Being a Christian...

Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin.

God picks you from the patch, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off of you.

He opens you up, touches you deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff … including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed and selfishness.

Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see. 2 Corinthians 5:17

May your light shine brightly today!

Thankful Thursdays

"Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

Psalm 107:1-2

Today I am thankful for:

• The hope we have in Christ! God has given me some tangible evidences of hope this week that I am so thankful for! He is working behind the scenes even when we can not see the work!
• The Word of God and the fact that it is never boring! God can speak numerous ways through the same passage... how wonderful that His Word is living and active and never returns to Him void.
• For new neighbors across the street trusting us enough to ask us to help meet a need, and us being able to meet it... what a blessing it is!
• For my warm and cozy home! We have had some cold evenings and nights this week and I am so thankful for my home!
• God helping me find other times to exercise! It has been too dark and too cold in the mornings this week to get out and run, but I have been able to go to the park and run while the boys play and go run while they have been at 4k.
• For all my blogging friends who helped me find new music to put on my ipod to run with! I have some new playlists for my runs and am really enjoying them!
• For a nice talk with my mom on the phone yesterday...
• For God's provisions! God has meet some very specific needs for us lately and it has just blessed me so that He cares about the little things as well as the big!
• For my health...
• For my wonderful family and another day of life to enjoy and love them!

Have you stopped to give thanks today? Have you even taken the time to notice the many things you have to be thankful for? I encourage you to take time to give thanks to Lord for all He has done for you and all He has blessed you with. It will put a smile on your face and joy in your heart!

For more TT posts visit Grace Alone.

Word-Filled Wednesday

I took this picture of "father and son" at the pumpkin patch last week. I thought it was just precious and was so glad that I had my camera ready to capture it! Our prayer for our boys is that they would grow up to be Godly men who are passionate about Jesus and who desire to serve Him with all that they are and all that they have. We pray that they would be filled with the wisdom of God rather than the wisdom of this world, and that they would seek Him earnestly rather than seeking after the things of this world. What joy and rejoicing we will have in our hearts when they are old enough to make and live that choice for themselves... until them we are praying and doing all we can do to point them to Him!

For encouraging and uplifting WFW posts visit 160acrewoods.

Wordless Wednesday #34

"No Higher Calling"

On Wednesday nights I am going through the book, "Lies Young Women Believe, and the Truth that Sets Them Free" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, with a group of young ladies in our youth. This past week was our last chapter covering specific lies that she has been targeting, and it focused on lies about the future. I left church Wednesday night with a grieved heart, as it seems that all the girls in my class (at least the ones that were present Wednesday night) have fallen for one of the lies of the enemy; one that I was very much surprised and shocked that they had fallen for...

The Lie - A career outside the home is more valuable and fulfilling than being a wife and mother.

I started off the class asking the girls if they had dreams for their future, and where they saw themselves in 5 and ten years. Some girls stated that they wanted to go to college, and many named specific jobs or careers they would like to have. I had to ask if they saw themselves married and being a mom... not one single girl stated that she desired to be a wife and mother until I asked about it! This just floored me! I asked if any of them thought they would like to be a stay at home mom. Here are a few responses I received...

• No, stay at home moms are lazy...
• I would be bored if I stayed at home all day...
• I don't like being home all day, what would I do...

The wind was knocked out of me... I am a stay at home mom. I am not lazy, I definitely am not bored, and there is plenty to do, and often I do not feel I have the time to do all I desire to do. But I absolutely love being a stay at home mommy!

So I shared some of my story with them... I shared that I am a SAHM, and that it is the hardest and most difficult job I have ever had, but it is also the most rewarding. I shared that prior to having children I worked as a speech-language pathologist and how that was and is a very rewarding career, as you actually get to see how your interventions help people. I shared how I do not miss my "work" at all, and am more fulfilled now than I was when I had a career. I shared that it is ALL about priorities, that they will never be completely fulfilled in their "work" unless they are doing what God called and created them to do.

We dug into the scriptures and looked at verses from Genesis, 1 Corinthians, Titus, and Proverbs, regarding why women were created and what our God-ordained purpose is. Satan's lie was exposed for what is it, a lie and deception! The Truth from God's Word was revealed...

The Truth - In the will of God, there is no higher calling for a woman than being a wife and mother, serving her family, and devoting her attention and efforts to ministering to the needs of her husband and children.


I do not think any "light bulbs" went off in these young ladies heads. I do not think they had an instant change of heart about their desires for their futures, but I do know that the lie was exposed and the Truth was presented with clarity.


