Thankful

I am thankful.

for life.

for salvation.

for the cross of Jesus Christ.

for His resurrection.

for amazing grace.

for the trials i pass through that form my character.

for God's most excellent Word, the Bible.

for a loving husband.

for each of our four children.

for family.

for friends.

for the local assembly we call "home".

for a warm home and bed to sleep in.

for a fridge full of food.

for cupboards and drawers filled with dishes and cups and silverware.

for a pantry full of dried goods.

for music.

for the birds and butterflies that love my garden.

for gardens.

for chocolate....dark, dark, chocolate.

for our 2 dogs.

for all the luxuries we take for granted.

i am so, so, thankful.

Stronger Shoulders

so thankful for church last night... so glad that that we can attend on Wednesday nights! 

I was reminded , through the message, of a quote that was shared on Sunday by Pastor Jeff by of his mentors:

  "We don't pray for lighter loads, we pray for stronger shoulders." 

Man, this has been on my mind. I needed the reminder last night. I needed to be reminded that there are trials we will pass through, but He is with us. He will strengthen us....We will not always get the load taken from us, but in Christ, we can have the strength to carry on. 

The past couple weeks have been tough for me, personally. Things are swell with my marriage, etc. It is other things. One area is coming to grips with the fact that it is looking like each of our children has dyslexia to some degree. This is a heavy load for me, as i am home-educating 3 of them. I already tutor our oldest in an Orton-Gillingham based system. This is time-consuming. I am amazed at how difficult it is for the middle two to write properly, read, and comprehend. For now, i am planning on having them tested using the Peabody test to see where they are at. We will move forward with things after that. 

God knows the details of the other areas i am struggling with, and i know that He is faithful to strengthen me, heal me, and comfort me. 

He is forming my character. 

I am choosing to be thankful, in EVERY circumstance, today. 

loving our enemies

One of Jesus' most difficult teachings is for us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:43-47).

um. yeah.

like trying to swallow a watermelon...whole.

but it must be possible.

it has to be.

not in our own strength.

but through the power of the Holy Spirit.

absolutely dependent upon Jesus Christ.

May His strength be made perfect in our weakness.

May He be glorified as we do the hard work, in His strength.

What is in there?

a question i am asking myself. What is in there? Well, where, exactly, you may be wondering?

each of these rocks has been collected over the years

answer:

my heart.

honestly, i don't like what i am seeing.

first, let me say that i love the Lord Jesus. He has redeemed my life from the pit. HE has purchased me with His own blood, that i might be made righteous. Amazing grace has truly saved a wretch like me. Because of the high price that was paid for me, i see even the smallest of offences as equal to the most heinous of sins. Sin. black, disgusting sin. Sin that my Saviour died for. My sin, that caused my Saviour to drink the cup of the wrath of God on my behalf, so that I might have HIS righteousness imputed to me. Incomprehensible. Humbling.

on a day to day basis, within the walls of my home, so much of what is in my heart comes out: a snappy reply, an exasperated sigh, a grumpy greeting, a "don't talk to me right now, or else" look. ouch.  When i am with others, i can kick in to my "self-preservation" mode pretty quickly: fear of what others think of me, fear that i may offend in some way, fear of not being "enough" for others... really just a bunch of self-centeredness! double-ouch. 

my own selfishness disgusts me. my husband works hard all day, and comes home to me not having even given much any thought to dinner. I claim i was too busy, too tired, too ______. Hmmm. he is tired too. he is busy too. he has had to fight battles all day at work, yet i claim i am too tired to make dinner. Lord, have mercy on me... a sinner. Yes, i have battles during the day. Homeschooling 3 of our kids definitely brings about some battles. But if i am completely honest, i do have time to make dinner. i do have time to get the house tidy, with the kids' help.  i DO have time. i obviously have time, since i am sitting here composing this post!!

i am not hopeless though. Our faithful God uses the challenges of my day to work His sanctification in me. I am seeing that i am in need. i am seeing that time in the Word is not something that can be compromised in my day, so that i can do other things. I am seeing that i am ever in need of grace.

if you are seeing an area in your own heart that needs cleansing, don't delay! Forgiveness awaits in the bountiful arms of our Great God, through our great Saviour, Jesus Christ!

