Today, I am thankful for Gods provisions, not only for my family, but for Others as well. I am thankful for the home He has given to us and for the way He supplies our needs. I am also thankful for the way He works through His people to provide for others in need. Tonight, I have the privilege of delivering two boxes of groceries and two large gift bags of clothing for a family in our area in need of a blessing. Not only that, but God has provided a group of people to bless this mom with meals about once a month as it is physically difficult for her to cook for herself and her children. I don't have all the resources to provide what they need, but I know the One who owns cattle on a thousand hills and He HAS provided through His people! What a blessing to be a part of watching as He works, as He provides, and as He pours out His love through us! I am thankful for God's provisions!
But my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19
Friday, November 2, 2012
Thursday, November 1, 2012
A Month of Thankfulness: Day One
I was inspired this morning by a Facebook friend and her Jar of Thankfulness and I thought, you know, this is a good idea! So here goes, Day One :). Today, I am thankful for sick days. Sound strange? Well, maybe it isn't so much for the sick part as it is for the opportunity to spend a day loving on my sick little Kara. It has made thankful for her life and the precious gift she is to our family. Each day of her life is a gift and each moment a wonderful memory. Today has also made me thankful for caring doctors, anti-nausea medicine, gaterade, and the fact that Miejer pharmacy workers work extra fast to fill your prescription if your child is throwing up in their trash can. Who knew, right? :) I will have to remember that each time i go to fill a prescription. :) Anyway, today these are the things I am thankful for!
Rejoice in The Lord always, and again I say, rejoice! Phillipians 4:4
Rejoice in The Lord always, and again I say, rejoice! Phillipians 4:4
Monday, October 8, 2012
Rantings and Ravings of a Busy Mom: Sometimes
I wrote this a coule weeks ago after a particularly crazy day......and after last week, thought I needed to read it again and be reminded of what God shared with me!
Sometimes......I try my best to be SUPER MOM, only to realize, in the middle of the whirlwind
Sometimes......I try my best to be SUPER MOM, only to realize, in the middle of the whirlwind
My cape has flown off
Sometimes......I feel I am treading water; barely keeping my head above the waves, realizing
I may sink at any moment
Sometimes......I take the DEEPEST BREATH I can and dive in; only to realize, 100 feet under,
my breathe wasn't deep enough
And now I am hoping, praying for an oxygen tank to float by
Sometimes......I feel like a rag doll in a hurricane; tossed and pulled in three different directions
by three little voices
with three different needs
while I'm making super
organizing schedules
doing homework
and trying to leave........So I can breathe, even if only for an hour
And then I realize
Sometimes I need a NEW FOCUS and a
NEW PERSPECTIVE
Sometimes......It is ok to not be SUPER and just be MOM, cause that is all they want anyway
Just Me
Sometimes......Instead of barely keeping my head above the water, I stop my frantic treading
and enjoy
the refreshing coolness of the water
from the heat of my day
and I give thanks
Sometimes......Instead of taking the DEEPEST BREATH ever and plunging in; I exhale
let my hair down
and realize
I am not sinking
Rather
I am on the ride of my life
the wind is in my face
the convertable top is down
my hands are in the air
I suck in the craziness of it all
Sometimes......Instead of being torn and tossed in three different directions; I allow the storm to be
silenced
with HIS WORD
Peace
and with great enjoyment
I watch and see
the life of each child unfold
each talent become revealed
each heart full of what HE has placed inside
And I marvel
That I was chosen to go along for the ride
and watch them thrive
It is then, I realize........Not SOMETIMES, but ALWAYS
I HAVE BEEN BLESSED!
Saturday, September 29, 2012
I Can't Thank Him Enough!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOuexCdmlys
I can't say thank you enough to my Lord Jesus! He has taken a young, self-loathing, angry, bitter, depressed, and addicted woman and He has set me free! He has set me alive and I am burning inside and there is nothing that can hold it in! Praise God! That is who I was and when I look back and see what I was and now who He is making me to be, I am filled with so much thankfullness! This song has been heavy on my mind this morning and speaks perfectly of what I am feeling inside!
I can't say thank you enough to my Lord Jesus! He has taken a young, self-loathing, angry, bitter, depressed, and addicted woman and He has set me free! He has set me alive and I am burning inside and there is nothing that can hold it in! Praise God! That is who I was and when I look back and see what I was and now who He is making me to be, I am filled with so much thankfullness! This song has been heavy on my mind this morning and speaks perfectly of what I am feeling inside!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Oh, How He Loves!
