God has touched our family.

Joyce Meyer often says that if you're surrounded by people who aren't believers, just keep on believing, but don't push it in their faces. Eventually they'll want to join the party. Well, my family has always been Christians, but so many of them, weren't excited for Christ. Neither was I until the last couple years. Well, my sister Rachael and I have been having this awesome party and slowly but surely the rest of my family has joined us in some form or another. To me, the most exciting part is my parents. My relationship with them has changed dramatically. Almost every time we talk, in person or on the phone, we say "I Love You", 3 words that hardly ever passed through our lips to one another, it was always implied, or saved for "special occasions". The other awesome thing that has changed is we all talk openly and freely about God and our faith. We share excitements about heaven, personal struggles to keep in the Faith, and questions we may have about the bible. We share verses to help one another through a tough time or verses of praise when it applies. It's so wonderful to have so many loved ones on the same journey. We can only help each other grow in our faith, and if we should stumble along the way, there's plenty of us to help pick each other up. Our God, is an Awesome God!!!

Jesus is the reason for the season

Taken from an article in the USA Today, "Christmas without the specter of the cross, without awareness that this is a baby born to die for mankind's sins, is a fancied-up fraud", says Horton, professor of theology and apologetics at Westminster Seminary California, and associate pastor at Christ United Reformed Church in Santee, Calif.

This is something that Pastor David at my church has preached both this Sunday and last, that if you don't see the cross through the Nativity, you've completely missed the message. I think so often even us as Christians who KNOW that Jesus, a sinless man, was crucified for our sins, tend to forget all that and get all "gooey" at the thought of Jesus as a baby. Not until Easter time rolls around do we consider the reason Jesus came to this earth. I think it's important to remember that at Christmas time too. Christmas is more than Jesus being born, even as a baby He was our Savior and He had only one purpose for coming to this world, to be crucified. Make sure you have the big picture in mind next time you see a Nativity, make sure you see the cross in the shadow of it.

Mary

With it being the Christmas season, of course the story of the birth of Jesus is in the forefront of our minds, but until this year, I never really gave much thought about Mary. There's a song that you may have heard, called "Mary Did You Know" and one of the verses says, "when you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God". Wow!!! She got to kiss the face of God, and kiss it often, and to watch Him take His first step and speak His first words. Can you imagine what a HUGE sense of responsibility Mary must have felt. I think of how

overwhelming the task that lay ahead of me felt when I had my first child, and I cannot imagine how much more daunting the task may have seemed to her. To have God entrust the care of His Son to her must've humbled her and terrified her all at the same time. I wonder if she fully understood what the role of her Son was to be, that she was giving birth to our Savior. That God was sending Him to this sinful world to die so that we can live. Mary must've been an extraordinary woman for God to have chosen her to be our Saviors mother.

A season of giving?

This time of year is known as "The Season of Giving". This has always bothered me. Why is it that at ONE time each year we suddenly find it in our hearts to give to those less fortunate? Do we think they only need to eat once a year? They only wear clothes at Christmas time? Matthew 25: 31-46 is a parable, where it tells us that ".....whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." No where in those verses does it say we need to be generous and kind and caring ONLY at Christmas time. What a mess our lives would be if Christmas time was the only time God decided to be generous, kind and caring to us. We need to remember that we may celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th, but that it was only the beginning of the celebration, and we're still waiting for the end. The celebration continues all through the year, and year after year, until that glorious day when all of those that love the Lord and claim Him as their Savior will get to dance at His feet.

Very Excited!

Our church is setting up a new website and I have been asked to be the "one voice" of it. I essentially will be the editor. I'm very excited about this opportunity and I really look forward to serving God in this new avenue. When the site is up and live I will pass along the link for all of you to see. If you've read previous posts you know just how much I love my church and what a truly moving place of worship it is. I would love for all of you that don't already attend my church to make a point to come and visit. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Fireproof Lesson

Today Jerry and I went and saw the movie Fireproof. We have friends who had seen it before us and warned us that the acting was poor but the message was great. This proved to be true on both accounts. If you're not familiar with this movie, it's about a husband and wife whose marriage is failing and the lengths that the husband takes, with encouragement from his father, and from God, to save the marriage.

It basically boils down to treating each other with respect and that loving one another is much more than just saying the words, you must do actions as well. However you must do them with your heart, not just go through the motions so you can say you tried. Jerry and I have an awesome marriage, we are truly a partnership and each others best friends. We respect one another and we communicate very well. We think so much alike sometimes that it's down right scary. God blessed us when he brought us together and we thank him continually for that. Part of our marriage is doing things for each other just because we know it will make the other one happy.

One day one of my kids asked why we always have to have "those kinds of french fries", my reply "cause that's what your dad likes". Until she said, "how come we always have to have what dad likes?", I hadn't even realized I was making those adjustments to the way I did things. I just did them.

The same lesson applies to the life of a Christian, you cannot truly call yourself a Christian if you don't live the life of one through your words and your actions. After having committed my life to the Lord I find that things that I had done previously, I cringe at the thought of doing them now. I'm not talking major things, but small things, "french fries" if you will. Swearing is one that I have issue with now, not only from my own mouth, but hearing it from others as well. Gossip is still one that I struggle with because it's so easy to fall into, but I no longer do it so freely, and find myself getting a sick stomach if I get pulled into it and try to back out of it as soon as I realize what's happening. Hopefully I'll eventually make these adjustments to my life just as easily as I made the adjustment to what kind of french fries my family eats and do it without giving it a second thought.

Vicious Cycle

I feel like I'm in this vicious cycle of closeness with God. I go through seasons where I feel I am where I should be in my walk with the Lord, then there are other times, like now, that I feel like I'm so far away from Him. There are times when I feel I can't read my bible enough, I can't pray enough and I can't praise Him enough and I love those times. However, there are times, like now, when I just don't feel the pull to do those things. As I've mentioned before I am not very good at self discipline, and this is one of those times when I really wish I was better at it. I know that if I was, and I was just in the discipline of sitting down every day to spend some devotional time with Him, that I may not have times like this, or as dramatic as this feels anyways. It just seems that there's always something that gets in the way. I have good intentions but good intentions aren't enough.

