My Thanks to My Lord

Today included a few wake up calls for myself.  At one point of my day, I was feeling sorry for myself and also worrying.  The phone rings, I answer it trying to disguise my voice because I had been crying.  

It was a phone call letting me know that I was getting some help.  It came just at the right time.  Perfect timing?  No.  Just God's timing.  He knew exactly when I needed to hear that phone call.  How can He know so much?  

Because He is our Creator.  God knows all.

He is also trustworthy, true, forgiving and loving.  He guides me with a gentle hand, yet loves me with a strong hand that covers me like a shield.  He is my fortress, my refuge and my strength.  Without Him, I would not be.  

Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for everything that you have given me.  Thank you for showing me when I need correction.  Lord, please fill my heart with love and patience.  I know that I can trust in you God and if You are worried about the little birds, I know that you are worried about me.  Thank you for taking care of me.  Thank you for showing me how to have a strong faith.  You are Lord!  In Jesus Name, Amen.

What I Loved About Today

1. We got all of our school work done today.

2.  I got to take a nap today!

3.  My pastor at church let me borrow books and a movie to teach my kids about dinosaurs from Christian books.

4.  I had Lindt Lindor chocolates to eat today from Valentine's day.

5.  The kids at AWANA make me smile and laugh.

6.  Seeing my pastor's wife and getting a hug and kiss from her.

7.  Talking to my sister on the phone even if it was just for a few minutes.

8.  Making plans with a girlfriend for tomorrow.

9.  Getting M&M's and a little dish from my Secret Prayer Sister.  The lid of the dish says "The Joy" in the middle of it and around the outside it says "of the Lord is your strength".  I think I'll keep some M&M's in that by my computer. Oh and the M&M's are the Valentine colors!

10.  Laughing with Stinky.

11.  Laughing with Bubba.

12.  Laughing with my hubby.

13.  Having a quiet moment to read my Bible.

14.  Going to the library with my kids.

What a great day I had!  I am so blessed to have this life!  I am taking tonight to publicly say:

THANK YOU LORD JESUS FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU HAVE GIVEN ME!

Getting Ready for Baptisms & Birthdays

My daughter, my Stinky, is getting baptized this Sunday night.  I am so proud of her decision!  This is the biggest decision of her life and she made the right choice.  She had already accepted Jesus as her Savior when she was 5 years old.  So we are preparing for that special evening.

I bought her a new Bible.  A grown-up Bible.  She has her own, but it's NIV and we don't read that at church or in Sunday school.  So I bought her a pink and green King James Version bible.  I can hardly wait to give it to her!  It is all so exciting to me!

She has her bag packed already for the clothes that she will change into after she is baptized.  She is definitely a plan-ahead-person.....like me.


Glitter Graphics, Happy Birthday Glitter Graphics

On Tuesday of next week, it's my baby's 6th birthday.  My little Bubba.  Bubby.  He's going to be 6!  Did you get that?  6!!  I can't believe it!  No wonder I'm ready for another baby.  He was going to have a friend spend the night tomorrow night, but with me not feeling the greatest, don't know if that will happen now.  Maybe we'll have to reschedule for next weekend.  Tuesday we will have a little family celebration for him and cook or have what he wants for dinner, within reason.  I can't take him out to eat.  Unless he uses his Pizza Hut coupon for his Book-It time.  Maybe that would be a fun thing to do for lunch sometime this week too!

My children are growing up too fast.  Has anyone found a way to slow this down yet?  Let me know if they do.

My Morning Devotion

My step-daughter got me a devotional for Christmas called Grace for the Moment Volume 1 by Max Lucado.  This morning my devotion was very good and I wanted to share it.  I know a lot of people that tend to a greenhouse full of weeds and thorns.

THE GREENHOUSE OF THE HEART

People harvest only what they plant. Galations 6:7

Think for a moment of your heart as a greenhouse....And your heart, like a greenhouse, has to be managed.

Consider for a moment your thoughts as seed.  Some thoughts become flowers.  Others become weeds.  Sow seeds of hope and enjoy optimism.  Sow seeds of doubt and expect insecurity....