This has really burdened my heart... for you see, I have 2 boys, and am already praying for their future wives. But this has opened my eyes to how much more I need to be praying for their future wives, that they would grow up with a desire to be a Godly wife and mother, that they would have a heart to serve their husband out of their love for the Lord, and that they would know God's Word for themselves and know and embrace the calling of being a wife and a mother.
And I need to raise my boys to embrace their calling, to be the spiritual leaders of their homes, to be providers for their families, to love their wives as Christ loves the church, and to seek and desire a Godly young lady for their wife who has and will continue to embrace the "higher calling" of being a wife and mother. What a hard job we have before us...

Thankful Thursdays

"Those who trust in the LORD are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people from this time forth and forever."
Psalm 125:1-2

Today I am giving thanks for:

• The faithfulness of God! How thankful I am that His faithfulness never fails, even when we are unfaithful He remains faithful!
• A lazy day! We have no plans today, it is much cooler and windy outside, and we are still in pjs and just hanging out and being lazy... wonderful!
• An upcoming break from my normal routine. Tomorrow I will spend all day at a continuing education conference (I am keeping up my license in speech-language pathology even though I am not using it right now, I worked to hard to get that license to not keep it :) and then Friday night and Saturday I will be scrapbooking! I can't wait, I hope to get up to date in my scrapbooks!!
• My husband and his prayers for me...
• God showing us ways to cut and save money...
• God's provisions... earlier in the week we unintentionally "lost" $30.00 and I asked God to give it back to us somehow... He did 3 days later in the form of some dear friends offering to take us out to lunch after church on Sunday!! Wasn't that just sweet of Him!!
• Hugs, kisses, and butterfly kisses from my boys! They have this silly bedtime routine where they have to give me so many of each, and whenever I leave them somewhere (Sunday School, 4K) they have to give me hugs and butterfly kisses! I hope they always want to give me hugs and kisses!
• Haircuts! We all got very much needed haircuts this week! Our favorite "hair cutter" had been out of town and we had to wait until she got back.
• Yummy smelling candles!
• Our home and the shelter and warmth it provides and the memories we have made here...

What are you thankful for today? I encourage you to take time to stop and consider what wonderful things our Lord has done for you and offer Him thanks! To see what many others are thankful for this day visit Grace Alone.

Word-Filled Wednesday

My heart is heavy and burdened for our dear friends whom I mentioned in my previous post. As I have been praying for them this chapter from the Psalms keeps coming to my mind. My prayer is that they would keep their eyes lifted up to the Lord, for He is their help. I praise my Lord that He is their keeper, and the shade at their right hands; that He will keep them from all evil, that He will keep their life, and that He will keep their going out and coming forth from this time forth and forevermore.

Psalm 121

I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from whence shall my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip or to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil. He will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

For more WFW posts to encourage your spirit and point you to our Lord and Savior please visit 160acrewoods.

Wordless Wednesday #33

Prayer needed for dear friends...

Update: Richard is now with His Lord and Savior, please pray for his family...

RICHARD R. GUTIERREZ, a calm leader and teacher of God's hope went peacefully to heaven while surrounded by his family in his Cypress home, November 10, 2008. A man of integrity, Richard was known for his love of God, compassion, intelligent humor, and management skills. Richard led with quiet strength; he was a constant source of wisdom for his family and friends. Born October 23, 1942 in Venezuela he was the youngest of three children. An honored US Army veteran, retired ExxonMobil executive, adoring husband of 39 years, dedicated father, loving grandpa, church leader and fervent prayer minister, Richard left nothing unfinished. Pursuing his passion to bring God's healing and restoration to people, Richard and his wife jointly founded the Healing Rooms of West Houston in 2004. He completed his life's checklist with a Master's touch. Richard was preceded in death by his parents, grandchild Jordan and is survived by his wife, Gloria, son David and wife Nichole and son John Paul and wife Sylvina, and 3 grandchildren. He is further survived by his sisters Sylvia Levy and Elvira Pifko, their husbands, and nieces, nephews, other relatives and many friends. Richard will be dearly missed. His life verse was Psalm 27:1, The Lord is my light and my salvation; we thank God for his salvation through Christ Jesus. An Evening of Remembrance will be held Thursday, November 13 at 7 PM at Encourager Church, 10950 Katy Freeway. Funeral services will be held Friday at 1:30 PM at Encourager church followed by internment at Memorial Oaks Funeral Home. Donations may be sent to Encourager Church or Healing Rooms of West Houston, 10950 Katy Freeway. Houston, Texas 77043.

