Monthly Archives: September 2008

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The boy and The Astros.

Look what I got in my email inbox today.  This has been an emotional day.  I love this child.  For real.  Ernest emailed all around and asked people to send me Birthday wishes.  I am so glad he did.  Thank you Licia.  And Thank you Jamie for taking this stuff to him.  For the love.

notice anything?

For my 32nd Birthday Ernest surprised me with a lunch picnic, cake buying, an appointment at a day spa (hint), and dinner with my favorite four.

What do you notice is different?

9 days. 9 nights.

Ike came and took our electricity for 9 days and 9 nights.  He may have come to destroy us but instead we chose to relish in our Hurrication.

Ike helped me:

meet every one of my neighbors.

have a solid week of family time.

master my skip-bo game.

enjoy the romantic flicker of candlelight.

have long intimate conversations.

laugh a lot.

find beauty in the simple things of life.

gaze at the stars.

enjoy new life.

be quiet.

share food and drink.

reach out.

enjoy life.

I enjoyed so many wow moments over the last nine days.  I wish I could tell you all about them.  Let just rest in the fact that our God is strong and good.

Visit ALL the Hurricane Ike pictures here.

the winds of ike

are coming.

Most of the surrounding areas around us have lost power.  We will soon.  I was hoping for power lasting long enough to watch a movie or two.  I am such a dreamer.

So friends please pray for safety for all of us here in this massive city.  Going out now to watch the clouds roll.

Really?

Really?, originally uploaded by debra.parker.

I will be posting our Ike photo testimonials on my flickr account. I hope you are all safe this weekend. We are ready for this upcoming adventure.

me. you.

me.

Taking in the calm before the storm.  Soon and very soon Mr.Ike will make his way here to meet us.  The boy is tracking Ike on his trusty hurricane tracker page.  Pictures to come.

you.

what, where, when are you doing?

DOing.

I am pretty sure that you are a reader over at mandythompson.com.  Why would you not?  This fun girl is inspring, down to earth, deep, witty, and authentic.  Mandy has dedicated this month to the act of DOing something.  She is talking out ways that we as everyday people can make a difference for our world.

I am more than honored to be her guest post for today.  Go check it out.


the garage sale.

It went great.  So many donations poured in. People came and bought.  They were also so interested in our story.  I cannot tell you how many people asked when he would be coming home.  I just do not have an answer to that question.

It was a good day.  I had promised God that I would praise him if he gave us $2 or $2,000.  He is in control.  He gave us the exact amount we needed to send in our next form.  It was too exciting to leave inside.  I know this because it poured out in tears.  My God once again amazed me.

I thought you might want to share in our fun.  Here are some photos from the day.

Some funny:  Lindsee, let me just say that your clothes rock.  My family bought them all before the sale was officially open.  I loved the Banana Republic dress so much that my mom bought it for me for my birthday.  Oh and Ang she also bought me the pink Sam and Libby heels that you donated.  It was so wonderful.

what is he thinking…?

that is what I am thinking.

Our boy in Haiti has seen some of the most horrendous things with his own deep dark eyes.  He lives in a place where he is genuinely loved.  There is an almost permanent smile that rests on his face.  What about the last couple of weeks?  Is his smile still flourishing?  My initial thought is how could it.

The rescue center is without water.  At the present time water is being brought up and ran through filters to ensure that it is safe for drinking.  This is a costly process.  If you are willing please donate $40 to Real Hope for Haiti. The $40 will cover the approx. cost of 250 people having clean water for a day.  Go to Licia’s Blog and click on the side button to donate.

We, the Parkers, love our little Parker man in Haiti.  We think of him, pray for him, worry for him, and more than anything want to be with him.

Please pray for the people of Haiti, for our son, for Licia and all the rescue center staff/children.

He’s just so into you.

I can’t seem to stop the spontaneous overflow of tears from my two already red eyes.  God.  He is so good.  And there the tears are coming again.  He is just more.  More than I deserve.  More than I ever give him credit for.  More than my words can paint.  More than this heart can hold in.

I have had a post on my mind for a few weeks.  It was to be titled “He is just not that into you”.  It was going to be all about my almost daily struggle against myself and my thoughts.  Truth be known the struggle is a spiritual battle against the enemy out to devour my life.  Extra truth be known I was laying down my fight and making myself an easy target.  I had allowed myself to question the very way that God loved me.  This woman who banked her whole ministry on the passionate love of God.  The romantic one who could uncover some romance in each scripture written.  This same one looked up at her Lover God and said the words “You are just not that into me.”  I bought into the lies the enemy was throwing at me.  The flames were piercing straight through a bruised heart.  I resolved this must be true.  I believed that God loved you magically but something happened when it came to me.  I was not believing it anymore.  For weeks I wrapped myself with protection of unbelief.  If I don’t believe that God is into me then I don’t have to worry about why things are not going the way I think they would if he were into me.

I was hurt.

I talked with Ernest.  I am so glad that he does not preach to me when I come to him.  He simply kept saying the same thing over and over.

Is this the character of God?

I knew the answer.

I kept walking this same road of struggle.  I talked with God but I did not listen for his words.  Protection. Or so I thought. In church last Sunday the speaker spoke words with exact meaning to what I needed to hear.  I heard the words but the protective lies inside kept combating them.

Ernest could feel my resistance.  I know he was praying for me.

We talked more last week.  He urged me to do what I already knew I needed to do.  Release.  I needed to release my fears of the unknown situations in my life to him.  Love.  I needed to allow his love to flow into the very shell of a person I was becoming.  Faith.  I need to believe HE WAS THAT INTO ME.

I can’t believe how scared I was to do that.  Me.  The so called lover of Christ.  The almost 32 year old teacher of all things love.  This mother of two amazing gifts from God.  The dreamer who is in love with a little one from Haiti.  The wife of one adventurous man.  I was scared.  I was scared because I did not want what I feared to be true.  I did not want to release my so called protection to only be rejected.

That is our worst fear right?

I released.  In my fear I prayed for His love to come rushing.  it did. I did not deserve it.  It was rushing all the while.  I just could not see it due to the heavy coat of protection that I had so sweetly wrapped myself with.

Saturday morning as I laid my face to the floor I begged God to renew his spirit within me.  I confessed in words what he already knew of my heart.  I praised him and promised I would praise him no matter.  If I feel your love, If I don’t.  If it turns out that you are not that into me.  No matter.  I am that into you.

Those few moments changed my heart. [changed me]

This morning I am home from church with a sick one.  Praise music is vibrating the speakers on our old system.  I am loving every second of it.  I have sung to the top of my lungs.  Most likely our neighbors are wondering about me.  He is my strength.  He is like no other.  He is my hope.  He gives hope like no other.

I have stood in the middle of my living room with hands raised and tears flowing.  In the midst of the praise I thought of all of you.  I wanted to tell you this.

He is so into you.

Don’t be like me.  Don’t rob yourself one moment of believing his truth.  He is more into you than you will ever know.  He is working all things together for good.  He knows the very details of your heart.  He loves you.  Oh how he loves you.  And me.

How I wish we could praise together.  We would have some kind of rocking party. [with plenty of kleenex for me]