Dry Bones MOVE…………..

Hey everyone, I just wanted to share some more random things that the Lord is using lately to make these dry bones move (Ezk 37). I praise Him that He is so incredibly personal!

1. Jon and Kate’s (plus eight) new book “Multiple Blessings.” J gave me this book for my birthday as a “fun book”. After “The Shack” I have desired to have a fun book (one that you aren’t reading to better yourself or do a deep Bible study, just a veg book), the next one was “The Me in Mommy”. Well, “Multiple Blessings” was just like “The Shack” and just like “The Me in Mommy”, EXACTLY what the Lord needed to say to me at that time in my life. YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK! How many times have you heard me say this, well, YOU MUST READ "MULTIPLE BLESSINGS"! Oh my goodness, I had no clue how madly in love with Jesus my sweet Kate was and I had no clue how much we are all having to suck it up to carry out our calling in life. I felt she put to pen about a million things I have been feeling over these past few months! My “fun books” keep turning into these major wows, I pray the Lord keeps em comin!

2. There’s no place like home…… I shutter to say this because in the matter of a phone call we could be packing back up (there isn’t anything that serious, I am just saying in God’s economy…). But today I went to Coy Lacy Park and walked and talked, telling God over and over, there’s no place like home”. For those of you who aren’t Clarksvillians, Coy Lacy is just a local park, nothing spectacular about it, but for me today it was like Disney World. I have been to that park many times, but this was the first time Mr. Cross had the experience. We had a little play-date with our sweet Snick who has been loaned out because of renting rules. I put pictures above so you guys could see our little man and our little princess(poodle roodle for the Pintos), having a blast. I may wear you out with pictures thanks to my fancy new camera (it’s not really all that fancy, but it is to me). So selfishly, pray with me because I want to stay home, but regardless, I will forever be grateful for this season of “at home rest”! The air just smelled perfect and the birds sounded louder today at Coy Lacy Park and that was a great gift for these dry bones!

3. Finally, a new series that is rocking my world called “My best friend”. I pray that you guys have gotten hooked on pod casts and if not, please do! There are some awesome pastors out there and thanks to technology, we are blessed to be fed in many ways these days so let’s eat up! I say this often about this guy, but I think this really is my favorite! His series called “The Journey” was my last favorite (if that tells you anything) so listen to that one as well!

http://www.gatewaypeople.com
Then click on "more sermons" and you'll see the goods!
I would start with "Who is He?"


Love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kel

Have you ever times two.................

The ride to the salon, the hat has many purposes right now!


Where on earth did this cape come from, a super hero in the making!


The Before


The million dollar expression....


And FINALLY, the after....


Ok, so I know I am being "that mom" but is this not the cutest thing you have ever seen in your life. I just about fell in the floor and cried when Cross got his first big boy haircut (his very first was a tiny one by mommy). He just looked like such a little man. I know my baby Cross is getting to be a big boy, but God was so good this morning and gave me some uncharacteristic snuggle time with my forever baby! He is usually on the move until you literally feel like you throw him into the crib for bedtime. He grew out of snuggling from the moment crawling and walking came along. Our sweet little puppy won't even let me snuggle, but ONE DAY, I am getting a lap something or another. Hopefully a little pretty princess girl that will love her mommy's lap, but if not, I will be on the lookout for a 4 legged cutie that will fill my snuggle need! I love you guys and am still feeling your prayers! I thought I would share with you some random, but powerful things the Lord has been showing me lately, just snid bits of wisdom, but I am thrilled to share! Love you guys and have an awesome rest of the week!
Kelly

"How's it workin for ya?" My favorite quote by Dr. Phil that a large percentage of the population does not live by. The Lord keeps impressing on me to constantly asking myself, "how's that workin for ya" and if my answer is "not so hot" then He is showing me to seek wisdom and make changes! Let's don't live defeated lives, let's seek wise council and wisdom and power from the Holy Spirit and let's do the work to make life better. Joyce Meyer said today, the world is supposed to be defeated, Christians on the other hand are supposed to be victories! Well, amen sister, let's start acting like it, deal!