We have some very dear friends who are in much need of prayer right now, Richard and Gloria. Richard is battling cancer and we have just found out that he has come home from the hospital with Hospice care. His sweet and precious wife requested that I add him to my sidebar under "People who need prayer." So I am doing that and asking that all of you would lift Richard and his family up to the throne of God. They are a very Godly family and they desperately love God and serve Him faithfully.

Please pray for a miracle for Richard and for extra years like Hezekiah of old.

I will have a link to this post on my sidebar and I will update as I receive updates and any specific prayer requests. Thank you so much to all of you who will take time to pray for this precious family.

Gloria, I tried to send you an email but it came back to me saying that your server refused my address. I will try again later, you may have to go in under settings or something and set it so that it will accept our email address. Please know that we are praying with and for you. I have had the both of you on my heart heavy the past couple of weeks and have already been praying for you, but now I know why... I mentioned it to James and he said we needed to call you but we just have not, I am sorry that we have not. If you have any specific prayer requests you would like me to get out please send them to me and I will add them. We love all of you dearly and our hearts and prayers are with you!

Insights from a Refrigerator

In preparing for the Bible study I am leading on Wednesday nights I came across these "Insights from a Refrigerator" and was so touched by them that I wanted to share them with all of you, especially you moms out there! So grab a tissue and enjoy!

Insights From A Refrigerator

My refrigerator serves as a backdrop for photographs of my friends and their families. Mounted in acrylic frames with magnets on the back, the pictures cover almost every square inch of available space. The nearly ninety families represented have a total of some three hundred children (not to mention scores of grandchildren).

Recently I spent a couple of hours in an annual ritual of replacing old photos with new ones that had been sent to me during the Christmas season.

When all the photos were in place, I sat back to survey the "big picture." I reviewed some of the highlights these families have experienced over the past year. Eight had been blessed with the birth of a new baby. At least seven had a grandchild born. Seven had a son or daughter get married. Fifteen had moved. Six had made or were in the process of making a vocational change.

Nearly all the faces in these photos are smiling. But behind some of the near-perfect poses, I know there is more. Several individuals have confided a burden in relation to the physical or spiritual condition of specific family members. Three have recently buried a member of their immediate family. One couple is in the midst of an ugly divorce.

As I pondered the scene before me, I was struck with the wonder and significance of the family - for better or worse. The family is at the heart of what really matters to all of us. If things aren't well at home, every other area of life is affected. I looked to those scores of women sitting like mother hens surrounded by their brood of young ones, and I felt an enormous sense of gratitude for the willingness of those women to be givers and nurturers of life.

In the middle of all the photos, I have placed a bumper sticker you may recall seeing several years ago; "Life: What A Beautiful Choice." These women have chosen life by bearing children (something only a woman can do, I might add); and they are choosing life every day....

• with every meal they prepare;
• with every load of dirty clothes they wash;
• with every trip to the grocery store, to school, to the dentist, to piano lessons, to soccer practice, or to the shoe store;
• with every scraped knee they bandage;
• with every encouraging word they speak;
• with every night hour they spend rocking a sick or scared child;
• with every dispute they arbitrate;
• with every moment they spend building Legos, coloring, helping with math problems, reading a Bible story, or listening to a husband or child describe his day;
• with every moment they spend interceding for the spiritual growth and protection of their family.

Day in and day out, they are building a home; they are being life-givers; they are laying a foundation and building a memorial that will outlive them for generations to come; they are honoring their Creator in the greatest possible way.

(The above was taken from "Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, pages 129-131).


I pray that the Lord would use this to speak encouragement to your heart today, and to inspire you to be the life-giver that He created you to be!

Praise Report!!

As many of you know I had requested prayer earlier in the week for a precious young lady in our church who was very sick... our pastor called a special prayer time just for her after our Wednesday night classes, you can read about that wonderful time of prayer here.

Well, since our time of interceding for her before the throne of God... her family has been told that they had the wrong diagnosis!! She does have a form of vasculitis but not the extremely serious one they thought... and she came home from the hospital last night!!

Praise God for His answer to our prayers! He is an Awesome, Mighty, and Powerful God, and absolutely nothing is impossible with Him!!

Thanks so much for all of you who have prayed for K!

Pumpkin Patch, Here we come!!

We are off to the Grand Ole Pumpkin Patch today with the boys 4K class... they are so excited!! I will try to share some pictures later today!

