JewelzRamblings
• Mar. 20, 2008 - Rosetta Stone Curriculum Contest
| There is an awesome opportunity to win the new ROSETTA STONE foreign language curriculum. I have wanted this curriculum for a long time. I would LOVE to win! Read below to enter.
Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE!
This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.
This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports.
To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/ and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it. And good luck! The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances |
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• Mar. 20, 2008 - I've moved
| Dear Friends, I've moved this blog to an original blog that I already had up and running. If you want to find me go to my other blog:
http://jewelzsightings.blogspot.com
You can click on the link on this blog under Links: and Jewelz Sightings to take you there.
I could not figure out how to link from this post to the blog.
Thanks! Julie |
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• Feb. 9, 2008 - What is Joy To You?
| How many times when sharing my heartache and struggles did I hear, "the joy of the Lord is your strength", or "joy is available to you, it's your's, it's already been given." My well meaning friends were trying to encourage me, but I would find myself deflated. Are those words supposed to make me feel better? If joy has been given then where is it? Is this supposed to be some type of treasure hunt to discover it? Am I just looking in the wrong places? I wanted to have joy. I prayed for it, but I couldn't find it. No matter how much I tried, it eluded me. What was joy anyways? Was it a feeling?
Life was beating down hard. It felt like one hurricane after another was hitting the shores of our lives, much like Florida experienced back in 2004. Did you know that 4 hurricanes hit the state of Florida in that year? One of them hit, went out to sea, then came back and hit again. Do you ever feel that way? Do you ever feel like a storm comes in, you get back up, recover a little, only to be hit again? I have.
I found myself in the middle of reading the scripture in John 16. Jesus is talking to the disciples, telling them of his impending death. He tells them that He is going to leave them, and where He goes they cannot go. Then He says to them, verse, 20, "I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy." That verse stopped me dead in my tracks. Wait a minute. You mean that they aren't going to have joy? What about "the joy of the Lord is your strength?" Isn't that true for them?
Jesus goes on to tell them that it will be like a woman giving birth. While giving birth she is in anguish, but once that baby is in her arms, she forgets the pain for the joy of having the child. The disciples have no idea what they are getting ready to face, really. But think about it for a minute. They have left everything to follow Christ. They have no jobs to return to. Life as they knew it is gone. They have followed the one who they thought would deliver them from the Roman rule. Things have built to a crescendo and now Jesus tells them He's leaving and they can't go with Him. What do you think they felt when they saw Him get arrested or worse, crucified. Can you just imagine how their worlds must have come tumbling in on them, like a hurricane wind toppling the roof of a house? How did they feel when Jesus was gone and life just didn't make sense? What were they to do now? There was no joy, only grief, anguish and pain. What had just happened? Where was God?
As I struggled my way through the circumstances of life, things surfaced in me. I battled doubts like I had never known before, feeling abandoned, forgotten, and even cursed by God, while those around me seemed to be flourishing. What was really true about God? Was God really there for me? Did He see me? Did He care? Why was He doing this to me? The doubts and unbelief were surfacing, tossing me about. What was I going to stand in? That's what the season was about. He wanted those things in my heart that were "shakable", leaving what was unshakable to remain. What was I going to believe?
Joy came on resurrection day for the disciples as they found Jesus. Joy was not a feeling. Joy was Jesus coming to them, victorious over sin, death and the grave, victorious over their circumstances.
Joy for me was Jesus in me causing me to rise up and declare what was true when overwhelmed with the weariness of hard circumstances; Jesus in me keeping me from sinking while walking in the quicksand of doubts and unbelief; Jesus in me putting one foot in front of the other against the gale forced winds of the hurricanes that hit my shore. In the midst of really hard circumstances I found Jesus overcoming in and through me. That was the joy that no man could take away.
To the very core of my being I believe that when we find God to be enough, in the midst of the "dark caves" of life that is joy. Circumstances still hitting us hard, we rise up in faith to stand on the truth that Jesus has come to overcome our world. The world full of doubts and unbelief is shut down around us. In the weariness He comes and sweeps us up in His embrace. As with a child being placed in your arms after the anguish of childbirth, the pain but a fleeting memory, joy floods the soul. Just as Jesus came for the disciples at resurrection day He comes for us. Joy is Jesus in us. He never leaves us nor forsakes us. We are alive because He is alive in us. Christ in us, the hope of glory, the joy that no man can take away.