One of the things that I'm going to do is talk to my wonderful, God fearing husband, who has incredible self discipline,to see if we can set up some time each day, preferably in the morning, to do a devotion and pray together. Hopefully that one constant will help me to learn to be more disciplined and maybe help me break this vicious cycle.

Are you surrounded by Christians?

Something I've discovered in the last year or so, is that I'm surrounded by Christians. People I've known for years, yet never knew they were Christians. Since I have started letting my love for God shine forth, I have found that there are many others that have a love for God as well. Why is it as Christians we're so hesitant to tell others about this? All the awesome things He does for all of us every single moment of every single day, and we can't pay Him the respect of speaking His name to others. Now I'm not saying you've gotta preach a sermon to everyone. However, I've found that just a simple sentence starter like "Boy God sure blessed me today by....." or "I've been praying about....." or "God must've really wanted me to.....". These are not big announcements, but these are things that I share with people now all the time just in every day conversation. I give Him His credit when it is due to Him, which is ALL the time. In doing so I have found many brothers and sisters in Christ and I'm so happy to know that I AM surrounded by Christians. It's just a shame that we're all so afraid or unwilling to share that with others for fear of being rejected. If they should reject us because we have a love for God, do we really want to have a close relationship with them anyways? It also opens the doors for us to see those who need our prayers, if they only knew what they were missing!I challenge you to wear your love for God on your sleeve and let the whole world see it. You too may be surrounded by Christians!

Never Underestimate God

I work at a furniture store and, just as the economy has affected many other businesses that provide unessential services, it has affected us as well. I love my job, it's nearly perfect for me! This is a small family owned and run company and I've known the owners for roughly 20 years or so. It would make me sad on many levels if this store should have to close. So each day on my way to work I pray that God will bring me customers that want to buy and that don't have to finance anything. I've been a little frustrated because He hasn't done that much lately, if at all. Today is no different in the sales department, BUT, as I'm looking at the money we took in today, it's nearly $2000.00!!!! I haven't sold a thing today, but 2 people came in and paid off their layaway, and 1 person made a payment on it. I was so excited, so I said out loud, "Wooo Hooo, go God, that works too!!" This will prove that God has a sense of humor cause He actually answered me with an "I know". LOL So if you ever think that God isn't answering your prayers, maybe you're just not looking at it in the right way, maybe He is, but He's doing it His way, not yours!

The Bible Experience

The post below has prompted me to look into the Bible on cd. Now the Bible on cd isn't an inexpensive purchase so I needed to do some research before I bought one. As I've found out through listening to different podcasts, if I find the voice annoying or grating it doesn't matter what the person is talking about, I won't listen to it. My searching brought me to The Bible Experience. I wanted an audio Bible that was going to hold my attention and suck me in. I really believe that this will do just that! Just watching the video on the website blew me away. I cannot wait to get this in the mail, it can't come quickly enough!!

Thank God for Technology

I've been struggling this week with some issues of Vertigo which makes reading anything impossible. Especially the small, close together print of my bible. I've really been missing it alot. Well this morning in church Pastor Dave said in his sermon "what if we could Google God?" He meant, what if there was a search engine that God was the one that gave the answers, that if we typed in a question, God would answer it. That would be so awesome, and scary as well, I'm not sure I want to know the answers to some of my questions. Which got me to thinking, DUH!!!! I may not be able to sit down and read my bible myself but there are COUNTLESS places on the internet that I can go to that will feed my soul with scriptures and sermons. So here all this time I've been feeling starved for God when there was no reason to be. Itunes even has a podcast of the bible!! Never forget what an awesome tool God has given us in the internet, it can do countless things for us if we use it right.

The Breath of God.

The Breath of God, this is something that us Christians have heard often, from the story of creation, where God breathed His breath into Adam to give him life, to the New Testament where God breaths on the disciples to fill them with the Holy Spirit.

However, have you ever REALLY thought about this? God, the Almighty, Powerful, risen Savior, whom loves us more deeply than we can imagine, has filled us with HIS breath, the very breath that He breaths. It gives me goosebumps to think that every time I feel the power of the Holy Spirit working in me it is truly the breath of the one true God that is working in me. Wow!! It humbles me to think that something that we do all day long and give no thought to, just breathing in and out, something that seems rather insignificant and nothing we give much thought to unless we have difficulty doing it. However when God breaths into us we are filled with such an overwhelming sense of awe and the true power of God, simply by His breath, something so small, something we don't give much thought to. If this is what God can do just by breathing, WOW, we can't even begin to imagine what other things He can do.

God's Love

As Christians, we all know well the verse of John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life". The first time I learned that verse I was in Sunday school as a child. At the time I truly did not understand the magnitude of that verse. Now as a parent, that verse, and what God did for us, unclean sinners, is truly mind blowing. I would like to think that I have enough faith and trust and love for God that if He asked, I would do the same for Him. However I know in my heart of hearts, that I would once again fail Him, because I couldn't do it. I can remember the story in the bible where God tests Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his only son, how appalled I was the first time I heard it. I distinctly remember feeling sick to my stomach up until the time it was revealed to me that God spared Isaac.

As a parent we see our children through sickness and cuts and scrapes, and heartaches and difficulties and those are heart wrenching to us. I can remember when all of my children were babies, crying when ever they got shots because it made them cry. And here I was as their protector, their parent, taking them to the person who was inflicting pain upon them. This year my son has had mono twice and each time it just broke my heart to see him so ill and there was nothing I could do to change that.

I think of all these things that I have endured as a parent, and all the things that I will have to endure as they continue to grow. All of these things seem so insignificant and unimportant in comparison to the pain and agony God must've felt as He sent His only Son to die for people who are unclean and unworthy. Furthermore, knowing full well all the time He was in heaven watching His Son grow up on earth, and take all the necessary steps that would ultimately lead to His agonizing, gruesome death, that He alone had the power to stop it all from happening. He could have spared Him, He could have stopped His Child's pain. Yet, because He loves us SO much He didn't, He watched His son die for us. This humbles me to the very core of my existence. The outpouring of love that God has for us is so big that it is beyond words, indescribable, and awesome. So the next time someone tells you "God loves you", try to remember just how MUCH, He loves you.

