Delighting in the Lord

Am I a Workman?

2012-01-24T18:06:00.000-05:00

Something to ponder . . .

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15

A workman is someone who masters his skill and produces something good from it. Are you a workman?

Just in Time for Chirstmas

2011-12-10T15:38:00.000-05:00

Two years ago I made myself a personalized stocking since my taste had changed. Sometime after Christmas it got misplaced, so when the next Christmas came around I was the only one in the family with a store bought stocking. I kept saying that I was going to make one . . . but you know how that goes. So this year, once again, we couldn't find my home-made stocking so I put out the plain ole red and white one. My family said they didn't think I was going to make one this year so I decided to prove them wrong! Here it is.

Here is a close up of my stocking holder.

Now the whole family has a personalized stocking. Today today they were talking about re-doing their's so that they look nicer, but I thought I'd show them off anyways.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Preaching that Convicts

2011-12-07T20:12:00.000-05:00

"The greatest gift God ever gave man kind was conviction." - Bro. David Harrison

This past fall I went to a revival at a local church and heard Bro. David Harrison preach along with several other preachers. His preaching was some of the best I've heard in my life. After hearing him I didn't leave with a good thought or new jokes and illustrations to tell, I left with conviction and tear stained eyes. Bro. Harrison has a heart for the lost to be saved and for Christians to stay in the race and live a life truly dedicated to Christ. I still feel conviction when I think about the sermon he preached called, "Do Not Disturb" which was preached to Christians who have placed a sign on their heart that says, "Do Not Disturb". I haven't found it on the internet, but he preached a similar one called, "A Conscious Seared, a Cold Heart, and a Wounded Spirit."

Whether or not you are looking for good preaching, I encourage you to go to his website, Voice of Hope Ministries, or Old Path Sermons. I hope it blesses your heart and gives you a desire to live every day for Christ.

The Comfort of Assurance

2011-09-10T12:21:00.001-04:00

The other day God gave me the opportunity to talk about his son Jesus. The conversation didn't just help the person I was talking too (I pray), but also opened my mind to new thoughts and burdens. It all started when a women mentioned that the hard and wicked times we are facing is assurance that God is coming soon. While we were talking about the day of the Lord Jesus Christ my co-worker mentioned that she hopes she makes it to heaven. She said something to the effect that even if someone is on their death bed as a Christian, the devil can tempt them to sin and if they yield to that sin then they may die and miss heaven. I suppose her reasoning in this matter was that you can loose your salvation anytime you sin. My first reaction was, how sad it must be to live that way.
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I went on to tell her what the Bible says about knowing you are saved; just enough to plant a seed so that if she is interested she will dig into the Word of God and find out for herself what God says about salvation. But even tonight I keep thinking about that theology that must leave people so uncertain about themselves. I would hate to think that one day I might be a Child of God and the next I am in danger of dieing in an unexpected accident and going to hell because of a sin that I may not have repented of. What an awful way to live!
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Since this is a discussion that comes up for depate quite often, I thought now would be a good time to dig deep into the Word of God and find out why I believe that once I am saved I cannot lose my salvation.

The Bible teaches that we can not earn our salvation. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:8-9 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD."
Salvation is clearly a gift, not a payment for our righteousness. If I cant recieve salvation by my own righteousness, how then can I lose my salvation for lack of righteousness? By saying I can loose my salvation I am saying that God's grace isn't sufficient to keep me. Like Mr. Smith said, instead of asking "can a Christian loose his salvation?" we should ask, "Can Jesus loose a Christian?" Everything looks different in God's eyes and if we try to look at the Bible and each other through His eyes then we will see things in a completely different light.

Then I came upon Romans 5:8. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." If God loves us this much, I can't understand why he would take away his salvation when he knew we were sinners and that we would continue to sin.

I am so thankful that I know I am a Christian and nothing can seperate me from the love of God. I know that if I confess my sins he is faithful and just to forgive me of my sins and to cleans me from all unrighteousness. I know that he holds me in his hands and no man shall pluck me out.
::Scriptures: 1 John 1:9, John 10:28-29::

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39

Suffering

2011-09-06T19:47:00.002-04:00

"When suffering shatters the carefully kept vase that is our lives, God stoops to pick up the pieces. But he doesn't put them back together as a restoration project patterned after our former selves. Instead, he sifts through the rubble and selects some of the shards as raw material for another project--a mosaic that tells the story of redemption." --Ken Gire

Being Fully Persuaded

2011-04-28T20:49:00.000-04:00

Written in December of 2010

For the past week I've been reading about all the miracles God did through Peter and the other disciples and the sermons they preached to the Jews. Even though I've read it before I am seeing a lot of things I don't remember. Instead of just reading the story, I'm seeing the attitudes and perseverance that I never took notice of until now. I'm seeing some characteristics that I need to adopt in my own life.

The disciples didn't have an easy road to travel being some of the first ones to bring the Gospel to the Jews. (Being the first is never easy.) Just think, the people of Israel probably thought they wouldn't hear no more of Jesus once they crucified him. Now they were hearing his name and seeing the effects of his greatness every where they went. It disturbed the Pharisees and Sadducee's to see all the sick healed and the joy that must have came with it. They were so wrapped up in the law and couldn't let loose of it. But I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about the Sadducee's because that's not what got my attention.

The apostles were thrown into prison for all the miracles God was performing and for teaching the Jews about Christ. The Bible then says, "But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught." Acts 5: 19-21a) The first thing that came to my mind was, 'Wow, they didn't even take a day off to get over their imprisonment.' They didn't sit around for a day to pray about it and see if they really were in God's will. The Bible doesn't say they questioned the angel or discussed it among themselves. They went into the temple within hours, and taught. They went right back to what they've always been doing because they knew that was what God wanted them to do. They were fully persuaded.

Of course we can always say "If I had seen Jesus after he was raised from the dead, or if I had been filled with the Holy Ghost at Penticost, and if I had been spoken to by an angel . . . I would be fully persuaded too." But we do have the scriptures. We have felt the joy of Christ in our heart and seen the things that God can do through others. We know what God wants us to do because it's written in his Word, yet we often find ourselves doubting if what we are doing is the right thing. It's time that we become fully persuaded.

Mercy Said No

2011-01-17T19:33:00.000-05:00

Tonight while I was driving home from work I began thinking about how sinful I am and about all the times that I really screwed up just today. At the same time I began singing a song my youth chior is learning, Mercy Said No. This was nothing unusual because I've always got a song on my lips, even when I'm having a bad day you might find me humming a song out of the hymn book or chior book.

This particular day, as I was singing along in the privacy of my car, I really started thinking about the words. Actually, it was probably God pointing them out to me, because that is something He would do. ♪ "Mercy said no, I'm not gonna let you go. I'm not gonna let you slip away, you don't have to be a fraid. . . sin will never take control . . ." I started thinking about how much I deserve to be let go. God should just say, "That's enough. If you want to be that way I'll let you live misserably in your selfishness." But instead He promised to never leave me nor forsake me. He promised to be right by my side chastising me when I do wrong and trying to direct me in the right way. He'll be right there to give me the love that I need, grace that I couldn't live without . . . and his enduring mercy.

♪ "Thank you Jesus, mercy said no!" ♪

Blessings From the Scriptures

2010-11-30T20:28:00.001-05:00

I use to read the Bible through one book at a time, but now I read at least two and I love it! It is so neat to see how often the scriptures repeat themselves throughout the Bible.

A few weeks ago while I was trying to memorize Psalms 95 an evangelist, who was preaching a revival at our church, used Heb. 3:7-11 in his sermon . . . scriptures that are practically identical to Psalms 95! Then today I saw it again. I was in Acts 2 and verse 35-36 said, "For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool." When I finished reading the chapter I turned to Psalms 110 to pick up where I left off. Verse 1 said, "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." It was amazing not just to see that the scriptures match, but that God had directed me to read both of these chapters in my daily Bible reading! I wasn't looking for a scripture to match what I was reading . . . it was just right there in front of me. How amazing is our God!

When you feel like you've blown it.

2010-11-19T21:58:00.000-05:00

Ever feel like you've really blown it? You feel like you've done something that cannot be forgiven or that you are too ashamed to ask forgiveness for? Maybe we've all been there, but we don't have to let that destroy our relationship with God.

That's a little bit of what was expressed in an artical called, "Don't Hang Yourself . . . Hang Around." It was such an encouragement to me that I thought about re-writing it myself to share with y'all, but instead I'll just post the link here as well as print it for my files. I really encourage you to take the time to read this short artical if you are down and out.

Click here to read it.

Perfectly Fall

2010-11-06T15:58:00.001-04:00

Today is the kind of day that makes me want to stay under my quilts a few extra minutes. It's the perfect weather for reading my Bible next to a fireplace and talking to God in the quiet of the morning. It's just the kind of day that makes me want to cook chili and try a new (and delicious) homemade cappuccino recipe. The cool temperatures is perfect for cuddling next to the fire place to watch a movie with my family. . . while drinking that delicious cappuccino! And it only seems natural to bake a homemade pumpkin pie to enjoy durring this lovely fall season. Yes, today is just perfectly fall-ish!

Check back later for a pumpkin pie recipe . . .

Even the Stars Praise God

2010-10-31T17:15:00.000-04:00

Recently I read an article about scientist' discovery of "singing stars." The article, Astronomers Listen In to 'Red Giant Concert' explained that giant red stars are singing in space. Instantly my mind went to the scriptures that spoke of nature worshiping and even obeying God. It only took a few minutes of research to get me excited about this finding.

In Job 38:4-7 God says, (speaking to Job) "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Then in another passage the Psalmist says, "Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light."

Then God brought to mind where Jesus said in Luke 19: 40 "And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these [the disciples] should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out."

If the stones can cry out in worship to Christ, I'm sure the stars can. With all that said, isn't that so neat to know that the stars are sing praises to the only living God? It isn't the scientific findings that proves this in my mind, but it's neat to see that science lines up with the Bible, a source I already know and believe is true. Praise ye the LORD!

Bible Study on Music

2010-10-05T22:19:00.000-04:00

When I went to camp last July God put impressed upon my heart to do a Bible study with my family, so I put this together and really enjoyed the time I spent with God alowing Him to teach me. It was amazing how easily it came and how well the scriptures fit together. Some scriptures God gave me through my daily Bible reading when I wasn't even looking for verses. I thought I would post it on my blog for anyone else to read. Just rememeber, it's writen in a study type so it may be different than my usual articles. Also take into consideration that it is also written to my family, whose convictions I am familiar with.

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I think all of us agree that God doesn’t want us to listen to worldly music like rock –n- roll, rap, country, and such. But could any of us show a scripture as to why we believe that? A few weeks ago I would have had a hard time doing that. So the purpose of this study isn’t just to go over why we believe it’s wrong to listen to worldly music, but mostly to go over scriptures that give us this belief. All of our convictions should come from the word of God, not just what we think is logically or theoretically correct. We can defend our belief based on our thoughts all day long, but it is much easier to convince other Christians this is right if we have scriptures to show them.

The first scripture I want to look at is Eph 5: 18-20. "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;" I think it’s safe to say that country, rock, and rap music doesn’t fit in this verse because none of those are spiritual songs. In verse 18 Paul is talking about not being drunk with wine, but I believe the last part of the verse “but be filled with the Spirit” can be applied to all Christians regardless if they use to drink or not. (As well, there are also scriptures in Romans 8 that talk about walking after the Spirit and not after the flesh.) We see in the next verse that to be filled with the Spirit we should speak to ourselves in psalms and hymn and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our heart to the Lord. Notice that this verse doesn’t say just on Sundays, or just when you’re at church. We should always seek to be filled with the spirit, which means we should always be singing to ourselves with spiritual songs. By listening to worldly music we are walking after the flesh because if feels good, but it doesn’t make the spirit stronger. If you feed the flesh once, it’s easier to feed it again, and before we know it we will be pleasing the flesh so much that our spirit will be weak.

Verse 20 talks more about this. "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;" One of the ways we can give thanks always is to sing spiritual songs. Most of the worldly music doesn’t give thanks to God, but rather focuses on our self. Either on our broken heart, our lost boyfriend/girlfriend, or late night parties. None of that gives thanks to God.

Next I want to look at Proverbs 14:9. "Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour." There’s not much I want to say about this verse. Most of the worldly songs make sin seem okay. They talk about having affairs, getting drunk, and doing what feels good, which is fulfilling the flesh. Some worldly music also uses cuss words, which shows they have no fear of God. That’s another reason why we shouldn’t listen to that music because fools make a mock of sin.

Last week I was reading in Deu chapter 31. It was Moses’ last days on earth so God was giving Moses his last instructions that he was to carry out before he died. God reminded Moses of all that he had done for them: how he brought them out of Egypt, made the Red sea to part, and how he brought them into the land which he promised them. God said in verse 19, "Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel." Music is a great tool to help us remember things. Do you remember in Sunday school or Bible camp how we would learn Bible verses to tunes? God was using that same method to make the Israelites remember God’s faithfulness. On the flip side, do we want to constantly be reminded of the things of the world? Even if the song may seem harmless, we need to ask our self is it something that we want to fill our mind with instead of filling our mind with the things of God.

Psalms 40:3 "And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD." This reminds me of 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Notice it says old things are passed away. When we get saved or when we dedicate our life to the LORD we should put away old things, everything that bound our heart to the world, or is able to sway us, remind us of the old days, we should leave that and replace it with the things of God. Along with this thought goes 1 Corinthians 10:31 "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." We should ask our self, “Can I sing this song to the glory of God?” and if the answer is “no” then we shouldn’t be listening to it.

Now let’s look at1 Thessalonians 5:23. "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." We are the temple of God according to I Corinthians 6:19. We should try to keep our whole spirit, soul and body pure and clean, not even spotted by the world. I always try to picture Jesus sitting right there next to me. And I think, “Does Jesus want to listen to this music? Does Jesus want to watch this movie? Does Jesus want to go to this place?” Because he sees everything we do and listens to everything we let go into our ears.

