stacey's at the foot of the cross again

An update from April 2009

2009-06-17T13:41:00.000-07:00

We are in sore need of an update around here, I hear!
God is faithful. The kids are growing and growing. Alan
is keeping his bosses happy at work and making lot's of
money for his company. And, we made it through another
homeschool year- all by God's grace, especially since
December of last year. What a blessing to have been finished
up by mid- April. So glad we didn't skip ahead- it was God's perfect plan for us to do that particular work load this year.

I am praying for Heather these days,whose husband has been deployed. Please add her into your prayers as well, even if you do not know her?

2009-04-23T19:13:00.001-07:00

"One reason we are so harried and hurried is that we make yesterday and tomorrow our business, when all that legitimately concerns us is today. If we really have too much to do, there are some items on the agenda which God did not put there. Let us submit the list to Him and ask Him to indicate which items we must delete. There is always time to do the will of God. If we are too busy to do that, we are too busy."

~ Elisabeth Elliott ~

2009-04-10T07:07:00.000-07:00

This seems like a good morning to update this blog.

It's the day before Ressurection Sunday and the kids and I are going to celebrate today and tommorow that Jesus was crucified by men, at the allowance of God- how surprised those men were when the Heaven's ripped open and the Earth trembled, and they
suddenly knew that this man was indeed GOD'S son!

How aware of his powerlessness the devil was when Jesus would not give into temptation to take the easy way out, and when Jesus submitted to even crucifixition, all the while trusting that His Father had a plan- and He did!

We are thanking God today for fathering His creation in such magnificent selflessness, thanking Jesus for His obedience that helped save, thanking God for leaving the Spirit to be our help because Jesus couldn't stay.

Magnificent Mercy to bring many son's and daughter's to glory!

We will be praying today that God might do a work in our hearts to love mercy even more, to see it's power above all evil with even clearer sight. Trusting God with my oldest, praising God for all He's done in our lives and in other's lives, thanking God for the church and His commitment to us, sinful humanity falling on the mercy of a great Savior. Thank you God for Your redemptive plan and all of Your other provisions for believers all over the Earth, You show Your mercy and love again and again, and again, and again!!!
Happy Easter to you and yours! <3

2009-04-03T20:07:00.000-07:00

2009-03-28T13:50:00.000-07:00

This exposition of Ephesians 4:25-32 is very good to read through-if you have 6 or 7minutes to spare, please do, and let me know what you think of it!!

From the beloved scriptures comes Eph. 4:25-32:

Eph 4 :25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

Eph 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

Eph 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.

Eph 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with [his] hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

Eph 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

I like these particular lines of scripture. Though verses 25-32 are not as much fun to read as verses 1-25 in this book, they are more important than fun. They are life-saving. Soul sparing. It is hard for me to forgive some people in my life right now, for hurts suffered. Maybe your struggle is not with forgiveness, maybe your the one who is gossiping and slandering,and maybe you know that you habitually practice that sin, and in your heart you know that your not struggling with that sin at all, your justifying it. But maybe you are really struggling, and the struggle has got you all worn out this time. That's how I feel too. But God is not limited by my feelings, only I am limited by by them. God spoke to me yesterday about this very subject. Just as He saved us, He will save us time and time again- save us from the strongholds that want to imprison our hearts. Our joy will not be dependent on circumstances if we trust in God. I know this to be true, by experiencing both my obedience and my disobedience at different times, my disobedience in the form of thinking more than just. simply.trusting.
Just as soon as I take my eyes off of Him, my joy is affected by my circumstances. Let me have it all or have not a thing, and still sing. I have a ways to walk yet, before I am all the way there. I still want to look at the broken dreams around me and cradle them, willing them back to life. Relationships won't always be what *I* think they "should" be. Pray for me that I will be happy with all the good gifts that God has given me, and grieve less the gifts He has taken away. For my soul to be quieted within me. That I will remember that all I need for my heart and mind and soul to be healthy is God.

