"Whenever Two or more are gathered in His name..."

Okay, so if anyone needs a prayer answered may I suggest the Lewellen household as the place to go! We have 7 other people not including Richard, Aiden, or Arwen living with us right now... We (Aiden, Richard, Arwen and me) are in the bedroom smiling that we can hear the whispers of the 5 teens in the living room right now talking about how much fun their first day of the Summer Teen Intership at IHOP was...

The best part is that Richard's brother's christian punk band is coming to stay at our house on their way to play at Cornerstone... that adds another 4 people...

I know what you are thinking... and I am sorry, but there is no room or floorspace availabe... but, come to think of it, the goats rarely use their goat pen...

So, though there is no room or floorspace there is a sort of manger available for use...

Hallelujah. Amen. Let's stand.

Randy made me smile in the comment he made to the last post and it got me thinking...

Since being in Kansas City and listening to all our great teachers here, I have decided that I can't wait to say at least the following 3 things in some fiery annointed message...
(Please read with appropriate fervor and the appropriate pointer finger/thumb hand motion...)
1. Yea
2. Beloved
3. Hallelujah. Amen. Let's stand.

Trouble on the Farm...

They look so cute... But...

The Lewellen Local and Organic Farm has had some setbacks... All the peaches have been stolen by the neighborhood squirrels and the goats have started jumping the fence so they can come to the front door and try to get in the house.

Are the farming days coming to an end????? Baker may be scoring two great goats... Stay tuned.

Treasure Hunting

I just finished my last day of "table facilitator" for the very first Omega Intensive. My group was amazing and at the end of the week they gave me a card with a gift certificate to the Forerunner Bookstore!! Hurray!

Really, I should have been the one giving out the presents... I had so much fun!!! And though I am totally in love with the babies, it was nice to have a few days in a row talking with people that have mastered, at least to some degree, the English language :)

It was also so fun to get to be back in a project ministry setting with the Bohlender's and Danielle... Randy offered to pull on my pant leg and Danielle said she would gladly dribble food on my shirt to make feel comfortable if I started to feel too out of place. I have such wonderful friends.

On Tuesday I had so much fun that I came home and got in a water fight with Aiden and the goats.

I won! (The advantage wasn't all in my favor... Aiden can be quite merciless with the hose- I was soaked)

Wednesday morning during worship before the first session I had one of those special Holy Spirit presents. I experienced excitement, real tummy fluttering excitement over the mystery of God and His plan for us, for me.

I felt this high of being human and chosen for God. The concept of God being fascinating gripped me...
This God loves me and has a plan, a mystery He wants me to solve...
He has given me a treasure map (bible) with the ultimate treasure as the prize (Himself)... it is not too high and it is not too low... The mystery is complex, mind-bending, thrilling, yet totally attainable. The journey is wrought with dragons, love, war, power. He is perfect in His drawing and capturing of my heart. His ideas and strategies are brilliant.

Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

Classic Aidenisms...

So, Richard and I are in the grocery store... Suddenly something grabs Aiden's attention and he yells "DOWN!" Richard and I both scour and Richard says in a very fatherly tone,
"Aiden, what do you say? Aiden doesn't miss a beat...
"I want down!" Richard suppressing a laugh says,
"No, you say please..."
"PEASS!"

I love my kids :)

To see more of Aiden and Richard check out the new imovie...

Arwen Justice Lewellen

Bella (my mom) sent new dresses for the princess and Ellen sent a digital camera in the package...
so watch out folks, I am a camera fool now!! My babies are stars! :)

Let the truth be spoken...