I am struck today by the overwhelming goodness of our Lord and Saviour. He has given everything, filled our mouths with good things, blessed our homes and our families, given us a land of freedom to live in. How He loves us! And yet, we often find ourselves so wrapped up in our lives, living for our comfort, our wants, our dreams, that we forget who God is, we forget what He has done, we forget to give Him all glory, all honor, all praise for who He is......and yet how He still loves us! How He still yearns for our hearts to be turned to Him! How He still desires us! He made us and He longs for relationship and fellowship with His creation. It is time for us to remember Him, to turn our hearts towards Him and to praise the one who has given us this life and breath through which we have opportunity to glorify Him and to bring glory to His name.
Hosea 10:11
12 Sow with a view to righteousness,
Reap in accordance with [l]kindness;
Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the Lord
Until He comes to [m]rain righteousness on you.How He Loves
Hosea 10:11
12 Sow with a view to righteousness,
Reap in accordance with [l]kindness;
Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the Lord
Until He comes to [m]rain righteousness on you.How He Loves
Friday, August 31, 2012
Rules, Regulations, Laws...........And Grace
So, I have been mulling over and pondering a question that was presented to me recently. The question was:
"If we are going to take the Bible literally, then why are there so many laws in the Bible we no longer obey? Shouldn't we obey those as well?"
It's a good question.
Sometimes, I hate questions like these, because they make me think......Sometimes, I love questions like these, for the same reason. They make me think. I have asked this question before myself. I have even had the answer explained to me. However, hearing the question again has made me really look closely at what I believe and why I believe it. And last night, as I lay in bed thinking about it again and pondering, God gave me the same answer given to me before. Except, this time, I really got it. It was beautiful.
All those rules, laws, and regulations were given and have been given to us for one reason. On our own, we are incapable of fulfilling them all perfectly. Well, at least I know for myself that I am incapable of being perfect in all of them. For a while, I might be able to be good, do the right thing, follow the letter of the law, and be moral. But it never lasts, cause I waver, compromise, and grow weak and tired of trying to be perfectly perfect all the time. I get an attitude. I break a rule. I find myself angry and harboring bitterness towards someone. I give into self-pity. I whine. I yell. I withdraw. I can't do it on my own. And that is the point. I can't do it on my own. I need something, I need someone greater than myself, greater than my own strength, greater than my own resolve; to do it for me. To be perfect for me. To cover me with a perfection I can never achieve on my own. All those laws were given to us, to show us how much we need a Saviour, we need Jesus. I have heard some say that Christians just use God as a crutch. We are weak and that is why we need a god.......But it is not a crutch. God is not a crutch. No, it is finally just being really honest with ourselves about who we are and who God is and how much we need Him. And it is at that point, the point where we realize we need something, someone greater than ourselves; when we turn to Jesus and cry out to Him cause we are finally at the end of our rope.......that grace comes in.
Last night, I had a reawakening of the beauty of God's grace. He knew I could never follow all those rules, laws, regulations. He knew I would fail, and fail, and fail again. He knew I couldn't do it. By the way, I love that about God. We always want to try it on our own first. Like a toddler, we say, "No, myself, I can do it all by myself!" And God, like the perfectly heavenly Father that He is says, "Sure, go for it." And He lets us try. He never forces us to trust Him or to need Him. He just always makes Himself available when we finally get to that point on our own. Anyway, God knew I couldn't be perfectly perfect, something I have striven for my whole entire life. So, instead of demanding perfection out of me, He offered me His grace. He looked at me torn up, beat up, tired, and weak from trying so hard to be perfect; and He said, "Stop. Let me cover you with my grace. Let me cover you with my forgiveness. Let me cover you with my perfection. Let me make you perfect, in Me and through Me. The struggle is over because I have overcome it all......for you." He is willing to cover me, to make me perfect even though He knows my every imperfection. He is willing to take me as I am.....sometimes obedient and sometimes still stumbling.......He has me covered. What sweet relief washed over my last night. He gave me a picture last night of a Bride. She was covered from head to toe in a beautiful, white, pure veil. He had covered her in perfection. He has covered me in His perfection and I have become perfect in Him because of who He is and what He chose to do for me on the cross.