Grieving God: Sin in the Christian’s Life
Jason Boothe

Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are
members of one another. 26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
27 nor give place to the devil, 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working
with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. 29 Let no
corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may
impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed
for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away
from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Introduction
As I grew up in church, man y times I heard the scripture, “do not grieve the Holy Spirit.” However,
is was always in the context of church worship. If the congregation wasn’t being emotional or
demonstrative enough during the worship music, then the preacher would usually say, “Don’t grieve
the Holy Spirit, Church!” Naturally, I assumed that grieving the Holy Spirit involved not being
emotional enough during worship services - that is until I began to read that Scripture passage in
context for myself.
Grieving God has more to do with the sin that we harbor in our lives following our conversion.
Christian, you can literally grieve the heart of God by continuing in sin. Understand that if God has
the power to save you from sin, He also has the power needed to deliver you from the strongholds
of sin that the enemy of our souls works so hard to keep in place. Oh, God desires to break down the
sinful strongholds in our lives by renewing us by the Holy Spirit and cleansing us from all
unrighteousness.
Today, may Paul’s words to the Ephesians stir our souls to press on in righteousness and holiness,
forsaking the strongholds of sin in our lives. God move on our hearts as we study your Holy and
precious word today.
Outline
V. 25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, “for
we are members of one another.
A. Christians are to speak truth at every occasion.
1. Col. 3:9 declares:
“Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his
doings,”
B. In order for the Church of Christ to be taken seriously in this world, we must be a
truthful and honest people. Nothing less will do.
V.26 “Be angry, and do not sin ," do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
A. Do not confuse anger with sin. Anger can be justified at times.
B. However, to let the “sun go down” on your anger is to purposely harbor ill feelings
toward another person, thus clearing the way for bitterness to spring up in your heart.
1. Eccl. 7:9 -
Don’t be hasty in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of
fools.
2. Rom l2:18-21-
If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men. Don’t
seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is
written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.” Therefore
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink For in
doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head” Don’t be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good
3. James l:19-20-
So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak,
and slow to anger, for the anger of man doesn’t produce the
righteousness of God
V.27 nor give place to the devil,
A. Anger can give place to bitterness and spite. Christians should constantly guard
against these attempts by the enemy of our souls to gain a foothold in our lives.
1. 1 Peter 5:8
Be sober and self-controlled Be watchful. Your adversary the devil, walks,
around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
2. James 4:7-
Be subject therefore to God But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
V. 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands
what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.
A. Hear we see that the Christian experience is one of transformation. The God who
saves us is the God who will change our behavior and actions as well.
B. Zacchaeus had a life-changing experience that mirrors this text beautifully
1. Luke l9:8
Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my goods I
give to the poor. If I have wrongfully exacted anything of anyone, I restore
four times as much.”
C. God not only grants us the power to quit our sinful behavior, but grants us the
strength to live for the welfare of others, putting others above self.
1. Consider the account of the widow’s gift:
Luke 21:1-4 -
He looked up, and saw the rich people who were putting their gifts into the
treasury. He saw a certain poor widow casting in two small brass coins.. He
said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow put in more than all of them, for all
these put in gifts for God from their abundance, but she, out of her poverty,
put in all that she had to live on.
V. 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification,
that it may impart grace to the hearers.
A. James 3:2-10-
For in many things we all stumble. If anyone doesn’t stumble in word, the same
is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. Indeed, we put bits into the
horses’ mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body. Behold, the
ships also, though they are so big and are driven by fierce winds, are yet guided by
a very small rudder, wherever the pilot desires. So the tongue is also a little member,
and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest! And the
tongue is afire. The world of iniquity among our members is
the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and
is set on fire by Gehenna. For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and thing
in the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind But nobody can tame the
tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and
Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the image of God Out of the same
mouth comes forth blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be
so.
B. What we say should build others up in the Lord!
V. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption.
A. Don’t continue to live in sin because God has delivered you from that reality!
B. You can trust Him, He will never let you go - Now strife for righteous living
because He desires it and will grant you the strength to perform His will!
V. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with
all malice.
A. If you must be angry, be angry at your sin!
B. If you must be violent, be violent with your sin!
C. Put your sinfulness out of commission!
V. 32 And be kind to one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
A. This is the reason why we can forgive: God forgave us through Christ!
1. Colossians 3:12-13 -
Put on therefore, as God’s elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion,
kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; bearing with one another,
and forgiving each other, any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ
forgave you, so you also do.
Conclusion
Christian, do not grieve the heart of God by continuing in sinful behavior. Trust that the same God
who forgave your sin can deliver you from sin today! While it is challenging to live up to God’s
standard, it is also very rewarding. God will grant the grace you need in order succeed in fulfilling
His will for your life!
* When you think you can’t speak honestly - trust Jesus and tell the truth anyway!
*When you think you can’t forgive - trust Jesus and forgive others in His strength!
* When you think you must be angry toward someone forever - trust Jesus and surrender your anger
for His name’s sake!
*We can live this Christ-empowered life if we simply Trust Him.
So today, will you trust God and take Him at His word? Or will you continue to grieve the heart
of God by reaffirming your bitterness, hatred, and lying? Trust Jesus today

2009-03-11T18:17:00.000-07:00

He said, "FORGETTING what lies behind, and reaching forward to
what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the
upward calling of God." (Philippians 3:13-14 NASB).

2009-03-07T02:47:00.000-08:00

Usually I don't have any time to make a real post these days, but this morning I awoke before the light and was full of that tired-but-can't-sleep energy. All the better to have an extended time at the foot of the cross before all of Saturday's fun,chores and errands step in.

I have a lot to be thankful for these days! So, this is my own little Thankful Saturday post :) What with all that I have and want to do with my family right now- it is a very busy, wonderful season of raising and teaching small children and one adolescent around here- I'd love be able to keep up with all of those wonderful Christian blogs on the CWO, and to particpate with these great ladies of the faith in the CWO posting schedule- but I just can't. I have plans to though, when my kids are older and I have what will for sure feel like too much free time by then on my hands! ;)

I have been seeing the work of God's masterful hands popping up in our lives like crazy lately, beautiful threads that form and come together all on their own on our behalf- with the only requirements for them being God's mercy, and faith in Him.
I want to thank Him for all that He has done and will do.

It began with Redemption; it continues on today. As we were knit together in our mother's wombs, God knew the plans He had. Thank you, God! I am thanking God today for His work in our family, on my heart and on my childrens heart's, on my husband's heart and for His protection and shield over our family. He has been bringing more and more obedience out of me, one of my constant prayers has been that obedience would come quickly and with less struggle sometimes (who doesn't pray that, right? lol!) and in His mercy, He is helping me with that. Where I would have thought that I was pretty much obedient before, He is bringing forth more obedience and then pouring on blessing after blessing for that obdeience-- those small steps all day long that God gives me strength to make? He blesses me for them,too! Too good to be true? It's not!

If anyone in the world would ever be reading this post today and you are prone to anxiety, let me tell you that walking in faith will in one way aggrevate that tendancy- but in a good way, a bondage-breaking way- and it will also make you closer to the Father than you are to your fears- a very, very good thing!
If I don't share that, I won't be able to share all that God has done in my life and in our lives, and it is good to bring Him glory. God has taught me how to walk all over again. He has been at work in my relations with my eldest son, whom I have been with since I was 19 and who has been with me from a previous marraige- the other children have no recollections of life before God(I never thought I would be a small part in God being able to give that gift to my children from when they are small!,)- but he does. Because of that, he has had a birds-eye view of watching his Mother change, in a series of little tiny ways that have spun together over time into quite a big difference. This has led to priceless times of questioning,curiosity, wondering- and all the talks that come of that- and I have faith that God is indeed using His work in my life to be a witness to my children. T. is my first child, so he is the first who will grow up into a young adult man right in front of my eyes. I am so thankful to have a God who is always at the ready willing and able to help us raise him the right way, to draw his heart towards Him- we will no doubt make plenty of mistakes as the years go by but there is no fear in that anymore! There have been mistakes in the past, God has Redeemed them and worked them for Good; we know now that God Will work all things for good in the life of a believer so this is one more thing we don't have to fear. Sometimes anxiety even tells you it's too scary to have faith in God- as if we ourselves could protect ourselves and our families better than He could. Don't try to be that shield for your family and your heart that is burdened with all the cares un the world, trust God and let His light in; He will take care of all the things you can never take care of for your family.

