A look at 2010

Christmas is QUICKLY approaching. And seems to be a surprise to everyone every year as if Christmas sneeks up on us by changing the date on us all! Haha!

I've been looking back over this year and thinking about all that Christ has done in me & my husband's lives... There is a lot to think about!

1st, we were blessed with a landlord in Ames who wanted to help us out by allowing us to rent month-to-month while Kinch looked for a job & until he found one! 2nd, even through all the job openings Kinch found & applied to, God was faithful to place us in the exact place He wants us... & it has been so evident to us how gracious & loving our God truly is!

3rd, we have been able to enjoy being close to family we weren't as close to before the move! I love spending time with my cousins who are in KC... Family is such an essential to life, I think. I can't imagine going through day-to-day things without the love & support family can offer.

4th, God allowed it to work out for me to work in the fields this summer with Kinch. And even though it wasn't my favorite job, I enjoyed it because of the sunshine & being able to see my hubby for a little bit almost every day while working. And, bonus, we got our biggest student loan payed off! Praise the Lord!

5th, we are healthy! A few colds here and there, but always minor things. So many other people have actual illnesses to be concerned with, & are fighting for their lives everyday, many of whom we pray for... So, we are so very thankful looking back on this year for the blessing of good health!

I could go on & on & on about how blessed we are & even though we do face some hard things & have this past year, like the death of my Uncle Brian, blessings far outweigh all of the hard times.

This year of 2010 truly has brought to light many of God's provisions for us. Thank You Lord! We pray Your blessings upon our friends & family in the year to come as well!

This movie title encompasses all that I feel about this year & my life in general... "It's A Wonderful Life!"

Where has the time gone?

Oh, man! I can't believe how fast this month has flown by! Sometimes I wish it would slow down a little bit! Other times, I want it to go by faster. Either way, it has come to my attention through the sharing of fellowship with a dear friend who was talking about this very thing, that all too often at the end of our lives, we realize how much time was wasted by "wishing away" the precious time here we DO have!

That's a little hard to swallow because it means I have a condition. A heart condition, to be exact. And it's not one that can be fixed by human doctors. No, it's one needing repaired by hands much stronger & much more loving & gracious. My condition of the heart is known as uncontentedness. Not easily overcome, but possible through the love & faithfulness of Christ!

I don't have much time to post more, so I'll close with this thought. I'm thankful for a Father who lovingly brings me to realize the sin I have in my life & willingly forgives me when I ask for it. Please Lord, help me to cherish every moment that you do give to me, & help me to use it for Your glory!!!

A Home For You

Come and make, my heart, Your home,

 and come and be everything I am & all I know,

and search, me through & through, till my heart becomes, a home for You

a home for You, Lord. A home for You, Lord

Let everything I do, open up a door for You to come through

And that my heart would be, a place where You want to be

'Cause You are my portion, filling up everything

You are the fortune, that's causing my heart to sing

that it's amazing that You could make Yourself at home with me

With me Lord, come & make my heart

Come & make it Your home,

and come and be everything I am & all I know,

and search me, through & through

till my heart becomes a home for You.

-Ginny Owens

God has really used this song to speak to my heart lately! It is always in the back of my mind, & I find myself singing it or humming it to myself as I get ready for the day, or while I'm cleaning, or driving... You know. I don't know about anyone else, but music is like medicine for my soul! Actually, I shouldn't say that... I hate medicine. Okay.... Hmmmm. Maybe it's more like that peace you feel after a major storm blows over that produced hail & wind damage & tornados... And you know you're safe! It's like that for me. My comfort.

Sometimes I feel like God uses musicional artists to write a song just for me & I always seem to hear it RIGHT when I need it most! I know that's not entirely true, He didn't just inspire those Christian artists for me, but many others as well. However, there is total truth in God knowing all my needs even before I speak them to Him.

I have a blessed friend who just reminded me about God's love for me recently. She said "Leanna, friend, let God's love penetrate your heart. Cry out to Him. Confess you need it (His love) & Him more than ever. He already knows." And that's the beauty of it, isn't it! He DOES already know, but He desires to hear it from me. He wants that intimate relationship with me that you can only have by sharing what's REALLY on your heart! He. Wants. To. Know. About. Me........From me!

God, that is my prayer! Come & make, my heart, Your home. Come & be everything I am, & ALL I know. SEARCH ME, through & through, till my heart becomes, a home for You!

