Stretching First

Stretch your tent curtains wide...

A Missy story:

"I can do the splits!"

All of Missy's sisters and her brother just looked at Jacky, not exactly knowing how to respond to her statement.  It's not like they wanted to judge the honesty of Jacky's word, but she didn't quite fit the typical I-can-do-the-splits physique.  The children's faces must have told Jacky what they didn't dare say.

"I know what you're thinking."  Jacky burst out while she placed herself in the center of the room, "Just because I'm chunky does not mean I can't do the splits."

Chunky?  Missy thought her 4th grade teacher Mrs. Farlow was chunky.  She was sure that you could fit at least three Mrs. Farlows inside one Jacky.  Missy watched as Jacky stood as tall as her body would allow her to stand with her arms out, as if she was an eagle perched high on the edge of a mesa, waiting for the perfect moment of an upwind from the valley below so that it could jump and take flight.

Jacky had only been renting Missy's family's spare room for a few weeks.  Since they barely knew Jacky it was impossible to know if this was a joke or not.  Missy waited anticipating the moment Jacky would step out of her pose and put everyone at ease, saying that she was just a big joker.

From the doorway Missy's mom broke the silence, "Jacky, are you sure you can do the splits?"

Jacky cheerfully kept her stance, "Sure I can, I use to be a cheerleader."  She gave a smile and without much warning Jacky jumped as high as she could, threw her legs out to each side and BAM!  Her body slammed hard on the floor as her legs landed in opposite directions.  Jacky had indeed landed in the splits.

Missy couldn't decide if she should cheer or laugh.  Knowing that laughter was not really appropriate she joined the others in their cheers, sort of.  Her little brother Ralph's cheer seemed to be flavored with chuckles.  Her little sister Candy's cheers sounded more like a cross between congratulating and reprimanding.  Missy's older sister Sherry spoke up first, "That was really surprising Jacky..." her voice cracking just a bit as she tried her hardest to give an honest reaction.  Missy didn't want to make a mockery out of Jacky's efforts but it was becoming increasingly funny by the minute.

Jacky's eyes sort of turned inward and her forehead wrinkled up.   As she sat in the splits position her smile seemed to resemble the smile Candy use to have when she was a toddler still learning how to pose for a picture.  A "frowning smile" as her mom put it.  Jacky froze, her arms up high as if she had just stuck a landing as a gymnast in the Olympics, with this interesting not-so-pleasant but trying-to-be-pleasant disposition.

Was Jacky stuck?  Missy wondered how Jacky was going to get out of that position.  Her mom walked up to Jacky, "Are you all right?  Do you need help getting up?"  Now that would be a sight... Missy's mom, in her 8th month of pregnancy with her 5th child, helping Jacky, who could be 400 times heavier than the 10 pound limit Missy's mom was allowed to carry in her third trimester, stand up from a full splits position.  The situation seemed to get more funny as Ralph looked at Missy trying to hold back.  Soon all the children were trying not to laugh with their lips closed tight.  

Jacky forced a frowning smile at her audience and said, "Oh I'm fine! I guess I could have stretched first, I haven't really done that in years."  She rolled her body back slowly into a sitting position.

"Okay kids, it's time for bed."  Missy's mom hurried everyone off into the hallway and towards their bedrooms.  Missy glanced back as she saw Jacky lifting her legs up with her hands and guiding them together.

For the next month or so Jacky walked slowly with a slight limp.  When asked if she was okay Jacky insisted she was just fine and did not get hurt at all when she tail-dived into the splits.  Candy asked Jacky if she would do it again, Jacky cleverly changed the subject.

Jacky's body was far removed from what it had once been.  Missy thought about those splits and the spectacle Jacky had made of herself.  She thought about how hard it was not to laugh.  Missy wondered how that could have been avoided and finally concluded that being aware of the condition of her body was probably essential before Jacky's butt dive...even if the dive had been made before.  Missy was sure that if Jacky had stretched first she would have realized that her body was not prepared to do the splits.

~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~

Isaiah 54:2 says, “Enlarge the place of your tent, Stretch your tent curtains wide, Do not hold back; Lengthen your cords, Strengthen your stakes.” 

