Thankful Thursday

"In the multitude of my anxious thoughts within me, Your comforts cheer and delight my soul." Psalm 94:19

Today I am thankful for:

• The comforts of God and how He cheers and delights my soul!
  
• A nice warm home! On Tuesday it was so nice outside (in the 60s) that we had a picnic... on Wednesday it turned frigidly cold!
• My health and how amazing our human bodies are! When you really stop to think about it our bodies are truly amazing in all that they do without our even having to think about it... what a wonderful Creator we have!
• My husband and the way he loves me and how nice he treats me!
• For my children who love to snuggle with me and give me hugs and kisses!
• For a good recovery from my surgery 2 weeks ago... and for all the friends who prayed for me and helped us in any way...
• Our ladies ministry team and the exciting things we have planned for the ladies at our church!
• For answered prayers... I have asked the Lord to open my eyes to those in need along my path and He did that just yesterday! What a blessing to be used by the Lord to help someone, even with little trivial things...
• For friends who care about me and call to check on me, or just to talk!
• For how the Lord speaks to me through His Word...
• For my redemption... what a priceless gift from my Savior...

I encourage you to stop and take time to give thanks for all things in your life. It will do your heart good to meditate on your blessings and give thanks to the One from whom those blessings flow! For more WFW posts visit Lori's Reflections, who is hosting this week for Iris from Grace Alone.

Word-Filled Wednesday

This is my current memory verse... and as I have pondered over it and committed it to memory I have realized what a wonderful verse it is. It is packed full of good stuff! Stuff that will strengthen your faith, put you in awe of our God, and drive you to your knees.

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, through our knowledge of Him, who called us according to His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may partake of the divine nature and may escape the corruption in this world caused by evil desires." 2 Peter 1:3-4

Definitely some good stuff in that verse... ponder on it for a while! For more WFW posts visit 160acrewoods.

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday's Together in the Word!

Welcome to Tuesday's 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 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!



This past week several passages spoke to my heart, leading me to ask myself some questions and take a more in depth look at my faith and my walk with my Savior. Let me warn you, this post is a bit long, but I just couldn't pick only 1 passage! Let's start with a passage from Luke 17:11-19, it is about the 10 lepers that were healed...

1While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. 12As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; 13and they raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" 14When He saw them, He said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they were going, they were cleansed. 15Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, 16and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. 17Then Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine--where are they? 18"Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?" 19And He said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has made you well." Luke 17:11-19

What struck me about this passage was that ALL 10 lepers "raised their voices", ALL 10 called Jesus their "Master", and ALL 10 asked Him to have mercy on them. Jesus healed ALL 10. Yet... after all 10 had been healed, only 1 came back to Jesus. Only 1 glorified God with a loud voice and fell at the feet of Jesus in gratitude... and he was a foreigner. My question... am I just as quick to glorify God and give Him thanks for answered prayers as I am to call out to Him for help? I do not want to be guilty of not having a thankful heart towards my Savior when He answers my prayers... I want to be one who thanks Him and who glorifies Him with a loud voice? How about you?


The next passage is Luke 18:1-8, parables on prayer...

1Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart,2saying, "In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. 3"There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, 'Give me legal protection from my opponent.' 4"For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, 'Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, 5yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.'" 6And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge said; 7now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? 8"I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"

The widow was persistent in her plea for help... she kept coming time and time again. Her continuous pleas for help probably were about to drive the judge crazy! And look what happens because of her persistence; The judge who did not fear God or respect man gave her the help she wanted! I found verses 7 and 8 interesting...God will bring about justice quickly for His elect who cry to Him day and night, yet, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? This question, will He find faith on the earth, struck a cord with me. I found it interesting that the elect who receive this quick justice and who cry out to Him day and night, may not have faith? Do they just pray to pray? Do they pray out of selfishness and impure motives? Or did they pray in faith? What about my prayers... do I pray selfishly, with impure motives, or out of faith? This has given me some stuff to think about...


