"Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him." 2 Corinthians 3:16-18
I love this verse! It brings me a lot of hope! :) God is the one who removes the veil from unbelievers faces, and when He removes it they finally recognize that He is living and real!
I also love that it says there is nothing between us and God, and that our faces shine with the brightness of His face! Oh how I want my face to be radiant because of God working in my heart and life! And how encouraging is it to know that as we allow God to enter into our lives we become more like Him and we become evermore beautiful and bright!!
Lord shine brightly in me! Lord, help me to open up to you and allow you to enter into my life so that I can shine for you!!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
During my Beth Moore study, Breaking Free, I was reading about Jotham one of the kings of Israel. Jotham was a man who sought the Lord during his time of reign and he had much success as a king. However his people were not so dedicated to the Lord and they continued to practice their corrupt worship of idols. One of the reasons this was the case was because Jotham didn't destroy "the high places" which were places where they would go to worship the pagan gods.
Something that was interesting that Beth Moore wrote about this situation was, "Jotham sought God faithfully and walked steadfastly before Him, but he refused to demand respect for the One and Only God. Jotham was boss. He could have destroyed the high places, but he obviously feared the people more than he feared God."
Isn't this a sobering thought? When I read this it made me think of my own life. Sometimes I am just plain content with seeking the Lord on my own but then I don't fight for all that He is. I mean Im not a King or Queen or in any situation where I have power and authority over what people do but I can still have influence on the way that people treat the Lord.
I find that far too often my life is characterized by the words of Beth Moore,"[she] obviously feared the people more than [she] feared God." I allow fear sometimes to shut my mouth in situations where I should be defending God. I don't speak about the great things that the Lord does in my life for fear that people will mock me. And I even find myself sitting and simply allowing people to mock the name of Jesus and His followers.
Most of the time I also realize that during these situations I am working in my own strength. It's generally times where I have been out of the Word for a while or slacking off with my time spent with the Lord. I loose sight of all that God is and I begin to see how frightening confrontation is. I begin to see how much I desire approval of other people and not so much approval of God and that begins to cloud my mind and tends to lead me to speak things that I wouldn't normally speak or to not speak anything at all.
At those times that is when I need God the most. The Holy Spirit is the one who gives us power in those situations to speak the truths of God. If we continue to look to ourselves in those times and beat ourselves down for not speaking the right thing then we are completely disregarding Jesus. However if we humble ourselves and realize that we are never going to be able to do it in our own strength and ask for God to fill us with His stregnth and His Spirit then we will have power in those situations.
Something that was interesting that Beth Moore wrote about this situation was, "Jotham sought God faithfully and walked steadfastly before Him, but he refused to demand respect for the One and Only God. Jotham was boss. He could have destroyed the high places, but he obviously feared the people more than he feared God."
Isn't this a sobering thought? When I read this it made me think of my own life. Sometimes I am just plain content with seeking the Lord on my own but then I don't fight for all that He is. I mean Im not a King or Queen or in any situation where I have power and authority over what people do but I can still have influence on the way that people treat the Lord.
I find that far too often my life is characterized by the words of Beth Moore,"[she] obviously feared the people more than [she] feared God." I allow fear sometimes to shut my mouth in situations where I should be defending God. I don't speak about the great things that the Lord does in my life for fear that people will mock me. And I even find myself sitting and simply allowing people to mock the name of Jesus and His followers.
Most of the time I also realize that during these situations I am working in my own strength. It's generally times where I have been out of the Word for a while or slacking off with my time spent with the Lord. I loose sight of all that God is and I begin to see how frightening confrontation is. I begin to see how much I desire approval of other people and not so much approval of God and that begins to cloud my mind and tends to lead me to speak things that I wouldn't normally speak or to not speak anything at all.
At those times that is when I need God the most. The Holy Spirit is the one who gives us power in those situations to speak the truths of God. If we continue to look to ourselves in those times and beat ourselves down for not speaking the right thing then we are completely disregarding Jesus. However if we humble ourselves and realize that we are never going to be able to do it in our own strength and ask for God to fill us with His stregnth and His Spirit then we will have power in those situations.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
"Blessings" by Laura Story
Here is an amazing song by Laura Story... The lyrics are fantastic and they're at the bottom of this post! It's so beautiful and so true!
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home,
It's not our home
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
My Devotional This Morning
I read my devotional this morning and I really thought that it was amazing so I wanted to post it on here so that maybe it will bless someone else like it blessed me! :)
It's from "Spurgeon's Most Popular Works: Morning & Evening" by Charles Spurgeon.
