Worship Wednesday

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 This week has been a struggle, with sickness, doctor's visits, change of routine, to-do list, and the most difficult is the fight against the wiles of the devil! Being physically tired is one thing, but spiritually exhausted from battle is something that can drain in ways that nothing else can.

In past posts I have mentioned that I have to choose to act differently than I feel. And today one of those days. For some reason Wednesdays are harder for me than other days. I have sort of adopted doing Worship Wednesdays on my blog to turn to HIM, to take a moment to focus on the one that loves me with an Everlasting Love, to rest in Him to re-energize the remainder of my week, and to hopefully share some encouragement to my blog friends. 

Today, when I opened this email post from Good Morning Girls (click to read the entire post!) With the struggles and challenges that I have been facing, the portion of the post (below) made me slow down and read again, letting every promise sink in. I was so drawn to it that I asked the author, Whitney if I could share this with you (so sweet, she said YES!!!! Thanks Whitney!) I plan to dig even deeper into each scripture so that I can soak up His promises and the FACT that I am not alone in my battles! 

God, would you remind me that I’m not alone in this battle?
And like a flood, His words of compassion battled their way into the forefront of my mind:

My grace is sufficient… (2 Cor. 12:9)
I am close to the brokenhearted… (Psalm 34:18)
Draw near to me and I will draw near to you… (James 4:8)
I gently lead those that have young… (Isaiah 40:11)
Be strong and courageous, for I am with you… (Joshua 1:9)
I will never leave you nor forsake you… (Hebrews 13:5)
I am mighty to save… (Zephaniah 3:17)
Nothing is too hard for Me… (Jer. 32:17)
I am the One who sustains you… (Psalm 54:4)
The battle is mine… (2 Chronicles 20:15)
Do not fear, for I am with you… (Isaiah 41:10)
My compassions never fail… (Lam 3:22)
You may weep in the night, but joy comes in the morning… (Psalm 30:5)

My daughter, you are not alone in this battle.  What a compassionate, loving Savior!
(from Good Morning Girls ) 

Dear Sister, are you in a battle? Are you struggling? Are you weary? Or do you just need a fresh WORD from the Lord? He is right there with you, even when you feel He is far away!

A comment on the same post led me to this song (perfect for this post!!) 

Won't you worship Him today!! 

Worship Wednesday:

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: Proverbs 18:21

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Ephesians 4:29

Father let my words be pleasing unto you! May what I say and do glorify you!

OH BOY!!!

Many of you know that me & Mr B (Lolli & Pop) are expecting another grand-blessing!! And we got to find out He? or She? Many young couples have these Gender Revealing Parties  - some do cake after dinner and some do balloons.... well, Am said, " There is NO WAY I could wait till after dinner to find out, so we are doing balloons."

They decided to do the revealing where they got married... soooo sweet, huh??? Even though it was a might bit chilly it was a great place to reveal if we would see Blue or Pink.....

???

Am & M's Wedding Day!

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Baby C wasn't to keen on the idea of opening the box..... there were just too many people looking at him!! What a fun way to announce if the baby is a "he" or a "she" !!

As you can see some of us were thinking that maybe, just maybe, we could have some pink in our future.....

But, not to be... This handsome little man is going to have a baby brother!!!

And a baby makes 4!!!

PawPaw and Granny - this will make great-grandchild # 4!!!

Uncle Kea said all along, "its going to be a BOY!" He loves being a silly UNCLE!! Can't you tell! lol!!

Thank you Lord for your blessings on our family! Keep this precious little family in your care! May we all share your love with their children and may you get the glory for it all!!

2013 Siesta Scripture Memory Team: Verse 4!

I need to confess something... confession is a good thing, RIGHT? I am not good at making decisions. What's for supper? What to wear? Where to go eat? I am terrible. And picking my SSMT verse can be hard for me too! When its time to pick another verse, sometimes I know what its going to be.... and other times I just can't decide!! I will see my friends verses, and think...ohhh, that's a good one. Ohhh, now I think I need to learn that one. In my heart, I know that I need to let the Lord show me what HE wants me to learn. And sometimes He has given me a list to choose from (then the DECISION???), but, most of the time it is one that He is using to speak to me. Another confession, I don't always like the one He is using. BUT GOD, always has a plan and today's verse is no different. 

Since the beginning of the year, God has been working on an area in my life. It has been a bed of roses very difficult at times, yet I have learned a lot  and am still learning some things. Not just about my selfish self, but how God is present in every area of my life. He gives me more grace than I could ever imagine giving to someone. I have a hard time giving myself some grace, let alone anyone else. 

Anytime that I do something that the Lord has led me to, I know very quickly, if I am really supposed to be doing it or not. If  its what God would have me to do, the enemy sticks his nose in my business and things get really messy, hard, tough, etc. Does the rascal show up when you are doing "as unto the Lord"? 

Well, I can tell you there have been days that I am fighting with every ounce of my being. Other days, I just want to throw in the towel. This week has been a struggle, there have been times that I didn't even like myself! This morning, a sweet friend, who has been an accountability sister since the beginning of the year, reminded me to "rebuke the enemy" so that he cannot get a foothold in my life. I sooo, needed those words today! Which brought me to scripture #4! 

What a great reminder that THE LORD doesn't need my help. He has got this. I just need to get out of the way. I look at different translations and I don't know about you, but the message got my attention (and cracked me up) this morning...

"God will fight the battle for you.

     And you? You keep your mouths shut!” Exodus 14:14

One more confession.... I have a HARD.TIME. with the keeping my mouth shut part!

Have a great weekend!

Thankful Thursday: Lots of Love!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Today supposedly is all about flowers, chocolate, mushy cards and lots of love.......

