Don't Let your Hearts be Troubled

I wanted to share with you below a recent class I did with the teens. Know that I told them it's normal to feel down, angry, hurt, sad, etc. Jesus wasn't saying not to feel...He was just commanding us not to stay there as we ultimately have a choice. This is a hard teaching for all of us to take to heart, but God would never command us to do something that was impossible...especially with the Spirit working in us. To put this teaching in perspective, John 14:1 preludes Jesus getting arrested and crucified...and he was commanding us to not "let" our hearts get troubled. His heart was about to be tested to the point of traces of blood in his sweat...but He didn't stay there did he?

Amazing...so, no matter where the economy is, no matter what is going on in this world, and no matter the sorrow we feel when we lose loved ones...we have a choice to trust in God/Jesus/Holy Spirit...or reside in our flesh. I love you guys and know this is a tough command for me this week with the death of Barrett Lewis...but ultimately I will trust in God as I grieve the loss of my friend and direct my anger towards the thief who robbed Linda, Rachel, and his little girls. (The numbers below in parentheses were power point slides and Kardia is the greek word for heart...)

House of KARDIA Choices 11-12-08

(1)John 14:1 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.”

Your first reaction is going to determine the outcome in a crisis situation. Seldom do we have the luxury of sitting back and looking at things. (2)The attitude you have when Satan comes against you is going to determine the final result. If you can get a hold of this truth, it will revolutionize your life. The less we operate in hurt or depression, the more the Word will take root and convict us!! Mark 4:13-20

(3) In John 14:1, Jesus says, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me." this is a command as much as any other command in the Word — as much as "thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, and thou shalt not kill." It is a direct command from the Lord!

Now this is so simple that you can miss it. It's very profound, however. (4) The first thing you have to do when Satan comes against you is to make the decision that you are not going to let your heart be troubled.

If you were to diagram this sentence, the understood subject is "you." You don’t let your heart be troubled. God gave you the choice. God gave you power over your heart.

Again, this is so simple we often miss it. The vast majority of people who are attacked by Satan don't really understand this. A lot of them believe that in a given situation, there is no way that they can help but to be depressed and discouraged. They justify emotions that are contrary to God's Word. So the very first thing you have to do is say, "I am not going to let my heart be troubled." (MY DAD!!!)

(5)John 14:26-27 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. This is as much of a command as thou shall not steal, or thou shall not murder!!

(6) Philippians 4:8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Are you depressed tonight? You are probably mostly thinking about things that are depressing. Are you discouraged tonight? You are probably focusing on things that are discouraging. Are you angry or bitter at something or someone? You most likely are focusing your thoughts on what fuels your anger. WE HAVE A CHOICE!!

(7) Your spirit never gets depressed, it never gets discouraged, it never gets fearful!! The Bible tells us we are one in Spirit with the Lord...our battle is with our fleshly responses.

(8) Psalm 42 and 43 tell us what to do when we are lonely or depressed...Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God! MARK 4:13-20!!!

(9) We have a choice like Stephen, Jesus, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego facing a crisis...what choice did they make? They responded in line with the Spirit that was controlling their hearts and minds!! We may feel justified but God commanded us to not let our hearts be troubled! We are to put our hope and trust in Him and praise him no matter what happens.
Be what God is calling you to be and don’t let the enemy rule your thoughts and steal your joy!!
(10) John 14:1 Jesus says, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me."

(The teens and parents received this very well and we had a powerful prayer time at the end with each other where teens were releasing their hurts and struggles to the Lord! Praise God!)

See you on Tuesday...Todd

Frontier Days in Wetumpka/Animal Safari in Georgia

These are the boys inside Fort Touluse about 10 miles north of Montgomery in a little town called Wetumpka. This was a French fort built in the early 17th century at a river fork leading into the Alabama River. It was a trading post and the French and Indians ended up co-existing peacefully. We made this into a field trip for the boys on my day off during the week (Friday). They do a big blowout every year taking you back in time as these are just a few pictures of what was spread out over 10 acres and it really felt authetic.

There also happened to be a guy from Ireland and the boys loved his swords of course...

