4 Traditions 4 Summer

4 Traditions... Issue: Summer

In This Issue Postcards From? Sand Collection Cast Away Your Worries Etched Memories 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... iStretch 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. Postcards From? Sharing our vacation memories with friends and family is as each as a touch of a button on social networks, but every family trip could include a stop at the local post office.  Have each family member select a postcard and write a funny story or describe an exciting adventure, then send it home.  Imagine how fun it will be to check the mail when you arrive home and find your memories there.  These postcards will become your traveling journal and will remind you of all the fun times you enjoyed while away.  The postcards do not have to come from far away or exotic places, it makes no difference whether it comes from Grandm's house or Tahiti.  Save these postcards and vacation photos in your Summer Album to keep these priceless memories alive. Sand Collection Collect sand from all the places that you visit over the years.  Don't forget to grab a few shells, rocks or other items that would represent the land it came from and add a beautiful splash of color to your display.  If camping is your family passion, dirt and sticks might work.  You'll be surprised at the variety of colors and textures you will find.  When you return home from your trip, fill a glass bottle with your souvenirs.  An eclectic mix of different shaped and sized glass bottles will add to the uniqueness of your collection.  Attach a small tag to the bottle explaining where the sand or dirt is from and display the collection of memories in your home for all to see. This simple tradition will become an important part of every summer vacation. Cast Away Your Worries Summer is a time to be carefree.  More often than not, we adults tend to be bogged down by little things that really don't matter, or big things we can't change.  This tradition is a great way for all of us to learn to let go of what troubles us and enjoy the precious time we have together.  On the last day of school, as you are preparing to take off for the family's summer vacation or every week of the summer if need be, have everyone write down something that worries them.  Whatever it is that bothers us, once it is down on paper, it's easier to let go.  Roll up your "worries" and tie them with a ribbon or use tape.   Have everyone say a prayer asking God to take our anxiety away and to help us, with thanksgiving, bring our request to Him and accept His peace in our hearts.  (From Philippians 4:6)  Then everyone can toss their worries over their shoulder.  Your swimming pool, or a local fountain, or the bathtub are all great places to "let go and let God", toss your worries, and continue with a carefree summer. Etched Memories Leave your family's mark at every place you visit.  While on vacation, find a spot to creatively write the location, and the year of your trip (Grand Canyon 2012, or Hawaii 2013).  Take a picture of your family next to this inscription.  If you go to the beach, write it in the sand.  If you are on a camping trip, write it with sticks or rocks.  If you are vacationing near the snow, use your shovel to leave your mark.  You can always adorn it with tropical flower, seashells, leaves from local plants, or pine comes.  Get creative and remember...do not go home without your treasured destination photo!  Place the photos in a special album to record all of your family's exciting adventures.   All 4 HIM,   MICHELLE FOZOUNMAYEH My Blog