He will even grow you into a submissive woman, trusting to the point where you will not feel need ever to question Him, not knowing if all He says is real or too good to be true... I am not fully there yet, but in faith I look forward to that day when the struggle with unbelief at times and sin all the time will be lessened; God is doing a good work and He has promised- and kept All His promises- to grow me and to never stop growing me- He will do the same for you. As this year is more peaceful in the heart, so will next year be more peaceful than this yet.
It's not peaceful because there have been no storms or valleys, in fact the stormy
winds have been beating quite regularily against the doors of our hearts and it's not because we never feel too stressed or scared or sometimes sad, but it's because God protects us, gives us strength, encourages us, teaches us what to do and holds us there.

Beyond that, He even blesses us for the obedience He helps us to have!

I want to praise God this morning with whoever reads this because I *know* that you have your own story of redemption and lifelong mercy and love and protection that you could share as well!

I wanted to add onto the praise how great the Marriage and the Mercy of God seminar was in Hershey in January- and even share some of the gold nuggests from Betsy Ricucci's teachings, but I guess that will have to come at another time---
the sun has been up for awhile now and the family will be stirring soon!
I want to to be at the DMV for 8:30, and the boys and I are going bowling this morning after that- there's a free show rental coupon on the website for berks lanes if your local or semi-local! $3.25 per game before noon.

Have a great day and God bless!

Reminicing in The New Year

2009-03-01T05:26:00.000-08:00

Some writings from a newly saved soul, me- in 2002.
How wonderful to read them again today! :D

I wanted to be free so badly
He paid my ransom and I could run
not knowing where I was going
I had nothing but I had it all
Now I'm tired and I'm thirsty
and the Living Water is all I need
and it's painful
to learn to walk again

at times I don't know what to do
I tell my legs to go,
they just won't make a move
maybe you have felt this way
my mind is being renewed
lumbering little baby steps

just a little petition,
and He will show he way
Christ is standing there,
with His hand out
for every step

not because of me
but because of God
I get closer to Him every year

When He is making me strong, rejoicing with me
When He is allowing me to feel so weak,
covering me with His wings
keep it always this way Lord,
for when I feel
I need to go
I need to flee
to the cross

When I cannot stop,
I must get there,
for He is waiting there for me
I just need to be able to see Him clear
He is there and I am here
I need to get back to that place
Draw me near
I am here
Hear my small, small voice
in the wood of this world
take up my plea
and set my path straight
You don't forget about me

2009-02-26T16:50:00.000-08:00

I wrote this to get my feelings out, as I prayed, alone in the hotel bathroom on Saturday afternoon- lol!I had to go off somewhere! - sometimes circumstances bring me to my knees, but it is there that I learn to lean on Christ.
I decided to share it during my bible study time this morning.
It's not meant to be anything; truthfully I don't know what it is.
It's just what tumbled out as I sat under God and cried over my
desires that won't come just yet, and prayed for strength to resist
temptation to sin. As I did that He taught me and comforted me-
and I was comforted by what He said.
This is from the best place, at the Savior's feet...

"Trust in God rather than yourself...
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will make your paths straight."
Proverbs 3:5-6

Every time I have to run, I run to Him,
I flee this temptation and throw myself
upon Christ. His protection, my only
place of rest. No one but God, not any man,
can bare my soul and see my heart
like God can.
God alone sees every longing, every
temptation,ever desire, every weakness,
every strength, every fear.
His word says that He will Not allow me
to be tempted beyond what I can bear, so
I have to trust in that. I get to trust in
that; it's all I have, nothing seems as real
as Christ.
It's been so easy for despair,
she sees me as so weak-
but my Father is So Strong!
Though I may stumble, or even fall,
He picks me up and girds me strong,
helps me to walk again.
By God's grace I won't stop walking,
He will get me through.
These tempters, these haters of the human
soul, they will rattle and bang their big threats
and can set my soul on edge;
they can blast and buffet but my soul stays in the slip.
These gray skies and clapping beasts are all illusion anyways,
formed to lure my eye's off Christ, threatening jackals sent by
the evil one meant to make me lose my way.
I am but human,
but he is God.
I am weak, He is Strong.
I am scared, He is Not Afraid.
Take all things away, but they can take not Christ-
my only hope and stay.
I will fall, He will pick me back up.
I will cry, He will collect every tear.
I will yet not despair, for He will keep me near.
You'll not have my family,
My God has drawn the line!
He will sew all the broken pieces,
create the most beautiful quilt that you have ever seen.
Arise my soul, I say- along with the psalmist I urge
my quaking heart,
Arise, I say Arise!
a new hope has been purchased for me,
and I am finally FREE!

2009-02-20T20:26:00.000-08:00

My son encouraged me in my faith tonight, by talking to me about space hurricianes on our way home from Exeter tonight. It emboldened my faith to hear about how powerful and potentially scary these space storms can be because it reminded me of how God's hand protects us from them; His will allows us on Earth to be protected from being obliterated by a space storm. Indeed, even the gnarliest of storms, typhoon's, monsoons, tsunami's, and disease are controlled by His hand~ it sunk in again: just what have I to fear, in all the world, at all? If my God is for me, who/what can be against me? I sure enjoyed this comfort from God tonight.
I can be tempted to anxiety, but my circumstances are often F.E.A.R. = False Evidence Appearing Real. Today, a good friend (thank you, Corey!) helped me lift my eyes again to see that God is working even when, and sometimes especially when, I can't see His handiwork. I may be pressed but I will not be broken. Lord God, thank you. We are your children...and You do not forsake us <3

"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling, God sets the lonely in families." (Psalm 68:5,6a)

"And unto old age and gray hairs: O God, forsake me not." (Ps. 70: 9, 18).

