Be Still...

The Sustaining Power of God

The Lord is really speaking to me lately through this Bible study about confronting our modern-day idols. Last night as I was working on it, He ministered to me in such a sweet and precious way that I just wanted to share it with all of you, in hopes that He will also minister to you!

We were asked to read Isaiah 46:3-5:

Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. To whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken Me that we may be compared?

We were then asked to look back over our lives since we came to know Christ and list ways that He has sustained us. I just wanted to share my list, and encourage you to come up with your own list of how our Lord and Savior has sustained and carried you. Here is mine...

My God has sustained me through:

• heartache and broken relationships
• wounds from friends, intentional wounds and unintentional wounds
• seasons of loneliness
• times of extreme stress
• frazzled moments of motherhood
• tough times financially
• sheer exhaustion
• 2 1/2 weeks of hospitalization due to pre-term labor
• disappointments and let-downs by family and friends
• sickness, my own and that of family members

My list really could go on quite a bit longer, but you get the point. Now it is your turn, how has God sustained you in your walk with Him?

Quarrels...

What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. James 4:1-3

I am working my way through a Bible study focusing on confronting and doing away with our modern-day idols. This week we had to read the above passage from James, and boy did the Lord speak to me and convict my heart of some things...

I have been very frustrated lately with our boys. It seems they fight all the time, sometimes over big things and other times over small, insignificant things. This constant fighting and bickering has just gotten to me, and I am sad to say that I have joined in the quarreling.

Well, when reading and pondering the passage above, the Lord spoke loudly and clearly to me from His Word. It is living and active you know! The source of my children's quarrels and my own quarrels are our pleasures - we want what we want, we want our pleasures. They want the toys the other has, they each want to pick out the video to watch, they each want to go first, and on and on I could go. I want obedient and respectful children. Now that is not a bad thing, to want obedient and respectful children, but the Lord showed me that I am wanting that for all the wrong reasons. I want it for my own peace of mind, I want it so I do not have to deal with their fighting and can do my "to do" list for the day, I want it so I can have some "Me" time, I want it so others will think I have nice and respectful children. I want it out of my own selfish motives, just like they want what they want from their own selfish motives, but I should know better!

The Lord convicted me that my prayers have not been answered regarding their fighting and disrespectful behavior because I have been asking out of selfish motives, ouch! That stings a whole lot! He revealed to me that I need to ask out of my concern and desire for them to grow in holiness and to grow in Christ-likeness, not so that I can "spend it on my pleasures."

So I have asked for forgiveness from my Heavenly Father, for wasting His time with my selfish prayers, and for placing my own desires and pleasures above teaching and training my children in the way of holiness. I received His forgiveness, and that very same day he blessed me with the opportunity to hear a radio program on this very problem I am dealing with with my children. Isn't that just precious of Him! I have implemented some of the suggestions they gave, mainly addressing the heart of the issue and not just the behavior, (which I knew to do but was not doing), and I am already seeing a few baby steps of improvement in the right direction; AND my attitude is much better now!

So what about you? Are there any quarrels in your life? If so, what is the source of those quarrels? Could it be that they are the result of some selfish pleasures you may be desiring? Allow God to reveal what is in your heart to you, and then allow Him to work on it. I promise you the result will be peace and not quarreling!

Thankful Thursdays

"Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits;
Who pardons all your iniquities;
Who heals all your diseases;
Who redeems your life from the pit;
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
Who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle." Psalm 103:1-5


Today I am thankful for:

• The LORD and all of His benefits! His forgiveness, His healing, His redemption, His lovingkindness and compassion, and for the contentment and satisfaction I find in Him.
• The fact that God's Word is living and active... His Word really pierced my heart yesterday afternoon as I was doing some reading and showed me some things I need to work on in my heart... hopefully I can share that soon.
• A much slower week this week! It has been absolutely wonderful, and I feel as if I have been able to focus on my family this week like I should.
• Much needed rain!
• A successful consignment sale this past weekend.
• For a friend who surprised me with a nice new blouse this week for no reason what so ever! How nice is that! And it fits perfectly!
• The time, energy, and motivation to clean my house this week!
• Cold glasses of water with fresh lemon squeezed in them, so refreshing!
• The fact that we have no plans for this upcoming holiday weekend and we can just relax and enjoy being together as a family!
• For the friends God has placed in my life!

So what are you thankful for today? I encourage you to take the time to stop and be thankful, make your own list, and thank God for each thing on your list. For more TT posts visit Iris over at Sting My Heart.

Little Boy Drama...