The next passage is Luke 18:9-14, the Pharisee and the Publican...

9And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: 10"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11"The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' 13"But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' 14"I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Our Sunday school lesson on Sunday brought to my mind this passage. Our lesson was on the holiness of God. It stressed the fact that God's holiness places Him on a whole different plane than us... we are not and can not even be close to being as holy as God is. We really can not even comprehend the holiness of God. His holiness is awesome, magnificient, and unapproachable, were it not for the shed blood of Jesus. Once we get a glimpse of His holiness, just a glimpse, not a full view, our perceptions of ourselves and the way we pray and relate to God will change. May God allow me and you to see ourselves in light of His holiness... how that would transform our walk and our prayers!


The next passage is Luke 18:35-43, Bartimaeus receives sight...

35As Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. 36Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what this was. 37They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. 38And he called out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" 39Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" 40And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He questioned him, 41"What do you want Me to do for you?" And he said, "Lord, I want to regain my sight!" 42And Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well." 43Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.

I found it interesting that in verse 39 Bartimaeus was sternly told to be quiet! Then in verse 40 Jesus commanded that he be brought to Him! I just wonder who brought him to Jesus? Was it those who sternly told him to be quiet, was it the other beggars, was it His disciples? I really would like to know... And then I wondered which one I would be. Would I be the one to tell him to be quiet, or would I be the one to bring him to Jesus? I would hope I would be the one to bring him to Jesus...


The last passage for today is Luke 19:1-10, about Zaccheus...

1He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. 3Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. 4So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. 5When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, "Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house." 6And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. 7When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." 8Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much." 9And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

In this passage we see that Zaccheus received Jesus gladly and was transformed - as evidenced by Zaccheus giving half of his possessions to the poor and by giving back 4 times as much to any one he had defrauded. That is definite proof that Jesus touched his heart and changed it! Is there evidence of the transforming power of Christ in my life? In yours?


Thank you for sticking in here with me and reading this long post! The Word of God is so good that I just did not want to leave out anything that had spoken to me this past week. I would love to hear your thoughts and comments. What is God saying to you through His Word?

Birthday Memories!

Here are a few pictures from our birthday celebration... I wanted to share more pictures but blogger is not cooperating with me today and this has taken me forever to do, so this will have to do for now...

On the boys "real" birthday (which they did not really understand... if it was their real birthday why was their party not that day... ) I cooked their favorite muffins for breakfast and had each a candle. They thought that was so neat! Then at lunch and dinner they wanted to know why they did not have candles in their pb & j sandwiches and chicken fingers!!

Our tradition is that James always decorates their birthday cakes (primarily because he is cheap and does not want to pay bakery prices for cakes that do not even taste that grand!) It has become something the boys really look forward to. Usually we have one cake, but this year, David wanted a train cake and Paul wanted a crane truck cake... how can you do both of those on one cake? James found these great pictures on the internet and took them to our local Wal-Mart where they printed them on sugar paper! We just placed them on the cakes and put the border around them... so easy! This was wonderful, as the boys loved them and they did not bother James' tendinitis in his arms too terribly bad.

Do you know how hard it is to get a picture of both of them looking nice at the same time??? This is the best we could get!

Thankful Thursday

"Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from Him." Psalm 127:3

Today I am giving thanks for my children! I was blessed to become their mommy 5 years ago today...