"...My prayer... is that God would stand forth and reassert his Creator-rights in our lives, and show us his crucified and risen Son who has all authority in heaven and on earth, and waken in us the strongest faith in the supremacy of Christ, and the deepest comforts in suffering, and the sweetest fellowship with Jesus that we have ever known." John Piper, from his website. Post about Hurriciane Katrina.

~*~*~ I have recieved the undeserved most- greatest (Please excuse the grammar!) comforting, and the sweetest fellowship that could ever be; now Lord please awake the strongest faith in Christ's supremacy within me.~*~*~

2009-02-16T06:44:00.000-08:00

So....now I know why God impressed these wise words from Corrie Ten Boom into my heart weeks ago! The words "Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open" are truer for me than ever! I read my own post today(lol) and saw that I had said "Ouch! This is so true isn't it?? If only we would hold onto things not so tightly." For sure! I have been holding some things tightly, and it is hurting to have to have God prey them out of my hands. How silly to grasp onto anything in the world, when God alone can satisfy! My heart wants a lot of things, but needs to be content with the main thing. If anyone will lift me up to the Lord today, pray for me that I will ever increasingly see, know and rest in God's sovereignty and goodness- these are things that I already know in my head, but want to see sewn deeper into my heart. Thank You! And please send your prayer requests my way!

"It is not my ability, but my response to God’s ability, that counts."

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God!"

2009-01-24T20:53:00.001-08:00

"It is not my ability, but my response to God’s ability, that counts."

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God!"

"No pit is so deep that God's love is not deeper still."

"Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open." (Ouch! This is so true isn't it?? If only we would hold onto things not so tightly...)

"Trying to do the Lord's work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you."

"God's viewpoint is sometimes different from ours - so different that we could not even guess at it unless He had given us a Book which tells us such things....In the Bible I learn that God values us not for our strenght or our brains but simply because He has made us." (I am so very thankful for this!!)

"Worrying is carrying tomorrow's load with today's strength- carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength."

"Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see." ("All things work together for good" Romans 8:28. I pray that I will always remember God is in control and lets everything happen for a reason!! Even now as our country is/could be going through some big changes in the near future, please don't ever forget that God is still on the throne!!)

"Today I know that such memories are the key not to the past, but to the future. I know that the experiences of our lives, when we let God use them, become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work He will give us to do. "

~ Corrie ten Boom

2008-12-19T20:22:00.000-08:00

Next Week Is Christmas Day, the day of our Savior's birth!
MERRY CHRISTMAS, everyone!

I am looking forward to celbrating our Savior's birth with
our family, and seeing my families happy faces when they open
the gifts that God has blessed me with being able to pick out
for them.

I can't tell on here what special things I found for
folks like my husband and my Mother-in-Law~ because on
occasion one or the other will read this blog! lol
But I am excited about being able to bless each of them
with things that they love this year.

We have found the perfect tree(it was in Alan's parents yard,
imagine the coincidence!? lol) and we have decorations still
in the boxes waiting to be hung, but we have baked cookies-
and Yes, a Kellogs Corn Flakes Marshmallow-Wreath(it was 'Nummy,)
and Yes, we have wrapped all of the gifts and were able to stick
to our budget(for the most part ;)

I hope this week is a week of peacefullness, calm
and joyfullness over the Lord's love for you.
I pray that none of us will get too busy, or too
stressed out. I hope that times of fellowship and company
will be sweet and stress-free, and that all of you have
some simple-y wonderfully yummy things to bake that will
WoW your guests and please you with their easyness and few
ingredients required; I know that I do! I have all of my
wonderfully easy Tastefully Simple yummy's to serve my guests,
and we are all looking forward to the new Butter Brickle Cheesecake
for Christmas Day, and the Almond Pound Cake, Strawberries and Whipped Cream Trifle on New Years Night with our Champagne :)
We are all so spoiled in my family now that I am selling Tastefully Simple!! Hah! :) ;)

Christmas-Dinner Prayers:
Heavenly Father, Thank you for sending Your Son Jesus to earth. We not only celebrate His birth in the manger, but also the reason for His coming -- His death on the cross. We thank You for providing eternal life for each person who will accept His free gift of salvation.

Father, I thank you for my family. Life is not always easy for us, but we know that You are always with us. As Your Word says, You will never leave us nor forsake us. Thank you for the love that holds us together and for always meeting our needs. Draw us closer together through this coming year. We love You and want our time of celebration to be memorable today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

A Present-Opening Time Prayer:
Lord Jesus, Wise men travelled for miles to bring you the first Christmas presents. So may we, too, remember with thankful hearts the love that comes with each present we open. We also thank you for the amazing love you have for each of us, and we thank you for the many gifts that you give us. Amen

*~*~* Check out my TWO NEW websites~*~*~
Pretty Woman Makeup Design, for those of you who like
to get prettied up when the time is right;)
and Christian Parenting Meets ADHD, for those of you
who have a child/children with this diagnosis and are
seeking to raise them in the way they should go,
onto the Lord. Enjoy!! :)

2008-12-13T06:48:00.000-08:00

1 Corinthians 11:7 "For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man."

And 11:8, "For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man."

Man is uniquely created to bear the image of God as a ruler who was given a sphere of sovereignty.

Both men and women were created in God's image.

The original creation from the "dust of the ground" was Adam only.
Eve was created later from part of Adam himself.
The male was given the dominion and authority over God's created
world and is, by that fact, the glory of God.

Woman is the glory of man, woman was made to manifest man's authority as man was made to manifest God's authority. The woman is vice regent, who rules in stead of man or who carries out man's will, just as man is God's vice regent, who rules in His stead or carries out His will.

Charles Hodge says, "She receives and reveals what there is of majesty in him. She always assumes his station; becomes a queen if he is a king, and manifests to others the wealth and honor which may belong to her husband."

