Happy Birhtday....

Happy Birthday to you!  Happy Birthday to you!  Happy Birthday Dear Hubby!  Happy Birthday to you!  Wednesday is my Hubby's Birthday! and I have to SHOUT OUT to Him today!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I love you more everyday! Let me tell you why I love him soo....

1.  He Loves God!

2.  He is an Amazing Father!

3.  He makes me laugh! 

4.  He kills spiders and moths and other bugs for me!

5.  Even if he dosen't want to do something (like go camping, or shopping, or to a girly movie) He will for me!

6.  He is our children's biggest fan!

  

7.  He helps me stay grounded! ( I can get a bit carried away sometimes)

8.  Even when he is beyond tired and I can't sleep he will stay up and talk with me!

9.  He is so willing to help and give to others!

10.  He kisses really good!  :)

I love you more than words can say!  Happy Birhtday Honey!

Have a Beautiful Day
Christina

Tsion

Kristen over at We are That Family... has really inspired me to not just read about it but to actually do something about all the children who need more!   So Today after searching the Compassion Site: Here I knew that with out a doubt I had to pick a child to help, to sponosr.  Looking at their faces, and in their eyes, and my heart aches for them.  I wish I could bring them all home and love them.  So after picking a country, I chose Ethiopia, I found Tsion: 

Isn't she BEAUTIFUL! 

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. …

Defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Proverbs 31:8-9

I am excited to recieve my packet and picture of her in the mail and have already began thinking about what to write to her.  Is it possible to feel love for a child that is not your own, never having met them?  I think so!

Still not convinced Read Kristen's Africa Story, with Compassion Intl.

Have a Beautiful Day!

Christina

P.S. Do you Sponosr a Child? Tell me your Story!

Chicago here we come

Well as I write this we have less than 24 hours before we leave for our trip to Chicago, to work with CSM. This is not my first and I hope it won't be my last missions trip. I am excited and nervous at the same time, but I know and believe that God is with us on this trip. Not sure who all reads this but if you are reading this be praying for the team that is going, 24 students and adults leaving Augusta to head to Chicago for this week ling mission trip. We will be working everyday in two schools helping students with tutoring and whatever else may need done, we will get to eat lunch with these same students and spend the entire week serving them. In the afternoons/evenings we will be working with two local shelters to help prepare and serve meals to the homeless and then one night we will be working in a food bank to help organize, sort and give out food to those in need.

I am so amazed at how God works sometimes. When we think we have nothing God shows us we have all we need, and more. As we prepare for this trip I have so many memories of two previous trips I took with the youth at Stonebridge, of course Atlanta which changed my life... I will never look at a pair of socks with out thinking about the men and women we interacted with there, but my hear always thinks of Chuck. He was living on the streets of Atlanta and had been for several years, originally from Alabama, his smile, his eyes will be in thoughts forever. You see we did these mission walks where we filled backpacks with needed items: socks, T-shirts, toiletries etc... and then walked the streets of Atlanta. On my first and only mission walk in Atlanta we met many, but Chuck is the one who touched my heart. When we first met him he was very quiet and wouldn't look at us directly. We had been surrounded by men who need items and they knew what we had. So as we were talking with these men and passing out supplies I looked at Chuck and asked what he needed and he said if we had some socks to spare he would take them. I found him a few pair of socks and a t-shirt and some toiletries, as he was fumbling to get these items in his backpack I offered to help and he refused and quickly walked away. I thought that was the last I would see of him but God had other plans. We gave out what we had then continued on down the street we were on, and stopped a few more times, about a half a mile from where we first me him Chuck, he was sitting on the side of the road putting on a pair of the socks we had given him, our students called out hello to him by name and that's when I saw he had the bluest eyes I had ever seen. I asked if I- could sit with him for a minute and he said yes. So I did. We sat there and I asked if he needed anything else and he said no he had everything he needed. (and we think if we dont have the latest and greatest of everything we are missing out!) So as we talked I learned a little about his family and that he had been in Atlanta about 2 years and he had children in Alabama, that he missed. He also said he hadn't had new socks since around Christmas. We were there in July. I asked him if there was one thing I could pray about for him and he said yes that he would get a job so that he could see his family again. As we stood up the team came around us and we prayed for him, I looked up as we were praying and he had tears gushing out. He couldn't believe that we would take the time to talk with him, to share what we had with him and to call him by name. And that made me cry. We all want to belong, to be wanted to be loved! I know I do. I went to Atalanta thinking I was gonna change someones life and I did, MINE! God can work in us in ways we don't even know. I truly believe that I will see Chuck again someday, not because of anything I did but Because of God's Love in me. And as we prepare to leave for Chicago, my prayer is that God will use me. That I will see others with his eyes, and I will Love them as He does! My Prayer for you out there in cyber land that you will begin to see people with God's eyes that you will see past what's outside but that you will see their hearts. Have a Beautiful Week, and I look forward to posting on the Amazing things God does in Chicago!

