looking back

Last night I felt the need to look at some of my old prayer journals. Wow, I highly recommend writing your prayers down. It is so amazing to go back and look at what all the Lord has done for you. My eyes filled with tears as I passed the book over to Steven to read what all we have been delivered from.

The Lord is so amazing and so worthy of praise. Last year we went through a really tough time. Even more than two years ago when we thought our world had fallen apart. On one particular entry I had listed everything that we were facing all at once. Any normal person would not of been able to fathom enduring even the slightest. But that's just the thing. Steven and I are not normal by any means. We are children of the most high God. We put our very lives into His hands to determine what the outcome may be. And he NEVER fails. He always delivers! Everyday that went by we had nothing but him. He provided for us in ways that cannot be explained. He comforted us like none other than the Holy Spirit. He made each day passed feel like one day closer to a new beginning. I have been a little preoccupied lately, and I feel so strongly Him calling me back. So as I strive to be closer to the Lord, I will continue to write down my prayers and thoughts. There is nothing better than looking back a week, month or even years at what miracles God has brought you through.

On the outside of my journal I wrote something very small. I will leave you with these words.

Praise Him at ALL times....NO MATTER WHAT.

fun times

Well last night was fun. The kids and I went to Tyler's 8th grade basketball game. It was the first game of the season and they got beat pretty bad, I think the score was 62 to 10...but hey they played the best team in the district. This was Tyler's first game to play for the school. He did pretty good, I think all of the kids were a little nervous and excited at the same time. Makenna is so funny, when ever the coach would take Tyler out of the game to let the others have a turn she would say....oh Tyler got benched. She's a funny little girl! Kyle had fun yelling "GO D!" Even though I don't think he knew what D meant. He's pretty funny too! Little Caleb got to sit in Memaw's lap the entire game which I think she enjoyed!

Being there last night reminded me of my first basketball game in 7th grade. It was pretty bad. So bad that the score was only 4 to 4....I know, but what can I say. I don't think any of us had really played before, but we got better with time. In fact I have that game on video tape, I think I will watch it for old times sake.

When the game was over we went back to Mimi's house and had pizza, watched a little T.V. and then left for home....we couldn't stay too late because Miss Makenna had school today. So that's all for now.....we'll see what today holds. Have a blessed day everyone!

been a long time

ok, so I lost touch with blogging for a little over a year now, but I decided to give it another shot. I love reading other people's blogs but I think I just felt like I didn't have anything to say...so we'll see right? Well Makenna's at school, Kyle is playing all around the house and my little baby Caleb is still sleeping. He even slept through this mornings trip to drop Miss Makenna off at school....he must be a tired baby. So today I guess is another day filled with laundry and picking up after Kyle....maybe I can catch Kyle practicing his dance moves again and get it on video. He is really trying to master his breakdancing skills and just recently learned how to do the sprinkler.....oh the joys of being a parent! I wouldn't trade this life I live for anything....I mean that too!

Well maybe as the days go by I will have more to say....and I will definitely post lots of pictures!

Resurrection

Are you in need of resurrection? Are you suffering? Do you feel as though you are an empty shell that needs to be raised from the dead? So many of us believers are dried up. So many of us are "too far gone", or just plain lost. We are nothing without the Lord, our God and King. We can not survive this world without Him first in our lives. Our only hope is in Him.

You may feel as though you have lost your passion. You may be wondering what led you to this place. Well, there are many things. The first is this world. Our lives are so busy, we get so caught up in the day to day routine. If we are not staying in the word of God, we slowly put Him on the back burner. Day to day, your passion becomes less and less. As it becomes less and less, you find yourself conforming more and more to this world. You might notice that you are allowing yourself to watch certain shows that you might not have watched before, T.V. shows that have content that you wouldn't dare watch while your children are around. Suddenly you are listening to music you didn't listen to before. And slowly you are letting more and more of this world into your being, into your daily routine. You find yourself using words you don't normally use. People it's all a part of getting you away from the one who once filled your heart with passion for the truth. These things are not born of truth, they are born of lies and schemes with your name attached. You are NOT beyond redemption.

Who is the one that calms the raging seas? Who is the one that walked on water? Who is the one that places YOUR name on his heart and forgives the sins of your past? He is mighty. He is holy. He is deserving of our sacrifice of praise. You may see a broken image when you look in the mirror, but the Lord, He sees you made whole. He sees the resurrected you. He sees life. He brings life. He sees what you ARE and not what you WERE. There is a big difference in that once you have the Lord as your Savior. The old you is washed away and the new you is brought to the surface, where the rough edges are sanded down and washed away with the old. You can't fake it anymore. This is the new and resurrected you.

He will turn your winter into Spring. He will turn your sadness to joy. He will replace that emptiness that you feel. He will replace your desire for the things of this world, once you turn it over to Him. He will replace it with that passion you once had. He will replace it with a NEW passion for more of Him. He will reveal His mercy and grace. Oh release it to Him. He is so faithful. He will rescue you and make you whole once again.

"Problem, here is my God!"

