Move It Monday

Well, I'm not moving it very quickly or gracefully today. :( Somehow though, with a lower back that's out, and a lingering cold, I have to find a way to go to parent teacher conferences for my oldest, homeschool with my younger 3, meet my cousin in Sabetha, while she's still in the state, and pick up a swingset from Walmart! Hmmm.. Definitely going to need the Lord's grace and strength today..... and maybe even a small miracle?! :o) My spirits are high though, despite my discomfort! I have my first pair of glasses, and I can see SO WELL! Plus, how can you NOT wake up happy when you have another day to spend with your children, and have been blessed with 12 years of marriage with a wonderful husband!?! I pray you all have a wonderful Monday and rest of the week!

Thankful Thursday

Oh, goodness...where does one even begin?! I am so thankful for God's mercy. I am thankful that even though I battle my flesh so much, and succom to tempation from the world, God stays with me. He never gives up on me, and He speaks do the depths of my heart. He gives me the chance to repent and learn from His word, that I might not sin against Him again!

I am so thankful for His provision! I just can't hardly grasp the fact that 4 months ago, hubby's company shut down, and we were without income, and our lives changed forever. It was such a deep, dark place at that moment, and God has brought us through, and is leading us back up the mountain again. Even though we lost our house, and had to move back to Kansas, God was with us, every step of the way. We never felt alone, and God orchestrated it all just perfectly! We were never without food, shelter, or warmth. We were only without each other for a short time, while hubby worked his new job, and the kids and I packed the house. What we now lack, being in a different home, and state, God has made up for with new blessings, that we didn't have before!

I have had to go through many valleys in my life, between standing on the mountain tops, and they have made me a better person. I am a better mother, wife, friend, daughter, sister, neighbor, and most importantly, Christian! Without the valleys, I know that wouldn't be the case. God has used them to shape and mold me into who He wants me to be. I know I'm still not there yet, and will need many, many more valleys, but I know God will always be with me, and will be there on the mountain tops with me too, to rejoice with me! He has blessed me in the hard times, just as much as in the good. I thank God today, and everyday for who He is, what He has done, and what He has promised to continue to do!

All the Bible studies I have done and am doing lately, all have one main theme...keeping my eyes upon the LORD. I am so thankful today, that I have a LORD worth keeping my eyes upon! Thank you God, thank you Jesus, thank you Holy Spirit! My life would be nothing without You!

Thankful Thursday is Hosted at Women Taking a Stand this month!

Women In The Word Wednesday

Don't forget to go to the Good Morning Girls site to read more of what God's children are learning from Him!

Good Wednesday morning to you all! Well, I tell you what, this study in James has really been a doosy so far! If you aren't even the slightest bit convicted by the words in James, you need a serious spiritual check-up! James is so blunt, and to the point! (In a good way of course!) But he leaves no room for excuses and loopholes here! It's black and white, and my toes have been stepped on for sure!

I consider myself to be a very compassionate, kind, and caring person...but I definitely show respect of persons, and James makes it clear, that it's a sin! :( I've been reading out of my Life Application Bible, and the foot notes are just wonderful! They really help you to apply the scriptures to your daily life, and understand them on a deeper level. If you've never looked at one, I would recommend you do. They print it in several translations...KJV, NKJV, NIV, and others! One thing I learned last week and wasn't able to post about for time reasons, was that respect of persons and favoritism is actually a selfish act. When you really think about it, what are your motivations for showing favoritism? Most instances of favoritism or respect of persons, is the rich vs the poor. There are others of course, but I think this is why James focuses so much on the rich/poor aspect. This is out of my footnotes....

"To have "respect of persons" means to show favoritism to some people over others. Often we treat a well-dressed, impressive looking person better than someone who looks poor. We do this because we would rather identify with successful people than with apparent failures. The irony, as James reminds us, is that the supposed winners may have gained their impressive lifestyle at our expense. In addition, the rich find it hard to identify with the Lord Jesus who came as a humble servant. Are you easily impressed by status, wealth, or fame? Are you partial to the "haves" while ignoring the "have nots"? This attitude is sin. God views all people as equals......