Blessings, Jewelz |
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• Jan. 13, 2008 - Letting Go With Grace
| I remember when it came time to stop nursing my firstborn. It was the first opportunity I had to allow my child to not need me. Though I knew it was time, there were emotions that rose up, a type sadness crept in as I said goodbye to a precious season of comfort and intimacy. My daughter was no longer an infant. She had entered the stage of "toddlerhood". It's funny how it all works out. You know in your head that it is the right move for your children to let them go, but there's a tug of war that goes on in your heart.
Years progressed and there were more opportunities to let go. Leaving her with her grandparents for the first time overnight, spend the night times with friends, going in a car with someone other than her dad or I. All these moments were natural moments that were part of living and letting go.
When she was 12 years old she went on her first outreach. Three weeks away from home, though not out of the city, my daughter embarked on her first youth missions trip. They went into the inner city of Atlanta to tell the kids there about Jesus through performances and songs. It was another monumental time of allowing my daughter to stretch her wings a little in preparation for the day when she would move into who she was created to be. She thrived in this environment. I remember I wrote her a card for every day of those 3 weeks to open and read from me. I wanted my heart to go with her.
The teenage years brought on another type of letting go. This time it was behind a vehicle that could not only kill her, but another, if not handled properly. I will never forget that first day when she drove off by herself to work. I sat waiting for the phone call that said, "I'm here, and I'm safe." You know you never stop being concerned for your child's safety, you just learn to trust God with it all.
Not long after that, came graduation and entering into legal adulthood. No longer a child, I had to let her become an adult. In some ways this stage wasn't as hard as the other stages. She was ready. She needed to be set free to live in the responsibility and freedom. She needed to be her own person, following her own dreams.
Soon after becoming an adult she decided to move into an apartment with another co-worker. I didn't expect the emotions to be as strong as they were. After all she was only going to be 30 minutes away. I hugged her goodbye, got in the car and drove home with my husband after moving her things in. It was a helpless feeling that came over me. I realized at that point that I could no longer protect her. She was no longer under my care. She was on her own. Would she be OK? Would she be safe? Would she follow God? Had I taught her enough? Had I done enough to prepare her? Fears, questions, and doubts rose up within me. It hit me like a ton of bricks. My little girl was all grown up. She was moving on to live her own life. I cried like a baby. I grieved the loss, it was part of the process of letting go.
Now 2 1/2 years later she will begin the largest adventure of her life. In 3 days she will fly across the ocean for a 5 month missions trip, a YWAM Discipleship Training School. She has always been within an hour from home. I have seen her almost every weekend for years. I will not see her for 5 months. I cannot call her at a moment's notice. What will it be like to have one who was carried close to my heart so far away? How will it be not to hear her voice throughout the day.
It is time to let her go. She is going after God. What more could a mother desire? I know it is good and right, but my heart aches. My baby is going to spread her wings and I won't be there to witness it.
All of her life has been leading up to this. I always knew this was a possibility. She had talked of missions work as a young child, wanting to be a veterinarian missionary, who cared for the people's animals while she told them about Jesus. Yes, she was a very creative child.....still is.
As we stood worshipping in church out of the corner of my eyes I saw her surrendering her life to be a beautiful display of God to others. With my hand upon her head and my heart praying her release, God came, for both of us. We held each other close, she wept, tears filled my eyes as I tried to retain some composure, for fear I would surely cry the "ugly cry" in a room full of people.
You know no one told me about this part. I mean I knew that you let go and everything. After all I don't live with my parents anymore. I left home... So I know it is a natural part of life. But I never knew it hurt like it does.... In just a blink of an eye, time has moved in warp speed and those little ones are leaving home to live their own lives. I didn't know when I had toddlers that life would move into warp speed.
The emotions are lying underneath the surface. I can feel them. I know they are waiting..... another time of grieving and rejoicing is on the horizon. Another opportunity of letting go.
May I let go with grace, Papa, like you do.