"Salvation is of the Lord" - Jonah 2:9
"Salvation is the work of God. It is He alone who quickens the soul "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1), and it is He also who maintains the soul in its spiritual life. He is both "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end" (Revelation 1:8). "Salvation is of the Lord." If I am prayerful, God makes me prayerful. If I have graces, they are God's gift to me. If I hold on in a consistent life, it is because He upholds me with His hand. I do nothing whatever towards my own preservation, except what God himself first does in me. Whatever I have, all my goodness is of the Lord alone. Wherein I sin, that is my own; but wherein I act uprightly, that is of God, wholly and completely. If I have repulsed a spiritual enemy, the Lord's strength fortified my arm. Do I live a consecrated life before men? It is not I, but Christ who lives in me. Am I sanctified? I did not cleanse myself; God's Holy Spirit sanctifies me. Am I weaned from the world? I am weaned by God's chastisements sanctified to my good. Do I grow in knowledge? The great Instructor teaches me. All my jewels were fashioned by heavenly art. I find in God all that I need, but I find in myself nothing but sin and misery. "He only is my rock and my salvation" (Psalm 62:2, 6). Do I feed on the Word? That Word would be no food for me unless the Lord made it food for my soul and helped me to feed on it. Do I live on the manna that comes down from heaven? What is that manna but Jesus Christ Himself incarnate, whose body and whose blood I eat and drink? Am I continually recieving fresh increase of strength? Where do I gather my might? My help comes from heaven's hills. Without Jesus, I can do nothing. As a branch cannot bring forth fruit unless it "abide[s] in the vine" (John 15:4), no more can I, unless I abide in Him. What Jonah learned in the great deep, let me learn this morning in my place of prayer: "Salvation is of the LORD." "
It's from "Spurgeon's Most Popular Works: Morning & Evening" by Charles Spurgeon.
"Salvation is of the Lord" - Jonah 2:9
"Salvation is the work of God. It is He alone who quickens the soul "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1), and it is He also who maintains the soul in its spiritual life. He is both "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end" (Revelation 1:8). "Salvation is of the Lord." If I am prayerful, God makes me prayerful. If I have graces, they are God's gift to me. If I hold on in a consistent life, it is because He upholds me with His hand. I do nothing whatever towards my own preservation, except what God himself first does in me. Whatever I have, all my goodness is of the Lord alone. Wherein I sin, that is my own; but wherein I act uprightly, that is of God, wholly and completely. If I have repulsed a spiritual enemy, the Lord's strength fortified my arm. Do I live a consecrated life before men? It is not I, but Christ who lives in me. Am I sanctified? I did not cleanse myself; God's Holy Spirit sanctifies me. Am I weaned from the world? I am weaned by God's chastisements sanctified to my good. Do I grow in knowledge? The great Instructor teaches me. All my jewels were fashioned by heavenly art. I find in God all that I need, but I find in myself nothing but sin and misery. "He only is my rock and my salvation" (Psalm 62:2, 6). Do I feed on the Word? That Word would be no food for me unless the Lord made it food for my soul and helped me to feed on it. Do I live on the manna that comes down from heaven? What is that manna but Jesus Christ Himself incarnate, whose body and whose blood I eat and drink? Am I continually recieving fresh increase of strength? Where do I gather my might? My help comes from heaven's hills. Without Jesus, I can do nothing. As a branch cannot bring forth fruit unless it "abide[s] in the vine" (John 15:4), no more can I, unless I abide in Him. What Jonah learned in the great deep, let me learn this morning in my place of prayer: "Salvation is of the LORD." "
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
This Heart of Mine
Today the Lord has brought me to the subject of my heart. I had been thinking that my struggle was with my thoughts and just simply being distracted by lots of other things and that was what was keeping me away from God. Today He revealed to me that the problem is deeper than just my thoughts because it is centered on matters of what's in my heart.
"For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." Matthew 12:34
"The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:45
"For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly." Mark 7:21-22
Simply the fact that I was thinking about these things showed that they held a high place in my heart. I could try to ignore them and pretend that they weren't really there but I feel like that is almost as crippling as dwelling on them for extended periods of time. Because whether I confront them or ignore them they're still there. I've come to see that it's much better to confront these things because they show where I am placing my hope.
"As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man." Proverbs 27:19
What do I trust in? What do I place my hope in? What do I look to for satisfaction? If the answer is not God then there is something wrong. Though I like to say that all of those questions are answered with "God" I know that if the words I speak and the things that I think reflect what's in my heart then the answer isn't always God.