When I was studying for this I found this quote by Susanna Wesley that I thought was very good. John Wesley was the one who founded the Methodist Movement along with his brother Charles Wesley. (Back in those days I’ve been told the Methodist believed the Bible more and really wasn’t very different from Baptist, but that’s just what I’ve been told.) When John Wesley was in college he wrote a letter to his Mother asking her to give him a clear description of sin. She wrote:” Take this rule: whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures [which means to darken] your sense of God, or takes off the relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.” {Susanna Wesley, mother of John Wesley}

Someone else said, “It doesn’t matter what something is rated, or how popular it is, or how seemingly innocent it appears. If it hardens your heart toward God, if it obscures your awareness of the ugliness of sin and the holiness of God, if it takes the edge off your spiritual hunger, then it’s sin.” The more worldly music you listen to the more apt you are to think that, “Oh, it’s not too bad. “ and then you’ll be listening to music that is just a little bit worse. And then you’ll think, “Well, that movie isn’t that sinful, and it’s just a short bad part.” And because you are feeding your mind with “innocent” music written by worldly people, sin doesn’t look as ugly anymore and God isn’t quite as precious.

Along with that I think of Hebrews 12:1. "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." It’s not always easy to keep our eyes on God, especially when we live in a very sinful world. So we need to stop listening to things that take our eyes off God. And that applies to everything in our life. For example, ever since I came back from camp I’ve stopped reading all the news headlines on Yahoo and Inbox while I’m on the internet because some of the news wasn’t very clean and even if it was, it’s all worldly. It may not be a sin to everyone to read the news headlines, but it was something that got my mind off of God, so I stopped looking at it. So even if the song is harmless, like the oldies that talk about romance and blue suede shoes, it still isn’t healthy to listen to it because it gets us thinking about things that don’t really matter. With as hard as it is at times to keep our focus on God, we should try everything to keep our minds on Serving Christ. And one of the ways we can do that is by listening to Christian music that reminds us of how good God is and everything he’s done for us.

The last verse I want to read is in Philippians 4:8. "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." And that sums it up perfectly!

National Holidays . . . (the fun ones)

2010-09-23T22:36:00.000-04:00

Several years ago our grandparents gave us a calendar with all sorts of cool stuff kids would like. It was very colorful with all the "special" days marked, usually with a picture. There were symbols that marked the usual ggrandparent's day and earth day, but what I really liked were the squares marked "National Ice-cream Day" or "National Denim Day". I've always thought they were so fun and interesting.

So you can imagine how happy I was to hear that September is National Piano Month! While I was at Yahoo checking my e-mail I saw a headline titled, "World's Most Expensive Piano". Out of my love for anything piano I had to check it out. It was a pretty cool video with some very interesting facts about the piano and those who played it.

To celebrate the month I thought I would post links to some of the posts on the piano I have written over the years. Happy National Piano Month!

The Desire of an Eight Year Old

God Knows the Desires of our Heart

God: The Giver of all Talents

My God

2010-09-06T23:02:00.000-04:00

I've been studying myself lately. In fact, I've been studying myself to much. I've noticed that when I am the most discouraged it is usually if not always when I am focusing on myself. I get disheartened because I see my own selfishness, my many failures, my weaknesses, and all my other sins. I'll start to feel defeated because I don't measure up. But you know what? I have a God who is longsuffering. I have a God who delights in mercy. My God is a forgiving God, and not only does he forgive my sins but he forgets them. I serve a God who will never leave me nor forsake me. I can talk to the King of Glory, the King of old. I am able to have fellowship every day with the One who created this world and all that is in it.

I may not be good, but my God is holy and righteous. And that's what really matters.

Youth Camp: 4-week Perspective

2010-08-29T16:18:00.000-04:00

Today I was looking again at the pictures I took at camp. I look at them over and over because I want to be reminded of the great time we had and all that took place. I want to get a glimpse of the great spirit that was there all week. Pure and innocent.

It's been four weeks since we got back from camp. The first two weeks I was doing really good; many teens in our youth group were excited about serving God and it kind of spilled over into the whole church for a time. We had zeal! I wanted to hold onto that excitement so bad because I guess in the back of my mind I knew it wouldn't last forever . . . but I wanted it to. I thought that if I read my Bible enough, prayed enough, and stayed away from wickedness as much as possible then I would be eager to serve God every day and I would always be filled with an abundance of love for Christ. And I tried to do just that.

But it didn't work.

Once I was back from camp I had to go back to work. That meant I heard cussing (thankfully, it's not very often), I saw immodest dress, I saw lots of attitude, I saw coldness towards anything Godly, I heard worldly music when I went into the grocery store and restaurants, I was tempted to turn the TV on, and I was encouraged to just do what feels right. I no longer went to church twice a day, I didn't listen to 3-4 sermons within 24 hours, I wasn't around many Christians, I wasn't in an atmosphere that shunned County music and cussing, I didn't have the chance to pray with 10-60 like minded Christians throughout the day, I wasn't in a place that encouraged girls to dress modest, and I wasn't constantly reminded to read my Bible and pray. I was no longer at Bible camp and it was evident!

The first day that I didn't feel like spending 30 minutes in prayer I was discouraged. Only two weeks and already I'm slacking? But then I started thinking about an illustration a preacher once gave. Did you know that before the flood there was a canopy of water that surrounded the earth? This canopy would shield off any harmful radiation that came from outer space. This meant that people would live much longer. This makes sense when you realize that Adam lived to be 930 years old and Methuselah lived 969 years, yet after the flood the age expectancy dropped dramatically. It is also believed that plants also thrived and grew much larger and stronger all because of the environment they were in.

That's kind of how I think of camp verses the world we live in every day. At camp we are shielded from as much wickedness as possible. No TV, no secular music, no immodest dress, etc. Because we are not exposed to those sinful attractions we are free to live for God to the greatest extent. Christians should thrive in that kind of atmosphere. But once that shield is broken we have to live in a totally different atmosphere that effects every part of our lives.

But this doesn't mean that we should give into the struggles of this world and live for Christ half-heartedly. It just means that we have to try harder. Christian living isn't being given to us like it was at camp so we have to get it our self. It isn't as easy, but it can be done. We may not be as excited, but we still need to serve God with everything that we have. We have to read our Bible and pray when we don't feel like it, we have to make our self smile when we're singing at church, and we have to go out of our way to seek what God wants us to do.

And as always . . . be reminded of the good days at camp.

Giving the Glory for Answered Prayers

2010-08-10T18:32:00.002-04:00

Answered prayers very rarely come in the shape and form I expect them to be. Sometime I wonder if they ever turn out as I think they will. There are times when the answered prayer is greater than I could have imagined, other times I find myself thinking, "God, couldn't you have found a better way to make it happen?"

But the important thing is that God does answer our prayers. One of my favorite verses speaks of this: "I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live." Psalms 116:1-2 When God answers my prayers it makes me want to pray even more! It makes me want to give God the glory He deserves, which reminds me of a verse I was reading the other day which said, "Be thou exalted, O God, above the havens: let they glory be above all the earth." Psalms 57:11 That is a lot of glory! If I were to give Him all the glory due to him I wouldn't have time to speak of anything else. "Let thy glory be above all the earth."

Over the past several months I have seen many of my prayers answered. Some were desires that I didn't have the faith to pray for, others were specific request that I asked God to meet. Both were amazing.

A little over a year ago I stated e-mailing a girl named Katie who lives in Pennsylvania. Through the 100+ e-mails we have been encouraged through each others battles and victories and have been able to see each other grow in the Lord as we grew closer together. Ever since last October I have been planning on going to meet her and her family for the first time while they were in North Carolina on vacation. At first I was really excited, but as the time got closer I began to get nervous about driving so far with only my little sister in the car to "protect" me should disaster come. I told Katie about this and she assured me it would be okay if I didn't come, but I really wanted to meet her. I was torn between two decisions.

So I did what I've been taught to do all my life but seldom put to practice. I put it in God's hands. I believe that is the key to prayer: telling God what I need and trusting Him to supply it as He sees fit. If I were to continue to search for an answer myself or try to fix a problem on my own after I have prayed about it, I haven't really given God the chance to answer my prayer. So I didn't do that this time. I left everything up to God.

A few weeks later I heard that our church was going to Bible camp in Pennsylvania. Now honestly, my first thought wasn't "Oh, I can meet Katie while I'm there!" No, I thought the same thing that most girls of my status would. "Hmm, maybe I'll meet a nice young man up there!" Followed by, "Lord please forgive me for my vain thoughts, I know you'll send me a man right when I'm not expecting it." ☺I didn't say that I trust God all the time, now did I?

I felt God impressing on my heart to go to this camp. Without God's "nudging" I probably wouldn't have left my job for a whole week based on my own wants especially when I didn't even know if my younger sibling were going. But since I felt Got telling me it was okay to go, I signed up right away. It wasn't until the next day that I realized Katie and I might be able to meet. In a few short days we had the place and time picked and we were counting down the days!

Here's the great part: Not only did I get to spend 2 wonderful hours with Katie in Pennsylvania, but I also got to go to the most amazing Bible camp with my siblings and church family and experience God's presence in a whole new way and watch Him move in so many people's lives. I prayed for a way to meet Katie without having to travel by myself and I ended up spending a whole week going to church twice a day and falling even deeper in love with my Savior right there with my brothers and sisters who were doing the same thing!Later I found out that Katie and her family are no longer going to take vacation in North Carolina, so if God hadn't worked it out for me to go to camp I might not have met her at all this year. I expected God to give me only what I had prayed for and he more than tripled the blessing! My expectation was so low, yet he proved to me that He does answer my prayers and in a way that I could never have planned myself.

So now we're home from camp and energized more than ever! All the youth in our church are eager to see God move and God is doing just that. So Bethany and I decided to start having a Bible study once a week at home. But even in the midst of all the excitement, having that study time doesn't always look easy. We've had a three day revival last week, my room is in serious need of dusting, we were invited to a game night at a friends house, and I still haven't written in my journal about the week of camp. So this morning as I walked out the door on the way to work I whispered, "LORD, please help me find time to prepare for Bible study." Once I was at my desk answering phones, typing as fast as I could, and helping my co-workers find emergency room charts, I didn't give my hurried prayer any thought. Then mama called. None of my brothers and sisters wanted to go to our friends house for game night so mama and daddy were the only ones going and since the game we all love to play requires an even number of people, I wouldn't be able to join the fun. I was disheartened. I wanted to go, but under the circumstances the only thing I would be able to do is sit there and watch. So I said I would stay home with my brothers and sisters and let the adults have a fun night.

Then God so gently reminded me of my prayer for time. What better time to study than when mama and daddy are away and my brothers and sisters are watching a moving with brownies and ice-cream? Yes, I wanted to play games with our friends but obviously God thought I needed to stay home and study. After all, I did pray for it.

Even though that is not the way I wanted God to give me more time He should still receive the glory for answering another one of my prayers. And if he chooses to answer another (like I know He will) I will give him the glory for that one too no matter what the outcome is. For if He is to be glorified above all the earth I still have a lot of praising to do, but plenty to praise Him for!

God is Good!

2010-08-01T21:29:00.000-04:00

Why is God so good?

Because he let me, my brothers and sisters and church family have an amazing week of Bible camp

He spoke to my heart in great ways

I've got to see my brothers and sisters grow in the Lord

A friend of mine got some much needed help

He lead many Christian conversations

He saved our friend in the car while we were on the way home

He lead a friend of mine to rededicate herself to the Lord

He let me meet Katie who I've been e-mailing for a year

He kept us safe

He gave us joy

He brought us closer together

He gave us zeal to serve Christ

He has blessed us beyond anything we could ever deserve

For this, God is good!

It's All by Chance. . . God's Chance

2010-07-12T22:18:00.000-04:00

The Bible is such an interesting book. Some books are written in a graceful poetic style while others bear details of astonishing wars. Some give instruction, others encouragement. Some are exciting to read . . . and some are less interesting to those who do not appreciate details. One of the things they have in common is all of them are important.

Think about this verse. "I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all." Ecc. 9:11. Read it again, but slower. This revelation, written by Solomon, strikes me as very interesting. The more I think about it the more it makes sense.

It is easy for the swift to run the race, for the strong to fight the battle, for the wise to obtain bread, for the understanding to find riches, and it is expected of the skilled to receive favour. But what if the lame were to win the race? What would people think if the weak won the battle? Who would understand if the unlearned were to obtain bread, and the ignorant to find riches? What if the untrained received the favour? That would be supernatural, something that only God could do. When that happens we can't claim all the glory because it was not done through our own strength, but through God's strength.

The end of this verse says, "but time and chance happeneth to them all." If God wants us to do something great or have great things - weather it be a ministry, a nice house, or an outgoing personality- it will happen. There is no need for us to strive after something that was never meant to be ours. So often we stress and worry ourselves because we are not what we think we should be, when maybe that's not what God wants for our individual life. Like the Psalmist said, "Be still and know that I am God." If we will slow down and meditate on God then we will see that He is able to bring whatever He wants in our lives.

But this is no excuse to sit back and watch God work. The verse before says "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." We should all work hard, but don't get discouraged when the things we want don't come about. God is in control, "time and chance happeneth to them all."

The God Who Lives Inside Me and Balance

2010-07-07T22:31:00.001-04:00

Lately God has been showing me a lot of things. Some through scripture, through a book, my mom, and my pastor. I don't really know how to express these things, but I have a desire to share what God has been teaching me, so I'll just try to summarize everything the best way I can.

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

Tonight's scripture that jumped out at me, while my pastor was preaching, was Romans 8:6. "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." So many times I dwell on selfish, worldly thoughts because I think that those are the thoughts that make me happy. But this verse clearly says that spiritual thoughts bring life and peace, something that I look for just like most other Christians.

Last night I was reading a book called "The Pursuit of God" by A. W. Tozer. He talked about the temple and more specifically, the place called The Presence of God that was separated by a veil. A. W. Tozer elaborated on how great an experience it was for the priest to go into that place once a year. That very veil that separated us from the Presence of God was rent the day of Christ' crucifixion. Now I have the privilege to spend time in the presence of God every day. Even more, He lives inside of me! The greatest, most powerful, all knowing, prince of peace, maker of all that ever was and ever will be, the wonderful savior, the beginning and the end, lives inside of me!

He wrote, "Love and mercy and righteousness are His, and holiness so ineffable that no comparison or figures will avail to express it. Only fire can give even a remote conception of it." Think about it. God appeared unto Moses as a burning bush, he lead them through the wilderness as a pillar of fire, "the fire between the wings of the cherubim in the holy place was called the 'shekinah' the Presence," in the New Testament God filled the place at Pentecost as a fiery flame, and in Revelation John says "his eyes were as a flame of fire." I had never heard those illustrations put together in such a way. I thought that was really amazing!

