Another Bonner Girl to Make Her Debut

If you haven't already heard, I am going to be an aunt. My youngest sister, Morgan, is pregnant. It was a hard reality for our family to face, but our shock and disbelief are now transitioning to joy and excitement. Come January, we will have another sweet little girl to love on, torture with giant hair bows, and of course, spoil rotten.

Because this isn't really a new situation for our family, I think it's made it a tad less difficult, but these things are never easy. I am so proud of Morgan and her attitude toward the whole thing. She realizes that she made bad choices and she's now facing the consequences, but she's decided to cling to the Lord and his promise found in Jeremiah 29:11... "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

When I found myself in this same situation (twice), I chose to give in to the guilt and shame. I tried to hide from God because I was so humiliated. Not only did that plan fail, but I found life going downhill rather rapidly. My hole was getting deeper and much harder to climb out of. Finally, I turned from that sin and found that grace and mercy the Lord so desperately wanted to show me. It's been a long road from those six something years ago, but thank goodness, he didn't ever leave me or forsake me. He was just waiting patiently for me to run into his arms.

I know that Morgan, too, will find this same love and peace that I have found. She will run into the arms of the Lord and find that his grace is sufficient for her. She will be a wonderful mom, and one day, an excellent wife. She has already come so far from that little girl with braces and that ratty pony tail. I am so proud of her, and I pray that she will continue to cling to Jeremiah 29:11 and her other favorite verse..."Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding." Proverbs 3:5

Red Sox, IKEA, and Rings, Oh, My!

This weekend, my sister, Kaylee, and her boyfriend, Stephen, went to Dallas to see the Rangers and Red Sox play. Stephen is a die-hard Red Sox fan, so they have been planning this trip for some time now. They had tickets for Friday night's game (they were playing three different nights.) On Friday morning, they went to IKEA (the best store ever!) Stephen wanted to get to the game early to see batting practice, so they were decked out in all their Red Sox gear. A man approached them and asked if they were going to that night's game and if they wanted to go to Saturday night's as well. He had four tickets that he wasn't going to use. Wow! What a blessing! So, after IKEA, they decided to go to "The World's Largest Engagement Ring Store" just to look at rings. They have been talking about getting married, but no one really thought it would happen any time soon. So, Kaylee picks out this 1.3 c round solitaire ring. Stephen proceeds to purchase the ring, but the salesman leads Kaylee to a seating area in the front of the store. He and Stephen go into a back room somewhere while Kaylee waits....and waits...and waits. The salesman comes out and tells Kaylee that they are having some trouble with Stephen's credit, so he's calling his dad to co-sign on the ring. Red flags should have been going off in Kaylee's head from that point forward...A) Stephen has impeccable credit and B)Stephen loans his parents money because of their bad credit. She said she was oblivious. After an hour or longer, Stephen comes out, ring less. He apologizes and apologizes and Kaylee tells him she really didn't want the ring anyway...yeah, right.

Friday night, after the game had been going on a while, Kaylee happened to notice a woman's ring and told Stephen, "Ooh, her ring's really pretty." Stephen replies, "It's nothing compared to your ring though. Here, will you marry me?" After the initial shock of it all, she finally said yes. They weren't on the jumbo-tron or anything, but it was still so sweet. Apparently, Stephen had enough time by getting to the game early to inquire about that sort of thing, but you had to book it months in advance, so he just went with what he had. Surprisingly enough, Stephen wasn't having credit problems in the back room of that jewelry store. He was calling to ask my dad's permission to marry Kaylee. He hadn't really planned this whole thing, but we deduced that he realized this would be the best opportunity to pop the question. He had his two loves...Kaylee and the Red Sox.

I am so excited for them. Stephen is a great guy, and they both deserve all the happiness in the world.

Bridal Pictures

A few months ago, my friend Shala pointed me to a photo blog of one of her friends. She said her friend, Amy Rose-King, was holding a contest for a free bridal portrait session. After visiting her website, I knew that this would be the only opportunity I would have for such amazing pictures. I emailed her my info, thinking it was a long shot. It was a $350 value though, so I really wanted it. A while later, I received an email from Amy saying that I had been chosen for the session. I was so excited. So, this Saturday, I got back in my gown and headed out for a bridal session. It was so much fun. My mom went with me to help with my dress, and we ended up going to some of the same places we had our engagement pictures taken. It was really amazing. I am anxious to see the rest of the pictures because I want to see if I successfully smiled with my eyes, but for now, here are a few from Amy's blog...

http://amyrosek36.blogspot.com/

This was such an amazing blessing for our family. These are pictures we can treasure forever that without this being free, I would have never had this experience, much less the portraits. Even in the little things, the Lord shows his favor.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." Ephesians 1:3

Out of the mouths of children...

It's been a rough couple of days for us here. Most of you have heard that one of our students was killed in a car accident on Tuesday afternoon. Kelsey Vines was an 18 year old twin sister, daughter of our Deputy Superintendent and elementary teacher. She played basketball with my sister and was always so cheery when I saw her in the hall. Her mom actually taught my sister in kindergarten, and her brother was a few years younger than me. They had been at Cooper since the girls were in first grade, so we have known them for quite a while. It's always hard losing anyone, but when it's someone so young, it makes it even harder to understand and deal with. Yesterday was the toughest day I have ever had at work. I would dry my tears so that my students didn't know I was hurting too and so I could be strong for them, but each time I would enter the hallway, there would be crying and hugging and I would start all over again. It definitely the quietest most heart wrenching day we have ever faced around here.

