Be Ye Transformed, by the Renewing of your mind

Romans 12: 2 
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind


I am sure everybody knows how a caterpillar changes from his wormy disgusting body to a beautiful delicate butterfly. I thought I knew until we start researching it more for Children's Church.
I found we don't fully know what happens. Researchers and scientist disagree but, in reading so many different takes on Metamorphosis I can tell you, in my own humble opinion, exactly what happens....a Miracle. 
First you have that gross little caterpillar, that looks like a fat worm.

It eats and eats and shed it's skin several times until at last it looses interest in food , wonders around till it finds a branch (or something similar) and creates a "Silk Pad" think double sided tape. Caterpillar then hooks his feet into the silk pad and hangs upside down in what is called the "J-Cycle".

The skin cells form the exoskeleton of the pupa, and when that last skin is shed, the "pupa" is revealed

Start of skin shed

Skin gone and Pupa revealed

 T

Inside the Pupa , many things are happening.   Here is one scientists take.

"They start growing really rapidly and differentiating into the different tissues, so that literally the entire internal contents of the caterpillar — the muscles, the entire digestive system, even the heart, even the nervous system — is totally rebuilt. It's like you took your car, you took a Ford into the shop and left it there for a week and it came out as a Cadillac."

Read it for yourself!

And finally, A beautiful new creature is born....a miracle of Re-Birth.








It been several weeks since we did this lesson for the kids but in rereading all the information, I once again feel humbled and hopeful in my heart. at the likeness of our own soul to that of the Caterpillar/Butterfly.
~ We are born into this world a Sinner, we wonder around looking for "food" to fill our soul. That emptiness we all try to fill with fleeting pleasures. Only to find we grow more "hungry"  we lose hope in ever finding  peace for our troubled heart. Like that caterpillar who loses interest in food.

I can't speak for any but myself,  I was miserable in my sin, I knew right from wrong. I couldn't sleep at night, my mind was always in a turmoil always unhappy with myself, my life...just completely miserable. No matter what I tried or thought would make me happy, it never did. I found myself no longer caring what happened to me or what I did because, I had lost interest in living.


Yet when Jesus came into my Life  I  "shed" my old skin and become a new creature in Christ. A true miracle occurred, I felt clean inside. I felt peace and even joy. Even outwardly I was different there was a smile that went from my face all the way into my heart. For my pain, He gave me healing, 

 my sleepless nights, He gave me rest for my weary mind He traded His Love, for my bitterness

took my troubled heart and gave me Peace,  as for My orphaned soul, He made me His Child

The old man inside had died and the miracle of Rebirth had taken place in my heart. 

 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 

 He created each of us  with the desire that we would be His, with the potential inside of us to be more. 
The emptiness you feel, is God's place in your Heart. It can only be filled by Him.

There is none like You, No One else can touch my heart like you do

                         I could search for all Eternity long and find There is none like you.

Picture Day at school!

Beauty and The PEST!

Jadyn & Ethan!

Author day at School!

Yes I am aware this is upside down....I don't know why as it is right side up on my computer!
So stand on your head and you can see Ethan with Author Brian Cleary, who was at their school today!

Cayden's First Deer....plural

Cayden shot his first deer this Youth season. He shot his 2nd deer 60 sec later....you'll have to ask him for the story, I am a little confused. I did get that he was shaking so badly from an "Adrenalin Rush"  that he wasn't sure he would be able to shoot it! He was so cute to hear him tell it....lots of excitement for him that day! He is such a good boy (when he is not pestering his baby Brother)!
I don't care if he shoots a deer or not I am proud of him! He has a good work ethic and somehow manages to make good grades in spite of being Dyslexic. I have spent many days crying and worrying over his Learning Disability and how it would effect him. I am thankful to say as of today, it has only made him Stronger as a person, and as a student. I love this boy so much!

The pressure to Conform...

For children's church we have been going over
Romans 12:2
Be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.

We spent several lessons on how we conform to this world. We used the chameleon as our "Conformer".