Lastly, I'm trying to learn how to balance my family life and church life with my work life. I know that I've been putting too much emphasis on my job because I truly feel like they need me so I want to be there. But I need to learn to do everything that is required of me to the best of my ability AND NO MORE. God did not call me to be the best medical coder in all of Georgia or the employee of the year. He called me to be a happy sister who is there for her brothers and sisters, a loving daughter who is there to help and spend time with her parents, and a faithful church member who is not too busy to cook for church dinners and sing for the sick and dying. I know easing up on my "career" is the right thing to do, which will not be easy. But with God's guidance I will learn how to balance it all in a way that is pleasing to God and still satisfactory to my employers as well. The main goal is to please God because when this life on earth is over, it will not matter how many awards I receive for being a great medical coder. God wants to see me live a life that will glorify Himself. And that's what I want to strive towards.

Unfinished Work

2010-06-22T22:31:00.000-04:00

After I posted that I was going to stop blogging I started praying about it again. The fact is, I don't have peace about closing my blog. Even thought I may think that I have better things to spend my time on than writing a post here and there for just a handfull of people to read, God obviously thinks otherwise. I realized that if I don't have a firm place to publish my articals and occasional poems and fiction, I wouldn't write as much.

So I am going to leave my blog up, but with a different format. I have added a page where I have my articals indexed by topic. This way when someone comes to my blog they will be able to read on things they are interested in and not have to weed through all my blog posts. Along with this I won't be posting as often, only as the Lord leads.

I might make more changes so that it is more organized and more of what I want. I guess I'm leaning more towards a website feel with the blog being a bonus. So come back to see what's changing. And please comment and let me know what you think!

Amazing Song

2010-05-23T22:24:00.000-04:00

The other day while I was looking for a new way to play "Come Thou Fount" I came across this really amazing you tube video. While I listened and watched it I could feel the holy spirit moving in their praise. The whole video seems so holy and genuine. I don't know if I've ever seen anything like it! This one is worth passing along.

"Come Thou Fount"

Something Else to Do

2010-05-08T18:52:00.000-04:00

It was Chirstmas time and I felt overwhelmed. I had so many people to buy for, gifts to make, gifts to wrap, parties to go to and food to cook for those parties, along with everything else that goes on in life. I was ready for things to slow down.

Shortly after Christmas it was time to get Relay for Life fundraisers going. That meant brownies to bake for the bakesales, flyers to print for advertisement, carnivals to help organize, more baking to do, and lot of meetings to attend.

While in the middle of raising money for the Cancer Society a lady I work with was about to retire and I was volunteered to compile a scrapbook for her, a service that I hated to turn down. So things got even busier.

Now all of those activities are over and my life has calmed down to a slower pace . . . but not for long. The garden is already requiring some attention and before long we will be picking green beans, freezing corn, and canning tomatoes. A revival in our area is coming up, I'm going on a 4 day trip out of town, and there is always studying to do.

I'm starting to see that life never slows down, really. Once it gets going it doesn't like to stop. I realize I'm not even close to being as busy as some people are, but for the place and time I am in life right now, this is busy.

I'm also starting to see that it's good to stay busy. When I'm busy I get more everyday things done and I'm more likely to be content with my life. When I don't have much to do I dread doing chores and I have more time to think about the negative things in my life. I also become a little selfish since I have more time to do things for myself.

So that is why I am looking forward to the projects that lie ahead and finding things to do now.

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest." Proverbs 6:6-8

Desires Fulfilled

2010-05-07T18:55:00.001-04:00

This week I've learned the difference between having my desires fulfilled and having my prayers answered. God gave me something I really wanted, (concerning work and education) but I never thought it was within my reach, so I didn't expect it. I didn't pray for it, but God knew I wanted it and he, in His infinite power, made a way. He gave me something very special to me even though I didn't ask for it.

Then God made a perfect situation seem even more wonderful. His blessings kept coming until I knew beyond a shadow of a dout that this is from God. Everything is too amazing to be coincidence. God has opened this door for me and all I have to do is walk through it. I feel loved!

"Delight thyself also in the LORD and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy ways unto the LORD; trust in him; and he shall bring it to pass." Psalms 37:4-5

"The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips." Psalms 21: 1-2

Psalms 29

2010-05-05T22:06:00.002-04:00

I'm thankful for Psalms 29. The past two days I've been slowly reading it, meditating on the meaning of the verses. "Give unto the LORD the glory due to his name;" How often do we do that? I don't think it counts when we say in prayer, "may all we do be o the glory of God." and I don't think it counts when we sing Glory to His Name writen by Elisha A. Hoffman.

When we look at a beautiful sunset do we simply praise it's beauty, or do we take the opportunity to praise the maker. When we have an answered prayer, do we go to work and tell our friends of the great thing that happend as if it was by chance, or do we tell them that we've been praying about this for a long time and our God brought it to pass? Doesn't the glory belong to God? Isn't the scripture telling us to give that glory to Him?

"Give unto the LORD, O ye mgihty, give unto the LORD glory and strenth." vs 1.

Another Picture Shoot

2010-05-04T17:36:00.000-04:00

While we were on vacation over the weekend my sisters and I couldn't resist the chance to have a photo shoot in a very pretty setting. The grass was a rich green, the cobblestone streets so quaint, the fountain so refreshing, and the houses full of southern beauty and elogence. We were so happy with the way the pictures turned out. With the help of Behtnay, Daddy made a pretty good photographer! Here's just a few we took. . .

Amusement from Mistakes (my mistakes)

2010-05-03T21:54:00.000-04:00

Okay, today I was a little stressed. It wasn't because I had to stay late at work, nor was it because of the extensive report that had my mind in overdrive for over 2 hours. For some reason I wasn't stressed because I had to go to a baby shower even though I haven't been home very much lately, and I wasn't stressing out over not eating supper with my family. . . something I hate to miss. I was fine with all those things.

I just wasn't lining up.

Lining up with what? With others standard of a good person? With my mom's standard of a good young lady? With my own standard of a good Christian? I think it was a combination of all three! ☺ (Not that my mom puts me under pressure, but you know how it is. Everyone wants to be like their mom!)

So as I frantically looked through my nightstand for my daily Bible reading record (you know, the whole guilt thing making me think I wasn't reading enough) I stumbled across a sheet of paper with some words jotted down. For some reason I thought it was a good idea to write down some of the mistakes I made when I was giving piano lessons. That is, when I was giving piano lessons at age 15 to four children, two of which were very energetic. Boy did I think I knew it all! Now I don't think I would be so brave to tackle such an undertaking! But back to the notes. I wrote down some of the things I told my students. Things like, "Play your thumb with your 1st finger." Hugh? I told one student to "count to 4" not just one time, but four times in a row! Lastly, I (the teacher) counted to 4 when I was only suppose to count to 2. My, my. What a good teacher I was!

Now I don't feel quite so bad. I found some mistakes that I can laugh about, because everyone makes mistakes!

We Three

2010-04-18T16:01:00.000-04:00

I love spending time with my sisters! I don't always spend as much time with them as I should, but I always have fun when I do.

We sing together . . . (espcially in the car!)

We shop together . . .

We play games with each other . . .

and of course, take pictures together! Oh, and did I mention we like to match?

To see more photos visit Bethany's blog.

A New Recipe

2010-04-12T19:04:00.000-04:00

Saturday I cooked a new meal for the family. I found the recipe in the Taste of Home magazine about a month ago but I just now got around to cooking it. The picture is what caught my attention, not the actual ingredients. The whole time I was in the kitchen I was so afraid we wouldn't like it because the ingredients aren't ones we generally use, but we all enjoyed it. It was a very pleasant surpise. I did make a few alterations which I'll type in green.

Black Bean Pork Burritos

3/4 cup thawed limeade concentrate 1/2 cup if you don't want a strong lime flavor
1 tablespoon salt, divided
1- 1/2 teaspoons pepper, divided
1 pound boneless pork loin cut into thin strips
2 cups chopped seeded plum tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup minced fresh cilantro, divided
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded nd chopped
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
2 cups 8 ouces shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
6 flour tortillas (10 inches), warmed
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinced and drained

1. In a large resealable plastick bag, combine the limeade concentrate, oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; add pork. Seal the bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. (I only let it marinade for 10-15 minutes.)

2. For salsa, in a small bowl, combine the tomatoes, green pepper, onion, 1/4 cup cilantro, jalapeno, lime juice, garlic powder and remaining salt and pepper. Set aside.

3. Meanwhile, cook rice according to the package directions. Stir in the remaining cilantro; keep warm. Drain and discard marinade. In a large nonstick skillet saute pork for 5-6 minutes or until no longer pink; drain.

4. Sprinkle 1/3 cup cheese off-centered on each tortilla. Layer each with about 1/2 cup rice mixture and 1/4 cup black beans. Fold sides and ends over filling. Serve with remaining salsa.

Yeild: 6 SERVINGS

The directions didn't say to cook the black beans but I did anyways because I can't imagine eating hard beans! I made my mama's home made tortillas like always. We also ate ours with tacco sause and hot sause. I love meals like this, the kind of meal that you can make your own. It would be so easy to change the meat, exchange the black beans for re-fried beans, or eat it without the rice.

As we say at our house . . . this recipe is a keeper!

Pictures Galore!

2010-04-09T19:31:00.000-04:00

Over the past few weeks I've been steadily woring on a project for a lady who is retiring next week. That something is a scrapbook. I've never made one before, but I've got a lot of help so I think it will turn out great. At times it has been a little stressfull since I have to have it done by a certain date, but tonight I'm feeling good because I can finally see it coming together.

It makes me feel good to do something like this for someone else especially when I know she will really appreciate it. It not only keeps my hands busy and pushes me learn something new, but also makes me think of others. All of these things makes the single years a little easier and more enjoyable. It's things like these that I want to take advantage of while I have the time.

Your Habits Say More Then You Think

2010-04-07T20:34:00.000-04:00

Over the past few days I've started to realize that the way people act every day doing the mundain things of life, also reflects how they act in their spiritual life. Just like those who procrastinate when completing a project for work they also procrastinate in areas like repenting or giving up a bad and sinful habit. If a person tends to hit the snooze button too many times trying to get a few more minutes of much enjoyed sleep, they most likely hit the snooze button when it comes to speaking up for Christ.

In contrast, those who rise early everymorning eager to get everything done on their "to do" list, also makes it a priority to seek Him early as the Bible commands (Pro. 8:17). People like my mother who deny themselves of things they enjoy because they know it is good for them, also deny themselves of the pleasure of giving into the flesh.

For a long time now I've known that I need to drink more water. It's not that I don't like water, but that I'm just not thirsty. From the time I was a little girl I've never taken in much liquid. I just couldn't make myself see the purpose of drinking if I wasn't thirsty . . . unless, of course, there was Kool-Aid in the refrigerator. But this week I finally decided that I was going to start drinking a healthy amount of water. There are so many bennefits that comes with it like, sinus relief, energy boost, detoxination, and I've read it even lessens muscle cramps and sprains. So I've started out by drinking at least 64 ounces a day. It may not be as much as I need, but it is way more then I use to drink! Now I am drinking water from the time I get up in the morning till about two hours before I go to bed. At first it comes as a habit, but after a while I began to crave the water.

But wait, did you think I was changing the subject? Let's look at how we can compare this to our spiritual life. I'm drinking water because I know it will improve my health. I know that if I spend more time with God my spiritual life will be healthier, but do I do it? Saddly, not like I should. Just like I've been drinking water by the hour, I should be seeking God by the hour. A chapter of the Bible here, a verse to think about there, a prayer to God in the morning, a meditation on his goodness in the after noon . . . and before I know it I will be thirsty for more of God. Just like my body will become healthier, so will my spiritual life.

I believe my health is worth the effort I'm putting into it, but isn't my walk with God even more important? Most definately!

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:

for they shall be filled." Matthew 5:6

What to do When You Don't Know What to Say

2010-04-03T16:14:00.001-04:00

Have you ever had a friend or family member go through a hard time in life? I mean, something life changing. I've often found mysef in this sittuation. In times like these it's hard to know what to say. I so baddly want to encourage them and help uplift their spirit, but what do I say? I don't know the pain they're going through and I don't know how this is going to effecting their life forever. How can I really offer encouragement in such a circumstance?

So I went to the book of Job. Everyone knows that Job went through more and lost more then we could ever imagine. But God turned my attention to his friends istead of the one who was suffering. Now truly, his friends were great indeed just for the fact that they sat and mouned with him for seven days. How many of us would do that for our friends? I believe that Job's friends really wanted to help him. They were probably very close to him and hated to see their friend so discouraged and depressed. But their encouragement and advise was full of falsehood. Even Job's counsel was wrong because God said to Job, "Whis is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?"

Now we all know that each sittuation of suffering is different, but we can all learn something from this story. What I learned was that sometimes it is better to say nothing than to speak void words. I don't want to be like Job's friends and cause them more pain by my untimely words. If God wants us to say something He will give us the words to say and make them very clear. But there are times when the best thing we can do is just love our friends and family and let them know we are there for them.

"Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few." Ecclesiastes 5:2

Lessons From Ecclesiastes

2010-03-30T22:59:00.001-04:00

Lately as I've been walking through life I've felt like there is so much I'm trying to figure out. There are a lot of things about the work field, politics, current events, and life in general that I want to know about. I guess I can accredit that to my young age and youthful curiosity.

However, I'm constantly being reminded to "love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul." So I thought thes would be a great time to read Ecclesiastes, the book full of reasonings about life. What better time then this to learn how to balance my life so that it is pleasing to God? (Pro. 11.1)

When I read Ec 1.18 I was very puzzled. "For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knwledge increaseth sorrow." What?! Doesn't the Bible tell us to seek after wisdom as choice silver and to get knowledge so that we will have understandin? Tese verses seemed to contradict each other, something I know the Bible is not capable of doing.

After I recived no answer I forgot about the verse and went on wit hmy life. On the way to work I listened to the radio, eager to learn more about this new health bill, but I also heard about abortion rights and a man facing murder charges. At work the topic of the week ahs been nothing other than the infamous health bill. Later on in my day I was informed more deeply about electronic medical records. Over and over I saw how communication between co-workers, doctor to doctor, and even patient to doctor is slipping away. Basically, what you can't do for yourself, the computer will do for you. No direct human contact needed, in some cases.

