Renters nightmare...

I woke up this morning at 7am bright eyed and hopeful but as I began calling realtors to find a rental home my cheerfulness was over shadowed by a new gloomy reality. In Denver you must make 3 times the amount of your rent...be able to prove it with paycheck stubs and tax returns have great credit and pass an extensive rental history check...which all takes about 2-5 days!!!

At one point I just sat there staring at all the homes I had marked as favorites on the computer - they were all being rented out by realtor agencies...and all of them said I had to meet those requirements. They basically said..."Best of luck...did you get a Sunday paper because the only hope you have is with a rental by owner..."

Then a light when on and I remembered that John did pick up a Sunday paper! So...I started trying to weed through the non-user friendly paper...with no pictures...and vague descriptions. I prayed for a moment and then went to work. I ran into the same problem with many of them because they were by realtors also but I found 3 that were willing to show us their homes.

We loaded up the fussy kids and we met with Andy...who is from another country...not sure which one. He liked us right off and said we could move in today! No credit check...no rental history verification...no employment verification...nothing! Normally I would say this guy is taking a huge risk but I know we won't do him wrong.

It's not that we have bad rental history - it's that the realtors didn't like the fact that we were in Thailand for 4 years and they couldn't check before this last December...and they didn't like that we didn't have check stubs...nor that our past years tax returns show a missionaries salary...not even a fraction of what would be required to rent these homes...but Andy didn't care...Thank God for Andy!

We're going to be moving in tomorrow...I'll post some pics soon. On an awesome...different note...the bible school started today and it went wonderfully! I'm so excited to get to go tomorrow and meet the students face to face. Keep us all in your prayers please! It's supposed to snow Saturday!?!?!?!! Craziness!

On the road again...

I really can't finish the ending of the lyrics to that song...lol...I am done with the road for a while...unless, the Lord demands otherwise. Well, we made it - we're here in Colorado. I have all sorts of mixed emotions and I can't pin down and stick with a one of them.

Some of you may or may not know but after John returned home from South Africa, after having been gone for a really rough 3 1/2 weeks...my mother passed away. It was unexpected and shocking...although I believe it was her time. I still haven't wrapped my brain around the fact that she is gone. I know she's in heaven and I'll see her again some day but it just doesn't seem real. Even as I looked at her laying in her casket...it was like it was a dream...a hurtful dream but a dream nontheless.

John arrived home on Monday - my mother passed away on Thursday - family night was Sunday and the funeral was Monday...THEN we buried her on Tuesday...during all this we had to be packing and preparing for moving to Denver, CO. If it hadn't been for the love and support of the body of Christ - specifically Liberty Lighthouse Church...I don't know what would have happened.

They poured out love on us through cookies...food...hugs...calls...watching our children...cleaning...helping us pack...and more. It's amazing to see the body of Christ functioning as God instructed us. I literally felt the love of God through them...and through loosing my mom...that love really helped me keep going strong.

So we're here in Denver!!! Man, it's beautiful...the mountains are so gorgeous and some of them are capped in white *grin*. I wish I could say I am enjoying every second but I have to say this is one of those times when I am having to bear in and hold on. Leaving everyone behind was hard of course...then my mom...and the stress of funeral preparations and tying up of loose ends...our children are in disarray...and I think this is the thing that bothers me the most.

They missed their dad and nothing was normal while he was gone to South Africa and then once he got home it just got more unnormal. Josiah took the news very hard about his grandmother...Jude on the other hand seemed fine until the end of the funeral upon which he proceeded to cry the most gut wrenching cry I've ever heard come out of him...into my chest...with no signs of letting up.

They then had to stay at others homes so we could work through the night and during the day to make up for lost time due to the funeral...once we finally got on the road they just weren't themselves and it's been a struggle to offer something solid for them to stand on. When kids move around a lot it's important to give them things that are consistant and in this transition it just hasn't happened. Don't get me wrong...they are great...still laughing...they're just testing new boundries and trying to figure out what's going on...