The proof is everywhere you look.  Ever wonder why some people have the Teflon capacity to resist negativism and remain patient, optimistic, and forgiving?  Could it be that they have diligently sown seeds of goodness and are enjoying the harvest?

Ever wonder why others have such a sour outlook?  Such a gloomy attitude?  You would, too, if your heart were a greenhouse of weeds and thorns.

Just Like Jesus

Each day of devotions is a excerpt taken from one of Max Lucado's books.  

Kids Say the Cutest Things

Today Stinky said something that just made my heart melt.

We were driving in the car and listening to Third Day's new song, Children of God.  After the song was over and we both stopped singing, I was thinking about what the song says and was thankful for Jesus dying for me.  Us.  The love that He felt and the sacrifice He made. 

I had goosebumps.

Then comes this beautiful, sing-song voice in the back.

"Mom, I bet God was smiling and singing along with that song."

Oh the joy of hearing my children worship and praise the Lord.

Day #5 No Coffee

I love to just throw random pictures into my blog.  I don't know if there is some rule that your picture has to go with whatever you blog about, but mine don't always. 
Here I am, day #5 without coffee and I've survived.  Who'd a thought that could happen?  I miss it terribly though.  I have been waking up ok without it in the morning, but Teeccino just doesn't cut it for creamy roasted goodness in my morning mug.  We'll see if I keep drinking that in the morning.  I might just drink it in the afternoon.  Dunno what I will drink in the morning then.
After the first 3 days there was no headache, and the 3rd day was an extremely mild one.  I experienced  very mild mood swings.  They were pretty easy.  And no one else in my family suffered from them!  Lucky for them!

I want to take more naps than usual, but that should go away soon.  Hopefully. 
Today we went back to homeschooling after taking a break last week.  It was nice to have a break.  I wanted to get a lot done, but between having cramps and then having to catch up when they were gone, not too much housework actually got done.  But that's ok with me. I am doing the most important things here and that is worshiping my Lord, taking care of and teaching my children and trying to make my hubby happy. 
Tomorrow I think I may have a couple book reviews to do.  We'll see....I may do them tonight.  It depends....

2nd Tag of the Day....well sorta

Kitties in coffee cups?  How much cuter can you get than that?

So my friend Kristy, over at The Man Crew answered Mishmash Maggie's questions and I wanted to answer her questions too!  So here are the questions from Kristy:

1 What is in your CD player (or on your iPod) right now? Why do you like it?
Francesa Batistelli and I LOVE her!  Such great uplifting and praising songs!

2 Tell me about your childhood in 3 words, your teenage life in 3 sentences and your adult life in less than a paragraph. Be succinct : )
Childhood:  Daddy's little girl
Teenage Life:  School was my favorite place to be because it was away from home.  Home brought anger and frustrations.  Still a Daddy's girl!
Adult Life:  I've learned what is most important in life.  I have prioritized my life the way that I think God wants me to.  I have had to make some really tough decisions to separate myself from people that bring my troubles or stress.  I learned that it is much harder to be the submissive wife than it is to try and fill a role that I was not meant to fill but with the grace of God I can fulfill the role that He has chosen for me.

3 How did you meet your spouse, or best friend?
When I was 18, my parents sold our farm and moved from Western Washington to the Eastern side.  I stayed here w/an aunt for a while, but eventually moved in w/my parents because of financial and personal problems.  While I was staying there, I came back here to visit my best friend for the weekend.  Her boyfriend had his cousin over and he was so cute!  I just had this feeling when I met him that we would be together.  And here we are, 15 years later with almost 12 years of marriage behind us.

4 How has blogging changed your life? It doesn't have to be PROFOUND
It has given me a way to unwind, a sort of release.  It has also allowed me to write, which I love, without feeling like I am being graded or might get turned down by a publisher.  It is a way for me to share my life, my problems, my joys and my love for Jesus with others.

5 What is your favorite Bible story and why?
I love to read about Saul's conversion to Christianity.  I think it is so powerful.  A man persecuting the Christians and the Lord speaks to him.  He is a changed man after that and one of our most leading Christian men of the past.  It is awing and inspiring to me.