By this point I'm starting to feel a little down. But I still tuned in to the local radio station only to hear about trouble in the schools and a down sliding economy. When I got home I realized that too much news is really bad for me. All of a sudden I couldn't stand the sound of the world news playing in the next room. All negative, no possative. Every minute of it was a reminder of how quickly our nation is deteriating into a weak group of people void of the fear of God.

It was then that God gently brought my mind back to that verse. "For in much wisdom is much greif: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow." Could it be that Solomon was writing about worldly wisdom and worldly knowledge?

When we become "world smart" and aware of what is going on in this wicked world, it can cause greif and sorrow. If we put too much emphasis on learning more about this world (even though it may seem inocent) our vision is turned from God to something corruptable. I can see why Paul tells us to think on good things. "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Philippians 4:8

I've decided that I'm not going to stay up to date on the news, I'm not going to stress over the health care indistry, and I'm not going to frett over being unknowledgeable about a lot of things. It's not worth it. Those things are going to vanish. I'm going to set my mind on things eternal, things that really matter. I'm going to set my mind on God!

Misery

2010-03-25T19:20:00.002-04:00

Written in August of 2009

Miserable unhappy,

Lost and confused,

Trying to keep,

Myself amused.

Doing what I please,

Going where I will,

Thinking of myself,

Trying to have zeal.

My conscience prodding,

Constantly at me,

I knew this way,

Was not all glee.

Yet I still ran,

Going astray,

But my loving God,

Would not go away.

Slowly I realized,

A Christian am I,

I must serve God,

For me He did buy.

Unhappy with rules,

Still I know,
By living right,

Fruits will show.

Turning back to God,
Forgiveness I seek,

I need His strength,

For I am weak.

Day by day,

I have a choice,

Listen to God,

Or my inner voice.

By this experience,

I now know,

What to expect,

If back I go.

Miserable unhappy,

Lost and confused,

That is my life,

When Christ I abuse.

So I’ll stay,

Close by His side,

For after all,

He is a great guide!

Things That Make Me Smile

2010-03-23T19:54:00.003-04:00

.
Today I'm thankful for . . .

♥ A God who forgives

♥ A mom to remind me to take the sheets off the bed and not to forget my lunch

♥ Co-workers who make me laugh even in the middle of the stress

♥ Songs that uplift

♥ A sister who says, "I'll do the dishes tonight"

♥ Clean sheets

♥ An organized room

♥ Warm weather (I didn't think it would ever come!)

♥ And long days to enjoy it all!
.

What made you smile today?

.

Living Through Trials

2010-03-22T21:48:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I came upon a short article that really got me thinking. There's nothing extraordinary about the post, it's just one girl's honest thoughts about what she is going through and how she is dealing with it. But what is extraordinary is the God we serve, and this article reminded me of that. It reminded me that when I was going though the hardest time of my life (for a teenager that is) it was then that I ran to God every minute of the day seeking his strength. It was then that I spent so much time in the Bible and in prayer searching for an answer or a way out. It was then that I felt alive!

A God fearing Christian doesn't float through storms or wander aimlessly through a trial. They live through trials. It is during those times that every emotion they posses comes to life, fighting for peace and joy.

We may feel like we are so weak that we can't take it any more, but in reality, we are becoming stronger and more alive. The only way to do it is to "fight battles on your knees".

My Favorite Place

2010-03-21T16:13:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I had a very interesting conversation with the ladies at work. We were talking about how spoiled we are in America these days and how easy we have it. Nice homes, constant communication, fast food, instant this, instant that, and practically everything you would ever need can be bought at a store already complete. So many people in America pay others to do all the hard work for them. From building houses, cleaning up the yard, to even peeling their potatoes!

However, we haven't had it as easy as some. Part of the reason was out of necessity, and some was by choice.

When we bought our five acres of land 10 years ago it was nothing but woods full of bushes, trees, and lots of briars. We hired a friend for one day to help us clear some of it out, but we did the rest. We picked up sticks and clipped the brush down for years it seems! We built pens for our animals, put up fence for our pastures, built a shed for Daddy to work in, and built a club house for the younger ones to play in.

We didn't build our trailer, but we did add on a carport along with a front and back porch. For the past several months we reddid a lot of ourrooms. Our kitchen has received a complete make-over and our living room, our hobby room, the girls room, my room, and Phillip's room has been painted. After we finished painting the living room one of the younger ones said, "Why didn't we just buy a house?" The answer I gave to that is one that I hope they will learn to appreciate as much as I do.

If we were to buy a house, pay someone to paint in when we want it remodeled, or hire someone to clear our land, we wouldn't be able to take as much pride in it. We couldn't say, I did that! We couldn't look at it knowing that we put a lot of work into it.

My favorite place in the whole world is our home. Yes, our five little, yet full, acres where we sit our mobile home is a wonderful place to me. I can look all around me and remember where we started and see all the hard work that we did together as a family. Sure, there are lots of mistakes. But who wants a perfect home anyways?

I don't say this to boast; so many people take it that way when we talk about the things we do. But the truth is, years and years ago this is the way everyone lived. To us it is not something we do to get attention; we just like to do things the old way. This is our way of living . . . and I like it!

Pictures:: Top left: Daddy standing in our drive way. Bottom Right: Our driveway 8 years later. (The brick house is not ours.)

To see the renovations we've been making to our house visit these links:
My New Kitchen
My Red Room
My Fresh Painted Living Room
My Room is DONE!!!
My New Bedroom
Phillip's Bedroom

My New Bedroom

2010-03-20T18:49:00.000-04:00

When we moved in our trailer over 8 years ago most of the house was done in this ash looking wall paper. My room had 3 walls of grey, and one pure white wall which showed up every thing that wasn't suppose to be there! Here's what my bedroom loked like earlier this week.

Now it's green!

I was suprized at how good it looks with color! I debated several days over what color to paint my room, and even when I picked the green I was still afraid it might not turn out like I wanted, but now that it's finished I appsolutely love it! Now I really want to finish my quilt (which will look really good with the green!).

Phillip's Bedroom

2010-03-19T16:12:00.000-04:00

We have been doing a lot of painting at our house! I was looking at our blogs (mama's Bethany's and mine) and I realized that Phillip's bedroom wasn't on any of them! I didn't want to leave him out, so here's a few pictures I took of his room. It wasn't very clean and he and Amy were in the middle of a game so I just took a few shap shots of the corners.

Phillip was so glad I was posting a picture of his new fish tank!

His curtain and walls match his bed spread very well!

A Work in Progress

2010-03-18T20:06:00.001-04:00

More pictures to come . . .

Faith Means Waiting

2010-03-04T18:38:00.000-05:00

Last night we heard a missionary preach at a local Mission Confrence. It is no surpise that he peached on faith for after all, the focus for the whole month is Faith Misisons.

The preacher brought out some good points on faith and the steps that we usually follow to see our faith fulfilled. What I liked most was his deffinition: Faith is obeying God where you are right now. So many times when we think we are stepping out on faith we want to see the results right away. We don't want to wait and let God teach us understanding and give us knowledge - we want it now! But sometimes having faith means that we are going to believe God will take care of us or the situation, and we may not see that for a long time, mabye even years. So we have to obey where we are and wait for our faith to be fulfilled in His time.

Little Fish; Big Name

2010-03-01T18:59:00.000-05:00

Over the years we have had just about every kind of pet you can imagine. Dogs, cats, a hampster, turtles, frogs, guinie pigs, guinies (the bird), quail, cows, goats, rabits, a salamander, ducks, chickens, a donkey, pigs, and even an iguana. Now, we have fish once again.

For about a week now Phillip and Amy have been eyeballing the fish in the pet department. After figuring up how much money they would need to buy the tank, food, fish, ect., they put their money together and begged me to take them to Wal-Mart after church. They bought a really cool looking 3 gallan fish tank and 4 little gold fish.

But now, what about those names? Amy named one of hers Fitzhubert. (That was my idea!) The little fish just about has a name that's longer then his own body! Amy's other fish is named Mozart. If someone can name a dog Beethoven, why can't we name a fish Mozart? Phillip's names are just as interesting. One is Ezekiel and the other is Zechariah. I guess we can now say that even our animals are Christians!

Another addition to our little farm, and more excitement in our happy home!

In Addition to my Last Post . . .

2010-02-27T09:45:00.002-05:00

~
"But there is no use in trying to engraft an opposite nature on one's own. What I am, that I must be, except as God changes me into His own image."
~

~ Words from Mrs. E. Prentiss' Stepping Heavenward~
~

There is Still Hope!

2010-02-25T21:22:00.003-05:00

A few years ago I stumbled across an artical that described four personality types that most people have. Until then I had read nothing about this subject. I was very excited to find out that lots of people have my personality type and that there is actually a reason that I am the way I am! It was like I finally understood that I can't help my quirky little ways I've had for ever and ever.

I'm what they call a Solid, also known as a Phlegmatic. It is not uncommon to find such a person lying under a shade tree on a cool day peacefully reading a book or sipping a glass of limonaid while listening to the birds chirp. We love to relax and we seek peace above all else. One person described us as "laid back, easy going, nonchalant." I personally think that procrastination can be fit into the description too!

So it's no wonder that in days gone by I've chosen to read a book when there were chores to do, play the piano when there were desserts to be baked, or daydreamed on a beautiful day when there were more productive things I could have been doing. That is the way God made me, but all the time I realized that there were some areas I could work on.

Mama has always told me that when she was young she was the same way, but for some reason that didn't give me much hope. I guess I felt like I would always be a procrastinator who always had things to do but never felt like doing them. It seems like a long and hard road to dilligence.

But this past week I have started to see a change! Of course from time to time I have my little dilligent spirts, but this one has lasted a long time . . . and I'm enjoying it! I have been busy cleaning and organizing my room, cooking and baking, dusting, vacuuming, writing, and quilting. What amazes me most is the lists I'm keeping! For a girl who has always despised keeping a "to do list", I'm actually learning to appreciate it's purpose! This makes me think there's still hope for me after all! I now know that I can be as dilligent as mama if I try hard enough! I like to call it "Delightfully Dilligent" because I'm always happier when I keep my hands busy doing productive things.

So to all solid/phlegmatics out there in the world: There is hope! Keep working hard and you can achieve dilligence just as I have!

But God Entrusted us With the Gospel

2010-02-13T11:19:00.001-05:00

Tonight as I watched the world news I was reminded of how quickly this world seems to be coming to an end. The weather changes, the ever present, never ending wickedness, the care free attitude that everyone is adopting, and most of all, the things taking place in the area of politics. I thought about what it would be like if God came back within the next year, two years, or five years. It wouldn't just be the end (earthly speaking) for us Christians. It isn't just the beginning of paradise that we will live in with Christ. It isn't just the fulfilment of scriptures. It is the beginning of torture for those who have not excepted Christ.

Looking around at the people I work with, the people I see on TV, and even the people I go to church with, I see a world of people who think they don't need God. I see very smart people who are self sufficient, people who depend on thereselves to get what they want.

These people are accepted for who they are because "everything goes" these days. No one feels condemmed for their way of living because everyone is doing it. The motto of the day seems to be, "Do what feels right." And if they are confronted about the sin in their life, or where they will spend eternity there is always a joke that will push the question away light heartedly.

These thoughts lead me to wonder what good it does to tell others about Christ. Are they listening? Do they care?

As I was thinking about these things while I read my Bible, God showed me 1 Thessalonians 2:4. "But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the Gospel even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts."

I'm afraid most of the people who are living without Christ don't care. American's are not as tender and open towards the Word of God as they use to be. But, God entrusted us with the Gospel. What good is the Gospel going to do if it is hidden in our own home or church? The Word of God needs to be shared no matter who is or isn't listening. Like Paul said, "even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts."

Our preacher mentioned Sunday that the world doesn't believe God is coming back because Christians don't seem to belive it. The world sees no action on our part that would make them believe His return is soon and those who are left behind will face hell. But then I asked myself, do I have some of those character traits I mentioned just now? Do I act like I don't need God? Do I shrug sinful things off like they don't matter?

Even with all these thoughts going through my head, I'm not going to go into work tomorrow and witness to everyone I meet. But I will try to be cheerful, caring, helpful, and God-minded. I need to try to act like the best Christian I can be and mention God's name when I can. It's amazing how little phrases like, "Praise the Lord!" or "Thank God!" make people notice. But above all, I need to try to remember that even if the whole world seems to be ignoring me, I'll still keep serving God because I am to please Him, not others.

The Influence of Others

2010-02-08T08:19:00.001-05:00

"You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay? Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change."

- Jim Rohn

Days Like These

2010-02-06T12:59:00.001-05:00

It's Saturday agian and very relaxed as usual. Right now I have a few candles burning in my room, Josh Groban's A Pianostrings Tribute playing on my computer, and beans that I cooked baking in the oven. Everyone is home (though Ryan is asleep) and we're all staying busy either cleaning, cooking, or both. But I would hate to make this picture seem perfect, because that isn't the case. I am about to clean my desk which is very cluttered - let me reword that - stays cluttered! Then I have to vacuume my floor that has been needing some attention for several days, and later this afernoon I'l make the hamburgars for lunch.

Days like these make me thankful that . . .

We're all still home together
The work week is only 5 days
Mama taught us to stay busy and use our time wisely, and
Our home is a place we can enjoy being in

"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father

in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;"

~ Ephesians 5:20~

Great Post

2010-02-05T19:35:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading a post called, The Blessings of Single Servents. This was one artical I didn't get board with! It is great for all adults to read, young and old. Mrs. Julie spoke about the blessings of singleness and encouraged those who do not have the responsibility of a spouse or family to spend their time serving God. But this artical has a twist that I thought was very interesting . . . it needs to be talked about more often. She went on to say that married couples need to include the singles in things that are going on around the church and home. (I wont say too much because you really need to read the whole artical yourself.) When I read this I started thinking about the people who I would like to spend time with, the young married ladies I would be more then willing to help, and the little children I would LOVE to be an "adopted" aunt to. I realize that I don't have a helping spirit like my mom and sister, and sometimes I am selfish and stay to myself, but when asked to do something I never hesitate to help when I can. So I guess I'm preaching to myself as well!

Overall it was a very good artical. Well worth the time!

What's Next?