What will make you come alive? Lately, I haven't felt all that alive and today I listened to a Joyce Meyer series that gave me a new found vision that I am thrilled to share. She was teaching on our purpose in life and it is simple, to glorify God and then she went on to say how, God's desire is for us to help hurting people. Then the Holy Spirit kept telling me that when our job opened that we were to be very intentional about using our new budget to help the hurting. He kept impressing on me that the key was to start with percentages instead of staring with all our "needs". We need to sit down and pray with our spouse on percentages that we agree to and then come alive as we sit down with our budget and see what a difference we can make. Here is a sample just to get you thinking! This will most certainly make us come alive, getting our minds off ourselves:
20, 20, 60 (if you read previously forgive my math error, we won't even discuss my major :(
20% Savings (10% short term, 10% long term)
20% Giving (10% tithe to your local church and 10% to something(s) that make your heart beat!
60% Spending (start with taking out the "main" bills: rent, insurance, utilities, and food, then add in til the money runs out, this will keep you from feeling guilty for spending, yet giving an end to your "needs")
Doesn't this sound fun, if you are not in a situation (like us) to have any left over after the bare basics are paid then be faithful in tithing with that budget and look at your "time budget" more closely and see how you can serve the needy.
You will have a blast with the offering percentage. If you have a friend that is a single mom, rock her world! Babies close to your heart? Give to a local pregnancy center. Love good water, give to James and Betty Robison and help them dig wells. If you can do 50% giving, crunch those numbers and get ready to have the party of your life!

Finally, don't live as a martyr. I was talking to a girlfriend yesterday who has desperately missed qt with her hubby after a very long deployment. Make sure the above is done and then give yourself a treat! If you are feeling overwhelmed, schedule a massage. If you need some time with your man, plan a date or better yet, a vacation. Need a camera (like I did) take that birthday money and run before the bills come a nockin! Let's don't be martyrs, let's enjoy life to it's fullest!

Lot in Life.............

Ok, I just have to say it again, but if you haven’t been on for a while, please scroll down and start with Joshua Cade Bullock. One, because he was a sweetie and two, because nothing else in my life will make any sense unless you have.

I want to thank you again for all your prayers. A few days ago, I was at lunch with an amazing new friend and during that one hour period while my phone was on vibrate, I literally got like 8 calls and txts, (did I just do that, txt lingo on the computer, yep, sorry) all of which were sweet friends just checking on me. That carries you through the day let me tell ya, a blessing of Christian community to say the least. I have thought so many times through these past few weeks, how do people do this life without Jesus, how do they live through these trials without the comfort of the Lord? But I am also even more convinced than ever that this is one of the most amazing benefits of Christian community. Do you have to go to church to be a Christian, no, certainly not. For years I was a Christian yet chose not to go to church. For those of you who knew me during those years, it most certainly was not working for me not to mention it is in opposition to the Word of God. Today, I feel like I am living out the principal of why God’s Word tells us to not give up meting together (Hebrews 10:24-25). Christian community has played probably the most major role in my road to healing and to that I will be forever grateful. I have no idea what this burden would have weighed if I hadn’t literally had so many people praying me through. It has really meant the world to me and I pray if you don’t have awesome Christian community that you will dive in this coming Sunday because you never know when those people will be your literal air.

Ok, so back to lots in life. I may have gotten a little side track, sorry. I thought about naming it “lots of life” because that too is what it means. Most of us are dealing with a lot of life. As I have looked around recently, my personal tragedy has been placed on pause as I have observed others’ lives. Please know that I say that with the total freedom to continue to grieve, but with the harsh reality that even in my pain, it is true. Just in the circle of friends that I share, I know people who have had cancer, are single parents, haven’t been able to get pregnant, lost babies once they were pregnant, had to quit jobs because God told them to (there are actually several of us which is quiet comforting), people whose marriages are in need of nothing less than a miracle of Jesus and others who are being called to be that hero in their marriage. I have friends who hate their jobs, who hate where they live, who have just spent 15 MONTHS away from their husbands, who have lost literally thousands, upon thousands in the stock market, whose children are fighting drug addictions, friends who are being called to home-school despite the fact that they would love nothing more than to be released of that calling, who are in financial panic, who lost loved ones in Iraq, who have even had a puppy missing overnight…………………So, are you getting my point, we are all living a lot of life or our lot in life, which ever you would prefer to call it.