The boys most recent field trip took them on an Animal Safari in Pine Mountain, Georgia. Marcie and the boys went with a homeschooling group from church and I couldn't make it on this one as they went on a Thursday this past week. They said it was awesome and saw all sorts of animals including a Liger...yes a Liger and a Zony (Zebra/Pony), Zonkey (Zebra/Donkey), and fed a lot of animals. Isaac's high was getting licked in the face by a Giraffe. He said Nana would have screamed! Enjoy the pictures (click on picture below and look at Owen on the left)

We're going "tongue" crazy in these next photos...

Here comes the Liger, Zonkey, and dancing Ostrich...

Our own Monkey, Bear, Tiger, and Alligator bait...

Pumpkins and Halloween

We always have a good time carving the pumpkins and this year we let the boys create their own design. You have to love the 3 eyed pumpkin Isaac carved. Little Owen says, "Crying??", every time he looks at Easton's and Andrew went for the more traditional look and had me carve it for him. Easton and Isaac actually carved theirs and felt very grown-up doing so. Owen had to get in on the act and made little marks with his plastic tool.



We also had a fun time at Trunk or Treat. The boys loved another reason to dress up in their Star Wars outfits: Easton (Annakin), Isaac (Obi Won), Andrew (Clone Trooper), and Owen in the same cowboy outfit Nana used to dress me in. Marcie even colored a beard on Isaac and they were in full character with friends at Landmark. We are so blessed to have these boys running around and bringing life to our home. God is good!

Decade of Parenting

Well, there's something about your child hitting double digits that makes you wonder where the last 10 years went. With more ups than downs, we feel extremely blessed! Thank you for the cards, gifts, and phone calls. Enjoy the following pictures...Nana, the white star wars lego ship is what you got Easton. He spent 3 and half hours straight on it and got it done. Everything you see below we did on his day + a trip to a driving range and playground. He also got to see National Treasure 2 after church.

Marcie (Babe)

Point well taken Dad!! We need to give a little Marcie time to all of those who read this blog. As you see above, she is a Babe, and that is what I call her most of the time!! In the picture with Marcie are two of her neices (Alli Kate and Becca). It's sweet how much her nieces love to see her and she gets a little taste of what it may have been like...you just never know as God could overcome my exclusive V-club membership and do whatever He wants to do. That's what it would take for us to get a little girl or God would have to convict our hearts to adopt a little female angel.

Marcie is working very hard with homeschooling, keeping the house up to her standards (with a little help from her boys of course), making time with God, and putting up with Stocky Stracke...me! Being a teacher of two different grades simultaneously is tough enough when you have two other boys wanting your attention and getting into everything. If it wasn't for Math, homeschooling would be much easier...Easton has the ability but has days he would rather be doing anything but the math set before him. I've told him that I enjoyed math, I just despised the Algebra and Geometry...ugghhh! I'm very proud of Marcie for what she does on a daily basis and is actually joyful and excited to see me when I get home from work. Without being cheesy, there are a lot of things she does on a daily basis that are beyond what is deserved or merited on my part.

So, here's to you Marcie and women like you...I don't know how you do it and get it done with so much Joy and dependence on Him! Thank you for teaching my boys about the Trinity and all the academic stuff too. I love you Marcie...and as Grandma Stracke says...I better not mess this one up. Your children are rising up and calling you blessed!

Todd

Random Shots...

Here are a couple of random photos of late. I will start with one of my favorites of Owen in his Bama Jams. Just a little bit of difference in air off the ramp between Easton and Andrew. Isaac (Obi Wan Kenobi) with his one-eyed friend Casey. He literally had one eye shut in all of the pictures we took...pretty funny.

It's your Birthday...Get busy...

We had a great day celebrating Isaac's 8th Birthday as Marcie always does a good job of spreading the "wealth" of gifts throughout the day. I'll give you a little photo tour of some of the things we did. Bass Pro and the driving range won't make it as I didn't take the camera with me...

Yep, Owen still loves the boots baby...aren't they cute at the park?

The bike ramp was a lot of fun...
Isaac picked out the mellow yellow and wanted to drink it like his Dad does...sorry about the manners he's learning nana!

A little Red Robin tasted good to the soul...
Isaac was excited to watch Star Wars for the first time...
A great way to end the night with Marcie's fresh stove popcorn and watching little Annakin Skywalker growing up in Star Wars I!! Isaac got a number of gifts that didn't get represented here but I hope you enjoyed a snapshot of his day. He got to have a friend spend the night Friday as we continued the celebration and watched II & IV...may the force be with you!