Wordless Wednesday

New Reasons to love...

After attending the Beth Moore simulcast this past Saturday, I headed out to lunch, just me, myself and I... and my Lord. I ate at one of my all-time favorites, a place I never mind going by myself... you know there are some places you just do not want to go alone, but Panera is not one of them!

As I was sitting there waiting for my food to be prepared, I was talking to my Lord, and listening for His voice and those promptings of His Spirit. I asked Him to open my eyes to what He wanted me to see, I so do not want to be so focused on myself that I overlook those He places in my path for a particular reason. He directed my eyes to a sign hanging on the wall and I heard His voice loud and clear through the words on that sign, (not really audibly, but in my spirit)...

Discover new reasons to love...

This has stayed with me... it resonates in my mind numerous times daily. God's Spirit has prompted me to ask Him to help me discover new reasons to love... to love Him, to love my family, to love friends and acquaintances, to love neighbors, and even to love those who seem unlovable and who are hard to love...

So I am on a journey with my Lord, discovering new reasons to love... I desire to be compelled by the love of Christ, not by my flesh and not by the things of this world, but solely and wholly by the love of Christ...

13If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. ¹⁵And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2 Corinthians 5:13-15

Heart of our Desires... notes from the Beth Moore simulcast

This past weekend I was blessed to be able to attend Beth Moore's simulcast, and as always, she left us with much to think about and ponder. What she shared was so good that I wanted to share it with those of you who happen by my blog...

Her message was based on Psalm 37:1-9:

Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;

² for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.

³ Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

⁴ Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:

⁶ He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

⁷ Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

⁸ Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.

⁹ For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

Her entire message centered around verse 4: "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." She had 7 points that she shared with us over 3 sessions. I will share with you each point and one or two of her statements that spoke the most to me... I took tons of notes but will try to make it more brief here...

1. NOTHING dictates our lives like our desires!

We are motivated by what WE want to do. We are dictated by our "Want to". A legitimate or true heart's desire necessitates a wait... it is a sustained longing that is unaffected by our moods (our hormones), our surroundings, or our circumstances. It is a desire that we would carry with us if everything else in our lives changed.

2. Beneath the desires of our hearts is the HEART of our desires.

We need to allow God to tend to the heart of our desires... every single desire we have implies something that we lack. God will trump the desires of our heart to get to the heart of our desire if destiny is at stake for us or if glory is at stake for Him.

3. Delighting in God adapts our desires into inevitabilities.

She encouraged us to pray daily... "Dear God, Grant me a heart that delights in You!"

(and I added for myself, "All day long") I don't know about you, but sometimes stuff that is thrown at me throughout my day tends to hinder my ability to continue to delight in Him, it gets my eyes off of Him and onto "stuff"... so I am praying that God would grant me a heart that delights in Him ALL day long.

The desires of my heart boil down to the heart of my desires - I was created to delight in Him.

4. Nothing external can steal our right to delight.

We have given people rights they DO NOT have - no one can steal our delight in God. If we are a Christian, and if for any reason we do not delight, it is an internal reason.

She shared here 3 things that come to steal our delight, and deform our desires...

• J- jealousy - Jealousy is desire tinged with resentment. What desire in our hearts is motivating jealousy?
• A - anger - anger is an evil form of overtaking passion; it is the polar opposite of delight.
• W - worry - (fret) to eat or gnaw into, to affect something as if by gnawing or biting.

An easy way to remember these 3 is to think of our JAW - What is taking a bite out of my personal delight? Is it jealousy, anger, or worry...

5. To make room for delight we have to COMMIT!

We have to be willing to commit to become and be who is it we long to be and to do those things we long to do. If we never make a commitment to work at those things they will never come to be... we are to commit our way to the Lord.

6. Nothing is passive about patiently waiting for desire to turn into delight.

My God is constantly at work doing things I can not see. Do NOT give up in prayers for loved ones that you have been praying for years... we need to be careful to not become all talk and no hear! Sometimes God wants us to be still - to stop, to hold our peace, to be silent, to listen and watch eagerly and anxiously for Him.

When we are hurting in the wait, we need to turn the hurt into praise.

7. Till faith becomes sight, trust God and do good.

Romans 12:21 "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good."

