Success God's way or the world's way?

Hello ladies!
I have been gone through the weekend and need to catch up on your blogs, hopefully I can do that today!

I was reading this morning in the Message Bible and I just love this:
1 Peter 2: 11-12
Friends, this world is not your home, so don't make yourselves cozy in it.
Don't indulge your ego at the expense of your soul.
Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices.
Then they'll be won over to God's side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.

Success according to the world is not the same in God's kingdom.

Jesus said...

Matthew 7:13-14
Don't look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don't fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention.

Now look at what He says next...

Matthew 7:15-20
Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity.
Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other.
Don't be impressed with charisma; look for character.
Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say.
A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook.
These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.

Wow, I wasn't going to go THERE, but there it is.
Of course, this doesn't just apply to preachers, it is us too.
Character is far more important than charisma!

Don't spend your life trying to chase the dream of success, instead spend it chasing Him!

I can't say it any better than this...

Matthew 23: 1-12
Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you'll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you're content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.

LOVE THAT! Don't you?! It's way too exhausting trying to be someone else!

Lord don't You see all my enemies? Part 3

This has been such a fun study to do with you guys, I love all your input! I'm so glad to know that I'm not the only one who struggles in this area! :)

Matthew 5:43-45
"You have heard that the law of
Moses says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy.
44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who
persecute you!
45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of
your Father in heaven.
NLT

Isn’t it interesting that God does not seem as concerned with what our emotions are, or how bad we’ve been treated. No exceptions- love ALL enemies- even the really bad ones! But we have to think of Him as a Father who has our best interest at heart... just like with our children, we want what is best- not what is momentarily pleasing (ie. revengeful thoughts and fits of anger).

Ok, so you might be thinking, what about the time that Jesus got angry?

John 2:13-16
13 When it was almost time for the
Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 In the temple courts He found men selling cattle,
sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money.
15 So He made a whip out of cords, and drove all from
the temple area, both sheep and cattle; He scattered the coins of the money
changers and overturned their tables.
16 To those who sold doves He said, "Get these out of
here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"
NIV

It seems that Jesus in contradicting himself, but that is only because we don’t understand righteous anger. The Bible teaches us to be angry and sin not. Jesus was motivated by righteousness to protect His Father’s house and people.

He loved these people, but was upset by their sin.

Walking in love does include standing boldly at times, but not at the expense of
love. Love always needs to be our motivation in confrontation.

If we are motivated by self-preservation, our motives are wrong.
True self worth is found in knowing who we are according to the Bible AND believing it for ourselves.

Psalm 37:5-6
5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in
him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the
dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
NIV

Are you willing to wait for the Lord to bring about the truth and justice of your circumstances, even if it does not happen in this lifetime?

God has taught me four very important words:

My motivation in all things should be for the glory and honor of God, never for my glory OR my self-preservation. My pride doesn’t want to hear that, but it is so freeing to finally lay down our own selves and sense of self- protection.

Our pride will entice us to focus on ourselves instead of on the Lord. Making the choice to be humble is a hard one sometimes, but you can never go wrong choosing humility.
Humility brings freedom!

Pride can also come across as self-pity. Self-pity is self-destructive.

The only way we can feel sorry for ourselves
is to overlook or outright deny
the amazing/unlimited
amount of God’s love for us!

True self worth is found in knowing who we are according to the Bible AND believing it for ourselves.

Psalm 37:5-6
5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in
Him and He will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the
dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
NIV

Are you willing to wait for the Lord to bring about the truth and justice of your circumstances, even if it does not happen in this lifetime?

Psalm 37 is a wonderful chapter about our enemies, for further study read it for yourself and let the Lord speak to you through it.

Lord, don't You see all my enemies? Part 2

I think that one of the hardest things to deal with is when people speak badly or falsely about you.
Our natural tendency is to defend ourselves! Set the story straight!
After all, it’s right in Proverbs:

Prov 18:17
17 Any story sounds true until someone sets
the record straight.
NLT

But if we are truly following after the example of Jesus, we need to do what He did.
He shows us in Mark 15:3-5:

3 Then the leading priests accused him of many crimes,
4 and Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to say
something? What about all these charges against you?"
5 But Jesus said nothing, much to Pilate's surprise.
NLT

Did you ever really think about what kind of things they might have been saying? I wonder what crimes they accused Him of? All we know is that it was ‘many’ and that Jesus did not defend Himself.
That is hard!!
I have a hard time not defending myself when I am lied about!