Pandora

As I've mentioned in previous posts, music is an important part of my worship experience. It helps me feel close to God all day long. Now that I'm working, listening to good Christian music all day l is a little harder. However, there is this website called Pandora that is just wonderful! It's a free site and you can set up your own "radio station". You type in the artists that you like and it will play their music and others like them. You can then decide whether you like those songs or not and tell them to keep it in the play list or take it out. I have several different "stations" set up that I listen to depending on my mood. They have all different genre's, and it's wonderful. Check it out sometime, I'm not affiliated with it at all, I just love it.

3am prayers

I woke up this morning at 3am and the prayers just wouldn't shut off. I tossed and turned and tried to fall back to sleep, but it just wasn't going to happen. I love it when God makes the decision for me that I need to talk to Him, but why at 3am? Sometimes He doesn't have the kind of timing I'd like Him to have. So what else could I do, but get up, give into the prayers and read my bible. As servants of God I think we need to be ready to serve Him at anytime, anywhere and anyhow that He instructs us to. I just hope He lets me sleep tonight, I'm tired.

Great Quote

Every morning I receive a womans devotional in my inbox. I have it mailed to me from a website called Crosswalk. There are other devotionals there that you can have sent to your inbox plus alot of other information as well.

This morning there was a quote in my devotional that really struck me and it's something that I think that most Christians have to remember to do on a daily basis. "If God is your co-pilot, switch seats". How profound! So often we try to run our lives ourselves and simply turn to Him after we've tried to do it all ourselves and failed miserably. If only we'd a let him steer from the beginning things would run so much smoother, much less turbulence. Do you need to switch seats today?

Eli Stone

Eli Stone is a show that is on ABC on Tuesday evenings. This show started last year and the new season started last night. If you're not familiar with the show, the premise is that Eli is a lawyer that has visions that are thought to be caused by an aneurysm in his head. These visions guide him to the cases he's supposed to take and how to win them. Its a good comedy and drama, and basically a wholesome show. Last years season kind of toyed with the idea that these visions he saw were some how "divine intervention", help from a higher place. Well in last nights season opener, they came right out and said that these visions were sent to him by God. WOW God on prime time television!!! I'm not so sure that God works quite that way, but I do know that He can talk to us, and that we should listen when He does. I don't know much about the writers of this show and their religious affiliations, but I have to say it's nice to see His name being spoken on prime time tv. I'm no tv critic, but I've enjoyed this show from the very first episode, and if you're not doing anything next Tuesday night, check it out.

Bible Knowledge

This weekend I went to yet another womens conference, it was awesome! What a great group of inspirational women. One thing struck me this weekend though is how they all seemed to just pull bible verses right out of the air. I've never been very good at memorization so this is something that has eluded me. However, it's something I long for, to KNOW the bible and to be able to quote scripture when I need to. Not only what the verses say, but being able to know where the came from as well. I really want to have the word of God right on the tip of my tongue, I want to have it written on my heart. This is something I have started to pray for, that God will give me the ability and to open my mind to be able to learn and memorize his word. If any of you that read my blog have any tips or hints to help me to better learn to memorize please leave me a comment and let me know what it is.

Hunger for Alone Time

A few things have come into my life recently that have prompted me to crave alone time with God. One of the awesome things that Beth Moore has challenged the participants of the Stepping Up bible study is to get down on your face before God each day to pray. If you've never done this, you should, it's a very powerful way to pray. You are coming before your Lord, in the most humble of positions, coming to Him to give Him your all. I also made a very special connection to God at the Joyce Meyer convention and now feel that so much closer with Him than before the convention. Because of these 2 experiences I find that I long for the quiet and the solitude that rarely comes through out my day to get down on my face and Praise Him. I'm very excited about where this next portion of my journey will lead me. I also thank God each and every day that I have my husband and my sister to share this journey with me. They are such a wonderful support to me and they share my excitement for the Lord. I love that He has surrounded me with such awesome people. I pray that I am as much of a support for them as they are for me.

Creating For God

Since last years Joyce Meyer Convention, I've been trying to figure out just how I'm supposed to be using my art to honor and praise God. I kept thinking that I was maybe supposed to donate my art to things, or maybe I was supposed to do religious art. Neither of which was happening. Nothing presented itself to donate to, and I'm not real good at the religious art kind of thing, maybe something will come to me at some point, but so far it hasn't. So I've been praying, asking God how I'm supposed to use this talent He's blessed me with for His Glory. Well this wknd at the convention, He spoke to me so loudly that there was no way that I could deny what He said. From now on, 1/2 of the proceeds from any sale of any of my art work will go to God. He left out the part of HOW that was supposed to happen, ie; what charity or what have you, so I'm gonna have to pray some more on that. So, now I'm all that more excited about setting up my etsy shop and getting things listed. Only good things can happen!!!

Relentless in St. Louis!!!

Praise the Lord!!!! What an AMAZING 3 days!!! I cannot even begin to put into words just how moving the Joyce Meyer Women's Convention was. This year I took my 3 daughters with me, also, both of my sisters came along, my mom, 2 good friends, a cousin and her daughter and an Aunt. 4 of our group, personally accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and they did it with such determination, absolutely NO hesitation what so ever!!! Amen!!!! My mom, wow, she's been a God fearing woman for years, but I think a bit reserved about it, unsure of it all. This weekend, I think she even surprised herself. She raised her arms in Praise and Worship right along with everyone else and as often happens when the Lord does a good work in you, she cried alot this weekend.

Now, I mentioned that I took my 3 girls with me, they are 3 amazing girls at that! Paige and Melissa probably weren't quite ready for this type of thing, 3 days of worship was a bit much for them. Even though they're 14 & 15, they just aren't quite ready for that much. Kellie on the other hand, she just soaked it all in!!! The very first night, as we were walking back to the hotel, I asked her what she thought. She looked at me and said "Honestly, that was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced"!!! Blew me away to hear her say that. God is Awesome!!

