Gone Skiing!

Corps Ski Trip 2007

Heather's poem

Photo by Caryn Scheibner

My oldest daughter Heather wrote a poem in her creative writing class.

She gave me permission to put it up on my site.

I think it is wonderful....but hey I'm her Mom! :)

The Yellow Rose

I am a yellow rose in a red poppy field
for I do not feel I fit in.
I can not talk to other people
unless they have accepted me as one of their own.

I am a little caterpillar compared to a beautiful butterfly.
I will bloom someday but when that day comes will I be accepted?

You cannot change me though because I am happy with who I am.
So do you see me as a friend or do you see me as that
yellow rose in that red poppy field.

by Heather Bate
2/2007- age 14

I guess the Bate women are thinking about poppy fields recently!

My husband is WAY smarter than the cable guy!

We had a visit from Les the cable guy. I had very little to do with his visit. Alastair was home so he met Les at the door and stayed next to him during the whole visit. Les started getting on Alastair’s good side by walking across our cream colored carpet with muddy wet boots. Les was promptly sent out to his van to find shoe coverings before he could enter again. From that point on I imagined as I was cooking that everything was going well. However, when I heard the cable guy getting ready to leave I went to the door. I had one question to ask the man who was meant to have the intellect to fix our phones, internet and television.
As I approached the two men at the door, I missed the warning look from my husband’s eyes. Later, I realized Al was actually yelling at me frantically through his eyes to warn me. I asked my little question and Les…..well, Les couldn’t have given less of an answer. A lot of hand motions, rolling of eyes, thoughts of what it could be, all within a matter of seconds and all from Les. Alastair looked at me with eyes that said, “Curse you woman! You have prolonged his visit!” When the door shut behind Les….I laughed. I thought, he annoyed me and I could tell he had no idea what he was doing within seconds of our meeting. Then it dawned on me…..poor Alastair! It was once said about Alastair that all he had to do was walk by something electronic and it would immediately begin working! So, not only is Alastair very good with all electronic things but he just spent at least 45 minutes with this guy!!
Lucky for Al, Les comes back for one more visit but unfortunately, it will be scheduled on a day when Alastair won’t be around.

Exalted Opinions

Exalted Opinions
Our personal views
Our own estimations
Of how I see you.

A general assessment
A judgment or two
All drawn together
By our “expert” view

A second opinion
If you dare disagree
But most of the body
Agrees with me.

Look for yourself
Add up the facts!
Our opinions matters
Try denying that!

Exalted opinions
Have they become gods?
Is it all about me?
Our thoughts the cogs?

Wonder what God thinks?
Does He have a thought?
What is His will?
Is it all for naught?

Our world and our culture
Exalt many things.
But lately our opinions
Are Rulers and Kings.


cjb

Transparency

Transparency seems to be a hot topic lately. Check out Larry Ashcraft’s blog and Doug Burr.
The peom below, I wrote and posted awhile ago but thought I would stick it up again.
I understand transparency when it comes to how I choose to live. I have always seen God honor transparency in my life and in the lives of others.
What does corporate transparency look like?? A body of believers who together are intentional about being transparent?
Transparency to me is just letting TRUTH out in all I do and say. (Easier said than done sometimes.)

There are risk but no one whose hope is in God will be put to shame!
Just some thoughts…. cjb

He sees right through me,

I’m transparent.

There is nothingI can hide.

Do not mistake

My transparency,

For lack of substance.

Or lack of depth.

Emptiness …

Gives us space

To be filled.

Clarity …

Gives us confidence

And vision.

Look on through!

There is nothing

To hide.

This is His plan

For me,and

For you,

Transparency.

To be transparent

In all we say

And all we do.

To see though

Or look past,

To catch a glimpse

Of something…

Something other

Than me.

To catch a glimpse

Of Him.

He sees right,

He sees right through.

Transparency.

cjb

A Valley

A valley covered
In a blanket of red.
Come lie with me here
And lose all your cares.
As the wind gently caresses.
Watch with me as the poppies
Dance above our heads.
Feel the cool ground on your back.
Taste the grass between your teeth.
Get lost under the crimson canopy.
Fall asleep next to me and pull the blanket over
Rest, laugh, roll, love in the sublime.
High on the opium of life not yet
Destroyed or extracted by the hand of man.
A valley on fire, a valley of blood
A valley of forgiveness, a valley of love
A valley created by the brush strokes of a Master Artist.
Lie with me here in this Monet-like painting
Lose all your cares as the wind gently caresses.
Watch with me as the poppies
Dance above our heads.

cjb

George Scott Railton

I intend carefully to instruct my children that if at any time they see The Salvation Army a wealthy, respectable concern, the majority of whose “soldiers” simply go where they please to attend its’ “ministrations,” leaving the godless undisturbed to perish; and if they see another set of people, however they may be clothed or despised, who really give up all to go and save the lost, then they must not for a moment hesitate to leave the concern their poor old dad helped to make, and go out amongst those who most faithfully carry out what the founder of the Army laid down in his writings and acts, may God preserve them from such a day by keeping the Army free from the love of money and ease – George Scott Railton, An Autobiography, Full Salvation, Jan. 1, 1894.