Joss isn't feeling well...the boys are having a hard time being stuck in the car house hunting or in the hotel room with 4 dogs...(which are in a crate by the way)...the only rooms they had available were upstairs...and my dogs have never been up or down stairs so I have to literally drag them up and down the stairs 6-7 times a day for potty breaks.

Two of the dogs are sick...sporatically throwing up or having accidents...the tv has a sound gage on it and you can't turn it up past 5 notches and with the air on you can't hear the tv...and OUR BOX FAN BROKE! And to top it all off...we arrived on the weekend and can't get anyone to visit house and we have until the Tuesday morning to have our 26ft truck unloaded and returned!!!!

Ok...sooo I'm complaining...I know...I'm going to go complain where I'm supposed to be complaining and let him fix up my heart and renew my strength. Matter of fact...I'll start walking in reality now:

1. We have a roof over our heads and each other...
2. We have the honor of going where he leads us...
3. Colorado is beautiful and the weather is a nice change...
4. DBI is starting and I get to be apart of it...
5. My boys are fantastic and so loving (Jude literally tells me he loves me every 20-30 minutes)
6. I'M WALKING THROUGH THIS WITH THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!
7. Jesus is KING and no matter what is happening...that doesn't change.
8. I have friends that I count as priceless treasures in Sherman Texas who love us...
9. This is another adventure and while I don't feel up for the challenge right now...I know that his mercy's are new every morning...and it is in Him that I can place my trust.
10. This will make us stronger...with the end result being that we are more equipped for His service...
11. Colorado has new friends to be met and made and work to be done...


We saw some cool stuff on the way...

Link (Josiah's turtle) decided that he likes road trips...although he would prefer not being stuck with the dogs next time...

Pastor Stan - We'll miss you!

Jossalyn found her riding spot!

We love you Liberty Lighthouse...no goodbye's...just see you soon!

Vision of the Lost

A Vision Of The Lost

By William Booth (1829-1912)


On one of my recent journeys, as I gazed from the coach window, I was led into a train of thought concerning the condition of the multitudes around me. They were living carelessly in the most open and shameless rebellion against God, without a thought for their eternal welfare. As I looked out of the window, I seemed to see them all . . . millions of people all around me given up to their drink and their pleasure, their dancing and their music, their business and their anxieties, their politics and their troubles. Ignorant - willfully ignorant in many cases - and in other instances knowing all about the truth and not caring at all. But all of them, the whole mass of them, sweeping on and up in their blasphemies and devilries to the Throne of God. While my mind was thus engaged, I had a vision.

I saw a dark and stormy ocean. Over it the black clouds hung heavily; through them every now and then vivid lightening flashed and loud thunder rolled, while the winds moaned, and the waves rose and foamed, towered and broke, only to rise and foam, tower and break again.

In that ocean I thought I saw myriads of poor human beings plunging and floating, shouting and shrieking, cursing and struggling and drowning; and as they cursed and screamed they rose and shrieked again, and then some sank to rise no more.

And I saw out of this dark angry ocean, a mighty rock that rose up with it’s summit towering high above the black clouds that overhung the stormy sea. And all around the base of this great rock I saw a vast platform. Onto this platform, I saw with delight a number of the poor struggling, drowning wretches continually climbing out of the angry ocean. And I saw that a few of those who were already safe on the platform were helping the poor creatures still in the angry waters to reach the place of safety.

On looking more closely I found a number of those who had been rescued, industriously working and scheming by ladders, ropes, boats and other means more effective, to deliver the poor strugglers out of the sea. Here and there were some who actually jumped into the water, regardless of the consequences in their passion to "rescue the perishing." And I hardly know which gladdened me the most - the sight of the poor drowning people climbing onto the rocks reaching a place of safety, or the devotion and self-sacrifice of those whose whole being was wrapped up in the effort for their deliverance.

As I looked on, I saw that the occupants of that platform were quite a mixed company. That is, they were divided into different "sets" or classes, and they occupied themselves with different pleasures and employments. But only a very few of them seemed to make it their business to get the people out of the sea.

