My Place to Shout Hallelujah

Learning

2011-08-28T20:25:00.001-07:00

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your site, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14

I talk a lot, always have, I'm friendly, very socially oriented and out going. I can remember when I was younger my mom always having to tell me to think before I speak. Apparently God is trying to teach me the same lesson, however, it's much more humbling when God is teaching you something than when your mom is.

The hardest part is the people I've hurt with my words are people I love and I don't even realize I've done it until God convicts me that I own someone an apology. It's terribly humbling to have to do that.

God keeps showing me that He is my Teacher and that He wants great things for me if onlky I will listen and learn. There are areas of my life that He's been trying to teach me things for years, and yet I just cannot seem to let go and let God. I keep trying to do things my own way. Not surprising I keep failing on my own as well.

Psalm 19:14 will have to become part of my every day prayers and in the forefront of my mind so that my words are pleasing to God and not hurtful to others.

Battling Darkness

2011-08-22T21:58:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday, I have spent the most amazing day immersed in the presence of God in my art studio. Creating and praising God with praise and worship music and lifting my hands to Him. Praying and glorifying Him all day long. I have truly counted my blessings today and are in awe of how many there are.

Keep that in mind as I tell you this next part; I have an amazing family with 4 beautiful, amazing children. They have grown up so fast; too fast in fact, which has brought us to yet another new territory in the parenting trek. The "give them wings and let them fly" stage. I'm not sure how to do that. It was brought to my attention that we're not quite doing it right. It was a conversation done in love, a good conversation, one without raised voices and lots of listening to and hearing one another.

However, when I got off the phone and the conversation was over, doubts, bitterness and anger began to creep in. I started to feel my stomach churn and knot, thoughts of things I could have come back with to this comment or that comment. Then a still small voice said "these things are not true". I sat there and tried to pick apart what was not true and still the negativity was there. I could see the enemy trying to get a foot hold, baiting me to just wait up a little bit longer till I could spew these untruths and hurtful things at the very child I'd spoken so loving to not too long ago.

So often he sneaks in when we least expect it and can put those subtle little thoughts in our head and just lets you fester and build them all on your own while he just sits back and watches us self destruct. He can be so sly, and we have to really be on the ready and not let him get a foothold in our lives.

Not too long ago I read This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti and he gives such a descriptive picture of his version of demons that it is forever pierced in my mind. Each time I feel the presence of darkness, I have this picture of demons lurking in corners waiting to swoop in and reek havoc. This time, they weren't just lurking in the corners but perched on my shoulders waiting to dig their claws in. However, my God is bigger than they are, and as I tried to sort out the truth from the lies, a lyric to one of the songs I'd listened to today sung through the muddle of those ugly thoughts and reminded me of the love that was spoke through our conversation. I put on my ear buds, plugged it into iTunes and put that song on repeat. Soon, the ugliness of those thoughts were chased away and replaced with what should be there, striving for a common ground, working together, not blaming one another and speaking to one another in love.

Parenting is by far much harder than anything I have ever done in my whole life, and I don't think I'll ever be able to not have an opinion about the choices they will make in their lives. However, by the Grace of God I will learn to speak, or....not speak, in love.

Prayer

2011-05-26T05:02:00.000-07:00

I cannot even count how many times a week I hear "pray for me/us" or I say those same words to someone else. Usually for me, I have to pray on the spot or I forget. I find myself saying little prayers throughout the day, but usually it's something directly related to the circumstances I'm in at that moment. Until of course I lay down to go to bed, then out comes the grocery list of things I forgot to pray for earlier in the day or things that come to me as I lay there. Most the time there is no Amen to my night time prayers because usually I fall asleep in the middle of it.

I wonder how many friends I'd have if that's how I conducted my relationship with them? Only calling when I had something I needed or wanted for me. Falling asleep during conversations all about me. I'm pretty sure they'd all get tired of that real quick, I know I would.

The last few weeks we've been having some big things going on in our household that truly are all out of our control. All we can do is wait......and pray. I have been in constant prayer about everything!!! Not only the usual circumstantial prayers but prayers for all the people involved in this situation, prayers for my family, prayers to bind demons, prayers for truth and so many more I cannot remember them all. Not only am I talking to Him daily and constantly but He talks to me daily as well. Subtle simple things that let me know He's there and He hears me.

So THIS is what a relationship with God feels like!!! That hunger for Him that I've been looking for that I could never quite get my finger on, has creeped in. I WANT to read my bible and not because it's the right thing to do. I want to pray and talk to Him and I can't wait to share with others all He's doing for me and has done.

Our sermon last Sunday was about being Thankful through the trials and storms in our lives. Sometimes that's a really hard thing to do. This time though I'm looking for all those things that are happening in the midst of it all and I'm finding so many things to be Thankful for. I can see God working through this situation and in the end I know that all things will be okay because He's in charge.

Yep, prayer is a powerful thing!!

Creative Arts Team

2011-05-02T05:28:00.000-07:00

I'm most excited because I was asked to join a new team at church a couple weeks ago. It's called the Creative Arts Team. It's comprised of just a handful of us, the pastor, his wife, our worship team leader, and another member of the worship team, and myself.

I have to say, at first I had no clue why I was even included in this group because I am the only one that isn't part of the worship team. It made no sense to me. However, once it was explained what this was about it made perfect sense.

Our job is to do all the creative work behind the sermon. Helping create series logos, choosing appropriate music and videos and back drops. Also any type of prop or sermon enhancers as well.

The series we've started this all with is a series about worship that has been named "I heart...", hence the logo with the image of the heart that I created for the series.

One of the things that I've struggled with most as an artist is what does God want me to do with this talent he's blessed me with? How can I use it for His glory? Most of my art is not spiritual in nature unless lead by the Spirit to do so, which hasn't happened more than a handful of times. Not that I avoid it or anything, it's just the kind of art I do is more random and rarely has any deep personal meaning other than the fact that it's one of my creations.

So I'm excited for this opportunity to use my God given talent to honor Him and bless our church as well. I'm looking forward to seeing where all of this goes.

dreams

2011-02-14T07:37:00.000-08:00

My church, Lakeland Community Church, is doing a series called "The Red Pill". Titled after the part in the movie the Matrix where Morpheus offers Neo the blue pill and life will remain as it is, or, take the Red Pill and see just how far the rabbit hole goes. Sounds a little "out there" doesn't it? I have to tell you though, it has been amazing to say the least. This series is all about the Spiritual Realm. Tapping into all the ways we can encounter God in our lives that maybe we hadn't given much thought to before. Also guidelines for us to know when it is "Of God" and not of the demonic. How things of the Spiritual Realm always affect the Natural Realm. Our Pastor, Josh Amstutz, has been brilliant in leading us through it. God has a true vessel to work through in Pastor Josh.