Know you are Thought of, Loved & Prayed for!
Love Ya
Christina

Busy Busy.....

Hello out there it has been weeks since I have been on here sorry! :( So lets see whats been happening at The Cox Household....

Earl went to San Diego, CA for a Children's Pastors Conference and had a great time. He got some new resources and even won a few things to boost the Children's/Preschool ministry. Met the Guys from GO FISH, and chose their VBS program for the Children at FBC to do this year. So the kids will get a backstage pass into the bible, I am excited to see the resources for this program. While in California he got to visit with his brother Tom.

Midterms came out and we had parent Teacher conferences with all three schools/teachers and the kids are doing AMAZING! Yeah! That is definitely a praise.

Michael and I are gearing up for our mission trip to Chicago, so please be praying about that for us. I seem to always get very sick just before I do any major trips with the youth, and I am not wanting this to happen here. We are busy getting last minute donations for the Youth Auction, and preparing for that, next Saturday and Sunday (February 28th & March 1st) BTW if you have anything you want to donate or you want to sponsor anyone of us or even get tickets to the Auction let me know, before Wednesday! :)

Rebecca has been preparing for her senior year picking out classes and getting ready for the ACT. She will be going on the Musical Mission Trip this summer and is gearing up for all the work that this will entail. She is such an amazing young woman, and I am so proud of her. It's hard to believe that she is growing up so fast, and will soon be a senior!

Michael and Katie tried out for the local community theater here in Augusta and both got parts. They are doing Suessical Jr. Michael will be playing JoJo, the mayors son from Horton Hears a Who, and Katie is going to be a Who. I am so proud of both of them, more than 75 kids tried out and some unfortunately didn't make it. I will post some pictures when they start having practices in March.

Kansas is great, the weather is pretty unbelievable many days of 60 and higher in February, sorry to all the snow loving* (:)) friends in Ohio!

I have been keeping pretty busy, and I sometimes feel busier now that I am a Stay a Home Mom again, than I did as a full time working mom. I am leading Middle School Girls Group, and we are meeting just about every Sunday. I have so enjoyed getting to know and luv these girls. God is good! We had a sleepover in January with 20 or so Girls, and last week did a combined group with the High School Girls and had a Fondue Party! So much fun, and wonderful yummy food, in fact it was such a great success that we are going to have an adult Girls Fondue party in march when I get back from the trip to Chicago. Bible Study is awesome as always we are doing Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself (The Fruit of the Spirit) and every week I think she somehow can see into my life. I am learning more and growing every day.

We have been here almost 7 months, and the time has really flown by. I still my family and friends in Ohio, but it's not as much of an ache. God is really working in me, and for the first time in a long time I am open to it.

So I have to get going, I am going to try to finish reading The Shack this weekend, I will write an update on the book when I am done, I have had to put it away because its very hard for me to read about the abduction of the little girl. But everyone keeps telling me to keep reading its worth it. I will let you know!

Know you are Loved, Thought of &Prayed for!