The chameleon camouflages himself to fit into the world around him. We talked about reasons we may want to change ourselves to be like the world around us. Peer pressure, fear, bulling, and just simply because a lot of us want to make others happy, we want to be liked. So we try to become somebody we aren't.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Many times we as adults get so wrapped up into trying to fit in that we lose ourselves, we forget who we really were before we started making so many  changes in our search for that sense of belonging. Inside we are still the same and yet for all our changes and all our conforming to other ideas of what we should look like, act like, do and think, we are never happy.
Things don't have to be a sin for us to feel that pressure to conform. As an adult I feel pressure to conform. Something as simple as weight  is a huge thing for most women. If you don't believe me, gain 40 lbs and see how differently you are treated, then lose those 40lbs and observe again...everybody has a different response to how you look and most people have no 2nd thoughts to telling you their opinion good or bad, when your fat or skinny. A lot of people probably don't even realize it but some treat you differently as well. This is just one thing I can relate to as my weight is always up or down. I feel that pressure all the time. I go to bed with it, I wake up with it....it follows me everywhere. I don't need you to tell me I am gaining weight and refer to my looks as you would a tragic accident...I do all that myself.

Another way we as adults feel pressured is providing the best for our kids, keeping up with the friends of our children to make sure they aren't singled out, bullied or that they may feel a sadness for not having what their friends have. Clothes, houses, book bags, Electronics, vacations, you name it. I imagine this is even more of a burden for men than it is most women as men are the main providers in most homes.

We feel pressure in other areas of parenting, are we to easy on our kids, are we to hard on them, how is other parents handling the same situations?
 We worry that our kids will be embarrassed of us for the way we look or dress, are our clothes nice enough, is our hair fixed just right,  on & on.
For those of us who don't believe in cutting our hair we worry that people will think we are some type of alien with bulging head bumps that we cover with this huge mass of hair, or if we wear our hair down you run the risk of being petted like a dog by complete strangers, or if your really lucky like me complete strangers will come up to you and say "Do you know you need a hair cut?!"  We worry other women will think we are gross or that we aren't clean or don't try to keep up with ourselves because we don't visit a beauty salon and cut off dead ends, if you don't believe me you should see the looks I get when I wear my hair down and the comments... For those that cut their hair, I am sure you deal with the after thoughts of did I get it cut good enough, if I get it cut at Great Clips will I look like I laid under the lawn mower, is this cut out of style, or coloring and perming.... all these ridiculous things we as women do because we feel that pressure to measure up to some other person's standards of beautiful.
I worry Gary or close friends might look at me to long and really see all the flaws in me, you know kinda like Gothel after she goes from "magical" to "downright creepy"! Like her age just hit her all at once! BAM with the UGLY/AGE stick!

I know ...your thinking I have really flipped and need some OCD meds ASAP! Some of these worries are funny and sometimes I admit I have had a good cry over hurtful remarks but always a good laugh afterwards when God speak peace to my mind and his Love clears away all the  firey darts Satan throws my way.
Some of these things are so petty and so ridiculous, but aren't they all?  I think the bully in our lives  today and always, is Satan. He may use others to make you feel this way but, don't ever doubt he is behind it all! When we stop and take a moment to think rationally instead of rushing thru the day...

I know that no matter what I look like on the outside,or how other perceive my physical body,
I am fearfully and wonderfully made in His image.
 Psalm 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

My earthly possessions great or small, matter not in the bigger picture of life, nor do they define me and God does not place my souls value on my credit score great or small.  
Matthew 6:19-21

19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

I am a good parent as is my husband, we may not be perfect but we love our kids and do the best we can for them they will survive if they don't have Miss Me jeans, Hollister clothing, no it doesn't hurt for them to have those things and yes they like when they get them but  God never commanded me to dress them in name brands He did command me to love them, to protect them, to provide for them, and to discipline them.

 Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)

• Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. 

A lot of my battles are of the mind for, after all my decision to follow Christ has been made. My standards and biblical or personal convictions may not be yours but they most assuredly are mine. There is something inside of me that won't let me bend them a little or break them, or toss them aside, sometimes I have like a pouting child told the Lord, "THAT'S IT! I QUIT! I REFUSE TO FIGHT ANY MORE!" that is the moment when spiritually, He carries me until I am strong enough to walk again, the moments that in my weakest He is my strength, and that stubborn streak I have is only strengthened and I can't just walk away, I can't quit...and I am thankful for that. At the same time it means my mind is where Satan attacks me...if he can get me to doubt and fear long enough, He will have a greater chance in the battle for my soul.