This past Sunday he spoke to us about listening to God through our dreams. As you read through the Bible how often did God use just that as ways to communicate to his people. He spoke to Mary through a dream, and Joseph, others through visions. The Bible is full of examples where God did just that. Why is it not still possible for Him to do the same thing today? Josh told us all we need to do is invite the Lord into our dreams, to focus on Him not only in our waking, but in our sleeping as well. I have to tell ya, I'm almost more excited now for the night to start as I am for the day!!

If you're curious and would like to check this series out you can always join us at Lakeland Community Church or you can listen to the messages either on the church website or on Itunes. Or of course you can always contact me and I'd be happy to tell you all about it. jgiffordii@wi.rr.com

Gods Time is not our time.

2010-11-02T15:53:00.001-07:00

I got this book as a gift for my birthday in August of 2009. I tucked it in my "God Bag" and completely forgot about it. Well, about the same time this year I was digging through my "God Bag" to see if I could find a highlighter and low and behold here is this book.

Now mind you, had a read it a year ago, it would've been a good book, but I wouldn't have been ready for it. This year however, it was EXACTLY what I needed.

It talks about how God thinks of women and how He romances a woman's soul. How He thinks of us all as beautiful and what the bible says about what He wants us to know.

If you are a woman, you need to read this book, read it till you don't need it anymore and than pass it along to another woman who may need it.

Lifest!!!

2010-07-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

Every year in Oshkosh, Wisconsin there is a Christian Music Festival called Lifest. It is an amazing experience, speakers, comedians, lots of music, food that's really bad for you LOL and thousands of people get together to rock out and worship God together.

For the last 2 years I have been blessed to be able to go as a chaperon for our church youth group. That sounds worse than it actually is LOL. Something happens when you get the kids out of the church and into a place where they can be free to express themselves. They're awesome to be with and we get to connect with them on a different kind of level.

I have to say that this year Todd Agnew was the highlight of the festival for me. His lyrics are amazing and have helped me through some tough times. I think I had Our Great God on repeat for months, drove my family crazy LOL.

I can't say for sure if any of our teens had any big God moments, but God certainly made His presence known. On Saturday night we had a

storm, the clouds that rolled in were absolutely unbelievable!!!!

I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. It was beautiful and powerful and kinda frightening all at the same time. The rain lasted an hour or so and then cleared up and a beautiful double rainbow could be seen arching over the grandstand.

If you ever get the chance to go to Lifest I cannot recommend it enough!!

Amazing Power of Prayer

2010-05-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

This sweet little baby boy is my newest nephew, his name is Elijah Jacob. He was born on the 15th of May. Today he began to have some problems with his oxygen level and his breathing and was transfered from the hospital he was in to a larger hospital and put in the NICU. The first concern was that something was wrong with his heart. I kid you not when I say that I have never prayed so hard for anything in my whole life. I know that many other people were praying for him as well, not just the friends and family that I told but all the friends and family that they told. Well, this sweet little angel baby isn't home yet, but there's nothing wrong with his heart and looks as though he's going to be just fine. If you check my blog, I ask you to pray for this little guy, he still needs lots of them!

stuck song

2010-05-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

Sunday in church, my oldest daughter was sitting next to me. She was exhausted because prom was the night before, and was leaning her head on my shoulder. Well, I don't exactly how he ended the phrase, but, at one point the pastor said, "I have decided........". Of course immediately through my head comes the song "I have decided to follow Jesus", as it does every time I hear someone say that particular phrase. I know my sister Rachael is the same way. I know this because if I should use that phrase she sings to me LOL. Anyway, shortly after the pastor used that phrase, Kellie lifts her head off my shoulder and looks at me and starts singing "I have decided to follow Jesus" LOL Must be genetic or something LOL

Velcro

2010-05-16T19:09:00.001-07:00

I have these pains and sorrows, all this guilt and shame,

I take them with me everywhere I go, each and every day.

I try to peel them off, but it always turns out the same

They're attached to me like Velcro,

I have a feeling they think it's a game.

And I'm pretty sure they've started to grow.

I call out to Jesus by His name,

Help me Lord to let these issues go!

I know that my forgiveness is why you came.

The reason you let your precious blood flow.

An innocent man, who had no blame.

You paid a debt that you did not owe.

Jesus tells me, " child, bring me your pains, sorrows, guilt and shame"

So to the feet of Jesus I will go,

Praying all the way that it won't turn out the same,

Trusting in what I already know,

That Jesus knows me by my name

He'll tear them away from the Velcro

He won't let them play the game,

All I have to do, is let them go

These feelings of pain, sorrow, guilt and shame.

But, there they are again…..stuck to me like Velcro.

Thank You God

2010-03-07T19:56:00.000-08:00

Winters in Wisconsin are gray and drab and dark and gloomy. After days on end of the yuckiness, any glimpse of the sun is enough to make you rejoice.

This past week, God gave us a little bit of reprieve from the winter doldrums and gave us several beautiful days in a row with not only the glorious sunshine, but also some warmth from it as well.

As of today, the yuckiness came back, but I feel as though God has smiled on us here in Wisconsin, and that gives me hope for many more days of sunshine soon.

The first steps

2010-03-04T08:09:00.000-08:00

Man this Faith "thing" can be so hard. If you're a Christian you know in your heart that God will always take care of you. Especially if you're following His plan for your life and you're not trying to make your own decisions.

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to trust in the Lord with ALL your heart, lean not on our own understand and in ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths. What an amazing couple of verses. It tells us exactly how to know the will of God for our lives. My goodness though, how hard it is to do this at ALL times. Some times our humanness sneaks in and we think that we know better and can handle things on our own. Yeah, that may work for a little while, but before long we end up looking around and thinking, "how on earth did I get myself into this mess". THEN we go to God and ask for help. Ahhhh, how much easier our lives would be if first we'd turn to Him and seek His Will for our lives.

Jerry and I have stubbornly repeated the same mistakes over and over and over again. Each time we've managed to dig ourselves out only to fall right back into the same pit. This time around, the pit is so big, and so deep that we cannot even see the light at the top on our own. Of course NOW we're doing all kinds of praying, looking for direction and telling God we're NOW willing to follow His path and do what He wants us to do. How foolish are we that we didn't do this before??? I'm willing to bet that we are not alone in this type of foolishness.

