A prayer!

The past several months my heart has been heavy. I have been searching for something and not even sure how to explain it to you. I am so thankful I have a God who sees and knows what I am in need of and meets with me just because He wants to. I know I have experienced the Love of God, and that He lives in me like He has never before. The past few days I have been praying this prayer, I have made it mine, and I would like to share it with you. When you read it, put your name in and claim it as yours too. Every time I read it, I get something new out of it, and I pray that He will move in you as you make it your own today.

Ephesians 3:14-21

"For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant (me), according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in (my) heart through faith; that (I), being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and lenght and depth and height, to know the love of christ which passes knowledge; that (I) may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that (I) ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

What does it mean?

I have been in a place lately that I don't want to be in anymore. I have also realized that the only way to get out of it is to get up and change. So, I am. This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it! A few years ago I went to a conference with my mom to see Anne Graham Lotz (Billy Grahams daughter). That conference changed my thinking on how to study the Bible. I have been wanting to get back into the word, but not have everyone's opinion or interpretation on the passage of scripture that I am studying. Now, don't get me wrong, they are very helpful and I like them, but at this point I am wanting to just dig into the Word and study it for me. I want the Holy Spirit to be my teacher and show me what He wants me to know and teach me the lessons that He wants to teach me. I have been very blessed by the devotionals I have been reading, and will keep them to encourage me in those times that I need extra encouragement, or am running short on time. So, for any of you that are interested in studying the word just as it is and what it means to you here is a site you can go and Anne will teach you how to do it. It is really easy and I love it!

http://www.annegrahamlotz.com/resources/topic/learning-hear-his-voice/

Lesson learned!

My five year old son is growing up so fast, that sometimes I don't realize that he is more aware of what is going on than I realize. Sunday he said to me that he was in love with a little girl in his church class. So I asked him what that meant to be in love with her, and he said "well she smiled at me and it made me feel good so I smiled back at her." Anyway, we talked about what it meant to be in love and how he had plenty of time, but it was good that he smiled back at her and to be nice to her. So, I saw her mom last night at church and shared this story with her. Her mom thought it was so cute too. Well, Tra was not happy with me. He asked me why I shared that with her, so I told him that I thought it was such a great story that I wanted to share it with her mommy. That did not matter, I had already broken his heart. So, I got down on my knees and asked him to forgive me, and he did. Anyway, I think it broke my heart more than it broke his because I realized several things. First, that he is growing up and this was really important to him. Second, that I broke his trust in him, and I never want to do that again. Three, the next time I have a great story to share about one of my kids I need to make sure it is a story I can share. Anyway, I learned many lessons last night, but the best part is, Tra is not upset with me and because he is a 5 year old boy, he moved on pretty quickly. Today he is back in love with his Mom and I that makes it all worth it!

Why do I...

Take things on that I don't need to take on? Matthew 11:28-30 says "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." If I take His yoke then I am giving Him my yoke, so then I should have the easier load right? Then why is it that I have such a hard time taking His yoke? I think it is because I don't take the time to give it to Him. That I am too focused on what is going on to even realize that I am taking over and not letting Jesus take it on, like He wants to. Anyway, this is something that I was thinking about this morning and wanted to share my thoughts. I know this much, I need His rest, and I want to carry His yoke, because I need a lighter one to carry. Lord, I pray that you continue to show me when I am not turning my yoke over to You and picking up Yours instead. Father, I thank You for revealing this to me and for showing me how to turn it over to You. Lord, I pray that you continue to give me Your strength and desires, and I will continue to give You all the Praise!

Thankful!

There have been many people talking lately about the things they are thankful for. Since it is getting close to Thanksgiving I guess it is a reminder of all the things we are thankful for. My neighbor had cataracts surgery and neither of her boys or their wives were able to help her out, so we picked her up after her surgery yesterday and took her to her follow up appointment this morning. I am telling you this because it is the same building that I had surgery on my foot about 20 years ago. I remember being so nervous and comforted because my Mom was there with me. It just got me to thinking that I am so thankful for my family. My parents and sister has been there for me while I was growing up, and are still here if and when I need them. Now I have my husband and my children who will be here to help me when I need them. I am thankful to have a husband who is supportive and encouraging. He is such a blessing and I am so thankful for him. Anyway, today is a day that I wanted to share a little bit about what I am thankful for and maybe hear something you are thankful for as well.

Move????

I was going through a stack of papers the other night trying to decide if I can just throw them away or if I need to shred them. I came across a saying on the top of one of them that has really got me to thinking. It said "I just moved you, now you move Me." I can think of many ways that God has moved me, and how He is moving in my life. I am wondering if I am moving Him and what does that really mean? The Bible says to pray "on earth as it is in Heaven" and I am realizing that I have been too caught up in my world and not trying to get Him here on earth. I want to be moved by Him, but more that that I want to move Him. I want the enemy to know that I am serious when I speak, and to take the authority back that God has given to me. I want to walk in His presence so much that God moves in others lives just because He is right there with me. Lord, thank you for this time of discovery and for showing me things in my life.

Here I go again...

I have finally come to the understanding that I have way too much stuff. I can't seem to keep up with it at all. I am going to start purging yet again I think. I have been thinking about this all weekend as I have had lots of time with a sick child, but I can't even have my kids help with what I want them to because we have too much stuff for our little house. So, today is the start of a new week, and with that a new plan of attack. Not only are we going to work on our new school routine, and the kids are going to start their new duties, but I am going to go through the house room by room and start getting rid of more stuff. I am actually very excited about this because I think it is going to help with stress levels in our home. Also, I think that in order for us to have any more children in our home we will need space for them to be here, so I am preparing my fields for rain!

Getting in gear

I have had a difficult time getting things in gear these past few months. Everything seem to be off, if that even makes any sense. Every time I get something going, it just falls apart, or when I think that I have figured something out it never works out like I think it is going to. So, I threw in the towel and just quit for a while, which only made things worse. I am trying to get refocused and keep a hold of the promises the Lord has given to me and will start over again. Wednesday one of our pastors said something that really made an impact on me. He said "don't try to shut off the darkness, focus on turning on the light." So, today, I am looking for ways in my life to turn on the Light and keep out of the darkness that seems to be all around me in this world.