One day I was thinking about a situation in which I felt I had been wronged. I knew that the right thing to do was to forgive and move on. I had a little discussion with God about it, I wanted to know HOW in the world could I forgive such horrible things done to me??? In my heart I heard a still small voice say, ‘how did Jesus forgive?’ This verse popped in my head:

Luke 23:33-34
34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them,
for they do not know what they are doing."
NIV

I don't think that any of us really understand what we are doing when we hurt others, especially Christians, we are all part of one body, Christ’s body.

If I speak wrongly of another Christian, I am speaking wrongly of myself.
Ouch! That one is almost a little too much for me, but think about it...
God wants us to forgive and put the situation in His hands.

Rom 12:19-21
19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but
leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will
repay," says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed
him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you
will heap burning coals on his head."
21 Do not be overcome by
evil, but overcome evil with good.
NIV

This is such a powerful verse. By doing good, you can conquer evil!

Trust God, He will take care of your enemies.

Part 3 coming soon...

Lord, don't You see all my enemies? Part 1

Most storms in our life will include enemies.
People that we perceive to be out to destroy us and make our lives miserable.
I admit that the words ‘just smote them God!’ have come out of my mouth. I have many times echoed the words of David;

Ps 3:1
O LORD, I have so many enemies;
so many are against me.
NLT

But read a little farther, verse 3:
Ps 3:3
But you, O LORD, are a shield around me,
my glory, and the one who lifts my head high.
NLT

I speak that out loud often. He IS the lifter of my head!
It literally changes my physical and spiritual posture when I declare that verse!

Sometimes satan can get me so wrapped up in feeling that people are looking down on me, but this verse is the truth that I need to focus on to get through that battle.

After all, I AM a child of the Most High God.

1 John 3:1
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
NIV

His love is never ceasing, He will never leave me or forsake me.

Heb 13:5
"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you."
NIV

The enemy wants me to shrink back in intimidation and shame in the presence of my enemies, but God wants to lift my head.

Ps 22:16
16 My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs;
an evil gang closes in on me.
They have pierced my hands and feet.
NLT

Have you ever felt that way? I think we all have felt like victims in this life at one time or another, and that our enemies are out there is great strength.

You may be surrounded, but our Great God promises that...
1 John 4:4
4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them,
because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
NIV

To be continued...

Worship Him!

I have been on worship teams for the past 2 decades and it is the love of my heart!
I love leading God's people to His throne room to throw down our crowns at His feet.
Though I'm not currently involved on a team, it's my passion to praise HIM!

I had a wonderful time of worship in church last week.
This morning as I spend time in personal worship, I am thinking about these verses and His incredible greatness! I love Him so.

Yes, I get your emails and I am humbled and brought to tears by your stories....
My heart is overcome with the fact that HE IS THE ONLY THING that can fill us,
let Him pour Himself into you today!

Let's worship Him this morning.

Psalm 96:9
Worship the LORD in the splendor of His
holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth.
NIV

Psalm 99:5
Exalt the LORD our God and worship at His footstool; He is holy.
NIV

Psalm 100:2-3
Worship the LORD with gladness; come before Him with
joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God.
NIV

Hebrews 12:28-29
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire."
NIV

Revelations 15:3-4
Great and marvelous are Your deeds, Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways, King of the ages.
Who will not fear You, O Lord, and bring glory to Your
name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for
Your righteous acts have been revealed."
NIV

You Make Everything Glorious!

This morning I was chopping veggies for homemade chicken soup because all of us in the house are plugged up and sneezing and we need some warm comfort food!

We had some incredible storms that went through here last night.