Other than Joyce, Lisa Beviere and Creflo Dollar were speakers. They were awesome. Creflo started us off on Thursday night, very powerful, very funny, uplifting speaker!! Lisa was just amazing as well! What was so awesome about her message was that she spoke about daughters, mothers, grandmothers and sisters. How incredibly fitting for the dynamics of our group this year.

I am just floating on a spiritual high right now and I'm so excited that I have yet another womens convention coming up this next weekend in Rockford. I can't wait!!!

New Bible Study

Last week I started my 2nd ever Beth Moore women's bible study. If you're not familiar with her, she's wonderful. However, if you're not prepared for her, the first introduction to her may be a tad overwhelming. She's small but mighty!!! She's got so much love and excitement for the Lord it just radiates from her. Her excitement to share all of this with others is over the top. She's infectious though, you can't help but want a little bit of what she's got.

I'm very excited about this one, and miraculously it comes at a time in my life when I truly need it. This one is the study of the Psalms of Assent, 120-134. In the introduction of this series Beth says that this is a study of happiness, that these Psalms are truly happy. She said, if you're in a dark place and need to see the light, these Psalms will do that for you. Praise the Lord!!! In the last month or so, I've been in the darkest place I've ever been in my life and am so happy to be seeing the light, this will just help solidify my foundation. Even though I shouldn't be amazed, because He does it so often, but I can't help it, I'm amazed again that God knows just what I need just when I need it.

Are you there God? It's me, Lisa.

Do you ever have times in your life that even though you're still doing all the right things, praying, reading your bible, living right, you just feel like God is busy with someone else? Now, obviously I KNOW He's here, He's with me, heck, He's even watching me type this post and probably shaking His head at me for it. I think it's just because of all the turmoil that has been going on in my life as of late that I'm feeling like I just can't seem to reach Him. I'm reminded often though, when my thoughts get like that, of that famous poem, Footprints, where God carries us through times of trouble and only one set of Footprints show up in the sand. I'm certain that I wouldn't be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel that I am now, if it weren't for God carrying me through the tough times. So I will continue seeking His face and I know that my season will come again. I think God takes advantage of these kinds of challenges in our life to make sure that we will still turn to Him even when we don't feel His immediate presence. That we will love Him unconditionally, not just for what He can do for us.

Here's a video on You Tube that reminds us that God's Love is never ending, it's about 4 minutes long, I hope you'll take the time to watch.

Living a Life of Discipline

Hebrews 12:11 says: No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, for those who have been trained by it, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace. Self imposed discipline is not something I've ever been really good at. Oh sure, I can do it as long as I have someone to do it with me, but leave me to my own devices and I fail miserably every time. This verse has come up a couple times in the last few weeks in different avenues of my life and each time it has given me pause because I know it's something I struggle with. Tonight it came up in the Financial Peace University Seminar that Jerry and I are going through at our church. Separately neither one of us are good at self discipline, but hopefully together we can do this and be successful.

The Revelation Song

Holy, Holy, Holy Is the Lord God Almighty

Who was, and is, and is to come

With all creation I sing: Praise to the King of Kings!

You are my everything,

And I will adore You…!

This is one of the newer songs we've been singing at church and it is just so moving to me. You cannot help but raise your hands and just praise our Lord Jesus Christ with every thing you have in you. If you're interested, you can see/hear it on You Tube. Thank you Jesus for giving us music that we may use it to praise Your Holy Name and to give You thanks for all you have done for us.

Keeping My Focus

There has been so much going on in my life right now, most of it very stressful. I know that satan is a foot and just dancing for joy at my stress and frustration. I try so hard to keep my focus on God who I know can save me from this, who can ease my fears and frustration and stress. I'm surprised how hard this actually is, it's so easy just to give into the pit and want to crawl into bed and stay there. However, I have awesome people in my life that remind me constantly to turn to God and to keep reading my bible and praying and knowing that God will prevail. I just keep speaking aloud to satan and letting him know that he has no place here, that my God is the almighty God, all powerful and He has control of my life and my heart and my thoughts. Life will return to normal and things will become less stressful soon, in the mean time, I pray without ceasing.

Only Praise Allowed

This summer Jerry and I participated in a Life Action Seminar and it was wonderful, it taught us many things. One of the things that we learned was to pray with out asking God for anything! To pray but only to Praise Him and give Him thanks. So often when we come to Him in prayer it's only because we have needs and want Him to solve our problems and voice our complaints. As a mom I know how irritating it becomes when the only time your children come to you is to ask you to do this, or take them here, or fix that. However, occasionally one of them will come to me just to give me a hug and tell me they love me. Some how that makes all the catering to their wants and needs worth it. Just that reaffirmation that they need me for something other than to fix it, take them, or do this. I think God feels that way too. We bombard Him with our needs and wants and forget that He needs to just be worshiped and praised and thanked. Give it a try sometime.

Woke With A Psalm In My Head

Isn't it awesome how God works? In the post below you can see that I am just really struggling with being patient and trusting in the Lord and really leaning on Him. Yesterday morning I woke up and before my eyes had even fully focused Psalm 23 popped into my head. This is one of the few passages I vaguely remember memorizing in school when I was in 2nd grade. I don't always remember it word for word but can usually recite most of it, especially if I say it with someone else. What an awesome Psalm, and then of course it lead me to read a few Psalms after it. What a renewed strength and spirit it gave me to read that no matter what God is there for me and He WILL provide. In my head and my heart I always know that God will take care of us if only we cast our cares upon Him. Sometimes though that "human" factor sneaks in there and we want control. My having control isn't exactly working for us. LOL Thank you David for giving us such a wonderful book, thank you God for loving us.

Why is this so hard?