"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." II Corinthians 9:8
Jewelz |
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• Jan. 9, 2008 - When God Outruns You
| A few years ago my husband was in the midst of a job transition. It was a time where we were learning to trust God in ways we had not been challenged in before. There were so many things coming at us during this time. I found myself wondering and questioning, "what if we miss God's voice." Could we miss Him? We were desperately seeking Him and His plan for our lives. Could we somehow not hear Him when He spoke? Could we end up going the wrong way because we didn't listen?
God decided to give me a picture to hold onto. It was a God sighting that has been seared into the depths of my mind.
My husband and I were sitting at the desk looking at something on the computer when my son came into the hallway and went out the door. My husband immediately called my son's name. He had something he wanted to tell him, but my son didn't hear him. He wasn't listening. David called him again. Again, no respone. This time he got up and walked to the door and called Josiah's name. Once again, Josiah didn't hear him. Finally, my husband walked out the door, and down the driveway after my son, calling his name UNTIL he heard. My son finally heard his dad's voice, and turned to listen. My husband told him what he had to tell him, and returned to his seat at the computer.
In a moment's time God began to speak to me. The conversation went something like this; "Julie, did you see that?" "Did you see how David called out to Josiah, repeatedly?" "Did you see how Josiah wasn't listening?" "Did you see how David did not give up?" "He pursued Josiah UNTIL he heard him?" "Yes, Papa, I saw." "That is how I am with you, Julie." "Don't worry about missing my voice." "I will come after you until you hear me." "Just like David wouldn't let Josiah go on until He told him what he needed to tell him, I won't let you." "Rest in knowing that I will not stop until you hear my voice." "Put that worry aside, dear one." "I will come after you."
I saw God that day in a way that changed me forever.
I hope you see Him too.
"He leads me in paths of righteousness for His own name's sake." Psalm 23:3
Blessings,
Jewelz |
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• Jan. 6, 2008 - I saw God today
| I saw the most endearing thing in church today. There is a sweet young couple that sits in the same place each Sunday. They are fairly new to the church. The husband had found us online and had been following the church for some time. He finally decided they should attend so they started coming. They are both rather quiet, though I believe she is more quiet than he is. They have a little girl about 3 or 4 years old. She's a beautiful petite woman.
She came to our women's Christmas dinner and you could tell that it was a bit much for her. Yet she faced her fear and came amongst women she barely knew. My heart was drawn to her and the quiet gentle spirit within her. Today they sat right in front of us, two rows up. As we stood in worship the husband was holding his daughter in his arms. We were singing a song about wanting "with all our hearts" to worship God, When out of the corner of my eye I saw this beautiful woman, weeping. Overcome with emotion, she turned to her husband and buried her head in his side. She began to melt in the safety of his arms as they encircled about her, holding her close while she wept. All three of them clung together, just holding each other. As the music played on, the husband grasped her hand and they knelt together at their seats and he prayed. It was so touching that that tears began to well up in my eyes as well. How sweet, how tender. What a beautiful, intimate display of love. And then it hit me. It was a picture.
As I watched the compassion, tenderness and protection of this man with his wife, I realized that that is Christ with me. Today a picture was seared in my heart and mind. Christ as my husband is endeared to me with a heart of compassion, tenderness and protection. As I come to Him and melt in His arms, He gathers me up. clinging to me as I cling to Him. As we kneel there together, He carries me up to the Father with words that lift me up in intercession before the throne of the one who loves me forever.
A woman's response in worship was a God sighting for me today.
Beauty unveiled in the heart of a woman brought life to my heart.
May it bring beauty to your life today.