Now, please know if there is ever an advocate of fix what you can fix, it is me, but many of these people are doing EXACTLY what the Lord has called them to do or their circumstances are 110% out of their control, as were ours. Sometimes we just seem to forget (or maybe I seem to forget) which side of Heaven we are on and on this side, we need not expect anything less than our lot in life.

Sure, some may look like they are on the express route. Their lot may seem a lot less than yours, but please know that either they are doing a mighty fine job of painting a pretty picture on the outside or their lot is still being shipped. NONE OF US, NOT ONE are excused from this reality. This is certainly not Heaven and for me today, it doesn’t even seem like Kansas. I like when the lot isn’t as thick, as fresh, as new as it was this week, but I know that too will come. I also know that doing things God’s way is the only sure way of making the smallest lot for your life. If I can at least avoid all the ones I caused for years, I will have as much of easy street as planet earth can offer, but life is still just plain hard. It stinks sometimes and boy do I look expectantly forward to its end.

BUT IN THE MEANTIME, I was rereading this and getting depressed myself so I figure we better get to the good stuff quickly before we all hit the floor in defeat. The week after all of this happened, this song kept running through my head, it was one my dear friend in Elizabeth City would sing with her two beautiful daughters (that family I have mentioned that has the insane amount of talent all under one last name, the Pinto family to be exact). It simply says, “The joy of the Lord is my strength” and then some more good stuff I could never remember so I just kept humming the tune. I would find myself singing this song over and over as I tried to go about normal life and I kept thinking, of all the songs to “recall” this is an odd choice. Well, it was an odd choice, it was my Holy Spirit’s choice and His ways are not our ways either. As God would ordain it, those sweet sisters of mine were actually making plans to record that EXACT song for me without any knowing of my recall. (Does that not just give you chills??) So I wanted to share it with you, but I have no way of doing so, at least none that I know of so the words below will have to do! All my sisters reading need a big dose of hope. Wherever you are in your lot of life, I know it isn’t always fun. I know Heaven will be a lot better to say the least and if you aren’t 100% sure that is where you are going, please email me ( bullockfamily77@gmail.com ) because without that you really are hopeless (no offense). The joy of the Lord IS our strength for this thing we call life on earth. In Heaven it will be our life, but on earth it is our strength, our strength to endure until that amazing day when we are called home.

I love you all and thank you again for your prayers. I can somehow, only by His amazing grace, sing this song at the top of my lungs (never will that be recorded praise Jesus) and mean it from the bottom of my heart…………

The joy of the Lord IS my strength (Neh 8:10),
K


*Note the highlighted verse, my personal fav!

The joy of the Lord will be my strength
I will not falter; I will not faint
He is my shepherd; I am not afraid
The joy of the Lord is my strength!

The joy of the Lord will be my strength
He will uphold me all of my days
I am surrounded by mercy and grace
The joy of the Lord is my strength!

The joy of the Lord will be my strength
I will not waver walking by faith
He will be strong to deliver me safe
And the joy of the Lord is my strength!

*Just thought it was cool, this is my 100th post, that is a lot of life! :)

The pursuit of peace...........

Hello all, it is difficult for me to blog because I am somehow afraid that me posting again will take the place of my last blog which will forever be my dearest so please go back and read it if you haven't already. I may just write this each time for a while if you don't mind. :)

I wanted to write everyone and give you a little summary of my week. Yes, I know, my posts and little aren't usually in the same sentence and probably won't start today, but I will do my very best, promise. Sometimes that Holy Spirit is just LONG WINDED! hahhaha Basically, in a nut shell, I have been a crazy woman. Monday and Tuesday I knew it was just part of it, but Wednesday morning I woke up and thought, certainly subconsciously because I'm not even smart enough to think of this, but I have got to get some peace, somehow, somewhere, and hopefully not by falling back to old habits of 12 packs (that is of beer and of cigs in case some of you didn't know the old me). So, I called a dear friend who is a Christian, but who is also a therapist and I told her up front, "I'm calling you as my therapist, not as my friend, and I want to tell you all that my crazy mind is thinking and I fully expect that after I have told you everything, that you tell me what to do to fix it." Sometimes we need an ear to listen and just let us get it all out, but I had been doing that for days with different amazing friends and I was still going insane. I had moved past the stage of guilt in grieving and I was in anger and I needed to get out of that stage fast before someone got hurt.