Some of the things that God has made clear that we need to do are things that have been nagging us in the back of our minds for a while now. Things we didn't WANT to do, things that scared us, or made us feel as though we were failures. However, that first step onto God's path for our lives, as scary as it first was, it made the next steps much easier. It was kinda like testing that if we really jumped in with both feet that He was for sure going to catch us and not let us fall. Once we made that first leap and felt His arms embrace us, we weren't so hesitant to jump again and again.

Now, I'm not saying that we won't be foolish at some point again in our lives, cause we're sinners and we will always fall short. However, what an amazing learning experience this has been and continues to be. One of Faith, Trust and Believing that God is who He says He is and He can and WILL do what He says He will.

Fear Change

2010-02-12T08:11:00.000-08:00

Isn't it wonderful when life just seems to be gliding along so perfectly. The kids are good, the marriage is good, finances are good, God is good. I love it when that happens!! However, whenever that happens there's always this nagging voice in the back of my head that keeps saying "waaiiittt for it, waaaiitttt for it". Sure enough, just as you crest that hill, the bottom drops out. Most the time it's not one big thing, but a series of small things that seem to affect everything in your life. While all this is happening, as a Christian you always ask God what He's up to. You always know that when those bumps in the road come along that God has something up His glorious sleeve. We're supposed to just let go and let God do what He has in store for us. Most the time what He has in store for us means we need to change something, or everything we're doing so that we can live the life that He has in store for us. Now I don't know about you, but in my flawed humanness I fight this tooth and nail because the idea of changing things scares me half to death. That doesn't mean I don't know that the changes that God has in store for me aren't all for the greater good and in the end things will be better than they are now. I also know that God will be with me through it all, however, just the journey getting to the end terrifies me.

I have discovered though that taking that first step in the direction of change that God wants you to take, that it gets a little easier to make the second step. Hopefully as I need the finish line of this change, I'll be running through the victory tape.

On a side note though, yesterday I got my Joyce Meyer teaching of the month, any one want to guess what it's about??? The name of the CD is The Courage to Change. Just like Joyce to be there in your face with what you need to hear when you need to hear it. Thank you God!

Discovery

2010-01-28T08:19:00.000-08:00

In this great big world in which we call home, we can't help but wonder, just what it is we're here for. When you soak in the awesomeness of God you have to wonder why on earth He would need us. I mean when you think about it, mankind has been kind of a big headache since Adam and Eve ate that apple. All of God's great plans for us went out the garden so to speak. Then many years later He tried to "fix" it by wiping the earth clean save for Noah and his family and start over. Well, we all know how well that went, idolatry, murder, adultery, you name it. Oh there were those that worshiped God, but the world was just enveloped in sin once again. I hate to think how much livestock and doves I'd had to have had just to keep up with all the sacrifices I'd have to do to make amends for my sins. Some where along the lines you have to wonder if God didn't go, "good grief, why did I make these humans, they cause Me so much pain and grief". Then on top of all the pain and grief we've caused Him, He decides the only way that we're ever going to be able to come into His glory is if He sends His only Son to die for all of us sinners. Can you imagine, had Adam and Eve never taken a bite of that apple, Jesus wouldn't have had to come down from His glorious thrown to be nailed upon a cross for something He didn't do.

This just goes to show that God is much more than we can possibly ever understand. He continues to love us and forgive us even though we continue to sin and fall short each and every day.

Why discover? Because today I'm working on a piece of art I'm going to call "Beautiful". It's a piece of self discovery, and in using this to help me discover who I am to ME, I'm also struggling with just who I am to God. As you can see by the comments above I'm struggling to see just how or why God would want to take the time for me, when I am a sinner, just what is it about ME that makes God think I'm worth saving.

Please don't feel the need to leave me "pep talk" comments, I'm okay, just trying to .... Discover....

Relationship

2010-01-24T16:17:00.000-08:00

I wonder how our earthly relationships would survive if every time we talked to our friends, we either only thanked them for something they've done for us, or asked them to do something for us. I imagine they wouldn't be long lasting friendships.

I know that I am guilty of doing that with my relationship with God. I start most every prayer with, thank you's, the meat of my prayer is asking for things either for myself or loved ones, and ends with a few praises and maybe another thank you or two.

Now it's not to say that God doesn't want the thank you's and the requests for help, but He wants more than that. This morning our sermon was about having a relationship with Him. Coming to him to just tell him about our day, our problems our joys and including him in our life. So often we come to him looking for a solutions to our problems, when what we should be doing is just telling him about them and letting the solution come when it does.

Often, I just need someone to listen, I don't necessarily want someone to give me their advice on how to "fix it". I usually call my sister for this, and I fully intend on still calling her for that, but I think I'll take it to God as well.

Struggling

2010-01-10T10:57:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time, not that I haven't thought about it, because I have, but because I wasn't sure how to put into words what I have been feeling, until listening to our sermon this morning at church.

I've resigned myself to the fact that I have some seasonal depression, and while going through that, facing a blog is the last thing I wanted to do. I've been able to work though it all with the help of some medication and Psalm 23. I cannot even tell you how many times a day I've recited that Psalm as I was waiting for my meds to kick in and help me with the darkness. Now by the grace of God and my doctor I have gotten over that hurdle. The depression though, was the beginning of some inner searching though. At one point during my illness I even told God, I know You are there, and I thank You, but I don't want to talk to You. The awesome thing about our God though, is He was patient and kind and loving with me and He waited. He waited till I was ready to talk again. I was reminded of the poem "Footprints in the Sand" where I know that at that time, there was only 1 set of footprints because I could feel Him carry me.

However, in the shuffle of all of that I've run into some other things that have taken me off guard and I'm terrified of it even though I know it's the right thing to do and that God will be there with us through all things. I'm ashamed to say that I don't know if I CAN do this. I think the fact that I shut the doors to Him during my depression may have been the beginning of what brought all of this to light.

I pray, I listen to my Bible on my IPod and podcast sermons almost daily, I go to church every Sunday, I lead a Bible study on Wednesday mornings and Jerry and I go to a Bible study together on Thursday nights. I listen to Christian music almost exclusively, and I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. These are all good things, these are all RIGHT things, yet I have fallen SOOO short of what God wants for me in my life. I have not surrendered my life to Him. The true thought of what that might actually entail keeps me awake at night. Do I think that in the long run, things will be better than ever, of course. It's the journey of getting there that makes me physically ill. It all boils down to not having enough faith, and not trusting in God enough and truly it's the fear that keeps me from doing this.