We've made some adjustments in our life in the last few months and we feel they're all for the better. The biggest thing we've done is taken a long hard look at our finances and the way that we're spending our money. We also started tithing, we WANT to tithe! Thats the one check or online payment that I write out every pay period that doesn't make me sick to my stomach. I know that God will bless us ten fold and I KNOW that He will provide for us. However, does He have to cut it so close??? I am more stressed out about our money and our finances now than I was before we decided to reign things in and start really paying attention to how and where we spend our money. I know that I am supposed to trust Him and believe that He will provide, and I do, however, it's so scary right now! When I've paid all the bills and there's nothing left it freaks me out! I've done a whole lot of praying as of late on the subject of money that I probably sound like a broken record. I'm not asking to be rich, I just want enough. Thank God that the Financial Peace Seminar is starting soon at church cause I certainly need some Financial Peace!

Who Am I Worshipping For?

Oh Boy! I've been thinking on this post since Sunday. Pastor Dave really hit home with me during his sermon and I've been feeling convicted ever since. He said that Worship isn't about how it makes US feel, it's all about God. Then as if that wasn't bad enough, he had to drive it home with a video about it as well. I walked out of there humbled in shame in front of my Lord.

Don't get me wrong, when I praise God, I praise Him with all my heart, soul and mind. However, I know that I have ulterior motives to it sometimes as well. I know that I love the way it makes ME FEEL when I praise Him. Sometimes if I have been feeling low I'll think, I know, I just need to praise God and play Christian music and sing and pray and then I will feel better. Now, I know, the important part is that I praise Him and that I come to Him in prayer and praise, however, I also know that if I am completely honest with myself I also do it because it makes me feel good.

Here in lies a bit of a catch 22 though if you will, it's just a natural occurrence, for me at least, spending time with God DOES make you feel good, it can't be helped. So now I struggle with making sure that my time with Him is ALL for Him and not for me!

Excited for Melissa

Melissa is my youngest daughter, she just turned 14 this summer. I mentioned in a previous post how she was my most difficult one to reach as far as the church aspect goes. Yesterday was a lock-in at our church for the middle school kids. When we saw that in our church bulletin I had told Melissa that she could invite up to 5 friends and I would pick them up and take them home. Well she asked a few friends and then we forgot about it till about 2 hours before it was time to go. So she hurriedly called her friends again and asked if they could go, but they too had forgotten about it and couldn't. I was bummed and so sure she wasn't going to go then since she didn't have anyone she really knew to go with her. I asked her if she still wanted to go and her reply was "duh!" LOL Which if you don't speak teenage, means "of course mom!". So we got her some snacks, her pillow and blanket and set off for the church. I've got to go pick her up in a couple hours and I'm sure she most likely hasn't slept much, but I do hope she had a good time and made some good relationships with the other kids at church.

Application

One of the reasons I love listening to Andy Stanley from North Point Community Church is because he's so good at explaining how to apply the word of God to my every day life. He doesn't just read from the bible and close in prayer. He tells us what the word of God is saying to us, and then how to take those words and live them. I think part of my initial aversion to the bible was that not only did I find it confusing, I never quit understood how what I read in the bible translated over to my life. (Well, the 10 commandments were easy cause they don't really need to be explained, they pretty much tell you what to do or not do.) The bible, for me anyways, seems to have so much grey area. I pray each time I read my bible that God will bless His words onto my heart and help me to apply them to my every day life. I truely do want to live my life as He wants me to.

This morning I listed to a message on the North Point website about applying Gods word to our life. Andy said it's not enough to just listen and know the word of God, but we have to apply it to our life as well. He used the analogy of a can of paint. A can of paint does you no good till you open it and get paint on your paint brush and apply it to the surface. I pray that my life will come alive with color as I apply Gods words to my life.

Feeling The Presence of God

Today is my 4oth birthday, I've been very apprehensive about this birthday, not being too thrilled about turning 40. Guess I'm afraid of "aging", of being "old". I know the old adage, you're only as old as you feel, and I don't FEEL old, so my only guess is that it must be looking old that is getting me down. Now, I also know that I look better now than I have in years. *(a little side note for those of you that do not know me, in the last 2 years I've lost 50 lbs)*. So anyways, I know it's not a rational thing, but back to where I was going with this post. Being my 40th bday, I'm treating myself a bit today and I'm typing this while I sit at Caribou Coffee where I've been for the last 2 hours. As I sit here, I'm at one of the tables by the window and I can see the lake from here. One of my favorite things, having coffee and looking out over the lake. What a great way to start the day! As I sit here I cannot help but hear the cacophony of various conversations around me. Want to know whats so awesome about that? There is an older gentleman talking w/ a younger man about God and how much easier life is when you walk hand in hand, arm in arm with Him. There's also a group of 3 gentleman talking about God, in regards to their every day life and activities. I get the feeling that they're business men of some kind. So not only am I graced by the beauty of His creation, I'm also surrounded by the melodious sound of His name being spoken. What an awesome country we live in that we can gather in public places and speak His name without fear. Our God IS an awesome God!!!

Feeling Convicted.

Sometimes when I read my bible, I read from a specific book that I'm working through, other times I just open it and start reading. Yesterday morning was one of those, open it and read mornings. I read Proverbs 24. When I got to vs. 30 it opened my eyes a bit, but I didn't give it a whole lot of thought. It basically says don't be lazy, don't lay around taking naps all day because it will get you nothing but a dirt poor life. This struck me a bit cause in a way, this has been something I've been struggling with. I've gotten out of my usual exercise routine and because of that have less energy. So I find that I'm spending way too much time in the recliner with my laptop on my lap. Feeling twinges of guilt for the things that I really should be doing. However, once I closed the bible I didn't give it much more thought.

Well last night, I picked up my bible again before bed, something I rarely do because I tend to feel guilty if I fall asleep while reading it LOL However, I thought, just one chapter. So I pick it up, open it and read, not realizing I'm reading the same thing I read just that morning until I get to vs. 30 again. It's telling me once again, not to be lazy, not to spend my day napping and lounging around, to get up and be productive. So this time I pay attention and I highlight those last few verses. Ok God, you've got my attention, I'm listening.

So this morning comes and I'm going to read my next chapter in Matthew that I'm working through right now, so I open my bible to turn to Matthew and you'll never guess what page it opens up to, yep, Proverbs 24!! Ok God, I get it!! I'm posting this and getting out of the recliner and getting to work!