It is SO freeing to bathe yourself in the unconditional love of Christ!

FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was just looking through some of my pictures today, & wanted to show you some of my favorites of my friends! They, after all, are another provision from God... A blessing!

                                                 Me, my sista & Kailie!!!

                                                           Me & my girl Kimberly

                                                         Me & my BFFB Ryanne

                                                              Me & mom, one of my best friends

                                         Me & my hubby, the greatest friend a wife could have!

                                                                The O'Kelley Sisters!

                                                           Papa bear & brother bear!

                                                         My sweet baby bro, Josiah

                                                         Moms & sisters are the best!

                                               Friends we consider family: Ross & Johanna

                                                         Me & Kristen: Gal Pal's for life

                                       Adrienne, Cassie, Kristen, Kailie, Johanna, Manda, & me

                                                  Hor-Hay!!!!! Also a friend considered family

                                                               Me & my cousin Paige

                                 My wonderful husband & me on our 2 year wedding anniversary!

Proverbs 18:24  "A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

Thank You God, for MANY friends who stick closer than a brother, & thank You for my family, who sticks close like a brother!

Blessings

What blessings do I have from God?

Answer...

LIFE! Everything!!!!! God has given me life, earthly & spiritually, & has blessed me with a husband who loves Him & loves me! When I was in my car accident Wed, my life was changed. I didn't have any injuries that couldn't be fixed with chiropractic care, & I realized it could have been so much worse.

I realized how precious my time here on earth is. We live but for a moment, & then we are gone. What do we do with our time?

I decided I could use my time in a much more effective way if I used it to bless others.

Okay, how do I do that? What do I have to offer them? These are just a couple questions I began to ask myself.

I have nothing to offer... was my original thought. Then it dawned on me... God! I have God! I just happen to serve the most MIGHTY God, the creator of heaven & earth, of you and me! He did create us to magnify His name. It is our job to be used as vessels to make His name famous! He is my King! He is Holy of Holies!

How lightly I take my comissioning! I have never been one to speak up, or be bold in speaking, but I can use the gifts God has BLESSED me with to win others to Himself!

Why has it taken me 23 years to figure this out? Hmmmm? I don't know. However, I do know that now that I have, I will ask God to show me how He wants me to use these gifts. Lord, please show me the gifts that you have given to me that You want me to use in order to glorify Your name! I have been reading in Psalms lately in my devotions, & many verses have gripped my heart. But there is one theme that has been sticking to me above any other right now; that being the fact that it's NOT all about me. If fact, it IS all about Him. After reading Psalm 23:3 " He leads me in the paths of righteousness, FOR HIS NAME'S SAKE" I then realized, He saved me & leads me not for my sake, but for His! Of course He loves me & wants me to spend the rest of eternity with Him, but He didn't choose to save me from my sin because of me! He chose to because it will allow others to see His magnificense if I then change my mindset & live for Him! It's all for HIS glory, not mine! Oh, how selfish I have been in my thinking all these years. I do not deserve His love & guidance. But I get them because He is a gracious God, full of love, & He saw my need for Him while living in my sin. Psalm 25:11 says "For YOUR NAME'S SAKE, O Lord, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great."

For Your name's sake, Lord. I give You glory. You alone are worthy. It is for You, that I'm living, God. For Your name I will live a life of love & abandone, to You, & a life of service to people. People who need You as much as I do!

Yes I need a Saviour! But I need to remember it's not about me.

This song has been coming to my mind all the while I have been writing this post, so I will share it!

It is my MOST favorite song right now! It catches my attention in whatever I'm doing, & allows me to worship my God, no matter where I am!

 Our God is GREATER, Our God is STRONGER. God You are HIGHER than any other. Our God is HEALER, AWESOME in POWER, our God, our God. And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us. And if our God is with us, then what could stand against us?

So, because He is all of this & more, I choose to glorify my God with my mind, body, soul, actions, words, life! I will not fear any adversaries. We are not to live in fear because according to 2 Timothy 1:7 " God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of POWER & of LOVE & of a SOUND MIND."

So, Lord, I pray Your scripture back to You, that "When You said, '"Seek My face,'" My heart said to You, "Your face, Lord, I will seek." " (Psalm 27:8)

Phone Providers... UGH!