(I took this picture out my front door, this storm soon turned into a tornado warning to the east of us, thankfully one never touched the ground- I actually sent this in to our local TV station and they put it on the air and their website- NOW everyone knows I'm a weather nerd!)

But this morning I was listening to David Crowder on the radio singing "Everything Glorious"

Just then I looked up and saw the most beautiful sight.
The sun peeked out and illuminated the trees in our back field.
He truly does make everything Glorious doesn't HE!

I am so thankful this morning. Here are some of the reasons:

~My "son" (actually an exchange student from Mexico that we had in our home a couple of years ago) has come for a surprise visit! We were all shocked as Alan (pronounced Uh-lon) walked up our driveway. He's hear til Oct. 31st!!
He stayed with us for half a year and we love him dearly. He had another surprise for us...he is a Daddy now. So I guess I'm a Grandma. :/


~Lauren is actually feeling better and slept through the WHOLE night last night! Can I get a Praise the LORD!!

~ Lauren has gymnastics this morning, so she is so excited - it always makes me smile!


~We are going away for the weekend and the weather is looking beautiful!


~ I have a speaking engagement in December to the women of an inner-city church in Grand Rapids and I'm just thrilled, the ladies there are just precious!


~ God makes everything glorious- in His time!!!!

Have a wonderful weekend ladies, I'll be checking in from time to time if the internet is working in the motorhome!

Blessings,

Faith Like Daniel

After the last post, I am overwhelmed by the trials you have endured and the faith You have in our Lord. Some of your comments and emails bring me to tears. You are truly living this!!
There's nothing shallow about you. You've been through REAL pain and now are able to testify of the Lord's goodness. I am so blessed by your candidness. Thank you for sharing your stories from the heart!!!

I am going to be highlighting some of the wonderful testimonies of faith in God's Word.
I don't think we will ever tire of having our faith encouraged will we?

Here is a condensed version of the story that most of us are familiar with, feel free to read it in it's entirety if you like:

Daniel 6:6-7
The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors
have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days, except
to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions' den.
NIV

Dan 6:10-11
Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to
his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times
a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he
had done before.
NIV

Dan 6:16
So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw
him into the lions' den. The king said to Daniel, "May your God, whom
you serve continually, rescue you!"
NIV

Dan 6:19-22
At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions'
den.
20 When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice,
"Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually,
been able to rescue you from the lions?"
21 Daniel answered, "O king, live
forever!
22 My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the
lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his
sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king."
NIV

Don't let the familiarity of this story take away the power of it!
Personnally, I am afraid of lions. There have been stories of cougars in our area (yes, Michigan) and it scares me silly! I have had nightmares about lions since I was a little girl. I won't even go close to the glass at the zoo!

A lion is a fierce animal!

Wouldn't you have preferred that God said, "Oh I will change that Kings mind and not let him make Daniel go into the lion's den!"

However, God saw that it would be better for him to experience that trial so
that WE could see the power and glory of God!!!!

God sent angels to come and close the mouths of the lions!
Isn't He wonderful?!!!

Can you picture it? How awesome a sight that must have been for Daniel.

We serve an amazing God. He will close the mouths of the lions if need be in our lives!
Thank you Lord!!!

1 Peter 5:8-9
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls
around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know
that your
brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of
sufferings.
NIV

Let's believe God, whether whatever type of lion's den we are facing!

Against All Hope

Romans 4:18-25
18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

Is there a situation in your life that seems to be against all hope?

I believe that our Magnificent God revels in these kinds of situations, because He knows that we will have no other option but to see that only He could have brought us through!

19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead-since he was about a hundred years old-and that Sarah's womb was also dead.

God doesn't ask us to pretend that things are not as they are in the natural. Sometimes we need to face the fact that ___________________. The key is in the next verse...

20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,

OH! What a mouthful!

He did not waver through unbelief...he trusted that what his God has told him was true.

He was strengthened in his faith as he did not waver.

21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Fully persuaded! He was sure that the Lord would honor His promise.

22 This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness."

23 The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone,

24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness-for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

These words are here as a promise to us. That when we believe him, when we take Him at His word, he will credit that righteousness to us.