"A cord of three strands is not easily broken." Ecclesiastes 4:12b Jewelz |
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• Jan. 2, 2008 - Making a Wrong Turn
| You know what I love about God? I love that you cannot fail with Him. He doesn't see the things we do as failures. There are NO failures with God, only mistakes. And mistakes can always be made right. Mistakes are those things in our lives that are supposed to be our teachers. They don't determine who we are or what we are made of. They are the things that enlighten us as to what's right, wrong, good, and bad. When you make a wrong turn in this road of life, it is only a wrong turn when you don't go back and make the right turn. Christmas night we were on our way home and my husband took a wrong turn. It wasn't intentional, he just read the sign wrong. Fifteen minutes down the road we began to notice things we had never seen before and realized we were headed in the wrong direction. Had we continued we would not have ended up anywhere near home. It was the wrong way. It would not lead us to where we wanted to go. So, we turned around and headed back the right way. It was no big deal really, it just cost us a few minutes. That's how it is with God. When we make the wrong turns in our lives, it's an opportunity to realize that unless we turn around we won't end up where we want to go. The detour may have cost us something, we may lose some time, but it's not a irreparable loss. Unless we don't turn back, Ever. I don't think God sits around focused on the wrong turn we make. I think He's just happy to see us back on the path that leads to life. It's not God that condemns us, punishes us or chastises us for the wrong turn. It is another voice. The voice of the enemy, the voice of ourselves.God covers everything with His grace....even the wrong turns in life. What is it you tell yourself when you make a mistake? What you tell yourself is what you will believe. Often when I make mistakes I will find myself saying "you are so stupid". Am I really stupid? No, of course not, I just made a wrong judgement. I'm learning to catch myself and tell myself the truth. I am learning to cover myself with grace. Joel: 2:13 "Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity." I love that about God, Jewelz |
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• Jan. 1, 2008 - The Old Has Gone, The New Has Come
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come. II Corinthians 5:17.
Out with the old, and in with the new. The year has passed, a new year is upon us.
One of my favorite quotes I heard on a tape I was listening to is; "there are no longer good days and bad days, all are days of grace." "Some days you are given the grace to endure and some days you are given the grace to enjoy."
Last year was a year where more days than not I was given the grace to endure. I am glad to see a new dawn of a new year.
Seven is the number of completion, Eight is the number of new beginnings. Here at the beginning of a new year I am thankful for what has been completed in me. This year I have learned that if I do not love myself I will never be able to love others. It is what I believe and tell myself that I will live. God's love can and does flow into me, but it will never flow out of me totally until I learn to love myself as He loves me. I am anticipating a new beginning for the year ahead.
The old has gone, 2007, the new has come, 2008. May this be the year when I truly begin to grasp that the old me was crucified and now the new me, Christ in me, has come. May it be a year when the reality that Christ exchanged His life for mine is understood more fully and lived more deeply. I no longer have to live, He will live through me. The old lies, messages and beliefs of who I was are removed.. Now may the new truth of who God has created me, who I truly am be revealed, fully.
2008, the year of new beginnings. May it be so, may it be so.
Jewelz |
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• Dec. 30, 2007 - Which Son Are You?
| I love Bible stories. It's not because of the story they tell. It's because of the message that is hidden within the story.
God's story is written on the hearts of men and women. Though the Bible is chocked full of dysfunctional familes, each family narrative has a message of God. It's not just about how He came through for them and delivered them. It's about how they found Him in the midst of life.
Take the Prodigal Son story. How many pictures do you see in this story? It's all about love and receiving love. For years I only saw the Prodigal Son, the older brother and the Father, but now I see there is so much more hidden in the story line.
The Prodigal Son wants what he is to inherit when his father dies. He doesn't want to wait, he wants it now. After all he wants to leave the Father's house and go out and find life. So he goes to the Father, asks for his money and leaves. He doesn't need life with the Father, he only wants what the Father can give to him. Basically his father is only good for what he will inherit. Some of us want the inheritance of God without the relationship with the Father.
He goes out squanders all that he has and comes to the point where he realizes that the life he's living isn't cutting it. Something is missing. So he leaves the pigpen and heads home hoping that his father will just let him be a hired hand. Some of us think that what we have done is so bad that we can't consider coming to the Father to live in his house. We are happy just living as a slave to a master. God released us from the chains of slavery not to be enslaved any longer.
The Father sees the son returning, grabs his royal robes in His hands and runs out to meet him. He is delighted that His Son has returned and throws a party for him. The older brother has been there all along working hard for the Father in the fields. He is enraged with the treatment his brother receives. After all his brother considered his father as good as dead, left home, squandered his inheritance and now he has the gall to return home. He stands by and watches while His Father not only embraces him but throws a feast. All he can think about is why he has not had that kind of treatment. After all he has been there all along working hard for the Father. Some of us think that if we work hard for God it will earn us a place in His house and heart. Our value is tied up in the law and what we can do. The Father waits to welcome us into His house to be loved, just like the Father in the story. But somehow our identity is so tied up in what we can do, we don't know how to just "be" His.