Okay... So, we have just encountered ANOTHER phone provider problem, which just happens to be one of many so far! I will not mention who our provider is, but had to vent & thought it would be better here than to someone directly! It all started with our move to Kansas. I knew I was going to go over my pre-determined messaging limit when I checked my balance a couple of days before our plan renewed to a new month, so I told Kinch & he promptly proceeded to call this company & explain that we needed to add a few more messages to my phone so we wouldn't have to pay extra fees. So, the customer service rep informed us of our options & Kinch chose the plan that best suited my need for more messages. The lady was actually kind & helpful. That was not the problem, obviously. The problem occured when we got our bill today in the mail... They charged us double what the nice lady had quoted us over the phone! DOUBLE! This is just another reason of many on my list to want to NOT give them our business anymore. They just don't seem to be able to get anything right. We have called with questions regaurding wrong billing numerous times, & every time they explain away into the depths of a pit that should be well known to all phone customers & reps... Explaining.... Blaming...Further explanations...Not understanding the REAL problem... Etc,etc,etc! Thank goodness for my husband who can keep himself calm & cool & collected while speaking w/ these people! I don't know what I would do without him. Then, it dawned on me, that I am so much like the customer sales reps that just explain away, going on & on about things that don't even matter & apply, & that God is a lot like Kinch (I'm not saying that Kinch is God) in the fact that he just listens to them patiently & lovingly, all the while knowing that the customer sales rep will eventually stop talking long enough to do exactly what he needed to do in the first place... listen. Wow! Okay Lord! I get it! I have not exactly been the woman you want me to be when I don't take the time to listen to You in the first place. How important it is to listen to God! I ask so much of Him all the time that I often forget to be still in His presence, & just listen; Follow His leading, listen to the Holy Spirit speaking inside of me, praying, asking God to cut out of me anything & everything that is in me that is not wholly pleasing to Him... things that get in the way of me meditating on Him day & night... Talk about an attitude adjustment! So, now I have no other choice than to pray about my imperfections & sins & ask God to renew me, & thank Him for His unconditional love! My spirit can be SO ugly sometimes, so Lord, please cut that out of me. Help me to keep in the fore-front of my mind that You dwell within me. God, You alone can control my mind & thoughts & actions... Give me a renewd spirit today, & cleanse my heart of everything ugly in Your sight! And, thank You for the attitude adjustment. I want to be pleasing to You! I want to be a "lovely thing" in Your sight!

On my mind

Today's blog entry is not really about any certain thing... Just my thoughts. I haven't ever been good about keeping a journal.

 I have been GREAT about starting a journal and promising myself to keep it up, & then proceeding to forget about it & let the journal collect dust. =( So, I am attempting to blog & keep an "online journal", if you will, & a place to collect thoughts, experiences, my quiet time epiphonies, & my life in general instead of dust!

Kinch, my husband, & I have recently relocated to Topeka, KS due to Kinch's job! We are very excited about this new adventure & are happy to place some roots here.

I have joined a bible study on Tue mornings, & so far, I have met & made a few friends & have a newly reclaimed hunger & desire for more of God... More time spent in His Word, more understanding of it, more depth as I read... Just more!

It came to my attention after moving how great my desire is to have friends! You don't realize how important they are in your life till you aren't close to them anymore, whether that be in miles or in heart. I love my friends back home & from high school dearly. But, I came to realize, I need friends HERE!

What better place to meet friends than at church?

No where is better!

So, I'm praying that God will bless my endeavors to meet some ladies whom I can call good friends. Praying I can make myself vulnerable to them & open up to them... I'm not very good at that. I like to keep to myself most of the time, which is NOT at all helpful when trying to make friends.

So, Lord, once again, please work in my heart to open myself up to these wonderful ladies you've placed in my life so that I can have good friendships here in Topeka...

Pretty Poppy

Everyone, check out Pretty Poppy! They have gorgeous, chic jewelry that's sure to go with any cute outfit you sport! I have created a link to their website... They have free giveaways quite often! You'll love their pieces!

God

Great is our God & worthy to be praised!!! This thought has been on my mind ever since my husabnd & I moved to Topeka! What a blessing our new church has been already! We love Fellowship Bible Church! I have already grown so much in the past 3 weeks. My soul has re-discovered the Great Lover of My Soul! I have fallen in-love with Christ again! What a life changing experience! God- YOU alone are GREAT and SO WORTHY of PRAISE!!!!!