Siesta Spotlight- Michelle B

Michelle B.
Wedding Picture

(Justin)

Hey Sweet Siestas!

You all are the BOMB!

As my 16 year old might say.

I am 38 years young... and will continue to cover that evidence as long as hair dye is 2.00 at Wal-Mart.
Which these days may be my only affordable indulgence!

A few of my Favorite Things:

About my Church:
1.) Pastor Robert's Teaching!
2.) WORSHIP! (www.gatewaypeople.com)
3.) That they equip and empower those who are willing to step into ministry.

In case you didn't know it... I am humbled and blessed to be a part of a thriving, Spirit-filled church like Gateway.

Dessert:

Well, it would be the recipe shared by AJ over at LPM - So-papilla Cheesecake.

Worship Song:
A Tie - Both are in the videos on my Blog!
1.) Healer by Planetshakers and
2.) How He Loves Us by ... Oh his name slips my mind but Beth Kassle at our church led us in this song at Pink Impact and I was on my knees the whole time.

Favorite Worship Singer:
Female: Kari Jobe and
Male: Fry Daddy and well, my own Gateway Worship Praise Team from Church!

Favorite SPORT:
NASCAR ( I know, but I just love Tony Stewart and I've always loved fast cars! "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!") Besides, it is one of the few sports that still have an invocation in the name of Jehovah and Jesus every single race!

Favorite thing to do for my family:
Second to gift giving is trying out a new recipe I just made up as I went along pulling stuff out of the pantry. Turns out I am pretty good with ingredients! Can You Say Paula Deen Here I Come?! LOL!

Life Verse:
Personal: Habakkuk 2:2-3
Family: Deuteronomy 29:29

What I Am Reading These Days:
"The Supernatural Ways of Royalty" by Kris Vallatone and Bill Johnson and "The Shack" by William Young.

And, just to let ya'll know - I'm crazy, crazy in Love with our God and Jesus! Oh I am! He is so real, so wonderful and I just find Him to be fresh and thrilling everyday.

When I am not typing incredibly long, autobiographical emails... I am digging deep in the well of His Word and posting an 18 page rendition of my Bible study on my blog... and that's on a day when my head comes up out of the pages.

As for a Profile... I'm not sure I can do it in short order.

So, as best I can I will share the highlights and important stuff. First, About four years ago I saw Beth at the Alamodome for a Lifeway Women's Convention! I had been leading women's ministry at my church for a little more than a year and gathered my Bible study girlfriends (We were in our 4th Beth Study) to make the trip. But this was not our first trip to San Antone... Oh NO! In the spring we had made the wild ride journey to San Antonio for the Women of Faith National Conference. So I guess that would make me a San Antonio Conference veteran. I cannot tell you how excited I am to be going back. Now let me just say, I don't have those old Bible study girlfriends - I have NEW ONES! Yippee!

These days I am preparing for a new kind of "small group ministry" at our new church home. I will be facilitating and teaching a mentoring/support group for Bereaved Mothers beginning this fall.

In case you are asking... I am a bereaved mother. A title that could be worn like "a scarlet letter" (people don't often know how to respond so they just stay away), but I carry it more as a badge of honor (the honor of being entrusted with such suffering and the anointing that goes with it).

I am spending this summer preparing for this new season and journey. There are many things I have learned through this journey:
1.) God is always, and in all ways faithful.
2.) The cost of redemption is much higher than any one of us could imagine.

I often said, "If it were up to me, salvation would not have happened." But, it happened to Mary, Jesus' mother, and God knew it would hurt her... that it would be hard for her... but He somehow prepared her for that pain.

I find that this is true in my life as well.
3.) I can still see my son's legacy fulfilled in the life and testimony of his family. We live on in the legacy of Christ and His salvation and grieve as those who have HOPE in a better promise that will be delivered when we all come together again in heaven! AMEN and Glory all at the same time! and

4.) God loves me so much. He loves me so much He allows me to walk through this with more grace and dignity than I could have ever mustered of my own free will. I choose God and He chooses me. I am in awe of the work He has done to redeem this loss and my family.