Okay, so I have a certain friend that though she is very wonderful has made a grave mistake and I feel it is my duty to correct her. Normally, I may in the spirit of Matthew 5,6, and 7 say "so what? Someone made an incorrect assumption... No need to point it out." But then there are those times when injustice must be called out and dealt with. This may well be my longest post ever but believe me this erroneous rumor calls for some "words" if you know what I mean... My friend posted this comment to Kelsey's blog "Chocolate may not be good for the body..." Look at some of these facts I found on the internet and Let the truth be told:

1. Chocolate has Flavonoids... I am not making this up!
Flavonoids provide important protective benefits to plants, such as in repairing damage and shielding from environmental toxins. When we consume plant-based foods rich in flavonoids, it appears that we also benefit from this “antioxidant” power. Antioxidants are believed to help the body’s cells resist damage caused by free radicals, formed by normal bodily processes such as breathing or environmental contaminants like cigarette smoke. When the body lacks adequate levels of antioxidants, free radical damage ensues, leading to increases in LDL-cholesterol oxidation and plaque formation on arterial walls.
2. For centuries, chocolate has been used to treat diseases and maladies such as depression. The U.S. government officially recognized its virtues in World War II, making the chocolate candy bar standard issue for the military.
3. Chocolate has exceptional nutritional qualities, being a high energy food in a small volume. It not only contains carbohydrates, fats, and vegetable proteins, but also has large quantities of potassium and magnesium, some calcium and sodium, and vitamins A1, B1, B2, D, and E.

Chocolate contains a number of other substances in small, but effective, quantities:

Theobromine, which stimulates the central nervous system, facilitates muscular exertion, acts as a diuretic and appetite stimulant.

Caffeine, which increases resistance to fatigue, intellectual activity, and watchfulness. An average size chocolate bar contains approximately 6 mg of caffeine, compared to 100-150 mg in a cup of coffee.

Phenylethylamine, which is the chemical released in our bodies when we fall in love and is chemically similar to amphetamines, therefore acting as a psycho-stimulant.

Tryptophan, an essential amino acid that increases the production of serotonin, an anti-depressant and natural stress-reducer. In fact, a decrease in serotonin levels in the brain may trigger cravings for starches, sweet foods and chocolate.

Endorphins, natural opiates that are released by the brain in increased amounts when eating chocolate, thereby elevating one's mood and reducing pain.

Phenols,which are also found in red wine, tea, fruits and vegetables, and may help reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.

4. Fortunately, scientists are beginning to disprove some common myths about the dangers of eating too much chocolate. For example, it is not true that eating chocolate can cause acne or make it worse. Nor is chocolate the threat to healthy teeth that it was once thought to be. While both cocoa and chocolate contain sugar, they also have properties that work against sugar's tendency to produce the oral bacteria that eventually leads to dental decay. In fact, researchers at the Eastman Dental Center in Rochester, New York, have concluded that milk chocolate is one of the snack foods that is least likely to contribute to tooth decay, since it contains phosphate and other minerals.
5. "Chocolate contains up to four times the anti-oxidants found in tea." In fact, that was the conclusion of a recent study by Holland's National Institute of Public Health and Environment. Researchers found that chocolate - specifically dark chocolate - contains 53.5 mg of catechins per 100 grams. (Catechins are the powerful anti-oxidants that fight against cancer-causing cells and help prevent heart disease). By contrast, 100 ml of black tea contains a mere 13.9 mg of catechins.

Conclusion...
Chocolate is good for the body!
Another Happy Ending Folks!

Is God trying to tell me something...

Matthew 26:2 (New King James Version)
“You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

How many times had this been spoken to the disciples by Jesus, the OT prophets.... I mean not in cryptic lanuage... "the Son of Man will be delievered up to be crucified."
Somehow they interpreted that to mean... what?

When I read it I think how in the world are the disciples confused during the last 48 hours of Jesus' life... then it occurs to me to think about me and the way I respond to the fact that THE KING IS COMING... SOON. The message is really clear. I need to live from the perspective of eternity and pay attention... I know He has spoken and is speaking...

Help... I'm thinking... I'm thinking...

My brother, Evan and his wife to be let me in on this... I know you will laugh...
check it out

The last man standing is the last one left believing...