Go God Go!!!

Ok so how awesome is this!!!! If you've read previous posts you know about how my sister and I went to the Joyce Meyer Womens Conference last fall, just her and I, just the TWO of us. This year, just the TWO of us, has turned into SIXTEEN of us!!! In just one year God has worked through us in amazing ways!

I have found that talking about how He works in my life on a daily basis has become easier and easier to do. I feel less intimidated about giving God the glory He so rightly deserves. In doing so I find that I'm even more surrounded by other believers than I ever thought I was. Why is it that Christians who love God find it so hard to share Him with others. It's like that song you learned in Sunday school, "....hide it under a bushel, NO, LET IT SHINE, LET IT SHINE, LET IT SHINE".
Are you letting your light shine???

Keeping Focus

One of the things that I struggle with in my relationship with God is keeping my focus on Him and His desires and plans for me. I have found that one of the ways that I can best stay focused is to be involved with others that share my same beliefs and are on their own journey. I'm sure that some of friends and family are starting to think I'm going off the deep end with all the time I've been spending at church lately. However, I need that constant "touching base" with other believers to help me stay on the right path. I also find that listening to messages from Andy Stanley and others that I enjoy listening to and my music continue to lift me up and keep me Spirit filled.

How could anyone doubt?

I used to be quite the night owl, sometimes it'd be 1 or 2am before my head would hit the pillow. As I've gotten older that seems to have changed and I now find myself struggling to stay awake much past 10pm. Going to bed earlier has it's advantages, I'm now up earlier, usually by 5:30. One of my favorite things about being up so early is getting to enjoy the peace and quiet in my household. It seems when there isn't the distraction of the TV, or the kids you tend to be more observant and more appreciative of the things around you. Especially on mornings like today when the sky is just as blue as can be, the air is crisp and I even got to glimpse the sunrise as I drove home from Starbucks. I'm very fortunate to live in Lake Geneva, one of the most beautiful places to live in my opinion. If you've never seen the sun come up over the lake you don't know what you're missing. The way the light dances over the water is just amazing. I've often told my husband that I'd love to have a house on the lake, not because of the status of it, or because I want a boat and all that fancy glitz that one thinks of when they think of a house on the lake. I want a house on the lake simply because I want to spend my mornings on the deck/porch watching the sun come up while enjoying that first cup of coffee.

So whats with the title of this post? Well, I've often wondered what people who don't believe that God created all this beauty are thinking. Who or What other than the Lord God Almighty could have possibly created all of this glorious splendor? I doubt that any "big bang" could have caused such attention to detail. Only someone as powerful and loving as our God could have created something so wonderful. The little things that most people take for granted and don't notice are so blatantly obvious as 5:30 in the morning when there isn't the hustle and bustle of noise and people, that you cannot help but drink it all in and just praise God for allowing us to live in His handiwork.

Come Holy Spirit, Come!

I don't know who did this painting or I would definitely give them proper credit, it just spoke to me when I did an image search for Holy Spirit.

The last few days I have just been so Spirit filled it's like I'm walking on air! I can't put my finger on that exact moment when it happened, but it's definitely there. This amazing Spiritual High is so awesome and I just feel so close to God lately. I don't ever want it to go away!

Where I'm Supposed To Be

Do you ever find yourself looking for exactly what you want and when you find it you just KNOW it's right? That's how I feel about my church. My husband and I started our marriage going to Christ Episcopal Church in Delavan, WI. It's a wonderful church with wonderful parishioners and Priest. It was where we needed to be when we started our married life and having children. We were surrounded by my husbands family and had all the support we needed. As our kids got older, and the congregation began to change we found that we were just not getting what we needed from it any longer. We were changing in our Spiritual needs, however out of obligation to Jerry's family and out of habit as well, we continued to go there on occasion which was really not doing us any good. Then as I mentioned in a previous post I went to the Joyce Meyer Women's Convention last year and my Spirit was renewed and my fire for God was alive and burning hot. Going to church became almost a let down after that because I was not feeling the passion there that I wanted. Not that the church changed in it's message or was it anything that the church did, it was ME that changed and wanted, NEEDED something else, something more, something different. After a little bit of trying different churches we decided to visit Lakeland Community Church just outside of Lake Geneva here. One of the big things that Jerry and I had talked about in terms of finding a new church was that we wanted one that our children could get excited about and become involved in as well. When we walked into the church, the service had already started with the music, and oh my goodness was it AWESOME!!! Guitars and Keyboards and Drums, like walking into a concert!!! It blew me away!!! 10 minutes into it, Melissa my youngest teenage daughter, the hardest one to reach right now in terms of church and God, leans over to me and says "Mom, This ROCKS!!". YES!!!! That day just happened to be mine and Jerry's wedding anniversary, the sermon was about marriage and commitment and love. Could NOT have been more meant for us! They showed one of the small video's that coincide with our service and it was humorous and our 10 year old son about fell off his chair in a laughing fit. I was so moved by this service that I cried through the whole thing, I truly felt that we had found our new church, that THIS is what I had been looking for. To reaffirm my feelings when the service was over and we got into the van to go home, my kids were still talking about it all.

We've been there now for about 2 months, and our whole family has been very involved in several things and as we get to know the other members we're even more happy to have found our niche in God's Kingdom.

I hope that everyone can find that, a church that truely has the ability to feed your soul with everything that it needs. Don't let obligation or habit get in the way of growing in your walk with God.

Something to Shout Hallelujah About!

Today was a wonderful, wonderful day! Today my husband and I were baptised. Both of us had been baptised as infants, however, the church we go to does adult baptisms by submersion. We both thought long and hard and prayed about this. Both of us decided that it was a way to reaffirm our faith, and to set a good example for our children.

If you'd like to see the video it can be seen here.

Started a New Bible Study

This morning was the first meeting of the womens bible study that I'm participating in at my church. I'm really excited about going through this book and see what parts of my life I need to change and adjust to be sure I'm living my life, all of it, to the glory of God.

