test scores. And they'll ALSO take a computer genius with low reading scores. Society is open and accepting of a singular strength now, rather than an overall balance of one's grade point average. 

Schools, treat us like unique, creative beings and we might share OUR joy of learning with YOU. Disrespect our unique styles of learning and we won’t bother to share our sponge-brained children with you. Turns out, we can do it ourselves. :) 

Now let me balance this, by telling homeschool parents that if you don’t train your children how to interact with other humans from the privacy of your homeschool environment, you’ll give homeschool a bad name. Teachers are REALLY good at making kids able to sit still, remain quiet, etc. Don’t cripple your child by not including “behavioral skills” while you also teach math skills. If you don’t have the courage to add social manners to your training, HIRE A TUTOR. If you’ll hire a tutor to teach math, you can hire help in teaching self-control too.

This mama loves homeschooling!! :) 

http://www.wired.com/2015/02/silicon-valley-home-schooling/?mbid=social_twitter

Immersed In Pondering: Dreams and Motherhood

I’ve loved every stage of child rearing... I didn’t “endure” any, & I’ve never needed to go back to any stage. I’m equally loving teendom. I assume it’s because I immersed myself in each day and utterly filled my motherhood up. I didn’t allow distractions or deterrents.

When my first baby was born I was a mere twenty-three years old. I am a singer & songwriter. I've always dreamed of a full-time career recording and traveling. And it's possible to rear children while traveling. I've seen evangelist's families do so my entire life. As a pastor's kid with an inside look at the everyday life of an evangelist's family, I've also been aware of the challenge of it. Its difficult for a wife and mother who's entire upbringing has branded in her that the job is best done in a house with a foundation, rather than a house on wheels. Mothers thrive in one church, and in one community. That subconscious tug can cause a woman much duress when she's trying to rear her children and build her marriage while on the road. It can be a marriage-killer to attempt to rear the children in a house with a foundation while the husband fulfills his call on the road. It's possible, but not always best. My hat is off to those women who have the strength and stamina to keep their family intact while never being able to enjoy the comforts of the thousands of families they encounter each year.

It's difficult to have a "date night" when you're always in other people's domain, being hosted by vast variables of personalities. (Now my hat is off to them, AND I'm in a curtsy.) Traveling families live on a schedule that's never consistent. A mom must decide if she will trust utter strangers to babysit so they can enjoy a little romance in a strange land.

(First my hat was off, then I bowed in honor, now I lay prostrate in respect to mom's who live on the road. Most especially to moms who live on the road AND keep their family together. You far surpass me.)

While "traveling" in any capacity is still what I love, God was kind and gave me a music career WITH roots. It's limited my ability to record songs I've written to albums. Actually, I can record them all I want. And I DO record every year. But I can't sell the albums without traveling. If you don't sell, you can't bring in revenue to make new albums. So, that particular dream is stifled. But I am the music director at my church. Which means that I get to make fantastic music every week. I have created a unique bond between stage and audience that traveling artists rarely get to experience. And most importantly, I've been able to enjoy every second of time with my children.

I homeschooled for as long as I could. Then it came time when it was best for my kids to attend our Christian Academy. I can only assume that the reason I'm not pining for their toddlerhood, or for their elementary days, is because I truly was very purposeful to fill each stage of their lives with my best work. My story and song writing morphed from adult topics to child topics. And I don't mean that I wrote about children, I wrote TO children, specifically to MY children. All of my inspiration and energy went from being channeled into items for sale or people to impress, to the building of my babies.

Again, I'm surmising this is why I'm not a 41-year-old missing my children's childhood. I absolutely adore babies still. I take great joy in reading books to babies & kids, watching them discover their world, holding them, playing on the floor with them. (As my connections on social media can attest, due to my pics!) I still crave babies, but I do not wish mine were back in that stage. Nor do I wish for more of my own.

(Did you hear and read that, Lord? NONE of my own. It was not an amusing joke having my grandma great-with-child at 50 years old. Just felt a need for clarity. Ha!)

I write this blog today out of several sources of inspiration; both of my teens are out of town this week and I'm imagining how in a few years they'll be out of my house permanently. Also, yesterday I so enjoyed lunch with my niece & nephews, ages 6, 8, & 2. And last night I babysat my 1-year-old niece. I miss that my teens are out of town, and I loved my baby-time with my sibling's children, but I feel content and peaceful in this stage of life. A dab is enough to do me, thank you very much!

In my limited understanding, all I can accredit it to is that during my babies' upbringing I didn't try to split my time between my dreams and being a mom. I was JUST a mom. I think I adequately filled myself. Of course, I had to work. But my job wasn't my focus, my kids were my focus and work was strictly the means to focus on my kids.

I don't know if I'm correct. If I were an on-the-road mom, I'd like to think I'd have figured out how to fulfill myself with my babies rather than pine for a foundation. But that's easier said than done. I just know that I write today full of thanksgiving that my children are teens, enjoying learning, developing in ministry. And I'm thankful to be in the stage I am too. God sees my dreams, he always has. And He has always known how to fulfill me. I'm excited to see what He has for me and my kids!
 
It is well with my soul.