iDream

iPray eVotionals Greetings! iPray eVotionals exhorts those who pray.  It's the glass of water held out around each month's turn for the runners who can use a quick and easy quench in order to finish strong.   iDream (Approximate reading time: 10 Minutes)   Tunnel Vision  Did you know that God declares that in the last days He will pour out his Spirit on all flesh? Not in your wildest dreams! No really, He says that sons and daughters shall prophesy. A dream come true...if that were true. I didn't dream it up, I read it. Don't dream your life away believing everything you read. I read it in the Bible. Dream on! Really, it first appeared in Joel 2:28 as a prophecy and Peter quoted it again in Acts 2:17 as it was being fulfilled. If you think I'm going to fall for that you are living in a dream world. I didn't just dream this up.  It says that young men shall see visions and old men shall dream dreams. In your dreams! Wake up!  I wouldn't dream of putting false words into God's mouth.  This is a prophecy that is absolutely true to this day. I'll dream up a solution why you may think this is true, for now your tunnel vision is making you sleep walk.   My tunnel vision?  Open up God's Word so that He can open up your eyes! "'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." Acts 2:17 He Speaks  Not long ago I heard someone say, "Praying is talking to God."  It's true that praying involves talking to God, but I would go further and say that praying is more than talking to God, it's talking with God.  Hearing from Him is just as important. Most would claim that it's the harder part of talking with God, hearing from Him.  Just the other day I was helping my son realize that his help comes from the Lord and his response was, "I have tried to pray but I can't see or hear Him." It made me stop to think.  How do I hear from Him?  First and foremost, He has spoken to me through His Word.  At times He has spoken to my heart through people and situations.  Still there is another way He speaks and quickly grabs my full attention.  Some of my most intimate conversations with God have been when He has spoken to me through dreams and visions. I realize I just lost half my audience.  Dreams are nothing but a series of thoughts, images and sensations in a person's mind during sleep.  Every time we go to sleep our brains keep thinking.  If they didn't then we would be brain dead.  Looking at things the wrong way can really cause massive confusion.  Waking up each morning and testing every part of a dream (that no doubt is slowly fading from your memory as the morning gets going) with what God says in His word can be exhausting not to mention a waste of time and energy.  At that point dreaming becomes your primary source of knowledge and that is idol worship. At the same time, it is absolutely true that God can use that quiet time to get our attention.  From the beginning He has used dreams and visions to speak to us.  Encouragement, hope and promise came to Abram inGenesis 15:1-6.  An announcement of judgment came to Samuel about Eli in 1 Samuel 3:1-18.  God uses dreams and visions to reveal secrets and interpretations of dreams like He did to Daniel, as in Daniel 2:19.  Announcing a servant's call came to Zacharias for John in Luke 1:22.  Confirmation of His will came to Joseph in Matthew 1:20.  In dreams and visions God announces good tidings like he did after Jesus' resurrection when some women saw a vision of angels announcing Jesus was alive inLuke 24:23.  He uses them for guidance and explicit instructions like He did to Ananias for Saul in Acts 9:10-12.  Guidance to change locations came for Paul to go to Macedonia in Acts 15:9.  God speaks through dreams and visions to help change an opinion and give an assignment like He did to Peter about the Gentiles in Acts 11:5-10. As it stands we only see in part, at some point we will see in full.  Until that time God speaks to us in the ways He knows we can and are able to hear for understanding. Able to Hear One day last week I was chit chatting with a woman about how different we all are, with unique strengths and struggles.  She shared with me a way she was able to connect with her son "My kids are grown adults now," she said, "but when my son was young he could not focus around a group of people.  Sometimes I would have to take him away from all the noise to talk to him so that he could really hear what I had to say."  Take him away... take him away so that he could focus and really hear. That evening my husband and I were discussing a situation.  In the conversation he said,  "Sometimes just telling a person what they need to think and feel will not change what they think and feel."  True, it has to somehow be made real.  I thought about how only God can speak to our hearts the way we need to hear it, changing us so that we can arrive to where He needs us to be. That night God took me away from the noise of the day where He had my full attention like the mom did for her son.  He made His Words real through intense circumstances that evoked feelings of urgency in a dream. The Dream: A man was after me, my husband and family.  I was aware of the danger that came to all who crossed his path, so I stood alert.  The dream moved through three specific areas where this man showed up to kill and destroy.  In each, because we were on high alert, we were able to quickly spot the danger as the man lurked.  Working as a team we were able to respond to protect the lives of those around us.  My husband in his way and me in mine, together we made the rescues complete.  Still, the man did not give up and continued to pursue me as I woke up. When the dream was done I was wide awake with a racing heart, instantly God was telling me to write it down just as he had told the prophet to do in Habakkuk 2:2...for He was speaking to me. After writing down as much detail as possible I read it back and could hear God's voice speaking to me.  Peter 5:8 was no longer words on a page, the urgency to, "Be alert and of sober mind" was intense.  The reality that "your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" was not just a passing thought or a good thing to ponder.  As I looked at each of the three specific areas in my visionary dream God's Word became alive...Luke 21:36... 1 Timothy 3:11... 2 Thessalonians 3:3. God-driven visions are always true to His word because God is not a liar (Numbers 23:19).   They will move us to action under His authority according to His will and His ways (Acts 1:8, Psalm 62:11-12 & Proverbs 30:5-6).  To hear from God will humbly deepen our faith and change us (Romans 12:2 & John 17:17).  Never will God lead us in a way that is contrary to His word (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Understanding is revealed at God's hand and not our own, through His Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21). I was taken away, where I was able hear! The Dreamer Joseph is known as the dreamer.  God chose to open a little window into the future for him to peek through.  He could have spared himself by keeping the dreams to himself.  Instead, the dreams had such an impact on him that he couldn't help but share them. Joseph's brothers had no intention to seek any truth the dreams may have held for in the dreams it seemed that Joseph's brothers would someday bow to him.  