Thankful Thursday

"Hear O Lord, and be gracious to me;
O Lord, be Thou my helper,
Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing;
Thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness;
That my soul may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to Thee forever."
Psalm 30:10-12

Today I am thankful for:

• My God and His healing touch in my life...
• A husband who prays for me...
• Friends who pray for and with me...
• The love of my children for me, for their daddy, and for each other...
• Slower days... this week has not been near as busy as the previous weeks and it has been wonderful to be "allowed" to slow down a bit...
• Snuggle time with my boys...
• Surprises in the mail! I was blessed with some good mail yesterday... a recipe from a friend I had asked for and another one that she shared that looks delicious!!
• The sunshine and the blue skies!
• Things to look forward to... we are going to pick strawberries tomorrow!!
• The blessing of life... life here now, and life in eternity with my Lord and Savior...

What are you thankful for today? I encourage you to take time to think about the many things you have to be thankful for and give Him the thanks He is so deserving of! For more TT posts visit Laurie.

Word-Filled Wednesday

Have you spent time in His Word today? Have you spent enough time with Jesus so that His fragrance has rubbed off on you and others can tell that you have been in His presence? If not, I encourage you to make some time NOW to spend with your Lord and Savior...

For more WFW posts visit 160acrewoods.

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday's Together in the Word!

Welcome to Tuesday's Together in the Word. We are a group of women reading through the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs using the same reading plan and holding each other accountable. On Tuesdays we share what we have gleaned from our time of study in the Word. To join us and to read what others have to share visit DeeDee, we would love for you to join us! You can find a link to our reading plan on my sidebar.

Today I want to share what the Lord showed me through 2 Peter 1:2-11...

²Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

³seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

⁴For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

⁵Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,

⁶and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,

⁷and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.

⁸For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

¹⁰Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;

¹¹for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

What a great passage this is! It is packed full of great truths! I have studied this passage before, but this time when I read it something I never really noticed before jumped out at me. It is in verse 3, "through the true knowledge of Him"...

It is through the true knowledge of Jesus Christ that we are able to receive from His divine power EVERYTHING pertaining to life and godliness... through the true knowledge of Jesus Christ!

Jesus called us by His own glory and excellence, and by His own glory and excellence He granted us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through the true knowledge of Him we can partake of the divine nature and escape the corruption that is in the world - all through the true knowledge of Him! That is all we need for life and godliness, for becoming partakers of the divine nature, and for escaping the corruption this world caused by lusts. Isn't that good?!

Peter goes on to say, that for this very reason, because through the true knowledge of Him we can partake of the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world by lust, we should be DILIGENT to strive for the following...

• Our faith should lead us to strive for moral excellence
• Moral excellence should lead us to seek for knowledge
• Our knowledge should lead us to have self-control
• Our self-control should lead us to have perseverance
• Our perseverance should lead us to strive for godliness
• Our godliness should cultivate in us brotherly kindness
• And our brotherly kindness should cultivate in us love...

And Peter says, IF these are ours and are increasing in our lives, they will not render us useless or unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus! If these qualities, which are fruits of the Spirit, are found in our lives, we can know that we have true knowledge of Him!


I just love how this passage takes it full circle, we need the true knowledge of Jesus Christ to escape the corruption of this world and to partake of the divine nature, and it is through the true knowledge of Jesus Christ that these qualities are manifested in our lives. All we need is Jesus! We need to seek Him through His Word, where the true knowledge of Him is found... we need to seek Him with all our hearts, and we need to abide in Him, so He can abide in us and cultivate in us all these qualities which will not render us useless or unfruitful in our knowledge of Him!


Father God, Thank You so for the wonders of Your Word! Thank You that no matter how many times we have read a passage You can always pull out something new and teach us new things about You and Your Son! I pray that you would continue to grant us true knowledge of Jesus, so we can partake of the divine nature and escape the corruption in this world, and so we will always be useful and fruitful in our knowledge of Jesus, to Your glory and honor! In Jesus name, Amen.

Catching up...

These past few weeks have been crazy busy... as I knew they would be, however, I can feel things slowing down and it feels great! Hopefully this week I can visit all of my blogging friends that I have missed visiting with the past couple of weeks... I have greatly missed reading your encouraging posts and seeing what is going on in all of your lives.