I can remember times when Valentine's rolled around with NO VALENTINE in sight. Depressing, huh?? For those of you that may feel that way today... STOP! RIGHT NOW!! Your Heavenly Father loves, loves you!! And His love is more than flowers, chocolate, and mushy cards!!! You can KNOW that this gift won't die like flowers or disappear like chocolate. And you can open His love letter to you EVERYDAY... and even have words of HIS love held in your heart. Hmmm... just thinking about that fills my heart with JOY!!! 

This LOVE is like NO OTHER!!! 

 Of course I have a wonderful God-given Valentine  - Mr. B!!!  And all the other gifts in my life! Just looking through these pictures fill my heart with love & JOY!!

Lots of love to my family!!!

Thank you Lord for the blessings in my life!!!

 May the God of hope fill you with all joy & peace!!!

Worship Wednesday: Resting In Him Today

Thankful Thursday!

Have you ever seen a sunrise or a sunset, or a mountain view, (or something else that only God could create) and thought..."wow that is AWESOME" "Only the Lord could create something like that" ???

But what is even more awesome than that ..... is that God not only created the beautiful site, He created it just for you to see....at that very moment. 

Because some of His artwork is constantly changing.  So just for that very moment it was

JUST. FOR. YOU. 

 I know that this picture isn't the greatest (my phone camera isn't too good) and its definitely NOT exactly how God created it for me to see this morning (it was much more beautiful), but I wanted you to see something that gave my heart some JOY this morning. 

It was as if the Lord said, "This is for you. I just wanted to remind you that I love you and I am HERE." 

When we have beautiful pink morning skies like this, I can't help but think of some precious Christian women that are in Heaven with their Savior: Shelby.... Pam... Sophia.. Diane....... 

The reason..... the morning after each went to be with Jesus the skies were umpteen beautiful breathtaking shades of pink. A reassuring that they are where they longed to be!

When I look toward this Eastern sky, I cannot help but think of Christ's promise to return for His children.  Wonder what the sky will look like on that day?!!

For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; 

SO SHALL ALSO THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN BE." (Matt.24:27)

 Thank you Lord for your promises and your daily reminders of your love! 

Linking up with

 

Worship Wednesday: JOY in the Morning!

When I woke this morning, I really, really, really wished it was Friday. It seems as if I have had a week! And it's just Wednesday. So waking to it being Wednesday, wasn't very joyful. In keeping with my "choosing to have joy" I began to think of the blessings in my life. I won't list them all... seriously I wouldn't have time this morning..... But thinking of those things did change my attitude a  bit!

On my way into work, the sun was shining brightly and the sky was amazing!!! Then this song came on....I said, "thank you Lord!! What JOY for my morning!!"  (I know I have shared it before) I turned up the volume and danced, sang and praised the Lord as I drove down the interstate. 

Those behind me and driving by me were probably thinking I had lost my mind..... but that's fine. I am a  "peculiar" person! You were dancin' too, weren't ya?? 

Heavenly Father, 

Thank you for this day! Thank you for the many blessings in my life. So many times I take for granted the fact you allow me to wake up, get out of bed, wake my sleepy head children, see my wonderful husband off to work, see my in laws when I drop Kea off (they are a HUGE blessing in our lives!) take Bub to school (which will only happen for a few more months :( he is turning 16!!!!) and then head to work. I know I complain about my job, but I am thankful that I have one, considering some people do not. Lord, I know I fail to thank you for so many things in my life.... Thank you for reminding me how blessed I am this morning!!!  

Linking up with these sweet ladies !!

2013 Siesta Scripture Memory Team: Verse 3!!

Wow. February is here already!! I don't know about you, but I am over the cold, then the warm, then the ice, then the rain and even more rain. I have no idea what to wear on any given day. I get up and its 25 degrees, so I put on a sweater or layers with a scarf. And by noon, I am getting a bit toasty. Then by 3pm, it is 72 degrees outside. The next morning, it is 62 degrees so I dress in light layers with no jacket, and by noon its 45 degrees.  I saw this cartoon and its a perfect explanation of our weather. 

No joke.

In seeking out my 3rd SSMT verse, I had a little bit of trouble. For almost a month, I have been deep into God's word on a certain subject, one that I am struggling with on a moment to moment basis. I know without a doubt that HE put this in my path to help me draw closer to Him. It's not easy, but with a couple sisters in Christ praying for me daily, and me focusing on a scripture each day, I have found peace and a joy, that I cannot explain. So I had lots of scripture to choose from. I desire to KNOW His word and I want HIM to show me what HE wants me to learn. This one is a reminder of what I need to wear daily!

I may not know what actual clothing to put on, even after I have checked the weather, but I am glad to know that God's word doesn't change. I haven't mastered this but, I am working on it. I am thankful He isn't done with me yet!

Each day (and each moment) I should clothe myself with

COMPASSION  - a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering

KINDNESS - the state or quality of being of a good or benevolent nature or disposition

HUMILITY - the quality or condition of not being proud or arrogant, meek putting others first

GENTLENESS - peaceful, soothing; tender, lenient, merciful. meek, mild refer to an absence of bad temper or belligerence.  

PATIENCE - uncomplaining, long-suffering, forbearing, resigned, passive, calm 

I don't know about you, but I struggle a lot in each area. I am realizing more and more, that "I" seem to get in the way A LOT!  I have said more than one time, "I wouldn't have problems with any of these, if people (children, husband, co-workers, etc) would act right!" 

Act right being, acting or doing what "I" think they should. 

So, I am working on getting out of the way.... which leads me right back to my One Word for 2013.

God's reminder to me to put Jesus first, then Others, then You (Piper!)

I thank the Lord for His compassion, His kindness, His humility, His gentleness, and His patience with me!!