Thankful Thursdays

“The works of the Lord are great, sought out by all those who have delight in them. His work is honorable and glorious, and His righteousness endures forever. He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious, merciful, and full of loving compassion.” Psalm 111:2-4

Today I am thankful:

• For the way the body of Christ rallies around those in need…
• That our God is the great physician and nothing is impossible with Him…
• That God calls us to be thankful! Can you imagine how terrible our world would be if we did not have thankful attitudes? We would all be grouchy and complaining all the time! Being thankful helps us focus on our blessings and not so much on our problems, and it ultimately points us to God.
• That for today my family and I are healthy…
• That God can replace our worry with His peace!
• For lower gas prices! I actually saw it today for $2.99 a gallon!!
• For my children and the precious things they do and say, and for all that God has taught that I never would have learned if I weren’t a mommy…
• For how helpful my husband has been this week in the little things…
• For brownies, hot, right out of the oven!!

I encourage you to stop today and take time to be thankful. Take notice of the blessings, big and small, that God has graced your life with and give Him thanks! For more TT posts visit Grace Alone.

Update on prayer request

Update: Our church is having a special prayer time for K tonight at 7:15, if anyone would like to join us, in spirit or in person, in lifting her and her family up to our Lord please do...

A couple of posts ago I requested prayer for a young lady in our church. Thanks so much for those of you who have been praying for her, we still very much need prayers lifted for her and her family... here is the latest update:


K has been diagnosed with Polyarteritis nodosa. Basically, it is an infection or inflammation of the small or medium arteries in the body that results in weakening and damage to the arteries involved. Often, clotting occurs in addition to the bleeding. We should continue to pray for wisdom for the medical team and give praise to God for revealing the condition so quickly to the physicians.

K's hematicrit was down from 29 to 25 at 12 midnight. Basically the crit as it is usually called is an indicator of anemia or blood loss. It is the percentage of red blood cells in the blood when it is spun down. When the number is dropping you are losing blood somewhere. So normal is in the 40s and we need it to stay in the 20s or they will consider a blood transfusion.

K is a very sick girl. This sickness is rare in someone her age and they are not sure which treatment they should go with because they do not have definitive answers in some areas.

Pray that the Lord will touch her body and heal her. Pray for her parents and her sister, for rest, for peace, for wisdom, guidance, and for comfort.

Thanks so much for everyone's prayers for this young lady and her family...

Word-Filled Wednesday

Oh, how I praise God for His mercies which are new every morning, for His compassions that never fail, for His faithfulness that is great! I do hope in God, for He is my portion, nothing satisfies or fills me like He does! My heart longs for Him, and I look forward to and long for the next time that I get to sit at His feet and bask in His presence! Have you spent time in His Word today... if not make it a priority to do so, you will not regret it!

For more WFW posts visit 160acrewoods.

Wordless Wednesday #32

Possessing Nothing?

The Lord has been speaking to me lately about having "open hands" and not clinging to the blessings He has blessed me with... not clinging to "things" more than I cling to Him. I am to cling to Him while enjoying the blessings He has given me. If I cling to these "things" and not to Him, my heart does not have room for Him to be in total control.



As I sat down to spend some time with Him yesterday afternoon, I really felt impressed to read the chapter on "The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing" from The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. I am approximately halfway through this book, but felt strongly that God wanted me to reread this chapter. I want to share the following from that chapter:

Our woes began when God was forced out of His central shrine and things were allowed to enter. Within the human heart things have taken over. ...

The roots of our hearts have grown deep into things, and we dare not pull up one rootlet lest we die. Things have become necessary to us, a development never originally intended. God's gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by the monstrous substitution.

I have said that Abraham possessed nothing. Yet was not this poor man rich? Everything he had owned before was still his to enjoy: sheep, camels, herds, and goods of every sort. He had also his wife and his friends, and best of all he had his son Issac safe by his side. He had everything, but he possessed nothing. There is the spiritual secret. (emphasis mine)

This really spoke to me yesterday, more so than the first time I read it. Maybe because with the way the economy is right now, our money being extremely tight, and the fact that I am very much aware of the "things" I do not need to spend money on, although I may desire to spend money on them. I am learning that those things that I think I need or want I really do not need or want at all, for if I have Christ and have fellowship with Him, that is all I truly need. That is the only thing that truly satisfies the needs of my heart. God is opening my eyes to how much He has blessed me with, materially and non-materially, and He is telling me to take full advantage of all that He has given me and not to long for things I do not need or that I do not have at this time. He wants me to enjoy the blessings He has given me, but not to cling tightly to them, to use them and enjoy them, but to cling only to Him. To have them but to not possess them...