This week at Church our Pastor asked us 4 questions:

1. What am I doing right now that God has asked me to do?
2. When is the last time I asked God what He would like me to do?
3. List the specific areas of my life which I have surrendered to God.
4. List the specific areas of my life which should be on the list above, but are not.

Suffice it to say, I left church in tears this morning, knowing that questions 1-3 were virtually empty, and #4 had a list longer than I care to imagine.

I know that I'm not alone in this fear, my husband also struggles with this. I think that in the next few weeks as our Pastor touches on the life of David that we may at least begin to pray about God helping us through our fear and lack of faith.

I know that God has great things in store for us, and hopefully one day we will see it. In the mean time, if you feel moved to do so, please keep us in your prayers.

Saying Thanks

2009-08-14T05:57:00.000-07:00

I may have mentioned Andy Stanley from Northpoint Community Church before, and i still listen to his podcasts all the time and his messages online. He's a wonderful speaker and is so awesome at life application sermons. This last one I listened to he gave us homework. The homework was to write a thank you note to the person who helped us ask Jesus to become our personal Savior so that we may be saved and have eternal life in heaven.

Being raised in a Christian home I had to really think about this because for as long as I can remember I've always known there was God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. However, when did I truly ask Them into my heart?

Pastor Sam Hamstra Jr. is who I need to thank. He was the pastor at our church when I was a teen. Those years I spent in youth group were awesome! Until now, that was the time in my life when I felt closest to God, that's when I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior. Sadly, for me anyways, Sam left and moved onto another church and our new pastor just wasn't as excited for the youth as Sam was. Life went on and most of it without much God in my daily life. I managed to find the church he's now pastor of online. I'm hoping to be able to connect with him and send him my Thank You Note soon.

I also, feel I should thank my sister Rachael for taking me to that first Joyce Meyer convention, because that's where my love for the Lord was renewed. We're headed to our 3rd convention together in a month or so and I'm so excited for it!

So, you can take this post and read it and take it for what it's worth, or you too can take the time to sit down and write a Thank You Note to the person that guided you to asking Jesus to be your Savior. I'm hoping you'll take that time.

God's Plan

2009-06-07T20:16:00.001-07:00

Things are changing at Lakeland Community Church, and although change can sometimes be a difficult thing, it's also a necessary thing in order to grow. About a month ago, Pastor David Howie and his wife Phyllis informed us that David would be retiring from the ministry and taking a position as a Pastors Coach in Greenlake Wis. It of course is bittersweet, on one hand we are sad that they were leaving us. We have grown to love them and enjoy spending time with them and will miss them dearly. On the other hand, we know that God would never have called David and Phyllis to move on to something new, if He didn't have great things in store for both the Howies, and for Lakeland Community Church! I am so excited to see what He has in store for us!!! God is alive and strong and at work in our church and I know that He will continue to work through our congregation. He has already handpicked our newest pastor who will help us to grow in numbers and in faith. I can't wait to meet him!!!

My Creed

2009-05-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

For this class I'm taking at church with our Pastor, we had to write our personal creed, what we believe in, what our values are, whats important to us. I just thought I'd share it here. enjoy, and of course feedback is always welcome!

I believe that I am not in charge of my life, God is. I believe that the right way to live is by trusting in Him to guide me in the right path, in His path. I believe that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and that with God, all things are possible. I believe in raising my children to love Jesus and to know that God is always watching, and that He is always with them. I believe in sharing my faith with others, to bring others to know the love of Jesus Christ. I believe in spending time each day with God, reading, praying and praising Him. I know that in order to continue spiritual growth I need to make this a priority.

I value family; my family is my security, my safe place, my place of comfort, my place of joy and laughter. I know that in good times and in bad that they love me and I them. I know that family needs good communication to function properly. I believe in listening to my children, and talking to them with respect. I believe that parents should stand united as a team in front of their children at all times. I believe in setting boundaries and sticking to them. I believe that parents and children can also have a friendship within those boundaries. I believe that you should not only teach your children to love one another but also to love themselves. Praise and compliments may not be enough, you must tell them to love themselves.

I value my wedding vows, I believe that husbands and wives need to respect each other, listen, encourage and affirm one another always. I believe in never going to bed angry and always kissing each other before being apart. I believe that the intimate aspect of marriage is vital to the emotional and mental part of it. I believe that it is important to be one another’s best friend and not to keep secrets from one another. I know that communication is key and cannot be overlooked. I believe in holding hands in public and saying “I love you” often.

I believe in surrounding myself with people who help my being. Good community is crucial for a positive well being. Community that builds you up, brings you joy, shares in laughter and has empathy for one another. I believe in community that consists of other believers. Believers that can fellowship and grow and learn from one another often.

I value creativity and self expression. These two things help me to be who I am, they feed my soul and they bring me peace and harmony. I believe that there are no mistakes in art, only ideas that belong on a different canvas. I believe you are never too old to paint with your fingers and make a mess. I believe in living colorfully by living the life of an artist both in the studio and out.

I believe in not taking life to seriously, that you should have fun with each other and you should laugh often. I believe that a good sense of humor is one of the best personality traits a person can have. I believe that laughter is the best medicine and that it helps ease the stress of the day.
I believe in simplicity, that life should not be a constant check list of things to do. I believe in the power of the word “no”. You cannot be all things to all people. I believe that in order to keep peace in your family, to have time for spiritual growth, for community and fellowship, creativity and self expression, you must learn to say no to things that clutter your life. I believe in prayer and deliberation before saying yes to anything that would take my time away from these things. I believe am not in charge of my life, God is.

The Passion of Christ.

2009-04-12T19:24:00.000-07:00

For every Christian Easter is the most wonderful day of the year!! The day that we celebrate our Lord and Saviour rising from the dead so that we may have eternal life in Heaven with Him.

To help us better remember just how glorious this day truly is, Jerry and I and the kids watched The Passion of Christ. This is not a movie that I enjoy, or even look forward to watching. I do feel however, that it is something that every Christian should watch, at least once a year at this time. I feel we need to understand and be reminded just exactly what we are celebrating on Easter. Jesus bore so much pain and suffering for us, I know I for one and so unworthy of it all. I am grateful that my children have what very well may be a clearer picture of what our Saviour truly went though. Certainly much more clear than the picture I had painted in my head from the stories I learned in Sunday School. Never in my wildest imagination did Jesus bleed much more than a trickle down his face from the crown of thorns, and there wasn't much more than welts on his back from the whip. Oh how naive I was, as I know were many others. To know that my children will have a better understanding of exactly how much suffering Jesus went through for us, suffering He could have ended with just a single word. I hope that by watching this movie that His sacrifice is much more meaningful and real for them.