• I am thankful that God's hand was upon them and me 5 years ago, when I went into preterm labor, was hospitalized for 2 weeks, and they were born 8 weeks early. They had no major problems, were only in the hospital for 3 weeks (they came home Valentine's Day!), and they are healthy, happy boys today!
• I am so blessed to be able to stay at home with them. I am thankful for my husband who wanted me to stay home to be a wife and mommy full-time. He never complains about the things we have to go without and the things we do not get to do because we are not a dual income family.
• I am thankful that I have been here for every 1st...
• I am thankful for all the hugs, kisses, laughter, and sweet times together we get to experience everyday.
• I am thankful for lazy days at the park, fun days at the zoo, learning new things at the library, and all the other fun things we get to do while others are at work!
• I am thankful for the art gallery on my refrigerator!
• I am thankful for the joy they have brought into my life...
• I am thankful for the opportunity to teach them, shepherd them, nurture them, and love them. It is truly a blessing to watch them learn new things - to write their letters and numbers, to know all the sounds of their letters, to begin to read some words, to ride their bikes without training wheels, to hear them say the scriptures they have already hidden in their hearts, the list could go on and on...
• I am thankful for their wonderful imaginations... I so enjoy hearing their silly stories about the lives of their stuffed animals and the silly songs they make up to sing around the house!
• Most of all, I am thankful that God chose me to be their mommy, to teach them about Him and His love for them... what a huge responsibility I have been entrusted with, but one which His grace enables me to embrace whole heartedly every day...

So, what are you thankful for today? Please take time to stop and give thanks to our wonderful Lord and Savior who has blessed us with so much. For more TT posts visit Grace Alone.

Word-Filled Wednesday

"Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."
Luke 11:28

This verse speaks volumes to me... we can hear the Word of God all day long, but do we obey it? Do we let it sink into our hearts and minds? Do we allow it to change our attitudes, our behaviors, our thoughts... It is one thing to hear it... it is another thing to obey it, even when it is hard. I don't know about you, but I want to be one who obeys the Word of God. However, we can never obey it if we do not read it and study it. Have you studied the Word of God today? If not, get off the computer and go open your Bible... then come back and visit some more :)

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 the same Bible reading plan (reading through Psalms, Proverbs, and the New Testament this year) and then sharing what the Lord has spoken to us through our readings. For more information, to join us, and to read the posts of others participating head on over to DeeDee's.

I have pondered over what to share from this past week's readings, and this portion of scripture keeps coming to my mind. On the day that we read this chapter from Luke I spent lots of time thinking on the following portion:

"And He began telling this parable: A certain man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, and did not find any. And he said to the vineyard keeper, 'Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground? And he answered and said to him, 'Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down." Luke 13:6-9

This portion of scripture reminded me of the following one from John 15:2, "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit."

The cross references in my Bible led me to these scriptures: Matthew 3:10, "And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." Matthew 7:19 and Luke 3:9 state the same thing, that every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

What did I glean from these scriptures? Jesus is very serious about fruit-bearing...

We are to do more than simply accept His gift of free salvation. So many accept His free gift of salvation and stop there... they do not pursue a relationship with their Savior. But that is what our Lord truly longs for, He longs for fellowship with us, He longs for relationship. He longs for us to surrender and allow our hearts and lives to be transformed by His amazing love for us. He longs for us to abide in Him, so that He can begin His work of bearing fruit in our lives to draw others to Him.

The scriptures point out that this fruit is to be good fruit. It is not to be bad, rotten, or even unripened fruit. It is to be good fruit; fruit that has a tantalizing aroma, a sweet and pleasant taste to it, and even looks good to the eye... this kind of fruit will draw others to the source of the fruit, Jesus Christ. But without relationship we can have no fruit. As we spend time pursuing and cultivating a relationship with our Savior He will produce the fruit in us; we do not have to work to make the fruit, it will come as a by-product of our relationship with our Savior.

What happens if we do not bear fruit? If we do not have a relationship with our Savior? If there is no evidence in our lives that we have been transformed by His love and His grace? According to the scriptures, we will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I do not know about you, but I do not want to be thrown into the fire! I think I will gratefully welcome a little pruning here and there, but keep me away from the fire!


I hope when people look at my life they see evidence of the transforming power of Christ. I hope they can see fruit that can only be explained as a result of time spent at my Savior's feet, time spent digging into the Word, and time spent in fellowship with my Lord through prayer.

I am asking the Lord to show me if I am bearing fruit that is glorifying to Him. I want to know if in His eyes my fruit is ripe and tasty or rotten. I am asking the Lord to show me where He would have me to be more fruitful. I am asking Him to prune me so that I may be more fruiful for Him. I am asking Him to help me continually abide in Him so that I may continually bear fruit for Him - I desire to always bear fruit for Him, I do not want to be a fruit-bearer for just a season.