6 How would someone else describe you in less than 5 words?
Well it depends on who you ask, lol.  I know this would be said of me, "Brings others to God."

7 If you were stranded on an island, what 4 things would you take with you and why? Assuming that food, water and basic shelter was somehow provided.
1. My Bible
2. My husband
3. My daughter
4. My son

8 How did we meet and why are we friends?
We met on Cafemom in the CEO group.  We are friends because we share the love of the Lord and that makes us sisters in Christ!  We are friends because we share some of the same problems and joys and that stirs a kinship in us.  We are friends because we both have the same sense of humor and we can take the jokes directed towards us.  We are friends because we just love each other!  I can't wait to actually meet you in person sometime Kristy!!

I am not going to post 8 more questions.  It was hard enough to come up with the first 8! lol  Hope you enjoyed!

Tagged by Mishmash Maggie...well not really

I just love lions.  They are my favorite cats from the cat family.  I just love cats!!!  lol

This morning I came across Mishmash Maggie's post and since I like to answer these type of questions I am going to!  lol  So here we go.....

1. What is your favorite Bible verse? How did it become your favorite? (If you don’t have a single favorite, please share one of your faves.)
My favorite Bible verse?  That is a hard one.  But I think the one that keeps me going the most is Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengtheneth me."  It helps me to remember that He won't send me anything that I can't handle.  I might just have to lean on Him to help me handle it.  Which is the reason for some of my troubles I think anyway.  To teach me to cling to Him and no one or nothing else!

2. What is currently on your nightstand? I dump my heart and brain on my nightstand... what's on yours??
I currently am using my end table for a nightstand because my water bed heater broke and I can't stand to sleep on that freezing bed!  So I moved out to the couch.  So on my end table is a popcorn bucket with Leapster and Nintendo DS games and the kids' library movies.  There is also chapstick and hair ties in the bucket for me.  I have my glass of ACV water, my alarm clock and my coasters with Bible verses on them.  I also have a candle warmer that I use to keep my coffee warm when I am sitting there.  At night when I go to bed my book, glasses and hanky is there for me.

3. What place have you not traveled to but would like to?  Why?
I would love to travel to Europe and see the old castles in Scotland, England, Ireland and everywhere else.  That is my dream vacation.

4. What is your favorite snack?
Usually anything with salt!  Potato chips are usually my first choice.  Nachos are my absolute favorite!

5. Why motivates you to blog?
To share my story with others, maybe I can help them or let them know the problems they are facing are being faced by others.  I also want to share my love for my family and Jesus.  This is my way to witness to others because I don't like going door-to-door.

6. Which person from the Bible (besides Jesus) are you most looking forward to meeting?
I think, at this moment, it changes you know, that I would like to meet Moses.  He was such a strong leader and love God, was so close to Him.  I would ask him what it was like walking through the Red Sea, how awesome was it to be in God's tender care while He was making the Egyptians miserable and the awe that he felt at the burning bush.

7.  What brings out the best in you... what brings out the worst?
People who are inconsiderate bring out the worse in me.  I just can't stand it!  I think Jesus brings out the best in me.  It is through Him that I find happiness and peace.

8. What characteristic of God are you the most grateful for?
His everlasting love.  To know that whatever wrongs I do, He still loves me.  He still yearns for me.  He still is in my corner rooting for me!

********************************************************************
Now it is my turn to list questions.  I am not going to list other bloggers to tag because they rarely participate and if you want to do this, you will anyway!  So please if you decide to answer my questions, please come back here and put your link for it in the comment box!

1.  When you have free time, all to yourself, what do you do?

2.  If you could choose one question right now to ask God and have Him answer it now, what would it be?

3.  If you could go to school for something or learn something new and money was no object, what would you choose?

4.  Do you have any specific Bible verses that you pray over your husband or children?

5.  What is one thing that you love to have or do now that you really should have outgrown?  For example, I love crayons and to color!  lol

6.  When you feel troubled is there something that comforts you?  Is it a material object like a fuzzy blanket or one of those stress stones?  Or do you turn to someone for comfort?

