LOVE

I found this today on youtube & was once again amazed at how God works! This parallels my previous post. Take a listen!

I also read 1 John 3:18 today & it says "My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed & in truth."

Have a BLESSED & LOVE FILLED Valentine's Day!!!!!!!!

Life

Okay, so I LOVE waking up with sweet words of encouragement in my heart & mind!

Most of the time I wake up with a song in my heart & get out of bed humming/singing.

It truly makes my mornings much easier to deal with, me being the total UN-morning person that I am! =)

This morning, it wasn't as much a song as it was an artist. This artist has a beautiful voice, strong yet graceful & the lyrics are filled with hope, joy, promises from God... They are so uplifting!

Her name is Christy Nockels.

And through her music & fervent desire to serve the Lord & produce good, wholesome Christian music, she has been used by God to speak to my heart, among many others!

I love worshipping God through music. A song in my heart is a lot of times what keeps me on the right track for the day, as I will continually play it over in my mind.

It also helps me keep my... well... everything in perspective. I am so thankful that God created music to be used as a way to worship Him! What a wonderful, Magestic Savior!

Here are the lyrics to one of my favorite songs... I am always able to refocus my attention & energy onto the Lord when I listen to this song, no matter what I'm going through that day.

Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow...

All your ways are good
All your ways are sure
I will trust in you alone
Higher than my side
High above my life
I will trust in you alone

Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow you
Who you love, I'll love
How you serve I'll serve
If this life I lose, I will follow you
I will follow you

Light unto the world
Light unto my life
I will live for you alone
You're the one I seek
Knowing I will find
All I need in you alone, in you alone

In you there's life everlasting
In you there's freedom for my soul
In you there's joy, unending joy
and I will follow
    
*Chris Tomlin

I hope these thoughts & strivings will be true in my life, as well as yours. Be encouraged today friends!!!!

LOVE WELL!

As Valentines Day is approaching, I have been pondering what it means to love well.

It can mean different things to different people, but I know there is some sort of standard set for loving well... and I believe the standard comes from Christ Himself.

I see that He loved me well when He layed down His life for me.

1 John 3:16 "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us, and we ought to also lay down our lives for the brethren."

I see that He loved me well when He said He layed down His life in order that I might spend eternity with Him in Glory, even tho I hurt Him by sinning.

His gift of love is ENDLESS!

He shows me how much He loves me by His Words. When I spend time reading the Bible & praying & listening... He blesses me with the feelings of peace, joy, contentment, healing, etc... & makes me feel as though I am literally resting in His arms... being hugged from all sides.

I love being enveloped in His perfect love!

I know the most widely known verses in the Bible reguarding love are found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 & 13, and those verses are often just repeated or read through without much thought, but I want to write them out & live them. They are powerful instructions on how to love well.

"Love suffers LONG and is kind.

Love does NOT envy.

Love does not parade itself.

Love is not puffed up.

It does not behave rudely.

Love does not seek it's own.

Love is not provoked.

It thinks NO EVIL.

Love does NOT rejoice in iniquity, but DOES REJOICE IN TRUTH!

Love bears all things.

Love believes all things.

Love hopes all things.

Love ENDURES all things.

LOVE NEVER FAILS.

And now abide faith, hope & love, these three...

But the GREATEST of these...

Is LOVE."

Love is obviously important. Some of these things that God says love does, is really hard to live out.

It is hard to react in love towards people who provoke you... The natural reaction is hateful. But to show someone love instead can change their hearts.

It's sometimes hard to love someone through pain... But the Bible calls us to do it, because love suffers long. And it NEVER fails. And it bears all things...

I could go on & on, but I will stop myself here & close with this last verse...

1 John 4:19 "We love Him, because He first loved us."

There is no better reason to love others than that reason alone. Over the next couple of weeks, my mind & heart will continue to dwell on these thoughts, & I pray my whole being is filled with so much love, that it will spill out onto every single person I come into contact with.

I intend to love people well in my actions & words, just as I am called to do.

So, don't wait for Valentines Day to love some one well, my friends, I encourage you to love well today.

Love with Christ's love.

Peace

I'm so thankful today that I don't have to worry about anything!
My Savior has taken that upon Himself and commanded that I do not worry about anything, but instead, call upon His name & ask Him to give me peace... I stand amazed in the fact that He has given me such a gift!