Others do not have to think we are "right" in order for us to do good for them. We can still do good for others who do not agree with our Christian beliefs... we are to dwell in the land where God has planted us right now, we are to do good there, and we are to feed on His faithfulness.

"Till Christ returns, or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I'll stand."

I am taking some time to write out my desires, all of them, laying them out before the Lord, big ones and little ones, and asking Him to reveal to me the true heart of my desires. I desire for my desires to not be ones that would hinder my destiny or His glory... I desire to have a heart that delights in God all day long, all the days of my life. What about you?

Thankful Thursday

I haven't done a Thankful Thursday post in the past few weeks. Life has been busy and we have been getting into our "new" routine for our new season of life these days. We have started homeschooling, on our 3rd week now, and I sold in and worked at a huge consignment sale, so that took much time, getting my stuff together and working. So hopefully now we can get settled into our "new" routine and I can get back to some sort of normal blogging routine... I have missed sharing my thoughts and what is happening in our little corner.

This week I am giving thanks for the following:

• For the faithfulness of my Lord... He reminded me of His constant faithfulness with the rising of the sun this morning...
• For the privilege and opportunity to homeschool our children. They are enjoying it and I am really loving it! It is a greater blessing and privilege that I thought it would be...
• For my wonderful husband... he has blessed the boys with a great play area out back, with tons of sand, that is covered so now we have some shade (we have no trees thanks to the developer of our neighborhod)...
• For all that my kids are learning... they caught a frog out back the other day. We have been reading and studying about frogs and tadpoles in our science book... it was so great to hear them talk about and look for things on the frog that we had read about. And last night James asked David what he was learning in school, and David talked to him for about 30 minutes telling him very specific details of things we have read about and talked about! I was extremely impressed with the details of his memory!
• For my big bathtub! Relaxing in a nice warm bath has been my new way of relaxing nightly after a busy day with the kiddos...

So what are you thankful for? I encourage you to take time to notice the things in your life you need to be thankful for, and give our Lord the thanks He deserves. You will be blessed by doing so!

Wordless Wednesday... on thursday

I finally got it to work... enjoy the pictures. One from James' birthday, the other from our visit with his dad.

Wordless Wednesday

or maybe not...

I have tried on numerous occasions yesterday and today to post some pictures for Wordless Wednesday and they just will not post. Anyone else having problems posting pictures?

I will try to post a "words" post soon :)

Just a few thoughts...

Just thought I would share a few thoughts I have had since we started homeschooling about a week and a half ago... so far it has been a wonderful experience!

• I have found homeschooling to be very refreshing and extremely fulfilling! There is no hectic rushing around in the mornings to get out the door to be somewhere on time... And seeing my boys excitement for learning and their desire to work hard and do their work good is such a blessing!
• Honestly, I am finding I enjoy teaching my children much more that I had really thought I would! I wanted to home school them for their sakes and for the benefits they would receive from it, I never really considered that it would actually be fun for me and a blessing also! However, it is tons of fun and a huge blessing!
• It has not been sad for me to have my children start Kindergarten as it has been for so many of my friends... it is a blessing to be able to spend so much time with them and to watch them learn and discover new things with such excitement.
• I have found that they are not as clingy and needy of attention as they previously were at times before. It seems that by the time we finish school each day, they are content to play with each other or just by themselves without needing my constant attention... and (I hesitate to type this, as soon as I do it may change, but I will go ahead) they are fighting less, ( I did say less, not not at all :) This has made it nice in the afternoons as I am able to catch up on housework or whatever else I need to get done without so many constant interruptions.

So, all in all, this home school experience has been a wonderful one! I am very thankful that my husband and I have followed the Lord's leading and have embarked on this journey... I believe it will be an extremely fulfilling one, no matter how hard it is at times. Thanks to each and every one of you who have prayed for us as we have embarked on this journey. Please continue to pray, as we are just beginning... I am so very thankful it has been such a wonderful beginning!


There is absolutely nothing more fulfilling than doing what God has called you to do! Are you doing whatever it is that He is calling you to do?

The Journey Has Begun...

Well, this week we officially began our journey into the world of homeschooling! We started on Monday morning, and I just wanted to share what my wonderful Lord blessed me with during my time with Him before I started my day... it just made my heart soar how He spoke to me through His Word!