7.  What is your favorite time of the day and why?

8.  Do you have a comfort food and what is it?

My Marriage

Good morning!  Today I am joining a marriage meme done by an author that I like.  Her name is Tricia Goyer and she is a Christian author.  I have read one of her books and I really liked it.  I have been following her on twitter and am friends with her on facebook for most of the year.  I love to follow her pictures and updates of their sweet little baby Alyssa and her older kids adventures back at home.
This morning Tricia has posted a marriage meme for us to join.  If you'd like to join in on this click here.  And by linking up with this meme you will be entered into a drawing to win copies of books called Generation NeXt Marriage and Generation NeXt Parenting on August 27.

• How did you meet your husband? When I was 19 my parents had moved across the state.  I stayed here for a bit, then went back with them.  I had come back to visit my best friend and her boyfriend.  Greg was her boyfriends cousin and we met that night.
• What did you first notice about him?   He was incredible sexy.
• How long have you been married? We've been married for 12 years this November.
• Share something you discovered about him after you were married that surprised you?  We weren't saved Christians when we got married and we had already been living together for a couple of years.  So I don't really remember what I learned after we were married.
• What do you argue about the most?   Money.
• What quality in him do you admire most?  How willing he is to help others.
• What is the hardest part about being married?  Giving up the thought that I can do whatever I want because I am an adult.  Being married means working together and supporting each other. 
• What’s the best part about being married?  The security.  I am so glad that I am not part of the dating world.  What a mess that is!
• What has changed the most about you since you've been married?  I have become a saved Christian and learned many ways to be a good wife.  I try to implement those ways daily.
• What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to other wives about creating a happy marriage?  I am going to sound very old fashioned here but this is what I truly believe.  To make a happy marriage a wife must look to the Lord and the Bible for how a wife needs to be.  Proverbs 31 is a great example to show what a woman's priority should be.  I think it is very important to follow God's laws and wishes for marriage to have a happy one.
• What's the one peice of advice you'd give to your children about creating a happy marriage?  It's not all about you!

 

Bringing My Friends To Christ

I am not one who will go door to door, or walk up to a stranger and strike up a conversation about Jesus.  If I have reason to assume that another person is a Christian, I will try to find some way to talk about Christ with them.  But evangelizing to total strangers for no reason is just not something I am comfortable with.  
What I am comfortable is bringing or inviting people to church that I already know has that curiosity of the hunger for Jesus Christ.  I have brought friends and children to church who then became saved, baptized, became a member of the church or frequently attended after I brought them.  I have had the pleasure of bringing 2 adults and 3 children to church with me and having seen all of them get saved.  I was personally there with both adults when it happened.  One of the children I was bringing invited a friend who also got saved.
What a glorious feeling to be bringing in a larger family for Christ!  It is pleasing to be able to honor Him in that way.  I am not proud of me, I am proud that He used me. 
Today I was there to witness an extremely close friend get saved and agree to join the church with her children!  Her children both already got saved, one during VBS last year and one during VBS this year.  I am so excited about this!   It is goose-bumping goodness!

Dear Heavenly Father, I am so thankful that you have used me to fulfill Your heavenly desires.  Without You, I could not have done this.  Lord, I pray that you fill those 3 new Christians with Your Holy Spirit and allow them to feel Your love.  I am so excited about this Jesus!  Who else can I bring to church?  Lord send more my way!  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Going Green

Today, right after I was done doing my devotions, I decided to look in the Bible for a blog topic.  My search started with the word green, for the NaBloPoMo theme for August.  What I found was particularly interesting to me, and I think even pertains to us in these days.
My small concordance had one verse in it for the word "green".  It referred me to Luke 22:31.

For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

That verse in itself made absolutely no sense to me.  So I backed up a few verses and read more from Luke 22, starting with verse 26:

And as they led him away, the laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. 