Praise God for that blessed 3rd day!! Praise God that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is alive and well and sitting at the right hand of God the Father waiting for the day that we will join him in Paradise!! I for one, cannot wait for that day!!!

Bike Ride With God

2009-03-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

I was doing my bible study homework and came across a quote that struck me as "highlighter worthy". I don't know about you, but most of my books have lots of pretty colors in them. This is what it said: "sometimes we don't mind something (someplace) new, we just don't like the vehicle that God's using to drive us there in" . That is so very true! Quite often God takes us where we want to be, but he takes us there in a jalopy when we're dressed in our finest clothes. Or maybe he takes us there in a lightening fast convertible with the top down, when we've just got our hair done and all we want to do is roll up the windows and take it slow. The important part is that regardless of what he takes us there in, that we always let Him drive, cause only He knows how to get where we're going. After sharing this with a friend of mine, she shared this awesome poem with me. So I thought I should pass it along to you. If you're familiar with it already, take the time to reread it, for me, it's something I need to be constantly reminded of.

Bike Ride With God

When I first met Christ it seemed as though life was rather like a bike ride,

but it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that Christ was in the back helping me pedal. I don't know just when it was that He suggested we change places, but life has not been the same since. When I had control, I knew the way, it was rather boring, but predictable...It was the shortest distance between two points. But when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts, Up mountains, and through rocky places, at breakneck speeds, it was all I could do to hang on! Even though it looked like madness, He said, "Pedal" I worried and was anxious and asked,"Where are you taking me?" He laughed and didn't answer, and I started to learn to trust. I forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure and when I'd say, "I'm scared," He'd lean back and touch my hand. He took me to people with gifts that I needed. Gifts of healing, acceptance, and joy. He said, "Give the gifts away; they're extra baggage, too much weight." So I did, I gave them to the people we met, and I found that in giving I received, and still our burden was light. I did not trust Him, at first, in control of my life. I thought He'd wreck it; but He knows bike secrets, knows how to make it bend to take sharp corners, knows how to jump to clear high rocks, knows how to fly to shorten scary passages. And I am learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places, and I'm beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with my delightful constant companion, Jesus Christ. And when I'm sure I just can't do anymore, He just smiles and says..."Pedal."

God at work

2009-03-08T17:17:00.000-07:00

For many years the relationship I had with my mom was a bit tumultuous, and somewhat strained. I have to tell you though, since God has really started working in her life she and I have become closer. She's a joy to be around and to talk to. I love watching her excitement for Christ grow. I so completely see that fire for the Lord just growing in her and she hungers for what He has to offer. She's blessed with the gift of hospitality, a trait she most certainly didn't pass on to me. So when she gets God led ideas they usually are in the realm of hospitality. I love watching her be excited about doing things for others in ways that I would never dream to do. In my opinion the giving of self in that respect is such a wonderful, humbling gift because our time is so important and valued and most of us complain we don't have nearly enough of it. She, however, gets so much joy from spending her time doing things, baking or cooking for others. Isn't it awesome how God made each one of us so different to fulfill His purpose.

Tell Someone

2009-03-06T22:00:00.000-08:00

Does the thought of opening your mouth to speak about the Lord God Almighty outside of the safe walls of your church make your stomach do flip flops? You wouldn't be alone in that respect in the least. I think as Christians we have to ask God to help us overcome that fear so that we can tell the world about Him without hesitation or fear of persecution. We only have to look to the Bible to see great accounts of Christians with such great love for their Lord that they were willing to die rather than not speak His name. There are some really awesome opportunities out there to be had if only you'd ask God to give you the words. I'm very blessed because I have very little trepidation when it comes to talking to others about God. I am so excited when I find a way to work God into the every day conversation because I cannot wait to share what God has done for me. Very rarely do I get the tummy flip flops or the heart racing because of anxiety or fear. Mind you, I've been very blessed to not have come across anyone who has challenged me. When that happens I know that my God will give me the words I need at that moment.

On the subject of Evangelism, I want to share something amazing and so "of God" that happened to me this week. On Monday, my husband and I went out for lunch at a place here in town. Our waitress came to our table and began to tell us about the specials. In mid-sentence she stopped to tell me just how much she loved my necklace. It wasn't anything fancy, just a scrabble charm necklace I made with a silver cross on it. I thanked her and we went on about our business. We got home from lunch and I heard God say to me "why didn't you give it to her?". I thought well, why didn't you tell me to do that when I was there!?? LOL So I went about my afternoon, and later He said it again, "why didn't you give it to her?". So I put my shoes on and went back to the restaurant but by this time it was 4:00 and she was gone for the day. So I found out when she worked again and made a point to stop there on that day. When I got there it was lunch time but the place was pretty empty and she wasn't busy. When I spoke to her, I reminded her about us eating there on Monday and how she'd commented on my necklace. I told her that since then, I'd been told to give her my necklace. She just looked at me funny and said "why?". I said "when God tells you to do something, you just do it". She paused and then said to me, that she had just started going back to church the Sunday before. That she'd been praying to find the motivation to get back to church and had finally found it. She began to tear up and then hugged me. I was so filled with joy because I know that through God I was able to witness to her and may have helped her in a time when she maybe was having some doubt.

Our God is an awesome God and everyone needs to know Him. I wholeheartedly take on that responsibility of sharing Him every chance I get! I hope you do too!

No one told me to

2009-02-25T17:18:00.000-08:00

Right now my 14 yr old daughter is struggling with self-esteem issues and it breaks my heart because she's such a beautiful person. It makes me sad that she doesn't see it herself.

Last night I was talking with her and asked her, "Why don't you like yourself?". She replied "because nobody ever told me I had to." Wow!!! Totally the kind of flippant answer Melissa would give, however, what an insightful answer as well.

We spend all kinds of time telling our children how proud we are of them, how beautiful/handsome they are. How smart and talented they are and what awesome people WE think they are. We also tell our children how important it is to be nice to others, to like others, to treat others well. Some how in all of this we just assume that by doing these things it will MAKE them like themselves. If I had to guess I'd say that Jerry and I are not alone in not thinking of needing to tell our children that they should to like themselves too.

I can't help but wonder if this pain she's going through right now may have been avoided if we had told her when she was little how important it is to like yourself. How you need to love yourself before you can properly love others. It's hard to say for sure, teen years are such a difficult season of life to go through.

Make sure you tell your children how important it is to like themselves. God planned them, He knew everything about them before they were even in their mothers womb. God doesn't make mistakes, and He made no mistake in making each and everyone of us just the way He needs us to be.