2008-11-22T05:54:00.000-08:00

I'm a little late for Thankful Thursday, but here is my post anyways.
I am thankful for many things, but this morning my focus is on my husband, and my and his relationship together. I am thankful for my husband, and for our marriage.
'Together Forever, Honey- You Can't Shake Me Now ;)' LOL! :)

2008-11-22T04:36:00.000-08:00

I love this post I read on Girl Talk. The part that really hooked me was,
"no matter the size or shape of your fears, may I encourage you to take them to the foot of the cross?The gospel isn't an out-of-date message; it is the good news of a saving God who is “a very present help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1). So repent from worry and put your trust in the glorious gospel." ....I know, I know, the Spurgeon quote was excellent too but this thought is what will be running through my mind today!

Here is their posting: November 21,2008

Our Mothering Forecast
What’s the future for your kids look like today?

"Perhaps your home is a place of peace and tranquility, your fears as insignificant as gnats to swat away.

Or maybe trials are washing over you like relentless waves. Your anxieties are consuming and overwhelming. They rob you of sleep and plague your waking hours. But no matter the size or shape of your fears, may I encourage you to take them to the foot of the cross?

The gospel isn't an out-of-date message; it is the good news of a saving God who is “a very present help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1). So repent from worry and put your trust in the glorious gospel.

My husband has a Charles Spurgeon quotation as his screen saver, which we would do well to have running across the screen of our minds: “As for His failing you, never dream of it—hate the thought. The God who has been sufficient until now, should be trusted to the end.”

So let our mothering forecast be one of victory and not of defeat. We have the hope of the gospel in our souls."

http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/ Nov.21,2008 Post

"The gospel isn't an out-of-date message." How many are deceived into believing that it is? How many of us can relate, in honesty, that we(if we can remember being unsaved) can remember being caught up in this lie ourselves?
Folks, if we don't believe that the gospel is true for TODAY, then we won't be able to believe that God has a sovereign plan for our lives TODAY, even if we are believers. That is where my burden lies, most of the time. Even as believers, this lie will leave us swirling in a big sea of anxiety and doubt.

A friend and I were just chatting about Christian Communicator's of PA last night, not sure if you have heard of them or not;they are an apologetics/public speaking/debate club that teaches older children how to articulate and defend their faith intellectually; I say it also gives them an even more solid grounding in their faith, meant to help them in the times when they must stand on their own faith, parent's not in the immediate premises.

We hear about MySpace suicides, children committing suicide after being teased and harassed online... It is truly stalking, on the cyber-level, and I am sure these children are terrorizing their target all day long at school everyday,as well.
Three things flood through my mind when I hear these kinds of stories, "Where were the parents?", "Why didn't the victim tell his/her parent's about what was happening, or did they and not enough was done to protect them?" and "What if this child had, had a strong foundation of faith that was living and active for today, and he/she had all the tools needed in order to scale that seemingly insurmountable mountain of evil- and what if we, the parents, just kept reminding him/her,"Honey, your almost over; keep plugging. Your gonna make it, honey. God is here; He hears you; He sees you. I'm here. I'm going to help you...."
What kind of difference would answering these questions make?

This isn't a post about how parents who have a child who is being bullied should take them out of public school and home school them, nor is this a post about chiding parents et.al for 'not knowing their kid's enough'; I'm not on a soapbox here, unless I am on one to shout out above the rising din of the crowd,"God is here! He sees us! He hears us! He is NOT dead!!" Then, maybe :) lol :)

This IS a post about the gospel- a post about how it ISN'T an out-of-date message;
about how many believe the lie that it is. I was actually just talking to my oldest friend online last week (she is a Pagan today) and she said,"I just don't understand why you people can't get it that the stories in the Bible were written millions of years ago, in a culture that allowed wife-beating and selling kids into sexual slavery to pay off debts, how inconsequential the Bible is for today's world is stunningly obvious, yet you still have people who believe it -"
Well, we had been talking Prop 8 but that conversation took a backseat as we began talking about the gospel. ( And let me not forget to thank God right now for those moments in conversation!)The key here is not rebutting what my friend has said, the real key, I believe is trusting on God to reveal Himself to them when He wants to, how He wants to and praying that if He can use us to help Him out in that, then please do. I did quickly pray in that heartbeat of a moment, and what I said was "Your right, there are many who believe; and I am one of them for a good reason; because it is true- God is alive and well today; He is sovereign and in charge; He spoke to Moses in Moses' day and He is speaking to us today, in our day. he sees us; He hears us." Was that the 'perfect' thing to say? Most likely not, I'm sure something better is out there, but God was glorified and the truth was lifted up so, that was enough for me.

That brief exchange didn't end out talk on politics and world news, we could talk about that stuff all day, but it was a sweet moment- a moment of monumentalness, not because it was such a rare moment, it happens all the time that we disagree, but because it was another moment- at another time- in yet another place- a moment in which God was glorified and no one was made to feel attacked over ther viewpoints; if I dare say so myself (and I do) it was a moment that we will both keep with us for a long time. There was a moment of silence between us after that, that stretched like a beautiful sunset before us. Not an uncomfortable silence, this was a comfortable silence of accepting each other for who we are and of meditating-for one brief moment- on that Truth.

"It is the good news of a saving God who is “a very present help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1). A very present help; that's the gift I wanna give my kids for Christmas this year. That's my mommy forecast for today and for the next several months- cold, clear nights and expect lot's of opportunities for reminding the kid's and yourself that God is indeed a very present help in time's of trouble...."

Whatever the mountain is that they're slowly climbing, I want to encourage them while I climb beside them. I want them to know, to see that I climb, too. No one is at the top, looking down. No one has arrived. I remeber Jill's words to me a few years back, 'Tell Tyler and Joshy, 'Mommy needs a Savior too'," well weren't those words of truth and wisdom!

Some of the sweetest moments with my boys have come on the heels of, during, times when I have been showing them and telling them how much Mommy needs a Savior, just like they do.