I do want to stop here and clarify that there is no right way or wrong way to grieve, that I am certain of. I am just sharing my PERSONAL EXPERIENCE! That is one thing I have done right is not to compare of give myself any expectations so please don't dare hear me suggesting otherwise. I am just sharing my journey to wholeness that has really only just begun.

Ok, so my sweet girlfriend listened forever and man do I praise God for giving me this awesome friend, at the end she said, "It sounds like you need some time away from Cross so that you can grieve properly." Well, amen to that sister. I think I knew that in the back of my head, but I was fighting thoughts of guilt for leaving him more and I don't have a personal babysitter on call 24/7 (you seem surprised, hahahaha) so I just needed someone to nudge me into my pursuit of peace.

A pursuit of peace for me is when things just feel off. This can be after a great tragedy or it can be the most normal week of your life. I have another girlfriend who calls it the flow. Like when things just aren't flowing, you got to get with your Jesus and go on the pursuit of peace to get the bottom of the problem. Sometimes you need to rearrange your schedule, sometimes it is a sin that is buried behind the to-do list that needs to be worked out, sometimes girlfriend time will do, other times it can be major like mine was this week and call for something a little more drastic. I guess, whatever size of chaos you are feeling is directly in proportion to how much Jesus you need to fix it. I hope that is a theologically sound statement, but that is exactly what I experienced this week. A good quiet time for an hour or a coffee date with a girlfriend just wasn't going to cut it, I needed for my Jesus to hold me in His arms, literally for days.

So that my sweet friends has been what has been happening for the last now 24 hours. I am at a bed and breakfast which the Lord provided every detail for thanks to some godly people who went insanely out of their way to bless me. I am learning that once you get on the pursuit of peace, God opens the doors for you to find it. I was so scared to get away, to be vulnerable, to be without my man, but I knew my Jealous God was calling me to simply come and sit with Him awhile. The year before I was married, this was how I lived. I went to work and then came home and spent hours upon hours with Jesus in His Word. That may sound boring to you, but it was absolutely life changing to me. At that point in my life, I had actually never even felt peace so it took a HEAVY pursuit to get rid of many years of junk so that the peace that passes all understanding could begin to surface. Well, again, a time in my life where the pain was so strong that I had no idea how on earth to even begin to come up for air has taken a get away that stripped me of distractions and placed me in the resting Savior's arms.

Again, I am certainly not saying "this is the godly, correct way to grieve" this is just what the Lord has called me to do for today and it is only by HIS grace that I actually made it to obedience. But I will say that the pursuit of a loving, comforting Father is ALWAYS the answer in whatever situation you find yourself. Whether major or minor things in life are getting to you, are you on the pursuit of peace? Are you making sure there is a flow in life? The only way you can know if it is there is if you have felt it before. Like if you have lived even a week in that flow, you will certainly know when it is gone. When the kids are not a joy anymore, when your husband is getting on your last nerve, when God is nowhere to be found or heard, when your days seem nowhere near a light burden and an easy yoke, (Matt 11:30), if this is you, then please, please, go on the pursuit of peace. Be willing to be radical if He asks for a weekend, take it. Be willing to do your part to get to the Savior because He promises to do His. It may mean nothing more than falling face first on your floor and just crying out for His mercy. It may mean rearranging a schedule that just "isn't working for you" and doing the work to reestablish order in your home. It may mean closets cleaned out, both literally and spiritually. I don't know what that pursuit looks like for you, but if there has ever been a time in my life I am thankful to know the One who does it is most certainly now!!!!!!!!

I love you guys to death and each of you who have prayed for me this week have paved the way for my pursuit of peace. I was going to wait to post after my weekend was over to share with you all my cool God moments, but already, there is not room enough on this World Wide Web for what He has done with this weary, broken, heart. I know there will still be tears and still be moments, but finally, for the first time, maybe even in months, I have HOPE and that my sweet friends is absolutely priceless!