2010-01-27T22:49:00.000-05:00

This is a qutoe from an article titled "What's Next?" I wrote in October of 2007.

Have you ever wondered why God doesn’t let us know what is ahead? What would it harm?

Imagine if he did tell us everything we ever wanted to know. I think we would start to think that we didn’t need him anymore. God knows we need him, so he puts us in a position where we are afraid to walk without him. I like to picture our life’s journey as a child walking with their Father down a dark path, for truly, this is a dark world filled with sin. The Father only gives enough light for us to see right in front of us, so we cling to his hand for guidance and support. If we were to see the path all the way to the end, with all the holes, stumps, and sticks that try to bring us down, we could run ahead of our Father and may be able to avoid some of the obstacles, but in the end our life would not be meaningful. But when we come upon a fork in the road we will have to make a choice on which road to take. If we had stayed with our Father, he would have been right there to help us. But we choose to walk on our own, and now we have to search for God, or choose on our own.

We will always want to know what lies in the future, but God my never tell us what is next until we get there. For now all we can do is trust him and take it one step at a time. For “it is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” Acts 1:7

I Love Saturdays!

2010-01-17T14:24:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I had a great day! Saturday is one of the two days I get to . . .

sleep in past 7:00
eat breakfast with my whole family (except Ryan who is just getting home from work and going strait to bed)
wear my jean skirts instead of "office clothes"
exercise in the morning if I feel like it
play the piano more then durring the week days
practice our songs with Bethany, Phillip and Amy
and stay at the house the whole day!

I love it! Last saturday I spend most of my day cleaning, but this Saturday I cooked supper with Bethany, and made a Chocolate Trifle. Making the desert was very interesting and took up a lot of time!

I started out with a chocolate cake that I would use in the trifle. I did this without any errors so I was feeling pretty good. While it was baking mama and Bethany headed to the store to buy some lace for a dress Bethany was making and I started on the pudding that would go on top of the layer of cake. While I was beating the milk and pudding mix together and chatting with Amy I noticed the electric mixer was kind of acting funny. Before I knew it the mixer was going crazy! I didnt know what was going on except that chocolate was being splattered everywhere and the mixer didn't want to corroperate. It took me by such surprise that I couldn't find the button to turn it off with right away, and when I did finnaly turn it off I found the beaters twisted together and a peice of it on the floor! Chocolate was everywhere, including me. Amy and I cleaned it all up and made another batch of pudding just in case little metal peices had gotten into the bowl. I had never seen such a thing! I believe I will be afraid to use an electric mixer for at least 2 months! : )

Luckily, the rest of the dessert went smoothly with no mistakes and everyone agreed that it tasted very good!

Books I Read

2010-01-13T18:34:00.001-05:00

For the past few years I have been very carefull about what I read in my spare time. As a rule, I don't read hardly any fiction. (In fact, I can't remember when the last time I read a book that wasn't true.) The reason for this is because when I was in my early teens I became obsessed with Christian romance novels. Were they bad? Not exactly. . . that is, not until they became more important to me then the things of God.

I didn't realize that what I was doing was so bad until I read an article by Isobel Kuhn, a missionary to China in the 1900's. She wrote about the nights she would stay up until midnight soaking up every last word of the lates fiction she was fascinated with, and then would try her best to keep her eyes open long enough to read a few verses of her Bible before going to bed. She compared herself to someone who eats nothing but candy, sweet dainties, and soda pop, and afterwards is left with no appitite for meat and potatoes.

It seemed that we had something in common other then our love for fiction. Neither one of us knew how to do things in moderation which leaves us with a great problem. While I read all those interesting books my chores went undone and my school work was done half heartedly. On one occasion mama had to take my books away until I started being more responsible with my time!

Since I knew my weaknesses, I decided to give up fiction entirely unles it was something that would be benneficial to my spiritual life. Recently while I skimmed through a book my sister is reading, I Kissed Dating Goodby by Josh Harris, something he wrote caught my eye. He said something to the effect that, different people have to limit themselves to avoid lustful thoughts. Some have to avoid watching TV, some decide not to go to the beach, and others quit reading romance novals. When I read that I felt like shouting "that's it!" That was exactly why I put away fiction books but I just didn't know how to say it. Those books made me live in a dream world that didn't exsist and never would, and they were doing nothing but feed my lust for fleshly things! And when it comes to lust it is hard to controll it with moderation.

I'm ashamed to say that I don't read very much at all now, but when I do make myself do it I usually read books on missionaries and Christian living. Among my favorite are Quest for the High Places by Natalie Nyquist, A Young Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George, Authentic Beauty by Leslie Ludy, and What Do I Know About My God by Mardi Collier.

I will admit that I love the old classics such as Little Women the Anne of Green Gables Series, books that I think all girls should read at least once! But now I read books that I know God would be pleased to see me read. And if I ever need a good book to read I know just where to go! You can go there to . . . Katie is always reading something good and she gives great book reviews at her blogs God Will Bless Those Who Wait, and In the Hands Of God. Remember, we should want to please God in every area of our lives, and it should be no different when it comes to the books we read.

The Past Weeks

2010-01-07T22:42:00.001-05:00

Lately I haven't had much to post about, and to be honest, I just didn't feel like it. Even now I don't know exactly what to say or how to say it. So here's a quick peek into what has been occupying my mind of late.

I've been reading . . .

and

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A poem I have been pondering . . .

"There is a quiet place,

Where I meet my LORD,

To wait upon His voice.

And when He comes,

All things surrounding,

No matter their worth,

Become shadows in the

Light of His embrace."

~ ~ ~ ~

My current thought . . .

God has been good to me!

Something Humorous

2009-12-29T07:27:00.000-05:00

You might believe in courting if . . .

. . .you talk about Josh Harris as if you know him personaly.

Excuses, Excuses!

2009-12-27T21:43:00.000-05:00

Remember the song that use to be on the radio all the time? "Excuses, Excuses, we hear them every day. And the devil he'll supply them, if the church you'll stay away. . . " Well, unfortunatly, we find pleanty of excuses not to serve God even when we are at church. One of them that I've found myself using pretty often is, "Things are harder now then they use to be back then. We have so many more temptations and not enough Godly influence." It sounds great, but is it in the Bible? What scripture can I find to back that up? I did find a place where Cain slew his brother. That was awful! It's one thing to kill someone who is your enemy or someone you don't know personally, but killing your only brother is pretty crucial! And what about the King committing adultery? Sounds like something that would go on today, doesn't it? Then I came across a place in the Bible where Sodomy was being lived very openly . . . probably just as bad as it is in Callifornia.

Last week I started reading The Pursuit of God (a gift from my great friend Katie!). In the preface A. W. Tozer writes, "Current evangelicalism has laid the altar and divided the sacrifice into parts, but now seem satisfied to count the stones and rearrange the pieces with never a care that there is not a sign of fire upon the top of lofty Carmel . . . They minister constantly to believers who feel within their breasts a longing which their teaching simply does not satisfy." Remember, this was written in 1948, that's 62 years ago. How many of us have thought, "If I could have just lived 50 years ago I would be a better Christian"?

He went on to say, " . . . I wonder if there was ever a time when true spiritual worship was at a lower ebb. To great section of the Church the art of worship has been lost entirely, and in its place has come that strange and foreign thing called the "program." This word has been borrowed from the stage and applied with sad wisdom to the type of public service which now passes for worship among us."

This world was in a horrible state 62 years ago, yet Christians still lived on strong. I'm sure that if I were to look hard enough I could find even older references to the wicked state of this world, wickedness that we are somehow convinced to believe only exsists in the twenty first centry. But the truth of the matter is this: Christians have been living in an evil world ever sence Eve took the first bite out of the fruit which came from the Tree of Good and Evil. The atmosphere in which we live in does not give us any reason to serve God with less vigor then the great Christians who served before us. May we all strive to be the best Christian that ever lived, in a time when it is need just as bad as it ever was.

My Latest Artical . . .

2009-12-27T08:30:00.002-05:00

Being home schooled has given me a different out look on life and a different mind set that most people don't have. I believe that in more ways than one I can honestly say that "once a homeschooler, always a home schooler." Many times I have caught myself telling others, "We're homeschooled" or "I'm a homeschooler," when in all actuality I am no longer homeschooled or in any type of school period! I haven't been taught the three R's by my mother at home in 3 years and I definitely don't have any children of my own to teach, yet I still consider myself to be a homeschooler.

It's a title that I claim with pride. A title that I'm not ready to give up! Even though I'm not technically in school, I still enjoy learning. I may not have any desire to improve my mathematical skills, and learning to spell is an endless task that I don't know if I'll ever accomplish, but I like to learn anything about the human body, and I try to keep up my writing and grammar. Then sometime when I am baking cookies or cooking supper I am reminded of the days when such things were considered part of my schooling. (Home Ec. was always a favorite!)

Yes, I'm still a homeschooler. I can defend my belief in this way of teaching just as good as any homeschooler and I take every opportunity to tell others about my education and how I got it. I imagine when I have my own children I will unconsciously tell others that "I homeschool my children" even when they are too young to even talk. But I can't help it! I love the home schooling way!

Back to the Old Ways

2009-12-25T20:56:00.000-05:00

As I'm sure you've noticed, my blog has taken on it's original form once again. This time I didn't change it just because I wanted a new look. This time there is a purpose for the new layout.

For the past 7 months I have not been my usual self and lets just say I like the old me better. I'm not just talking about my taste in blog templates, but every area of my life. I have become very selfish which lead to a lot of other things that aren't pretty or God honoring. Today I decided to step out on faith and change the way I have been acting and get back to where I use to be, closer to God. It seemed like a good idea to go back to my old blog design as a reminder of what the purpose of this blog was meant to be when I started it. Who knows, I may change it to something brighter and more cheery in the future, but for now I kind of like the old Scribe look.

Continuing Christmas Traditions

2009-12-21T20:41:00.012-05:00

What do you do when you have . . .

M&M's and chocolate chips . . .

lots of decorator's icing . . .

and sprinkles????

You make Christmas cookies!

And lots of them!

Daddy was really proud of his cookies! : )

We all had a lot of fun carrying on this family tradition! And no matter what they say, my cookies look the best . . . even better than Ryan's! You can get the recipe at my mom's blog. They taste just as good as they look!

Merry Christmas!

His Ways: Part II

2009-12-15T17:26:00.001-05:00

So here we are about to do something that seems impossible and unattractive in almost every way. We constantly ask God, "Are you sure? Am I hearing you right?" and every time God patiently answers, "Yes."

Now obeying God has become hard and it seems like we are going through a storm. Thankfully, the scripture doesn't stop at verse 9. Verse 10 says, "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it being forth the bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

Now what does rain have to do with God's ways and man's ways? Why did God mention this next? I often wonder what man thought the first time it rained? (After the first rain that created the flood.) They might have thought that it was a nuisance, something that disrupted their work and caused their progress to be delayed. Maybe they had something outside that they didn't want to get wet and was now ruined. If it were up to man, (not knowing the bennefits of rain) he might wish it never happened again. But God's ways are not man's ways, neither are man's thoughts as God's thoughts. God knows we need rain, and even though we may not like it at the time, in the long run we will be glad it did rain because it brings forth new growth.

God's word is like the rain. We may not want it at times, but after the rain comes the buds, the seeds, and finally, the bread that we live by. Most of the time we can't see the whole picture. His thoughts are as high as the heavens and ours are so shallow! But God's word will always bring forth something good. It will always accomplish that which he pleases. It doesn't matter if we don't understand. It is so encouraging to be reminded that God's word will acomplish that which he pleases. It is almost as if God is saying, "Don't worry. It will work out just as I planned."

So we go on following his lead. We have faith. We trust.

"As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried; he is a buckler to all of those that trust in Him." II Samuel 22.31

His Ways: Part I

2009-12-13T21:19:00.001-05:00

This is an artical that I wrote about 7 months ago but didn't know if I'd ever publish it. After reading it tonight I thought I'd change a few things and post it. This really encouraged me, I hope it encourages you too.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9

Lately God has been showing me the meaning of this verse through circumstances in my life. So many times when we read verses such as this we tend to apply it to shallow things. For example, There was a time when I wanted a job working for a pediatric in a nearby town. The interview didn't go well and the doctor never called me back. While this seemed awful, I now realize that God had other plans for me and the place I am working at now is much better than the one I really wanted. I can see how my ways are not God's ways.

But that wasn't a hard test for me. Many people have to go months searching for a job and I can't say that I was exactly desperate for a job since I was still living at home and driving a car that is payed off. That was not an impossible situation.

What about the big things in life? Is this verse still true when it comes to life changing matters such as moving to a place that seems like the worst place in the whole world? (Just a side note: we are not moving and haven't even thought about moving! This is simply an example.) If God were to tell us to move far away from our family, our church, and the place we have lived all our life, to a town we aren't even interested in . . . what should our attitude be? Of course we would say, "Lord, this doesn't make sense! I can see no reason whatsoever why we should move! It just isn't realistic!" But God's word is still true. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways may ways, saith the LORD." After all, isn't this exactly what God told Abraham to do? I'm sure Abraham didn't understand why God wanted him to leave his home and family to go where God told him to. But he did it anyways.

Sometimes obeying God doesn't make any sense. In fact, it can seem embarrassing and impossible! But God is all wise and knows exactly what we need.

To be continued . . .

Desiring to do Right

2009-12-12T22:50:00.004-05:00

Today while I was reading a blog I was very encouraged by this girls strong faith in God and strong convictions that she has. As I read post after post about the thoughts she had on serving God, praying, witnessing, and such, I was reminded once again of how far away from God I had gotten. In sadness I thought about how hard it is to get back to where I use to be, but I knew I couldn't blame it on God. Our LORD never makes it hard for us to come back, the hard part is giving up bad habits and start living a selfless life. Sin is fun for a season, but I have come to realize that even when the fun runs out, it's still hard to give up. Even if it is something as small as selfishness or using my time unwisely. I'm reminded of this verse and quote that everyone should live by.

"Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom." Proverbs 18:1

"Sometimes I do what I want to, but most of the time I do what I have to do." ~ Bro. Mark McGaughey

Introducing: My New Natural Salt Lamp

2009-12-10T19:14:00.005-05:00

I'll admit it, I spend a lot of time on the internet. Whether it is at work requesting precertification on a patients stay, e-mailing my best friend, or jumping from blog to blog, I can always find something to do on the world wide web! I suppose if you were to compare the time I spend to other's time I might not come out to be so bad, but still every now and then I have to make myself cut back.