This weekend was a really fun and good weekend for our family! I ran a 5K on Saturday, and beat my time from the last one I ran by a few seconds (and that even included a quick stop for a potty break! I had to stop or I would have wet my pants... don't drink too much water before running!!) My time was 31:29 and I just checked the results and found out I came in 6th for my age group... I was proud of that!

David also decided that he wanted to run the 1 mile fun run... and he did GREAT! He ran his little heart out for the whole mile and finished in 9:46! He was so very proud to get to cross the finish line. However, he has not been happy with his legs being sore!

Later that day we went to a huge event called Stadium Fest at a local university in town. It was lots of fun but very HOT! The boys enjoyed watching the BMX bike demo and rolling down a huge hill over and over. We all enjoyed the good music (Kevin Derryberry and Chris Tomlin) and the testiomonies of what God had done in people's lives... and as a result hundreds came to know Christ as their Lord and Savior!!!

Last night we finished our ladies Bible study, the Esther study by Beth Moore. This has been such a good study... it has been really great to study about a woman in the scriptures! We ended our study with a feast and great fellowship here at our home, watched the last video, and then those who wanted to share could share how God has reversed their destiny... it was a sweet and precious time! I hope later in the week sometime to share with you some nuggets of what I have learned from this study...

Have a wonderful day and go spend some time with Jesus!

Thankful Thursday

"For God is not a God of confusion but of peace."
1 Corinthians 14:33

Today I am thankful for:

• The fact that my God is a God of peace and not confusion! My day has been so hectic this morning, and I knew that was not of God... we have a day at home with nothing that we absolutely HAVE to do, so I was planning on getting many things done, but the morning started off just crazy! I stopped and prayed and asked God to order my day and bring peace and He has!! Praise Him!
• Thankful teenagers! We had 6 teenage girls stay here this past weekend with the Disciple Now event that was going on at our church... Sunday morning I found handmade Thank You notes placed and hidden all over the house, even in the refrigerator! I even found one hidden inside my Bible went we got to church!
• My husband and how handy and intelligent he is! Earlier in the week I was home alone and was looking forward to playing some praise and worship music while I worked around the house, but for some reason our cd player would play but no sound would come out... he fixed it this morning and the house has been filled with music all morning!! Wonderful!
• Our roses and azaleas being in bloom! They are beautiful... and I will be cutting some roses to put in a vase on the kitchen table in just a bit!
• My precious children and the things they do that melt my heart, even if they do make me have an ugly cry!
• The ladies who have been so faithful to attend the Esther Bible study by Beth Moore that I am leading. It has been a wonderful study and we all have been blessed by digging into God's Word. We are ending this Sunday with a feast here at our house!
• Catching up with my best neighbor ever on the phone yesterday... she has moved so I do not see her near as much I would like to...
• Hearing God speak to me through the ordinary things of life... check back tomorrow for a post about this... if I get the time to compose it today!
• Hearing music I have not heard for a while, I have my cd player on shuffle (it shuffles all the cds we have) and I am being blessed hearing praise and worship music I haven't heard in quite a while!
• For this beautiful, gorgeous day the Lord has given us... I plan to go enjoy the sunshine with my boys!

What are you giving the Lord thanks for today? I encourage you to take the time to stop and think about the things you have to be thankful for, and give Him the thanks He deserves!


For more TT posts please visit our wonderful host, Laurie.

Word-Filled Wednesday

Are you worshiping the Lord in His splendor through your life today? Are you giving Him the glory He so deserves for the great things He has done for you? I would love for you to leave me a comment telling me at least one great thing He has done for you lately... let's brag on Him and give Him the glory today!

I will start... God has graciously worked on my schedule and given me some rest that I desperately needed! I was able to go to bed at 8:30 last night and it was wonderful!! Now let me hear from you!

For more WFW posts visit 160 acre woods.

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday's Together in the Word!

Welcome to Tuesday's Together in the Word. We are a group of women reading through the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs using the same reading plan and holding each other accountable. On Tuesdays we share what we have gleaned from our time of study in the Word. To join us and to read what others have to share visit DeeDee, we would love for you to join us! You can find a link to our reading plan on my sidebar.