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there you heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21
I want my treasure to be in heaven because I want my heart to be in heaven! I desperately want to say that the Lord is my first love and my greatest love! I want to be able to say that my hearts cry is like Pauls,
"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow to attain to the resurrection from the dead." Philippians 3:7-11
I was searching through the Bible for verses about the heart and some that really struck me and made me want to press in more include:
"Turn my heart towards your statutes and not towards selfish gain." Psalm 119:36
"Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name." Psalm 86:4
"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12
"I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands." Psalm 119:10
"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalm 51:10
"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14
"Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and mind." Psalm 26:2
"And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him he will be found by you..." 1 Chronicles 28:9
"For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." Matthew 12:34
"The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:45
"For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly." Mark 7:21-22
Simply the fact that I was thinking about these things showed that they held a high place in my heart. I could try to ignore them and pretend that they weren't really there but I feel like that is almost as crippling as dwelling on them for extended periods of time. Because whether I confront them or ignore them they're still there. I've come to see that it's much better to confront these things because they show where I am placing my hope.
"As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man." Proverbs 27:19
What do I trust in? What do I place my hope in? What do I look to for satisfaction? If the answer is not God then there is something wrong. Though I like to say that all of those questions are answered with "God" I know that if the words I speak and the things that I think reflect what's in my heart then the answer isn't always God.
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there you heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21
I want my treasure to be in heaven because I want my heart to be in heaven! I desperately want to say that the Lord is my first love and my greatest love! I want to be able to say that my hearts cry is like Pauls,
"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow to attain to the resurrection from the dead." Philippians 3:7-11
I was searching through the Bible for verses about the heart and some that really struck me and made me want to press in more include:
"Turn my heart towards your statutes and not towards selfish gain." Psalm 119:36
"Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name." Psalm 86:4
"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12
"I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands." Psalm 119:10
"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalm 51:10
"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14
"Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and mind." Psalm 26:2
"And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him he will be found by you..." 1 Chronicles 28:9
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Psalm 89:14-16
"Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presences, O LORD. They rejoice in your name all day long; they exult in your righteousness."
In the book I'm reading, "31 Days of Drawing Near to God: Resting Secruely in His Delight" by Ruth Myers, she gives a list of scriptures out of which we're supposed to choose one to meditate on. I chose Psalm 89: 14-16 today because I felt like it really exemplified my desire to know God more! I love that the person who acclaims God and who walks in the light of His presence rejoices all day long and exults in God's righteousness!
One of the first things I did when I was reading this verse was look up what "acclaim" and "exult" mean. I was interested to see exactly what the dictionary definition was because, I don't know if this makes me vocabularically-challenged (nice word huh?), I didn't really know what those words meant haha.
acclaim: "to welcome with shouts or sounds of joy and approval; to acknowledge publicly the excellence of (a person or thing)"
exult: "to show or feel lively or triumphant joy; rejoice exceedingly; to be joyful especially because of triumph or success."
I think when you put those definitions into the scripture it really makes it that much more amazing! To know that those who welcome God with shouts of joy and approval and who walk in the light of His presence are blessed! And that by doing such things they are able to rejoice in His name and rejoice exceedingly and triumphantly in His righteousness! That is so cool!
I love it! :) It's so good! I want to be the person who publicly acknowledges the excellence of God! How cool is it that we get the opportunity to do that?! So awesome! I want to always be walking in the light of His presence and I want to be able to rejoice in Him and His righteousness every day! That's the cry of my heart! :)
Another Notable Quote:
"God is so vastly wonderful, so utterly and completely delightful, that He can without anything other than Himself meet and overflow the deepest demands of our total nature, mysterious and deep as that nature is." -A.W. Tozer
God can meet all of our needs and satisfactions. Ruth Myer wrote, "This is where we find the kind of love we most deeply need-- not in human relationships, but in God. If we want real love, ideal love, perfect love, God's heart is where to find it. It's the only love big enough to meet the deep needs in your life and mine."
A good song by J.J. Heller that I feel is a perfect song for the day! :)
Lyrics:
I don't need a thing
My good shepherd brings me all
You are all I need
You let me catch my breath
Even in the valley of death
You are all I need
All I need to be complete is your love
Your blood that covers me
You lift up my head
You provide the wine and bread
You are all I need
There's no need to fear
Even with my enemies here
You are all I need
All I need to be complete is your love
Your blood that covers me
Goodness and mercy are following me
You are all that I need
You make a home for me
With pastures of green as far as I see
You are all I need
All I need to be complete is your love
Your blood that covers me
Monday, February 7, 2011
Your Love is Extravagant
Recently I have been dwelling on the love of God! The Lord has showed me ways in which I have created idols in my life and He has brought me to a place where I need to dethrone those things. He's also been the one to sustain me and help me to cast down those idols.