So now I know, this is Jesus' walk up to the cross.  I kept on reading:

27 And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.  28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.  29 For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.  30 Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.  31 For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

My study Bible says that Jesus is referring to himself, the perfect Lamb of God as a green tree.  A green tree is a new tree, right?  A babe tree.  A baby is innocent.  Jesus was innocent and brought to the cross  to die in his innocence.  If they could do that to someone who was innocent, what would be done to those trees that are dry?  Who are the dry trees?  The Jews.  They had committed this heinous sin and mockery of our Lord Jesus, who was innocent.  Green.  Think of the sins that will befall them!  The horrors that they would see during the time of war.  

After this thought occurred to me, I prayed.  

Lord, please show me if this is a devotion that You want me to blog about.  If this is something that you want me to do, please allow Your words to flow from my fingertips.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Here is where I tie this together with us.  Have you ever thought in our troublesome times that those who are not able to have kids may actually be the lucky ones?  Now think of this with me for a moment.  I am not saying that those of us with beautiful children that we love are not lucky because we all know that the Bible tells us that children are a gift from God.  My point is that myself and other parents that I have spoken to about this, agree that it is sad that we are bringing up children in such a horrible world.  The world just continues to get scarier and scarier.  More and more dangerous.  I imagine that there will be times when we will be so scared for the safety of our children, that we may be filled with sadness that we have brought them up during these times.  
But here is where we trust in the Lord.  For he is our Refuge, our Shelter, our Savior and Redeemer.  He will take care of us and He is always with us.  As we place our trust in Him, we do not have to look back with fear, sadness or regret that we have had children in this chaotic world.  We can be blessed with the knowledge that God granted us these children because He knows what is going on!  He has the plans, not us!  We MUST place our trust in Him to lead us, guide us, protect us and love us!  There is no other option as a Christian.  When you fear, you don't trust.  There is not room for both together in your heart.  Be strong in the Lord and raise your children to love Him and trust Him.

 

Beautiful, Yet So Dangerous

 

Have you ever wondered how something can be so attractive and pleasing to us but at the same time is deadly to our very being and health?  Foxgloves are one of those things.  These flowers are beautiful.  They stand straight, proud, tall and just scream "I'm beautiful!"  But did you know that these flowers are deadly?

Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) grows wild and can be planted in your garden.  I love to drive down the highways and see them alongside the road, standing in rows waving in the breeze.  Unfortunately, these flowers are extremely poisonous even in small doses.  I was reading a little bit of information on this from this website called What's Cooking America? and here is a little tidbit from there.  Please read more of this article as it tells of some of the symptoms of getting into this plant.

The entire plant is toxic (including the roots, sap, flowers, seeds, and leaves), although the leaves of the upper stem are particularly potent, with just a nibble being enough to cause death. The upper leaves of the stem are more dangerous than the lower leaves. Foxglove is most toxic just before the seeds ripen. It tastes spicy hot or bitter and smells slightly bad. This plant is so poisonous that ingesting only .5 gram dried or 2 grams of fresh leaf is enough to kill a person.

I wonder if God creates these kind of things to remind us of an important lesson.  Is it there to help us learn about temptations?  In our daily life we are surrounded by beautiful, pleasing and tempting things.  It may be alcohol, drugs, being unfaithful to your spouse, over-spending, collecting too many material possessions, having the wrong friends, parties, having idols or whatever it is for you.  

Jesus says that we are to be sure that we don't collect too many material items because we have no use for them in Heaven, and getting to heaven is our main goal.  Right!?  RIGHT!!

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth currupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  Matthew 6:19-20 

How can we be sure to go to Heaven?  We must accept Jesus Christ as our Lord, Savior and the son of God.  

No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.  John 6:71

 There are many other Bible verses that talk on these subjects.  Acts 8:20; Acts 4:12; Proverbs 1:10; Proverbs 14:22; John 12:43; John 15:19; Romans 12:2; Colossians 3:2; 1 Timothy 5:6; James 4:4; 1 Peter 2:11; 1 John 2:15-17.  


We encounter so many things that look like they are exactly what we need and they certainly do look beautiful.  But by participating in these temptations can poison our very lives and souls.  As we see the lovely colors and we are tempted to pick the flowers, bring them home into our lives and families, and poison the very place where our hearts feel safe.  But we mustn't do that.  Just as we are tempted to fill our lives with the fun and possessions of a secular world, we should not bring them home, into our lives and families, to poison the very place where our hearts feel safe:  In His Love.