_______________________

Are we wealthy with..

“respectable concern”?
Do we leave the…
“Godless undisturbed”?

Children, follow not
Your father’s cause,
If it strays…..
From the will of God.

Better to leave …
The comfort, the cash
To go to Hell’s kitchen,
To claim souls back!

Serve the Living Water,
To a world that thirsts
Get your hands dirty,
Go for the worst!

This is our call!
This is our mission!
Self preservation,
Is not our commission.

Fight as a soldier!
Soldiers of the cross!
Fight for the perishing,
The despised and lost.


The Love of money
The Love of ease…
Lord, Keep our Army
Free from these!

cjb

A-B-C

Emma : Mommy what starts with the letter "A"??
Mommy: Apple, airplane.....Alastair!
Emma: (giggle) -- That's daddy's name!
Emma: "B"!
Mommy: Baby, boy, balloon. Give the baby boy a balloon!
Emma: The girl gets a balloon too!
Emma: How 'bout "C" ??
Mommy: Cat and Carole! (pause) Carole is my name! (big smile)
Emma: (Laugh) NO mommy! You're silly! Your name ISN'T Carole it's MOMMY!!

Sugar coated sin

It is all a lie that we drink in
Like poisoned Kool-Aid from Pastor Jim
The friendship and the love we share
With earthy charms and worldly cares.

Disguised as if it will not harm
Is sin that sets off no alarm
Dressed not with red pitch fork in hand
But dressed to please the eye of man

Why do we drink it down with ease?
Are we that blinded by a need to please?
Driven to satisfy, to seek our own will,
We believe the lies that it won’t kill.

Sugar coated or dark desperation
Sin brings death and a separation
It defiantly kills, it aims to destroy
Its purpose, its goal, to steal our joy

So check your glass and train your hearts
He who deceives, who shoots his darts
Will find his pleasure in all that is lost
Will laugh at what our choices cost.

Death has no sting! Christ died for the lost.
The victory is ours! Over sin by the cross.
Be not deceived, give deception no ground!
For we who are free should never live bound!


cjb

Holiness will be my gain

Why do I hold on so tightly?
To the perishable and tangible
To the things that pass away?
I’m distracted by the visible

Give me eyes to see.

Give me eyes to see your face
To know you more each day
That this may be-- my reality
My focus, come what may

Give me more of Thee.

Teach me to walk with you
Immerse me in your Spirit
Hearing the heartbeat of my Lord
Finding my pace within it.

Draw me closer Lord, I pray.

My efforts are not in vain
Empower me to follow through
Your holiness will be my gain
When I let go of ALL… but YOU.


cjb

Advocate

This past week I had an advocate.

My advocate went with me into a meeting and sat next to me.
My advocate knew my rights and spoke up on my behalf to defend those rights. When those who were opposing my best interest spoke half truths to me, hoping to deceive me, my advocate jumped in and exposed the erroneous information.
My advocate enabled me to speak up with confidence.

I was somewhat like a small dog on a leash. I could bark and defend because I knew I was not alone. It didn’t matter how big the other dog was, as long as I was on the leash. If the advocate had left me on my own, I would have cowered before the bigger dog.

I left that meeting thinking of the advocate we have in Christ Jesus.
He is always with me.
He defends me and knows my rights as a child of the King.
He exposes half truths and deception so that I will not be deceived.
He enables me to speak up with confidence before man and at the throne of God.
As long as I am bound to Him, I can “do all things” and even witness the fall of the enemy before me. It doesn’t matter how big the problem is, when we have one who intercedes on our behalf.

He does not restrain me with a leash but with His undying, passionate love.


1 John 2:1 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (KJV)

Hebrews 7:24-25 “…because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” (NIV)

Romans 8: 26-27 “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.” (NIV)

Intercede for me Lord!
Be my advocate
Come before my
doubts and fears
Put them all to rest.

Intercede for me Lord!
Be my advocate
Deception comes
Distorted truths
Stand up in my defense.

Intercede for me Lord!
Build my confidence
So I may conquer every foe
Then claim your righteousness.

cjb

We think no one knows

We think no one knows
We think no one sees
But these are the lies
That trap you and me

He who made eyes,
He who made ears
Can see all we do
And Oh! He hears!

He reads our minds
He knows our hearts,
Deceit is not in him
He’s pure from the start.

Do we think He’s silent,
So we can sin more?
No! He weeps, standing,
At our heart’s door.

Repent?
Who needs that!?
It’s such an old word.
What have we done?
What have you heard?