Today I will be sharing a bit from 1 Peter, chapters 1 and 2.


I noticed in 1 Peter 1:1, that Peter wrote this letter "to those who reside as aliens", and to those "who are chosen." The word alien means a stranger, a sojourner. Do you ever feel like an alien in this world? I certainly do at times! But you know what, we were chosen to be aliens here!

In 1 Peter 2:9-11 the following is stated:

But you are:

A chosen race

A royal priesthood

A holy nation

A people for God's own possession

Why?
So that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light!

You once were NOT - a people,

BUT...

Now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD!

You had NOT received mercy,

BUT...

Now you HAVE RECEIVED MERCY!

Peter then urges us "as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation." 1 Peter 2:11-12


The very things for which people see us as aliens, and for which we feel we are aliens, are the things that will cause the unbelievers to glorify God in the day of His visitation. I just have to say, I am seeing this as another reversal of destiny! The things for which we undergo persecution and suffering are the very things that one day will cause those who have not believed to glorify God! What a mighty and amazing and redeeming God we serve!!


Father God, How I thank you for choosing me to be your alien here on earth at such a time as this! Thank You that You have chosen me for your very own possession, so that I may proclaim Your excellencies and tell of the redeeming work You have so graciously done in my life! Thank You that You will take the things that cause us to face suffering and persecution, and one day use them to bring You glory! I continue to stand in awe of You! Thank You so much for loving me, especially when I am unlovable... In Jesus' name, Amen!

We Will Overcome - Video From Sunday!

This is the video from the cardboard ministry we did at church on Sunday... enjoy!

Cardboard Testimonies, Reversal of Destinys

I just have to say... God showed up in a BIG way at our church today!! The move of His Spirit was mighty and I feel it is just the beginning of people beginning to be set free from years of bondage to sin, set free to worship and serve our Lord and Savior like no other!! I did not want to leave the service, I could have stayed and worshiped Him ALL DAY LONG! Praise You Jesus for the work you are doing in all of our lives!!

I just have to share that today's sermon just echoed in a point that has been made through the Esther Bible study by Beth Moore that I am currently leading... Our God is a God who reverses destiny's!! He is a God of reversals... all the things that the enemy has intended for our harm God reverses them, uses them for our good, and for His glory! The sermon illustrated this point beautifully, and everyone's cardboard testimonies were wonderful examples of how our God has reversed our destiny's for our good and for His glory!!

I continue to be amazed at our God... I am so thankful for His love for me, for His redeeming grace, for His forgiveness, and that He has reversed my destiny from one that Satan would use to harm me to one that He will use for my good and for His glory!

Have you allowed God to reverse your destiny? Is there evidence in your life that He has taken something the enemy meant for harm and used it for your good and for His glory? If so, what would your cardboard say...

If you can only fill out the 1st side of your cardboard, what would you like the other side to say? Pray for God to make it so! Nothing is impossible with Him, and He IS the God who reverses our destiny's!!


DeeDee has also posted about today's service if you want to check it out... she has lots more pictures!

Cardboard Testimonies

Please pause my music on the sidebar before watching this video.

Our church is doing this tomorrow... following a weekend of Disciple Now with our youth...

I am participating...

I can not wait to see what our Lord does in our church through these testimonies... I am praying for a powerful move of the Spirit....

What would your cardboard say? I will share mine tomorrow after our service...

Tuesday's Together in the Word! on Friday...

Welcome to Tuesday's Together in the Word... even though today is Friday, we can still be together in the Word! My week has been busy but I did still want to do this post... We are a group of women reading through the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs using the same reading plan and holding each other accountable. On Tuesdays we share what we have gleaned from our time of study in the Word. To join us and to read what others have to share visit DeeDee, we would love for you to join us! You can find a link to our reading plan on my sidebar.


I want to share from Mark 9:49-50:

"For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."

I did some research on these verses... I am familiar with the analogy of salt that is used throughout the scriptures, but really wanted to find out what Jesus meant when He said "everyone will be salted with fire."

From the commentaries I read and from reading the study notes in my various Bibles, and looking at different translations, I derived the following...

