Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I'm sure everyone is looking forward to the time spent with their family and friends, but more than anything giving thanks to the Lord for this special day to praise Him!

Have a blessed day!

He Silently Plans for You

I read this poem during my devotions and was so inspired I couldn't wait to share it with everyone! I pray it encourages you as it did me!

He will silently plan for you,

His object of omniscient care;

God Himself undertakes to be

Your Pilot through each subtle snare.

He will silently plan for you,

So certainly He cannot fail!

Rest on the faithfulness of God,

In Him you will surely prevail.

He will silently plan for you,

Some wonderful surprise of love.

No eye has seen, nor ear has heard.

But it is kept for you above.

He will silently plan for you,

His purposes will all unfold;

Your tangled life will shine at last,

A masterpiece of skill untold.

He will silently plan for you,

Happy child of a Father's care,

As if no other claimed His love,

But you alone to Him were dear.

By E. Mary Grimes

Whatever your faith says God is, He will be

Last Day of Thanksgiving

Just a couple of weeks ago I recieved a call from my Grampa while I was at work.  He asked what time I got out and if I could stop by his place on my way home.  When I said yes and asked why he said, "Because I am going to give you and your sister my truck."

Vehicles have always been an issue in my family, since we live in a more rustic area and have a farm, more durable and bigger vehicles are required....but with it comes the issues of gas prices and its more expensive to replace stuff when it breaks.

When I started my job in early October I was driving a Ford F250 to work three to four days a week.  It was unstustainable with the amount of money that was taken out my paycheck just to pay for gas.  It also left my Mom and sister without a truck at the house, so if there was ever an emergency they wouldn't be able to do much.  The situation was becoming more complex; then Grampa called and became an answer to our prayers.

God knows our every need, the truck is a no bells and whistles truck- but it works and is in excellent condition.  God does discriminate between needs and wants, He provides things that make us more grateful in the long run than if we had gotten exactly what we wanted when we asked for it.

Every day God's provision has been great in my life, and if I didn't have trials then I wouldn't have the knowledge of how to grow closer to my King.  If He didn't test me day by day in His Word, I would never understand how He laid Himself down as the greatest sacrifice anyone can ever make.  If He didn't open His arms to everyone to welcome them into His family, we wouldn't have a reason to live- for we are all sinners and deserve the penalty He took instead--for US.

Thank you Lord for Your continued patience with me, Your unfailing love, and the way You continue to mold me.  I love You Lord.

Day #4 of Thanksgiving

Every day of life is a blessing from the Lord, He has given us so much to thank Him for!  But sometimes it's easy to take for granted the little things in life, so I've compiled a "off the top of my head" list of things that I take for granted:

1. Every day someone one or all of my family is on the road driving, and each day the Lord has spread His safety net securely over us.
2. No matter how bad today feels, God promises a new day, a new morning, and promises that He intends to fulfill.
3. My family is my life.  The love and affection that exists in my family is something I cherish- I thank God for His grace in placing us together.
4. The priviledge of listening to God-honoring, conservative music in our generation is so huge in a Christian's walk with Christ!
5. My salvation is the thing I am most thankful for, the knowledge that God handpicked me for His family is so humbling and overwhelms me with love for Him!
6. The freedom I have to read God's Word is so precious!
7. I have been blessed with good health (besides the occasional common cold:)
8. The sacrifice of our troops in protecting our nation is something I need to think of more often, I sometimes forget that the reason I can still read my Bible and pray is because of the brave men and women in our service who made the choice to protect our country. May God continue to bring them safely home.
9. The influence writers have in our society today is huge, I thank God for the influence of Godly writers who pursue the path to teach truth and Godly principles.
10.  I am thankful to be a stay-at-home daughter and for the instruction my parents have given me in preparation for these years ahead.

So what are things that you take for granted every day? Simple things that don't cross your mind right when you wake up, but really should?  What are the first three things that come to the forefront of your mind?

God's promises are new every morning, so what has He blessed you with today?

God Bless!

Day #3 of Thanksgiving

It is the middle of the week and therefore I decided that my family should be in the middle as I also consider the word middle as the "balance point" the middle makes everything else stand straight and correct...and thus my family keeps me upright:)

I'll start out with my Dad, my Dad is the down to earth, country, Carhartt style, "I know how to fix everything without the instructions, just hand me a wrench" type of guy:) But he also knows his girls like the back of his hand.  He is our protector and comforter.  He is the one I like to curl up next to on the couch and simply sit there in silence, he loves his family and when he asks us what we think his passion is in life we all say the same thing- your family.