A few weeks ago mama sent me this link which identifies where radiation comes from and how it can hurt us. The computer, phone, and microwave are just a few that I simply can't avoid, so this solution sounded really good! Be sure to check the video out . . . it's really cool.

So I started the search for this natural salt lamp. Today while I was out doing some Christmas shopping with my brother Ryan I found it at Rite Aid! I was so pleased with my find!

Tomorrow I'm going to take it to work since that is where I spend most of my time around radioactive waves and if I notice a difference I might just buy one for home too. I think it's pretty cool! : )

On Waiting

2009-11-29T13:40:00.001-05:00

The other day as I looked over my blog it occurred to me that some people may not see my title, "Maiden in Waiting", the way I do. I often wonder what a guy would think if he were to see it. Would he think I am this lonely girl who thinks life doesn't start until I am married? Would he think my whole life's goal is to become some man's wife? That sounds a little shallow.

But that's not the way it is. When I think of the term waiting, I think of the true meaning of it. I guess you can say the best way to put it is: waiting not dating. I have chose to wait on the man God wants me to marry instead of dating any Christian guy who comes along. By waiting I am not taking matters into my own hands and figuring things out for myself. I am not playing the fields.

But my life still goes on. I try to stay active at work, home, and at church. I'm not going to wait for marriage to start serving God and enjoying life to the fullest. I'm trying to do that now.

And then there is the other side of waiting that I am looking forward too more and more every day. I can't wait for the day that God calls me home to be with Him in heaven. The day of the Lord's return will be the end of all my sorrows and failures and the beginning of a life truly lived for God's glory and honor. That is what I'm waiting for! A life fulfilled through Christ!

A Great Verse to Claim!

2009-11-26T17:22:00.004-05:00

"In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion." Psalms 71:1

I think this might be my new life verse . . . I've definatley prayed it plenty of times!

Have a great Thanksgiving!

To Talk About God

2009-11-19T19:51:00.006-05:00

You know God is first in a person's life when the first thing they talk about, when asked how they're doing, is how good God's been to them. I want to be like that one day. So close to God that I want to talk about him all the time no matter who I'm talking to. But even more than that, I want people to know that I mean it when I open my mouth. I'm thankful for Christians like that in my life, I hope to be a blessing to others in the same way.

Looking Ahead

2009-11-18T19:15:00.002-05:00

Wistful

2009-11-18T10:51:00.002-05:00

::Note:: No, I am not wistful to see any guy. There is none! I just thought the word fit the picture. : )

Photo Shoot

2009-11-17T20:36:00.000-05:00

The other day Bethany and I took some pictures of each other, kind of had our own "photo shoot". We aren't expert photogrophers yet, but we have a lot of fun doing it. Here are some we took with and without editing.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

More to come . . .

Great Deals

2009-11-14T22:30:00.009-05:00

Today I went yard saling with my family, something we all enjoy doing from time to time. I was so pleased with some of the items I found that I just had to share them! The first things I bought was this beautiful antique purse and pair of white gloves for $2 each. Aren't they so pretty and old fashioned?

The next thing I was happy with was not so much about the item, but the price. I got this purse for 75 cents! It looked practically brand new so I had to ask the lady who was selling it if the price sticker was correct! I love finding deals like that!

I have already used the brown purse and love it. Me and my sisters will probably wear the gloves at a tea part and perhaps if I have the chance to go to another "old times day" at church I may use the snap purse, but otherwise they will be used as decoration. I think this is a great example of the fact that it doesn't cost much to be feminine if you know where to look . . . and don't mind buying used! Now my room has more grace and beauty and my shoulder has another purse to carry!

Internet Free Weekend and a Give Away

2009-11-10T18:59:00.003-05:00

So what did I do this past weekend since I wasn't on the internet?

Friday I watched a movie with my brothers and sisters and just relaxed.
Saturday Bethany, Amy and I went shopping in a large town near us. (We left at 7 that morning and didn't get back until 5 that evening just in time to eat and head back out to a gospel sing in town. That night we were all in bed early!)
Sunday, after church, I organized my desk and made some russian tea for myself and a friend.

Now time for the confession. Sunday I did get on the internet for exactly 6 minutes. I was really discouraged and depressed so I didn't really care if I cheated on my own challenge, so I checked my e-mail and read my friends blog really quick. Afterwards I was really glad I did because Katie's e-mail and blog posts really encouraged me and helped get my mind back on track. So next time I might leave room for reading e-mails if it is apsolutly neccisary. The rest of the time was pretty enjoyable.

Before I end this post I need to mention that Miss Jen is having a give away at her blog, Blessed Femina. When I go to her little spot in the web I am always refreshed and filled with creative, feminine thoughts. Stop by her blog and check out her delightfuly give away.

Are You up for a Challenge?

2009-11-05T22:37:00.001-05:00

Maybe it's because my life has felt a little stressed lately, maybe it's because I feel the need to spend more time in prayer and Bible study, or maybe it's because I read this article, but whatever the case be, I have decided to go on an internet fast. Not a very long one, just for the weekend. I am not even going to turn my computer on. I think it will be very refreshing to break away from the fast pace world of technology and enjoy the wonderful world that God has created. It will also help me to control my self will sense I really like to spend time on the internet and it's kind of an addiciton. In addition, this will also give me more time to devote to the story I am attempting to write for the 4th annual contest going on at JournEzine.

So here's the challenge.

Read Natalie's article, Nurturing Intimacy in a Facebook Generation (or at least the bulk of it sense it is kind of long)
Decide when you want to start your fast and how long it will be
Stick to it!
Write about it on your blog or leave a comment on this post to let us know how it went. Did you enjoy doing other more important things? Did you feel less stress? Are you going to do it again? Or did you hate it and constantly went through withdrawals the whole time?

Who knows, we may like it so much that next time we'll want to do a complete technology fast. No TV, no computer, no cell phone . . . it could be interesting!

My Answer to the Poll

2009-11-05T20:00:00.003-05:00

Okay, now it's time for me to answer my own poll. But first I'd like to say how surprised I am by the response. I just knew that the majority of the voters would say they didn't like being teenagers, but actually 53% said they like being a teenager and only 30% disliked it, leaving the other 15% with those who are content in every age they find themselves in which you could actually add to the 53% making a total of 68% who enjoy being a teenager. (I hope I didn't' confuse you!)

So I'm sure you've probably already guessed my response by now. I don't mean to sound critical and I certainly don't want to complain or throw myself a pity party, but quite frankly, I don't' like being a teenager. The reason for that is because I know I have an attitude at times, I know I am a "know it all" every once and a while, I realize that I am picky about my clothes, AND I DON'T LIKE IT! I don't want people to see me as the "teenager". Now truly, mama would probably tell you that I am not near as bad as most teenagers, but I am still a teenager. My age still has a 1 in front of it!

Another reason I don't want to live these years over again (when I get through them) is because I never fit in and I always felt awkward. Somehow I think that this may be the case for the rest of my life sense most of the world is living contrary to the Bible which puts me in the minority and feeling awkward may just be a part of my shy personality.

Nevertheless, ever sense I have been working at the hospital as an "adult" with other adults doing adult things, I have felt less pressure. In fact, everyone in my department is either old enough to be my mother or grandmother . . . and I love it! Most adults are much better at controlling their attitudes and they are mature enough to know that it's rude to stare at you with this look on they face that says, "You're weird."

Yes, I realize that I will probably have to deal with attitudes from time to time no matter how old I get and life will never be easy, but I agree with mama: the teen years are not the best part of a person's life. That is a very comforting thought!

What about you?

2009-10-27T22:41:00.004-04:00

I've heard both opinions. Some people say they wish they were teenagers again others say they wouldn't go back to those years for anything in the world. Of course I have my own opinion on this matter, but I thought it would be neat to see how many teenagers actually enjoy their young life or how many can't wait to be an adult! This season is definately a big part of our life because this is when we usually make some pretty big decisions that we'll have to live with for the rest of our lives.

So what about you? Do you like being a teenager? Be sure to answer the poll honestly.

Saturday Fun

2009-10-25T20:23:00.003-04:00

The veiw when we arived.

This was before we really started having fun!
Isn't it wonderful to be young?

God is the best artest of all. He paints beautiful colors in the sky every night.

My Life the Past Few Weeks . . .

2009-10-22T22:00:00.006-04:00

Since it's been a long time since I've posted anything I thought I'd show my face in the blog world so that everyone doesn't forget that I exist. It's clear that my goal right now is not to keep a lot of readers because if that were my goal then I would be failing miserably! Nevertheless, I do enjoy blogging from time to time and maybe one day I will once again be a faithful writer in the Internet world.

Lately I've been reading Miss Jen's blog, Blessed Femina. Every time I visit her (Internet speaking) I drool over her beautiful creations and make good intentions to sew something as elegant as her projects. Tonight I finally put my good intentions to work and started making a weaved pot holder. Since she did such a wonderful job presenting this unique art I won't show you mine, you'll just have to go over to her blog to check it out. So far mine is turning out fairly well and I am having a lot of fun! If it turns out good I might post a picture or two for you to see.

But I haven't been spending my all my time reading blogs and sewing pot holders. In the past few weeks God has shown me how much I don't know about the Bible. It's no secret that I don't like to study, but since I have been raised in church and have been a born again believer since I was 6 I am ashamed to admit to all the things I don't know. I have come across three people, who are completely unrelated, who have inspired me to dig deeper into the Word of God so that I will have a better understanding of how God wants me to live and what he requires of me. After all, shouldn't I have a desire to know why I believe it is wrong to gamble? Shouldn't I be able to know what the Bible says about drinking? What exactly is the purpose of the church according to the sciptures? Isn't it good to be able to talk confidently of my beleifs because I have studied them out myself instead of just taking my parent's or pastor's word? These are some of the questions that have been going through my head. I could probably answer each one in a somewhat true form, but I don't know if I could back them up with scriptures without grabbing a Strongs concordance and Naves Topical Bible. I am starting to realize just how much people take on the beliefs of their denomination without studying them out to see what God says. It is as if we are all living by our denomination . . . not the Bible. But I can't judge anyone because I've done the same thing. Thankfully, it is never too late to give up old habits and start new ones . . . and today seems like a great day to start!

Thoughts on Resisting God

2009-10-13T19:18:00.010-04:00

Tonight while I sat at the piano going over my favorite selections a song came to mind. I almost drove myself to the point of going crazy because I couldn't remember the words to the song nor the person who sings it! All I could hear was bits and pieces in my oh-too-short-memory. Finally God brought the person to mind so I got on mama's computer to see if she had it downloaded on Window's Media Player. As I scrolled through hours upon hours of gospel music I caught sight of Bro. Mark McGaughey's sermons. I paused for a minute then went back to looking for the song. Still, I couldn't help but see Bro. Mark's name in my head. Momentarily the song didn't seem very important as I scrolled back up and pressed the play button to, "Ye Do Always Resist".

As soon as Bro. Mark's deep voice sounded on the speakers I felt conviction. I suppose it was because he reminds me of the old camp meeting days when the Spirit of God was real. In those days my heart was very tender towards God and I wanted God to be ever present in my life. During those great church meetings the "in crowd" was serving God.

Or maybe I felt conviction because Bro. Mark seems like a man of God who is completely sold out to Christ. You can hear the compassion in his voice, and can almost see his broken heart at times. He is the man who once said those who aren't living a life sold out to God . . . "They don't know what they're missing!"

The scripture was out of Acts chapter 7, the message was from God. "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye." We've all resisted God in our life at one point or another. Whether it's staying in our pew when God tells us to go the altar or saying "no" when God tells us to go to the mission field, it is sin. It is like turning our back on God and walking away from His will for us. It is a very sad and serious matter that I'm afraid we take too lightly. I believe God's heart is saddened every time we say no to the Holy Ghost. Every time we decide to go our own way we rob our self of a blessing. What about you? Have you resisted the Holy Ghost lately?

A Truth to Remember

2009-10-10T21:31:00.005-04:00

About a year ago while I was in a ladies Sunday school class the teacher asked a question that we should all want to know the answer to. "What is wisdom?" Since I've heard this question many times I offered my answer. "Wisdom is not just knowing what to say, but when to say it."

Having all the knowledge in the world will do little good if you don't know how to use it correctly. Giving untimely knowledge is like someone telling me to bundle up before I go for a walk in the summer. Why would I want to do that when it's 98 degrees outside? Maybe in a few months I'll need to pile on the coats to face the cold, but in the summer that advice is going to do me no good.

Wisdom is the same way. When knowledge is given too often or at the wrong time it is not going to sink into one's mind. We have to look closely at peoples lives and be sensitive enough to see those "go ahead" triggers.

Imagine you are a young mother raising your first child. You haven't figured everything out yet but you think your child is perfect despite all the things she does wrong. When she pitches a fit you think she is just going through a stage and as soon as the temper tantrum is over you are back to talking about how sweet your child is. If ever an angel did live, it was her.

Susie, on the other hand, has raised many children and knows that if these bad habits aren't taken care of at a young age you will lose control of your daughter. So Susie goes to you and tells you quite bluntly that you need to discipline your daughter better and she knows the best way to do it if you'll only listen. You would most likely be taken back because you didn't realize there was a problem! You thought you were doing just fine. You might even think, who is she to tell me how to raise my child? She needs to stay out of my business! The knowledge she gave is true, but it was given at the wrong time. If Susie felt the need to talk to her she should do it in a very calm way as if to suggest, but without going into a lot of detail. If you really wanted to know more, you would ask questions.

Now lets look at it in a different light. You realize that your daughter is getting out of hand more and more each day and you worry about how she acts when she doesn't get her way. You may have even voiced once or twice that you just don't know what you are going to do with her. When Susie hears your frustration she is able to reply with a way to discipline her. Since you are looking for a different method of training your child you listen to every word she says not wanting to miss a thing! This is knowledge given at a the right time and is very effectual.

This is just one of many examples. We all need to be reminded how important it is to wait for the right moment to speak. Knowledge given at the right time can make a world of difference.

"Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will

despise the wisdom of thy words."

~ Proverbs 23:9 ~

Me? A Writer?