I will leave you with one, very cool God moment, that happened as I was doing my Beth Moore last night. Have I told you lately that you MUST do Esther?? Ok, well, she went on and on about how Esther fasted for three days and how that "three days" had many important references in the Word, like Jesus rising from the dead after three days and then Abraham and Daniel having miracles after the 3rd day. Well, guess how long I am going to be here, YEP, you guessed it, three days. :) If that doesn't give you chills, you just may need to check your pulse. I will close with my weekend scripture and a thank you again for your many prayers! I love you and praise God for you more than you will ever know!

Hosea 6:2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. *It most certainly doesn't get any better than that!

Healing, slowly but surely,
K

Joshua Cade Bullock

This was written on Monday morning, December 29th, just now getting to post……..

Good Morning Everyone! Although posting great news by blog is still hard because my personality would love nothing more than to tell each of you in person, posting bad news is certainly 1,000 times worse. Yesterday, December 28, 2008, at 1:37 p.m. our precious baby boy was born at 6 ½ inches and 3.7oz and he was blessed to never have to fully enter this world, but to go straight to be with Jesus. This morning (not even 24 hours out) as I awoke for the first time in months with an empty womb the tears would not seem to cease. I know that the days ahead are going to be filled with ups and downs so I am asking for prayer for our entire family as this is a loss for many more than just Jeremy and I. For anyone with a medical mind or a mommy one, I was 16 weeks and had an incompetent cervix. I went into labor yesterday morning as we were heading back to Clarksville after a wonderful visit with my family. We went to the emergency room in Smyrna, Tennessee where I have been treated like an absolute queen from the moment I walk in the door and probably largely due to the excess pain medication, yesterday I handled my emotions abnormally well, but today the reality check has hit from the moment my eyes awoke.

You know the old saying, you can’t believe everything you hear, well let me tell you, I am having to practice that full force because satan, the author and father of all lies, the terror of this earth (John 8:44), is the only one capable of haunting someone who has experience such a loss with a long list of lies that the Father of Creation is not even capable of thinking. My God has been so good through all of this to protect me from that enemy and I will not back down for one second and allow his harsh accusations to become a focus of my day. Satan has told me, “if only”, if only I had gone to the doctor sooner, when I saw things that were unusual that Cade would be with us today. Another “if only” is that a simple procedure could have been done in order to stitch my cervix in order for it to remain strong throughout my pregnancy. The list could really go on and on. He is attempting to haunt me with guilt for not wanting to be pregnant, for not wanting another baby so fast and all I have to say to him this morning is to SHUT UP!

My God is a good God and if He had chosen, in a blink of an eye He could have stopped everything yesterday and allowed this cup to pass, but because He promises to never leave me or forsake me (Josh 1:5) the verse that ran through my head a million times in the emergency room) I am choosing to trust that He only allowed this trial to exist because He fully intends for it to bring Him great glory (Romans 8:18). Cade is the lucky one, he personally will never hear any of those lies because he was never exposed to the author of them. He will never have to fight the fight this life requires for victory, he arrived there before the battle even began.

The Lord had already given me a life verse for Cade long before I was even pregnant and I wanted to share it with you in closing. Again, our family has many rough days ahead and I was so encouraged yesterday by a dear friend. She said that she had read that same day a commentary about Job and it said, (and I am paraphrasing, certainly not quoting), Job had two things in life nailed down that caused him the unusual reaction of praise after experiencing so much loss. He first knew his God was sovereign and secondly he knew that his God was good. Well, thank goodness I serve that same great and one and only God. My God is sovereign thus I know He was in control and how is that comforting? It is comforting because it is followed with the unshakable truth that my God is good. He promises that He is ALWAYS for us and never against us so even in the moments where that reality seems dim, His Word promises it is there! Pray for our family to have that unshakeable faith. Pray that we fight the author of lies to the point that he wishes he had never messed with this family and pray that Cade’s legacy will always be one of faith and hope. Hope and faith that we too will join him one day in the grandness of Heaven and that he will have our seats saved in our mansion to dine with him again!

I wanted to share one last thought (as I am sure you are not surprised, hahhahaha). To all the people I have spoken with, I want to thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart for the way you carried our burden yesterday (Gal 6:2). I spoke with friends who I know had shed tears all day for our family and please know that for every tear you shed, I truly believe it spared us one in exchange. I felt the peace that passes all understanding (Phil 4:7) that so many of you prayer warriors stood in the gap for me to experience. And your words, every single one of them spoken and unspoken comforted my soul like you will never know. I am so very thankful to have such an amazing support system that no words can express! Our little Cross was whisked away by loves ones and we never even had to think, he was just perfectly cared for during this hard time and that in itself was priceless.