I have started reading a book by Ruth Myers called, "31 Days of Drawing Near to God: Resting Securely in His Delight" and I have decided to really hold my thoughts captive and dwell on HIS love through these 31 days. A "fast of thoughts" if you would. So far it has been really good and I have just been amazed by how selfish my thoughts are constantly! It's amazing that unless you are really focusing on it you just don't even think about it.
Some notable excerpts from the book that I read today that were super awesome were:
"Purge me, Lord, of my follies; an empty cup let me be,
Waiting only Thy blessing, hungry only for Thee.
Can even the Lord pour blessing into a cup that is full?
Put treasure into a locked hand, be He ever so bountiful?
Empty me, Lord, and make me hungry only for Thee.
Only Thy bread once tasted can ever satisfy me."
"May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love; and may you be able to feel and understand, as all of God's children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself." -Ephesians 3:17-19
God's love is extravgant! He is the only on who can satisfy the deepest desires of our souls.
Just two weeks ago I was conversing with God about things that I thought would satisfy my heart. It was only after I said that I thought those things would satisfy me that I realized how stupid I was for thinking that! I couldn't believe I didn't see it sooner! God spoke so clearly that I should try filling those parts of my heart with Him, and since then I have been able to experience to an amazing degree His love and joy! It is so true that only the Lord can bring your heart true satisfaction!
I feel like my hearts desire these past few days has been "keep pressing in". I want to keep pressing into God so that I can know Him more and find my true satisfaction in Him! Let me tell you, it's a sweet place to be! :)
I have started reading a book by Ruth Myers called, "31 Days of Drawing Near to God: Resting Securely in His Delight" and I have decided to really hold my thoughts captive and dwell on HIS love through these 31 days. A "fast of thoughts" if you would. So far it has been really good and I have just been amazed by how selfish my thoughts are constantly! It's amazing that unless you are really focusing on it you just don't even think about it.
Some notable excerpts from the book that I read today that were super awesome were:
"Purge me, Lord, of my follies; an empty cup let me be,
Waiting only Thy blessing, hungry only for Thee.
Can even the Lord pour blessing into a cup that is full?
Put treasure into a locked hand, be He ever so bountiful?
Empty me, Lord, and make me hungry only for Thee.
Only Thy bread once tasted can ever satisfy me."
"May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love; and may you be able to feel and understand, as all of God's children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself." -Ephesians 3:17-19
God's love is extravgant! He is the only on who can satisfy the deepest desires of our souls.
Just two weeks ago I was conversing with God about things that I thought would satisfy my heart. It was only after I said that I thought those things would satisfy me that I realized how stupid I was for thinking that! I couldn't believe I didn't see it sooner! God spoke so clearly that I should try filling those parts of my heart with Him, and since then I have been able to experience to an amazing degree His love and joy! It is so true that only the Lord can bring your heart true satisfaction!
I feel like my hearts desire these past few days has been "keep pressing in". I want to keep pressing into God so that I can know Him more and find my true satisfaction in Him! Let me tell you, it's a sweet place to be! :)
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Thoughts
I was reading through the Psalms recently and I started reading Psalm 10 just now and this verse really hit me:
I was really struck by the second part of this verse, "In all his thoughts there is no room for God." This really made me think about what I think about. It's sobering to ask yourself, is there room in your thoughts for God? I think about the things that I spend a lot of time thinking about which aren't even worthy of the time that I do spend thinking about them because in the scheme of things they don't really matter!
I want my thoughts to be constantly about God. I don't want there to be no room for Him. I don't want to be the wicked man whose pride doesn't see the Lord. I want to devote my life to thinking about and spending time with God because He's worth it! He's worth every thought. And the time spent thinking of Him, about Him, meditating on who He is, wont be in vain! Dwelling on those things will bring fruit and knowledge and wisdom and peace and revelation!
It's easy to give other things a place of higher honor in our thoughts than God. It's hard sometimes to even recognize that we're doing it! Unfortunately that's when those things become idols. That's why it's so important to constantly be asking God to search our hearts and our minds so that He can reveal to us when we've strayed from Him.
I'd encourage you to ask the question, "is there room in my thoughts for God?" and allow the Lord to reveal those things, if they're there, that take up most of the space in your thoughts and steal away time with Him.
"In his pride the wicked does not see him. In all his thoughts there is no room for God." Psalm 10:4
I was really struck by the second part of this verse, "In all his thoughts there is no room for God." This really made me think about what I think about. It's sobering to ask yourself, is there room in your thoughts for God? I think about the things that I spend a lot of time thinking about which aren't even worthy of the time that I do spend thinking about them because in the scheme of things they don't really matter!
