Our Anniversary

I should be writing something profound and meaningful, but I didn't get it done before this a.m. The kids are raring for the day to begin, Stacia is up and wanting attention....but I don't want to let the day go by without saying:

I've been incredibly blessed to be married to this man for 22 years today!

Yes the picture is a bit funky...but it was very late at night during a month of very late work nights. Don't ya wish you could dress in such a fancy suit for work? OK - this is a mess dress and is only for formal affairs....when we were new into the military I delighted Mike's peers and supervisiors by saying we'd be going to the ball and yes...."Mike bought a new mess kit to wear". A mess kit is camping like plate, fork and cup....

OK what was I saying? Twenty-two years and I STILL feel incredibly lucky to have this man in my life. I think the biggest compliment I could give him is that I pray almost daily that God brings a man "just like Dad" to each of my daughters.

Fasting

 Lady Friends,

I've been clearly hearing the Lord say "do this" and I've been arguing. I've asked several "what will others think of my motives", how does this fit with Matthew's teaching to "wash your face when you fast - do it in secret"? Really it boils down to being obedient. I've prayed about this and get no sense of God allowing me to shrug this off. This has been sitting on my desktop for nearly two weeks as I “double-checked” again with God.

By way of background:
For the past year and a half God has graciously led me as I've explored "spiritual disciplines". Not in any legalistic sense but as a way to draw closer in intimacy with Him. Any who know me know that I’m very allergic to legalism. I was wary as I began to follow this path. I've not shared a lot about my journey...because I believe that there is a discipline of "secrecy" as well as the more public disciplines of the faith. A good place to start if you want to read up on spiritual disciplines would be the book Intimate Faith by Jan Winebrenner. Note that this is a primer…I would personally recommend that you branch out into some classics of the faith and do topical studies from the Word on the various spiritual disciplines.

One discipline that I’ve been led to add back into my life is fasting. I’ve done this regularly for quite some time now. I was led to fast for my family – specifically my children, my husband and their mother and wife – on a regular basis. This has led to some marvelous changes in ME. {g} An invitation to join with a group of friends from Hardin, MT in a fast for our children a couple of months ago was another joyful confirmation that God is leading me to fast for my children/family.

The Call:
God has been speaking in my heart to call women to a day of fasting for marriages. This is SO IMPORTANT. I see such an attack on Christian marriages today. I see a generation being raised to think that the marriage relationship has no value! Romance is given great value while commitment, loyalty and obedience are seen as old-fashioned. I see women unhappy, miserable and feeling alone; who in turn nag and tear apart their own husbands. Cleary many of us imitate the woman in Proverbs 14:1 – the foolish woman who tears her house apart WITH HER OWN HANDS! I see husbands caught in sin, wives caught in sin, children being torn apart as Christian parents turn the safe-haven of home into a battlefield. Ladies, we need to take a stand. We need to humbly repent and seek forgiveness from our Lord and our spouses. We need to pray that our husbands would hear GOD’S voice loudly, which often means we need to BE QUIET so they CAN hear God’s voice above ours. There are many thoughts zinging through my mind. I’d like to have developed this more definitely before I shared…but I hear God saying “Now…call your sisters to fast for their marriages and on behalf of the marriages of their Sisters”. So I am. Your marriage may be perfectly solid but God may be calling you to lovingly pray for the marriages of others in your life.

I am asking the women I know to PRAYERFULLY consider if God is asking them to join me in a fast on behalf of marriage. I am asking for a commitment to fast on either Sunday or Monday (the 26th or 27th of February). Please do not join because it’s the “thing to do”. Please ask God if He is asking you to join. I believe that we will see strongholds broken (in our lives, our husband’s lives and our marriages) and relationships restored. BUT I believe that NO ONE should fast if God is not tugging at their hearts to join.

In the next weeks I will be compiling a list of those who are committed to fast on the 26th or 27th. If you are one of those, please email me at Mike_De’Etta@verizon.net I will be sending out one reminder and some sort of a prayer guide as the 26th approaches. I will only send this to those who respond at the above email address.

If you have specific requests you would like us to remember as we pray and fast – send them. I’ll compile a list. Please note that I am sending this call to women in my email address book, posting it on SHS (a homeschool email list I co-own) and on my blog….in other words I’m believing for a mighty army of Godly women to rise up and fast….For this reason, your requests will be sent out “anonymously” to those who respond. I will only share your name if you specifically ask for that to be done. I will send all correspondence “blind copy” so that your email address will not be seen by others. I will not send specific requests to any email list or blog – the list will only go to those who ask to have their name added as one who is committed to fast.

If there are questions on fasting, I may well post a few entries on our blog about that. I will not be sending another reminder of this to SHS or to the women in my address book. I trust that if you are called to participate God will prompt you to respond.

Dear friends, I thank you for reading through this and for prayerfully considering your response. I regret that my confusion over “motives” has caused me to wait so long…but I am hearing a clear “NOW” and so will humbly obey…now.

I believe for some mighty victories in relationships!
De’Etta

PS Feel free to share this with others….

WooHOO!!!!

Josiah has been consistently looking for work since we moved! He’s been a trooper though it has been discouraging. I kept telling him that in a college town such as this he’d probably find that they don’t hire 16 year olds.