Ok, finally………..
Joshua 5:14 Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked the Lord, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”

This is how our family has attempted to live our life over these past few years and I pray that yours will as well. That our faces will hit the floor in full reverence of the mighty God that we serve, but that because of the blood of Jesus Christ we will share an intimacy with Him that will assure us that if we ask, our Father will be faithful to speak into our lives with a personal message for His servant. I pray that we will all seek any message the Lord has for His servants and most importantly that upon receiving that message, we will believe its truths and obey its commands.


In loving memory from broken hearts,
Mommy and Daddy

Calling on all married women............

I wrote this one a few weeks ago and am just now getting to post.....

Ok ladies, this blog is just for you and I pray you can detect the vast urgency of this message as you read. In Jeremy and I’s few short years of ministry there is NOTHING that breaks our hearts more than watching a marriage that is every adjective other than abundant. I’m not even talking about the ones who are borderline divorce, no often times those couples are at least getting to the nitty gritty of communication, past hurts and pains, and the changes that it would take to make the marriage work. No, I am especially heartbroken by the “Christian Cohabiters” that think divorce would never be an option but settling for a crappy marriage is somehow heroic at worst or all that is optional at best. On the flip side of this, I have watched (or am watching) several girlfriends lately get into the ring and fight like cats (ladies don’t fight like dogs ) for their marriages and women let me tell you, I am on the sidelines as your greatest fan.

In addition to those we have observed, I also want to share with you a brief testimony about our own marriage just so you won’t dare be naive enough to think this just comes natural to either of us (our closest friends are laughing, thinking, don’t worry, we know). J and I are the FIRST to admit that the only thing good about our first year of marriage was the honeymoon and the tax write off. Other than that, life as blissful newly weds felt a little more like hell on earth. So when year two rolled around I have no clue what was going through his mind but mine was thinking this was about as far from John 10:10 as life gets so I am going to dig in with the Lord until He reveals to me what on earth I need to do to make things better. I didn’t even care what Jeremy needed to do although I, like most women, thought I could make a list, but I knew God was telling me that was absolutely none of my business. So, I read every stinkin Christian book on marriage that I could get my hands on and started dying daily to my flesh and actually trying to put into practice all the amazing wisdom that was being revealed to me through authors that desired so dearly to see marriages succeed. Now, a few years later I can say that the man I use to wish would change in every way possible is the absolute love of my life and as I minded my own business, magically some things that really did break my heart actually started to change as well. Now I lay in bed at night, holding my man, thinking to myself, “I didn’t even know it could be this good”. I really believe that we certainly didn’t “arrive at blissful” because neither of us are all that great of people, we are both far from it. No, I truly believe that it’s God’s blessing on our lives because we have studied what the Word has to say about marriage and obeyed. I feel like we are reaping the reward from a season in the trenches.

Which brings me at least closer to my point. You have all heard me go on and on about my mentor in Elizabeth City and I want (and she would want) everyone to know that I don’t think she is SUCH a godly woman because she has arrived. No, I think she is SUCH a godly woman because she is teachable. If I share something with her that the Lord is showing me, she is praying that next day that the Holy Spirit will help her put it in action in her own life. Likewise, she will often call me ranting and raving about some awesome revelation she is having (which almost always includes conviction) and I know she is going to do so much more than just “amen” it, she is going to live it because she wants all this life has to offer and she knows that road is paved with obedience and wisdom to and from the Lord.

Well, for the past few months her raving has settled in on one particular marriage book and I decided that it was a must to share this with all of you for sure. I know some of you out there don’t have a “Merideth” (that’s my mentor’s name) in your life right now so by all means please, please let me share mine. But I want to preface the title with a very thought provoking question at the risk of sounding naggy. Ladies, I want you to take this one to the spiritual bank in prayer because it is the lesson the Lord has been sifting in me for a year now and I think there is a nugget of truth behind the refining that could open a door to an insanely fulfilled destiny in Christ.