I want my thoughts to be constantly about God. I don't want there to be no room for Him. I don't want to be the wicked man whose pride doesn't see the Lord. I want to devote my life to thinking about and spending time with God because He's worth it! He's worth every thought. And the time spent thinking of Him, about Him, meditating on who He is, wont be in vain! Dwelling on those things will bring fruit and knowledge and wisdom and peace and revelation!
It's easy to give other things a place of higher honor in our thoughts than God. It's hard sometimes to even recognize that we're doing it! Unfortunately that's when those things become idols. That's why it's so important to constantly be asking God to search our hearts and our minds so that He can reveal to us when we've strayed from Him.
I'd encourage you to ask the question, "is there room in my thoughts for God?" and allow the Lord to reveal those things, if they're there, that take up most of the space in your thoughts and steal away time with Him.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Good Times...
These picture made me chuckle today! I love my Tasha!! :)
...We were the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus one year for Halloween... Legit? I think so! haha! We used temporary hair color to make Tasha's hair black! She was a brave soul to do that especially since she has natural blonde hair! I applaud her!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
The Miracle of Sugar
I was driving home today and I was thinking about the funniest thing that was said at my sisters weddding. The ring bearer at my sisters wedding was around 2 or 3 years old and when we were starting to take pictures he was not in a good mood. He was really tired and didn't want to cooperate at all. Obviously you have to expect things like that when working with children because they aren't robots or something. If they're in a bad mood then they're in a bad mood.
We were taking pictures at the Scout Lodge, where the reception was going to be held, and then we drove to the church before taking a few more pictures and having the ceremony. Pierce, the ring bearer, stayed with his mom while we all drove to the Church and when we were all at the church taking more pictures Pierce and his mom and aunt and Alyssa, the flower girl, all showed up.
There was a dramatic change in Pierce's behavior. He was happy and willing to take as many pictures as we wanted. It was a total 180 degree transformation. The best part?
I was talking with my cousin and Pierce's aunt, Marci, and she said:
"All we did was pump him with sugar and soda."
That has got to be the best thing I've ever heard! I laughed out loud. I don't know why it was so funny to me but even now thinking about it I chuckle. I guess it's because it really worked! You know you always see kids hyped up on sugar but I don't think I've seen the dramatic transformation that it has on them like physicall right before my eyes! It was great! :) Plus all of the super "health conscious people" say you shouldn't give your kids this, that or the other thing and then they purposely pumped him with sugar and caffeine! :) I love it!!! :)
So yeah that is the story I wanted to share today! hahaha It made me chuckle! :)
We were taking pictures at the Scout Lodge, where the reception was going to be held, and then we drove to the church before taking a few more pictures and having the ceremony. Pierce, the ring bearer, stayed with his mom while we all drove to the Church and when we were all at the church taking more pictures Pierce and his mom and aunt and Alyssa, the flower girl, all showed up.
There was a dramatic change in Pierce's behavior. He was happy and willing to take as many pictures as we wanted. It was a total 180 degree transformation. The best part?
I was talking with my cousin and Pierce's aunt, Marci, and she said:
"All we did was pump him with sugar and soda."
That has got to be the best thing I've ever heard! I laughed out loud. I don't know why it was so funny to me but even now thinking about it I chuckle. I guess it's because it really worked! You know you always see kids hyped up on sugar but I don't think I've seen the dramatic transformation that it has on them like physicall right before my eyes! It was great! :) Plus all of the super "health conscious people" say you shouldn't give your kids this, that or the other thing and then they purposely pumped him with sugar and caffeine! :) I love it!!! :)
So yeah that is the story I wanted to share today! hahaha It made me chuckle! :)
This is what happens when you, "pump him with sugar and soda" hahaha Instant transformation!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
My Thought During Biology Lecture:
Humans like to try to be god.
Apparently scientists are trying to create artificial life through creating DNA and cell membranes and culminating with the combination of the two... I feel like humans have been trying to be gods all throughout history. It's kinda sad. They deny the one true living God for the theory of evolution and their own creations...
Apparently scientists are trying to create artificial life through creating DNA and cell membranes and culminating with the combination of the two... I feel like humans have been trying to be gods all throughout history. It's kinda sad. They deny the one true living God for the theory of evolution and their own creations...
Matters of the Heart
I was reading the other day in my devotional book "Spurgeon's Most Popular Works: Morning and Evening" by Charles Spurgeon and I read something that was really convicting that I wanted to share!