We become salty by spending time in the Word, in prayer, and in fellowship with our Lord. The saltiness of Him rubs off on us, and makes us "tasty" to those who are hungry for Him. The things we say and do for others share the "salt".

The "salted with fire" refers to believers becoming more salty and more effective in their ministry for Him by going through trials and sufferings. There are some things our Lord and Savior desires for us to learn that we can only learn in the fire. So the "fire" makes us "salty" when we allow the fire to draw us closer to Him, to make us more dependent on Him, and to make us long for only Him...

So if you are going through trials, ask God to help you learn what He is trying to teach you, and submit to becoming more salty for Him... the salt in those wounds may hurt a bit, but it will be worth every bit of pain and discomfort in order to grow in your faith and dependence on Him. Then you will be even more "salty" as you go forth to share what mighty things the Lord has done for you!

Thankful Thursday

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
and to sing praises to Thy name,
O Most High;
To declare Thy lovingkindness in the morning,
and Thy faithfulness by night."
Psalm 92:1-2

Today I am giving thanks for:

• The stillness of the mornings while I spend time with my Lord, this is one of my favorite times of my day!
• The Word of God and that I can read it anywhere, anytime...
• My uncle JW having a successful surgery (he had a triple bypass done on Monday) and so far an uneventful recovery...
• A fun visit earlier in the week with Aunt Susan... the boys really enjoyed playing with her (they even got a harp lesson while she was here!), and I was very thankful to be able to do my big grocery run all by myself!
• The fact that I am running again without pain! My 1st couple of runs after my fall I had bad knee pain, but that has all gone away now... I should be good to go for the 5K coming up in 2 weekends...
• The beautiful day we have had today! The boys and I played and had fun this morning, then they headed out back for their adventures, I did a bit of housework, and then joined them to enjoy the warmth of the sun!
• The Ladies Night Out we are having at church tonight... lots of the ladies are going out to dinner! Good food and good fellowship!
• My boys playing so well together today! I am so glad they are friends and they like to play with each other... they have been calling each other "pal" today :)
• Popsicles on a warm day...
• This family the Lord has blessed me with, and all the love and joy they bring into my life!

What are you thankful for today? I encourage you to take the time to stop and think about the many blessings the Lord has sent your way, and give Him thanks! For more WFW posts visit Laurie.

Word-Filled Wednesday & Scripture Memory Verse

Brothers think of what you were when you were called.
Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were influential,
not many were of noble birth.
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise;
God chose the weak things of this world to shame the strong.
He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things
- and the things that are not -
to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him.
It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus,
who has become for us wisdom from God - that is,
our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
1 Corinthians 1:25-31

I have been working on memorizing this passage, and I have finally made it to the last verse! The part in bold is what I will be committing to memory for the remainder of April.

This passage encourages us to remember what our life was like before Christ called us... and in keeping that in mind, we are reminded that we have no right whatsoever to boast before Christ. It is because of Him only that we are in Christ Jesus, who is for us our righteousness, our holiness, and our redemption. If there is anything good or praiseworthy in our lives it is a result of the work of Christ, and He alone should be praised! Our boasts should be in Him and what mighty works He has done, and nothing else.

Who are you boasting in today? Christ or yourself...

For more WFW posts visit 160acrewoods.

Wordless Wednesday

Glorious Resurrection Day!

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
1 Peter 1:3

The Resurrection

What does the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead mean to you personally? My thoughts have been centered on His resurrection this week, one what His resurrection means to me personally.

The resurrection of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ...

It means I serve a living God who has, who is, and who will conquer death!

It means I serve a personal God who cares enough about me, who longed for reconciliation and fellowship with me so much so that He provided His very own precious Son to fulfill the requirements of a blood sacrifice for the remission of my ugly, awful sins...

It means I serve a redeeming God who is able to take my yucky past, all my sins and failures, and somehow, in a way that daily amazes me, redeem them and use them to bring Him glory.

It means I serve a God of hope, who through the resurrection of His Son is able to give me hope of eternal life with Him.