I first want to ask you this, do you believe that if the Bible makes a blanket command for a gender or any certain group of people that we are in direct disobedience if we are not following it? Let me give you an example to get your wheels turning. In 1 Timothy there is a section of scripture that is directed towards men, women, and then overseers and deacons. My question to you is, as you are reading the Word (which no offence has GOT to be step one to knowing God’s will for your life in the first place) and you see those people groups, does a light go off in your head, “if I fall under that category, then is that calling is also for me and most importantly, if I am refusing that calling do I view it as disobedience to God or even the more detailed reality to view it as sin against God?”

Well, the scripture that literally brings me to my point as well as to the title of my mentor’s latest book is all the way back in Genesis at the time of creation. Gen 2:18 which reads, “The Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Ok, so…………Eve was CREAETED to be his (Adam’s) help mate, so we as wives have a choice to make, do we think that calling was specified to Eve or could it be that I too was created to be my man’s help mate (goodness know mine needs it, wait, did I just say that out loud)???

“Created to be his Help Meet” by Debbie Pearle (www.nogreaterjoy.org) has been my mentor’s latest “wow” moment over and over and over and let me assure you my friend is well read so if she says this book has truths worth repeating throughout almost every conversation she finds herself in then by all means we would be wise to take her advice, order our own copy today and grab the brightest highlighter we can find and get to work.

Ladies, this book I am suggesting may come across like an out-dated, 50’s way of thinking, but if you and I will have a teachable spirit mentality, I think we will be a lot closer to fulfilling our divine destiny rather than living in direct disobedience to the Father’s Word. 1 Samuel 15:22 says obedience is better than sacrifice. The Lord knew it would be easier for us to “appear spiritual” than to dig in the trenches of obedience like my mentor constantly models for me, but let me assure you that although her nails may have gotten dirty along the way, I can promise you her husband “sings her praises at the city gates” ( Proverbs 31) and for those of you who have ever experienced that victory in marriage, there is no greater feeling on this earth.

So again, the ball is in your court, if you are more spiritual than me and your immediate thought each morning is “how can I serve my husband today” (mine looks a little more like a to do list he can do to serve me) then by all means, this one may not be for you. But if you, like me, tend to find that calling about as far from my created purpose as any calling may be then we just may be wise to seek some wisdom and certainly some conviction in this category.

I want to leave you with one last question that has pondered or haunted me; however you want to look at it, over this past year. What IF God would not allow you to be fulfilled in any other calling in life unless you nailed this CREATED calling down first? What if He has an amazing life and calling in store, but He knows the importance of order, and quiet frankly I may be saying “Jeremy who” if work was going great or if I could engulf myself in the kids. It’s just a thought, but I personally am trying to be willing to do the work to fulfill my created purpose in order to experience all this life on earth has to offer!

Let’s walk the walk instead of talking the talk!
Kelly

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Bullocks would like to wish all of our friends and family a very merry Christmas! I have been saying each year, “this is the year we are GOING to do Christmas cards” and thus far that project never seems to make the budget cut so praise the Lord for an awesome “blog card” to both tell you how much we love each of you and to show off adorable pictures of our sweet baby boy and his new Christmas wagon. I did think I should take full advantage of this prepaid postage and send you a family update as well. As you can tell, Cross is about as cute and sweet as any child could be. He really is doing great and any day we have a healthy baby is a good day. He is taking several steps, but certainly not walking on his own just yet. We have no teeth and are most fond of balls (not by Daddy’s wishes we are certain, it really was natural), puppies, and music. The music one I am interested to see where that leads because it will be a supernatural gifting if it is there, certainly not heredity. I think it could have something to do with Daniel Doss (Grace’s worship leader) being pumped into the womb for 9 months. The child just knows talent when he hears it! We have no real words yet, he says momma and dada and nana but he seems to have no clue that we are any of those words although my mom seems to be rather certain the nana is for her (as she should be)!