Prayer Life.

2009-02-23T06:52:00.000-08:00

Prayer seems to be the reoccurring theme this past weekend. Not only was it brought up in Pastor's sermon on Sunday, but also in my devotional this morning. At church we watched a small video, called Coffee with Jesus. What a great video, and so describes how I pray sometimes. We come to Jesus with this long list of wants and needs, yet never take time to listen, or to just praise Him or thank Him. God wants us to have conversations, with him, not just give him this grocery list of things we'd like him to do for us. We need to talk to him like we'd talk to our best friend. Something Pastor said on Sunday that just seemed so beautiful to me, "Prayer is to the soul, what breathing is to life. Your soul needs to communicate with God in order to thrive and to grow. Just like your earthly friendships would wither and die if you never talked to one another, the same is true for your relationship with Christ. Your earthy friendships would never grow and mature if you always did all the talking, and never took time to listen, neither will your relationship with Christ grow if you don't take time to listen to what He has to say to you. I often think of how blessed the disciples and the people of that time were to be able to walk and talk on earth with Jesus. What an amazing experience that must have been. I'm in no hurry to leave this earth, but I look forward to the time when I can talk to Him face to face.

All About Me

2009-02-20T20:48:00.000-08:00

Ok normally this isn't something I would put here, but there's no other way to say it. I'm taking this class at church that is lead by our pastor and it's wonderful!!! It's all about learning what my strengths and weaknesses are and how to hone them and use them in the best possible way. I have learned so much about myself in just the last 3 weeks, it's amazing. We've done several different personality/gift type tests and they've all told me things I already know about myself, but in such an in depth way that I'm beginning to better understand myself. I can recognize now that my struggle with self dicipline (and other things) isn't imagined, it's all part of how God designed me. Doesn't mean that I can use that as an excuse not to be, but it helps me to better accept that part of me and feel a little less guilty about my inability to do it easily.

Another fabulous thing that I'm learning in doing this, is what personality traits others have as well. By being able to recognize different personality traits in others I can use what I know of these different personalities to better understand how to communicate with them. This is especially useful if I have to deal with someone that I have a hard time with. Thankfully that doesn't happen all that often.

Learning all these things will help me to be a better servant of God. It will be helpful to me as a small group leader because I will be able to make better connections with people. It'll help me to learn what ways I am better suited for His service. I can't wait!! I'm so excited about it all, I've learned so much and I can't wait to learn more and put it all to good use.

Keeping the Fire

2009-02-08T21:15:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been feeling that my Fire for the Lord is being challenged. I'm sure it's mostly in my head, but it's enough to give me pause. I've been this excited for God for the last 2 years and I only see it getting stronger as I learn more about Him. I've been more immersed in Him and His word and His presence now since joining my church. My hunger to know Him and have a deeper personal relationship with Him has only grown. How do I keep this fire burning strong? By surrounding myself with Him and His love. I start my day with worship music and prayer, I listen to worship music or christian podcasts through out the day. I read my bible, do my bible study homework and I interact with other Christians and share and witness when ever possible. I end my day in prayer and sometimes more worship music or podcasts or a devotional. I go to church every Sunday, bible study every Wednesday, Coffee Fellowship every Thursday. I started a personal growth with God type class with my pastor and 4 others tonight, and my husband and I have started going to a home group. We also help out with the youth group and vacation bible school. Seems like a lot I'm sure, but this is what is important in my life. This is what helps me keep my fire burning. I think that if being on fire for God is something you want with all your heart, soul, and mind, it's something that you will make every effort to do. Nothing brings me more joy than worshiping my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Everything I do is better because I have made Him a priority in my life.

Don't get me wrong, as I've posted here, there are times that I don't feel His presence like I want to, but those are the times that I have to pray and worship Him the most. I don't ever want this fire to go out, it's just too awesome!

Believe

2009-02-04T17:52:00.000-08:00

My Father in Heaven,

You are so great and so mighty,

Your love, so pure and so true.

You are the Great Creator

My King and Father too.

You have put me here to worship

and to give You all the praise,

yet I know each day I fail you

as I live my worldly ways.

I come to You for forgiveness,

and some how you always do.

You are the Great Redeemer

whose love will see me through.

You give me all the strength I need,

to battle through every storm.

If I will come to You down on bended knee.

I give all my cares to You

for You can carry the heavy load.

You give me ever lasting peace,

what you ask from me,

is to Believe.

--Lisa Gifford

My Best Friend

2009-02-02T20:07:00.000-08:00

Long before I began this close walk with my Lord, I knew that He was watching out for me and taking precious steps to mold me and shape me. I know He had this master plan for my life that I had no clue about. I won't get into all the details of how I fell in love with my husband, but I will tell you that at that time in my life, Jerry Gifford was not part of MY plan. Now however, I cannot even begin to imagine how my life would have turned out thus far if God hadn't put us on the same path to find one another. There is not a day that goes by that I don't thank God for this amazing man. In the craziness of daily life he, with the blessing of the Lord, is my one constant. When I need encouragement he gives it freely, when I need constructive criticism he gives it gently and lovingly. In all things he does, he helps me to become the best me that I can become. Each day I love him more than the day before and wonder how that is even possible. I truly believe that God has one person in mind for everyone, and I believe that Jerry is mine, God made him just for me. Thank you God!

Give God your paintbrush!

2009-01-31T20:08:00.001-08:00

Andy Stanley has done it again! Every time I listen to one of his message series, he teaches me things and shows me areas of my life that I need to grow and improve. Being an artist, I was excited to hear his analogy was art related. Andy was talking about how hard it is for us to let God paint our lives for us. That it's so hard for us to just hand over the paintbrush and let him do the painting. He pointed out that when we go in for surgery, never do we tell the doctor that we'd like to hold the scalpel. Of course not!!! The doctor is much more capable at performing the surgery than we are and we never even question it. We put our faith in that doctor that he's going to do the right thing for us. When we have money to invest, most of us if we tried to make investments ourselves, with out any knowledge, would lose money. The outcome is much better when we trust our money to someone who knows what they're doing. We trust these mere humans whom God has given the wisdom to, to handle big things in our lives without much question. Yet when it comes to letting go and letting God, we have a really hard time relinquishing that paintbrush. To see evidence that God is a Master Painter we merely have to open our eyes and look around us. Not only is all of nature breath taking, but the blessings we've all been given while we're still holding onto that paintbrush are astounding. Can you even begin to imagine how amazing our lives would be if only we'd take our hand off, and let God have total control of it?

