Bring me what you have

So. . .I am just going to share with you something in hopes that maybe you will come along side of me and pray and with that maybe God will teach you something along the way. I have felt the Holy Spirit leading me to do something and I am not quite sure what it is. I have an idea, but to be honest, the thought scares me to death. It would be a huge leap of faith and totally stepping out of my comforts. I will fill you in more later:) I wanted to start with that because that leads me into my blog thought today. I was preparing for the bible study that I lead and was reading the story of Jesus' miracle of feeding the 5000. Jesus says to the disciples that they need to feed all these people that have come to hear Jesus teach. One disciple suggests that it would basically take 8 months wages to feed all these people. First of all, when I was reading this I am thinking God, the creator of the universe just asking you to do something and your hold up is you don't have enough money? Ummm, wait a minute that is what I do all the time!

Another disciple steps forward and says well, we have these 2 fish and five loaves of bread. Jesus basically replies bring me what you have and watch me do the rest and the rest is miracle history. I believe God wants to do the same miracle in my life and maybe yours. Maybe you are being prompted to take your own leap of faith, but you are looking at your situation and all you have is 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. Jesus is saying to you and me, bring me what you have and I watch me perform a miracle that will blow your socks off!!

Please pray for me and let me know if I can pray for you!!! I will keep you updated:)

The little things

So our boss had us read a book and share a little bit about what God showed us during the process. The book was called In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. It was an awesome book! If you get a chance (with all the free time you have) read it! The chapter I had to report on was chapter 8 and in this chapter the author talks about having a faith like a child and the reason we lose this important aspect of the Christian life is because we are afraid of looking foolish. This reminded me of a time with my son, Cale. One day we were praying and he asked if he could pray for his gun (his toys are the most prayed for toys on this earth). "Absolutely you can!" After all, that is so cute. Right? Well, days go by and the very gun he prayed for came up missing. We couldn't find that thing anywhere. After awhile I just forgot about it until we were trimming the bushes in our front yard and by golly what did we find in the bushes? THE GUN! As I excited as I was, I was more shocked than anything. Not Cale. Although he was excited, he simple stated, "I knew we would find it because I prayed for it." Here I am with more maturity and more experience and yet my 5 year old son is the one with more faith. At what point in our life do our problems get bigger and our God get smaller? What is it going to take to realize (like a child) that our God is so big that He cares about the little things, even our guns:)

Just say yes!

Hello Friends!

This post is to encourage and challenge YOU personally! Being the wife of a coach, mother of 3 and in work in the ministry, life can get a little chaotic. You feel like your are being stretched in so many directions. I know there are some individuals out there who can relate. Well, I have always felt like I have been extremely honest with you and will not stop now. My quiet times over the last 4 months have been very sporadic, popcorn prayers throughout the day and even some days non-existent. Those times where I would just sit for hours reading and studying scripture, taking every bit of God in I could was now being replaced with making lunches, car pooling to school, school fundraisers, hauling 3 kids to my husbands games, leading bible studies, speaking engagements and on and on and on..... God got moved to the backseat. Not intentional, but it happened and the crazy thing is I didn't even realize it...until yesterday.

God used the message at church to get my attention. It was like he was standing right there jumping up and down saying, "Hey, Remember me!!! I'm the reason for your family! I am the reason for your ministry! I'm am the reason for YOU!!!

I broke down at church and ask God to forgive me and help me because I had all these life things that could be so overwhelming. I opened my Bible today to study John 5 and read the story of the man who was healed at the pool. This man had been crippled for 38 years and Jesus came by and asked, "Do you want to be healed?" I would think after 38 years if someone asked me that I would emphatically say YES!!! But he didn't. He had excuses of why he wasn't healed. Oh my goodness, that is me!!! Jesus asked me, "Sarah, do you want to spend more time with me?" My answer wasn't just Yes, it was Yes, but.... and it was clear, my answer should simply be yes! Sarah, do you want to know me more deeply-yes! Sarah, do you want to hear my voice-yes! Sarah, do you want me to lead you, yes!

Maybe, you are reading this blog and God is asking you some of those same questions and what will your answer be?

"See FIRST the Kingdom of God and all these things should be added unto you" Matthew 6:33

Hey lady!

Hello Friends!

So.... I am at a cross country meet watching one of my FCA coaches and as I was heading back to my car a group of girls were coming towards me and one of them said, "Hey that's that lady that came and spoke to our team. I looked around trying to find someone who was much older than me that they had to be reffering to, after all if she was talking to me she would have said, "Hey that's that girl..." Nope, it was me! I was the lady. Was it the marriage of 11 years that made me feel old? nope. Was it having 3 kids that made me feel old? nope. Was it a 7 year career in the ministry that made me feel old? Nope. It was 3 teenagers calling me a lady that made me feel old. Needless to say I was somewhat bummed the rest of the day when God gave me this verse from 1 Corinthians 13:11, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways."

Alright, OK, I get it! I am not a girl (child) anymore. You don't have to keep reminding me and then my husband's first football game happened. . .

I wanted to correct the ref's call and just let him know that he had made a mistake and he might want to know. OK-maybe it wasn't quite like that, but before I could fly off the handle (which I had every other year and in every other game-at least once) I heard the quiet little voice, "You are not a child. Don't speak, act, or reason like one. It's time to give up childish ways."