I don't deserve to have that feeling of anxiety be released from me, but God wants to take my burden & make it His, so I can have peace within my soul. Thank You Lord for Your love. Your undeserved love for me.

I struggle with the feeling of anxiety. It doesn't take much, it seems, to make me feel that way. Especially when it's caused because of worrying about people I love so much!

When I discovered the verse in Philippians that says "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer & supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God", I cried. It was a huge burden off of my shoulders just to think that the God of this world wants me to talk to Him & pour my soul out to Him & trust Him with it all. He wants me to do this.

This is such an easy fix to a "huge" earthly problem. Thank You Lord for giving me the Holy Spirit to interceed my prayers & allow me to be able to talk to You directly! I love You Father... Your love for me is more than I can fathom.

I feel loved today as I sit in Your presence & allow myself to be released of all anxious feelings. Thank You for taking this from me & making me whole again. You alone, Father, can give peace in exchange for anxiety!

What a beautiful promise You give to me as I read on into the next verse, (Chap. 4 verse 7) that says "and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts & minds through Christ Jesus".

I feel it even now. Ahhhhhh....peace.

This kind of peace truly passes all understanding!

This is the God I serve. Master of all. Giver & Creator of peace!

So many thoughts...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is my first thought of 2011.

Not very creative, or original, but happy. Sad. Inspiring. Hopeful. So many things all lumped into one socially accepted phrase that can be translated into so many things that define "a new year" for any given person.

On this new, ever-developing 2011 year, I have been pondering so much about my life. God is so good to me. I love to go back & re-read my old journal entries from prior years of my life & submerse myself in my younger, more innocent mind. I love to put myself back into the situation &/or place I was in when I wrote those personal notes to myself.

Sometimes, I'm surprised at how much insight I had. Other times, I laugh at my way of thinking & reasoning.

Makes me wonder while writing this blog entry what others think of what I write... Hmmm.

I guess it's okay no matter what. I write about what's on my heart & it's a way for me to "let it all out". I love my blog. It's a form of me. And, the thing I like about it the most, is that I can't lose it! It's kinda hard to lose a desktop computer (which happens to be where I always blog because it's in our guest room & it's calming to me to be in this room).

Life is such a wonderful adventure. Sometimes it feels scary when I'm in a new territory. Thankfully, my Lord is walking right beside me all the way, gently & lovingly guiding me. Sometimes it's completely full of JOY! Those times are so blissful & a way for God to give us a hug. This is when our Christian walk is going so smoothly one often forgets to stay diligent in prayer & starts to wander from daily time spent with Him. ( I am guilty of this) And sometimes, because of our laziness, idolness & sinful nature, we fall into pits dug by Satan when we give him a foothold. And when our reaction is to try to get out by ourselves, the outcome is bleak & hopeless. But when I realize I am a bismal failure & cannot possibly do ANYTHING on my own, & I reach out to God, I see Him already holding out His hand to meet me where I am.

Wow!

What a Savior! He deserves so much more than what I give Him. It's amazing to me all that He has given to me & been so abundantly gracious & generous with.

So, as I enter a new year, it is my "resolution" if you will, to walk more closely to my Jesus. I have such a deep longing to know Him more. I want to please Him. I want to serve others. I want to help others see how much they need Him & how much He desires to have a deepening, growing personal relationship with them, & I want to be molded into someone who more closely resembles the only God worth serving.

In church today, we took communion. The Holy Spirit kept bringing to my mind a passage in in 1 Peter that says "Therefore, putting aside all malice & all deceit & hypocrisy & envy & all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord".

Lord, may this passage of Your word be true in my heart today & throughout my life. Let it not be just for the day, or year, or certain length of time. Let it be a permanent condition of my heart & mind. Give me conitnual longing for the meat of your word, God.

So many thoughts...

But for now, these things are prevalent in my mind & heart. Maybe I'm not the only one with these same thoughts, but they are mine just the same. I have so much to ponder today!

And today... today happens to be a beautiful day. One filled with the glory of the Lord. One worth celebrating as God has given this gift of life to me, & to you.

These photos remind me of how big & mighty God is!

And this picture reminds me to enjoy life! =)

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!!!