He is blessed by our believing Him!

Heb 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
NKJV

So then, WITH faith we are pleasing Him!

I want to please God don't you?!

I want Him to be blessed by the belief I have in my heart towards Him.

What is your "against all hope" situation?

Believe God.

Things may not work out the way you would have planned it,

but you can know that when you believe Him, He is pleased with you.

He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

He is the same today as when those words were written.

If you are comfortable, share about how God came through in an "against all hope" situation for you. Your testimony may be just what someone needs today!

My 100th Post!!

Congratulations Hope!!! (Chosen with the random number generator.)
Email me your address and I will get your praise and coffee right out to you!

I loved doing this!
Thanks so much to everyone who commented, I’ve made all kinds of new friends!
I will definitely be doing more giveaways so keep an eye out!


ALSO…
This is my 100th post!
I can’t believe I’ve only been blogging for 6 months.
I have loved meeting so many new friends from around the world. It has been so much fun.

I know that I am supposed to write 100 things about myself, but I can’t come up with more than 12 so here’s what I’m thinking…

If you want to know something about me,
just post a comment with a question in it
and I will comment back the answer!
That way you aren’t wasting your time reading about how I live on chips and salsa or that I am 5’9” tall.

Warning… if you ask me something, you run the risk of me posting a random question on your blog too! :P
Blessings,

Have a good laugh on me!

Here's one that I posted in April, you will get a kick out of it.
This picture looks just like the cat in the story.

Many years ago, I had this cat. Her name was Baby. She was very sweet, but had some rather annoying traits. One was her voice, she had the kind of meow that sounded like nails on a chalkboard, but at least she only did it in the middle of the night.

She also had this strange habit of backing up to something and shaking her tail as if she was spraying it, but thankfully, nothing ever seemed to come out. I had heard of male cats doing this, but never females. When I had my first child it became very annoying because she would do it around his things, as if to mark her territory.

So one day I decided to call the vet and ask if there was something I could do about it. As I explained to the receptionist how she would back up to things and shake her tail as if she was spraying, the woman seemed just as perplexed as I was. She sat there silently for a moment and said “who is doing this?” and I explained once more that it was my female cat and I wondered if she had any advice for me. She then very sweetly said that I should probably call a vet, and it was at that moment that I looked down at my address book and realized that I had called my gynecologist.

I hung the phone up as fast as I could and prayed that they did not have caller ID. I was so embarrassed that I never even called the vet. I just got a spray bottle and drenched the cat whenever she shook anything.

The drawing is this MONDAY for the "Praise and Coffee" free giveaway!

Make sure you get over to the October 1st post and comment if you haven't yet!!

That will be my 100th post, so check that out also!

Since a merry heart is good like a medicine, watch this fun clip!

But...I'm the Wounded...

Ok, let’s turn the tables (upside-down if we need to!) on this subject.
What about when WE are the walking wounded?

What about when WE are the ones bloody, wounded
and seething in pain?

How much anxiety, rejection and abuse can we take before we are the ones bleeding?

Jesus came to heal YOU.

I want to re-post a couple of posts that I did on God Healing our Broken Hearts:

Healing Broken Hearts part 1

Healing Broken Hearts part 2

I talk about some of my personal need for healing and sexual abuse that I experienced. I pray God uses them to minister His healing to you today.

If you are hurting today, I wish I could wrap my arms around you and pray for you, but since I can’t, feel free to email me any prayer requests and I will pray for you.

Love you girls!
(((((Hugs))))))

The Walking Wounded

This is a quote from a children's book by Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman about a little Chinese girl that's going to be adopted:


"But, then, there's a cry that's the saddest of all.
In fact, it's unlike any other.
It comes from a deep, empty place in your heart
That can only be filled by a mother."


The first several times I read this story to my daughter I couldn't even say those words because I was either crying or had such a large lump in my throat the words just couldn't get past it.


As I was reading it to my daughter tonight, I thought of all the people in this world that do not know the Lord. They don't know their Heavenly Father.
There is a longing, an emptiness...a God-shaped hole in the heart of every person that hasn't received (and possibly has even rejected) His love and forgiveness.