4 Traditions 4 Father's Day

4 Traditions... Issue: Father's Day In This Issue Hand in Hand Photo The ABC Book Frequent Father Card Your the Best Dad EVER Michelle Fozounmayeh A joy filled wife and mom that enjoys writing, praying, speaking at women events and being an Area Coordinator with the ministry Moms In Prayer International.    Want a quick prayer encouragement on the first of every month? Click "Join our Mailing List" and start recieving Michelle's iPray eVotionals! iPray eVotionals... iHold On iListen iRest iPray in one accord iNeed a Reminder iFinish Strong iThank God for That iFollow iWork Out iReminisce iPray 4 Protection iPray 4 Purity iSmell a Stain iEmbrace iPraise iLove Deep and Wide iPray 4 Newness iTeeter-Totter We live in a world where we wear many "hats".  Even though we all have many parts of ourselves trying to survive... Many Parts of Me (click link for "hats" script) Traditions do not have to make our world even more hectic!  It's not about doing more... it's about doing less!  It's about doing what matters! Greetings! Throughout the years I have come to have a deep respect for the role family rituals and traditions have on the healthy state of our family. For many years I worked as a Family Consultant with Once Upon A Family and picked up a few ideas.  Although traditions in our home have had seasons of success and seasons of rest or have had to be modified and/or changed to fit our family's needs, they still exist!   Each issue of 4 Traditions features ideas I have gathered and/or created that you can use or modify to fit your family's needs. Hand in Hand Photo Father's Day is the perfect time to take a photo of Dad's hand with your children's hands resting in his palm.  Over the years, these photos will record the growth and change in your children, and they will hold memories that dad will cherish forever.  Take this same photo every year and print one copy to place in a Father's Day book.  Your children and their father can even add signatures, which will also change as the years go by.  Everyone will look forward to the annual photo and Father's Day will not be complete until the picture is taken. The ABC Book A great way to let Dad know how much you love him is to create an ABC Book.  This is a perfect activity to do with small children who are learning their ABC's.  Make a small book (6 inches square) with 26 pages and a cover of card weight paper that is decorated with  your child's artwork.  An easy way to assemble it is to punch three to five holes on the left side of each sheet of paper, stack them all together, then lace ribbon through the holes and tie it at the top.  Ask your children to think of things they love about their Dad or activities they enjoy doing with him.  Find something that corresponds to each letter of the alphabet.  For example, A is for Angel games "I love going to Angel games and eating hotdogs with Dad."  Use a ticket stub, photograph or your child's drawing to adorn this page.  Older children can work on this together with the younger ones to create a gift Dad will look for ward to receiving each year and cherish forever. Frequent Father Card Make a credit card for Dad that will soon become the most valuable card in his wallet.  This is called the Dates with Dad card.  List every month of the year on the backside, and use it to schedule and record one special outing with Dad every month.  Each child will have to present his/her own card to Dad as a Father's Day Gift if they want to reserve that special time together.  Dates with Dad could be whatever the two of them want to do together.  An all day fishing trip, an afternoon at the movies, help on a special hobby, or a special Breakfast.  The important thing is that they plan time together, just the two of them.  Dad can keep this special card in his wallet to remind him of the most important appointments he has scheduled that month.  One his Dates with Dad card has expired, he has a year full of memories and a wonderful keepsake that will bring those memories back once his children are grown.  It will also be just in time to receive a new card!  They can continue this monthly tradition forever. Your the Best Dad Ever Every year, ask each of your children what they love most about their Dad.  Write their answers on little cards cut in the shape of a man's tie.  They can be made with a variety of colored construction paper, and embellished with stripes or plaids.  Your children will have fun hiding these cards in places where they are sure to be found in the morning...inside Dad's favorite coffee mug, underneath his shaving cream, on the door out to the newspaper, etc.  He will wonder why everyone is watching him so closely as he starts to pour himself a cup of coffee that next morning.  After collecting all of his Father's Day notes of appreciation, you can collage them into a Father's Day book with your annual photo of "surprise" as Dad discovers one in a place he didn't expect.  This is a tradition he will really look forward to each year.   All 4 HIM,   MICHELLE FOZOUNMAYEH My Blog

No Longer Hidden

Today God told me that the hidden girls that He had me praying for were NO LONGER HIDDEN!

Before I explain let me first say that I am a flawed individual who knows God’s grace has no boundaries and never stops short.

In 2010 God placed it on my heart to pray earnestly for kidnapped teens.  I prayed for them, not knowing them at all but knowing that they were out there.  I prayed with tears in my eyes and pain in my chest from the long-suffering I could perceive.   I pleaded that God would give them what they needed to survive and that He would make a way for a rescue!  I asked Him if He could tell me when they were freed.