Wow! Talk about getting a 2X4 in the back of the head. If you know me, you know my mouth can and has gotten me into a lot of trouble as a coaches wife, and since this is my husbands first head coaching job I believe God is calling me to something higher-to put my childish ways behind me. So, I am saying this to you and to the world so that I can be held accountable-I will (with God's help) act like the lady in which those girls reffered to that day. I will keep you posted:)

Anniversary

August 24, 1969-This was the day my parents said their wedding vows. Yep-40 years ago today my parents stood before their friends and family and vowed they would stay together-for better or worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or poor, til death do them part-and they have. My parents gave me a lot of gifts over the years from cabbage patch kids to bicycles to basketball goals and so on, but the greatest gift they have ever given me was the example they set on having a godly marriage and keeping those vows they said at the age of 19 and 21. Has their marriage been easy-no! My dad served in the Navy and was gone for months at a time, they have taken care of sick parents in their own home, and have dealt with my mom's own cancer battles. These are just 3 of the obstacles they dealt with in their marriage-the point is they dealt with them together. My dad was the spiritual leader in our house that lead the prayers, sunday school lessons, and FCA groups. My mom was the "behind the scenes" servant that made us all look good. Without a doubt, my parents were the ultimate team. My dad was coaching-my mom was cheering. My dad was teaching-my mom was serving. My dad was leading-my mom was following.

So, to my mom and dad: Thank you! It is my prayer that Chris and I are able to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary with as much dignity, grace, and love that you all have shown to each other.

And to you, reading this blog I would love to be able to pray for your marriage so if you have anything specific I can be praying about for you and your husband-please let me know. I have a passion to see marriages thrive-yours and mine!

Old Navy

Hello Friends,

For most of us, school has started and that means another year of being the wife of a coach. For those of you who are wives of football coaches you won't see your husband for the next few months. As you prepare your family, yourself, and your marriage for the ups and downs of the upcoming season, let me share with you a story that will make you feel like you are not alone when the the world seems like it is crashing down on you or at the least, give you a good laugh.

I picked my kids up and we were going home and I saw the Old Navy store. I remembered I had a gift card from my birthday and I kept seeing those commercials for the $19 jeans and thought it would be no big deal to just run in and see what they had.
Let the tale begin. . .

All three kids were doing great. I had found some jeans to try on (first mistake) and we went to the dressing room. While in the dressing room, Chloe said she had to go to the potty. The restrooms were right next to the dressing room so I hurried and put my clothes back on and took her to the restroom. I went back to the dressing room to finish trying on the jeans (second mistake) and Chloe said, "Mom I have to go poo-poo." OK-here we go. I put clothes back on and took everyone back to the bathroom. We made it! Thank goodness. We headed back up to the front to get the one pair that didn't make me look like I was still 6 months pregnant (third mistake). We waited our turn in line and I gave the sales associate the jeans and as I was giving her my gift card, Chloe starts holding her bottom and I saw the panic her face and then it happened. . .
right there at the check out sat a pile of diarhhea at the feet of my little girl, and then the tears came. It was at this time that I had two choices: freak out or step up. My husband would have been proud because I went into Head Coach mode and praise the Lord for other moms who were willing to help out with the other two kids while I dealt with My Chloe.

I scooped her up (poop and all) ran to the restroom, stopped an associate and asked her to bring us some clothes that Chloe could change in to, cleaned her up, and then spent the next 30 min cleaning up the trail that we had left along the way.

Our quick trip into Old Navy turned into an hour and half later and nobody wearing the same clothes they went in there with. I got everybody loaded into the car to leave (vowing never to return to this particular Old Navy again) and I sat there, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. And then I heard a quiet voice in my head that said "You did it!" "You're right," I said out loud to myself, "I did it!" Whether this was God's intention or not, the lesson was learned. I was just prepared for the upcoming season as a new head coaches wife with 3 kids. I can do it! And so can you! Lets do this year together!

Rain

I need to get you caught up on the second half of our crazy summer. Right after Case was born my husband took his first head coaching job. We would be moving. . .again:) Even though the thought of selling a house, packing boxes, and moving with 3 small children didn't exactly leave me jumping for joy-where we are going did. He is actually starting a football program at a Christian School in Oklahoma City which is where our church and my job is located. We had been praying for a head coaching job for 2 years and God lead us here. Even though we followed God's lead we are still dealing with some stresses: head coaching duties, starting a program, not being able to sell our house, and commuting with our children.
My husband left the house this morning at 5:30am for his first practice and it was pouring down rain. And as I laid there listening to the rain, I couldn't help but think "Oh I hope our cellar isn't leaking." I drifted back off to sleep and then talked to a friend of mine later this morning and her house flooded. God used these little moments to teach me a life lesson. When it rains if there is any weakness in the house it is exposed. In our house it just happens to be our cellar and in hers it was her roof. When it is warm outside and the sun is shining everything looks strong, but it is when the rain comes that the weaknesses are exposed. The same happens in life-when things are going great our faith looks great, our relationships look great, but it is when the storms of life come that our weaknesses are exposed. Do we really believe God when he says He has plans to prosper us (Jeremiah 29:11)? Is our faith really that strong? Are our relationships able to thrive? Well, the storms are here and I say YES! For when I am weak, Christ is made strong. Jesus bring the rain and let the Roberts' family walk on water!