We had a little drama here in our household last night. I was in the kitchen getting some things on my "to do" list done, James was upstairs doing a little work on the computer, and I had just thought to myself... "The boys are playing so nicely together, this is just wonderful..."

When David starts crying pretty loudly. Well, that is not really anything new, they are always making each other cry over something pretty silly. James says he will take care of it, so I stay in the kitchen, until... that cry becomes one of sheer pain and hurt, so I take off upstairs. As I enter the room I hear James saying, "What is in your ear?"

It turns out that David had a lego tool stuck in his ear! Paul had put one in his ear and taken it out, then he told David to put one in his ear so he did!! David couldn't get it out so Paul tried to help him get it out and just pushed in in further, we could barely see it.

James goes to get his needlenose pliers while I take David to the bathroom. All this time David is screaming hysterically like he is in terrible pain. I hold David tightly and James is able to pull the lego out quickly. We were both shocked when we saw it... we had both thought that it was one of the smaller round ones, but it was a mini screwdriver that was approximately 1 inch long! We immediately became very concerned about damage to his ear drum and quickly got everyone in the van to head to the doctor.

We ended up at Children's Hospital ER downtown. By then the crying had stopped but he was still complaining of his ear hurting. Ends up there was just a little bit of blood on his ear drum, but it was not ruptured or torn, so we are all good with no major injuries.

Word-Filled Wednesday

These are pictures of an awesome sunrise that the Lord so blessed me with one morning last week during my morning time with Him on our back porch. It was such an awesome show that I just had to grab my camera and take some pictures. I was so in awe of His sunrise that I really had a hard time focusing on reading His Word that morning, I just sat and worshipped!

"Nevertheless I am continually with You, You do hold my right hand.
You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to honor and glory.
Whom have I in Heaven but You? And I have no delight or desire on earth besides You.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the Rock and the Strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For behold, those who are far from You shall perish; You will destroy all who are false to You and like [spiritual] harlots depart from You.
But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God and made Him my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works."
Psalm 73:23-28

Have you spent time in God's Word today? If not, find time in your day to sit down, be still, and read His Word, allowing Him to speak to you through it. His Word is powerful and living! For more WFW posts visit 160acrewoods.

Wordless Wednesday #27

This and that...

I am back... the past month has been crazy busy and I am really enjoying my slower rainy days this week. Here are just a few of the events of the past few weeks that I haven't had time to share lately...

As a surprise for my sweet husband, in honor of his birthday, a wonderful friend kept the boys from Friday afternoon until bedtime Saturday night! It was absolutely wonderful and he was truly surprised! I dropped the boys off around 5, and James was not due home until 6:30, so I treated myself to a relaxing bubble bath without interruptions! Then I prepared a candlelight dinner served at our new dining room table :) We had yummy steaks, sweet potatoes, salad, rolls, and white chocolate bread pudding. When James arrived home, there was a note on the door that said, "The birthday celebration continues.... just you and me.... come on in!"

The next morning we were able to sleep in! What a luxury that was, I don't think we ate breakfast until 10 o'clock. We then decided to travel just a little way to Rickwood Caverns, where we had a nice picnic lunch, toured the cave there, and went for a hike on one of the hiking trails. We then headed back to town and ate dinner at one of our favorite restaurants we had not eaten at in a while, La Paz.

Our whole getaway was wonderful and much needed. We felt like we were teenagers dating again, it was a great time of renewal for our marriage and just some good, fun fellowship with each other. Thank you so much Sandra and Joe, you will never know what a blessing it was to us, and the boys had loads of fun with the two of you!

Then this past weekend I worked the local Mother of Multiples consignment sale. It was a successful sale, for buyers and sellers alike :) I was able to find most of the boys clothes for the fall and winter, as well as an organizer for their toys in their playroom, and a few toys. I took a van load of items to sale, and only came home with a storage tote of stuff. I sold 2 baby beds, 2 pack-n-plays, a double stroller, a telescope, and lots of clothes, toys, and puzzles. It feels so good to have that extra stuff out of the house! The boys have officially moved upstairs and I will be moving our bookcases downstairs into their old room and making the room like a study or library, I can't wait! Anyone want to come help move some bookcases?

So this week is so much slower and I am definitely enjoying it. I cleaned my whole house yesterday, and washed lots of clothes. Today we went to vote and are now back at home just enjoying being here. Slow rainy days are really nice sometimes aren't they?

Taking a short break...

I am taking a short break from blogging this week, but I will be back next week...