Love Christina

Happiness v.s. JOY

Can you have joy and not be happy? I use to think that they coexisted but the closer I get to God the more He opens my eyes to his truths. I have been reading through the bible and a few weeks ago the one of the scriptures was from Psalm 4:1-8 and this psalm really stuck out to me because David is crying out to God and he knows and Believes that God is listening to him. ~*~ v.7 You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound ~*~ David is saying that he was filled with a Joy greater than the happiness they felt when all thier crops came in and thier wine overflowed with abundance. He has an inwards Joy that can only come from his relationship with God.

So whats the difference between Joy and Happiness? Happiness, according to the Oxford English dictionary, is based on luck or good fortune. Joy on the other hand, is described as a vivid emotion of pleasure. Thus, happiness depends on circumstance; joy, on our emotional well-being.

So can you have Joy in difficult circumstances? Yes I believe so. I think that the world puts a lot of focus on feel good now and we think that to be happy things have to feel good now. But thats not necessarily true. I think our focus on happiness can cloud our view of the Joy that we have with God. The inward Joy that we have with God is steady, and complete when we trust in God. That inwards Joy can defeat discouragement, happiness only tries to cover it up. In ward Joy is everlasting and happiness is temporary.

~*~Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He care for those who trust in Him.~*~ God care for us he is there for us in all times but especially in times of trouble.

Recently I got a pretty scary call from somone I love very much who had lost all hope, in this life. He couldn't believe that God could or would Love him where he was, especially since he had made some pretty bad choices in his life.See he chose to believe that feel good now was better than the peace and Joy that God can bring you! He had been slowly turning further away from God, because it was easier to be in the world. On the night of this call I had just finished reading the above scripture and thinking about Joy and Happiness and I really don't believe in coincidences so anyway when the call came I was prepared well sorta. So after an hour on the phone I knew there was nothing I could do to help, I was prayin d and talking and praying and finally I was able to get professionals involved. I ended up having to call the Police in the town he was and they sent a officer. I later found out that the officer that came there had been in his situation not so long ago. and was able to speak more truths to this person I love. He is slowly getting the help he needs, and is starting to see that you can have a Joy in your life inspite of the outside circumstances. While on the phone he asked me how can you be so happy when youve been through some crap in your life and I told him like I will tell everyone. I have Peace that I can't explain, because its no of me but of HIM. I Believe that inspite of the troubles here on earth we will one day have answers to all of these questions. ~*~ Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.~*~
And I know and believe that my worst day with God in my life is still better than my best day with out him.

I hope this wasn't to much rambeling.

Know you are Loved, Thought of & Prayed for!

Love Christina

Room Of Marvels

OK so I have been reading a lot lately and I have found some really amazing books one is ROOM OF MARVELS by JAMES BRYAN SMITH. I read it in just a few hours and had a really hard time putting down when I had other tasks to do like cooking and laundry which I did and quickly came back to it. I think everyone should read this book, but you may need a tissue handy as a few parts made me cry. I think it’s a true story or based on the authors life.
It starts with him driving to a monastery to have a time of rest and solitude. He has in the past few years lost his best friend, Daughter, and Mother, and is questioning God. He cant understand why God would allow this to happen to him and he has such grief for those who have died that he can’t get over. He is an author who writes books, about God and his Love yet feels torn and like a hypocrite for now not believing what he has written.
As a parent my self I can’t even imagine losing a child. But I have lost loved ones very close to me and I can understand his grief. As I was reading this book, my eyes were opened to how I respond to God in many of my life’s circumstances and I was ashamed and at the same time felt a since of relief as some of God’s truths were revealed to me. And overall I felt God speaking to me, in this book and through my quiet time . So if you get the opportunity to read this book or even better yet buy it. I plan to buy it so I can have my own copy to mark up. Those who know me know I like to highlight passages in books, that are especially meaningful to me and this being a library book I couldn’t do that so instead I wrote down those passages that really stood out to me that caught my attention. I can’t share them all here it would take a very long time to share. But I will share a few, and my response my feelings my thoughts about them. So I hope you enjoy!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I Saw myself in that mirror, flawed, broken, wounded, and imperfect, but real. Nothing– no one is more beautiful than you __________(fill in your name) since God, Beauty it’s self, has fallen in Love with you.