At the same time, God laid it on my heart to revisit my past so that I may receive even deeper healing myself and become the vessel God needs me to be for others.  In response I wrote a poem.  A LONG poem.  In it being long, it reflects the healing that comes through Jesus in His timing.  God is in charge of the process, it is not for us to determine how fast and in what way wounds will and should be healed.  Pick at it and you mess with the scabby process and start to bleed again.  Trust the process through every annoying itchy stage and you will persevere and become the testimony God needs for a hurting world.  A scarred testimony that is living proof of a living God.  

Today God told me that the hidden girls that He had me praying for were NO LONGER HIDDEN!  I’m full of praise and joyous celebration along with the rest of the world.  In recent news the world has heard about the most amazing escape from captivity!  Three women were kidnapped as teens by the same perpetrators on separate occasions and were held in bondage and captivity for 10 years together.  They were stripped from their freedom, innocents and purity.  The world heard the 911 call a few days ago, “I’m here and I’m free now!”  We heard the cries from these women as they were rescued. 

Copy and past this link for the rescue story:  

http://abcnews.go.com/US/amanda-berry-gina-dejesus-return-home-cheers/story?id=19131036#.UY1I2pUqMy4

They are NO LONGER HIDDEN!!!!!!

Those words reminded me of the poem that I wrote and hid away when God first placed them on my heart in 2010.  In the memory of writing it I realized today that my prayers were not to end, who better to pray these women through healing than me and others like me?  I may never know them on this earth, but God will use the willing, and I am.

God clearly said to me that now is the time to share my poem, it is NO LONGER HIDDEN and I have nothing to fear.

This poem is RAW.  It may even be uncomfortable to read.  We cannot speed healing up for others or ourselves when we are walking in God’s presence trusting His timing.  As you enter the different stages of a healing 7-year-old girl know that God is victorious, that his healing is complete.  That at every stage I have became increasingly freed from the bondage of bitterness and live in a state of forgiveness.  My story involves others along the way, other flawed but completely forgiven individuals.  

God’s grace has no boundaries and never stops short...

No Longer Hidden

What makes a person

Not be destroyed

When their world was rocked

By the predator’s ploy

Taught to follow directions

Taught to obey

Not warned of the evil

That steals innocence away

“Relax” he says

So I do and it takes it’s course

It hurts in the dark

And it hurts even more

“Shhh” I hear

When the touches increase

Confused, can’t understand

And trapped in my sleep

Taught to trust him

To follow a command

Dishonor or disrespect?

Must submit to his hand

But I don’t like it

It makes my body move

A spot I didn’t know I had

His finger pushes through

OUCH!

Faintly I whisper, “no”

“It’s OK” he says

My reality just goes

It’s ok it’s ok

It’s ok when it’s not

It’s ok to betray

And to trigger that spot

Trust is shattered

Now I just endure

When will this stop?

What it’s for I’m not sure.

Closed my eyes each night

More and more came

More inside me

Endure and endure the same

Broken

No end

Desperate

Remain

Courage

To talk

“Please stop

The pain.”

Stillness

Quite 

All alone

At last

Changed

No breath

Dead spirit

It’s passed

It’s ok it’s ok

It’s ok to forget

It’s ok to love him

When the next day is lit

On the phone

Struggling with words to define

“You must have been dreaming

But your awake now and your fine”

Start pretending

Believe the lie

Pain forgotten

No, just shoved inside

Grace without truth

A license to sin

I can do that

Immorality begins

I was 7 then

But now I’m 14

The blurred line remains

It’s Ok what’s not seen

Walls of protection

As the little girl cries

Do but don’t bond

As the teenager denies

What keeps a person

From sin that bounds?

Is it all that prayer

That God kept me around?

Truth be told

I knew of Grace

It’s all I had

In my hiding place

Freedom to express

An outlet is gained

Acting on stage

Pretending to be sane

In the process

A talent grows

Nothing wasted

In every show

To each character

I learned to be true

Fully devoted

I wore every shoe

Then true friendships

Opportunities to cope

Relationships

That filled me with hope

I was 7 then

But now I’m 21

Time for healing

Hiding is done

What is hidden

Traps us tight

For real freedom

Truth must see light

God’s Gentle process

A little girl wants release

So first it’s in a gift

A partner that loves me

A vessel of a new view

Supportive and trustworthy

No hidden manipulation

Willing to give and show mercy

Full of truth and sacrifice

So love is not what I thought

It does not shame my life

Or hurt me and control my spots

Face the truth

Let down the protective wall

Bondage from that sin

Is no small task to let fall

Allowed to be 7

And cry cuz it hurt

To say I was betrayed

I was treated like dirt

He did not act in love

Self absorbed ambition

With a desire to control

And feed a sinful condition

Disregarding the pain

Right before his eyes

Teaching that it’s ok

To feel his physical high

Crafty deception

Just compartmentalize

He’s “good with kids”