What beauty, what love, what sacrifice, what grace, He has chosen to pour out to me. It no longer has to be a struggle to follow perfectly all the rules, all the regulations, all the laws......It is no longer a have to. Now it is a freedom of living in the very grace and perfection of Christ. When I entered into Him, I entered into His perfection. I no longer had to struggle and strive to be perfect enough for Him. He did that for me, when He covered me with His blood. I am now free to walk in His ways. Will I still make mistakes? Oh my word, yes. But, I am covered. Covered, by His grace, His perfection, His love. I know I have a responsibility still. I can't take His grace for granted and act however I want cause after all, I am covered. No. His grace frees me from my struggle of perfection and invites me to join Him in His perfection. It invites me to daily listen to His voice and to be led by His Spirit and to walk with Him, not led by have to's and rules, but led by a relationship with Him. I need Him and He has covered me!
"If we are going to take the Bible literally, then why are there so many laws in the Bible we no longer obey? Shouldn't we obey those as well?"
It's a good question.
Sometimes, I hate questions like these, because they make me think......Sometimes, I love questions like these, for the same reason. They make me think. I have asked this question before myself. I have even had the answer explained to me. However, hearing the question again has made me really look closely at what I believe and why I believe it. And last night, as I lay in bed thinking about it again and pondering, God gave me the same answer given to me before. Except, this time, I really got it. It was beautiful.
All those rules, laws, and regulations were given and have been given to us for one reason. On our own, we are incapable of fulfilling them all perfectly. Well, at least I know for myself that I am incapable of being perfect in all of them. For a while, I might be able to be good, do the right thing, follow the letter of the law, and be moral. But it never lasts, cause I waver, compromise, and grow weak and tired of trying to be perfectly perfect all the time. I get an attitude. I break a rule. I find myself angry and harboring bitterness towards someone. I give into self-pity. I whine. I yell. I withdraw. I can't do it on my own. And that is the point. I can't do it on my own. I need something, I need someone greater than myself, greater than my own strength, greater than my own resolve; to do it for me. To be perfect for me. To cover me with a perfection I can never achieve on my own. All those laws were given to us, to show us how much we need a Saviour, we need Jesus. I have heard some say that Christians just use God as a crutch. We are weak and that is why we need a god.......But it is not a crutch. God is not a crutch. No, it is finally just being really honest with ourselves about who we are and who God is and how much we need Him. And it is at that point, the point where we realize we need something, someone greater than ourselves; when we turn to Jesus and cry out to Him cause we are finally at the end of our rope.......that grace comes in.
Last night, I had a reawakening of the beauty of God's grace. He knew I could never follow all those rules, laws, regulations. He knew I would fail, and fail, and fail again. He knew I couldn't do it. By the way, I love that about God. We always want to try it on our own first. Like a toddler, we say, "No, myself, I can do it all by myself!" And God, like the perfectly heavenly Father that He is says, "Sure, go for it." And He lets us try. He never forces us to trust Him or to need Him. He just always makes Himself available when we finally get to that point on our own. Anyway, God knew I couldn't be perfectly perfect, something I have striven for my whole entire life. So, instead of demanding perfection out of me, He offered me His grace. He looked at me torn up, beat up, tired, and weak from trying so hard to be perfect; and He said, "Stop. Let me cover you with my grace. Let me cover you with my forgiveness. Let me cover you with my perfection. Let me make you perfect, in Me and through Me. The struggle is over because I have overcome it all......for you." He is willing to cover me, to make me perfect even though He knows my every imperfection. He is willing to take me as I am.....sometimes obedient and sometimes still stumbling.......He has me covered. What sweet relief washed over my last night. He gave me a picture last night of a Bride. She was covered from head to toe in a beautiful, white, pure veil. He had covered her in perfection. He has covered me in His perfection and I have become perfect in Him because of who He is and what He chose to do for me on the cross.
What beauty, what love, what sacrifice, what grace, He has chosen to pour out to me. It no longer has to be a struggle to follow perfectly all the rules, all the regulations, all the laws......It is no longer a have to. Now it is a freedom of living in the very grace and perfection of Christ. When I entered into Him, I entered into His perfection. I no longer had to struggle and strive to be perfect enough for Him. He did that for me, when He covered me with His blood. I am now free to walk in His ways. Will I still make mistakes? Oh my word, yes. But, I am covered. Covered, by His grace, His perfection, His love. I know I have a responsibility still. I can't take His grace for granted and act however I want cause after all, I am covered. No. His grace frees me from my struggle of perfection and invites me to join Him in His perfection. It invites me to daily listen to His voice and to be led by His Spirit and to walk with Him, not led by have to's and rules, but led by a relationship with Him. I need Him and He has covered me!