What about you? Are you bearing fruit? Are you bearing much fruit or just a little? Good fruit or bad fruit? Or are you just warming a pew somewhere, content with your free gift of salvation? God wants to bear fruit through you... abide in Him and He will make sure you bear much good fruit!

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me." John 15:4

Father God, help us to be truly transformed by Your amazing love for us. Help us to surrender totally and completely to You. Help us to abide in You, day by day; so that You may produce good fruit in us that will draw others to You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Discipline... or is it?

Disciplining your children can just be frustrating sometimes... we typically spank for disobedience, but lately our very strong willed child has not responded well to spanking for certain infractions, so... my husband has come up with some different ways to discipline.

His choice of discipline for fighting between the 2 of them has worked very well, and I have implemented it myself, as it seems to have the effects we are desiring, a change in behavior, starting at the heart. Here is what we have done - when they get in one of those knock down, drag out fights and there is no reasoning with them and we really do not know who is to blame, we send them each to the corner to cool down. While in the corner they have to think of 10 things they love about their brother and then tell their brother... the first time they had a really hard time thinking of things, but now it seems to work very well and they actually come up with some really sweet things they like about each other... and the best part is that after they are through telling each other what they like about each other they have forgotten about the fight and go off and play nicely together.

Yesterday was a different story. We discovered that Paul had colored all over a step stool that James made them so they could reach the sink to wash their hands. Paul emphatically denied that he did, although he knew what color it had been colored, what parts had been colored, and whether it was crayon or marker... David on the other hand did not know any of the facts, and was adamant that he did not do it. So, after reading Paul a portion of Proverbs chapter 6, (I think that is the right chapter, the portion about 6 things the Lord hates) he admitted that he did lie and that he was responsible for coloring the step stool. He was disciplined for lying and for blaming his brother; and for his punishment for messing up the stool, James decided that he would have to sand the parts that he colored. Well, this has backfired on my sweet husband! Paul is really enjoying sanding the thing, and David has decided that it looks like so much fun that he needs a project too! So he is now sanding the other step stool which has no coloring on it! They are both enjoying themselves... I just hope they do not decide to color other things in the house so they can sand them too!

It makes me wonder, are there some areas in my life where the Lord has been trying to discipline me, yet I just do not get it, and go along actually enjoying the discipline when I should be learning a lesson...

Any thoughts?

A New Blog!

I have a wonderful godly friend who has started a blog, and I know you all are going to enjoy what she has to share, so I wanted to send you on over for a quick visit! Go and visit Barefeet For Thee, you will be blessed!

Memory Verse

Here is my next scripture memory verse.... how are you all doing on your scripture memory this year?

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires." 2 Peter 1:3-4

Thankful Thursdays

Today I am thankful for the following:

• The hand of God upon my life
• That I came through my surgery yesterday without any difficulties, and that for now the nausea has gone... and I have not had to take any pain meds today!
• For my sweet husband who has taken such good care of me...
• For my parents who came to take care of the boys for us yesterday...
• For my dad praying with me before we left for my surgery...
• For my mom sitting on my bed spending time talking with me...
  
• For my pastor coming to the hospital to sit with us and to pray with me before my surgery...
• For the wonderful nurses who took such good care of me while I was at the hospital yesterday...
• For the great meal my Sunday School class brought last night, and the meal that is being brought tonight, and the one being brought on Friday and another on Saturday! What wonderful friends we have... they are all truly a blessing to us!

I am truly blessed beyond measure, and for that I am so thankful! For more TT posts visit Grace Alone.

Please lift up prayers for my friend DeeDee, our pastor's wife. She was taken to the hospital via ambulance this morning with chest pains. They are to do a heart cath on her this afternoon. Please pray for good results... thanks so much!