We are back in Clarksville and praising the Lord every day that we are home. This has been a tough season and I think that I have said this before, but it was probably best that I did not have internet access very often because if I had blogged everyday you guys would have most certainly called Jeremy and demanded that I be omitted and I wish I could say I were joking. Between life changes, job changes, 1st trimester pregnancy, a little toddler who was/is into everything, being stuck at home, and having little to no mommy time (because I bought into satan’s lie of guilt for leaving or taking help), I was on the verge of breaking. I once heard Beth Moore say that when someone asks if she has had a good day she says “any day that I get a word from the Lord is a good day” and I thought to myself, “wow, I wish that were the way I functioned” mine sounds a little more like “any day I get my way is a good day” for sure. Well, lately, I am finding that any day that I hear a word from the Lord is not just a good day, it is life. I am realizing more and more that this season of refining that Jeremy and I are going through is just as beneficial or certainly more to our future than any season of blessing could have been. I know I need refining, that is an easy one, I hear myself think and that alone could take a life time to work out, but my man on the other hand, I rarely see something that would take such a monumental season of stripping to work out. But I know because he is human that it is there and that we serve a God who is willing to work it out. I have cried out to the Lord often over these past few months and said “Jeremy is a godly man, bless him, why are you holding back your blessings from him” and the Lord always answers me “because I want to make him MORE of a godly man”. Well, who can argue with that, I am willing to settle for great, but the Potter is driven to awesome!

So our family, as of today, is really doing great. I have come out of what I now refer to as the “stay at home mom funk”. I feel so much better physically that mentally is starting to catch up. I have an appointment in January to find out if we are having a boy or a girl and I promise you guys will be the first to know. We are due to receive our next blessing June 16th and Grace Community has enough pregnant women right now that the nursery is going to explode. I see God’s hand in new life all around and it makes me ecstatic to see what calling He has for each of these precious lives He has ordained to enter this world.

And to answer the most popular question I get asked these days, “sooooooooo, what are you guys doing”; in a nut shell, we have no clue what we are doing. The Lord has told us two things, well I guess three over these last few months, “resign from our church in North Carolina, move to Clarksville, and then trust Him”. I wish I could tell you more, but that is really all I know for now. Thanks to wonderful families who bless us each year financially for Christmas our bills are certainly paid so please don’t worry about us financially. I would say our greatest struggle right now has little to do with the finances and more to do with the millions of unknowns. But there again, the “trust Him” enters. A girlfriend said you are learning “one day at a time” to a science and she is so right. We could live in Clarksville for 6 more months, 6 more weeks, or 6 more years. We could have our next step tomorrow or it could take some time. Here is what I do know without a shadow of a doubt that our Lord provides for us. He will provide what we need, when we need it and He does not mind watching us remain humble or grow humble, He does not mind developing our faith, and He knows all the fruit of the Spirit that we so desperately need to have developed in order to carry out our purpose.

So, is today a good day, absolutely, even from the moment that I opened my Bible Study this morning I have gotten more than just a word from Him, I have gotten several. I am studying Beth Moore’s Esther and the first sentence I read was “You see, even your current location is part of the set-up for your kingdom destiny.” I don’t know much, but I know that we are in Clarksville for such a time as this and I am bound and determined that we are going to be fruitful, not defeated, while we are here. Eph 1:11 says we were chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works everything in conformity with the purpose of His will. Beth says, “These realizations should be stunning and marvelous to us, exploding our lives with significance.” And then she goes on to say that had Esther not chosen to step up to the plate that she would have missed her place in divine destiny.

I am choosing today to tell satan to shut up when he says this is all miserable and meaningless. My man has a mighty calling on his life and if we are not obedient today in the wait, we “could be left out of a divine loop that could one day mean everything to us.”

Our pastors at Grace could have chosen to give up when the going got tough (and I assure you that tough is a vast understatement) and if they had, they wouldn’t have gotten to witness hundreds of adults at church last Sunday experiencing a true celebration of the birth of Christ. Every time you hear or read the testimony of someone who the Lord has used in a radical way, they have a story like ours, one of waiting, one of vast unknowns, one that required the faith they would need to fulfill their calling and that I pray is what will be said of us.

So friends and family this Christmas, please, please don’t buy into satan’s lies that this God life isn’t worth it, that He only has great things in store for “certain people”. If you are a child of God, you are apart of a royal priesthood and Eph 1:11 applies to you just as much as it applies to us. I cried and cried Sunday as I was reminded of the virgin birth that paved the way for my forgiven sin and thus my purposeful destiny. For me this year, Christmas is about a secured hope for my family’s future because of the birth and eventual death of Jesus.

With the greatest love for each of you!
The Bullocks!