I am preparing for a huge consignment sale that I will participate in this weekend, which I usually spend weeks preparing my items for, but I just started last night!! This month has been extremely busy, we have had overnight company 2 weekends, this past weekend we were blessed to have 28 hours without our kids, so of course I didn't want to do "work"! And we had a very successful ladies banquet at church last week that I was helping with, so I just have not had the time to be working on my items for the sale.

And, this afternoon we are having pictures made!! I am so excited and can't wait to see how they turn out, if you want to check out our wonderful photographer, go to Reflections Photography.

So that is what I am doing this week... I may try to do my "normal" Wednesday posts since they take so little time, but hopefully next week I will be back with more of what my Lord is teaching and showing me.

Keep seeking Him and living for Him!

Thankful Thursdays

"Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High, and call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall honor and glorify Me. ... He who brings an offering of praise and thanksgiving honors and glorifies Me; and he who orders his way aright [who prepares the way that I may show him], to him I will demonstrate the salvation of God." Psalm 50:14-15, 23 (Amplified Bible)



Today I am thankful for:

• My husband, he is just so sweet! We normally pray every morning, but today our routine was a little different and he had to leave earlier than normal and we did not pray before he left. Well, I did not really even think about it, but he called later and said he wanted to pray with me since we didn't get to before he left... that just blessed my heart so!
• Our ladies banquet at church tonight! It is going to be very nice, with good food, good music, a human video, door prizes, and an anointed, Holy Spirit filled message by our very own DeeDee. We have 82 women coming! The theme is "What Happens When Calera Baptist Women say "Yes" to God!"
• God's provisions in my life, both physically and spiritually... He so graciously provides for each and every need we have!
• A great start last night to the youth Bible study I am teaching, "Lies Young Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free."
• God's Holy Spirit, and the fact that when I get depleted all I have to do is ask to be filled again, seeking Him, and He fills me up again!
• God's Word and the power it has to transform our lives!
• Fellowship with friends! We had friends over for dinner Monday night and had a wonderful time! It was so great to have some adult conversation!
• Chocolate Birthday cake!
• The ability, motivation, and time to exercise in the mornings.
• The much needed rain we received this week!

So what are you thankful for today? Take time to stop and thank our Lord for the many things, big and little, that you have to be thankful for. For more TT posts visit Iris over at Sting My Heart.

Word-Filled Wednesday

God is so good! Have you tasted of His goodness, His grace, His mercy, His peace, and His forgiveness... Spend time in His Word today, and taste of His awesome presence in your life!

For more WFW posts visit 160acrewoods.

Wordless Wednesday #26

Happy Birthday to my Sweetheart!

Today is my husband's birthday! He is now 40! I am so blessed to have him in my life! He is a wonderful husband, friend, and daddy; I am blessed daily by his love, his affection, his companionship, his protection, and the wonderful way he provides for our family, and not just materially, but spiritually as well.

To start off his birthday today I baked his favorite breakfast dish, apple cinnamon french toast, and presented him with 40 cards; on each card I wrote a favorite memory from our life together or a reason why I love him. I thought I would share some with all of you in blog land, although I can't share all that I shared with him, some are private just between the 2 of us!!

