The Chronicles of Biscuit - Happily Ever After

The Chronicles of Biscuit - Stories about our youngest son, Tyler, whose nickname is Biscuit.

Do you like the Hallmark Channel movies?  My family does, but usually I don't pay close attention to the TV, so rarely watch it enough to know what's going on.  But this past weekend, the channel had a Christmas movie marathon. I was doing the same....not paying close attention, and I got into one of the movies. If finished the whole thing! (So proud of myself for sitting down and paying attention for that long!)  Then I watched another. And another.  And did the same thing for the next few days every evening.....into the wee hours of the night!

Monday the channel switched back to regular, non-Christmas movies. My daughter was watching one and Biscuit came in and said, "Oh, great! They're in a conflict, then they'll get back together, get married and live happily ever after! They're all the same."  We couldn't help but laugh at his 10-year-old wisdom! But, he's right.  They're all the same.  Same layout, but different story.  But very predictable.  And we're glad they are.  They're basically "clean" shows and have happy, feel-good endings.  Yes, there may be some sad, teary-eyed moments, but you know it's going to turn out right, so not too bad.

Biscuit's idea of the Hallmark movies made me think about the story of Jesus Christ.  Here was a man who came to earth to be the Savior of the world.  He had great conflict, but "got together" with some who decided to follow Him. The conflict continued and the followers continued.  Then He was arrested.  A BIG conflict.  Then He was sentenced to die on a cross. HUGE conflict.  The people of the day must have thought that this story would have a great ending for them and an unhappy ending for His followers. His followers mostly believed, too, that the ending was going to be unhappy - not fully understanding what Christ tried to tell them all along.

But guess what?  It WAS a happy ending! It was the happiest and most shocking ending there could ever be!  Jesus Christ AROSE!!  How surprised the followers were when they realized what their Teacher had been trying to explain to them for so long!  And what a shocking revelation when those who were unbelievers heard what they had done to the Savior.  Crucified Him.

⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 

Matthew 28:5-6

Hollywood can make up movies with happy endings - sometimes with a little "magic" thrown in to make everything work out perfectly.  But Jesus didn't need any magic or Hollywood screenwriters.  He had His Heavenly Father. He had the Holy Spirit.  That power is all He needed.  It's all we need, too.  With that power - that Spirit - we, too, can have a happy ending and live happily ever after.

On this GRATITUESDAY, I am grateful for happy endings. I am grateful for the happily ever after God has given His people - those who have chosen to follow Him.

Join us for GRATITUESDAY at HeavenlyHomakers.com!

How Great Thou Art!

Oh, Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder,

 Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made;

I see the stars,

 I hear the rolling thunder,

 Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee,

How great Thou art! How great Thou art!

These pictures were taken at camp - QMCC - mostly with a cell phone....and no filters! :)

He set the earth on its foundations,
    so that it should never be moved.
⁶ You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
    the waters stood above the mountains.
⁷ At your rebuke they fled;
    at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
⁸ The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
    to the place that you appointed for them.
⁹ You set a boundary that they may not pass,
    so that they might not again cover the earth.

Psalm 104:5-9

Radical - QMCC 2013

It's exciting to share pictures with you from our camp session last week!  The theme was "Radical", with the directors being my brother-in-law and my husband.

Every year at this session, the campers (ages 7th-12th) are divided into four family groups according to their ages and given a name.  This year they were jungle animals.

 They also do some sort of project, which this year consisted of making a large banner with their animal.  The creativity and talent shown on each of the banners was amazing!

On Wednesday night, unknown to the campers, my brother-in-law painted over and outlined the banners so that we could have a black light devotional the next evening.

The top photo shows the banners with the black light. It was amazing.  We also "marked" each camper who said they were a Christian as they came in with a thumbprint.  The focus of the devotional was Christ's death on the cross.  The word for the evening was LOVE.  It glowed in the dark, too, because it was in white. (The word part will be explained below).

My sister-in-law and brother-in-law made these great palm trees for the whole week.  They were made by rolling down brown paper bags, cutting a hole in the bottom of them and stacking them on a PVC pole.  The rounded branches were made by heating PVC pipes and molding them to a rounded shape. Then the leaves were cut and glued into position. The leaves had some glow-in-the-dark paint added to them, as well.

My sister-in-law made these beautiful nail/string art signs for each day.  The word "RADICAL" stood at the tree base each day, then the other words (Faith, Joy, Kindness, Mercy, and Love) were added each day.  The signs were a great addition to each day, but are also beautiful and are a great idea for homemade gifts!

It was a great week, for sure!  We were all tired, but it's well worth it.  To renew our batteries spiritually, grow closer to God, and learn more about being like Jesus.

But the very, very best part of being at camp?  Seeing two new children of God!  Praise God for the hearts of these two!  Please pray for them at they begin their walk with God in the steps of Jesus!

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13-14

Integrity - Do You Have It?