Another wonderful thing about doing this bible study is the women that I will get to know while we're doing it. I'm fairly new to our church and just love our church and know that this is the place we're supposed to be. Growing in Christs love at this church is easy, however, as is the case any time you put yourself in a new place, it takes time to get to know the people and make new relationships. I'm a very social person so this is important to me, and relationships with other women who love the Lord as I do are the best kind of relationships to have.

Pray! Pray! Pray!!!

I have a very dear friend who went to the dr. today because she was in some discomfort because of what she was assuming was just some ovarian cysts because she's had these before, but this one hurt worse than the others. The doctor however did a biopsy and is testing for ovarian cancer. He told her she will have to wait TWO WEEKS before she would get the results. He also suggested to her that she bring someone with her to her next appointment. She's very anxious about this and as you can imagine the next two weeks are going to be a very long two weeks. Please pray for her that the test results come back okay and that she finds some peace over the next two weeks and they go quickly for her. Her name is Kristy so you may pray for her by name, also feel free to add her to any prayer chains/lists that you know of or participate in.

Emotions are a Powerful Thing.

You ever FEEL like doing something or saying something that you know just isn't right? I had one of those BIG moments just recently, I'm still fighting with it actually. Now you may not identify with this particular situation as it's not personal to you, and it may seem I'm being petty, but there are situations in your own life I'm sure that would help you relate.

My parents have 3 pieces of property up north where we camp. They have 1 lake lot and 2 others that have campers on them and sheds and the perfect set up for lots of family vacations and fun. All these years they have been extremely gracious and generous and have allowed all of us kids to use their campers and property free of charge. We've always tried to give them some $$ and help pay for things when we can because we feel that is the right thing to do. However we're well aware that what we give them most likely barely scratches the surface of what it actually costs them in taxes, electric, storage and general upkeep of everything.

They recently aquired the 3rd property and have since then discovered their budget is stretched almost to a breaking point! So something has to go! The first property they bought and the camper on it is bought and payed for, therefore the most logical choice to liquidate. UGH!! They have had this property for years!!! We've grown to love this place and hate to see it go! I so desperatly wanted to scream and shout and throw a tantrum about this. However, it's so selfish of me to feel this way so I kept my emotions in check and let my parents know that I totally understand, and I was being honest, I do understand. However, that doesn't mean I like any of it!

Joyce Meyer has mentioned many of times in her messages about how hard it is not to let us be ruled by our emotions. How important it is to do what we KNOW is right and NOT what we FEEL like doing. This is certainly one of those times and something I'm praying hard to do. I know that this is a difficult decision for my parents because they know it's disappointing to us kids, and I know thats not what they want to do. However, us kids need to be supportive and understanding and help them NOT to feel any guilt over this. They've given us things that many parents can't do for their children and we still have the other lots and camper to go to so it's not like they've taken it all away from us. So I just have to get used to someone else owning "My" lot and "My" camper. *sigh*

This too shall pass, with God's help.

Sister to Shout Hallelujah with!

Last winter I did a Beth Moore bible study, which I truly enjoyed! One of the things that I remember Beth saying, and is the reason for the name of this blog, is that we all need someone to Shout Hallelujah with. I am so blessed because I have that "someone". That "Someone" is my sister Rachael. For as long as I can remember she's had a better sense of God, even when we were little. However, as she's gotten older and married and become a mom, she's grown in her relationship with God. The really awesome thing, is she excites everyone she knows about their own relationship with God. Everyone wants what she's got! Which is totally awesome because she owns her own hair salon and literally touches the lives of hundreds of people just through the time they spend in her chair. Now, she's not preachy in any way, shape, or form, so it's not like she wraps that cape around you and straps you in for a sermon, she's not like that. However, you leave her shop feeling good about life. She's just a very positive, uplifting person and if you share her belief in God and are excited to talk about it and share, she's right there with you. However, if that's not your thing, she's okay with that too, but you still leave her shop feeling awesome and it really has nothing to do with how your hair looks, although, that helps LOL God has given her a "stage" to do His work and show His love and she does it well, with His help and guidance.

Last fall she really wanted to go to a Joyce Meyer Womens Conference and couldn't find anyone to go with her. I love my sister and I knew how important this was to her so I told her if she couldn't find anyone, that I would go with her. I truly thought that I was only doing this for her. Boy oh boy, was I wrong! God works in fabulous ways doesn't He?? I've always been a Christian but because of that one fabulous wknd that I went to the conference "for my sister", I've started a new, better relationship with God of my very own. One of the most awesome parts of that relationship is that I can share it with Rachael. I know that if ever I need to Shout Hallelujah with someone and not get a funny look, I can call Rachael and she's right there with me!!!

I'm very blessed that my life is surrounded by many Believers, and I am very loved, but there's just something that much more special about having a Sister to Shout Hallelujah with. I pray that everyone has someone they can do that with, even better, if it's a Sister!

An epiphany

Ever have one of those still small voices that just pushes you in the right direction?? I had one of those last night in relation to trying to get a handle on our finances so that we can tithe without it feeling like we're drowning to do it. I so desperatly want to do this! I also, in listening to Andy Stanley have learned that financial freedom and being debt free is what God wants for us. This is an area I struggle terribly in. It's also an area that my husband doesn't get involved with. Not because he doesn't care, but because it's just always been this way. I'm in charge of writing the checks and making sure the bills are being paid. However, last night, my "A-HA" moment, was when I realized I cannot do this on my own. I need him to be involved in this, we have to do this together. It has become an area that I'm not so good at and that I need some added direction and guidance, and some one elses judgement and decision making. Now, I just have to break this to him, hmmm, maybe link to my blog is in order huh? Love ya honey!

A Time, A Place, A Plan

I love to read! I read books all the time, James Patterson, Janet Evanovich, Dean Koonz, Jan Karon, and countless other authors whose collective works don't impact my life in the least once I've read the last page of the last chapter and close the book.