Isn't that something to think about?! As humans even our desire to be sanctified can be cause by our own selfish-ness. I feel like we can make anything selfish... Isn't that wonderful? Not really, if you're trying to daily deny your self and seek Christ. It's interesting to realize that our desire to walk as Jesus did and to become more holy can be caused by alterior motives. Spurgeon, however, ended on a very positive note leading all things back to Jesus. He wrote, "...While Jesus bears our sin, He presents before His Father's face not our lack of holiness, but His own holiness."
Praise the Lord for that!
After Jesus's sacrifice God looks at us through the lense of the cross. No matter what our motives be, though God desires our motives to be pure, if we are covered in the blood of Jesus, God doesn't see how unholy we are but He sees Christ's holiness when He looks at us! :) That's a great thing to rejoice about!
I thought it was an interesting thing to think about because sometimes I can be so ignorant of my motives. We like to think that the most important thing is doing what God has called us to do no matter if we do it willingly, gladly, or begrudgingly. However, again, God looks right to our heart!
I loved how Spurgeon ended by saying that through our joyful willingness the world will see that our religion is not slavery! That is so awesome! If we are obedient to God with gladness and joy then no one can say that we are slaves because we are enjoying the service we do for the Lord!! :)
Spurgeon was taking a deeper look at "the iniquities of the holy things" from Exodus 28:38. In this particular devotional passage he quoted a letter written by Dr. Payson who was writing to his brother who said, "My parish, as well as my heart, very much resembles the garden of the sluggard. What is worse is that I find many of the desires for the imporvement of both either proceed from pride, vanity, or laziness. I look at the weeds that overspread my garden and breathe out an earnest wish that they were eradicated. But why? What prompts the wish? It may be that I may walk out and say to myself, 'In what fine order is my garden kept!' This is pride. Or it may be that my neighbors may look over the wall and say 'How finely your garden flourishes!' This is vanity. Or I may wish for the destruction of the weeds because I am weary of pulling them up. This is laziness." Spurgeon went on to explain, "Even our desires after holiness may be polluted by wrong motives."
Isn't that something to think about?! As humans even our desire to be sanctified can be cause by our own selfish-ness. I feel like we can make anything selfish... Isn't that wonderful? Not really, if you're trying to daily deny your self and seek Christ. It's interesting to realize that our desire to walk as Jesus did and to become more holy can be caused by alterior motives. Spurgeon, however, ended on a very positive note leading all things back to Jesus. He wrote, "...While Jesus bears our sin, He presents before His Father's face not our lack of holiness, but His own holiness."
Praise the Lord for that!
After Jesus's sacrifice God looks at us through the lense of the cross. No matter what our motives be, though God desires our motives to be pure, if we are covered in the blood of Jesus, God doesn't see how unholy we are but He sees Christ's holiness when He looks at us! :) That's a great thing to rejoice about!
I thought it was an interesting thing to think about because sometimes I can be so ignorant of my motives. We like to think that the most important thing is doing what God has called us to do no matter if we do it willingly, gladly, or begrudgingly. However, again, God looks right to our heart!
Two days ago the devotional for the evening went along perfectly with God's desire for our hearts to be right and it was so good and convicting that I wanted to share it as well! The verse for the day was "Serve the LORD with gladness" - Psalm 100:2 and Charles Spurgeon wrote:
"Delight in the divine service is a token of acceptance. Those who serve God with a sad countenance, because they do what is unpleasent to them, are not serving Him at all; they bring the form of homage, but the life is absent. Our God requires no slaves to grace His throne. He is the Lord of the empire of love, and He would have His servants dressed in the uniform of joy. The angels of God serve Him with songs, not with groans. A murmur or a sigh would be mutiny in their ranks. Obedience that is not voluntary is disobedience for the Lord looks at the heart, and if He sees that we serve Him from force, and not because we love Him, He will reject our offering. Service coupled with cheerfulness is heart-service and, therefore, true. Take away joyful willingness from the Christian, and you have removed the test of his sincerity. If a man is driven to battle, he is not a patriot; but he who marches into the fray with flashing eye and beaming face, singing, 'It is sweet to die for one's country," proves himself to be sincere in his patriotism. Cheerfulness is the support of our strength; in the joy of the Lord we are strong. It acts as the remover of difficulties... Reader, let me put this question to you: Do you "serve the LORD with gladness"? Let us show the people of the world, who think our religion is slavery, that to us it is a delight and a joy! Let our gladness proclaim that we serve a good Master."
Isn't that amazing and convicting all at the same time?! I can think of so many times where I am being obedient to the Lord but my heart is not right. I do it by force because I have to and not because I want to. But this isn't what God wants. It's interesting that Spurgeon said that if we do it by force then we prove ourselves to be slaves to grace but that God will have no slaves; and if we do it by force we aren't doing it because we love Him and therefore it will be rejected. That is super convicting. This has encouraged me to definitely have the Lord search my heart as I am daily serving Him.