I will celebrate a special day in San Antonio.. On August 22, 1998 I married the love of my life - Scott.
He is my cowboy with eyes the color of fresh sliced limes. He is so many things to me, and most often I ask God why He stays with this tenacious, crazy and sometimes wildly unoriginal woman he married - but he does. I believe I have drug him into more pits than he would have gladly jumped into all by himself.

Yet, somehow he always takes equal responsibility with me and helps me find my way out. Our tenth anniversary will be Friday... so while we are praising God and receiving a Word as the Siesta girls... He will be, oh, I don't know... snoozing in front a television that broadcasts sports on at least four different channels at any given point in time each day! Probably enjoying the peace and quiet, getting away to fish... or buying his SuperCombo Hunting and Fishing License!

There is a second date that grows a little less difficult with each passing year.

On August 23, 2005, my son went home to be with the Lord at 5:00 PM. He would be 20 today, but was 17 years old at the time. He and four friends were in an automobile accident on August 15th and he lived 8 days in a coma before God, in His mercy, delivered him home.

I glory in the knowledge that my son was covered by the blood of Christ and truly resides with his heavenly Father. But, I miss him a little more each day... It seems like such a long time since I held him or heard him laugh. But, again God is sooo good and the good memories outweigh the painful moments any day. The Joy of the Lord is truly my strength.

So, if I am crying anytime on that day, just give me a Kleenex and know I am praising the Lord for 17 years with my boy. (P.S. I am ever grateful that all of the other teens involved in this accident have recovered and are living their lives fully as we speak!)

As for the rest of our clan... my husband and I have the "NOT SO" Brady Bunch. He has two children from his first marriage, Travis (age 17, video game player extraordinaire) and Megan (age 14, she is a precious child who is growing up way too fast).

I have three children from a high school relationship and my first marriage: Justin (age 20, relocated to heaven), Brittany (age 18, graduating in two weeks - she is quieter than I, but her faith and her love for God are precious - She takes Pictures!), and Taylor (age 16, she is tenacious and Spirit-filled like her momma).

We had some issues with my vision of us being one big happy family in the beginning - namely two oldest boys and two youngest girls vying for their rightful place in the hierarchy of this family.

It was a literal knock down, drag-out screaming fight for a while... I thought they would kill each other or we would just end up in divorce court. PHEW! I am so glad those years are behind us. We are approaching a new season of parenthood... Empty Nester's!

With Domino Graduating in full swing... it won't be long. We will graduate one child each of the next four years beginning June 9, 2008. The joy of my life is watching them grow in the Lord and praying Scripture over their futures.

Well, I guess that is it. I love my life - and I love how God shines through my life even though I often don't realize He is shining. I don't mean that as bragging... I mean, I don't get it!

I love it, but I often wonder if anyone sees God in me at all... but then someone will say a word about it and I am humbled, buckled to the floor in praise of a God who could use such a broken vessel as me. My life verse(s) are

1.) Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
"The Lord has done great things for them."

3 The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.
~Psalms 126:2-3 (NIV)

2.) 5 The families of Judah will then realize, 'Why, our leaders are strong and able through God-of-the-Angel-Armies, their personal God.' 6 "On the Big Day, I'll turn the families of Judah into something like a burning match in a tinder-dry forest, like a fiercely flaming torch in a barn full of hay. They'll burn up everything and everyone in sight—people to the right, people to the left—while Jerusalem fills up with people moving in and making themselves at home—home again in Jerusalem. - Zechariah 12:5-6 (MSG)

3.) Then the Lord replied:

"Write down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald may run with it.

3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it will certainly come and will not delay.

Habakkuk 2:2-3 (NIV)

And finally, I pray Deuteronomy 29:29 over my family regularly: "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law." ~ Deuteronomy 29:29 (NIV)

I can hardly believe it... 7 years ago I could barely explain to my unbelieving husband what it meant to be saved, and today... well, today I am still a work in progress, but a work of God just the same. I am humbled and in awe of His Glory and His matchless grace.
Bless Ya'll.
Michelle