The Prodigal embraces the Father, the Father puts robe on his back and a ring on his finger, symbolizing his place in the heart of the Father. And the Son is restored. The older brother confronts the Father and the Father tells him, "Son, all I have has always been yours." Some of us come to the end of our ability to find life and see the destitution and, like the Prodigal we enter in fully allowing the Father to wrap us up in His love and bring us into covenant with Him. Some of us like the older brother feel it is our work that makes us worthy and just can't seem to enter in and be wrapped up in love without doing something to earn it. We can't seem to stop "doing" and learn to just "be" in relationship with Him.
And then there is the Son that was telling the story, Jesus. He was perfect love. He knew the Father loved Him and He loved the Father. He embraced the love of the Father and His whole purpose was to show us what He was like. He didn't have to do anything to earn the Father's love. He knew he was loved because He was His Son. Some of us get that. We know that we are loved. It's not about what we do.. It's about who He is. He is perfect love who has created us to be loved.
For more years than I can remember I was the older brother. I remember my grandmother saying "you gotta earn your keep."
So I tried. I spent many years like the older brother working FOR God instead of just being WITH God. There is a difference, a HUGE difference. It is in the being with Him that I have entered into the feast. He says so brilliantly in the Psalms, "Be still and know I am God." One of the translations says, "Cease striving".... I read that as "stop your working for me and just know me as YOUR Papa." "Just enter into my embrace and let me love you, just because you are mine."
So, I ask you, which Son are you?
Jewelz |
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• Dec. 29, 2007 - Pruning
| Pruning
The ways of God are beyond all understanding. Who can fathom them? He has come to restore us and to set those who are captive free. Why does freedom have to hurt so much sometimes? Don't you wish that sometimes you didn't have to feel the pruning shears cutting away the dead branches?
This week something came to the light. I saw a place of wounding that still held me captive. For two days I sat numb, somewhat afraid to open the door to see what was behind it. It wasn't that I was afraid of what I would see, but more that I was afraid of what I might not see. You see, I knew this was a huge place that was woven into so many places of my life. What if I didn't see it all? Like a patient with cancer, under the knife of a surgeon hoping that they will find it all, I wondered. Would we find it all? Would I be one of those patients that would be opened to find the cancer so spread throughout my body that all that could be done was to close me back up and send me off to live as much life as possible? Would it be woven so deeply that I could not see to replace the old with the new...the truth? God did come to set captives free, right? Can He free me from this wound? After all I know it is woven deeply into so many areas, like the roots of violets in a garden. They entertwine and spread throughout the flowerbed. Would this wound be like that? How could I possibly see all the areas of my life that had been affected by this?
As I sat with God and started to "feel" I found myself not even knowing where to begin. So I started at the beginning. I invited Him to come into this wounded place and reveal what was hidden underneath. I thought of the verse in Hebrews 4: where it speaks of the Word of God being sharper than a double-edged sword, cutting through bones and marrow, dividing the soul and the spirit. I began to ask God to take His scalpel and cut down deep, dividing the flesh from the Spirit, opening my eyes to see what was the lie embedded in.
The road to freedom involves seeing the lies that have taken root in our hearts and pulling them up, and planting truth in their place, the truth of God. That is where God took me today. He took me to those wounded places and the little girl that was hiding inside. He called out my name and told me of the things that were true, those things that the little girl didn't see, couldn't see or process due to having the mind of a child.
It is for freedom that He came. He came for my freedom today. The old is gone, the new has come.
Jewelz
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• Dec. 29, 2007 - The older they get the faster it goes
| Wednesday, December 26, 2007
The older they get the faster it goes
Christmas came in a whirlwind as usual. As my kids grow I see it happening....the older the get the faster it goes. The oldest is 20 and the youngest is 10.