You see, I really have everything... relationships, a wonderful home with furnishings, food, clothing, a van, a wonderful church family, my family, good health, friends, and on and on... but most of all I have my relationship with my Lord, and maybe one day, to His glory, I will be able to say that I have everything but possess nothing... for Christ will be the only one on the throne of my heart.

Father, I want to know Thee, but my cowardly heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of parting. I come trembling, but I do come. Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very important part of my living self, so that Thou mayest enter and dwell there without a rival. Then shalt Thou make the place of Thy feet glorious. Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it, for Thyself wilt be the light of it, and there shall be no more night there. In Jesus' name. Amen. ( the prayer by Tozer at the end of the chapter.)

I would love to hear your thoughts on this... does this speak to you?

A Glorious Day!

Psalm 118:24 "This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!"

I just have to say this has been a glorious day! It feels great outside, there is a nice breeze, and I have many of our windows open so we can enjoy the refreshing breeze!

The boys have had a wonderful time playing out back together for the majority of the day (after a bit of discipline for continually fighting with each other). Why is it that brothers tend to fight so, even when they love each other and have fun together? They had not been outside long when they started fighting and one hit the other with the shovel... I made them come inside and sit on their beds for a while, in separate rooms. I had started scrubbing our kitchen floor on my hands and knees, and I had a brilliant idea for a different form of discipline today! I called them both in the kitchen and made them clean all the baseboards in the kitchen, in the hallway, and in the laundry room. They did not think it was too bad, I think they enjoyed it a little bit :) After that we had a talk and they went back out to play and have not fought since. After nap David actually said he did not want to go out back without Paul because he did not want to be lonely... that just melts my heart :)

So since they played so well I was able to scrub my kitchen floor, laundry room floor, and the two bathroom floors downstairs!! I was so excited to get that done, I usually mop every week, but sometimes you just need some good "on your hands and knees scrubbing action" to get it good and clean like you like it! We ate lunch on the porch so the floor would stay clean for a few hours! And to make my day even better, when I called the boys in for nap, they looked around the house and said, "You did a great job cleaning Mommy!" What a blessing that they actually notice and are thankful!!

I also washed 5 loads of laundry, and was able to spend some more time with my Lord during their nap time this afternoon... it has been a good day, I feel productive, and I have heard from my Lord today (check in tomorrow for more on that).

I think I will go unload the dishwasher and start dinner... I can't wait for my husband to walk through the front door so I can give him a big hug and kiss!

What has your day been like today? I pray it has been a good one!

On a totally different note, I have some friends who are not having a good day today... they could really use your prayers. Their daughter is in ICU at our local Children's Hospital and they do not know what is really wrong with her yet. She is a precious young lady and is in my class I am leading on Wednesday nights... please lift her and her family up before our Lord.

Thankful Thursdays

"Give us help against the adversary, for vain is the help of man. Through and with God we shall do valiantly, for He it is Who shall tread down our adversaries." Psalm 108:12-13

Today I am thankful...

• That my help comes from the Lord, the maker of Heaven and earth...
• For my many Bibles...
• For memorable moments reading books on the bed with my boys...
• For precious things my kids say, "Mommy, I saw God in the clouds today." I am so glad that they think and talk about God and that he is an everyday part of our lives...
• For my husband and how hard he works to provide for us and take care of us. I am so thankful he is not a lazy man :)
• For a visit from Aunt Susan later today, and that we will get a date night while she is here!
• For the refreshing rain we received this week...
• For our home...
• That all our needs are so graciously met...
• For another day of life to enjoy my family and my Lord!

So what are you thankful for today? Make sure you stop and take time to thank our Lord and Savior for the many things you have to be thankful for, big and small. For more TT posts visit Grace Alone.

Word-Filled Wednesday

"Daniel answered, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever! For wisdom and might are His! He changes the times and the seasons, He removes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding! He reveals the deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him! I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers, Who has given me wisdom and might and has made known to me now what we desired of You, for You have made known to us the solution to the king's problem." Daniel 2:20-23

How wonderful and comforting to know that our God is in control of everything! He controls the time, the seasons, and even who is "the king" of our land! May we all diligently seek God and ask for His wisdom and might, for He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding! Have you spent time in His Word today? If you take the time to spend with Him, He will take the time to speak to you. He longs for us to seek Him....