I loved how Spurgeon ended by saying that through our joyful willingness the world will see that our religion is not slavery! That is so awesome! If we are obedient to God with gladness and joy then no one can say that we are slaves because we are enjoying the service we do for the Lord!! :)
(Via)
Friday, January 7, 2011
Excitement
Right now I am really excited to start the Beth Moore Bible Study that I am doing with Alexis! This past summer Alexis and I did the women's summer bible study where we went through a workbook series by Beth Moore called "Jesus the One and Only"! Let me tell you, it was fantastic! Alexis and I loved it so much and needless to say we fell in love with Beth Moore.
So pretty much ever since the summer we have thought that we wanted to do another Beth Moore study and now we are finally doing it! We have decided to do the "Breaking Free" bible study by Beth Moore! I think it is going to be really good!! I cannot wait to begin! :)
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So pretty much ever since the summer we have thought that we wanted to do another Beth Moore study and now we are finally doing it! We have decided to do the "Breaking Free" bible study by Beth Moore! I think it is going to be really good!! I cannot wait to begin! :)
And guess what?! I love Jesus! :) Yup Im just in a really good mood right now! God is so awesome!
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(via)
Today I ate one and a half kiwis and Im pretty sure I gave myself an acid burn on my tongue. I don't know if that is possible but if it is then that is definitely what I experienced... My solution? It was stinging... so I brushed my teeth and my tongue... I think it actually helped because it doesn't hurt very much anymore! :)
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I Love:
Forgiveness
Hope
Dreams
Happiness
Faithfulness
Commitement
Endurance
Perseverence
Contentment
Weakness
Strength
Salvation
Life
Purpose
Praise
Worship
Joy
Laughter
Singing
Dancing
Rejoicing
Love
God
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Great Friendships Last a Lifetime!
This post is dedicated to my buddy Becca Kimmell!! We've been friends for TWELVE YEARS can I get an applause?! That's a long time and it has been quite a good time! :) We've had LOTS of good times throughout the years and it has just been a precious friendship. So that's what this post is about! It's about Becca and how awesome she is!! :) And how awesome our friendship is and how blessed I am to have her as a friend!!
And this is where the story begins:
Isn't this the most flattering picture in the world?!... I think this was definitely the awkward stage in my development! hahahaha... but this was right before Freshmen year of high school for my birthday. It was a fun day... and as you can see quite crazy but that's what makes our friendship so fun!
Don't you wish you were us?? I mean come on you don't get any better looking than that! hahaha.... Aaaawkwaaaarrrdddd! :)
Similar much? We were trying to copy this movie photo but obviously we failed... oh well you get the point! This was a nice little picnic day that we took one time.
Becca is my hero! As you can tell by this picture I am smitten by her cunning wit and amazing good looks! hahaha
And this is where the story begins:
This is us in 4th grade when we had our "Oregon Trail Day". Made complete with colonial attire hence the dresses and bonnets, and our very own home-made wagons. Cool, right?!
In 6th grade we went to outdoor school and Rebecca and I got to do an overnighter in a tent that we made by ourselves. Our tent was made complete with hundreds of tiny holes so praise the Lord it didn't rain that night otherwise we would have been drenched. There were a lot of spiders and I don't think anyone slept well that night.
This picture is from 8th Grade when we went on a class field trip to the Rogue River where we camped and went snow shoeing at Crater Lake and even got to go white water rafting! It was a lot of fun... I have a lot more pictures from this trip but I couldn't find them :( There were pretty good, believe me! hahaha
This picture was from the same 8th Grade Field trip... We're matching isn't that fantastic?! Hahaha that is like the epitomy of middle school right? Wanting to wear matching outfits! Oh yes we did do that ;)
And as you can see from the Love-O-Meter all together we are merely "Boring"... Clearly those machines don't give accurate readings because I would say we are anything BUT boring! :)
Can you tell that we know how to have fun? I think that the photo on the right is a particularly flattering picture of Rebecca... makes you want to get to know her right? Ah yes it is quite good! :) Once again our friendship is anything but normal ;)
And she has always got an amazing ability to look beautiful in pictures! A simple "strike a pose" and this is the beauty that you get! Gaze upon it now... *sigh*... Isn't it beautiful? hehehe
This is like one of my most favorite pictures of all time! It's me and Candice and Becca after winter formal senior year. We always have our "slumber parties" at Mollys house...Good times
Hahaha This was our new years party saying goodbye to 2007 and saying hello to 2008! it was a good night as you can see! :)
We gave ourselves make-overs... Can't you see the sunrise when you look into Becca's eyes. Awesome right?!