~*~ That is how I see my self flawed and broken wounded and imperfect but I am starting to see that God has a plan for me in all this brokeness like the shared pieces of a stained glass window prior to being made into the masterpiece it was designed for.

You must let Him Love you as you are, not as you intend to be. Let Him Love you as you are with out a single plea for reform. It is all about Grace.

~*~WOW! Let HIm (God) Love me as I am? I thought I was doing this but the more I spend time with Him the more I realize I am not.

You want people to know you on your own terms, but your afraid to let them see the real you. You only let them see the mask. You created the mask to protect yourself. The mask is the way you manage what other people think of you. You let them see what you think they want to see, but they never get to see the real you.

~*~ When I read this it was like it cut deep. This is me! I am to afraid to take the mask off because I am to afraid that they won’t like the real me. Plus I have been wearing it sooo long I am not sure if I even know who I really am. This hit me especially hard this week because it was also reveiled to me during my quiet time, my prayer time this week with God. But I am working on this. I want to take off the mask and show the real me and figure out who the real me is.
Our brokeness did not keep him from calling us. Thank God for that!

We are more than our failures, more than our imperfections, and faults, We are so much mor but for me many times that’s all I can see the failure the faults, the imperfections.

~*~At one point in the story they are in his room of marvels and he sees these things from his past that were times when he showed others God’s Love in normal everyday kinda ways, ways he never even knew he was showing it. And that’s what I want to refocus my thinking on, those little every day kinda ways we show and share God’s Love….. Smiling at the cashier, standing up for those who can’t stand up for them selves, giving what we have in abundance with out thought to our own needs. When he saw these things he had done he was able to remove the mask and start seeing himslef as God sees him, and my prayer is that as I start being who God intened me to be that my mask will fade as well. That I won’t see the brokeness in myself any longer but instead I would see myself through His eyes.

God’s power is made perfect in weakness. Enough said!

The most beautiful stones are the one’s that have been tossed by the wind and washed by the water and polished to brilliance by life’s strongest storms.
There were several more passages that I wrote out and I hope to share them with you later but for now that is all. Have a Beautiful Day!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Know you are Loved, Thought of, & Prayed for!