We all trust this “nice guy”

The betrayal digs deep

It destroyed my youth

Stolen away from me

A healthy relationship view

The little girl mourns

“I wasn’t given a chance”

Feeling the pain more

“You robbed my life dance”

It’s not ok it’s not ok

It’s not ok to pretend

It’s not ok this happened

God will heal where I’ve been

A testimony

Is not found in the dark

So I pray that someday

This will be a Kingdom mark

With my love by my side

I come clean at last

Some share my cries

While others just gasp

Tears and more tears

Freedom in saying it too

The burden is lifted

I’m cleansed, made new

Grace plus Truth

The juggling act

Evening the scale

Unwanted impact

Opened my mail

A note, a petition

“This is why it happened

I hope you won’t mention”

Going into marriage

I needed to be clean

I’m not out to destroy

Just reveal the unseen

Two times again

He talks in 3^rd person

Fearing exposure

Fearing it will worsen

He Apologizes

He’s forgiven

He says “It’s done”

To all of it I listen

I was 7 then

But now I’m 28

Growing whole

And in my faith

An acting career

Lots of parts

But in South Africa

A perspective starts

I’ve got the talent

But again and again

Nothing glorifies

The One who gave this gem

Sin is a bad weed

That drains a fruit plant

My fruit seems ripe

But taste it I can’t

Right when you think

Something is in the past

Realization is met

Healing is not so fast

No quick fixes

In God’s time

Submit to the now

Let God draw the lines

And so pretending

Even in some small way

Keeps part of the root

Of falsehood at play

Search me and try me

I said it out loud before

To be a real kingdom player

I want to heal even more

No more pretending

My spirit grows weary

I want to glorify

Stop acting, Cold Turkey!

And that’s not all

Married and ready

“After years let’s try

To have a new baby

“It will not be passed on

In the power of Jesus’ name”

Humble to change the goal

Life’s not about my fame

A weed chopped at its base

Now the roots must die

Willing to do what it takes

To never live in a lie

See that is the root

That caused him to sin

To pass bondage on

Where nobody can win

My acting out

May look more pure

But coping is not freedom

That I know for sure

I don’t want any part

Of a root like that 

I want a new view

A new season, a new hat

Then the call came

He’s on the other side

Looking at my baby girl

I sit down in the tide

But what he didn’t expect

Was a girl full grown

Not willing to submit

To a controlling tone

I had a goal

To not live in a lie

“Get behind me satin,

You can’t win if you try!”

Fear of exposure

I guess he was found out

Call to silence me

He can’t loose his clout

I’m not behind the talk

But it’s an interesting thing

He pleaded for silence

He said he was clean

“It” won’t work

There is no way

Old age maybe

Or maybe God’s say

And all I can think of

Is that need to control

That hidden place

That traps a soul

I’m a walking testimony

Is he still trapped?

“Shhh” I hear

Like I’m 7 on his lap!

A familiar tone

“It’s OK to forget”

What? Continue bondage?

Oh no, not with my whit!

We are not in heaven yet

That is the sad truth

Here I’m completely changed

Because of the abuse

Sin entered my life

Not by my choice

Jesus is healing the wound

I WILL glorify with my voice

Oh, I’ve prayed to forget

But it’s the thorn in my side

That keeps me honest

So to GOD I can abide

And what good

Is found in the dark?

My plea in prayer

Was for a kingdom mark

I  said where I was at

All in first person

Caught him off guard

Not a comfortable position

“You abused authority

When I was only 7

It’s not yours to take back

My authority’s under heaven

“I’ll claim the victory

Only found in Christ

It takes open testimony

Not in malice, I’m nice”

“Relax” he says

As he reasons with me,

“People use to forgive

And also forget you see.”

I feel the scale shift

Grace slipping aside

Is he forgetting the truth

While asking me to abide?

I speak more harsh

“Are you kidding me?

 You stole from my love

And want to keep it unseen!