Update on DeeDee... thanks for everyone praying for DeeDee, her heart cath came back clear, and they are keeping her for observation tonight and she should get to go home tomorrow! Praise God!

Prayer Request

Update: I came through surgery fine, while anesthesia is great, I have a hard time recovering from it, it makes me nauseous. I am home and my sweet husband is taking good care of me. Pray for a quick recovery and that my nausea while subside soon. I will update more later when I feel better, just wanted those who have been praying to get a little report. Thanks!


I am having some outpatient surgery in the morning (I have to be there at 6:45) and would appreciate your prayers for a successful surgery and quick, uneventful recovery. Prayers for my husband would also be appreciated, as he takes care of me, the boys, his work, the house, and whatever else comes up! I know I have many blogging friends who are powerful prayer warriors so I wanted to ask you to pray, thanks so much!

Tuesdays Together in The Word!

Today I wanted to share some insights I gleaned from the Psalms during the past week's Bible readings. We had to read Psalm 3, 4, and 5, all on the same day, and I saw a recurrent theme running through all 3. I am reading from the NASB and all bold is my own emphasis.

"O LORD, How my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, there is no deliverance for him in God. Selah. But Thou, O LORD, art a shield about me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head. I was crying to the LORD with my voice, and He answered me from His Holy mountain. Selah I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me." Psalm 3:1-5

"Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! Thou hast relieved me in my distress; Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. .... But know that the LORD has set apart the godly man for Himself; the Lord hears when I call to Him. ... Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and new wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep. For thou alone, O Lord, dost make me to dwell in safety." Psalm 4:1,3,7-8

"Give ear to my words, O LORD, Consider my groaning. Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, for to Thee do I pray. In the morning, O LORD, Thou wilt hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to Thee and eagerly watch. ... But let all who take refuge in Thee be glad, let them ever sing for joy; and mayest Thou shelter them, that those who love Thy name may exult in Thee. For it is Thou who dost bless the righteous man, O LORD, Thou dost surround him with favor as with a shield." Psalm 5:1-3, 11-12

My attention was drawn to the worry and distress that David expressed, until he cried to the Lord. After crying to the Lord out loud, after praying, groaning, and crying for help, the Lord, his King and his God, answered him from His Holy mountain! How wonderful is that! Our Lord can and will answer our cries for help straight from His Holy mountain! He can hear us up there! I find that amazing and very comforting...

It gets even better! I next noticed what happened after David prayed and cried out to the Lord... he received peace! In Psalm 3, immediately after praying and God answering him from His Holy mountain, David was able to lie down and sleep, his mind was no longer on what was causing him worry and distress. In Psalm 4, the Lord put gladness in his heart rather than anxiety, and once again he was able to lie down and sleep in peace. In Psalm 5, God surrounds him with favor as with a shield and he was able to sing for joy and exult in God!

What amazing things God can do in our hearts and lives... what amazing changes He can cause to take place in our attitudes and hearts, all when we cry out to Him and eagerly watch and wait for Him. Nothing about David's circumstances had changed, but he had shifted his focus from his circumstances to His God, and He received peace, comfort, and joy!

Join me in calling out to our Lord when life is shouting at us, wanting to cause us worry and distress, and instead, experience His peace, comfort, and joy, even in the very midst of all that hard stuff.

Father God, Thank you so much that we have the privilege of crying out to You, and thank you even more that You hear us from Your Holy mountain, and that you answer. How I praise you for sending your peace, comfort, and joy to me during the hard times of my life! How I praise you that you are always faithful, all I have to do is call. Help me to quickly call to you when the hard things of life come my way, so I can walk through them with your peace, comfort, and joy. Thank you so much for your Word and that I can meet you, my Living God, there in the pages of the Bible. In Jesus name, Amen!

To see what the Lord is speaking to others through their daily Bible readings head on over to DeeDee's! And we would love to have you join us!


On a totally different note, if you are praying for any of the families I have listed on my sidebar, I have updated Josiah's with an updated request, please check it out and keep this precious little one and his family in your prayers, thanks so much!