I was a couple of days behind in my read through list, so I was playing catch up and read Psalm 78. I just love how God's timing is so perfect! He knew that I would need to read this on Monday morning and timed it just so...

	Listen, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
	I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,
	Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us.
	We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.
	For He established a testimony in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they should teach them to their children,
	That the generation to come might know, {even} the children {yet} to be born, {That} they may arise and tell {them} to their children,
	That they should put their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments,
	And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to God. Psalm 78:1-8

Through these verses God gave me His purpose and vision for calling me to homeschool our children! I was and am so excited! I knew God was calling me to do this, but to have words straight from Him detailing our purpose and vision just spurs me on...

Our purpose and vision for homeschooling our children:

• To tell them the praises of the Lord, His strength, and His wondrous works;
• To lead them to put their confidence in God;
• To lead them to not forget God but to keep His commandments;
• To lead and enable them to prepare their hearts and to have a spirit that is faithful to God.

Just wanted to share that! Our week has gone wonderfully so far... we have 3 days of homeschooling under our belt and we are all loving it! I am using Sonlight curriculum and could not be more pleased, I am so very thankful that the Lord led me to use this particular curriculum, I think it fits our family perfectly!

Thankful Thursday

A faithful man will abound with blessings... Proverbs 28:20

Today I am giving thanks for my wonderful husband!

• I am thankful that he loves me always... even when I am moody, irritable, frustrating, and all out hard to live with! He still loves me and doesn't hold it against me!
• I am thankful for when he surprises me and draws me a nice warm bubble bath to crawl into after putting the boys to bed after a hard day...
• I am thankful for the sweet love letters he occasionally sends me via email...
• I am thankful for how wonderful he is with our boys... every night after dinner he tries to do something fun with them, to enjoy them, and to give me a much needed break from the incessant talking and question asking...
• I am thankful for how supportive he is of me... he always fully supports anything I attempt to do or take part in...
• I am thankful that he is faithful, in word and in deed...
• I am thankful that we are both "aliens" in this world and share the spiritual bond that we do...
• I am thankful that he loves my cooking and never complains about what I feed him :)
• I am thankful for his unconditional, undying love for me...
• I am thankful for the man of God that he is, and thankful that God has blessed me with him!

What are you thankful for today? I encourage you to take time to stop and give thanks for the many blessings God has bestowed upon your life... and tell those loved ones in your life that you are thankful for them! They like to hear it...

Word-Filled Wednesday

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world has been crucified to me,
and I to the world.
Galatians 6:14

In my slow reading through "don't waste your life" by John Piper, the following thoughts and insights he shares have had me in deep thought about the cross of Christ and how it really is the only thing I should be boasting in in this life. I thought I would share them with those of you who happen upon my blog...

"Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain." What was once foolishness to us - a crucified God - must become our wisdom and our power and our only boast in this world. ...



God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. We magnify God's worth the most when he becomes our only boast. ...



May the one thing that you cherish, the one thing that you rejoice in and exult over, be the cross of Jesus Christ. ...



Paul means something that will change every part of your life. He means that, for the Christian, all other boasting should also be a boasting in the cross. All exultation in anything else should also be a boasting in the cross. If you exult in the hope of glory, you should be exulting in the cross of Christ. If you exult in tribulation because tribulation works hope, you should be exulting in the cross of Christ. If you exult in your weakness, or in the people of God, you should be exulting in the cross of Christ.



Why is this the case? Because for redeemed sinners, every good thing - indeed every bad thing that God turns for good - was obtained for us by the cross of Christ. Apart from the death of Christ, sinners get nothing but judgment. Apart from the cross of Christ, there is only condemnation. Therefore everything that you enjoy in Christ - as a Christian, as a person who trusts Christ - is owing to the death of Christ. And all your rejoicing in all things should therefore be a rejoicing in the cross where all your blessings were purchased for you at the cost of the death of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.



One of the reasons we are not as Christ-centered and cross-saturated as we should be is that we have not realized that everything - everything good, and everything bad that God turns for the good of his redeemed children - was purchased by the death of Christ for us. We simply take life and breath and health and friends and everything for granted. We think it is ours by right. But the fact is that it is not ours by right. We are doubly undeserving of it. (all quotes taken from pages 48-52)

Wow... I think these are some great insights to spend time thinking and pondering over. I desire to have the mindset which leads me to boast in the cross of Christ. I want to see all the good in my life, and the bad that my Lord has redeemed and used for good, against the backdrop of the cross of Christ, realizing that it is only the cross that has made these things possible in my life. I want my life to be Christ-centered and cross-saturated... what about you?