Some of my information was used from these websites:
About.com Landscaping Foxglove Plants 
whatscookingamerica.net Foxgloves, Beautiful But Deadly

Bedtime Prayers With My Children

At night I say a prayer over my kids after they are done saying their prayers...

Dear Jesus,

Please send your angels to watch over Stinky and Bubba and keep them safe tonight.  Keep everything evil out of their hearts, the souls, their minds, their dreams and their bedroom.  In Jesus name we pray, amen.

This picture here of them sleeping together is early in the morning.  When they go to bed at night they are in their own beds.  But they end up in bed with me just about every night.  And that is something that I am willing to endure and actually enjoy, as weird as that is to some parents, because some day my children will be too big and grown up to lay down with Mom.  I am taking every advantage to spend time with them now in ways that I won't be able to do in the future.  That is also another reason why I homeschool, to spend more time with my kids!

How Can You Know The Bible Is True?

"The Bible was clearly written either by God, good men, or bad men.  Bad men could not have written it, for the Bible is a good book, and fresh waters do not come from a salt fountain; bad men would not have written it, for the Bible strongly condemns sin and sinners, and wicked men would not condemn themselves to hell.  Good men could not have written it, and then deliberately said God wrote it: they would no longer be good men; good men would not have written it for the definite purpose of deception, for good men do not decieve.  Hence, the only one left who could have written it is God."
--Charles Wesley--

Taken from A Firm Foundation by Dr. David H. Peterson

Where are You planning on spending eternity?

Do you know where you will be going when you die?  Do you know how to get to Heaven?  Are you sure YOU are going to Heaven?  What does it mean to be saved and how do you know if you are?

There is one way and only way to get to Heaven.  His name is Jesus.  He died on the cross to save you from your sins.  You are a sinner.  You were born a sinner and you will always be a sinner.  

For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  Romans 3:23

Once you are ready to admit your sin and that you are a sinner, the next step is praying to the Lord Jesus Christ and accepting him as your Savior.  See here is the thing...God loves us all, we are His creations.  Jesus is God, and He loves us with an everlasting love.  Because of His overflowing love for us He wants us to spend eternity in Heaven with him.  In order for us to do that, we must accept that Jesus loves us, died for us and bore our sins, poured out his blood so that we can have the security of being with him in Heaven forever and ever.  If you would like the assurance of being forever with our Lord in Heaven, repeat this prayer.  (I copied this prayer from Inside The Revolution by Joel C. Rosenberg).

"Lord Jesus, thank You for loving me.  Thank You for haing a wonderful plan and purpose for my life.  I need You today--I know i need You to forgive me for all of my sins.  Thank You for dying on the corss to pay the penalty of my sins.  Thank You for rising again from the dead to prove that You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life and the only way to get to heaven.  Jesus, I confess right now with my mouth that You are the King of kings, and the Lord of lords.  And I velieve in my heart that God raised You from the dead.  And now I open the door of my heart and my life right now.  I receive You as my Savior and Lord.  Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life.  Please change my life.  Please fill me with your Holy Spirit.  Please take control of my life and make me the kind of person that You want me to be, so that I can serve You and please You forever.  Thank You so much.  I love You, and I want to follow You."
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

After saying this prayer, you are forever a child of God.  You WILL BE in the House of the Lord, in Heaven with him for eternity.  God does not take back his word and you will go to Heaven.  You have to mean that prayer though, you can't just say it.  You must agree with that prayer with every fiber of your being and every beat of your heart.  You must agree and believe that Jesus died, on the cross, for YOU!

After you become a Christian, please know that your good works will not get you into Heaven.  God wants you to do good, because he desires that.  But doing good will not ensure your place in Heaven.  Jesus sacrifice and your acceptance of it does.

If you have more questions you can ask me.  There is a great book that explains all of the details of becoming a Christian and laying down the foundation of being a Christian.  I am currently reading this book and I am enjoying it.  Great book for new Christians and growing Christians and even mature Christians.