I had a dream a couple years ago... in the dream there was a huge book of martrys that had died during the last days on earth. Me and some others were excitedly reading all the stories of how people had not loved their lives even unto death. Then we came to a story about a teacher. Everyone who was reading became really sad because this was the story of a teacher in the end times that though he had ploclaimed correct theology (that the end was coming, we would be here, and that some would give their lives) he denied Christ to save his life.

The story told about how he had trumpted the end-time message in theory but did not daily die to his flesh and so he could not ultimately give his body over to death. When asked if he wanted to live and deny Christ, he nodded yes. He walked away with a deep frown...knowing what he had done. In the dream, the tragedy of what he had done in light of the joy over the martyrs stood in such weighty contraast and we mourned over this story.

Last week a strange phrase kept resounding in my heart "The last man standing is the last one left believing..."
I thought "ummm... wierd phrase..." As I began to ponder it I felt the urging of the Holy Spirit saying if you want to be able to stand at the end of the age you have to be believing in the invisible. I began to pray to believe... to have the eyes of my heart enlighted to see what is real, what is invisible. I don't want to be weighed down by the cares of this world...

This week, I am facing the hard thing. The idea gets intensely practical and everything I do shows what I really believe to be true...

Richard thinks I'm the weird eater...

Not liking tomatoes is not too weird but I admit I do have strange insatiable cravings when pregnant...
This was Richards post in December last year right before I had Arwen...



You see the ice...you glance around nervously. You want the ice. There is a group of people who have identified themselves as ice-addicts.

They LOVE the ice...

My wife is one. This strange obsession began with her first pregancy when she was not satisfied with normal foods. We went to Sonic, a hamburger drive-through, and got a large cup of ice. Their ice is special to ice-lovers. It is soft and small, just perfect for crushing in repeated joy.

Sonic is glad to accommodate by selling 7 lb bags for $1.34 though price varies by location. We go through a bag every two days.

Today is Christmas day. Sonic is closed and the last bit of ice dust fell away out of our bag. We had nothing. Donning our thinking cap and making use of Google-we contacted the local hospital, also a good source of ice. "Sure, you can come fill up your bucket."

The comments between us:

marci Lewellen said...
i love ice. i am not ashamed... there are much worse and more costly addictions. i am also glad that ice is fat free. I have to admit though that i wish i didn't crave it as much as i do. I mean like typing right now takes two hands and I have to stop every sentence (sometimes mid sentence) and chug. addictions are not efficient.
The other not so great factor is that it is winter. I have to wear layers and get under covers with the heat up to comfortably consume my 7lbs every 2 days. (I admit that I try to ration and that I really could eat the whole bag a day but then we would be broke, nothing would get done, and our gas bill would be out of control.

12:48 PM


richard said...
I'm proud of you, baby! Keep the fight.

MY SON... the iron-gut

At first Richard and I couldn’t figure out why Aiden would shun veggies and go for dirt, dog poop, (yes, he actually came to me gagging with a whole mouth full… at which point we both started gagging), goat water.

We went to a strange looking farm about 2 hours away to pick out our new baby goats.

When we drove up to the house, we knew we were in the right place because the sticker you see above was on the back of the van in the driveway. When we went into the goat pen there were lots of goats to choose from. During the course of our search for the perfect Lewellen goats, Aiden decides to taste goat poop and then wash it down with the tub of water that all the other fellow goats are drinking out of… I almost gagged again…

A pattern began to emerge…

More recently, we were at my mom’s for the weekend and his favorite drinking spot became the bird bath… he’d wake up, stagger outside looking for his brew, dip his head into the bath and come up saying, “Ahh.”

The data was in. Richard and I began to contemplate over the simple question “Why all the weirdness with food and drink?” We realized he was probably just preparing his digestive system for the nations. Silly us… didn’t we know he would be about His Father’s business?