He had an interview and call back from a Chick-Fil-A a couple of weeks ago. The man wanted to hire him but didn’t really need to hire someone. We felt that it was a good experience for him and we talked about how he could interview better. He turned 17 on the 9th.

Today he got a call to interview at the Chick-Fil-A in the mall. He went. He just called to say that they hired him. He begins tomorrow. He’ll be working 20 – 25 hours a week but NO SUNDAYS!!!! because the company isn’t opened on Sundays.

He forgot to ask what min. wage is down here…considerably less than in AK but that is fine. He really wants to save for a car and for life after he graduates…so this is good.

Every night at family worship Nolan has been saying “pray that Cy gets a job” and I know it’s gotten a bit wearing on Josiah to hear it night after night but Nolan will be SOOOO excited. {G}

FOUR big pieces of exciting news early this Monday a.m.

1. The boys are really into Brian Jacques Redwall series. We got them about 8 of the books for Christmas. They purchased two more from Amazon on Saturday but what is really exciting to them is that they were able to get Pearls of Lutra from the Paperback swap and it is ON ITS WAY to them. I'm going to find it interesting to see how the shipping compares - Amazon vs. media rate.

2. Hogans Heroes arrived last week - twice. {vbg} One set took weeks to arrive the other came in 2 days as promised on the website. UPS will pick up the second copy today.

3. River City Produce is the company that I did business with 3 1/2 years ago when we lived in San Antonio and I ran a produce co-op. There is a group here in town starting a produce co-op this week. I was invited to join. The truck will bring produce to a town 45 min from here every two weeks. It's from River City Produce....the prices are still great and I'm dreaming that the produce is still much fresher than anything we find on a store's shelves....because you eliminate the middle man. They are doing things a bit different...instead of all the money going in and buying shares....you order just what you want and hope that others order enough to make up the case....but I think it will work well.

4. Chonda Pierce is coming to town. I wondered if we could get enough folks to go from the chapel to get the group rate. I wasn't able to attend chapel yesterday but it's been reported to me that we got 10 to sign up in a "snap". I'm excited...one to have a fun, clean night out and two that people were interested in going from the chapel. Mike won't be able to come because it is the same night as Gospel Explosion....but maybe Arielle would go with me for a fun girls night out.

I started this to share two things...the book and the fruit and look...this IS going to be a good Monday. {g}

Vacuum

I couldn’t figure out WHY my vacuum cord was not stretching as far as it usually does….I don’t have a cat….I have Stacia.

Finally!

We *F*I*N*A*L*L*Y* opened Josiah’s birthday gifts tonight.

He was feeling well, Mike got home at 9 p.m. and we figured we’d better seize the day before the ORI begins in the a.m. Here are a few shots from the event. Zander cracked us all up when he grabbed a gift and ran it to Jamin. If you’ve been following our blog at all you realize that Jared’s birthday was in January and three of our boys had birthdays during this past week. Jamin’s is still a week away. Apparently, Zander had been noticing more than we thought. He ran the gift to Jamin and said “I think this is for JAMIN’S happy birthday”. We thought it was sweet. We tried to explain but he is very concerned for his “other brother Jamin”. It seems that Cy is “his brother” and the others are all “other brothers”. {bg} Every time he says it he reminds me of the old Bob Newhart show…”this is Darryl and my other brother Darryl”.

Cy’s Worldview…gift from Stacia and Nolan

Zander couldn’t wait to open “his” gift to Cy!

MOTIVES

Motives can be so tricky. We can so easily do good things for the wrong reasons….and we can do wrong things for the right reasons. This gets really murky when friends we trust call our motives into question.

There are several circumstances lately that have me evaluating my motives. I had posted weeks ago that I was praying about the balance between ministry inside and outside of my home. Many commented that I needed to check my motives. I did. I was asked to share some thoughts on a book and then was warned to check my motives when I did {g}. I did. I’ve been praying about my motives in a variety of other situations…what is motivating my counsel on this issue, what is motivating my response in that situation…and I’ve been praying about an issue or two where I think God is saying to act but I’m questioning how others will perceive my motives. I’ve been praying, fasting and tied in knots while questioning motivation….motivation…motivation. How to be SURE my motives were right? I would never want to step out on my own….attempt to do God’s work on my OWN.

Beth, a dear, OLD, ANCIENT, college-friend, sent me one comment that made it all so simple. I love it when she does that. She truly has a gift. She so often speaks clarity to my "twisted" thought processes. {G} We know from I and II Samuel that God looks at and judges the heart (clearly seen in I Sam 16:7 and in principle throughout a study on Saul and David’s life). I teach this. I love this. I’d never, however, realized so clearly how this could help to solve that tricky question of motives.

Beth simply said, “People can look at the outside and make judgments' but we know God looks at the heart. If that makes you fearful then there is change needed. If it gives you peace, knowing He knows what you really desire, then that tells you exactly what you need to know.”

Amazingly simple, isn't it? I know there have been times when the thought of God judging my heart made me cringe. There are many other times when it brings comfort and peace to be reminded that God judges the heart. Others may not understand my motives, but I can rest knowing that HE understands.

The whole issue of motives suddenly becomes very easy to determine. If I’m at total peace when I remember that God will judge my heart…then I know that my motive is right before Him. On the other hand, things could look really good but if knowing that God will judge my heart causes me concern and discomfort, I can be fairly certain that my motives are not pure and need some further adjusting.

It’s all so simple.