But what puzzled me most was the fact that though all of them had been rescued at one time or another from the ocean, nearly everyone seemed to have forgotten all about it. Anyway, it seemed the memory of its darkness and danger no longer troubled them at all. And what seemed equally strange and perplexing to me was that these people did not even seem to have any care - that is any agonizing care - about the poor perishing ones who were struggling and drowning right before their very eyes . . . many of whom were their own husbands and wives, brothers and sisters and even their own children.

Now this astonishing unconcern could not have been the result of ignorance or lack of knowledge, because they lived right there in full sight of it all and even talked about it sometimes. Many even went regularly to hear lectures and sermons in which the awful state of these poor drowning creatures was described.

I have always said that the occupants of this platform were engaged in different pursuits and pastimes. Some of them were absorbed day and night in trading and business in order to make gain, storing up their savings in boxes, safes and the like.

Many spent their time in amusing themselves with growing flowers on the side of the rock, others in painting pieces of cloth or in playing music, or in dressing themselves up in different styles and walking about to be admired. Some occupied themselves chiefly in eating and drinking, others were taken up with arguing about the poor drowning creatures that had already been rescued.

But the thing to me that seemed the most amazing was that those on the platform to whom He called, who heard His voice and felt that they ought to obey it - at least they said they did - those who confessed to love Him much were in full sympathy with Him in the task He had undertaken - who worshipped Him or who professed to do so - were so taken up with their trades and professions, their money saving and pleasures, their families and circles, their religions and arguments about it, and their preparation for going to the mainland, that they did not listen to the cry that came to them from this Wonderful Being who had Himself gone down into the sea. Anyway, if they heard it they did not heed it. They did not care. And so the multitude went on right before them struggling and shrieking and drowning in the darkness.

And then I saw something that seemed to me even more strange than anything that had gone on before in this strange vision. I saw that some of these people on the platform whom this Wonderful Being had called to, wanting them to come and help Him in His difficult task of saving these perishing creatures, were always praying and crying out to Him to come to them!

Some wanted Him to come and stay with them, and spend His time and strength in making them happier. Others wanted Him to come and take away various doubts and misgivings they had concerning the truth of some letters He had written them. Some wanted Him to come and make them feel more secure on the rock - so secure that they would be quite sure that they should never slip off again into the ocean. Numbers of others wanted Him to make them feel quite certain that they would really get off the rock and onto the mainland someday: because as a matter of fact, it was well known that some had walked so carelessly as to loose their footing, and had fallen back again into the stormy waters.

So these people used to meet and get up as high on the rock as they could, and looking towards the mainland (where they thought the Great Being was) they would cry out, "Come to us! Come and help us!" And all the while He was down (by His Spirit) among the poor struggling, drowning creatures in the angry deep, with His arms around them trying to drag them out, and looking up - oh! so longingly but all in vain - to those on the rock, crying to them with His voice all hoarse from calling, "Come to Me! Come, and help Me!

And then I understood it all. It was plain enough. The sea was the ocean of life - the sea of real, actual human existence. That lightening was the gleaming of piercing truth coming from Jehovah’s Throne. That thunder was the distant echoing of the wrath of God. Those multitudes of people shrieking, struggling and agonizing in the stormy sea, was the thousands and thousands of poor harlots and harlot-makers, of drunkards and drunkard makers, of thieves, liars, blasphemers and ungodly people of every kindred, tongue and nation.

Oh what a black sea it was! And oh, what multitudes of rich and poor, ignorant and educated were there. They were all so unalike in their outward circumstances and conditions, yet all alike in one thing - all sinners before God - all held by, and holding onto, some iniquity, fascinated by some idol, the slaves of some devilish lust, and ruled by the foul fiend from the bottomless pit!

"All alike in one thing?" No, all alike in two things - not only the same in their wickedness but, unless rescued, the same in their sinking, sinking . . . down, down, down . . . to the same terrible doom. That great sheltering rock represented Calvary, the place where Jesus had died for them. And the people on it were those who had been rescued. The way they used their energies, gifts and time represented the occupations and amusements of those who professed to be saved from sin and hell - followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. The handful of fierce, determined ones, who were risking their own lives in saving the perishing were true soldiers of the cross of Jesus. That Mighty Being who was calling to them from the midst of the angry waters was the Son of God, "the same yesterday, today and forever" who is still struggling and interceding to save the dying multitudes about us from this terrible doom of damnation, and whose voice can be heard above the music, machinery, and noise of life, calling on the rescued to come and help Him save the world.

