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Short blog entry: Going through something... My thought last night: What are we doing wrong? God is blessing in all kinds of areas but one. Where are we missing the mark, LORD? The answer came as quickly as the question... Answer: You're not missing the mark or doing something wrong. You've not been found guilty. You've been found worthy.......
Wow! After 10 months of struggle, 10 months of questions, 10 months of learning and searching, an answer finally comes... You've been found worthy! |
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Oh wow! Devon had been praying for tickets to the Chicago Bulls game for a long time. One day, my mom called us down to the doctor's office where she worked. The doctor presented Devon with 5 free tickets to the Bulls game! He wasn't expecting that! He thought he would be leaving with his typical gift, latex gloves! He gave the doctor a big hug. He remembered that he had just prayed and asked God for Bulls tickets the night before. He is fully aware that His Father in Heaven blessed him! Praise the Lord for the faith of a child!
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Wow! What a journey! We are on our 3rd Daniel Fast since last summer. Obedience and fasting gets God's attention. Fasting produces blessing: Duet 9:11 "It came about at the end of forty days and nights that the LORD game me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. Click here for info on the Daniel Fast How wonderful it is to be fasting and seeing God so clearly working in the middle of it. I have grown so much (spiritually) during these 3 fasts. I am learning about the Biblical Feasts and how Jesus is the focus of all of them. Jesus is all over the Old Testament! I find that very exciting! Click here for lessons on the Biblical Feasts Since we started this fast, more than $1300 extra has come in for the church and special needs. Someone handed me a $100 bill the day after I prayed for it. The sugar addiction that I didn't know I had was broken in the first fast. That has been a huge blessing. Now those yummy looking deserts just taste gross to me! There have been so many blessings. Most of all, God uses our (Brian & I) times of fasting to show God to others. People watch us. They know that we are fasting and they see how God is blessing in the midst of it.
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Since it is December we have been celebrating Advent. I didn't grow up doing this and only just found out about Advent a couple of years ago. Since our kids are older, we wanted to incorporate great traditions into our holiday that are really meaningful. A friend of mine suggested that I read a book to them that is part of a 3 book series. I did this reluctantly but we ended up LOVING it. We read Bartholomew's Passage last year and Jotham's Journey this year. The book is so very exciting and full of Scripture. Since the stories take place in Bible times, we get to learn a little about how they lived back then. We read the story every night (and morning since we started late) and light the Advent wreath. I really wanted a Star of David candle holder and had my FIL make one for me. We love it! |
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Is There A Moose In Your Marriage?That is the name of the book that I just finished reading. An aquaintance had an extra one and gave it to me. And the answer to that question is yes, there is a moose in our marriage. We have a boxer and his name is Moose! I wasn't really interested in reading a book on marriage. I've been married for 13 years and things are going just fine, thank you! Well, since I wasn't in a book at the time, I went ahead and read it and I am so glad that I did! "God's plan is far different from the world's. It's harder. It's higher. It's holier." "His plan for marriage isn't hard. It is impossible! You can never be successful on your own. But the impossible becomes possible because of Jesus. He alone gives us the power to be who He designed us to be--godly women and wives. Even though our marriages may not look as ugly as the ones on TV (or so we think) there is always room for improvement. In the book, they tell a story about a woman who's husband went on a trip and when he got home he left his suitcase at the top of the stairs. Well, that irritated her (as it would me!). She had to step over that thing every time she went downstairs. Soon, how she treated her husband depended on how many times she had to step over his suitcase!
"She stood in the kitchen and thought about the suitcase. Had it belonged to guests, she would have happily taken it from their hands and insisted on putting it away herself. So why, she wondered, was she unwilling to help her husband in the same way? Why was it so much easier to serve others than it was to serve her husband?"
Wow, that was thought provoking! I thought about all of the times that I stepped over my husband's socks or overlooked his snacks that he left out on the counter. Another thought popped into my head! "Well, he's not a child! He aught to pick up after himself!" Boy, now I was in a full fledged argument with myself! (FYI- I have a wonderful husband who helps with the housework and the cooking!) You know, sometimes we expect perfection from everyone but ourselves. Maybe instead of griping that his stuff was out or stepping over it, I could put it away and be the helper that God made me to be. Maybe if he was making a bad habit of being sloppy, I could at a later time tell him gently of my concern. Sounds good to me!!
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I really get discouraged when I see how marriage is shown on TV. It is so self centered and ugly! Women wearing the pants in the family (submission-another subject for another time!), men laying down and letting their wives and children walk all over them, husbands and fathers portraid as complete idiots, etc. etc...
Question of the day: Why do we treat others better than the people that we live with?|
I am so excited! First of all, I decided to go get some new clothes (which I never do). On our way to "The Mall" we stopped by Good Will to get our youngest son some "new" shoes. I can't see spending $50 on shoes for him to go outside to play in the dirt! As I was scanning the used shoes (ewww) I found a pair of Lugz sneakers. Wow, they were his size! God is so good! So, we went around to the other side of the rack and found a pair of Nike basketball shoes, too! So these shoes were supposed to be $3 a pair. "Great deal!" I thought. Well, I got to the register and wouldn't you know, they were on sale! I paid a total of $3.21. God is sooooo good! The shoes we bought looked brand new and would have cost over $100. |
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I am so glad that God speaks through His Word! I just finished reading Joshua and LOVED it! Over and over I saw a repeated theme. Obedience, leadership and it's already done. In the Jerrico event (Josh 6:16) it says, "At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, "Shout! For the LORD has given you the city." Has given are the words that stood out to me. God had already given the city to them even though it hadn't been concoured yet. That thrills my soul! Over and over before Joshua or the people had obeyed God's directions. He had already given them the city or land or whatever! My husband is looking for a job. He is a pastor and we just started a church from ground zero. (That's another story for another time.) Since we are at a brand new church, he has to find a secular job. During this job search I have felt like God had already given him a job. He just had to obey the steps God laid out in order to actually aquire that job. This is such an exciting adventure. I love it when God gives me Rhema moments in Scripture! |
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Well, I just started my blog a few minutes ago! I am so excited! I hope to figure all of this stuff out. I can't wait to put pics on here! Today we went to the county library. I like that one best because it has 3 floors. We came home with 22 books and 5 videos! Oh my! |
We got books on dogs, presidents, polar bears, penguines, micro-organisms, etc, etc... I can't wait to dig in. Even though we have always been hsers, we are just now falling in love with the library. Isn't that the craziest thing? 
Well, the local libraries aren't that great and now we have discovered the BIG library! It has 3 floors and goodles of books and movies. I personally like renting movies, for myself, that teach things. So far I have explored bellydancing and playing the piano. These are two things that I would like to learn to do well! I'll let you know how that goes...