It's a word not talked about a whole lot these days, but it's an important word in the walk of a Christian striving to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Having integrity is what separates a Christian from the rest of the world.  We're called to be holy....to be set apart. Integrity sets us apart.  It's what shows the world whether we're being hypocrites or not.  

We can have integrity, yet mess up from time to time.  We're going to sin.  We're going to disappoint ourselves, as well as others, but having integrity means we don't have to decide whether to be honest or not.  We're honest.  Without exception.  We've got high morals.  Without exception. Having integrity is deliberately striving to live a holy life.

Integrity: The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

I'm doing this post because of a conversation I had with my children today when we went to see the movie, "Monsters University".  As we paid for our tickets and went to the concession, they asked if I brought any water bottles in.  I said no because we're not supposed to (we only see a movie once or twice a year, so it's a rarity for us.).  We can take waters in to other things we go to, such as Texas Rangers' baseball games, even Disney World, but not to the movie theaters.

Having to pay $4.00 for water is definitely not something I like to do, but that's how theaters make their money. They ticket money goes for buying/leasing the movies to play.  The concession money pays for the employees, heating/air conditioning, building, etc.  Cheating the theater out of their money isn't having integrity, is it?  It's not being honest. It's not having strong moral principles.

Let's think of other ways we can show integrity:

Paying our taxes....not cheating by not reporting some things that we should.

Finding something in our shopping cart when we get to the car, but not returning to pay for the extra item.

Receiving too much change back, but not telling the cashier.

Telling the truth instead of lying to receive a special discount on food, clothing, etc. (Senior Citizen's discount, etc.)

Not doing someone's work for them (homework, schoolwork, contest entries, applications, scholarships, etc.)

Tell the truth, even if you will get into trouble because of it.

Say you're sorry if you make a mistake. Don't try to cover it up.

Respect the property of others.  If it's not yours, don't take it. Don't touch it without asking.

Obey the laws of the land.  Don't litter. Don't speed. Don't think you're above the law.

There are others we could list, but this is a good start.  Remember that you are an example to those around you.  Others who know you are a Christian are looking to you as an example and possibly a role model.  What are you showing them?  A life of integrity?  Or a life of a hypocrite, claiming to follow Jesus, but doing your own thing?  Again, none of us are perfect, but integrity is something we must be striving for in order be be striving to follow Jesus Christ.

These ideas of integrity shouldn't be that hard.  They shouldn't be that difficult, should they?  If they are, perhaps we need to examine our hearts....search the scriptures to find ones that point our lives towards Him even more.  

Integrity.  It's worth it.

For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. 

Proverbs 2:6-8

Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind. For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness.

Psalm 26:1-3

F.R.O.G. - Preteen Camp Session at QMCC

It seems strange to be done with church camp (QMCC - Quartz Mountain Christian Camp) and back to blogging! I've missed my time with YOU, but enjoyed camp very much.

The first week of camp was a junior session of grades 4th-7th.  I counseled the older girls going into 6th and 7th grade. I hadn't counseled since I was 13, so this was quite a change being 30 years older!!  The girls were great and we had a wonderful time together learning to F.R.O.G. - Fully Rely on God!

We decorated the bathroom and cabin sleeping area with frogs and lights.

 One of the junior counselors also put scriptures around the mirrors....

 ...and walls.

 The girls enjoyed the FROG decor!

 What a fun group of girls!  It was great being with them....teaching them and getting to know them.

 It was also neat having our youngest son there as a camper.  He had instructed me to "not get in his business"!!  Haha! I told him I would stay out of his business unless I saw that he was doing something that I needed to be in his business about!  He was good, so no "gettin' in his business' was needed! :)

Twenty-seven years ago at this same camp - on talent show night- my friends and I did a "Trash" song in rounds. All of these years I've wanted to do it again, so our girls allowed me the opportunity to bring it back! I was soooooo excited! Unfortunately the round was "off" a bit, so doesn't sound as good as I had hoped it would.  It still was fun!

 Each night the campers dressed up.  There was alien night.....goof ball night....super hero night.....and backwards night.  Here are a few pics from the nights...

It was especially neat to counsel along with my daughter (left). She was in a different cabin, but it was neat to have her there with me!

 We had great lessons during the camp.  This one taught the campers to STOP and F.R.O.G. (Fully Rely on God).  They wrote their "problem" on a CD then smashed it.  That was fun! Then we glued the smashed pieces on the letters saying "STOP and FROG".

The camp directors of this session are wonderful! They do a great job coming up with or finding material for skits that really get the campers interested in the lessons.  This was the "Frog Hunter". He was always trying to sabotage the 'Professors" lessons.

The "Professor" dressed up for one of the goofball nights in this #1 mom shirt!  So funny!  He would bring the skit to the real meaning - according to the Bible message/lesson.

One evening the campers were playing games.  I looked to the west and saw a beautiful sunset over the mountains nearby.  It's wonderful to be able to see God's beauty in His creation.  

Thank you, God, for this week of camp where we all learned to "Fully Rely on YOU".  I pray that each of the campers is continuing to remember the lessons they learned.  I pray that they will always F.R.O.G.