Mistaken Identity

I just completed another book, and I am so grateful that I now have the time to enjoy a good book. Since we have moved here I have been able to recapture the joy I would get from reading when I was growing up. I can remember being so involved in a book, that I felt as if I had become one of the characters, or that I was living what I was reading. The bookI just finished MISTAKEN IDENTITY is the true story of two girls from Taylor university who were mistaken for one another after a horrific automobile accident. I remember hearing about it when it happened a couple of years ago but never thought much of it, but as I was checking out of the Library the other day this book was on the counter and I asked the librarian if I could check it out. So anyway as I was reading it I began to think about my car accident. April 1, 2005 seems like it was sooo long ago yet I can still remember it like it was yesterday, it’s a day that my life was changed forever. It’s a day that I truly saw God at work and felt his presence come over me. It’s also a day that I came to realize what’s really important in life. Love. Most of my close friends and family know the story but I am still gonnaa blog a little about it from what I remember. Ok so here goes: April 1, 2005 started like any other day I guess, the kids went off to school, now they were supposed to be enjoying their last day of spring break but we had to many snow days so they used that final day of spring break as a make up day. (proof enough for me that God is Good:)) at some point during the day I ventured out and to the Thrift store (I was looking for a desk, I was planning on homeschooling Michael and Katie and I needed a good sturdy desk for the computer and various files etc..) I found the perfect one and it was cheap like $20.00 or so the only problem was it wouldn’t fit in the van. So I called Earl and my Dad and they said they would pick it up after work, I continue on with my day I eventually make it to Wal-mart for some groceries and as I am getting in line Earl calls and says that they need the receipt for the desk or they can’t pick it up. I head over there and call my mom on the way to see if she can meet the kids at the house the bus would be there soon and I wouldn’t be there. (Proof again God is Good, my kids wouldn’t be alone when they heard of the accident) I get to the store they load up and we are on our way home. I drove this same road everyday usually several time a day but today’s outcome would be different. I saw the van coming at me and I just assumed he would veer off back into his own lane and everything would be fine, but he didn’t I remember thinking he’s gonna go back in to his lane any time now and I began to slow down and scoot over on the road, I was as far over on the shoulder as I could be with out going into the grass. Then he hit me, My initial reaction was that I need to stop my van from moving I was less than 50 ft from a very busy intersection, and I knew that at this time of day on a Friday afternoon there would be semi’s and other cars trying to get home. Anyway, I remember my dad being there almost instantly and he looked so worried, and I told him my face was burning, so he ran and got me a towel to wipe my face, then Earl came over. (I can’t even imagine knowing what it’s like to see someone you love get hit by another vehicle) Earl kept asking me if I was ok and I really had no Idea how bad the injuries I had were or how much damage the van I was driving had taken. My glasses had been broken by the airbag and I knew my left arm was broken but I never felt any pain, in fact I remember having this feeling of warmth and peace come over me. I took off my wedding ring and gave it to Earl, I didn’t want them to cut it off. And then I went into crazy mom mode, I began giving Earl things out the window to take because I had no Idea how long it would take to repair the van (it was totaled, but I hadn’t seen it yet). He must have thought I was crazy I was more concerned with the groceries I had just bought than I was with the fact that I had just been in a car accident. Now during this time I am still feeling no pain in fact I am think they will set my arm and send me home from the hospital, I was wrong. I ended up with a broken arm, two hour surgery and a plate and seven screws to fix it. and a broken foot and toes two hour surgery and pins to fix it as well as four months in a wheel chair two months of physical therapy and lots of time to learn about patience. And through it all I Thank God. For so many things, one my kids were not with me. That in itself is enough for me. I honestly felt no pain until several hours later after I had been transported to MCO from the hospital in Findlay. During the accident there was no blood, I later found that the dashboard had come in and down on my knees and I had some scrapes and minor bruising but no blood, it took almost a week to get all the glass out of my hair again no blood. Earl and I and our children were surrounded by somuch love and support during that time that we truly felt blessed. After the surgeries and a few days of recovery I was allowed to come home with the promise that I would have someone to care for me. At this point I knew I had a choice to be angry and bitter or to see the Blessings that God would bring from this. I chose to look for and see the Blessings, and boy did I. The ones that come to mind immediatley are the cards and letters and prayers that poured in, as well as all the amazing women who sat with me after the first week and I insisted Earl return to work. Sometimes it was family and other times someone I barely knew from church or BSF. But everyday I got to see God;s Love for me in some one. The food poured in like crazy my amazing friend Rebekah organized it so that we would have meals everyday for a month and a half then I asked for those to stop we needed to get some sense of normalcy back into the home and by this point I was able to maneuver around better in the wheel chair. Most importantly what I learned from this time was how precious life was and that God’s Love could really get you through anything. Now I had bad days that I just wanted to cry out why me God! But it didn’t last long when I thought about all the good that would come from this. During this time I read throughoutthe book of Job, and I was encouraged by his strength to not allow all the terrible things to turn him away from God. I wanted to be like Job. And now three and a half years later as I sit here in Kansas I can look back and see that God is always with me it’s me that turns away not God. The scars are still there and I am Thankful for them, it’s a daily reminder to me that God is good and that he can and will take good from bad situations. So if my story can encourage just one person then it’s worth it. Even if that person is me. I am not sure why I felt the need to write this out, I don’t think I ever had since the accident but I know that God showed me Love, he showed me that he would carry me through it and he did. God gave me an Identity in Him. It took this accident for me to really stop and listen to what God wanted and to stop doing what I wanted. I still fail and fall short but I am reminded that he Love’s where I am and he loves me too much to let me sit there. God is good. Ok it’s getting late and I am getting tired but if you ever wanna talk about I am here. and I hope that you will see this accident as, as much of a blessing , as I have. May you feel the peace of God.
Know you are Loved. Thought of, & Prayed for Today.
Love Christina