If you're interested in listening to Andy Stanley, you can in several different places. They post the weekly messages on the church website here, Northpoint is also now on YouTube, and if you have an IPod you can d/l podcasts off of Itunes.

A constant

2009-01-25T06:26:00.000-08:00

I have been so busy lately I haven't had much time to blog. The really awesome thing about it though is alot of my busy-ness is doing things for God.

I'm leading a bible study, which is going so well and I'm so excited about it. I'm also trying to read the book "Simple Church" which is very interesting but I'm not finding the time to get it done. I've also just finished listening to The Shack on my IPod, I just love that book and ITunes had it for $5.95 so I bought it. I have several Andy Stanley Podcasts on my IPod I need to catch up on. I also go to a Thursday morning Women's Coffee Fellowship which is so fun. Not a structured study or anything but just connecting with other women from my church. I also help lead the youth group on Sunday evening which is beginning to grow on me a bit as that becomes more structured. Teenagers are such an adventure! I'm also working on the church website and trying to get those pages all set up and running. I'm also trying to make time to finish some of the scrabble charm necklaces that I'm going to sell for a fundraiser for the Youth Group. They want to go to a Youth Convention in Washington DC this summer. I'm also on my own time trying to study the book of James. That book has just really spoke to me and I'm truly enjoying it.

Even though I'm super busy, my busy-ness seems to revolve around God. I'm not having the bursting at the seams excitement all the time, but, I'm always thinking about God or talking to Him or reading His word. It's like I'm wrapped in a blanket of God and God's love, I always feel it, it's always there. I can't imagine spending my time or my days any other way than immersed in God and His love.

Not Exactly What I Meant

2009-01-13T09:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a very trying day for me. I'd finally had it with picking up after my kids and husband and all the things that I felt that I shouldn't have to do. I've talked till I was blue in the face about trying to get them to take responsibility for their own messes but it always seemed to fall on deaf ears. My frustration with this is, as you may or may not have read in previous posts on this blog, is that I struggle with the day to day household chores on a constant basis, I just don't like to do them. When I walk into a room and I have to clean up after everyone elses messes before I can even get down to the bones of cleaning, like dusting and vacuuming and such, it just deflates me and I end up just walking out of the room and become irritated! Yesterday I told my kids that I no longer would be doing this, that I wouldn't be doing for them, if they didn't feel they could do simple things for me as I asked them to. As you can imagine, that went over like a lead balloon. My wonderful husband pointed out that maybe I was sending the wrong message. The message that you shouldn't do things for others if they aren't going to reciprocate. He's right, that's not the kind of message I want to send to my kids. He also pointed out that by not doing the day to day things, I'm not really holding up my end either. So what has all this gotten me? I big old slap in the face with some reality. This is what God has been trying to tell me all along. It applies to so much more than just housekeeping, it applies to many other aspects of my life. There are things I don't like to do, yet am always looking for excuses or reasons to get out of doing them, and even better if I can blame some one else for my short comings. I love the way God works, makes you think you've got everything under control and you know exactly how to make everything work. Then just when you're at the top of your game he knocks you down a peg or two to remind just who really is in charge.

Bursting with Excitement!!!

2009-01-06T05:28:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been so filled with the Spirit and the joy and love of God that you just feel like there's no way you can contain it? That you just want to tell every person you see how awesome God is? I get this way often, so excited about God, so excited about what He's done for me, that He loves me and that He just makes my life so full. I see the way He's touched my family, the way He's put people in my life that "help my being". The opportunities to serve and share He's put in my path. I'm so excited about leading this upcoming bible study, about doing the church website. I'm so excited about how these things can help bring people closer to God, and how these things can help me learn more about God and His word.

At the leadership meeting we had at church on Monday night we discussed the process of how Lakeland Community Church strives to accomplish bringing our members, and new comers, to God and growing in their faith, by utilizing the 3 C's; Celebrate, Connect, and Commit.

Celebration is the act of worship, Sunday morning services, celebrating God's love and just how awesome He is. Learning what God has to tell us through the Bible. We discussed that some people skip this step once they've moved onto the others and I have such a hard time understanding how they could do that. To me, this is my favorite step, and one that leaves me feeling deprived if I have to miss it for one reason or another, which doesn't happen often. I've said it before, if Pastor Dave and the music ministry would Celebrate every day, I'd be there!

Connect is small groups, bible studies and home groups that help bring you closer in your walk with God, but also helps you connect to other people who want to do the same. Thus building your Faith Community, which only helps you grow as a Christian and makes you stronger. I love my Wednesday morning women's bible study. Even though we've been doing a book I'm not thrilled with, I go every week because I love the connection I have with the women that are there. I have learned so much from all of them and look forward to our Wednesday mornings.

Commit; commit to serve by giving your time and your tithe to the church. Committing to serve in anyway is a true reflection of God's love. Service can be anything from leading a small group to shoveling snow. As my husband recently discovered when asked to serve on the youth group team of leaders, that he was at church 3 times each week and all 3 times, he was receiving, he needed to serve, he needed to give back to our church, to help so others could receive. I truly feel that service is something that will just come naturally, if you faithfully continue to Celebrate and Connect. Tithing is also an important part of Committing, I know no one likes to talk about it, but you must remember that first and foremost, your money is not yours, it's Gods. Matthew 6:21 tells us "For where your treasure lies, your heart will be also". Which means if you feel that your greatest treasure is your new car, your boat, your latest gadget, that is where your heart also lies. This is a great spiritual way to look at things, however, if you just have a hard time getting your heart and head wrapped around it that way, look at it from a logical stand point. Do you like your church to be warm when you go in January? Cool when you go in August? Do you like light to follow along in your bible on Sunday mornings? Do you like having a roof over your head to worship in April when it's pouring outside? What do think your tithes pay for? They are what pay for the up keep, the staff, and the outreach of your church. If you don't tithe on a regular basis, these things can't happen.

To take the Commit one step further, service for God doesn't stop at the doors of the church, oh no, when you open the doors of the church and step out into the world, the service opportunities just multiply! Again, service doesn't have to be some thing large and complicated, opening a door for some one, kind words, encouraging others, paying for the latte for the person in the car behind you in the Starbucks drive thru, small things count too. However, if you're able to do large things and the opportunities arise, by all means, jump in with both feet and show the world how awesome our God is, simply by your actions.

I sometimes feel my enthusiasm bubbles over and out in such a way that it scares people, even some people from my church LOL , but how do you contain it when you're so filled with the Spirit and love for God? I just don't think it's possible!!