I remember the days of Fisher Price doll house and Legos. Hours of fun and entertainment. Now we have moved into Old Navy Gift Cards, X-box & Game Cube games, clothes, Ipod paraphenalia.
It seems like it was just yesterday when the boys were gathered around the tree, enjoying a fire in the fireplace, putting together their Legos warships. Was it really 15 years ago when the girls were playing with the Little Tikes ironing board and Fisher Price doll house?
Where has the time gone? It seems to pass more quickly with each year that is added.
Savor the moments. Though the years of toddlers and school age children seem to last forever they will be gone in but a second. So savor the moments. In 22 days my first born child will leave for 5 months to go overseas on a mission trip. Life as I have known it will change.
Savor the moments....they are fleeting......
What would it look like if I were to go back for a "do over"? Would I sit with them longer? Would I get on the floor and play? Would I put aside the household chores to just sit and play a game? Yes, I would. I would do it all over again. I would give them more of ME!
Savor the moments...... |
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• Jun. 20, 2007 - The Quiet Time
When I was growing up I was taught that God's word was my "instruction manual". I was told in order to know God I must read His instruction manual and that if I loved God I would put Him first and spend 30 min a day in quiet time. So I did, because I wanted Him to know I loved Him. God honored my time with Him, though my approach was more out of duty and obligation to be a good soldier of the Lord than a response to His invitation of love.
Someone said something to me the other day that hit me square between the eyes. In my 27 years of walking with God, 49 years of life, no one had ever said it like this before. They said, "You did not invite God into your life....God inivited you into His."
Years ago, while teaching some younger women in a study, I was trying to explain to them how important the Word of God was. As I began to tell them it was their instruction manual, God caught me and stopped me mid sentence. He spoke to my heart..."tell them it is my love letter to them." He began to remind me of the love letters my husband had written to me during our long distance relationship. He reminded me of how I would steal away and read, savoring every word written. I couldn't wait to get home to see if there was a new one in the mailbox. Each time a new letter had arrived my heart was stirred with longing to draw away and learn more about the one who was pledging his love to me. His letters were revelations of love. I would read them over and over again until I had them memorized. It didn't take any effort. I wanted to know, I wanted to be loved on.
I started thinking about this picture with God's word and the picture of the "instruction manual" picture plus how I had been taught about my "quiet time". What would have happened if I had read my husband's letters like a required reading? I began to wonder what it would be like to read God's Word like a love letter. The thought drove me to a deeper understanding of this thing called "love".
I have always struggled with Leviticus. After all it can be a tedious book to read. But if I think about it in the "love letter" context then what Leviticus speaks is that because of God's great love for me He sent Jesus to fulfill the law so that I did not have to live Leviticus. Levitcus speaks of Christ's rescue of my life. Leviticus takes on a whole new meaning.
The Word started to come alive in ways that I had not anticipated, just by understanding the true picture of God's Word, I was awakened to a whole new world. They are my love letters, writtien to me, revealing the passionate heart of God towards ME.
I could go on with more....but I'll save the "more" for another time.
Thanks for reading! |
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• Jun. 15, 2007 - Love Them Like Jesus
| As I listened to the Casting Crowns song "Love Them Like Jesus" I thought of my children and this thing called love. Why is it I so easily see the responsibilities and demands of caring for them yet lose sight of loving like Jesus.
Would my children look at the way I live life and say "Mom, loves like Jesus?" Do they feel my displeasure of their behavior more frequently than they feel my pleasure of who they are? I find myself struck with the words in I Corinthians 13 and more often than not it leaves me with the reality of how far I am from loving like Jesus.
Love keeps no record of wrongs, but bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. Love is patient and kind. Love is not self-seeking.
I know the words to the song are not really talking of this, but this is what stirs up to the surface as I listen. Life's demands distract me away and draw my focus on things that in reality are so insignificant. My heart cries out as I listen, the stirring is deep... Oh that I might love them like Jesus. |
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• Jun. 15, 2007 - New to Blogging
| Hey all, I am new to blogging. I have been home schooling for 16 years now and some friends here where I live have suggested I start a blog.
So here I am with my first entry.
I am looking forward to getting to know you all.
But I wish I understood how this whole thing works.
Hope you all find me out here in "blog-asphere"
Julie |
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