Sometimes I can get so frustrated when sinners sin.
I forget to look past the sin and see the pain that is driving them to behave this way.
In the same way, I can get offended when someone is unkind or harsh with me.


We have a dog and she is so sweet. She has been with our family for several years now and never hurt any one of us. Lauren lays on her and pulls her ears and she still never does anything that might hurt her.
BUT, if she were ever hurt or hit by a car, I would NOT let Lauren near her.
WHY? Because in her state of pain and fear, she could respond in a violent manner.
It is only natural.


There have been times when the Lord has reminded me to see people this way.
Bloody, wounded and seething with pain.

Obviously, they are not physically injured, but the pain for some is deeper than physical wounds. Many times, the responses and reactions that we get from people are not a direct result of their feelings towards us, but a response to their feelings toward themselves or others who have hurt them.

I'm not excusing bad behavior...

But possibly, if we opened our heart. We might see that love could heal some relationships that have been destroyed by one person's pain, and another's resistance to forgive.

In the same manner, if we understand how empty and sad a heart can be without the Lord, maybe we can see beyond the outside walls built aroung their heart and give them a reason to let Him in!

He's the only hope for a lost and hurting world.

It takes a person strong in their walk with the Lord to open their own heart to the possibility of being hurt by the wounded- but it's worth every battle scar.

He's Home!

Matt's plane came in Friday night. It is wonderful to have him home!

His little sister is very happy!

Thanks so much for all the prayers and sweet thoughts!

Mathetes Award

Thank you so much Monkey Giggles, Ginger, Sharon B and Dionna for feeling that I am deserving of this award. I can't tell you how wonderful you have made me feel.

Mathetes is the Greek word for disciple, and the role of the disciple (per the Great Commission) is to make more disciples.

I am blown away that I would get all these nominations in one week! I wasn't going to post on it but I want to publically say thank you to all of them and say that I am so blessed every day that I get to share my heart with you. If there is anything good that comes from this, it is of the Lord and He is the One deserving the glory!

I have NOTHING to offer you but Him.

I enjoy writing this blog so much, and your responses have made me love it all the more!
I can't believe all the wonderful women I have met through this blog.

I have laughed with you, stayed up at night praying for you and cried like a baby over some of your trials!
My husband knows many of you by name!

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share my heart, I am in the process of writing some other publications also....more on that later...

In keeping with the spirit of the award, I am passing it on to three women that make me think everytime I read their blogs:

Holly

Kim

Susy

If you don't know them yet, check them out!

The Haves and the Have-Nots

Do you ever get caught up thinking about all the things you need?
I sure do.
I need this, I need that.
I wish I had this. I wish I had that.
I’ll NEVER get this. I’ll NEVER get that.
How come THEY have this or that????

It can be a downward spiral can’t it?!

God knew that our sinful nature would struggle with this. Jealousy, envy, greed and covetousness.

A desire for what we don’t have can quickly turn to greed when we are no longer content with what we do have.

Heb 13:4-5
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you."
NIV

Interesting that God goes from the thought of keeping ourselves free from the love of money and being to content; to “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

Hmmm… could there be a key to contentment here?

This says to me “I’m here, what more could you need?” I AM enough.
Think about it, we’ll get back to that.

Let’s look at Col 3:5,
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
NIV

Idolatry. Idols.
We would not fashion together our necklaces and rings to make a creature that we would worship, but if we are not content and we love things, that’s idolatry.
There’s nothing wrong with enjoying things- I sure do!

But loving them more than we love the Lord or people is sinful.

Jesus said:
Luke 12:15
"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
NIV
It doesn’t? I thought that “He who dies with the most toys wins.” NOT.

Paul wasn’t light on the subject either:
Eph 5:3
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.
NIV

Not even a hint of greed?! Not a hint of wanting or coveting what someone else has.
Oh Lord, I’m in sad shape!

What about envy? I looked up the meaning and I found it so interesting.

ENVY
That discontented feeling that arises in the selfish heart in view of the superiority of another, nearly tantamount to jealousy.
(from The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright (c) 1988.)