I challenge you to do a self check for 2009, are you doing the 3 C's? Are you Celebrating weekly? Are you Connecting with other Christians on a regular basis? Are you Committing to Serve in some way for the glory of God? If not, make some adjustments, only good things can come from it. God Bless!

Excited, Nervous, Anxious

2009-01-01T16:31:00.000-08:00

For several months now I've been doing a Wednesday Morning Bible Study at my church with some wonderful women. Well that particular study has now come to a close and it's time to move on to our next study. We've chosen to do the Beth Moore Bible Study, Living Beyond Yourself; Exploring the Fruits of the Spirit. The reason I have all these mixed emotions about it is because I've been asked to lead it. I know that with God's help I will do just fine, however, the butterflies in the tummy I'm sure will be in full flight when it starts.

Part of my excitement is that my sisters and my mom are going to do this study with me. Yet another way my family is there for each other on this amazing faith walk we're on together.

God has touched our family.

2008-12-27T06:39:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-21T10:31:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-14T19:20:00.000-08:00

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?

2008-12-13T14:10:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-12-09T16:50:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-06T18:50:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-30T11:16:00.000-08:00

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?

2008-11-19T16:49:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-14T14:57:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-09T16:54:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-09T12:22:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-11-02T20:26:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-30T00:40:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-22T17:14:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-16T04:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-13T06:33:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-09T11:51:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-05T12:04:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2008-10-05T11:43:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-09-22T07:18:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-14T06:55:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-09T04:50:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-09T04:37:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-09-07T18:25:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-09-02T18:47:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-30T05:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-22T07:10:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-08-21T06:35:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2008-08-20T20:34:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-18T20:55:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-08-17T04:12:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-15T09:04:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-13T11:55:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-10T15:51:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2008-08-05T16:48:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-08-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-31T06:20:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-28T06:39:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-25T11:19:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-23T06:13:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2008-07-21T04:30:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-19T21:08:00.001-07:00

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

2008-07-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-13T19:27:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-07-10T01:27:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-07-09T18:24:00.000-07:00

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.

The Shack

2008-07-09T12:33:00.000-07:00

I was up north this past week and in that time I read the book The Shack. I loved it!!! I think the reason I loved it so much was because of the way it challenged the "norm" in which you think of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Not that this is a book of nonfiction, cause no one really knows what the Trinity looks like, but whose to say that They can't look as described in this book?? I love books that make me think outside my box and be more open to other possibilities.

Proverbs 4:23

2008-07-03T04:46:00.001-07:00

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life". The podcast series I'm listening to right now from Northpoint Ministries is about Guarding Your Heart. That everything you do and say comes from your heart. Even those things that you didn't MEAN to do or sag, those are things that come from your heart. That we need to not only guard it and be cautious with it, but before we can do that succesfully we need to cleanse our hearts. WOW, thats a HUGE task!! It talks about guilt, greed, jealousy or envy, and anger. How we need to release these things from our hearts and fill our hearts with the love of God.

What I found most challenging is the guilt part of the series. It says that we need to confess what ever is causing our guilt, not to God cause He already knows, but confess it to whom ever you've commited the act against. I've not done anything to feel great amounts of guilt for in years and years, and those issues have been confessed and forgiven. However just the idea of having to confess a wrong doing that you've done to someone that they may not even know you did, that may in turn hurt that person when you confess it, just seems like you're hurting someone else just to make yourself feel better. To me that seems somewhat selfish. To me the burden of guilt is your punishment for the wrongful act you've done, it's what reminds you not to do that again. Also, in my experience, confessing your wrong doing doesn't necessarily mean that the guilt goes away. As I said it's been years and years, and yet I still feel guilty even though I've been forgiven, yet I know it's not forgotten, which is why I believe I still feel guilty. I dunno, guilt is a hard one to get your head wrapped around, especially if you're a parent. Parental guilt is a never ending, on going thing, no amount of confessing is going to make that one stop.

The greed part of it was interesting too because I certainly don't feel that I'm greedy by any means. However, according to this series, by aquiring and wanting and NEEDING, the newest, the best, the biggest yet not always giving is being greedy. One of the examples was, the lengths we go to to aquire material goods, refinancing, taking out loans, putting leins on things, spending money we don't have, yet when Pastor So n So, asks for a donation for his latest mission trip, we say we don't have the cash on hand. He's not saying that we need to live life in the poor house and never buy anything new, of course not. He's saying that right off the top we need to set aside a percentage to give to God, whether that be your church or some other causes, or charities. Also, the thing that he challenges us to do is to increase our percentage as the years go on, as your income increases, so should your percentate. My husband and I just recently decided to tithe. It's kind of a scary thing to decide to do, although it shouldn't be. We chose to tithe 10%, but when you're writing that check out first, before you pay any bills, you can't help but have a little panic attack hoping that you have enough to pay the bills. Now, we're not making it so we can't pay our bills, however, we have to learn to control our spending habits, which will take some dicipline and time.

Jealousy & Envy, this one I think I do okay on, but I can see where I may have some issues with it. My biggest area of this is when I see women who are thinner or in better shape than I am. I have lots of body issue problems that I'm trying to work through with God's help, but I find myself longing to look like someone else, or have the body of someone else. It's not to say that I'm not a happy person, I am, I just am not happy with my body, which is something only I can change. Which is not an easy thing to do. One of the things that this series asks us to do, is to openly praise those that you have envy/jealousy for. That this will help heal your heart of those issues.

I'm still listening to the anger part of it, so I'll have to get back to you on this one. I at this moment don't feel I have any anger issues, but if I do I'm sure he'll point them out to me LOL

ITunes Podcasts

2008-07-02T17:57:00.000-07:00

One of the ways that I try to stay connected is by listening to Podcasts from ITunes on my IPod. One of my favorites is from North Point Community Church. There are several others as well though and they are all free. You don't need to have an IPod to listen to them off of ITunes, you can hear them right on your computer as well. I find that I do get Lost if I don't make a conscious effort to connect to Him every day. Prayer alone doesn't work for me and I sadly am not real good about taking the time to read the Bible like I should. That is something that I really feel I need to work on and be dilligent in doing. I love listening to Christian Music, but I have heard more than once, that worshiping Him is more than just listening/singing music. These podcasts help me to not only hear the bible read, but also have parts of it explained to me so I can better apply it to my life.

God is Good

2008-07-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

I'm creating this blog, not so much for others, but for me to have a place to put down all the ways that God touches my life. Maybe to use as a bit of a prayer journal of sorts, I'm not really sure yet. All I know is that I'm hungry for all that He is and to have a closer personal relationship with Him.