It means I serve a God of freedom, who frees me from the bondage and the control of sin, who frees me from guilt and shame, and who frees me from having to try to live up to worldly expectations. As it says in John 8:36, He who the Son sets free is free indeed! This God of freedom frees me to be what He created me to be, and He frees me to serve Him with my whole heart, with all that I am!

It means I serve a God of life, for Jesus came to give me life and to give me life abundantly!

Jesus gave His all for me -

His sacrifice gives me life -

I give Him my life, in total surrender, because He is worthy of my all...

What does the resurrection of Christ mean to you?


May you have a blessed and glorious Resurrection Day, and may the resurrection power of our Lord work wonders and miracles in your life that will point others to Him and that will bring you to your knees in worship and adoration of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, of the precious lamb of God.

Good Friday

When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. Luke 23:33

I am thanking God today for being willing to send His only Son to take my sin upon Him, and to die in my place; so that I can have forgiveness of my sins, which enables me to have unhindered fellowship with my God and my Savior, and for giving me hope that one day I will receive the free gift of eternal life and will spend eternity in His glorious presence.

Please join me in spending time thinking about the sacrifice God made on my behalf and on yours...

Thankful Thursday

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12

I know... I said I was taking a break, and I have fully intended to... and I really have had a break in a way. I have made blogging my last priority after my relationship with God and my family, and somehow He is providing me the time to do a few posts. It really has been freeing to not feel like I have to do this post or that post, and to just do a post when I have time... and I am planning on keeping it this way. I desire for my blog to draw others to Him, so I will blog when I feel His leading and His inspiration for what to write... so here is my Thankful Thursday post!

Today I am giving thanks:

• That God's grace is sufficient for my every need - no matter how big that need - His grace is ALWAYS sufficient!
• That God IS my strength - and when I am weak He is strong!
• For times of refreshing found in His presence - just taking time to re-focus and get my priorities back in order, taking time to sit at His feet - has taken the stress and weariness I was feeling so heavily completely away!!
• For this glorious day the Lord has given me! The boys and I have spent several hours at the park, feeling the sun on our face, the wind in our hair, and listening to the birds sing... We had a nice leisurely picnic. They played to their hearts content. I got some much needed reading and planning done. Then we all came home, rested, and then had popsicles on the porch!
• And I am thankful for this that I read today... it just echoed what is in my heart... I encourage you to read it slowly, taking time to ponder over each word and phrase...

O Holy Spirit,
As the sun is full of light,
the ocean full of water,
Heaven full of glory, so may my heart be full of thee.

Vain are all divine purposes of love
and the redemption wrought by Jesus
except thou work within,
regenerating by thy power,
giving me eyes to see Jesus,
showing me the realities of the unseen world.

Give me thyself without measure,
as an unimpaired fountain,
as inexhaustible riches.

I bewail my coldness, poverty, emptiness,
imperfect vision, languid service,
prayerless prayers, praiseless praises.

Suffer me not to grieve or resist thee.
Come as power,
to expel every rebel lust, to reign supreme
and keep me thine;
Come as teacher,
leading me into all truth,
filling me with all understanding;
Come as love,
that I may adore the Father, and love him
as my all;
Come as joy,
to dwell in me, move in me, animate me;
Come as light,
illuminating the scripture, moulding me
in its laws;
Come as sanctifier,
body, soul and spirit wholly thine;
Come as helper,
with strength to bless and keep, directing my
every step;
Come as beautifier,
bringing order out of confusion, loveliness
out of chaos.
Magnify to me thy glory by being magnified in me,
and make me redolent of thy fragrance.

taken from The Valley of Vision, A collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions


For more TT posts visit Laurie.

Pictures...

I know I said I was taking a break... but I just had to share these!

All the kids from Paul and David's 4k class, here at our house for the Easter Party!
Everyone is in the picture except for Paul...
He was being grumpy and I chose not to fight that battle...

Before the Easter Party all the kids participated in an Easter bonnet parade...
Each child make their own Easter bonnet, then walked across the stage,
and either gave a bow or curtsy... they were precious!

David and his Easter "bonnet"

Paul and his Easter "bonnet"

The egg on the spoon race at the Mother of Multiples Egg Hunt

Paul and David with some friends at the Mother of Multiples Egg Hunt!