However the one book whose contents affects every single moment of every single day of my life I rarely crack open. Why is that? Why is it so difficult to sit down and read the bible? I went out and I bought this great Vera Wang bible cover in this great tapestry pattern, with the little front pocket for my journal, my pen and my highlighter. It has this great little handle by which to carry it if I should ever want to take it anywhere. So it's all packaged real nice and looks real pretty. What good is all that though if I never open it?

I listened to a 3 part series by Andy Stanley from Northpoint Community Church about reading our bible. He likened it to a text message, a text message from God. In the last message of the series he challenged us to find a Time, a Place and have a Plan on how we're going to go about reading our bible. I thought, alright, this is just the challenge I've been waiting for, as if it needs to be some sort of sporting event type thing in order for me to open that book.

However, this morning, I picked my time; morning, mornings are good for me. I'm usually up before most everyone, and those few times that others may be up they're busy doing other things. I picked my place; the cozy comfy couch in the family room. Now my plan, hmmmm the plan thing is the fuzzy area for me. I think I'm gonna do the open and read what it opens to plan LOL, or maybe I'll pick a book and go through that. I started this morning with James, I'll finish that I think, it started good, I'd like to see how it ends.

So, do you have A Time, A Place, A Plan???

New CD

I talked in a previous post how important music is to the way I worship and this right now is my favorite cd! I just love it!!!

God is Awesome!!!

For those of you that may not know, I'm attempting to be an artist, this is something that I just feel with my heart of hearts that it's what I want to do and I feel that God's okay with that choice. I have started to venture out into the Art Fair world a bit and let me tell you, it's a scary thing. Yesterday was my first ART Fair and what a positive experience it was!!! First of all, all week the forecast called for thunderstorms, so I prayed about it and asked for a nice day. What do you know, it was beautiful all day long, blue skies and sunny and warm! The spot we got for our tent was awesome, right near a big shade tree!!

Now when I decided to do this, I have made it my goal not to focus on sales. Yes, sales are nice, but at this point it's not what I want to focus the Art Fair experience on. Selling is nice, and I'm thrilled that someone would like what I do well enough to display it in their home, however, I'm more interested in feedback at this point. Having someone come into my booth and tell me they like what I do, and how different and interesting it is. When they ask questions and want to know about my art, to me, at this point anyways, is more rewarding that the almighty dollar. I got so much positive feedback from people I cannot even begin to tell you about it all.

The best part in all of this is that I truely felt the presence of God yesterday. He was there in ever aspect of it. He helped calm me when we were on our way and I was beginning to get nervous all the way till it was time to pack up and go home. I just felt so blessed yesterday and I know that I owe everything to the Glory of His name. Our God IS and Awesome God!!!!

The Power of Music

I know that worshiping God is more than just music, but music moves me. I've always been very much into music and being an artist, I use music quite often to set a mood. There are some worship songs that you just cannot help but want to raise your hands to the heavens and praise God. One of the songs lately that has just really moved me is a newer one by Delirious? called "My Soul Sings", and sing it does!!! That's one of those songs that when it comes on, I have a hard time continuing what I'm doing because it's so powerful that it requires my full attention.

Missing Church

I haven't been to chuch in 2 weeks, and I have an art show tomorrow so wouldn't be able to go then either. Even though I know that I don't NEED chuch to have God in my life, church is like my weekly revival or recharging. When I don't have it I feel like I'm slipping away from God cause I'm not getting that recharge, that boost that reminds me to nurture my relationship with God. Our church has a Saturday evening service as well so we're going to go to that tonight thank goodness. I need my recharge.

Giving In

I know this may seem silly, but I'm NOT a housekeeper. I do just enough to get by and the idea of deep cleaning gives me hives. I live with 3 teenage daughters, a 10 year old boy and a husband who isn't much of a neat freak himself.

A few months back I read the book A Purpose Driven Life, and I believe I was either listening to Joyce Meyer or something else at that time too. As I was doing this I kept feeling as though I was being told to clean my house. That everything I own is not mine, but God's and I should take care of it as such. That I need to do everything to the Glory of God, even the things that I don't want to do. Joyce is even so bold as to come right out and say, "go clean your house". LOL

Well this summer hubby and I have started doing some remodeling projects. We started in the dining room, painted and put in a new floor. Now we're on to the kitchen and put in a new counter top and back splash. Next will come painting and putting in a new floor in the living room. As I've done these rooms I've started making rummage sale piles, garbage piles, and give away piles. Cleaning out cabinets and washing down walls and woodwork and such. All these things that I've been avoiding like crazy before. It's actually not as awful as I remember it LOL

Now if I could just get my kids to keep it clean *sigh*

Why Do I Need More Than Enough?

Oh boy, Oh boy, Oh boy!!!! I finished listening to the rest of the North Point Ministries Podcasts and I have to tell you the last ones, just blew my mind. My husband and I have been struggling with how to get our finances under control in such a way that we can tithe effectively and not have it run us short. Neither one of us are real good at the whole budget thing and therefore we end up over spending. Me, because I like to shop, don't really NEED anything, just WANT alot. Him because I cannot say no to him when we shouldn't spend or don't really have the money, because I feel guilty that I have spent and now there's nothing left for him. What a vicious cycle!!!

In the last series however, that I listened to from Andy Stanley, he talks about spending and finances. One of the questions he asks us is, "Why do you need more than enough?". He talks about the wealthy man who has a better than average crop and has no place to store the excess. So instead of sharing the excess he builds bigger and better buildings to hold his grains. He then thinks he can sit back and relax because he has all this grain and he will be taken care of for many years. Yet the Lord decides that his life will be taken from him that night, so he never gets to enjoy all that excess. So all this extra stuff we fill our life up, is just stuff, and when we die, other people get it! We need to get rid of all the extra stuff, collections are just that, collections and truely do us no good, just more stuff that clutters our lives and makes us want more. I've always been a collector or one thing or more, and truely enjoy my collections, however, I now see them in a different light. I think it's time for a rummage sale, don't you?

Why do I need more than enough?

Do You Know What Laminin is?

Louie Giglio is a great speaker and he's so enjoyable to watch, unfortunatly I've only actually seen him on You Tube. He does this bit here, about Laminin, if you don't know what it is, you've gotta check it out, click here.