......By honoring someone just because he dresses well, we are making his appearance more important than his character. We sometimes do this because (1) poverty makes us uncomfortable; we don't want to face our responsibilities to those who have less than we do; (2) we too want to be wealthy, and we hope to use the rich person as a means to that end; (3) we want the rich person to join our church and help support it financially. All these motives are selfish; they view neither the rich nor the poor person as a human being in need of fellowship. If we say Christ is Lord of our lives, then we must live as he requires, showing no favoritism and loving all people regardless of their circumstances."

What about you? Do you have times of favoritism? Are there people you treat better than others for any reason? Family members that get better treatment than other family members? Co-workers that you favor over other co-workers? Sometimes just our personalities clash, and therefore we treat people less than desirably. The thing is, those you shun see your actions, and feel the hurt you cause them. If you claim to be a Christian, and treat people this way, they will NOT see the love of Christ in you. All favoritism stems from selfishness on our part. This has been so convicting for me, and I pray God will help me to overcome my respect of persons. Won't you join me in this prayer today?

God, help me to see people like you see them. Help me to look past the appearance, move past the personalities, and gaze upon the heart. Help me to remember that you created all men, and you created them equally in your sight. Help me to LOVE like you LOVE! Help me to not focus on myself, and my wants and needs, but on You, and on others! Please guard my heart, and may your Spirit speak to me loudly, that I might not sin against you, and cause hurt to others. I want to set the standards of this world aside, and remember that the true goal of this life, is entering your kingdom, and bringing as many with us as possible! In Jesus name I pray, Amen!

Move It Monday

Today is not just any Monday, but VALENTINES DAY Monday! I hope you all have a wonderful day, and find a special way to show those you love, just how much you love them! I surprised my dear hubby with a card and a chocolate fish! I snuck out of the house while he was getting ready, and put them on the steering wheel of the van, so he would see them when he left to go to work! I just loved the fish, it said, "I'm deffinately not throwing you back!" I found the perfect card too, that said all the right words! I watched him from the window, and he looked so happy! My husband isn't a smooshy sensitive guy, but he LOVES being appreciated by his wife, and when I take the time to do something extra special for him! We also have Valentines presents for the kids. This year, just like last year, it's Webkinz! They love them, and it's a perfect gift!

I am busy today, per usual. I woke up pretty grogy, but I have a decent energy level, praise the Lord! So I am trying to take full advantage it! I am resuming all my supplements now, and hoping that they will not interfere with my Fibromyaliga medicine. I want so bad, to get back to the good health I was enjoying in July, and I know the supplements will really help! I think if I can add the benefit of better sleep, and less pain that I get with the FM medicine, with the energy that I get from the suppliments, I will feel the best that I have felt in years! My goal is to feel good enough to exercise again, and resume a cardio healthy lifestyle! You all pray for me!

Today, I need to:

*Wash Dishes-DONE

*Load of Hubby's Laundry-DONE

*Mop Kitchen Floor-DONE

*Load of My Laundry-DONE

*Clean Front Rooms

*Load of A.B.'s Laundry-DONE

We also are having gorgeous weather this week, so I fully intend on getting some outdoor time in, even if it's just siting on the bench and drinking a glass of tea! Happy Valentines Day everyone!

Move It Monday

Well, I'm not moving it very well today. :( I don't know why, but I woke up sleepy and unmotivated today. I have MUCH to do, so I hope I can find some higher gears before the day is up! I have a couple things that must get done today, whether in high gear or low...

*Laundry-DONE

*Dishes

*Store return-DONE

*Clean off sewing table-DONE

*Pull out fabric and get it ready

*BUY A SNOW SHOVEL!-DONE

I hope you all have a wonderful Monday and rest of the week!!!