I like this. "Problem, here is my God!" This is bold because you are basically saying, "I know who my God is, I know what He can and will do." Not to say that we can't present our problems to our Heavenly Father, you can. This to me expresses a little insight into one's faith. It reminds me of a little child who brags about his daddy to his friends. Remember when you were little and you would go back and forth with your friends saying, "My daddy is stronger than yours!", "My daddy is bigger than your daddy!","My daddy is smarter than your daddy!". Remember how you felt when you said those things, like if they actually saw your daddy they would tremble in fear because in your eyes your daddy was all of these things and more. You have total faith in your daddy that he would protect you, and he would solve all of your problems.

Well, in a way it's the same thing. When a problem arises in your life, those of us who are in Christ should feel the same way about our Daddy. When you are faced with a situation where you feel as though you are threatened, speak to the problem about your Daddy. Tell it how big your Daddy is, and how strong He is. Tell it how smart He is, because if He made this world that you and I live in then he can certainly resolve this problem.

I know for me personally, when a situations arises and I start to panic. I have to stop myself, and remember who my Daddy is. He is my Heavenly Father. He knows my problem before it ever pops up. He already knows the solution, and He knows that I will make it through with His guidance. If I take the time to step back from the situation and breathe for a second, I am reminded of these things. I have no reason to fear anything. My life is in the palm of His hand, He has my heart. Why would I not trust someone that I have given my heart to?

So the next time a situation arises in your life, remove yourself from it for one second and remember who your Daddy is. Remember how big He is, and small your problem is in comparison to Him.

For those of you who did not have a daddy growing up, please know that although you do not have an earthly father, you have a Heavenly Father who cares more about you then you will ever know. He is right there just call out to Him, because the bible says
A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows,Is God in His holy habitation.
Psalm 68:5

Be near Lord

Oh to be near the Lord. My heart is desperate for more. This week has revealed to Steven and I that if you do not stay close to the Lord and His word....you allow a door to be open to the enemy. I know that I write alot about the past year and what we went through, but really the reason is so clear. I believe that I was as close to the Lord that I have ever been my entire life. Sure I had many distractions like, no permanent home, money, job, car, pretty much everything that I had once had was taken from me. I didn't dwell on it, I dwelled on the Lord. I buried myself in what the word had to say. I wanted to be closer than I had ever been to the Lord. I was, in fact I felt as though I was literally watching the the hand of the Lord move on my life. I saw it everyday. It's funny though, how we can get so busy in everyday life that we forget what it felt like to be in that spot where we needed the Lord so desperately that we were consumed by His word, His touch, His spirit everyday. My desire is for more of Him. I can't say that I want those situations to arise to bring me to that place, but I do want to be there on my own. I will be honest, since the Lord delivered us from that place, I have been a little too comfortable. Sure I remember what it felt like, but oh it has felt so good to be out of it. I have been a little too content. Now, my heart is crying out to be that close again. Why have I let myself become comfortable? Maybe I got caught up, but I don't want to stay here. I want more of the Lord.

So my journey now is to draw close to the Lord, there He will draw close to me. I will find that comfort again. I'm not speaking of the comfort I have been in for the past few months. I should actually call it laziness. The real comfort only comes from consuming myself with Him. Searching for His many treasures.

I have been feeling this way for a couple of weeks now, and this morning Steven told me that he had been thinking about it too, even though I had not mentioned this to him. Okay, I get the point. The laziness stops here. I can feel the burning in my soul. The flame has been ignited.
But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 4:29

Your choice....

Through the entire phase of learning to fully trust in the Lord, I had a choice. I had the choice to believe that my Heavenly Father was in control and that His word never returns void. I had the choice to say, not my will, but Yours be done Lord. Even when, with my natural eyes my world was falling apart. I chose to believe that I really was the daughter of the Most High King. I had to look upon my life and what I was going through with my spiritual eyes. By that I mean that I had to approach every dart that the enemy threw at me with the word of God. I had to look at what God had said about what was going on. Trust me, whatever you are going through, there is a solution in the bible. It's our instruction book. We are to lean upon what the Lord has instructed His children to live by. Now, if God being who He is and being the Creator of the universe holds His word above His own name, is there any reason to doubt that what He has spoken will come to pass? No, there is no reason to doubt. There is a saying that says, Doubt do without or Beleive it and receive it! This is so true. If I would have chosen to doubt what the Lord has spoken, then I would never had the revelation that I have today. I probably would not be where I am today. I honestly don't want to think about where I would be today if that were so.

My point is this, that you have a choice in your own life. No matter what you are going through, and I mean NO MATTER WHAT, you can make it alot easier on your self. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6) Do not depend on your own knowledge. Your solution only covers what is right in front of you, but the Lord, He sees the full picture, He knows the best solution. Wait upon the Lord, He will show you the right path. He will guide your steps. Bless His name, give Him praise, even in the midst of your deepest hour of anguish. Oh the Lord loves to take upon our burdens and make them His. Because you see the Lord has no burden, His answer is supreme. There is no sweeter peace than knowing that whatever you are facing, the Lord already has it under control, if you let Him. What choice will you make?