For more encouraging and uplifting WFW posts visit 160acrewoods.

Wordless Wednesday #31

Music...

Music... I love it, certain kinds that is... mostly praise and worship music, anything that points my heart and mind to Him. And how I wish I could sing beautifully. I look forward to Heaven and the beautiful voice that I will have there to worship my Lord and my King, my Master and my Savior.

My husband has found a great new website (at least new to us) that you can go to to listen to uplifting and inspirational music while on your computer. He has been using it to listen to while he does his computer work at work. I have really been enjoying it and thought I would share it with all of you... It is called Majesty Radio and you can listen to praise and worship, majesty radio, or conference center, your pick. And when you minimize it you get this cool little control bar on your lower task bar (at least on my computer you do!) Check it out and let me know what you think!

Also, I am in need of some new upbeat songs to load onto my ipod for my morning runs. I am getting a little tired of what I currently have. If you have a favorite upbeat song that would be great to exercise to please leave me a comment and let me know what it is... I will check it out online and buy it from itunes if I like it! Thanks and have a glorious day!

Proof...

I have proof that I am not a perfect mom (as if anyone needed proof of that!) This is in regards to the post I posted before this one...

It is now around 5:30 in the afternoon, and I am just now realizing that one of my boys has had his pants on backwards ALL day long! I even took him to 4k with his pants on backwards today! I do lay their clothes out at night and they get dressed themselves every morning, (maybe he thought it was backwards day at school like it was backwards night at AWANAs a few weeks ago) but you would think that a mother would notice if her child's pants are on backwards!

Oh well, as I said, I am not perfect....

Have a wonderful weekend!

A Journal Entry...

I was reading through my journal from this past year earlier in the week and thought I would share the following entry from June of this year...

Thank You Father God that You are a perfect God - and that You do not expect me or need me to be perfect. In fact, You need me to give in to the weakness/or be weak (so to say) so that Your strength can be demonstrated in my weaknesses - and so that You get glorified.

Thank You, that You are continually day by day sanctifying me - to one day make me perfect - when I get to be with You in glory!!

Please deliver me from the mentality that I need to be the perfect wife, perfect mom, perfect housekeeper, perfect cook - and help me to be who You have called me to be, totally dependent on You to make me into someone who brings You glory.

This then followed my journal entry:

God gave me twins:

• To make me and keep me humble
• So that through my weakness He could be strong
• To drive me to Him more
• To bless me
• To help me learn to give thanks in ALL things
• To help me learn to be joyful in the midst of stress
• So that I would never think "I've got it all handled - I am supermom!"

How I praise Him that He has and is delivering me from my thinking that I need to be perfect, for I can do nothing good apart from Him. Anything good I do as a wife, mom, friend, sister, daughter, or any other role I have, is because of Christ working in and through me. He is my all and all, and I desperately need Him daily!

How about you? Do you journal? If so, look back over them from time to time and see what God has done in your life... it will increase your faith

Thankful Thursdays

“Oh, that men would praise [and confess to] the Lord for His goodness and loving-kindness and His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with good.” Psalm 107:8-9

Today I am thankful for:

• The God of all comforts, and the comfort and peace that only He can give!
• The love, support, encouragement, and comfort that my husband so willingly and eagerly gives when I have hard days…
• Ladies Bible studies with a wonderful teacher who passionately loves the Lord and ladies who are seeking Him!
• The precious girls in my class on Wednesday nights… the past couple of weeks we have had really good classes, the girls really seem to be listening and learning, and many have been eager to share what the Lord is showing them and doing in their lives! Praise Him!
• The precious and sweet things my kids say. This week Paul asked when they would be grown up. I told him they would be grown up when they were bigger and could move out of our house and live on their own. Paul quickly and very emphatically responded, “No, Mommy, we love you, and we will never move out and leave you all alone!”
• Answered prayers! I have been praying for God to multiply our gas and improve our gas mileage in our van… well, we have gone from getting around 13 mpg, to 16 mpg, and now we are getting 21.5 mpg!! Praise God! He is our wonderful and amazing provider!
• The cooler weather and that fact I do not have to shave my legs as often since I am wearing pants more!!
• The fact that all our needs are met!
• Being able to get lots of things on my to-do list done this week!
• And last, but definitely not least, another day of life, to live, breathe, and enjoy my family!

Please take time to stop and give thanks to our Lord and Savior today for His goodness, His loving-kindness, and His wonderful works to you. He deserves more praise and thanks than we could ever give! To see what others are giving thanks for today visit Grace Alone.