Thanksgiving... Giving thanks... I love this time of year. The ushering in of crisp, autumn air signals a change - not a new change, but a very familiar and comforting change. The winding down of this year before revving back up for the year to come. One of my favorite movies is "Polly Anna". We can learn a lot from Polly Anna, especially her "Glad Game". It's a great game to play! I encourage you today to play it.
When I think on what I am thankful for, what comes to mind immediately is my relationship with my Lord and Savior. This year, He has broken me and delivered me and given me freedom to rejoice over Him, love Him, worship Him, and testify for Him in a way that is unrecognizable to me. It humbles me greatly that He would choose to spend His time on me.
I am thankful for His Word. God has given me a passion for His Word, the Scriptures. I delight in reading my bible - I yearn for my time with Him to come each day. I am so glad that Jesus answered my prayer for this passion - I asked specifically for a passion for Scripture and He has faithfully given it to me in abundance!!! I am so grateful.
I am thankful for my husband, Travis. It is amazing and thrilling to see how God is developing him! He has Jesus all over him! God is preparing him and growing him and to see my husband pouring over his bible and seeking out godly men for friends and mentors moves me beyond words.
I am thankful for my children, Lane and Landry. Lane is developing his own love relationship with Jesus and it is the most precious thing to witness. There is nothing I want more than for my boys to love Jesus, to pursue Him and seek Him, to worship Him, to honor Him.
I am thankful for my home, my family, my friends.
Thank you, Father, for meeting each and every one of my needs and a lot of my wants! I pray that I manage Your gifts responsibly and that You are glorified in all ways.
I am glad. I pray you are too today!!!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The H Word
I have been experiencing confliction about Halloween this year for the first time ever. The Holy Spirit has prompted me to research, pray and engage other strong believers in a dialogue about this day. I grew up trick-or-treating and it was all about having fun. Nothing ghoulish or scary or evil. And I want that innocent fun for my kids (it's not high on the list of desires for them certainly!). But I just kept thinking, "Is this something that honors God?" So I read, I prayed and I sought counsel from several moms I respect and trust in their relationship with God. And the Holy Spirit brought me to this...
I don't think Jesus would have thrown a Halloween party for sure, but I also don't think He would be inside His house with the front porch light turned off. I think He would be out and about, sharing the glorious news of Him! So our light will be on and we'll hand out candy to the children, along with an invitation to our church. We've also been using this day as an opportunity to discuss sharing and giving with Lane and Landry.
This is what works for our family at this time. Who knows where the Holy Spirit will lead us in the future?! But I earnestly pray that even our fun honors Him and is a light into our dark world. May His Light shine brightly today through all of us who know Him!
I don't think Jesus would have thrown a Halloween party for sure, but I also don't think He would be inside His house with the front porch light turned off. I think He would be out and about, sharing the glorious news of Him! So our light will be on and we'll hand out candy to the children, along with an invitation to our church. We've also been using this day as an opportunity to discuss sharing and giving with Lane and Landry.
This is what works for our family at this time. Who knows where the Holy Spirit will lead us in the future?! But I earnestly pray that even our fun honors Him and is a light into our dark world. May His Light shine brightly today through all of us who know Him!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
I must praise Him!
Psalm 34
I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together.
I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man (woman!) called, and the Lord heard him; He saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Come, my children, listen to me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their cry; the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; He protects his bones, not one of them will be broken.
Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems His servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in Him.
Do you hear it? Do you get it? If you are brokenhearted - cry out to Him, He is close to you! Are you afraid of something / someone / some situation? Cry out to Him, He will deliver you from it. Do you feel ashamed? Cry out to Him, He will not cover your face with it! Do you think you are lacking? Cry out to Him, in Him you lack nothing! Sisters, please don't settle for a mediocre relationship with Jesus - cry out, cry out, cry out. He hears you. He sees you. He loves you. He is close - call to Him!
If you look back several entries ago, you will see I was there, deep in a pit of despair. God delivered me! He pulled me out of the discontentment, discouragement and despair when I cried out to Him. When He knew that I knew that no one else could do it for me - not even myself. Especially not myself.
I must praise Him! My heart, my mouth, my mind cannot cease from doing so. I have never been more in love with Jesus, with my husband and my boys that I am at this moment. God has me overflowing with love. I must praise Him! I must praise Him.
Praise You, my Rock. My Redeemer, may my life glorify You in every way. May I always be radiant from looking to You. You alone are worthy, You alone are good.
I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together.
I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man (woman!) called, and the Lord heard him; He saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Come, my children, listen to me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their cry; the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; He protects his bones, not one of them will be broken.
Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems His servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in Him.
Do you hear it? Do you get it? If you are brokenhearted - cry out to Him, He is close to you! Are you afraid of something / someone / some situation? Cry out to Him, He will deliver you from it. Do you feel ashamed? Cry out to Him, He will not cover your face with it! Do you think you are lacking? Cry out to Him, in Him you lack nothing! Sisters, please don't settle for a mediocre relationship with Jesus - cry out, cry out, cry out. He hears you. He sees you. He loves you. He is close - call to Him!