Acorns & Washing Machines

If you happen to have little boys....

You should ALWAYS...

Make sure...

To check ALL pockets...

Before washing their clothes!

If you do not...

This is what may happen...

You may find acorns, all nice and clean, ready to go to the dryer!

A LOT of them!

My friend DeeDee shared today about her mishap from the weekend, which makes mine look like not a big thing at all. But after reading hers I thought I would share mine. Head on over to her place for a good laugh (but only because no one was hurt!)

Work of the Hands- Pay It Forward Challenge

The other night as I was reading from blog to blog I came across this great craft idea that I thought I just might be able to make, and now I have found the perfect opportunity for which to make them! I was visiting with Tracy over at My Cup Runneth Over and found out about this pay it forward challenge...

It involves blessing 3 someones with a handmade gift! Hand-made gifts represent an investment of two valuable things...love & time. I do love to make things, but do not always have the time and quite often I am not creative enough to come up with something to make. But this "thing" that I came across the other night was so cute and so doable! So I have decided to take part in Tracy's challenge. I will find the time to make these (I am not telling what they are because I want them to be a surprise!) and I will make them with love!

So here are the rules if you want to take part in this challenge... I think it will be so much fun!

The first 3 bloggers to leave a comment on this post will receive a hand-made item from me. Those 3 bloggers promise to post this challenge on their blog (meaning they too will ‘pay-it-forward’, creating a handmade gift for the first 3 bloggers that leave a comment on their blog!!) That's a lot of hand-made love being passed around! ; )

Here's the part I got really excited about...the gift can be anything you choose and any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. Are you up for it? What do you say?


On a totally different note, I have added a family to my prayer room who needs prayer at this time, Jeremy and Johnna. Please go to my prayer room on the side bar and click on their names so you can read how to pray for them, thanks so much!

Thankful Thursdays

"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, not sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night."
Psalm 1:1-2




Today I am thankful for the following:

• For God's Word and more time to spend in it this week...
• For God giving me more nuggets as I dig into His Word. His Word is one place you can always find a treasure when you go treasure hunting!
• For bargains! I went shopping yesterday and found a great dressing mirror for a great price - and my sweet husband said I could buy it, so of course I did!
• For yummy bowls of soup on cold and windy nights...
• For getting back to our normal routine and schedule! I am very routine and schedule oriented, and being "out of my routine" for a couple of weeks was getting very old...
• For getting my kitchen pantry, closet, and cabinets cleaned out this week! It feels wonderful to get things like that accomplished!
• That for now the rain has stopped!
• For the power and privilege of prayer... if you have not checked out my new blog for prayer please do so... I still have some work to do on it, but it is up and running!
  
• For the extra hugs my husband gives me when I've had a tough day with the kids...
• For the love and laughter in our home...

What are you thankful for? I encourage you to take time more often this year to give thanks to our Lord for the many things we all have to be thankful for, big and little. For more TT posts visit Grace Alone.

Word-Filled Wednesday

"And He said to them, 'It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer.' "
Matthew 21:13

I had a revelation this week regarding this verse while reading a bit from "If You Will Ask, Reflections on the Power of Prayer." I have always thought of this verse as referring to God's house as being a physical structure or building, and that it should be a place where prayers are offered up so frequently that it would be called a house of prayer, because anyone could go in at anytime and receive prayer or find someone in prayer.

However, after reading the following it hit me that we as the Temple of God are meant to be houses of prayer... we are referred to in the scriptures as the Temple of God, therefore our physical bodies should be houses of prayer. Can you imagine the power that would flow from our churches if we all took that to heart? If every person who attends our worship services was literally a house of prayer the power and presence of God would be undeniable and the works that He would do would just astound us...

Here is what I read:

When we recognize that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit we will be careful to keep it undefiled for Him. "My house shall be called a house of prayer," Jesus (Matthew 21:13)

I had never put these 2 scriptures together side by side, but now that I have seen them together it sheds a whole new LIGHT on a deeper meaning that I feel they convey. What do you think? Is this a new revelation to you or has our precious Holy Spirit already revealed this to you?