My Mom is the spunky southerner:) She's soft spoken with love that pours out in all directions to everyone.  She loves sharing her personal devotions with us every morning and then helping us apply it later in the day.  She loves researching things and finding answers, if there is ever a question in the house we go right to her, because even if she doesn't know it she's sure to have an answer for you in only a few minutes.:)

Stephen is my older brother, he's the brain in the family when it comes to school. He's also someone that always makes me laugh:) He loves sports, and being 6'8" some people immediately think of him loving basketball- but being that tall does make you a target on the court- so not so much competitvely, but more with friends and family:) He has a heart of gold and handsomer than any guy I've met:):)

Devin is my conscience, best friend, with true older sister traits of being protective and loyal.  Devin loves politics, history, family, and apologetics.  She loves being organized and organizing events.  She cares deeply about our country and the way God is treated in it. Her passion for human life is inspiring and I am certain she will touch the world someday.

I say all of this to ask you this question, can you imagine what your life story would be if you didn't have your family? If you didn't have the trials, blessings, and curveballs thrown your way during life, where would you be right now?

I can't imagine being placed in any other family.  When I was younger it was easy to think of my friends families as being "perfect".  But then I would return home and truly, "There is no place like home".:)

God constructs families to be a cornerstone in every generation, how we are raised and what we do impacts the next generation and the one after that and the one after that.  Each family in Christ's kingdom has an important role to play, no one is greater or less.  It's like a puzzle- you can't finish it until every piece is put in it's exact mold.  Christ has us in the families we are in for a reason, there is a bigger picture He hasn't shown us yet. It's our job to figure out what that is!

God Bless!

Day #2 of Thanksgiving

Hello,
Due to internet and computer issues, this post is a day late...but here nonetheless!:)

Monday I wrote about the salvation of my Nana, today I want to write about the Lord's work in my life this past summer.

In November\December of last year I felt led by the Lord to step into the leadership postition of becoming a teacher\mentor...suffice to say that my initial reaction was an immediate "Whoa! No way!" But the Lord's ways are the best and His plans do come to fruition if we yeild our rights and follow Him.:)

By January I began to take my first steps into writing a devotional for young girls (targeted specifically towards girls 10-13). I love to write- but what I was writing down was truly from the Lord.

By April the Lord revealed His full plan to me. He wanted me to begin a Bible study...I felt ill-qualified and completely unprepared.  However He does say that in our weakness He becomes strong!

I wrote up a newsletter aimed at young girls between the ages of 10 and 13 and distributed it among that age group of girls at my church.  The newsletter explained my desire to begin a Bible srtudy with them and that it would be a six week study during the summer.

By the middle of May there were five girls who were committed to the study.  The excitement began to build and I felt the Lord with me as the first Bible study approached.

Radiance was the name I chose for our group, it meant having a glow that eminates in such a way that many people don't know where it comes from.  But for us Christians there is an easy answer, our inner glow is that of Christ.  As long as we are actively seeking to be more like Him and follow His direction that inner radiance cannot be mistaken in our life as anything else other than His presence reigning over us!!!


As I taught throughout the summer I thought I would feel sort of like a teacher as each  week went by.  But the truth of it was, these girls were on fire for the Lord. They truly wanted to seek Him and follow Him in every area of their life!  Their encouragement and the friendship that they offered touched my heart in a way that I can't describe.  We truly became sisters in Christ, intent on the same mission of glorifying our Savior.

When the Lord first presented this ministy opportunity to me I thought it was a way that I could be a  mentor\ older sister to the girls that are younger in my church.  But the Lord showed His true intent as they taught me SO much in their observations, notes and behavior.  As we had the wrap up party at the end of the six weeks I felt like crying as I saw each of them having a light of radiance begin to come out in their behavior and speech.

These precious girls changed my life! As we went over the topics of maturity, purity, modesty, ect. I felt so blessed and challenged!