Carson and Olivia were with my mom and Morgan when they got the news, so they were curious to know why everyone was crying. When we got home that night, they were telling me all about Morgan's friend who was in her car and had an accident and died. In their innocence about the situation, I really found hope. They were so sweet to hug on Morgan and offer their sympathy. They were sad, too, because they know that death means you won't see that person again, but in spite of all of this, they are still so encouraging. They reminded me of God's comfort and His promise of eternal life in heaven. It's so amazing how little children are so equipped for these situations. We try to shelter them from what's going on in tragic times when in all actuality, we would probably be better off letting them in so they can show us support and guidance with their honesty and innocence.

"At that time, Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure." Luke 10:21

Holy Spirit Conviction...It Does The Body Good

Last night as I checked my cafemom, my playlist started playing "Healer" by Hillsong. The writer, Michael Guglielmucci, gave testimony of suffering from an evasive type of cancer that had him wheelchair bound and needing oxygen during every performance. He told of his pain and suffering caused by this disease and how he wrote the song as a claim of his healing and his praise to the Lord for his healing. I was so moved by this story and the song, but recently discovered that Mr. Guglielmucci has admitted to making up the story about cancer because he was really sick from his secret life of pornography addiction. His body did suffer physically (hair loss, vomiting, severe weakness, etc), but not because he had cancer. Even his own family had no clue that he was not suffering from cancer. Only he and the Lord new of his lies. He has confessed to deceiving millions by his tale of sickness, disease, illness and his healing. He was in hiding with his wife and children, but finally came out and spoke to an Australian news program confessing his sin and proclaiming that he will tell the truth from now on. All of his ministry credentials have been suspended or terminated. It is truly sad that this could take place in the life of the church, but because he was so afraid of the truth of his sin and the life he was leading, he was only led into more destruction. It is a shame that anyone could use ministry to advance a lie; however, many of the members of his church congregation told reporters that we are all human and we all sin. Most of them have forgiven him and don't desire to have any of the money that they donated to his ministry repaid. Here lately, Chris and I have both been struggling with having our feelings hurt, being offended, and not feeling well because of allergy symptoms and me having some stomach issues. We've been arguing and not wanting to go to church because of these and other things with which we are dealing. I have really struggled lately with not wanting to enter into a time of worship anywhere, but especially at church. Last night, the Holy Spirit convicted me of this as the song played. He reminded me that all these petty things I thought were so horrible are nothing compared to the suffering that others are facing. I was thinking about Michael and his cancer. He was dying from this devastating disease that I have seen take the life of so many, especially some to whom I was very close. Now that I know the whole testimony behind the writing of the song was a hoax, I still feel convicted about my pettiness. Although this man is not and has not ever suffered from cancer, he is suffering now. Yes, it's because of his sin, addiction to pornography, and his lies to hide that addiction, that he suffers, but if we were truly the body of Christ that God has called us to be, no one would be too ashamed to confess their sins one to another and redemption, forgiveness, and freedom would be found, not only from the Lord, but from our brothers and sisters in Christ. I still believe that the Holy Spirit was convicting me of being petty and selfish because there are so many others out there who are worse off than me, but I know that he is also revealing to me that people need to know they don't have to be ashamed because they sin. They need to know that the God of the universe is forgiving, no matter the sin. They need to know that there are other people out there suffering from the same addictions, pain, heartache, and guilt that they do. It is so important that we have the mind of Christ. That's what he has called us to do, but we can't honestly believe we are obeying Him in this when there are those like Michael suffering from the hold of the enemy on their lives but who suffer alone because they are too afraid to ask for help. They are too afraid to reach out to others to battle with them because we might look down on or shun them, ask them to leave the church, or tells others about their suffering. Our lives are no secret to the Lord. He sees our every move, knows our every thought, and what's scarier still, He knows our hearts. Not only do I vow to forget all the mess in my life (hurt feelings, pain, offenses, etc.) and remember how blessed I truly am, but I will remember all those sins I have committed in the past that I don't wish for anyone to know about but that are now cast as far as the east is from the west. I will think about how my life could have turned out and how I could still be wrestling with or living in that sin without anyone to turn to. I will remember how alone I felt in that sin, until I confessed it to the Lord and found forgiveness and freedom. I will recall how hard it would have been to face those struggles alone. I will reach out to those in need so that they no longer have to hide. They don't have to make up a lie that brings glory to God and draws attention away from their sin because they're too ashamed of what we will think about them. Yes, God deserves all the glory, but we must also focus on taking care of business, being forgiven, and walking in freedom. I am so excited about walking this out. I am also thrilled to sing "Healer". Not because I feel sorry for Michael and his family, but because it is biblical truth and a proclamation of my walk with the Lord, my pursuit of freedom in Christ, and claiming what God desires for me to have...complete and total healing- physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and financial.