For more WFW posts visit 160acrewoods.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Loneliness... Longings...

It seems that the deeper into the things of God that I go and that I desire to go, the lonelier I feel in this world. I honestly do not desire or long to fit into the world - I long for eternity and the life I will have there - and I long to find people here in my sphere of life, in my season of life, who are like-minded, who also long for eternity... yet they seem so hard to find, why is that?

I long for the things and people of this world to have no affect on my emotions or mental state. I long to be controlled by the Spirit in every single aspect of my being...

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Eccl. 3:11

Just some thoughts from my heart which I had written in my journal recently... I felt led to share these today, maybe someone else can relate...

Lessons learned while being still...

I have been on a journey these past few weeks of seeking to be still...

I have been intentional about slowing down and focusing on my relationship with my Lord and with my family... I have been carefully considering and praying about how to spend my time daily rather than let activities and plans of others dictate my schedule and my calender. It has been absolutely wonderful and very freeing!

I am learning several lessons during my quest to be still more often and wanted to share them here, in hopes they may help some of you.

I am learning that being still is not just a lack of physical activity. In fact, I am learning that you can be still while in the midst of physical activity. In many ways being still is more about our minds and hearts being still and focused on the task at hand rather than being divided among several different tasks. My Lord has shown me that often times my heart and mind are not still, they are running off in so many different directions that I can not effectively do the task I am currently working on because I am too distracted. So I am learning daily to still my heart and my mind. If I catch my heart and mind wandering ahead to future tasks I try to reel them back in so I can have an undivided focus on what it is I am currently doing.

I am also learning that in order to have a still mind and heart, which enable me to more effectively fulfill the calling God has on my life, which at this time is being a wife and mom, I do not have to take part in every single "good" activity that comes my way. This has been hard for me, because I like to take advantage of all the "good" opportunities that come along. However, I am learning to take them to God, and allow Him to reveal to me if they are what He desires for me to fill my time with at this time. I came to the realization that many things that are good are not good for me at this season in my life... they take me away from my family, which is God's priority for me right now. Not only do they take me away from my family in person but they occupy much of my thoughts, causing me to be distracted and divided in my time with them. Instead of having time to have a teachable moment, to spend extra time loving on my family, to make a nice healthy meal for my family, or to spend the extra time needed on a discipline problem, I was having to rush and run out the door to get to this activity or that activity. So I am learning to say "No" to those things the Lord leads me to say "No" to rather than yes to everything... and I can I say it has been very freeing. And I can definitely say it has helped me to quiet my heart and my mind and to have a more undivided focus of the things the Lord would have me to focus on right now.

I am also learning that being still, having a quiet heart and mind, open up the door for me to hear my Lord's voice more clearly, more consistently, and more frequently. I am more aware of the promptings of His Spirit, and more able to quickly obey those promptings rather than waiting until things slow down... which often when I would wait for things to slow down I would forget about the promptings of His Spirit and not follow through... In focusing on having a quiet heart and a quiet mind I have been able to reach out and minister to others, really in rather simple ways; whereas before I would have been to busy, physically and mentally, to take the time to do such things. Also, in taking time to be still and enjoy life with my family, the Lord has brought opportunities for ministry along our path, nothing big or huge, just little things done for others in the name of Jesus. I know in my life sometimes the little things others have done for me spoke volumes more to me than big things... a timely card sent in the mail, a phone call at just the right time, a smile or word of encouragement, a hug, just the fact that someone noticed you were there...


So this journey to be still has been and is a good one... I plan to continue on it. I long to sit at His feet, Hear His voice, and follow Him in those things He has for me to follow Him in, and I long to do all this with an undivided heart. What about you? Do you take time to be still, to quiet your heart and your mind so that you can more effectively hear our Lord speak to you? I enjoy you to do so...

Thankful Thursday

Today I am giving thanks to the Giver of all good things, my Father in Heaven.