If you ever feel like the Lord is leading you in this direction, I encourage you, pray fervently about it!  Then if the Lord still leads you in this way, go for it! Always keeping Him first.  My main concern when I first started out my Bible study was how to keep everyone pure while still learning about Christ's desire for us. So my motto became: "Always speak and have them read things that allow them to read about purity without taking away their purity." This was the way my parents raised me, to always know my boundaries while still keeping my thought life pure.  I know there are many Christian devotionals out there that deal with the topics I discussed with my girls, but not all of them are appropriate and busy Mom's do not always have the opportunity to scan and read everything their daughter wants to read!!:) 

To end today's post I would like to add one more thing, as the time went on with the group there were blessings that happened in my life outside of being blessed by the girls...so on a note of encouragement, just because your life may seem like its running smoothly- don't always assume its because God has you there.  Continually seek His will and be ready to follow- no matter what.

God bless!

Praising the Lord all week long

I've decided that for this whole week before Thanksgiving I will post something every day that has been a special blessing in my life this past year.  From learning a few lessons in God's school, or a blessing of His provision, or the everyday things that I take for granted.... So here we go!

My first post will be on something that God answered prayer on after 17 years of prayer!!!

On August 17th of this year I was sitting in the living room with my Nana.  Now my Nana is the perfect, storybook Nana:)... The smell of cookies in her kitchen, high stools at the counter are perfect for long talks and sharing the said cookies.  She lives on a lake- and as I reflect on the years, she has put up with a lot of sandy feet trekking through her house:) She always believed that building people up is what everyone should be doing for their neighbor. However, saying all of this, I must also add. Nana is not a Christian.

As I sat in the living room of her home and chatted about anything and everything I began to feel the tug on my heart to veer the subject towards Christ...my time with Nana was limited as she now had in-home hospice taking care of her. So, swallowing the fear that bubbled up and tried to choke me I began to tell her a story about something that had happened to me only a few weeks ago.

The story revolved around our VBS week that we had had at our church. Before VBS begins every night at my church we have a time of prayer as a group in our auditorium.  The very first night my pastor looked out at all of us and said, "We only have one week to reach these kids, I want each of you to be prepared that if I am talking with a child about salvation and another one wants to talk about it too, I want to be able to turn around, look at you, and ask if you can go and talk with them."

After the meeting a friend of mine walked up to me and we discussed what our Pastor had asked of us.  I had led a little girl to the Lord only once and botched it up (in human terms)-  it was all the better as all the glory went to the Lord!!!:) But we both felt that we needed to be better prepared, so for three nights out of the week we met right after the meeting and ran ustairs to go over God's Bridge to Salvation and the Romans Road.

As I explained this to Nana I also began to tell her how we practiced and what the message of salvation was. After the story was done I asked her if she had ever asked Jesus into her heart before, she replied; "I've always had faith, but I don't have a faith like you."

I then asked her if she wanted to have a faith like mine and she replied that she did!!!

After praying with her I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry! I felt like dropping to the floor and weeping and the next minute jumping for joy and praising God!:)

If you have an unsaved grandparent, remember this - you are the grandchild, you can get away with a lot more things with that title.:) As the grandchild you have an open door to speak with them about anything. You are the apples from their tree.  They may have a more difficult time listening to your parents or any adult in general as the relationship is very different. But I will encourage you, if you have any unsaved family or friends, speaking up and proclaiming Christ does not make you look like a fool in God's eyes!

Rand Hummel once commented on how scared people are sometimes when they are trying to witness to someone, "They may laugh at you, your feelings may be hurt but you'll be fine; they may hit you, you'll heal; they may kill you, you'll go to heaven!":)

Sharing Christ may make you feel like butterflies are in your stomach; even the great evangelists say that! But the effect after you have spoken to someone about Christ is a lasting emotion that fills you with the Holy Spirit and makes you feel the Savior's loving embrace encompass you. I know for my part that I would love to have that feeling 24/7!!

This praise also comes with a prayer request, as I led my Nana to the Lord my unsaved Grampa left the room.  He has been witnessed to on numerous occasions, however he has closed the door on the subject and refused to speak of it.  Please pray for his heart to be softened and prepared for the Lord's entrance into his life.

Poem of few words, yet so much meaning

Watch your thoughts;

they become words.

Watch your words;

they become actions.

Watch your actions;

they become habits.

Watch your habits;

they become your character.

Watch your character;

it becomes your destiny.