 2 Corinthians 12:10 

• Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 
  
  Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)

• But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
  

 PSALMS 28

6Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.

7The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

8The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.

I could add verse after verse of God's promises but I will stop here ;)
 

Thanks to my faithful readers! I hope your are encouraged ;)

I will have to finish up on Transforming at another time!

Love,

Jamie 

So these are just a few of the things I may struggle with and I am sure you can add to it, feel free toshare in the comments as your struggle may not be your own. After all....I am a very private person and sharing my inner thoughts and struggles is not an easy thing for me to do....you should at the least do that same! lol!

For Davie Boggs amusement....

Since you don't have Facebook ;)

I am a first grade teaching assistant this year. Today while at school, the kids were having trouble focusing on what the teacher was teaching. She got them all on track when a spider made a grand appearance on the "chart paper" hanging from the ceiling ( long paper hanging like a clothes line in the air) We tried to just ignor the spider but it was huge distraction for them...and me as well so I asked if she wanted me to just kill it. We decided that would be best.
With all 25 students sitting there criss cross apple sauce and quiet for the first time that afternoon ,I take off my shoe to hit the spider and I realized, "I can't smash a spider on a free hanging paper". I removed my other shoe thinking "Okay I can just put a shoe behind it and smash the shoes together."....such a blonde moment... next thought, "Omigosh that spider is huge! If I miss it will fall ON TOP OF ME ....and I will become..."indecent & hysterical" so I carefully eased my shoe behind the paper and the spider starts moving I quickly hit the paper and the spider starts falling...as did I.
 I was trying to move back and my feet got tangled in the rocking chair the teacher was sitting in as I grabbed the chair I thought,
"Oh I'm fine" then I fell back with my arms holding my upper body and I honestly don't know what happened with my legs...I thought "Okay I got this"
I landed on my butt and was thinking "Ok, it's over"
NOPE NOT YET next thing I knew, I was flat on my back. The kids are all  laughing so hard as is the teacher.  I jump back to my knees because I don't know where the dumb spider is and there it is in the  containers....I hit those stupid blocks so many time and the spider still lives...
My butt is so sore tonight, but as the teacher said, " Maybe we can write a story about that on Tues.!"
 That wasn't quite what I had in mind for helping them learn how to take everyday life and tell a story...but looks like I was more helpful than I ever thought possible.

A bit of random

For those that like to read about our lil' Dennis, aka Ethan, here's one for you.

He spent the day with a friend Sat. while there, they had a family Bonfire. The friends grandma came to the Bonfire. I guess she has a very strong dislike for the word "poop"...so much so that she doesn't even use it even when the sometimes necessary topic comes up. She refers to it as "out the back" . Of course Ethan was doing something and said " Oh, poop!" Grandma gasped in shock and asked him, " WHAT DID YOU SAY?!!" Ethan apologetically corrects himself with, "Poop Nuggets!"   yeah....I don't know how it happens but somehow my boys have a way of shocking the best of ladies. I remember Cayden and Tre` shocking Sis. Jane a time or two. For the record nobody here says "Poop Nugget" well....that I have heard... besides Ethan.

I was feeling pretty homesick Sat., visiting Dayton and Dryden Road on Friday night, knowing Seth & Sarah and family, mom and dad and Holly & Jeff and family was all in Dayton, trying to squeeze in a years worth of catching up into a few hrs and knowing I could never catch up with everybody.  I miss being at DRPC and "Bev & the girls" just everything (I could go on and on but it would take to long) about Home. The Lord must have heard my heart because Sunday night we had the best service I can remember having at Full Gospel in the almost 3yrs we have been here, I felt spirit and service wise I was back home at Dryden Road church...I guess having one of my BFF's (well kinda like 2 but don't tell Michael I am so fond of him) in service with me didn't hurt any! I am glad that God cares about the small things, the things and feelings nobody else would care about at all.


I don't really have much else for you all so I will just end here!