My friends in Christ, you are rescued from the waters, you are on the rock, He is in the dark sea calling on you to come to Him and help Him. Will you go? Look for yourselves. The surging sea of life, crowded with perishing multitudes rolls up to the very spot on which you stand. Leaving the vision, I now come to speak of the fact - a fact that is as real as the Bible, as real as the Christ who hung upon the cross, as real as the judgment day will be, and as real as the heaven and hell that will follow it.

Look! Don’t be deceived by appearances - men and things are not what they seem. All who are not on the rock are in the sea! Look at them from the standpoint of the great White Throne, and what a sight you have! Jesus Christ, the Son of God is, through His Spirit, in the midst of this dying multitude, struggling to save them. And He is calling on you to jump into the sea - to go right away to His side and help Him in the holy strife. Will you jump? That is, will you go to His feet and place yourself absolutely at His disposal?

A young Christian once came to me, and told me that for some time she had been giving the Lord her profession and prayers and money, but now she wanted to give Him her life. She wanted to go right into the fight. In other words, she wanted to go to His assistance in the sea. As when a man from the shore, seeing another struggling in the water, takes off those outer garments that would hinder his efforts and leaps to the rescue, so will you who still linger on the bank, thinking and singing and praying about the poor perishing souls, lay aside your shame, your pride, your cares about other people’s opinions, your love of ease and all the selfish loves that have kept you back for so long, and rush to the rescue of this multitude of dying men and women.

Does the surging sea look dark and dangerous? Unquestionably it is so. There is no doubt that the leap for you, as for everyone who takes it, means difficulty and scorn and suffering. For you it may mean more than this. It may mean death. He who beckons you from the sea however, knows what it will mean - and knowing, He still calls to you and bids to you to come.

You must do it! You cannot hold back. You have enjoyed yourself in Christianity long enough. You have had pleasant feelings, pleasant songs, pleasant meetings, pleasant prospects. There has been much of human happiness, much clapping of hands and shouting of praises - very much of heaven on earth.

Now then, go to God and tell Him you are prepared as much as necessary to turn your back upon it all, and that you are willing to spend the rest of your days struggling in the midst of these perishing multitudes, whatever it may cost you.

You must do it. With the light that is now broken in upon your mind and the call that is now sounding in your ears, and the beckoning hands that are now before your eyes, you have no alternative. To go down among the perishing crowds is your duty. Your happiness from now on will consist in sharing their misery, your ease in sharing their pain, your crown in helping them to bear their cross, and your heaven in going into the very jaws of hell to rescue them.



Now what will you do?

Religion Saves (and Nine other Misconceptions)

Religion Saves.

Religion Saves!

Religion Saves...?

No matter which way you say that phrase...this is a great book for every member of the body of Christ. While I have to admit that I skimmed through a few sections of the book (birth control, dating...ect...I'm married and know quite a bit about birth control...although some argue that we don't! ha!)...what was I saying...? Ah yes...although, I didn't read every single page I can definitly say this is a book that should be on everyone's shelf.

Before I start with my review of this book...here is an official review of the book and some helpful links:

Religion Saves:
And Nine Other Misconceptions

After 343,203 online votes on the Mars Hill Church website, nine questions for
Pastor Mark Driscoll emerged as the ones most urgently calling for answers.

Inspired by 1 Corinthians, in which Paul answers a series of questions
posed by the people in the Corinthian church, Pastor Mark Driscoll set out to
determine the most controversial questions among visitors to the Mars Hill
Church website. In the end, 893 questions were asked and 343,203 votes were
cast. The top nine questions are now each answered in a chapter of Religion
Saves.