For more WFW posts visit 160acrewoods.

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesdays Together in The Word!

This past week our Bible readings have been in Luke, and I wanted to share what the Lord revealed to me as I spent time reading and studying The Word. I am reading from the Key Word Study Bible in NASB translation.

One of the first things that grabbed my attention in reading the 1st chapter of Luke was the reason that Luke wrote this letter to Theophilus. In Luke 1:4 he states "so that you might know the exact truth about the things you have been taught." The words that jumped out at me were "exact truth." Luke then proceeds to write the exact truth about the life of Jesus, "having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, " (Luke 1:3).

Do you and I know the exact truth about Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit? Do we derive that truth from the Word of God or from other sources? Do we rely on what others say they get from the Word, what others have written in books or on the internet, or do we sit down, dig in and study the Word of God for ourselves? Do we rightly divide the scriptures? I encourage you to test everything you hear and read against the scriptures, if it is contrary to what the Bible teaches and states it is not the "exact truth".

The Lord also spoke to me through chapter 4 of Luke. I am very familiar with this chapter and have studied it in depth before, but the Lord revealed something new and a little deeper to me this time! This passage is about when Jesus is in the desert for 40 days and nights and is tempted by Satan. Luke 4:1 states "And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness." Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit, and He was led about by that Spirit...

When you and I are full of the Holy Spirit we will be led about by the Spirit - and sometimes the Spirit leads us to the wilderness... we do not just end up there by an accident.

We all are probably familiar with the way that Jesus overcomes Satan's temptations, with the Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit. We have to know God's Word for ourselves... for even Satan knows and uses God's Word. The following is what I had never really noticed before - the 1st 2 times that Satan tempted Jesus he tempted Him using his own words, but the 3rd time, after Jesus had already resisted the temptations using the Word of God, Satan also decided to use the Word of God to sway Him to give in to temptation (he also did this with Eve in Genesis). That is often how Satan works, he takes the Word of God and distorts it, adds to it, or takes away from it... he changes it and uses it to make it fit his purpose and agenda. If we do not know the Word of God, if we do not know the exact truth, we can easily fall prey to his tactics. How I praise God that Jesus knows the Word of God inside out, after all He is the Living Word, and He did not fall prey to Satan's tactics.

I think it is interesting that these temptations occurred before Jesus started His public ministry - and as stated in Luke 4:14, "Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit." The power of the Spirit which enabled Him to preach the gospel with authority - the power needed to fulfill the purpose for which He was sent, which was to preach the kingdom of God. (Luke 4:18-19)

Do you and I know God's Word as we should? Can we recognize improper use of it, the use of it for selfish gains or motives, as Jesus did? And can we use the Word of God as our double-edged sword to fight against the enemy of our souls and our families? In order to do this we must spend time reading, studying, and digging into the Word. The Word should be as honey to our mouth. Through spending time in the Word and with the Living Word in prayer, we also will be filled with the Spirit. And I believe that as we step out in faith and act on the Word in obedience to the promptings of the Spirit, we too will be given power through the Spirit to be able to successfully fulfill the purpose for which He has us here.

Father God, Thank You so much for the precious gifts of Your Word and Your Holy Spirit. Help us to not take them for granted, but to make full use of them. Help us to partake fully of the divine resources You have blessed us with. Give us a deeper understanding of Your Word, help us to apply it, and to be obedient to it and to the promptings of Your Spirit. Please fill us completely with Your Spirit, and empower us through Your Spirit to fulfill Your purpose for our lives. In Jesus' name, Amen.


To join others in Tuesdays Together in The Word and to get your own copy of our reading plan through Psalms, Proverbs, and the New Testament, visit DeeDee.

Organized in 2009!