40 Memories and reasons I love my husband so....
1. He is a Godly man who spends time in the Word and in prayer.
2. He loves me and asked me to marry him at DeSoto Falls, the location of our second date!
3. He has a caring and sensitive heart and is always quick to help others in need.
4. When we found out we were having twins all he said was "ok". I think he was in as much shock as I was, I couldn't even find my car in the parking deck!
5. He taught me to ride a bike using clipless pedals!
6. He is very handy and I am so thankful for all the extra hard work he put into making our home so nice! He screened in our back porch, built a brick pad off of the porch, built me a wonderful pantry with pull-out shelves, and built pull-out shelves in my lower cabinets in the kitchen.
7. He built a wheelchair ramp for one of my favorite home-health patients!
8. He helped me find the hubcap that fell off of my car when I was traveling crazy miles doing home health care and early intervention. He traveled with me on his day off, and when he found it he says I did the Toyota jump!
9. He loves my cooking!
10. He loves my cat and has spoiled her way too much. At our previous home he installed a pet door for her in a window with a little ledge, the ledge had a walkway to our deck because she didn't like to get her paws wet in the morning, and he installed steps on our fence so she could climb to the top and sit on her perch he also installed!
11. I love watching him and the boys sitting in his chair and watching guy stuff on TV.
12. I love the way my boys want to be just like daddy, they always want to help him work on stuff and work on their dumptrucks and tractors like he works on our cars.
13. I love how we take nite-nite walks as a family when the weather permits.
14. I love to hear him sing in church.
15. He always has a tissue for me when I get emotional, which is quite often!
16. Fun family vacations before kids and after!
17. I love hearing the laughter from our boys when they play "Big Ant" with daddy!
18. I love seeing all of them have fun driving the remote control monster truck.
19. I love the way he decked out our double job stroller with reflective tape, headlights, and tail-lights so we are easily visible when we walk after dark.
20. I love how his family is a priority to him.
21. I love that he takes me out to eat for Sunday lunch so I can rest from cooking and cleaning the kitchen, and then willingly eats leftovers for dinner that night!
22. I love that he is a man of honesty.
23. I love that he is loyal and faithful.
24. I am thankful for how he takes care of me when I am sick.
25. The sweet prayer he prayed for our marriage and our life together on our wedding night.
26. Our honeymoon "fiasco" at the cabin that grandma had never moved out off! Thankfully he had a backup plan and we only had to stay there 1 night!
27. Hiking to waterfalls in North Carolina!
28. The "swing" at Botanical Gardens where we sat and talked for hours on our 1st date!
29. Moving into our new home we built together, and a week later bringing our boys home from the hospital.
30. When we both had food poisoning (not from my cooking!) and had to go to the ER, where we shared a stretcher together!
31. Sharing scriptures and praying with Granny and Grand-daddy in his hospital room just a few days before he died...
32. How he stayed with me in the hospital for 2 1/2 weeks before our boys were born, sleeping on that horrible fold-out bed...
33. How he did his best to make my hospital room more cozy, even setting up speakers with my walkman so I could have praise and worship music playing...
34. When I tried to make him carrot souffle and burned the carrots and blew up the food processor!
35. When while on vacation I floated out way too far in the ocean and had to be rescued by a boat passing by!
36. How he came to the rescue the day I ran over our cat and couldn't find her... she ended up being fine, I had just hit her shoulder a little.
37. While we were dating, I had a flat tire that I noticed before leaving my house for work. I called him and he told me that he had AAA and he would call them to come fix it for me. Well, AAA showed up, James himself! He fixed my flat and made sure I was safe to go to work!
38. The fact that we always buy chocolate milk for a treat on vacations!
39. I love it when he prays at dinner, "Thank you Lord for this meal so lovingly prepared."
40. And I treasure the fact that he loves me and our boys so faithfully and sacrificially!

Happy Birthday Honey!! I pray you have a wonderful and glorious day, and I praise God for the day that He made you!

All my love.... Tricia

Word-Filled Wednesday

I am trusting God today for His joy and peace, so that I may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. I need Him desperately... For more WFW posts visit 160acrewoods.

Wordless Wednesday #25

The Blessing of Friends...

We had a wonderful weekend, all due to the blessing of friends, old and new. One of James' college room-mates came to visit for the weekend, all the way from Texas, and brought his girlfriend! We have been anxiously awaiting the day that Scott would fall in love, and have been eager to meet the lady who would meet his criteria (one who likes cars, shooting guns, and all other kinds of guy stuff)! It has finally happened, and I think he brought her along to get James' approval, as if that really matters, but I guess to friends it does!

The guys wanted to get together to celebrate their birthdays, which are only 2 days apart. They are both turning the big 40 later this month. So what did they want to do to celebrate... they wanted to reenact some excitement of their college days and participated in a local auto cross event. The big event was on Sunday, and you should have seen the grins on their faces! They were priceless, it was such a joy to see them enjoy themselves. And our boys were so proud of their daddy, they were happily and proudly cheering him on, even when he was just working the track and picking up cones other cars had hit! And by the way, my man won 1st place in his division!! I was so proud of him!



But the entire weekend was really a blessing... to have another couple to fellowship with, to go out to dinner with (without the kids), to reminisce with, to laugh with, to watch old "car racing" videos with, to just be together and enjoy one another's fellowship. We enjoyed it and are sad that they are gone, and that they live so far away. But maybe we can go to Texas soon for a wedding... we will see!

Now for a moment of transparency... we long to have fellowship like that with other couples here where we live, but for some reason it has been really hard to develop those kinds of friendships here since we moved. For that reason sometimes we desperately long to move back to Trussville, to get plugged back in to our old Sunday School class, and enjoy fellowship with other believers. Here it seems that everyone is too busy to spend time with others and get to know people they do not know, and fellowship seems to just not be a priority. And that makes me sad... so I am praying for God to send another couple into our lives that we can fellowship with on a regular basis, and I am committing to being more hospitable and inviting others over for dinner and such.

We were made for fellowship, with God and with others, it is part of His design. So what about you, has God blessed you with Godly couples to fellowship with? Any ideas on how to encourage that fellowship with others that blesses all involved? I would love to hear from you!