"So repent from worry and put your trust in the glorious gospel."
That's right! Worry won't put one hair on our heads but God could pile an entire world full of heads with hair, if He wanted to ;) But I think he has better things in store for us than hair ;) thank goodness :) There is true joy to be found in putting our trust in the gospel. You may be the one who is reading this and already knows that, but there may be one who reads this and thinks "really?" Yes. really! There IS! Why not give it a shot? Heck, youv'e tried everything else. But you haven't given God a fair try yet. What could it hurt? No one has to know, but you and God. Give Him a chance to come into your heart and change you, while no-one's looking. Don't think that He doesn't care for you, or He's too busy. No, no He created you and He is never too busy for one of His children, he say's so himself.
Let me know if you give Him a try and you want someone to pray with you. I won't comment about it here. Send me a private e-mail and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Justanerd1975@aim.com(long story for that one, maybe I can tell you about that then too.)

I want to end my hodepodge of a post today with this particular passage of scripture
because it lifts up my soul to Jesus and reminds me yet again of His faithfulness and goodness~

Psalm 66:5-8

"Come and see what our God has done, what awesome miricles He does for His people!
He made a dry path through the Red Sea, and His people went across on foot.
Come, let us rejoice in who He is! For by His great power, he rules forever!
He watches every movement of the nations; let no rebel rise in defiance.
Let the whole world bless our God and sing aloud His praises!"

The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus...

2008-11-07T04:48:00.000-08:00

Today I am finally writing one of those posts that I have seen other women write, and never thought that I could ever do as good a job as them with this. The post is a post to honor my husband(hopefully ;) I want you to read this post, Hun, this weekend as I know you will, because this is the weekend that you have sent me away to RI for the whole weekend by myself, to visit with my family and to hold that brand-new, precious baby girl of Barbara's. I will be able to help cook and clean to serve her and her husband,all because you have so selflessly planned to send me there for this time. You have even graciously offered to babysit your niece and my much-loved niece-in-law, little Julia who is just one year younger than Joshua! You have planned to serve, and you will be serving so many people with this weekend giving of yourself and your time to be a blessing :) Thank You, Lover :)

Beyond this one instance of serving, let me 'expose' my husband's growth in the Lord in the past year- I know you don't want me to get too mushy about this, Dear! So, I will do my best to get as mushy as possible about how thankful I am to God for you( that's no sin, is it?), even if you do turn a little pink about the ears ;) Over this past year, my husband has sacrificed every part of his being to help his family; to get us back on track financially, he worked two full-time job's for an entire year(a plan that was supposed to be "only for six months", or so we thought). He worked every moment that he was not sleeping. Even his one daily meal he nuked and ate on break at work over at Wal Mart on 3rd shift. Through all of his hard work, he pulled us out of what was beginning to become a slippery slope for us. He sought counsel on financial matters, cut up credit cards(six is way too many, folks!) and listened to me fully as I poured over our bank statements and sought to bring wisdom about how we, like many other couple's, literally were "nickle and diming ourselves to death" with our bank cards; you know- not Big purchases, just enough Little one's to choke the vitality out of each paycheck's deposit-.) Is it perfect yet? No. But God has always been faithful, and my husband is at his core a teachable and humble man. I want to be like my husband with respects to how he carefully (and with much thought,lol) makes specific plans to address any problem that rises up. He doesn't stick his head in the sand anymore(I'm sure that past tendency had *nothing* to do with my head being So Far out of the sand, it was probably half up his Hmmmm...;) - Hey, you read this blog, you get used to my sense of humor, right? :) Yet instead of hiding from me, even as I grad-uallllly change in some area's of pestering him, he serves our family like a servant leader and I know that God is so, so pleased with your service in this way, Honey ;)

My husband has been my closest friend and counselor in the past two years about spiritual and heart matters. My heart lies fully in his hands, and I can trust it there. He does me noting but good, all of my day's. I used to long for this kind of intimacy with my husband. No more, these days I have more intimacy than I can handle half the time ;) My husband knows me fully, sees me and hears me fully, and he still likes me(most of the time!;)
He humbly seeks to "let me off the hook" with so many of my daily jobs for the house, though he is not ever let off the hook with his jobs he must do at work. He tells me the house doesn't have to be perfect, Hun- just focus on teaching the kid's, that is enough to do for you..." ( I don't know for sure if that's his kindness towards me, or his vote of overconfidence in my abilities? LOL! ;) Just Kidding :) My husband supports our little church on Gregg St. by leading our family into being able to be together much of our time, to be Christian Homeschooler's, to be fed well at our Church and by him, when he leads us in spontaneous discussion's about something he has heard at church or on the radio that touched him.
Tears come to my eyes(Ok,spill out- but I'm Not getting mushy,Hun!)when I think about those times of discussion in the car, or about the house, or even at the mall with the kid's. My little boy's faces, as they look up at their Dad with such earnest anticipation of what he will say, and such appreciation for his counsel and teaching, fills my heart to overflowing. I know that they will find good, Godly substance at my husband's feet. Just as God promised me, He fills my cup to overflowing every day! I feel the same swelling when he leads me with sin I have confessed to him, or with a longing I have begun to place too much importance on.
My husband helps bear my burden and leads me always on the right path; my soul never needs to fear with my husband; he is truly my husband in every way, and we have truly become one ;)

I remember well when my husband and I first met. We were both younger and didn't know the Lord, he raised in a Catholic and Protestant family here in PA, myself having been raised by a Catholic Grandmother & an Atheist Grandfather, having refused to go to church(on grounds of hypocrisy in the church, I would have informed you). That is who we were when God- and I do believe that my husband is a gift to me from the Lord- when He caused us to be in the same place at the same time, and to notice each other, and come together for a night (even if it was for less-than holy reasons ;) I had a rule, friend's: never give a guy you met in a night club your number. Right? We all know that rule! Well, something inside my spirit told me that he was a good guy, and I gave him my number when he asked for it! I couldn't even believe that was me, acting like that! (Believe me, I got chided by my friend afterwards, LOL! ;) Even though we met as we did, and even though we carried on long-distance for 4 years and moved in together without marrying first, resulting in our first child together just a few months later!- God didn't decide that we were no longer worth dealing with; He had his hands all over us from the second we met and all the way up through now. And we know that He will never let us go. God has been the Great Artist of situation's
and He has been at work in us to make all of this happen. The Holy Spirit is changing us. Praise You, Lord!!!