I thought I would share my thankfulness in pictures this time...

Hope you enjoy, and are also encouraged to give thanks yourself...

I am thankful for the beauty of God's creation!
Waterfalls always make me think of "streams of living water"...
I pray that He would cause "streams of living water" to flow in and through me...

I am thankful for precious time spent with my family
and the memories we make being together...
The boys thought this was such a grand adventure!

I am thankful for summer fun spent with friends...

I am thankful for the blessing of my children...
and the joy they add to my life!

I am thankful for the excitement and anticipation
of a new season of life...
we are soon to begin homeschooling!

I encourage you to stop and take time to give our Lord thanks for the many ways He has blessed your life...

Our curriculum is here!!

We received 2 BIG boxes from Fed-Ex today...

with all this "STUFF" we get to use for school!!

The boys were so excited to see so many new books!
And even more excited to learn that they are ours...
and we do not have to return them to the library!!

I can't wait for our new adventure to begin...

It is going to be lots of fun for ALL of us!!

Still here...

I just thought I would let those of you who read my blog know that I am still here! I have just been enjoying the summer with my family... the past few weeks have been absolutely wonderful. I have had time to be still and enjoy my life as a wife and mom, to enjoy lazy summer days with my boys, and to enjoy our weekends with dad...

The computer seems to have lost its hold on me!! I am not as drawn to it as I once was... actually there are some days I wish I didn't even have one! I am finding that instead of spending time reading blogs and looking at stuff online I am wanting to spend my time with my family and seeking my Lord... it has been and is very refreshing.

I am also in the throes of getting ready to homeschool. I have been studying curriculum as I try to decide what we need to order and what we do not need... I have been going through and cleaning out our file cabinet to make room for homeschooling files and record-keeping... and I have a couple of closets to re-organize so we can have an orderly place to keep all our homeschooling books and supplies.

So I am still here, and I will be back with more regular posts soon... but for this season my posts may continue to be a bit sporadic as I spend more time with Him and with my family. I hope you all are having a wonderful summer!

Wordless Wednesday

Encouragement from my Lord...

Today the Lord encouraged me greatly during my time with Him. These past few weeks I have been seeking to be more still... more still with my Lord, more still with my husband, and more still with my kids.

The world does not always understand our need to be still. The world tries to make us go, go, go and do, do, do. At times in my quest to be still I have felt a bit like an alien, like others do not quite understand my desire and my need to be still, especially with my Lord. And I have wondered if I am going over the top in my quest to spend more time with Him and with my family rather than doing other "good" things.

God always knows our thoughts and He knows what is going on in our hearts... and He knows when we need words of encouragement - He sent me some today!

As I was reading my daily reading in a little devotional given to me by someone dear (you know who you are), the Lord spoke directly to my heart! Here is the devotion for the day... may it encourage someone else out there who longs to be still with the Lord.

I am your Father-God, listen to Me! Learn what it means to be a child of the everlasting King. Your richest duty is devotion to Me. This duty is such a joyous privilege that it feels like a luxury. You tend to feel guilty about pushing back the boundaries of your life to make space for time alone with Me. The world is waiting to squeeze you into its mold and to crowd out time devoted to Me. The ways of the world have also warped your conscience, which punishes you for doing the very thing that pleases Me most: seeking My Face. Listen to Me above the clamor of voices trying to distract you. Ask My Spirit to control your mind, for He and I work in perfect harmony. Be still and attentive in my Presence. You are on holy ground. (from Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young, page197)

I pray this encourages and speaks to someone as it did to me today... may you do what you need to do to make time to be still with Him. You will be eternally thankful that you did!

Happy 4th of July!!

This song always moves me to tears... I am so thankful to live in America where we have so many freedoms. And I am so very thankful for the freedom I have found in my Savior, Christ Jesus.

May you all have a wonderful 4th of July weekend... celebrating not only our freedom here in America but also the freedom from sin and death that can only be found in a personal relationship with Christ Jesus.

(pause the music on the sidebar before listening to this video)

Order is good! God told me so...

My Lord so encouraged me this morning during my time with Him. His encouragement really did fill my heart with joy and brought me great comfort...