After an introductory chapter devoted to the misconception that
religion is what saves us, Driscoll tackles nine issues: birth control, humor,
predestination, grace, sexual sin, faith and works, dating, the emerging church,
and the regulative principle. Because the purpose of this book is to address
commonly asked questions, all readers will find relevant, engaging material,
written in Driscoll's distinctively edgy, yet theologically sound style.

In his distinctively edgy, yet theologically sound style, Pastor Mark
Driscoll addresses the nine most controversial questions posed by visitors to
the Mars Hill Church website. This book is part of the Re:Lit series.

Link to buy the book: http://www.amazon.com/Religion-Saves-Nine-Other-Misconceptions/dp/1433506165/ref=sprightly-20

About the author: Meet Pastor Mark!
Mark Driscoll
is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle,
one of the fastest-growing churches in America . He is president of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network and is the author of several
books, including Vintage Jesus.

Pastor Mark preaches on Sunday,
trains pastors, and writes curriculum. Mark is married to his high school
sweetheart, Grace, and they enjoy raising their three sons and two daughters. More about Mark here!

Link to read and/or listen to an excerpt:
http://relit.org/religionsaves

Here are other bloggers who put up a review of this book...please
check out these great bloggers - I found a few new favorites!! http://www.litfusegroup.com/latest/current-blog-tours/86-blog-tour-for-religion-saves-by-mark-driscoll

********************************************

Now for my take...while I didn't find this book to be an easy read, simply because of his style of writing, I did find it hard to put down. Each chapter is broken into highly debated issues in our culture today...and each topic impacts the body of Christ and forces us to seek God for the answer.

The topics are: birth control, humor, predestination, grace, sexual sin, faith and works, dating, the emerging church, and the regulative principle.

While many of us tend to mostly seek answers from God in prayer, we should all hope to find ourselves with our noses in the Bible...seeking out the answers that lay before us. Mark Driscoll is a man who loves his Bible and he sets a great example for us...the answers that he provides are all backed up with research and scripture.

One thing I did NOT expect from this book is for it to be so researched out. At some points I felt it was a little bit too much history...a little bit too much theology...but then I realized that's just my personality. While I know it offers some insights and MANY people love history and explanations such as this...that part just wasn't for me. By looking at the cover you wouldn't think it would serve as such a stronglly founded research material...but it really delivers! This guy did his homework!

While I can not say I agreed with him on every point I will say that I found his chapter on "Humor" to be specifically helpful. I have always known that there is a line to be drawn in regards to humor and joking around in the Christian walk...but where? Mark does a very good job of drawing a line for us and helping us to see what belongs in our lives and what does not.

Of all the questions posed in this book I found the chapter on "The Emerging Church" to be the most interesting. Throughout the whole chapter he is very compassionate where it is due and practices tough love at the same time. I found it very inspiring...but not nearly as inspiring as his chapter on Dating...

Even though I skimmed this chapter...what I did read struck me to my core. My children are not yet old enough to date...they are only 7, 3 and 1...but when he began to speak of the experiences with his little girls and how his family is going to practice courtship...my heart fluttered. This chapter made me want to stand up and throw my fist in the air and let out a huge "YEAH!" for men of God everywhere. It encourages me so much to read when men of God are taking a stand and making a difference...beginning in their own family. The chapter on Dating was very inspiring for me...and gave me a lot to think about...now...if only he would come out with a book that details what Courting is and what it looks like...

When I say the phrase "Regulative Principle" what come to mind? .......if you're like me....absolutly nothing will come to your mind. When I got the end I expected some big shocking topic and I found the "Regulative Principle"...what?!?!? As I began reading I found out that there is a hot topic out there that I knew nothing about but that I had actually discussed in some form with friends at different times. But I had no idea it had a name...and different theories and stances!??!

I'm going to leave you with this teaser: "Regulative Principle" is a topic that really affects my generation. I have sat in church sometimes and wrestled with myself and God about this very topic...I have to say that Mark offered a very good solution...his over all cry on this topic was unity. Oh that we would have unity!!

Click here to buy Religion Saves.