2009-09-27T22:00:00.001-04:00

Last week I had a rather interesting conversation with a friend. A conversation that brought new thoughts to mind and questions that needed to be answered. Here's a tid bit of our talk:

Friend: So what do you guys do around here when you're not playing games.

Me: Well I work everyday and lately I've been studying to get my coding certification. Other than that I like to take walks, play the piano, and write."

Friend: You write?

Me: Yeah, I use to have a Christian magazine for teens. Now I have a blog that I write articles for.

Friend: So you're a writer?

Me: I guess, though not a very good one.

Just for the record, that was the first time anyone had called me a writer. The fact that I've been writing since I was 12 years old didn't seen sufficient enough for me to own such a title of that carried by people like L. M. Montgomery or Elizabeth George.

Oddly enough, it was kind of scary being called that. Being a writer requires a great deal of responsibility and diligence that I'm not sure I want to dedicate to the art of literature. Being a writer means that you not only know how to write words on a piece of paper, but that you are also good with words, and big words too! (I can barely spell the small ones!) Writers have to know how to weave words together to make a simple thing sound beautiful. In my opinion, a writer is someone who has talent in the area of putting words to paper.

Those things don't seem to describe me as well as I wish. I generally write my thoughts down quite frankly without all the frill. Like my hand writing, it can probably be more accurately called "scirbbling".

But then again, I suppose the real definition of a writer (no matter how boring it may sound) is simply: a person who writes. And in the light of that definition I suppose I am a writer. . . but I'd much rather be called a scribbler! :)

But putting all nonsense aside I will admit, this conversation also got me thinking about why I write. I've always used my writing ability to express my thoughts regarding the Christian life, but it goes farther than that. Am I writing to be a good Christian writer remembered by many? Am I writing to become famous in the Christian realm? Am I writing simply for the pleasure of it? Or am I writing for the glory of God?

The answer I should give is obvious - "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." I Corinthians 10:31 - but saying that truthfully is another matter. It is easy to get my focus off track and forget the root of it all. Thankfully, God sends along little things like this conversation right when I need them to remind me to evaluate not just what I am doing but why I'm doing it.

Something Good

2009-09-20T21:00:00.006-04:00

Lately my life has not been as wonderful as I wish it were. I don't really know if it would be true to say that so many things are going wrong in my life because it very well could be that I am just experiencing a very big bout of "negativism". I do tend to see the bad things more then the good at times. It is so much easier to blame all my faults on the trial at hand then to suck it up and be strong like the Bible teaches. (Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ~ 2 Timothy 2:3. That's not an easy verse to swallow!)

But today I am counting my blessings! Someone from our church came over for dinner which was followed by several ours of playing games. We played Taboo, Uno, Pit, Clue . . . pretty much everything on our shelf! What made the afternoon so fun was the laughter we shared, the jokes we told, the teasing we threw back and forth, and the common bond of God's love in our life. It's not very often that we come across people who have the same interests as we do much less the same senserity of serving God. It was so nice to be able to enjoy several hours with another Christian who understands why we live the way we do.

In the midst of all that the devil is throwing my way God gave me something good. Even if a dozen other things in my life seem to be going wrong, I am going to be thankful for the good thing that God has given me today. And if I live day by day - looking for those small blessings - life will be much easier.

"Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:" Psalms 103:2

The Way Life Is

2009-09-18T19:01:00.001-04:00

~written September 5, 2009

Today while I was sewing a pair of culottes (which just happened to be a very aggravating pattern) I stole away for a few minutes to read some articles online and see what everyone in the blog world was up to. I looked at pictures and read about one girl who was making a beautiful apron for her friend; another woman was busy keeping house for her handsome farmer and watching after a rambunctious little girl while another young woman, donned in an quaint prairie dress, visited friends on an old farm. Others portrayed a life full of baking, gardening, shopping at the thrift stores in their spare time and sipping on spice tea while they read a good book. Their lives all seemed so perfect. So full of feminine beauty and old fashioned elegance!

After looking at just a glimpse of these seemingly wonderful ladies lives, I all of a sudden felt boring in my flowered cotton shirt, faded blue jean skirt, and pony tail. As I got back to my sewing I felt as if my life was missing something. I didn’t know if I should make another dress from era’s gone by, bake a loaf of delicious homemade banana bread, sit down with a cup of Russian tea and read that book that I’ve kept putting aside, or get back on my quilt that I started a year ago. Somehow I just felt like I needed to do something to make my life more interesting . . . or enjoyable. But instead my day was spent fretting over a pair of culottes that I had put off making until the last minute. Sitting at a sewing machine and ripping out seam after seam is not exactly what I call a romantic day in the country.

No, my life is not anywhere near perfect. I work a full time job Monday through Friday, I might watch an episode of The Waltons for enjoyment in the evenings, my room isn’t always clean, I usually don’t get around to my to do list until the last minute, and I often find myself stressing over things that I won’t even remember in a month’s time. The fact of the matter is: sometimes life is stressful. Sometimes life isn’t that perfect picture of ease and beauty. Sometimes we will lose the time and even the desire to do those extra little things that make our lives seem special. That’s life. How do we get through each day? Only with God's help.

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."~ 2 Corinthians 12:9

Home Sweet Home

2009-09-15T20:01:00.006-04:00

There is absolutely no place like home! After camping in the beautiful smokey mountains for 4 days I have never been so happy to drive on flat land, sit on my bed, take a shower in my bathroom, play the piano, and pet our adorable little dog, Rover. Home has never looked so good! The mountains is a great place to go for a vacation, but I was born a "flat lander" and I remain a "flat lander"!

Delightful Dilligence

2009-09-08T18:19:00.007-04:00

"He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand:

but the hand of the diligent maketh rich."

Proverbs 10:4

For the first time in a while I am seeing the

true joy one can get out of being diligent.

It is so nice to stay busy and be

able to see the work I have done and all that

I have accomplished. Diligence

really is delightful!

"For Satan finds some mischief still

for idle hands to do." ~ Issac Watts

A Great Day At Work

2009-07-18T19:53:00.005-04:00

Are you wondering why I had such a great day at work that I would blog about it? There are two reasons that come to mind when I think about Friday's work day.

I got a new boss who I really like
I got a PROMOTION!

Yes, you read that right. I am climbing the ladder! Along with my new responsibilities I will gain some very good experience which I am looking forward to.

It is easy to go with the flow of the work place when I get caught up in the moment of excitement, but God has been reminding me that I need to remember where I my focus should be: Jesus Christ. While my job may be very great, I still need to put God first in my life and go to him for my joy and all my needs. But I am still convinced that there is nothing wrong with enjoying my job since I truly believe God put me here in the first place. God is good, isn't He?!

Today's Happenings

2009-07-16T22:18:00.006-04:00

Today when I got home from work Bethany and Amy surprised me with an invitation to Tea! We love having tea parties but usually I am the one who heads them up with mama and the girls, so I was pleasantly surprised when I got the invitation! What a pleasant thing to come home to!

Later I made some Delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for work tomorrow since we are wishing our boss farewell. Ryan begged so much for some cookies and accused me of cooking for my co-workers more than I do them . . . so I let him have a few with a promise that I would make him some more another day. Not that he is lacking in snacks! ; ) Mama always makes sure that if we are in need of a "chocolate fix" or something to satisfy our sweet tooth there is always something for us!

Lastly, I gave Phillip a much needed piano lesson. I get behind sometimes. He did very well and I figured out one of his "learning gifts". (Everyone learns in different ways and I am always being challenged to learn new methods of teaching my 3 younger siblings because none of them learn the same way . . . naturally!) Today I saw that Phillip is very good at taking what I taught him and applying it to every song, not just the ones I taught him on. I was very happy to see this!

It has been a good day. But now . . . it's time to go to bed!

Evening Thoughts

2009-07-13T20:06:00.005-04:00

When my heart is so full with questions, doubts, and fears, it is so nice to be able to pour it all out to God! Today I visited a friend's blog, trying to get my mind off of all the unwanted thoughts that keep coming back. When I heard her music start softly my soul was refreshed. "I hear the sound of a mighty rushing wind, and it's closer now then it's ever been. I can almost hear the trumpet as Gabriel sounds the chord. At the midnight cry, we'll be going home!"

My two thoughts tonight are these:

I don't know what I would do without a God to cast all my cares upon.
Sometimes it takes heavenly thoughts to get your mind off of earthly struggles.

The Positive Column

2009-07-08T18:08:00.006-04:00

This week I have been a little discouraged. During times like this the devil is very quick to point out all the negative things in my life so that I will believe I have every reason to be down and out. And honestly, in the day that we're living in the devil doesn't have too work to hard to find negative facts to throw in our face. If we listen to him, we will always be discouraged because we are living in a very wicked world.

Today on the way to work God brought back to my memory something my parent's Sunday School teacher use to say all the time. He would say, "How has y'alls week been? Have you put all the negative things in your life in the positive column?" Then he would go on to tell about every day things in his life that had gone wrong and how he learned to see the positive side of it.

So what about you? What are you going to do with the items in your negative column? I'm going to try to put them in the positive column.

Picture:: Have you ever noticed that the cross is a big positive sign?

Doing for Others . . . and Yourself

2009-07-05T08:06:00.001-04:00

Lately I have been going through a very hard time. I was very discouraged with myself and felt like I couldn't get out of the hole I had gotten myself into. After going through this for several weeks I finally told mama some of what I was going through. After we talked a while she asked me, "So what are you going to do?" I said, "What do you mean?" Like I have heard before, she said I would feel better if I did something kind for someone else.

Fifteen minutes later I was in the kitchen baking a Bluberry Buckle Cake for an elderly couple I really like but don't see very often anymore. Bethany went over there with me to visit and what I thought would be a short visit turned into an hour of good country fellowship around the table. We talked about everything from gardening to the little town we use to live in. After they gave us a hug goodbye and told us to come again I was so refreshed! We enjoyed our visit so much and can't wait to do it again for someone else. (Truth be told, I think I got a bigger blessing then they did!) It was nice to think about someone other than myself and do something homey.

This weekend I did something for myself. After being in the office all week (where I have NO WINDOWS to look out) I'm usually ready to spend some time out side in the fresh air and warm sunshine. So after we got home from a short shopping trip (where I bought a $60 purse for $24!) Bethany, Amy, and I went for a bike ride at a local state park. The whole ride lasted an hour so we were a little tired when we were done! Cold water never did taste so good!

Picture:: This is a snapshot I took at our friends house last year on another one of those wonderful visits!

Cute Post

2009-07-04T19:20:00.004-04:00

Have you ever seen a 4-wheeler loaded down with 5 people? I have. In fact, I was one of them. Me and my 4 siblings got on ONE 4-wheeler and drove about 50 yards veeerryy slowly! You can see the picture at my sister's blog. It's very funny! What else are country kids suppose to do when their board?

From the Mouth of a 17 Year Old

2009-07-04T07:27:00.000-04:00

"The problem isn't when you fall down. The problem is when you don't get back up." ~ Jacob Renshaw

Photo Tag

2009-07-03T10:04:00.000-04:00

I usually don't do a whole lot of tags, but when Bethany sent me this one I thought it looked like a lot of fun so I thought I would play the game too. The rules are: go into your 6th picture folder and select the 6th photo. Post it and your done. There just happens to be a story behind my photo!

This picture was taken at the National Christmas Center in Paradise, Pennsylvania. This was one of the many places I visited with a church group while we were in the Amish Country. (You can see more pictures here.)When this grumpy old man came on our bus to give us an intoduction to the museum I asked Mr. Fred (the trip coordinator) "Is he Santa Claus?" He replied, "No, he's too mean!" I do have to say, if he is going to work at a Christmas museum he needs to stop acting like Mr. Scrooge!

I tag Amy @Under Southern Skies.

Quote of Truth

2009-07-02T18:10:00.000-04:00

Don't Ask God to Direct Your Steps
If You are NOT Willing to Move Your Feet!

Learning of God's Abundant Mercy: Part 3

2009-07-01T17:17:00.001-04:00

Once she was seated at her desk she opened her Bible again, but this time with more hope. "Lord, please show me what I need to know" she prayed silently.

Natalie read the paper she borrowed from her dad. She turned in her Bible to the reference Luke 15:11-24. She had heard and read the story of the lost son many times, but still she read it again not wanting to miss anything.

Underneath the reference were three points. The first one was, 'The State of a Hired Servant (vs. 17-19)' "And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants."

"I know I am not worthy to be His child," the girl thought. "So why would he take me back into His fellowship?"

She skipped to the next point. It read 'Going to the Father (vs. 20)'. Natalie realized she hadn't prayed about her problem. Maybe if she had went to Him first she would of already been forgiven. But instead she tried to figure out how to fix it herself. "How stubborn of me." Underneath the second point her dad had written the scripture I John 1:9. "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness." The word 'if' was written in big letters and underlined. "My sins will never be forgiven if I don't ask for forgiveness. But first I'll read the last point."

'Sins Forgiven and Fellowship Restored (vs. 20-24)' "The father is always ready to accept his son back into his arms. He waits and urges him to come back and when he does, his heart rejoices and He gladly restores fellowship." ~ Pastor Jones.

Natalie's heart sang with joy! That is what she had been waiting to hear. Her Savior still loves her and is willing to forgive her iniquities.

With a heart overflowing with repentance, she poured out her soul before God. When she had finished her prayer and wiped away her tears of sorrow, she felt such wonderful peace and happiness. "Oh what a wonderful God I have! Thank you Lord!"

Looking down at the paper that she was so thankful for, she noticed a scripture at the bottom of the page. "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in mercy." Micah 7:18 A smile spread across her face as she repeated the last phrase, "he delighteth in mercy."

Natalie realized that no matter how awful her sins are, His mercy will always be sufficient enough to cover them.

To remember in future times, she took out a piece of paper and pen, and began to copy her fathers notes . . . and add a few thoughts of her own.

THE END

Learning of God's Abundant Mercy: Part 2

2009-06-30T20:58:00.001-04:00

That evening when Natalie read her Bible, her mind kept wandering. The words on the pages before her seemed so boring. She turned to several different chapters, but each one seemed so familiar and meaningless. "Why should God forgive me? You don't just ignore a friend and expect them to treat you like you didn't do anything wrong. I've ignored God so many times I don't deserve to be drawn back."

Frustrated with her own sins, she closed her Bible and walked out of her room. Plopping down on the couch beside her brother, she watched him and their dad play a game of chess. She never did understand why they like the game so much. She thought it was to mind boggling to be fun. But some how Brandon and her dad never found the game uninteresting.

