God Honoured

"O God, praise waiteth for thee, and to render it is my noblest exercise; this is thy due from all thy creatures, for all thy works display thy attributes and fulfill thy designs; the sea, dry land, winter cold, summer heat, morning light, evening shade are full of thee, and thou givest me them richly to enjoy. Thou art king of kings and lord of lords; at thy pleasure empires rise and fall; all thy works praise thee and thy saints bless thee; let me be numbered with thy holy ones, resemble them in character and condition, sit with them at Jesus' feet. May my religion be always firmly rooted in thy Word, my understanding divinely informed, my affections holy and heavenly, my motives simple and pure, and my heart never wrong with thee. Deliver me from the natural darkness of my own mind, from the corruptions of my heart, from the temptations to which I am exposed, from the daily snares that attend me. I am in constant danger while I am in this life; Let thy watchful eye ever be upon me for my defence, save me from the power of my worldy and spiritual enemies and from all painful evils to which I have exposed myself. Until the day of life dawns above let there be unrestrained fellowship with Jesus; until fruition comes, may I enjoy the earnest of my inheritance, and the firstfruits of the Spirit; until I finish my course with joy may I pursue it with diligence, in every part display the resources of the Christian, and adorn the doctrine of thee my God in all things."

The Valley of Vision, A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions.
© The Banner of Truth Trust 1975. Reprinted in 2007.

Grace To You!

"Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us." (Romans 8:34)

..."and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:6-7)

Heart-Focusing Scripture

I'm reading the book Because He Loves Me by Elyse Fitzpatrick. Wonderful book! She has almost an entire chapter's worth of Scripture. Here's a section that I read yesterday morning. This really encouraged my soul. The Holy Spirit used these passages to draw my gaze back upwards, towards Him. I pray that they do the same for any that read them here! What an awesome Savior I get to serve! How I pray that I would continue to learn to glorify Him better and stop being so consumed and focused on myself. Thank You, Jesus, for dying for these very sins!!!!!!!

"For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." - Colossians 3:3

"And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him." - Mark 16:6

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins... But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved..." - Ephesians 2:1, 4-5 

"Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." 

- Romans 6:8-11

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." - Romans 8:1

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:35, 38-39

"Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe." - John 20:27

Next Promo Video

Check it out: http://www.thisisnext.org/

Saturday, Part 2 & Sunday

Ok. So here's the rest of my Saturday story. Emily, Jess, and I got to Gordon's house (where the dinner was held) at 6:00pm. Barry was a bit confused as to why we were there. "You know it's at 7:00pm, right?" So, we headed over to Starbucks and CrossWay to while away the hour. When we got there later, the boys were ready for us. The tables were set with red table cloths, candles, and utensils. After they got our drink orders, the salads were brought. I had ranch dressing and black olives on my tossed greens. Yum! The steaks, baked potatoes, and warm rolls came next. For desert we had Rice Krispy Treats and Red Velvet Cake. It was all so delicious! We each took home a red rose. The guys did such a good job displaying Christ's love as they served and blessed their sisters. Thank guys! You did an awesome job!

Sunday- I got to spend the afternoon and evening with one of my favorite families- the Naisangs! We went with the Lowrimores to Tony's Pizza. Then we headed back to the Naisang's for an hour or so of snoozing and reading. :) James, Kelli, and Joshua left for CrossCurrent at about 4:20pm. The kids (Boaz, Micah, Abbi, and Esther) and I had a fun evening. While the boys played the Wii, Abbi & Esther made them brownies. Abbi topped them off with a pool of chocolate sauce. :) Needless to say, the boys were pretty excited. Then we had a Treasure Hunt. They had to do silly little things and then follow the clues to there surprise- Fruit Roll-ups. I didn't realize Fruit-Roll-ups could make 4 children so excited. Esther decided she wanted to put the whole 1/2 piece that I'd given her into her tiny mouth all at once. While they ate their snack, including popped corn, we watched 2 episodes of Roy Rogers. Bed time came next. Esther did a wonderful job! She stayed in her new bed in Abbi's room and didn't get up. When I peeked in their room a little later, she was sound asleep. I love those kids!!!

Saturday, Part 1

Ok. So, I really need to go to bed, but I wanted to at least give a glimpse into my fantastically fun evening! The single guys cooked dinner for all of the girls, just simply to bless us and let us know that our church loves us! It was so fun to watch them eagerly serve and be such godly gentlemen. They did a wonderful job! Dinner was amazing and so tasty! I was most blessed by watching God's grace at work in each of our guys. So fun! Alright, nighty night. I'll give more details, including our scrumptious menu, later on. :)

A Lovely Evening

So, Jess and I had a sister date tonight. She surprised me and we went to the Powdersville Sonny's. Yum! Then we went to the Dollar General right next door and finished getting Dad & Jimmy's Valentines Day presents. We spent an hour or so at Kohl's looking for clothes (yeah, it's that time again... I need some new ones... bleh!). Jess picked out lots of different stuff for me to try on. I HATE clothes shopping and much prefer if someone just hands me stuff to try on. I don't really know what I like. Then we went to Starbucks and talked, while I drank my Hot Calm Tea. Yummy! (Thank you Josh R. for introducing me to this particular Tazo Tea.) I'm so grateful for my sister. She's such a joy and delight to be around and look up to and learn from. Thanks for the delightful evening my dear friend! I love you!!!

I'm a Nexter

Yes, I'm a Nexter. I can't wait for May to come! My favorite conference, Next (used to be New Attitude), is scheduled for May 23-26. This year we'll be in Baltimore, MD. I've never been to Baltimore, so that will be exciting! I'm super excited about the topics for the '09 conference. What are they? Check out the Next website: www.thisisnext.org. 

Welcome!

So here we go! I'm starting a blog. We'll see what happens. I'm not a blogging fanatic. I thought it would be fun to mess around with one though. I've had the blog name in my head for a while now. It makes me smile. :) I plan on posting bible verses and quotes from books that God is using in my heart. I'll also post what's going on in my life, what I'm interested in. I'll even slip in some goofy/random stuff. After all... it is me!