Judge me no more
I’m better than most!
These are the words,
Some dark hearts boast

Pray for a breakthrough!
Do more than coast!
Bring on conviction
Dear Holy Ghost!

cjb

unusual request

Has God ever asked you to do something unusual?
I’ve been thinking about God asking the Israelites to walk in silence around the wall of Jericho. It’s an unusual request, an odd plan for bringing down a city.
What about Ruth risking her reputation and lying at the feet of Boaz? Strange advice! Advice given by her mother-in- law but blessed by the Lord.
Think about Moses being told to go to the Pharaoh and ask for the freedom of the Israelites, Noah being asked to prepare for rain when rain had never been seen before and the list goes on.
Even the cross is considered foolishness to those who are perishing. God took the most despised and shameful way of death to glorify His Son.
So I am thinking if this is how our God works, if He has been known in the past to make unusual request of his people to accomplish His will here on Earth, than shouldn’t we expect him to ask unusual things of us?
Has God ever asked you to take a step of faith that seemed to the human eye crazy or at the very least…unusual?

Happy New Year!

How do I enter this New Year?
Living for my Lord.
Never leave me or forsake me.
Every day is yours.

How will I know success?
Living for my Lord.
Nothing will deter me
Endurance is the word.

Hope is ours in Christ.
Living just for Him.
Noble thoughts surrendered
Endearing love begins

Help me Lord, to be like you
Living day by day
Noting all your blessings
Encouraging on the way.


In an attempt to break free from my writer’s block, I wrote this poem by beginning each line with the first letter from my daughter’s names in the order of their births.

Heather
Lydia
Natasha
Emma

Four girls, four verses! :)

Not overly inspiring and forced but I figure writing something is better than writing nothing.

Have a Happy New Year!

Writer's block

Ever have writer's block???

Official Nativity Story Birth of Jesus Christ New Christmas Movie Trailers Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Isaac, Ciaran Hinds

The Nativity Story upcoming new Christmas movie trailers about Mary, Joseph, and the birth of Jesus Christ with Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Isaac, Ciaran Hinds, Alexander Siddig, and Shohreh Aghdashloo. We went to see this with the corps. I really enjoyed it.

Let it be Sung

Jack Johnson

" You gotta touch the bottom before you can come back up..."

Isaiah 59:19-20

From the west, men will fear the name of the Lord,
and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.
For he will come like a pent-up flood
that the breath of the Lord drives along.*

“The Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”
declares the Lord.

Footnotes:59:19 Or When the enemy comes in like a flood

Battles in the garden

Battles in the garden.
Healing the ear of Malchus


A word from the Lord
Spoken, uttered
A double edged sword
Piercing and healing
The Living word……

Sword of the Spirit,
Let me not,

Use you in haste.
As Peter in the garden

Of Gethsemane.
His intention

Was to protect,

To defend Jesus.
But Jesus healed,

The one wounded

By Peter’s sword.
“No more of this!” Jesus said
He touched the man’s ear

and healed him.

In haste Lord,
Your word is used like
A sword from our mouths
Our intentions vary:
Defending our Lord,
Rebuking someone,

Without love or in haste.
People’s ears are cut off!
Cut off or now deaf
Because of a sword
Quickly drawn.

Lord, come!

Heal again!
Heal our ears!

Heal their ears!
So that we may hear you
So that we may know you
So that we may experience

The miracle of being whole,

Restored.
Heal those wounded

by our swords.

A sword in the heart,
A word wisely spoken,
Spoken in love,

Can still hurt.
Can still pierce the soul.
Yet, healing comes,
When the word of the Lord
Is used with skill and care.
By a warrior who is fighting
The Lord’s battle,

Not his own.

Lord,
How often is our zeal misplaced?
How often do we wound instead of heal?
How often are our intentions pure?
Only to see the look in our your eyes..
As Peter did in the garden that night.
We’ve missed the point again.

Thank you Lord,
For forgiving.

Forgiving our mistakes,
Our haste.
Thank you Lord,
For healing.
For healing the ear of Malchus.

cjb

Luke 22:36-38, 47-51, John 18:10-11

Dwelling

Streams in the Desert
by L.B. Cowman

Part of the devotional thought for November 30th:
( yes, sigh...I know it's December)

"The Savior endured an especially difficult test in the wilderness while in the presence of Satan for forty days and nights, His human nature was weakened by the need for food and rest. The three Hebrew young men were kept for a time in the flames of "the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual" ( Dan. 3:19). In spite of being forced to endure the tyrant's last method of torture, they remained calm and composed as they waited for their time of deliverance to come. And after surviving an entire night sitting among the lions, "when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God."
They were able to endure in the presence of their enemies because they dwelt in the presence of their God. (The bold is mine-This is my favorite part!!)

Jumping board

For those of you who like to use this site for a "jumping board" to other sites, have I got good news for you!
I've added some more sites to the link list!
Some long lost friends and some new friends who I know you will enjoy meeting.
If you are not on the link list and want to be for whatever reason, drop me a note and I'll see what I can do! ;)
I actually use Bloglines to save time but for those of you who don't I welcome the traffic
Have fun.

Carole