I guess I have embarrassed my husband enough by now ;) so I will end this post now. First, I will say that I am the most blessed wife in our church, in many way's- I know you all think it's you who's the most blessed,Ladies- well, you going to have to share the wealth! ;) I'm off to prepare a lovely Apple Crisp for my love this morning, one of his favorite desserts- to bless him while I am away from him this weekend. I know you will eat half of it for breakfast in a bowl, with milk poured on it, you Silly Goose ;) Love You, Babe! :)

2008-11-02T11:14:00.000-08:00

What good encouragment our pastor gave us at church today about the upcoming elections on Tuesday. I wanted to share what he said with you guys who were not there to hear it. The message was that whatever happens on Tuesday is what God has ordained to happen from the beginning of time. The encouragement was that we can rest in His sovereignty as the next President of the United States is decided upon.

From my notes: "God's throne is not up for election; our hope is not in the throne of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, our hope is in the throne of God."

So, I hope his words encourage you today as they encouraged me.

Let us continue to share the gospel whatever happens in this world and in our circumstances, and let us rejoice that the gospel will continue to go forth, whatever happens.

God bless and hugs to all,
Stacey

"While we were still sinners, Christ died for us :)"
Romans 5:8

2008-09-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

If you have time for a good read...

I wanted to share this blog: http://tomatosoupcake.blogspot.com/
She makes me smile from my soul :)

2008-09-20T06:43:00.000-07:00

September = Back to School! :)

I wish I had some pictures uploaded to include.

The kids have been so busy learning and having fun.
We are doing first grade with Joshua, seventh grade with Ty,
and "preschool" with Grace.

My favorite part of the homeschool day is the first two subjects
(hmmm? I wonder why that is?? ha ha ;) All kidding aside, I like those times
as this is when we do our personal time with God~ just praying, gratitude 'journal'(really list) and scripture memory verse for the week.
And then we do our Bible study, we are starting at the beginning: Genesis.
What a great way to start the day! :)

I have a special "homeschool box" for Grace; this has been such a blessing to me, and to her. She is two and a half and she needs me almost 100% of the time, so having her "homeschool box" makes teaching a lot easier for all of us.
In her box, she has crayons, paints, play dough, puzzles,scissors and paper and lot's of stickers. This is good "busy work" for her that she can do by herself
and that I do with her during quiet-work times. She just loves getting out her homeschool box!

Al and I recently enjoyed discussing chapter one of the book When Sinners Say I Do by Dave Harvey in our small group Wednesday night. It was a great time, listening to everyone share their funny wedding stories and about how God's grace has been changing them. We even had a time of the husbands and wives in attendance sharing evidences of grace in each-others lives with one another. It was so sweet.

Tonight, we are looking forward to another Crossfire parent and youth group meeting, during which we will have a wonderful time of fellowship discussing chapter twelve of Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life by Donald Whitney and of course playing games and have yummy snacks :)

I am so glad that I got Tyler's assignment sheets finished for the next 2 weeks last night, it will be a huge blessing to me during the week when he can just look in his binder and see his assignments there for each subject. That is less time I will have to spend explaining things between all the kids as I teach.

Time to go outside now with the little ones and enjoy this beautiful Fall day God has blessed His people with. Hope you and yours have a great time enjoying this day, too! God bless :)

2008-08-23T06:14:00.000-07:00

Well, Hello Friends! This is my first post since January, so I guess I'll catch some of you up on what's been going on with us, as many of you have known us for quite awhile. As many of you know, my husband took on *a second full-time job* last November. There were 8 months in which my husband basically worked and tried to catch up on sleep 24/7. During this time, God used the financial tightening to turn a bad situation good! He gave us clarity to see things we had been blind to before, He grew in us more appreciation for each-other, and He grew our faith and trust in him, even as our bodies and hearts were strained... He used heartbreak over other situations in my life for good; I really know now that Oh No, He (Really Does) Never Let Go!...even when our hearts "feel" empty... the old hymn Amazing Grace sums up our last year. "Thro' many dangers, toils, and snares,I have already come;'Tis grace have bro't me safe thus far,And grace will lead me home...The Lord has promised good to me,His word my hope secures;He will my shield my portion be,As long as life endures" :)

We are happily able to report that we have been able to get back into weekly tithing again and have even been able to return nice things to the home that we had to take a vacay from for awhile... In my last post, I jokingly said that we were going to have to do some growing by giving up cable Tv and the Internet for awhile, but while I was kidding around, I truly did miss being able to read your blogs and "talk" with you guys about life. I am glad to be able to update our blog, and especially to be able to read all of yours regularly once again! I have some serious catching up to do, though at this rate, it may take me all year ;)