Organized... I just love to organize things... I love for things to be orderly and neat, and for everything to have a place. I can not stand clutter and piles of things, it is like I can not function properly if my environment is not neat and orderly. Even when I was in college I would have to clean my dorm room (and eventually apartment) before I could start studying for that big test or start work on that big project. Maybe I was really procrastinating, but with everything clean and in its place there was nothing to distract me from doing the work I needed to do.

Maybe that is why I am on a mission to get my house and my life more organized this month. My thoughts are that with my earthly home in order I will be less distracted and more able to focus on my Lord and what He is speaking to my heart and what His plans are for me each day! I long to hear His voice more clearly every day, and I desire to be able and willing to quickly obey the promptings of His precious Holy Spirit.

My plan for January is to go through all my closets, cabinets, and drawers... and organize, clean out, throw out, give away. I have already started! My sweet husband has given me lots of alone time this weekend to get stuff done around the house. So far I have cleaned out the boys playroom and closet (they were here for that and were slightly frightened as I locked myself in the playroom and called for trashbags!). I have cleaned out and organized my laundry closet, the spice shelf in my kitchen cabinet, and a dry refrigerator we have in our kitchen. It has felt great to get all that accomplished!

But even more exciting to me is that I have been working on getting my blog a little more organized! I have added my memory verse to my side bar and will update that when it changes. However, the addition I am most excited about is that I have added a prayer room rather than just a list of people to pray for. You can click on a person or family to pray for and it will take you to a new blog I have just created. There you can read a little of my own story about the person I am requesting prayer for, like how I know them and such, and then follow the link to their own blog or site if it is available. This is so exciting to me, as I love prayer, the ministry of prayer, and the awesome fellowship we can have with the Father and with one another through prayer. I desire for this new blog to be a ministry for and to others, and look forward to new inspirations from our Lord as to how to use this new blog and my current one for His Glory!

So, let me know what you think!

New Year's Intentions...

This year, 2oo9, instead of coming up with lots of resolutions, the Lord has really been speaking to my heart about focusing on living intentionally. Webster defines intention as: a determination to act in a certain way; a synonym of intention is purpose. I want to live intentionally, I want to live my life with purpose, every day, every moment of my day. So many days this past year I have just felt like I was in survival mode. I just wanted to make it through the day; so I went through the motions, and did what I needed to do to just "get through" my day. At the end of days like that I do not feel fulfilled or satisfied with myself. I desire for my life to have meaning and purpose, not to just be lived to be lived.

So I am determined that 2009 will be my year to begin living more intentionally. I desire to intentionally be a servant to my husband and my children. I desire to have a purpose, an eternal one, for the things I do; the activities I get involved in, the things I do with and for my family, and most importantly in my relationship with my Lord and Savior. I desire this year to focus primarily on my relationship with my Lord and my family, and to not get so weighted down with all the extra things, even though they may be good things, that can easily fill our schedules and calendars.

In light of all this, I will be intentional about memorizing scripture this year. My goal is 2 new verses a month. And you can join Beth Moore and countless other women as we all strive to fill our minds and hearts with His Word, allowing it to change us, teach us, convict us, and make us more like Jesus.

I will also be joining DeeDee for Tuesday's Together in the Word. We will be following the same Bible reading plan and sharing weekly about what we have learned through our readings that week. Please visit her and join us if this sounds like something you would like to do with us!

I plan to be intentional in taking care of myself, eating healthy and getting exercise (continuing to run, I have grown to love it!) and encouraging and enabling my family to do the same.

And I plan to be intentional in serving my husband and children with a cheerful heart and a good attitude. I desire to have a gentle and quiet spirit as I go about my days, and to be under the control of His Holy Spirit.

I also desire to be intentional in reaching out to and ministering to others that the Lord places in my path and lays upon my heart. There are so many people who are hurting or are overwhelmed in life right now that just need a word of encouragement, a hug, phone call, or card to know that someone cares, or just a helping hand to help ease their load. I desire to be more obedient to the Lord when He prompts me to reach out to others.

I want to live intentionally for Jesus this year... what about you?