Arises from a feeling of superiority. As in, I think that I might be better than someone else so how come they have THIS?

Pride plays an important role here, it’s like the match that lights the flame.

Envy can go beyond “things.”
It can affect relationships. We could envy or covet our neighbors’ husband, or children.

We could envy or covet their emotional or physical health. The list goes on.

2 Cor 10:12
For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves.
But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
NKJV

This truly is the beginning of it all.
We start comparing ourselves with others. We compare what we have to what they have.

I told you that we would get back to Heb 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you."
NIV

He is the ultimate fulfillment of all we need.
He is the great I AM.

God knows that He is enough for us, do we?

1 Tim 6:6-7
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.
NIV

We all need things. We all pray for things and situations to change. There’s nothing wrong with that. That does not mean that we are discontent or envious or greedy.

The line is crossed in our hearts.
The line is crossed when we desire “something” more than we desire God.

He wants us to pray, He wants us to ask, He wants us to believe!
The question we have to ask ourselves is; if you don’t get what you are longing for, will it change our love for God?

Do we love Him more than the answered prayer?

Well, I don’t know about you, but this one has hit me right between the eyes. I have some repenting and re-evaluating to do in my heart.

This may have been a heavy word, but we are big girls now, we can take it.
We want to grow right? This is how we do it, look at what God says- then look in the mirror and with His help, change accordingly.

He never asks us to change without offering to help us do it!
Isn’t He wonderful?!
I love Him so much.

(Thank you all for your sweet words about my son coming home!!)

Changing plans~ changing seasons...

My Son Is Coming Home!

It has been a long couple of months, and it is a long story but here's the condensed version.

After 3 weeks in Security Forces training, my son developed back pain. It did not get better and the Air Force has determined that it was an old injury that is irritated. (He had a dirtbike accident a year ago and broke his collar bone and his pelvis in 2 places.)

They said that he had broken vertebrae from the former injury (though we were never told this) and that it would not get better so they decided to discharge him.

At first we were all heartbroken that he was leaving the Air Force. We hoped and prayed that he could stay or be re-assigned to a different, less physical unit. This didn't happen and after being very upset and concerned about his future, the Lord impressed on my heart that He had His hand on this. (No kidding Sue!)

I felt that the Lord had him there for a reason and a season. He had things to teach him and those things have been accomplished.

Ok. I trust you Lord! Italy is not YOUR plan!

I will spare you all the horrible details of this situation. I have purposely not posted what is going on because I have struggled with my attitude about it. I have had to trust that the Lord was doing a work in my son and let the process happen.
However, when it got really ugly and we felt almost abusive- we did get our Congressman involved and wow- did thing speed up.

NOW....it has been several weeks and I am SOOOOO ready for my boy (ahem...man) to come home!!!

He will re-enter college after the 1st of the year and we will trust the Lord to lead him in the rest of His plans.

Ps 33:11
But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,the purposes of his heart through all generations.
NIV

Prov 16:9
In his heart a man plans his course,but the LORD determines his steps.
NIV

Jer 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
NIV

Have any of your plans ever been totally turned upside-down?

You wondered what was going on- didn't GOD tell you to do this or that?

Sometimes the season is not as long as we think!

This songs has always been a favorite- every time it gets to the springtime and she says the line "and everything that's new"- I burst into tears! I kid you not! There have been so many times of the bleak cold winter seasons that I am overcome with the joy that God brings after them!

Enjoy.

Looks like he will be flying home on Friday, I think I'll make him his favorite, tacos!

Free Giveaway!

I’m so excited, this is my first giveaway!

If you would like the chance to win, just comment to THIS post.

I will be doing a drawing and announcing the winner on

October 15, 2007.

Here are the rules:
1. Post a comment to THIS post

2. Make sure there is a link to your email

so I can contact you if you win

3. One entry per person please!

Edited to add:
If you don't have a link to your email on your blog and don't want to post your email publicly- send it to my email and I will save it in case you win.

ALSO- I moved the drawing date up to October 15th!!!