As she starred at the board game, unconscious of what she was seeing, she suddenly remembered something she meant to do. Getting up off the couch she went to her room and looked through her desk dower. Her dad's birthday was the next day and she had make him a special card. "Oh, where is it? Ah, there it is," she whispered. She took the card and slipped into her parents room which was right across from hers. Her dad's worn Bible was on the night stand where it usually lay. Careful as a mother holding her baby, she placed the card inside the leather cover. As she did so a yellow piece of paper caught her eye. In big letters the words were written, "The Fathers Gift to an Unworthy Son."

"That would apply to me," she thought. Natalie felt relieved and almost happy when she realized there was hope for her. At that moment she realized how glad she would be to get back in fellowship with her Savior. She knew that God had put that paper there just for her.

Just then her brother' exclamation of winning the game of chess was heard from the living room. Remembering where she was, Natalie picked up the piece of paper and hurried out of her parent's room.

To be continued . . .

Learning of God's Abundant Mercy: Part 1

2009-06-29T20:34:00.009-04:00

Originally published in 2006

"I've done it again.. I haven't prayed, read my Bible or had any fellowship with God today. Just two days ago I was in perfect fellowship with Christ and I had such joy! Why do I have no desire to talk to Him today? Why does my desire to serve the Lord only last for a few weeks at a time?"

As Natalie washed the supper dishes she tried to think of an answer to the questions that lingered in her mind. Natalie felt like she had failed her Savior again. "Again," she thought. "How many times have I done this same thing- and how many more times will I do it? IT seems like all I do is ask God for forgiveness and start all over again, yet I don't get any farther than before." In the background of her thoughts she could distinctively hear her sister making a loud racket.

"Mom" she called, "can you ask Hailey to stop banging on the piano?"

Mrs. Andrews, pausing in the middle of her cross stitching project, looked at her daughter and cocked her eyebrow. Her ever watchful eyes had seen the aggravated look in her daughter's eyes several time that day and she had heard the same snapping tone come out of her mouth more than once. "I've noticed you not being very patient today" she said. "Never mind about Hailey. You've been inside almost all day and I think it would do you some good to get out of the house. I'll finish the dishes while you go milk the goat."

Natalie, although glad for the chance to be by herself, felt ashamed for the way she had been acting. With downcast eyes Natalie dried her hands, picked up the milk bucket, and walked out the back door. "There's another thing I did wrong today: I'm being impatient. This has been a miserable day."

To be continued . . .

You are What You Think You Are

2009-06-24T20:52:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago mama sent me the link to an article based on the verse out of Proverbs 23, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is." Since that day I have went back to this post twice and have thought about it more than any other article I've read in a long time. It reminds me of the scripture my youth pastor use to quote all the time, "Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom." Proverbs 18:1. God will not force us to stay in His will, so we have to be determined to serve God. We have to make up our mind that we are going to do what is right even when it isn't easy. We have to constantly guide our heart in the right direction. We have to build that desire and consciously separate our self away from worldly things and thoughts. God doesn't change. Therefore, He will always be worthy of our praise and service.

"For I am the LORD, I change not . . ." Malachi 3:6

"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Corinthians 6:20

The Desire of an Eight Year Old

2009-06-21T21:38:00.021-04:00

Since I have been in the piano playing mood lately I thought I would share my story with y'all of how I got started. Just for the record: I like to play the piano more than I like to sing! If it came down to it, I would much rather play the piano in front of a large crowd then sing a solo in front of a small one.

It all started when I was eight years old. I distinctly remember hearing my pastor's wife sing, "Sweet Holy Spirit" while she played the piano. I also remember that she was the only one in the church who could play the piano for herself to sing. Everyone else used a tape. (That was before CD's came out!) Mama said that I went to her and daddy and told them that I wanted to learn how to play the piano so that I could sing in church. My parents realized that this could be a passing whim, so they didn't act upon it right away, but told me to pray about it. I obviously didn't give up because soon my parents were looking for a piano!

They came across a lady who wanted to sell her daughter's piano since she had moved out and never came back for it. The lady wouldn't give my parents a price but told them to "take it home, get it tuned, and see what you think." Meanwhile I was spending the night at a friend's house I had no idea that a piano was being moved in to our living room! Then next morning at church mama told me there was a surprise waiting for me at home . . . even some of our church family knew about it because I still remember Bro. Kelly telling me that "You're really going to like your surprise!" The suspense was eating me up! On the way home I told them that I was going to go to my room and close my eyes so that they could just put it in my lap. I was clueless!

When I walked in the front door of our house and saw the piano sitting against the wall I was happy to the point of tears! I couldn't believe I had my own piano!

Soon I started taking lessons from a preacher's wife, I was 9 years old by this time. I loved learning and some people said I learned fast, especially when it came to hymns!

When I was 11 years old the piano player in our small church left to go to another church leaving me to be the only piano player. I only knew 4 hymns, but that was a lot better than singing without music, so we sang those songs until I learned new ones . . . which was pretty fast. Within a year I had learned over 100 songs and was even playing for the youth chior! It was starting to become very evident that God had a speacial plan for me. A plan that involved the piano and singing.

I am still amazed at how God used a small desire that he placed in my heart while I was eight years old to do such a work in my life. I am a very shy person and at first glance many would be surpized to hear how often I have to get in front of people to play the piano and sing. Being active in music has helped my self confidence that otherwise may not even exsist had it not been for the piano. When I feel like giving in to my embarassment and quit playing the piano in church God always reminds me that this talent belongs to God and I have no right to quit.

Over the years God has opened up many doors for me and my brothers and sisters to sing and play the piano in church and nusing homes. Sometime I love it, other times I come just short of vowing to never set hands on the piano again! But overall I have a passion for music that will always stay with me. Some day I hope to give piano lessons (besides me brother and sisters who I already teach) so that I can share my love to play the piano for God with others. Who knows, maybe someday I will be an inspiration to a little child which may be the beginning of a life lived for the glory of God through the piano. That would be the most wonderful accomplishment of all!

A Love For Singing

2009-06-21T14:40:00.016-04:00

My memories of singing in a youth choir goes back to as far as I can remember anything. Mama has told me many times about the first time I probably sang in the choir when I was only 3 or 4. She said I decided I wanted to get up there with the other kids to sing. After I got in front of the whole church everyone started to smile at "little Jennifer" and I imagine they were all saying "Awww! How cute!" I was so embarrassed that I pulled my dress up over my face not realizing I was showing my undergarments and stomach! As you can imagine, the "Aww!"s turned to laughter! Fortunately, that didn't stop me from singing!

But the memories I always go back to are of the days we sang with Mrs. Carol. She and her family loved to sing and they did a pretty good job at it too. She always seemed to enjoy teaching us and chose fun songs that had a great message. Her husband, Bro. Timmy, would sometimes jump in on the choir practice and give us some advise . . . and a few threats! I'll never forget the time he told us that if we didn't smile while we were singing he was going to call on us to testify. That scared me to the point that I smiled bigger than anyone else in the whole youth group! But he didn't just leave us with that, he told us how important it was for us to smile and that if we smiled our singing would sound so much better.

From then on I've always sang with a smile. I did it then because Bro. Timmy told me too, but now I do it because I love to sing! I've learned that it's not important that kids learn the different parts or they sound perfect. All God asks for is a joyful noise, not necessarily a perfect one.

Now Bro. Timmy and Mrs. Carol are gone and I haven't found a youth choir that I enjoy as much as that one. But we are still singing. The love they placed in my heart (and hopefully my siblings') will last for a long time - hopefully forever.

Recently God has shown me that it is now my responsibility to not just teach other children how to sing, but to give them a love to sing. This doesn't mean that I'm going to start a youth choir next week or even in the coming months, but some day God may give the the opportunity to do so. I've already started with my siblings, and I may be unconsciously planning seeds in other's hearts now by simply showing them how much I like to sing to my God.

Through this God showed me that God doesn't always require you to serve him in a way that will take you out of your comfort zone. He gives us talents for a reason. My talent lies within making joyful noises to the LORD so I hope I can use it for Him in many ways!

"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands! Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing." Psalms 100:1-2

Jesus, Only Jesus

2009-06-19T21:38:00.002-04:00

By John R. Rice

I walked the path of pleasure

I toiled for earthly treasure

But peace beyond all measure

I found in only Jesus.

~~~~~

My boasted goodness failed me

No cure for sin that ailed me

God's Spirit then prevailed me

To leave my sins on Jesus.

God's word I long resisted

~~~~~

His Spirit called insisted

Rpenting I I enlisted

With Jesus precious Jesus.

Oh Christ for love unceasing

~~~~~

For blessing e'er increasing

For all my fears releasing

I praise and love my Jesus!

Chorus

My sins are all forgiven

The Chains of sin are riven

And all my heart is given

To Jesus only Jesus!

Picture of Bethany's sunflower.

Turning Back the Pages of Time

2009-06-18T21:58:00.006-04:00

When I was 11 years old I started my first real diary. After keeping one for a few years I became a very dedicated journal-writer, sometimes writing every day. This past year I haven't written as much because I am busier and (truth be told) I don't always like to be accountable for the thoughts I am thinking (since I have always tried my best to be honest with my diary).

Tonight I pulled out one of my old diaries, one I started when I was 15 years old. While I was reading the accounts of fun times at camp or at church, I wished I could relive those moments. Moments when everyone seemed to be my friend, church was great in my eyes, I was always at home away from worldly influences, and yes, love was in the air! (Or at least I thought so in my little 15 year old mind!)

But then I read about the mistakes I made, the attitude that I tried to believe I didn't have, and the "big" worries I couldn't get past. I started to have second thoughts about living those years over again! Maybe being a teenager once is enough!

As I kept reading I was reminded of things I hadn't thought about in a long time. One of the biggest blessings was reading the song I use to love called, "Only Jesus." It was a song I learned while I was at Bible camp the year before. I had went back to this song many times when I was having troubles in my spiritual walk and got a lot of encouragement out of it.

Reading about the more care-free days gone by made me remember how nice it was not to have a lot of worries. It makes me want to let go of some things that aren't in my control and simply live my life for God day by day. No, we can't really turn back the pages of time and relive them . . . but we can remember them and learn from them!

Experiencing the Goodness of God

2009-06-17T22:33:00.004-04:00

When God blesses . . . nothing seems impossible!

My Man

2009-06-14T16:18:00.013-04:00

My man. When you hear those words I'm sure lots of things come to your mind, namely, what you want in your man. Doesn't every girl have a list of desires they want in their future husband? Things like Christian, handsome, kind, tall, gentleman, romantic . . . we could go on and on! Whether you want to admit it or not, all of those things are probably what you really do want! Who doesn't want a handsome husband?

As for me, I made my "list" when I was 12 years old! Underneath the title "What I want in my Prince Charming" I wrote 23 requirements or dreams that I hoped my man would have. Some of them are very reasonable such as

loves God
not lazy
faithful to church
wants lots of children

But then there are some that aren't quite as reasonable, like "never forgets our anniversary"! I'm starting to think that finding a man who will remember our anniversary isn't quite that important. : )
Lately I've come to realize just how important it is to have those "wish lists". It was fun to think about what we wanted in a husband when we were younger because they seemed reachable. Finding a godly husband didn't seem impossible back then because we had so much time. But when we turn 18, 20, or even 23, we start to get a little desperate. We start thinking that maybe our standards are too strict or our wish list is too conservative. It is especially hard when we are around attractive men who don't meet our requirements. Flattery can be very tempting to accept from the opposite gender when you've never been given that kind of attention, even if that man isn't a Christian.
So today I thought I would write about what should be on those wish lists. (That was just the introduction!) These inspirations were given by God during a sermon my pastor preached a few months ago.
Prayer Warrior
Our first example is Daniel. One of the things he is known for is his prayer life. In the Bible we can read about the time prayer was banned from the city except for prayer directed to king Nebucanezar. (Banning prayer from the schools is nothing new! They were banning prayer way back then as well.) Daniel could have been fearful for his life and prayed in secret, but he wasn't afraid . . . or at least he didn't show his fear. He continued to pray three times a day in front of everyone unashamed! A husband like him will always go to God when our family has needs or hard times come. We should desire a husband who is a mighty prayer warrior like Daniel.
Protective Father and Husband
I think we can all agree that Noah was very protective. When God told him to build an ark, Noah obeyed and took his family with him. He separated himself and his family from the wicked world and spared not just their life, but also their spiritual life. Of course, it was God who actually spared them, but Noah played a big part in the picture by being obedient. Make sure you marry a man who will protect your family from the harm of this world!
Obedient to God
Abraham was tested by obedience like no other man I've read about in the Bible. When God told him to move away from his family - he did it. When God told him to sacrifice his son- he was going to do it until God spared him from such pain. This is a hard thing to ask for in a husband! Sometimes I'm not so sure if I want a husband who is that obedient! I don't expect God to tell me or my future husband to kill one of our children, but God could really test our obedience and we really should obey. All joking aside, I want a husband who is very obedient to God's word.
Strong
Okay, I'm not talking about muscles or the ability to carry heavy sacks of feed on his shoulder (although it would be nice to have such a strong husband!) I was thinking more along the lines of strength of spirit. The man who comes to mind is Job. He was strong! After loosing everything - children, cattle, servants, his income, health - he worshipped God! He didn't give up, he didn't stop serving God, he kept on fighting the good fight! Everyone goes through trials in life, having a husband who knows how to make it through them will be a blessing you could never thank God enough for! We need a husband like Job.
These are just a few of the many characteristics we find in the Bible. We could name many more, but for now I think these will do. If you really desire to marry a man who is pleasing unto God you can dig in to the Word of God and find out what God wants for you and your husband.
And finally I'll leave you with a verse that has encouraged me for a long time.“Trust in the LORD and do good. . . Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Psalms 37:3-4 For after all, our desire should not be to marry the perfect man, but to marry the man who God has ordained perfect for us. Now that's my kind of man!

The Renshaw Family

2009-06-13T19:45:00.005-04:00

I love hearing the Renshaws sing! Their music is touched by God and is always a blessing! I thought I would share one of my favorite songs they sing. I couldn't get the embedded code to work so you'll have to click on the link below to hear them. I hope you enjoy them just as much as I do!

Wedding Day in Heaven.