If you look back several entries ago, you will see I was there, deep in a pit of despair. God delivered me! He pulled me out of the discontentment, discouragement and despair when I cried out to Him. When He knew that I knew that no one else could do it for me - not even myself. Especially not myself.
I must praise Him! My heart, my mouth, my mind cannot cease from doing so. I have never been more in love with Jesus, with my husband and my boys that I am at this moment. God has me overflowing with love. I must praise Him! I must praise Him.
Praise You, my Rock. My Redeemer, may my life glorify You in every way. May I always be radiant from looking to You. You alone are worthy, You alone are good.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
I Want You Awake
God has been up to some pretty cool stuff in my life and the Holy Spirit woke me up this morning at 6:25am and said, "I want you awake! It is time to write!". Oh, I love Him so! Stephanie, maybe you helped encourage this with all your "Rise Up" talk yesterday. :) Anyway, He reminded me of something that happened recently that I thought I'd share.
Travis and I went away for a few days - just the two of us - to Las Vegas. Very interesting trip. We enjoyed marveling at the creativity of the different casino resorts - I've never been to Paris or Venice, but the way we humans can replicate things is pretty amazing. That's the trouble with Vegas (well, one of the troubles) - it's all an illusion. Everything is a duplication - a dupe if you will. There is nothing real and nothing is as it seems. Anyway, by Saturday we were so ready to get out of there and get home. Travis and I are in the middle of doing Beth Moore's "Daniel" bible study and how perfect that God would throw a trip for us to the heart of our hedonistic, Babylonian-esque culture while we're studying this man "full of integrity while living an enticing world". Ah, but I digress...
On our arrival back home at DFW airport, we walk out to catch our bus to get to the very-far-off-the-beaten-path parking lot (so we could save $2) and I notice Travis beginning to frantically look for something. I'm wondering, "What in the heck is he doing?" So I ask. He can't find the ticket with the phone number of the very-far-off-the-beaten-path parking lot. Yes, that's right - they don't just drive past every 10 minutes like the others. And we can't remember the name of the lot to even call information. I'm tired, I want to get home to see my babies - and I'm really about to get upset at him. My automatic reaction was to be critical and annoyed so I stopped and prayed. (I've also been studying Colossians with some women at my church and boy, did studying that book come in handy this particular evening!) I prayed, "Lord, I ask that you give me a spirit of helpfulness to Travis. And please send someone to help get us to our car!"
Well, don't you know, two minutes later, a women driving a bus for another lot stopped (we're now the only people waiting in the pickup area and it's 9:30 at night) and asked if we needed a pickup. Travis explained our situation and she said that she knew the name of the company and told us. We were so thankful at this point - hello! That is awesome - we have the name - yea! She began to drive off and then stopped - she opened her door and said that she found their number in her phone and that she used to work for them! Now this is even better! Thank you, Lord, for Your provision!
When our bus arrives, we get in and sit down and I happen to look up front where the driver is sitting and there is a sign next to the door that read: "Your protection is my number one concern: Jesus".
I love Jesus! I love God's sense of humor - hello, that our driver would be named Jesus cracks me up!!!
In all seriousness, I am thankful for this episode. He highlighted to me how I've grown in Him. Sometimes I've asked God to show me the fruit and He did here. I am thankful for His provision - it comes in ways so you know, only He could have done that. Oh, I love Him so!
I praise you today Jesus! May everything I do today glorify and honor You.
Travis and I went away for a few days - just the two of us - to Las Vegas. Very interesting trip. We enjoyed marveling at the creativity of the different casino resorts - I've never been to Paris or Venice, but the way we humans can replicate things is pretty amazing. That's the trouble with Vegas (well, one of the troubles) - it's all an illusion. Everything is a duplication - a dupe if you will. There is nothing real and nothing is as it seems. Anyway, by Saturday we were so ready to get out of there and get home. Travis and I are in the middle of doing Beth Moore's "Daniel" bible study and how perfect that God would throw a trip for us to the heart of our hedonistic, Babylonian-esque culture while we're studying this man "full of integrity while living an enticing world". Ah, but I digress...
On our arrival back home at DFW airport, we walk out to catch our bus to get to the very-far-off-the-beaten-path parking lot (so we could save $2) and I notice Travis beginning to frantically look for something. I'm wondering, "What in the heck is he doing?" So I ask. He can't find the ticket with the phone number of the very-far-off-the-beaten-path parking lot. Yes, that's right - they don't just drive past every 10 minutes like the others. And we can't remember the name of the lot to even call information. I'm tired, I want to get home to see my babies - and I'm really about to get upset at him. My automatic reaction was to be critical and annoyed so I stopped and prayed. (I've also been studying Colossians with some women at my church and boy, did studying that book come in handy this particular evening!) I prayed, "Lord, I ask that you give me a spirit of helpfulness to Travis. And please send someone to help get us to our car!"