Lately I have been wondering if I am just too organized, too structured, or too schedule oriented. I have a place for everything in our house... it makes it easy to find when someone needs it, and it makes it fairly easy to clean up, you just put it back where you got it from. I am also a planner. I usually plan our days and our week, whether it is just time at home together or fun outings out, or appointments or such that we have to take care... by planning things out I find that it helps me to be more productive with my time and I am able to tackle the big things that I really need to get done rather than pushing them to the back burner...

But people have made comments about my organization...

• I can not believe you plan out your meals for each week (well, how else do you know what to buy at the grocery store)
• Your kitchen is so organized, I would hate for you to see mine, it is just chaos...

So I have been a bit down on myself, wondering if I am over the top... but the Lord blessed my heart this morning by showing me that I am not!

I am doing the Bible study, He Speaks To Me, by Priscilla Shirer, and today's lesson was on priorities! She mentions that in Exodus 25-27, when God was giving Moses very detailed instructions on building the tabernacle, that God required Moses to give great attention to detail! Then a bit later in the lesson she quoted this statement from her pastor, and it just made my heart soar...

"A focus on divine order always precedes an infilling of His divine presence." When we want God to show up and reveal Himself to us we have to plan and prepare to place priority on the things that are important to Him. page 34

I know that at this point in my life, it is important to God that I do my best to be a Godly wife and mom, taking care of my family and my home. So I feel He is pleased that I am orderly and in control of our home. Since I am structured and have a cleaning schedule and everything has a place, I do not have to spend lots and lots of time cleaning. I just have to maintain weekly and do big cleanings when it is required. This frees me up to spend more time with my family and with my Lord... during rest times each day I am usually able to spend more time with Him rather than running around trying to get stuff done around the house.

I actually find that being organized and structured is very freeing... it helps me to use my time more wisely and efficiently, and allows me more time to seek Him, and to be the wife and mom that I long to be. I have more time to try that new recipe that looked good, more time to play games or read books with the boys, more time to go for bike rides with the family after dinner... I also find that when my home and life are in order that my thoughts are more orderly and peaceful rather than chaotic and frazzled.

I am so thankful that today my Lord saw fit to encourage me and to let me know that order is ordained by Him! After all, our Lord is not a Lord of confusion or chaos put of peace! 1 Corinthians 14:33.

Thankful Thursday

O God, Thou art my God;
I shall seek Thee earnestly;
My soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee,
In a dry and weary land where there is no water. ...

Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise Thee. ...

My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.
Psalm 63:1, 3, 5

I am truly blessed each week by taking the time to think about the many, many things I have to be thankful for... some are big and some are little; but they all are things that I owe Him great thanks for blessing me with. This week I am giving thanks for the following:

• For having time to "be still" - with my Lord, with my husband, and with my children. It has been absolutely wonderful, and I intend to make sure that my life does not get so busy that I do not have time to be still with my top 3 priorities! I will be saying "No" to those things that steal my stillness...
• For the preciousness of God's Word and how it is a healing balm to a wounded soul...
• For the calling to homeschool my children... it is a challenge and an adventure that I am looking forward to! I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for all of us through homeschooling!
• For the privilege and opportunity to be able to pour my heart out before the Lord - and that He is a refuge for me...
• For the love of my children and my husband...

I have much, much more to be thankful for... but that is all I am going to list today. I encourage you to stop right now and make a short list of just a few of the things you have to be thankful for... and share them with me! I would love to hear what you are thankful for today!

For more TT posts you can visit Lynn...

Word-Filled Wednesday & Scripture Memory Verse

Since the 1st falls on a Wednesday I thought I would combine my Word-filled Wednesday and my scripture memory verse for the first half of July. I will be committing Isaiah 26:8-9 to memory for the first half of July... I have been reading "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper, an excellent book and one I highly recommend; he tells how this verse was the mission verse for the passion conferences and the "268 Declaration"... it just jumped out at me and I knew it was the next verse the Lord wanted me to work on hiding in my heart.

Here it is from the NIV:

Isaiah 26:8-9

"Yes, Lord,
walking in the way of your laws,
we wait for you;
your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.
My soul yearns for you in the night;
in the morning my spirit longs for you..."

Is there a verse or passage of scripture that you are working on hiding in your heart? It makes such a difference to have His Word tucked away in our hearts... I would encourage you to make it a priority...

Wordless Wednesday