They became jealous that their father would even ponder over Joseph's words concerning these dreams. (Genesis 37:1-11) Their younger brother Joseph lording over them was just offensive and downright wrong in their eyes. Well, wiping out his existence was the sure way to make sure that never happened.  Sold into slavery and advertised as dead, Joseph was out of the picture as far as his brothers were concerned.  (Genesis 37:12-35) But they forgot that God is omnipotent, one who has all power and is able to accomplish everything He desires. For Joseph I'm sure that vision did not seem very accurate while he was rejected by his brothers, worked as a slave, was falsely accused, put in jail and forgotten.  I wonder if those two visions played any part in how Joseph was able to stay true to his God and His ways, trusting that he WILL be the vessel of hope for his family that God had shown him to be.  Through twisted events and more dream interpretations God placed Joseph in a place of authority, in charge of the very things his family and people needed to stay alive. For Joseph's brothers, rejecting the dream in the way they did brought out the worst in them: jealously, revenge and deception.  After seeing what their lies had done to their father, guilt became their norm. As it turns out, Joseph's entire family needed to stay alive during a famine. Yes, Joseph's brothers bowed in front of a man they thought they did not know in order to receive what they needed to stay alive.  What his brothers feared long ago was a Joseph ruling over them.  After their honesty and integrity were tested they realized who was in front of them, their brother Joseph.  What they did not expect was a Joseph that had compassion and forgiveness in his heart, not lording his authority over them but instead using it for the entire family's good.  It is written that from the time of their deception to that very day their hearts were in torment over what they had done.  At that moment they all cried for they had been humbled to see God's plan play out for their good and not for their bad...and even more they had been forgiven and reconciled.  (Genesis 24:50) Like Joseph God gives us just what we need to stand up and do what is right.  When the world tells us otherwise we can trust that when we stay true to Him and His ways, He will accomplish all that He said He would.  Sadly, we are often not like Joseph.  We are like his brothers, full of fear and assumptions-not willing to hear anything that would in any way seem to rock our world.  The Bible says that some day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.  (Romans 14:11)  Should we have to live in torment just to save face?  God's plan will not be thwarted and it is for our good. A Joseph or A Brother "Then he said to the crowd, 'If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose or forfeit your own soul in the process? If a person is ashamed of me and my message, I, the Son of Man, will be ashamed of that person when I return in my glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.'" Luke 9:23-26 Now that brings all dreams and visions into focus!  If you have ears to hear and are willing, ask God now to speak to you. "Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream." Numbers 12:6 Is there a small part of you wondering if you can have a Joseph response instead of his brothers' response?  How willing are you to hear a message and be changed? I have shared about how God has used dreams and visions in the Bible.  I have also shared how God speeks to me through dreams and visions.  Now I am going to share with you a message that God has placed on the heart of one of his faithful daughters, a German living in Africa, through a dream.  It is a message that she has been called to share with women of the world. About two weeks ago Michelle Swanepoel, a daughter of the Living God, sent out an email that landed in my lap.  After an email conversation, one Michelle to another she gave me permission to share what I believe is God's scriptural charge to wives with you.  Now it is your turn to experience a dream that can be tested by God's Word and has the power to change!  God placed a message on the heart of His trusted daughter, knowing her faithfulness and obedience would allow Him to usher in a mighty change through prayer. Click the below link to read her email sent out in June 2013. A Charge for Women iPray iPray that today you have been encouraged and inspired to hear from God in a a way that invites you to respond. iPray that scriptures will not just be words on a page, but that God will speak to you and make them real. iPray that you will not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (From 1 John 4:1) iPray that you will be more like Joseph and less like his brothers, iPray against limited tunnel vision. iPray that you will open up God's words so that He can open up your eyes. iPray that you do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Keep away from every kind of evil. (From 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22) iPray that you do not settle for the way the world would have it but will acknowledge that we are warriors for a mighty King. iPray that in your prayers you will not just talk to God but with God. iPray that your ears will be open, alert and ready to hear His voice, for He speaks to you in just the way you need to hear it. iPray that your passion be sparked and your prayers with God be mighty! In Jesus Name iPray, Amen! In This Issue Tunnel Vision He Speaks Able to Hear The Dreamer A Joseph or A Brother iPray Join iPray eMailing List Michelle Fozounmayeh 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. Blog: 7tothirty7.blogspot.com Website: http://7tothirty7.com/ 4 Traditions 4 The Fourth of July iPray Links Dec. 2011 iPray link: iTeeter-Totter  Jan. 2012 iPray link: iPray NEWness Feb. 2012 iPray link: iLove DEEP and WIDE March 2012 iPray link: iPraise April 2012 iPray link: iEmbrace  May 2012 iPray link:   iSmell a Stain June 2012 iPray link: iPray 4 Purity July 2012 iPray link: iPray 4 Protection August 2012 iPray link: iReminisce September 2012 iPray: iWork Out   October 2012 iPray:  iFollow November 2012 iPray: iThank God for That December 2012 iPray: iFinish Strong January 2013 iPray: iNeed a Reminder  February 2013 iPray iPray in One Accord March 2013 iPray: iRest April 2013 iPray: iListen May 2013 iPray: iHold On June 2013 iPray: iStretch Poem links: Time to be Free Ms. Marry McMoo Only You I Delight in You A Bat's Perspective The Ins and Outs Green Things Treasures in the Darkness To My Mom No Longer Hidden 70 Years of Marriage Saint Sadie Discovering Little One Wide Long High and Deep My Son Knowledge Hoard    Short Stories Cream of Corn Battle of the Food Face Singing the Night Away See You Later, Alligator Don't Touch Fried Nuts Annoying Brother Missy's Puppies High Dive Something Big! Stretching First Encouraging Words Afraid of What? Ring Chronicles, Lesson 1 Ring Chronicles, Lesson 2 Ring Chronicles, Lesson 3 Ring Chronicles, Lesson 4 Rainbow Promise Creative Point-Making The Thanksgiving Gameshow A Christmas Play Many Parts of Me

ALL for Him, Michelle Fozounmayeh