Notes from Nicole

I am not sure if you have heard of Dr. James Dobson? He is a very encouraging speaker and author. He has a book titled, "The Strong Willed Child." He has also authored many other books as well, but this is the one that sat on my nightstand for several years! I have a child whom I have always said could be the poster child for the Strong Willed Child-she has a will of steel!!! I remember that I realized just how strong willed she was when I had told her not to say "poopy-da****" anymore because it wasn't nice word and if she said it again she was going to be in trouble. She looked me right in the eye and said it with such a daring attitude that at first I wasn't sure how to respond. I quickly recovered and got a bar of soap out and stuck it in her mouth (hey, it worked for the kid on A Christmas Story, right?!) She say there with that defiant air about her and did not cry or even flinch. When the time was up she took it out of her mouth and went on

How many times have you heard someone say, "I just can't believe what (insert name) just said or did...and they call themselves a Christian??" Maybe it has been said about someone you know. Maybe it has been said about someone in your church. Maybe it has been said about you. Maybe you have been the person that has said it. So, what is the proper "Christian behavior" anyway? I mean, do you have to dress a specific way, worship in a specific church or read a specific translation of the Bible? These are all questions that I have asked myself. Maybe you have asked yourself too. It would be so much easier if there was a "Christianity for Dummies" manual, right? But God never said it would be easy. Jesus proved that it would never be easy to live among all people and be a living witness to those who do not believe. There is a pop song and there is a phrase that talks about someone loving all of "your perfect imperfections." When I f

Good morning everyone! What are your plans for the week? Do you have any destinations that you will be visiting? Maybe it is something as exciting as Hawaii or Paris? Or maybe it is just your work cubicle??!! Well, wherever you are headed this week I want you to keep this in mind;no matter where your are or what you do someone is always watching how you act, how you treat others and how you respond to life in general. A little scary isn't it? Well, it shouldn't be, because we know that even though there are other humans watching us most of our lives, God is watching us 24/7. He knows our every move, even before we make it. He knows our every thought, even before we speak it. He knows our every mood, even before we behave it. You might be thinking, So what? I am a good person, I treat others with kindness, isn't that enough? Is it? I know that I am a little monotonous with the questions, but I think that it is good to ask questions, especially about God and what

For those of you who know me you know that I am a passionate person. I am passionate about my family, my children, my job, serving others and I am passionate about worship. Worship is something that makes me feel closer to God and it is a place where I can sing and praise Him and He will know that I am His. I guess I would say that my passion for worship started when I was very young. I grew up in a penecostal church surrounded by VERY passionate worshipers! I remember being a small child and hiding under the pew with my sister because we didn't understand why everyone was hollering and waving their hands all over the place. As we grew older we soon realized that this was an act of worship, sometimes a very loud and obnoxious act of worship, but to each his own I guess. I know that for most of my fellow parishioners they were sincere in their worship and they truly were "moved by the spirit." However, there were those who I felt were worshiping for show or maybe

I was driving to work this morning and I was listening to the local Christian radio station. Just before another song played the DJ was talking about something he had read that really made him stop and think about his time left here on this earth. He said that there was a man who had written something about figuring out how many more days you had left to live based on your health, family history, etc.. Then you give yourself a penny for each day that you estimate you will live and see how much you would come up with. He then went on to say that once this man figured out how many pennies would equal how many days he had left to live he then put them in a jar and at the end of each day he would take one out to remind him of how quickly time passes by and how we must live each day as if it is our last. I was really intrigued to figure this out, so once I got to work I started calculating. My grandparents on my mom and my dads side lived well into their 80's and some even into th

Kenny Rogers sings a song titled, "You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille." I am not a Kenny Rogers fan and I don't know who Lucille is but as I was reading in Galatians this morning this song just popped into my head! I know, I find inspiration in some strange ways, but here it is. In Galatians chapter 3 Paul is trying to reason with the churches in Galatia to not turn to the law and at the same time turn away from their faith and everything he has taught them. Paul couldn't believe that the people were so quick to turn away from the Good News of Christ and start believing something else. He says, "Really there is no other Good News. But some people are confusing you;they want to change the Good News of Christ." (ch.1 v.7) Think of it this way; a cupcake is about 300 calories and no matter what you tell yourself before you eat it, the fact remains that it is still 300 calories. You may say to yourself, "Well, the eggs that were used in th