Friday, August 10, 2012
Surrender
Surrender......I have been struck this past week, as I have read through parts of Jeremiah, with the message of surrender. A couple of times I came across scripture that spoke of how God told the Isrealites that if they surrender themselves to their enemies they will be saved. But, if they remained in their city they would perish. Doesn't make sense, really. To surrender to the enemy. In order to be saved. They weren't really being asked to surrender to the enemy, though. God was asking them to trust Him and surrender themselves to Him because He was using their enemy to bring judgment on the Isrealites for their disobedience. He was asking them to still trust Him as He administered discipline. Wow! That is hard to do. It is hard to surrender, to trust, to still obey when God takes me through the consequences of my disobedience. Sometimes I want to fight Him more, I get angry at Him, I don't want to surrender. And yet He is doing only what any loving Father will do......He allows His children to suffer the consequences of their actions, He allows us to learn the lesson He knows we need to learn in order to grow and to mature. Sometimes, for those of us that are thick headed, it is the only way we learn!
Today, as I was reading again in Jeremiah, I came across another section of verses this morning. God was saying, how many times! How many times do I have to tell you and yet you do not listen!! Where have I heard that before? Out of my own mouth, directed at my own children, in utter frustration! Let me preface this by saying, my God is a good God, slow to anger, merciful, patient, full of grace, and abounding in love. However, He is also a just God and a perfect Father. God does not ask us to be obedient so that He can be authoritative, scare us into hell, hold us under His thumb. No, He asks us to be obedient because He loves us, He knows what is best for us, He has a perfect plan for us, He sees and understands what we can't see and what we can't understand. With His gentle voice He asks us to follow Him to those green pastures in which He delights to give to us. But in order to follow Him, we have to surrender. We can't do both....follow Him and go our own way and follow our own understanding. And when we don't choose to surrender......well He does what a perfect heavenly Father does and He allows us and gives us over to the consequences that go along with the path we have chosen for ourselves. I believe it pains His heart to see His beloved suffer, but He also knows that to save us from the consequences would be an injustice to us.
Just like with my children. I see and know more than they see and know. I know what is best for them. I desire to give them good gifts and to watch them live a life of blessing. However, when they disobey over and over again, the most loving thing I can do is allow them to suffer the consequences of their choices even if it is painful for me to watch and carry through on. I don't lord myself over them just so I can feel in charge! No, I love them and I guide them. But when they don't accept that guidance.......
I don't know if this is making any sense, but what I feel coming through over and over as I read through Jeremiah is surrender. Surrender Melody. Surrender it all to me. Trust Me. I have got it covered. Follow my voice and I will guide you to those green pastures. Trust me as we may walk through rocky paths, but don't get scared and run off because you think you know a better way. It will only lead to destruction. Follow Me. Surrender yourself to Me and you will find life. You will find abundant life! You will find rest for your soul. Surrender.
Today, as I was reading again in Jeremiah, I came across another section of verses this morning. God was saying, how many times! How many times do I have to tell you and yet you do not listen!! Where have I heard that before? Out of my own mouth, directed at my own children, in utter frustration! Let me preface this by saying, my God is a good God, slow to anger, merciful, patient, full of grace, and abounding in love. However, He is also a just God and a perfect Father. God does not ask us to be obedient so that He can be authoritative, scare us into hell, hold us under His thumb. No, He asks us to be obedient because He loves us, He knows what is best for us, He has a perfect plan for us, He sees and understands what we can't see and what we can't understand. With His gentle voice He asks us to follow Him to those green pastures in which He delights to give to us. But in order to follow Him, we have to surrender. We can't do both....follow Him and go our own way and follow our own understanding. And when we don't choose to surrender......well He does what a perfect heavenly Father does and He allows us and gives us over to the consequences that go along with the path we have chosen for ourselves. I believe it pains His heart to see His beloved suffer, but He also knows that to save us from the consequences would be an injustice to us.
Just like with my children. I see and know more than they see and know. I know what is best for them. I desire to give them good gifts and to watch them live a life of blessing. However, when they disobey over and over again, the most loving thing I can do is allow them to suffer the consequences of their choices even if it is painful for me to watch and carry through on. I don't lord myself over them just so I can feel in charge! No, I love them and I guide them. But when they don't accept that guidance.......
I don't know if this is making any sense, but what I feel coming through over and over as I read through Jeremiah is surrender. Surrender Melody. Surrender it all to me. Trust Me. I have got it covered. Follow my voice and I will guide you to those green pastures. Trust me as we may walk through rocky paths, but don't get scared and run off because you think you know a better way. It will only lead to destruction. Follow Me. Surrender yourself to Me and you will find life. You will find abundant life! You will find rest for your soul. Surrender.
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