"From Eternity to Here" by Frank Viola

Have you ever listened to a story being told and as you are listening…it is as though you are no longer in reality but caught away in the world of the words being spoken? I have…and as I read “From Eternity to Here” by Frank Viola I found myself continuously being taken away…but the best part about being taken away in to the world of these words is that it’s real! It’s not stepping away from reality but stepping into reality.

Hey guys…I know it’s been a long time since I’ve posted but I figured what better way than to share with you about a great book that I have the blessing to be able to read and review. I was approached by the publishing company that put out one of my absolute FAVORITE books “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan to read and review a follow up book that they are releasing.

I really didn’t know what to expect but as my dead line to write this review crept closer and closer…I found it harder and harder to find time to read it. Having three kids, homeschooling and helping out at a daycare part time has left me with little to no time. Most of the past week I’ve been thinking – “What have I got myself into…I have to keep my word…what are they going to do if I don’t write the review…come bang on my door and rip the book from my hands??”

I honestly started today out and had only read 1 chapter…but as I read that first chapter I was totally over taken by the goodness of what I was reading. It’s so raw and so real and so sincere that as you read this book it is as though you are reading your own love story…and that’s because you are.

This book is set up in a way that it paints our love story with God from Genesis to Revelation. This book contains three volumes: the Bride of Christ, the House of God, and the Family of God the Body of Christ. When I first read the titles of the sections I was kind of detached and wasn’t really encouraged to read much but as I dove in I realized that what Frank Viola has done…is given the body of Christ a beautiful gift…A gift that opens the eyes of those who can’t quite see the whole picture of what it means to be the Bride of Christ.

He weaves together the story of all stories…in a digestible (if not uncomfortable at times) way. While I did really enjoy the first and middle part of the book the part that struck me the MOST was the end. After reading the end I felt as though I had been standing underneath a waterfall of truth. My heart was encouraged and spurred on with passion for my God…and in awe that someone was saying exactly what my spirit is screaming out but without words to express it effectively.

In the next to last chapter Frank Viola once again pulls out his pen/paintbrush to help us see what it looks like when the body of Christ is walking in truth…

“In this chapter, I would briefly like to explore the practical question of what it looks like when a local assembly fulfills what God is after and His eternal purpose moves from eternity to here. “

He summarizes this chapter toward the end…and I will leave you with that summary because I believe it will cause you to want to know what he has to say about each of these things that are vital for the church to live out “the ageless purpose of God”…

“So how does a local church carry out the ageless purpose of God? Very simply: by loving the Lord Jesus as His bride and learning to live by His indwelling life. By edifying its members through displaying the Lord Jesus as functioning priests in God’s house and as participating members of Christ’s body. By living a shared life as the family of God, visibly demonstrating what the kingdom of God is like to a broken world. And by expressing God’s image and exercising His authority in the earth – the very things that the first Adam was charged to do in the garden.”

Frank Viola’s book “From Eternity to Here” is a true find…and I am very blessed by his book – I know I will be rereading this book throughout the rest of my life to enable myself never to lose sight of the whole masterpiece that is my love story with God…

I will leave you with one more fantastic quote:

“Every love story that the minds of mortal men and women construct, every love story that has made its appearance in the pages of human history – whether fiction or nonfiction – is but a reflection , a pale image, a faint portrait, a scrambled version of the sacred romance of the ages.”

Thank you Frank Viola and David C Cook publishers!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following bloggers are posting a review or Q & A with Frank Viola on his bestselling book FROM ETERNITY TO HERE today, Tuesday, July 21st. You may order the book at a discount at http://www.frometernitytohere.org/ – it’s also on audio book. Free discussion guide, sample chapters, interviews, and a free audio of the first chapter are available on that site also. Here are the bloggers who are participating:

Jay Becker - http://www.jaybecker.org/

Mark D - http://deadmanstravelog.blogspot.com/

Igniting Hearts - Kimber Britner - http://www.ignitinghearts.blogspot.com/

Karyn - http://tiger-kar.blogspot.com/

Barefoot Preacher - http://thebarefootpreacher.blogspot.com/

Every Day Angels - http://www.weareeverydayangels.com/

FaithEngineer - http://www.faithengineer.com/

Kristen Schiffman - http://dancinginthemargins.typepad.com/

CrossPointe: The Church at Bevo - http://churchatbevo.blogspot.com/

Crazy Love for God - crazyloveforgod.blogspot.com

Amazima Ministries - oatsvallteam.blogspot.com

Down to Write Honest - http://downwritehonest.com/

A Beautiful Mess - http://blnorth1105.blogspot.com/

The Blakes on a Mission - http://www.theblakesthailand.blogspot.com/

Words by Jud Kossum - http://judkossum.blogspot.com/

Eric Jaffe - http://www.ericjaffe.org/

Reconnect with God – http://www.reconnectwithgod.org/

2nd Cup of Coffee - http://www.2nd-cup-of-coffee.blogspot.com/

Nolan Bobbitt Website - http://www.nolanbobbitt.com/

Klappyanne - www.xanga.com/klappyanne

Daveingland - http://www.daveingland.com/

Randi Jo Rooks - http://seedsinmyheart.blogspot.com/

Ephesians Five – http://ephesiansonefive.blogspot.com/

Michael Bayne - http://www.michaelbayne.net/

Encounter Church Helena Blog - encounterhelena.org

Thoughts B4 Conviction N2 Action - tsharrison.blogspot.com

Edevotion - http://www.e-devotion.blogspot.com/

Seeking After - http://seekingafter.blogspot.com/

Eric Powell - http://www.encounterhelena.org/

Borrowed Light - http://fbcnewlondon.blogspot.com/

Anxious for nothing...

Wow...it's the fourth of July! Today I woke up with tension in my neck...you know when you don't sleep well apparently and your neck feels like you were clenched up all night long? As I sat there feeding Jossalyn this morning I realized that I was still tensed up!! I even was tensing up my feet as I sat there!

I just let out a quiet prayer of helplessness "God...What is it? Why am I so tense? Give me your peace...help me to relax..." As I started working on being conscious of how I was sitting and if each muscle was tensed up...letting them loosen and so on....I realized that I am anxious.

Usually physical symptoms such as these, with me, are a sign of something going on inside. If my mind and heart are busy with something then my physical body reflects it...of course. So while I was trying to loosen up and the thought of getting more sleep and exercising more crossed my mind...those are only surface fixes.

The truth is...I'm anxious! Anxious about what? Well...that's a good question...so as I seek the Lord this morning...as to not be anxious for anything and to trust Him with every situation...I pray that you too are anxious for nothing and trust Him with everything...

Loving where you are!

Hello all of you who still check back here every once in a while! Bless you! I know I've been a horrible blogger since returning to the states...and at this point...I can't say that that is going to change. Things have been so busy and I've been filling in at a daycare when they need me and I have been unable to make the time.

I love blogging and so my attempts will not cease!!! I am fixing to write two book reviews that I signed up for...hahaha!!! I don't know when I am going to READ those book but I am...so be patient with me as I sort out the demands of our current situation and trust God to continue to move in us and work through us....

Here is what I was blessed with this morning! PEACE THAT PASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING - no matter where you are...do you have it? Get some from the source...it's like the fountain of happiness and youth! :)

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May God Give Us Success in All We Do
by Rick Warren

"May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands" (Psalm 90:17 NIV).

God establishes the work of our hands by giving us gifts that will make a difference in the lives of others. That's what success is—being what God meant for you to be. Jesus said, "My purpose is to give [you] a rich and satisfying life" (John 10:10 NLT).

You may be thinking, "Well, Rick, what about work that needs to be done but doesn't express my gifts; it just has to be done?" Any homemaker knows exactly what I'm talking about. I would say to you that every job, even the one you are suited for, has mundane parts. Every job has some parts to it that you won't like, but you can still worship God through those parts of the job.

And I would suggest you adopt this attitude: "Maybe this job that I'm in right now is a phase of my life and I'm not going to be here the rest of my life. But this is where I am for now; therefore, I will worship God right now."

The apostle Paul says, "Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering" (Romans 12:1 MSG)."Lord our God, may your blessings be with us. Give us success in all we do!" (Psalm 90:17 TEV).