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, 

Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!

Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured, 

There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled.

Grace, grace, God's grace, 

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

Grace, grace, God's grace,

Grace that is greater than all our sin!

Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold, 

Threaten the soul with infinite loss;

Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,

Points to the refuge, the mighty cross.

Grace, grace, God's grace, 

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

Grace, grace, God's grace,

Grace that is greater than all our sin!

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide.
What can avail to wash it away?

Look! There is flowing a crimson tide,

Brighter than snow you may be today.

Grace, grace, God's grace, 

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

Grace, grace, God's grace,

Grace that is greater than all our sin!

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,

Freely bestowed on all who believe!

You that are longing to see His face,

Will you this moment His grace receive?

Grace, grace, God's grace, 

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

Grace, grace, God's grace,

Grace that is greater than all our sin!

~Julia H. Johnston

M2C Monday

AHHH! I am back with a Made to Crave Monday!

This is something i have not done for too long. This won't necessarily be about something specific from the book, as my copy is loaned out right now, but i do want to share about the lifestyle changes i have made, which were inspired by M2C.

I like to shop. We don't have extra money. THIS can be a PROBLEM. Especially when i have an Old Navy card (keep it for stuff 'n save deals, etc.). As i went through M2C again, i realized that i had to stop going to Old Navy. It has now been months since i darkened their door <sigh>.

no clearance racks.
no newest styles.
no crazy-colored shoes.
no kids clothes.

It is a place that i can go in and think i am just gonna get __________, and walk out with half the clearance rack! :-/

Made to Crave is not just about food. It is about ANYTHING that we turn to, instead of God, to fulfill our craving. Is shopping bad, in and of itself? no. Is food bad, in and of itself? no. When it becomes bad, or sinful, is when we forsake God and think a shopping bag or the pleasure of food is more important.

Real life example:
I have a bad day. I am emotional over something, and instead of turning to God FIRST, i go to Old Navy, because i think that THAT will put me in a better mood. What did i really need? I needed to go to God FIRST, and pray and spend time with Him. I need to get HIS perspective on the situation. When i do this, i find myself comforted far more than a shopping trip can comfort me... and without the GUILT, shame, condemnation! 

With FOOD, sometimes we just eat because we really love the food. We enjoy the simple act of sitting and savoring a snack. For me, even if it is a healthy snack, and i am NOT hungry, i am putting food above God. There are times that i "budget" food. Like dinner. If i have a glass of wine with dinner (yes, i do enjoy a glass), i will usually choose to NOT have dessert, due to the high sugar levels in wine. I will eat a small breakfast, usually not even feeling satisfied, if i know that i am going somewhere that brunch is being served... THEN, i only eat until i am satisfied..... NOT FULL.

 One area that is particularly tough for me is church get-together's. They almost always involve food of some sort (or sorts) and it all looks so good! Those are moments that i really have to walk in self-control.

That is what it seems to boil down to in many ways, isn't it? Self-Control.

Let us focus this week on turning to God to meet our needs, instead of food or shopping or_________.
Let us have HIS strength be our strength this week.

Anniversary & Birthday Bonanza

We are pretty busy around here from August 24th - September 12th! Here are the pics to show you why!


Our 15th Anniversary was August 24th

Hud's 13th Birthday
August 31st

Hudson's Birthday Cake
The layers insider are chocolate, white, and chocolate again!

Jeremiah's 10th Birthday
September 6th

Jeremiah's Birthday Cookie
It's a Venus Flytrap. Yes, I know that they don't really have
leaves. He loves being surprised by the shape!
Note: it caught a "fly"!

 

Grace's 7th Birthday! A Cookie-Star was her choice.
September 12th

As you can see, we are pretty busy for about a month! And before all that happened, I had surgery on my knee to reconstruct my ACL on August 8th. Been a BUSY summer around here!  We are also now homeschooling 3 of our 4 children, and began attending a new church back in the Spring!!

Thinking about getting back to blogging, as we are getting into the routines of Autumn around here. Finally finding snippets of time to post snippets of life.