Redefining Normal

We are not normal. We just aren't. We have tried to be. And the problem is, for a long time, we were in fact "normal". We tried to squeeze our selves down into the box of nice, normal, and average. We tried to conform.

But we weren't meant to be normal. We were never meant to be average. We weren't meant to conform. We were meant to be great, to be crazy, to be beyond average, to be radical, to be far from normal. We are choosing to redefine normal for our family.

 

And who are we kidding, if you know us you know that the Wood Pile is far from normal anyway! :)

We have redefined what a "normal" family looks like, redefined how we have always viewed church and religion, redefined courageous living, redefined impossible, redefined what faith looks like, redefined what it means to not just believe in God but to actually believe Him and take Him at His word. This process of redefining has taken place within our own family, our own hearts. It was necessary for us to do this, because the normal we were living in wasn't abundant living...it just was not the way God intended us to live.

We have redefined what all these things look like to us, to the Woods.We can't redefine these things for you or your families, you have to do that for yourselves. Let me tell you, us living "our normal" is so much more fun than trying to make our family live in someone elses. And our new normal is AWESOME!

When In Doubt...REMEMBER!

My God is a faithful Promise-Keeper! 

Mark 11:24 "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

He acts on my behalf.

Isaiah 64:4 "Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him."

He does the IMPOSSIBLE...more than I could ever ask or imagine!!!

Ephesians 3:20 "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us..."

He is a miracle worker...then and NOW!

Psalm 77:11-15 "I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember Your miracles of long ago. I will consider all Your works and meditate on all Your mighty deeds. Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; You display Your power among the peoples."

He has accomplished my healing. It is finished!!!

Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24 “by His wounds you have been healed.”

 

 And so, I remember...and the doubt is gone!

   

Psalm 111:4 "He has caused His wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate."

Display Your power, LORD!!! 

No Longer Broken

Fourteen years ago, I worked at a day care center in the baby room. One day, as I was trying to clean up the room to go home, I tripped over a baby gate and I broke my wrist. It hurt so bad. It was swollen and bruised. My wrist was broken...but then it healed. I don't call my wrist broken anymore, cause its not. It would be really weird if I did, because while it was broken at one time, its not anymore.

It's the same with me as a whole. I am no longer broken. I was at one time; I was a spiritually dead person who was broken in sin, but then Jesus. I gave my life to Him. I made Him Lord and Boss. He healed me. He made me a new creation. A brand new creature. I am not broken anymore. Why then would I call myself "broken"?
Today, on this Good Friday, as I thought about Jesus and what He did on that cross, I couldn't quit thinking about the fact that He was broken...for me! He was bruised...for me! He was hurt and abused....for me! He died a horrible death...for me! He endured all of that, so that I could be healed, whole, restored, redeemed, and made brand new. Not so that I could walk through life acting like the broken person I was before I was healed, and certainly not calling myself broken. 

But don't take my word for it.....


1 Corinthians 11:24 (NKJV) "and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you"

Isaiah 53:5 (NIV) "But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed."

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (NIV)  "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body."

Romans 6:22 (MSG) "But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way!"

Jeremiah 17:14 (NIV) "Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for You are the One I praise."

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"  

Here is the amazing thing, while my wrist still has evidence of having been broken, when I gave my life to Christ I was made brand new, with no evidence of ever having been broken. I AM NEW!!! I will never again refer to myself as a broken person, because not only is that simply not true, it is a sheer insult to what Jesus Christ did. He was nailed to a cross so that He could nail down my healing. I am healed and whole. I am no longer broken. And if you have made Jesus Lord of your life, you aren't broken anymore either.  

 

Our Senior

I have no words to say how proud we are of this boy and of the man that he is becoming. We are honored to call him our son. He brings us joy every day. He is a gift and a blessing. He is a mighty warrior! He is a worldchanger!

This young man seeks the Lord with his whole heart. He is one of the most courageous people I know. He not only claims to set boundaries, he sets them and stays in them, even when it's tough and even when he is the only one. 

We are and will be forever thankful that the Lord blessed our home, our hearts, and our family with Woodrow. He is living proof that the Lord answers prayers and that He is a faithful Promise-Keeper.

On May 16th, this boy graduates from high school. While our hearts ache, it is with enormous pride, hope, excitement, and joy...with just a sprinkle of sadness. We can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for Woodrow and for our family. This we know, it's going to be huge! 

Momma loves you so much, Woodrow!

  "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11

Speak The Truth In Love

Ephesians 4:15 "Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ."

There are those who speak truth but have no love. There are those who speak love without truth. And there are those who love and believe truth, but don't speak. Church, we need to be people who are sincerely, passionately, and boldly speaking the truth in love.

Without love, our truth accomplishes nothing. Without truth, our love is not really love at all.

Speak the truth in love. Then we will be mature. Then we will be like Christ.



        

An Open Letter of Forgiveness

I have come to the place that I realize that I need to forgive you, really forgive you. Even if you aren't sorry, and you're not. It's not because you are cruel and hateful, it's because you really don't understand what you did.

"Hurt people, hurt people."

I believe that you live your life hurt and scared. It's this pain and fear that causes you to lash out at and push other people down in an effort to appear brave.

I am sorry you have been hurt by this world. I am sorry that you have been hurt by religion. I am so sorry that you have never fully seen yourself in the light of how God sees you. I am sorry that you have never understood grace or the power that you have through Christ. I am so sorry that my family and I didn't understand that until now.

You, sir, are loved. You are not a worm in the ground before the Lord. You are not defined by what you have done in the past. You can stop trying to be good enough, because in Christ you already are. You can stop trying to earn God's love by doing religion, He loves you already. Religion, doing the "church thing", won't fix the void in your life, only Jesus can do that.

I know you're frustrated and confused. I know you don't understand, but you will. You will understand soon. This is why I need you to know that not only are you loved by the Lord, you are loved by the Wood Pile, all of us! In Jesus name, we are praying for you and we forgive you. In Jesus name, I am praying for you and I forgive you.

With Great Love and in the Power of the Holy Spirit,
Sara