Well, don't you know, two minutes later, a women driving a bus for another lot stopped (we're now the only people waiting in the pickup area and it's 9:30 at night) and asked if we needed a pickup. Travis explained our situation and she said that she knew the name of the company and told us. We were so thankful at this point - hello! That is awesome - we have the name - yea! She began to drive off and then stopped - she opened her door and said that she found their number in her phone and that she used to work for them! Now this is even better! Thank you, Lord, for Your provision!
When our bus arrives, we get in and sit down and I happen to look up front where the driver is sitting and there is a sign next to the door that read: "Your protection is my number one concern: Jesus".
I love Jesus! I love God's sense of humor - hello, that our driver would be named Jesus cracks me up!!!
In all seriousness, I am thankful for this episode. He highlighted to me how I've grown in Him. Sometimes I've asked God to show me the fruit and He did here. I am thankful for His provision - it comes in ways so you know, only He could have done that. Oh, I love Him so!
I praise you today Jesus! May everything I do today glorify and honor You.
Friday, August 31, 2007
A New Creation
Through my despair and discouragement, God has delivered to a place of contentment and peace I have not known for quite some time. Humility - He is cultivating this in me. It's not one of the characteristics of Christ that I was eager to transform in myself - that of becoming humble. But that is the road I've been on the last few months and so here I am. The beginnings of being humble and bare.
Over the last week or so, I have been reading Romans at the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Here are some scriptures that have ministered to me from the first 8 chapters - may they minister to you in some way today.
Romans 4:17
...He (Abraham) is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed - the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
That last line blows my mind - "calls things that are not as though they were". God sees something in us that we cannot see. Some gift, some ability, some way of being that only He can see. Because He calls it out of us - as if it exists right now, but yet it doesn't. For it to come to life is a process. All the circumstances we deal with are God's way of drawing this out in us so that we can serve and glorify Him. Amazing....
Romas 4:20-21
Yet he (Abraham) did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
I have come to this realization. It's nothing I've come up with on my own as I have heard it lots of times before, but I guess it's finally sinking in. When I am struggling with anything - whatever it is - I should consider it a struggle with unbelief. At the heart of most of my struggles is unbelief that God is who He says He is and that He has POWER to DO what He has PROMISED. I hate to admit it - I honestly thought I "had this one handled". But how many times have I tried to handle it on my own instead of turning it over to Jesus? Thank you for forgiving me, Lord.
Romans 8: 17-19
Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
Lord, may I reveal Your glory!!! Do this work in me so that I, your daughter, reveal YOU!
Romans 8:35-39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Can I get an AMEN? That is some of the most awe-inspiring scripture ever!
Over the last week or so, I have been reading Romans at the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Here are some scriptures that have ministered to me from the first 8 chapters - may they minister to you in some way today.
Romans 4:17
...He (Abraham) is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed - the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
That last line blows my mind - "calls things that are not as though they were". God sees something in us that we cannot see. Some gift, some ability, some way of being that only He can see. Because He calls it out of us - as if it exists right now, but yet it doesn't. For it to come to life is a process. All the circumstances we deal with are God's way of drawing this out in us so that we can serve and glorify Him. Amazing....
Romas 4:20-21
Yet he (Abraham) did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
I have come to this realization. It's nothing I've come up with on my own as I have heard it lots of times before, but I guess it's finally sinking in. When I am struggling with anything - whatever it is - I should consider it a struggle with unbelief. At the heart of most of my struggles is unbelief that God is who He says He is and that He has POWER to DO what He has PROMISED. I hate to admit it - I honestly thought I "had this one handled". But how many times have I tried to handle it on my own instead of turning it over to Jesus? Thank you for forgiving me, Lord.
Romans 8: 17-19
Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
Lord, may I reveal Your glory!!! Do this work in me so that I, your daughter, reveal YOU!
Romans 8:35-39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Can I get an AMEN? That is some of the most awe-inspiring scripture ever!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
On Guard
I have been so discouraged lately. My life has become so mundane and I have had a horrible attitude. A complaining clod of ailments and such. So what does God do? He delivers one of those "ouch" messages that seemed to be just for me at church on Sunday. I was so far gone in believing the devil's lies that I couldn't even recognize it for what it was - a lie. One of the first weapons in satan's arsenal is discouragement. Duh! That is how clever and subtle he can be when you're not paying attention. When you're not on guard. He also sent His people, my sisters in Christ to wake me up - to say "Hey, God has plans for you and this is part of it." This is your life right now because this is a season of training you, growing you for some purpose of His. I praise You, Lord for getting my attention and getting my focus back on You. For giving me joy even when everyday life isn't that fun. And thank you to Stephanie and my mom for obeying the Holy Spirit's prompting to reach out to me with Scripture and encouraging words. Mom, I am putting on the armor of God. Love to you both.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Boys
Here are some recent snapshots of my boys, Lane & Landry. They are so much fun! God has blessed me with two very sweet, smart little guys. Enjoy!
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