We went with a group of people to go see the Sound of Music together
We went to Astoria for Spring Break... we were going to go camping but then they said that you had to be 21 to rent a camp site so we were unable to do that and had to rent a hotel and then go home the next day haha
That didn't stop us from having fun though!
We went to the beach and roasted marshmallows as the sun set!
We got ready for prom together
And doubled to prom! :) ... we were both sporting some really intense tan lines... mine was from swim team I think... nooooooo.... we had had a Relay for Life car wash the weekend before and it was really hot and we both didn't put on sunscreen so that's how we got insanely burned and then it was blotchy and turned into crazy tans! hahaha I remember I put my sunscreen on really poorly and so there were some spots that were still white and some that were red! good times!
We were walking buddies at Graduation which was something that we'd always planned on being! And we always talked about how we were going to have goofy grins on our face when we were walking in and guess what? We did!
The celebratory hug which symbolizes that squeal: "WE DID IT!"
But that's not where the story ends!
Even though we'd graduated it didn't change who we were! We could still find ways to have fun with the simple things in life.
We went hiking on Mary's Peak
We made it a tradition for two summers! The second summer was a lot nicer than the first summer!
Summertime fun! This was our Goodbye picnic to say farewell to the people who were going to college in different states!
Candice, Becca and I celebrated our 19/20th birthdays together at the park! Lots of fun!
We tried our hand at tandem bicycling which was a fun time... we rode all the way to the Corvallis waterfront and then as we were riding we would yell "we don't know how to stop please move!" and then turning around we rode in a gigantic circle in the China Delight parking lot a couple of times before we figured out how to get back on the path and head back to Becca's house. It was quite exciting!
We went to the Real Life Shasta Retreat which was lots and lots of fun in the sun with friends and Jesus! :)
And then:
Becca got married!
And I got to be her Maid of Honor. Which, ironically, was such an honor! :)
It was good!
What a glorious day!!
And that concludes the story of Anna and Becca because I don't have any more pictures of us as of now but Im sure there will be more eventually!... Twelve years is a thing to celebrate so yay to Anna and Becca! It's been a good friendship so far cheers to many more years!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Happy New Year!
Wow I cannot even believe that 2010 is over now! It was an amazing year and I am so blessed by the things that I was able to do and the people I was able to love! God was so faithful last year and looking forward to 2011 I know that He will be faithful again!
2010 was full of a lot of craziness! I completed my year at Cornerstone School of Ministry, determined what I really wanted my major to be in coller (Human Development and Family Science, and Education), Worked my booty off to pay off my school tuition which the Lord was faithful to provide, and saw both my sister and my bud Becca get married! 'Twas great! And my Friend Tasha became engaged... I had to bid farewell to my beloved friend Alisha as she went on to nursing school in Portland (so it wasn't really a farewell farewell but rather a sad day we no longer get to go to the same college and live in the same town farewell... Luckily I still get to see her regularly!), and the end of my beloved Small Group with Tera and Julia and Alisha and Alexis and Eva :(. I started back up at OSU and completed Fall Term successfully and then had an amazing Christmas with my family! Ain't nothin better! :)
Im a little sad that Christmas is over though. The relatives have left and now Im waiting patiently for winter term to begin. I am actually quite excited about this term! I don't know why. Generally school is "blah" to me but the classes Im taking should be interesting and I love knowing that I am getting ever closer to completing school! Yay!
I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas and New Years! I can't wait to see what God has in store for me and the people around me! :)
2010 was full of a lot of craziness! I completed my year at Cornerstone School of Ministry, determined what I really wanted my major to be in coller (Human Development and Family Science, and Education), Worked my booty off to pay off my school tuition which the Lord was faithful to provide, and saw both my sister and my bud Becca get married! 'Twas great! And my Friend Tasha became engaged... I had to bid farewell to my beloved friend Alisha as she went on to nursing school in Portland (so it wasn't really a farewell farewell but rather a sad day we no longer get to go to the same college and live in the same town farewell... Luckily I still get to see her regularly!), and the end of my beloved Small Group with Tera and Julia and Alisha and Alexis and Eva :(. I started back up at OSU and completed Fall Term successfully and then had an amazing Christmas with my family! Ain't nothin better! :)
Im a little sad that Christmas is over though. The relatives have left and now Im waiting patiently for winter term to begin. I am actually quite excited about this term! I don't know why. Generally school is "blah" to me but the classes Im taking should be interesting and I love knowing that I am getting ever closer to completing school! Yay!
I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas and New Years! I can't wait to see what God has in store for me and the people around me! :)
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