It's almost the end of another week. Time is passing quickly these days! This will be a busy week-end for me. Leland is off to Phoenix tomorrow morning to attend an Entrepreneur Days week-end conference. (See http://www.entrepreneurdays.com/  for more information) After turning down his business, Bob Farewell encouraged us to attend to see what entrepreneurial ideas God may have in store for us. So it will be exciting to see what Leland comes away with at the conference!

Hopefully the week-end will go well for me here! I have been fortunate to have a husband who rarely travels and is away from me. So it will be different being alone for the week-end with the kids. Unfortunately we have colds as well, but I'm trusting that God will help us through. Thankfully my mother-in-law is a wonderful help and will be taking the older 2 kids Sat night overnight and bringing them to her church Sunday so I'll only have the 3 to bring to church on my own.

This morning I was reading in the Psalms in Psalm 106. In this chapter the psalmist is writing about Israel and their different sins they were guilty of. The sins that stood out in my mind were:

v.13 "they soon forgot what he (God) had done and did not wait for his counsel"

v.14 "they gave into their craving"

v.21 "they forgot the God who saved them"

v.24 "they did not believe his promise"

v.25 "they grumbled in their tents and did not obey the Lord"

Oh how I wish these same sins weren't true of me! Oh to take each of these sins and live the opposite of them! Then I would:

ALWAYS remember what God has done and always wait for his counsel and guidance first!

SUBMIT my cravings and desires to the Lord and delight myself in the Lord alone!

MEDITATE on God's amazing grace and salvation despite my weakness and sinfulness!

BELIEVE and have FAITH in EVERY ONE of God's promises all the time!

PRAISE God no matter what my circumstances are and OBEY his words no matter how hard they are to obey.

I think today I need to reflect on Jesus, my need for him, his salvation despite my failures and his amazing love for me. I need to "fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:2-3)

As I look at my future, it's only through living right with God and following his path for me that I will find joy and peace. When I step outside of his boundaries and neglect my relationship with him, I suffer.

SOOOO on into a long week-end with the Lord guiding me each step of the way. I'm sure the opposition I'll get this week-end will not even come close to touching what Jesus went through on earth here! Week-ends like this give God a chance to work and show himself faithful as he gives me joy and peace even when I'm tired and missing Leland!

Melanie

p.s. I added a few of you to my e-mail list to get e-mails when I post a new entry. If you don't want to be on this list, e-mail me at lmchristenson@usfamily.net . (if you're one who got an e-mail about this entry) Thanks!