Project Organized Home~Kitchen Makeover!

Well, it's been so long since I've done a Friday post, that I felt I owed you a proper one! lol! So, I thought I would share the before and after photos of the kitchen in our new rental house. God really blessed me here... it was so hard to leave the gorgeous kitchen that we had in our home in Georgia...so hard. Then, to see what this kitchen looked like, well it almost brought me to tears. But the landlord here, has been great, and had no problems with me painting whatever I wanted, to make it feel more like our home! :) You just can't beat that when you've owned your own home for so many years! So, I took full advantage of it, and really had fun in this tiny kitchen!

The before.....

The after....

It's still not done, and a little messy, but you get the idea of the transformation!

You can't see it, but I still have the other cabinet that's identical to the one on the left. It's to the right of the fridge, so when you are standing in front of it, it's all symetrical. It all fit just perfectly!

This weekend, we will be moving the microwave to above the oven, where it belongs! It's an over the range microwave, so it's taking up WAY too much of the little counter space I have available!

It's been so fun, and I love walking in there now! I will really be pleased when we move the microwave, and finish the rooster border on the stove wall. I have been searching thrift stores for more tea pots and roosters too, to finish decorating the shelves above the sink. The trick in these old houses, is finding the neat features they have hidden in them, and really exploiting them! Like the shelves, and the cove behind the fridge! Have a great weekend everyone!

Women In The Word Wendesday~2/2/11

Oh, what a wonderful study James is! There is sooo much good, good stuff in here! Convicting, yes...I think the best of God's Word is! If we didn't get our toes stepped on, we wouldn't know what to change, or have the desire to change it! Surrender to the Holy Spirit, is one of the best feelings we will ever have here on this earth!

"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was." James 1: 22-24

Here's that phrase again..."be ye doers of the word!" You know something is pretty important to God when He repeats it in His Word! He wants to make sure we get it, just in case we skimmed over it the first time! :) Oh how true this passage is! If you read a book about how to ride a bike, are you going to be able to ride one perfectly? If you read a book about how to play the piano, will you be ready for a recital? NO! Of course not. It takes practice! Without actually "doing" it, you cannot have success. Not only will you not have success, but you will eventually forget what you even read.

God's word is that way too, only more so. There is an enemy out there who has had thousands of years of practice doing what...? Everything He can to make you forget God's word, disobey God's word, avoid God's word, etc. James tells us that if we only listen to God's word, and don't obey it, and act upon it as well, we will be deceiving our own selves. Worse yet, we will forget what kind of person we ought to be. Have you ever seen someone really living in sin, and you say to yourself, or someone else, "I don't even know who they are anymore." Well, if we aren't doers of God's word, we will be saying that about ourselves one day too.

Listening to God's word is good! Very good! But what profit it is, to know it, if we aren't going to do anything about it?! Hypocrisy is born this way too. The number one reason I hear from people as to why they don't want to go to church, is that they feel the church is filled with hypocrites. Why is this? Because too many Christians are talking the talk, and not walking the walk! Unsaved people, and even saved people, are going to be more affected by our actions, than by our words, and our "knowledge." Actions speak louder than words! If we say we are different, if we say God has changed us, but we aren't living any different lives, that's hypocrisy. Such a stumbling block that is, for non-believers, and ourselves.

I've seen Christians who are definitely deceiving their selves. They've got so much head knowledge of God's word, but aren't living it in their lives. They put off this "I am so godly" attitude, but then turn around and make filthy jokes, or show judgement to another brethren. Doesn't that just hurt your spirit when you see that? I know I have been guilty of it before, and I just pray I didn't hurt anyones spirit. That is NOT the kind of Christian I want to be. I want to be a "doer of the word and not a hearer only!" God help us to strive to be a great doer of His word, and have it all be for His honor, and His glory!

Feel free to read other posts about what God is teaching the Good Morning Girls in this study of James!