“I forgive you for sure

The sin is in the past

And God’s grace on us

Is sufficient and will last

“But if your definition

Of forgiving is to lie

To not bring this around

To not testify

“Then you are asking

Me to stay trapped

And that I can’t do

I have a baby on MY lap”

I prayed while I spoke

“I’m free from all lies”

The end of his control

Is what he must have realized

“If God wants’ me to

I’ll talk about overcoming

About freedom from sin

For a heart that is willing”

“Well,” He responds,

“You sure have a voice and a will”

Not really appreciating

The courage God had instilled

“I’ll pray for you,” he ended

The conversation cut short

But I knew God was pleased

I’m not destroyed by a torch

Freedom and growth

I want it for all

But it takes time

To become that tall

I was 7 then

But now I’m 35

In front of crowds

A testimony thrives

I had to revisit

The time of pain

To tell the truth

To teach and train

Trapped in time

Was a little girl

Now released

My dress can twirl

Trapped in time

Was a little boy

Controlled by fear

Grasping for his toy

He remembers the moment

Of sexual abuse

By a trusted man

There is no excuse

Reason it away

Stay on top

Say, “It’s ok”

Even to a cop

He hid the times

Where sin just feeds

And multiplied

Because unmet needs

Behavior masked

Where a heart was attacked

The condition was severe

Secret sin kept him trapped

Trying to heal

In a hidden place

Trying to grow up

To warp time and space

What makes a person

Not be destroyed

When their world was rocked

By the predator’s ploy

When his heart gave out

He came face to face

With Jesus Christ

With truth and grace

Given the chance

To heal the right way

But healing takes time

No matter what you say

Right when you think

Something is in the past

Realization is met

Healing is not so fast

No quick fixes

In God’s time

Submit to the now

Let God draw the lines

As He does

We stand in awe

Live to worship

Gratitude so raw

Sometimes it hurts

Other times “it’s ok”

But always liberating

To do it His way

To embrace His love

Light of our soul

Let go even deeper

Giving up our control

A revengeful heart

Is a horrible trend

Hate the evil

But not the person within

Why fester bitterness

That is part of the root

Repent of it all

Give it the boot

Then redemption is met

Little children released

From all anger and malice

To see others as God sees

I saw a boy’s eyes

Looking back and forth

At the demons that surround

After he fell from the force

I never met the boy

Whose head hit the ground

But I can see where

He came back around

Our “tries” can fall short

But God knows our heart

As long as we are honest

Taking care of “our part”

We can’t will

Change in our lives

That is God’s job

Ours is to abide

God’s spirit is alive

To be able to wipe out

A wicked weed so deep

It’s what salvations about

I don’t know

Did the boy grow up?

I trust in God

And his healing touch

All I need to do

Is go forward all new

Praise God for protection

From the predator’s stew

No more guilt

No more waste

Must continue 

In truth and grace

Cut from distractions

Humble to repent

This generation gets

A fully present parent

Able to read

And teach about

Heart conditions

And sin called out

Able to love

And fully embrace

Complete acceptance

The right kind of Grace

No lonely road

See, Jesus was sent

Not a lone ranger

We are interdependent

Struggles they know

I’ll pray them through

With so much compassion

I won’t hide their truth

And they will know

That we all have failed

The only perfect

Comes from Jesus’ bail

In humble repentance

Freedom we find

God’s full acceptance

Nothing can bind

I can’t see the future

But I trust in the unseen

I can see the hope

That perseverance can bring

I can rejoice in the truth

That has set us free

I can and I will

It’s not just for me

Our stories may differ

But this is the same

We are not destroyed

Because Jesus came

It is only God’s power

And His spirit in us

That sets us free

From what is not just

A life time of bondage

Is a life without freedom

And missed opportunities

To further his Kingdom

My girl is 7

My boy is 5

I pray for childhood

Not a place to hide

And when they are teens

I pray for a healthy view

Where fertilized time

Grows juicy fruit new

And into their twenties

Abiding in Love

Able to give and receive

All gifts from above

As healthy adults

My prayer is stronger yet

The lessons passed on

They will never forget

And on and on

Generations to follow

God is redeeming

The serpents swallow

That’s were it started

And we know the end

In the middle

We live to mend

No longer hidden

Don’t go and hide

You are dead to that

Jesus made you alive

Does God forget one

And pass him by

He never gives up

YOU are the why

By Michelle Fozounmayeh

Written on June 6, 2010

Slightly modified on May 10, 2013