2008-01-12T17:39:00.000-08:00

I am taking some time tonight to post from my husbands work laptop as we no
longer have internet access or cable ( ooh we are growing over here! ;)
I still won't be posting much for awhile but I will be stopping into your
blogs as I can because I love hearing about How God is sustaining all of you :)...
I thank God for the peace He gives over the believer, that I can trust in Him to do what only He can do. That I can live by grace and not by my works. Whenever I decide to completely trust Him, He stills and quiets my mind and my heart in the way only He can do. A lot of hard things have come up over the past month... deep emotional
dissapointments, financial hardship, deep fear for my husbands welfare and safety
as he has been tackling two full-time jobs since the end of November, and as I have witnessed him going from one shift into another on 3 or 4 hours of sleep. Add to that the physical and mental exhaustion of being suddenly thrust into the role of a single-mom for 3 (child-care wise) and that would sum up December for us.
I got thrown off by emotions at first, awakening at night from deeep sleep to Grace's cries and then finding myself awake for 30 minutes or more, thinking about those things and turning them over and over in my mind. Then I started bringing my Bible upstairs to bed with me again and reading the Psalms as I did a few years ago when my husband and I were making some hard choices,mainly for me to quit working outside of home and for me to home school. All this to say, the lighthouse of God'sword stayed bright and solid on the rock as I tossed my way back to Him over the waves of emotion. He always quiets my soul at the foot of the cross. I still don't know all the answers about what is going to happen with this or that, but quiet I become as He shows me again and again,that it is all in His hands. I love this scripture:
"The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer!" Amen!!
(Psalms 18:2) Love in Christ to you all as you also live out your lives under God's grace, in whatever circumstances you find yourself in. All of ours different, and yet all under His grace. Amazing! XO'S <3

2007-12-24T19:00:00.000-08:00

JOHN 3:16&17~ For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send His son into the world to condemn it, but to save it...

...Merry Christmas everyone! I am meditating on this scripture this week, We are so thankful for God's plan of redemption this year, as well as for many other qualities of God's character, like how He loves justice~He will not tolerate oppression, and how merciful He is~ He will not break a bruised reed. We send much love in Christ to you and yours! <3 The Hoffman Family

2007-12-10T07:47:00.000-08:00

Both Saturday and Sunday I had all-day-long training sessions, the kind where you go into the building for class when it's just beginning to light,and when your done with class and come back out of the building,it is dark for night-time...
I learned a lot...
the informational sessions alone are fabulous, never mind all the training I now have(almost)completed...
But man oh man I was ready to *stop* thinking about money and get back to
my family in such a Big Way!;)
Back to my kids, back to to my daily routine with waking up with them
(such a *huge* gift!) and all that happens after that,that endless cycle(or so it seems to be),of homeschooling, playing together, of annoying each-other at times,lol! :),of correction, and of spur-of-the-moment
scripture break-out sessions (Love being able to take time for those!!),
of discipline,and of all of that happening simultaneously...
now *that* is the stuff of life, and I have missed it over the last 2 days!

Isn't it great how God gives perspective? We all have to be good stewards of our money while on this earth,but we long for the things of God~ God's good gifts to us~family,spouses, our children, our church, our friends, just to name the few that I am reminiscing about here ;)

Now, I have been called verbose , and I know that scripture says that it is wise to user *fewer* words in many instances, yet I hope I never get to where I can't wait to get home to talk to my family and friends about what God is up to in my life and in the world... I think it would be a terrible thing if I didn't have a lot to say about how I'm fighting my indwelling sin,it might be as if I didn't think I had any at all or I knew it but didn't want it gone,being a fallen person on earth
who is getting sanctified to get ready for Heaven, I should have a lot to say~ and I do~ Lol!~ I love reading all of your blogs! I love how iron sharpens iron.

I kind of went off on a bunny trail there, didn't I? Lol! But that's Ok, maybe someone who is in the same place as me can be encouraged by how God is working in my life, or someone is farther along than me and can share with me how God is working in their life... I love this stuff!!

Well,I will end this post by thanking God for all of my saved, God-honoring friends that I am so blessed to know (Love you all!!),and for His Grace, Mercy and Forgiveness in so many other ways that He shines on all of our lives...
Happy fellowship with God today! :) XO

2007-12-08T18:42:00.000-08:00

I have had the best times with the Lord lately, and of course many of them have to do with Him bringing me correction and teaching me, this is such a season of *going deeper* for me, but His discipline is so *sweet* ~ it really is more like disciple- ing than how *I* understand bringing correction and discipline to be.

This is such a season of learning God's ways as compared to my ways.
For example, I asked God awhile ago now how to parent my kids to please Him,
and He spoke to my heart and let me know that I should just parent them the way that He parents me. I didn't really fully *get* what He meant by that, practically, and I doubt I do now, not yet~ not fully~ though I do understand bit by bit more about it as He reveals His wisdom to me. There are so many other areas,too. Too many to list in one place, I think! It's like the whole world just opened up in a whole new way and I can *see* things that I couldn't before; I guess God has taken yet another blinder off... Thank You, Lord!!

Seeing the gospel jewel against the backdrop of my black sinfulness as a fallen being,(Thank-you,C.B., so much for that analogy that has been popping into my mind so much lately,)brings about a deeper understanding of how wrong my ways are, how right His ways are, how amazed I am that I am saved, how grateful I am, the obligation I now have to forgive as I have been forgiven: ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil… "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions (Matthew 6:12-15): how easy it is to justify sin (disobeying God)by adding my own reasoning's to the gospel...

Oh that I could have the mind of Jesus, in that I might be sinless, would be so nice~ but this day will come when I enter into Heaven where no sin will be tolerated. Until then, I toil here in this mind~ this heart~ this body~ and I fight with my sin, like a fighter competing for the prize~ "I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize ( 1 Cor. 9:26-27,)" though I know I need to fight my sin much more because it is right here with me, all of the time. When God parents me, He teaches me with His word and by His people, He shows me the path of righteousness, when I take it I reap the naturally good consequences of choosing to obey God, when I don't take it I reap the naturally bad consequences of choosing to not obey God~
Corinthians 9:6:" Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully," but as a ransomed one I don't face God's wrath, God's anger, when I choose to disobey Him...

I'm not saying this is theologically correct, I'm just saying that from my own personal experiences with God He does not show me His anger with me, though I can easily imagine that at times I could very possibly anger Him (when I grumble and complain, snap at my kids under stress, whatever it may be,)He is ever-present and ready for me to Repent, *eager* to forgive me, gracious and compassionate and towards me when I am rolling around in sin like a pig in the mud (sorry, just the visual i got about how we love our sin sometimes, lol)~ and here am I,easily tempted to throw in the towel or grumble or complain, easily angered sometimes with sin issues that I am impatiently waiting to come to an end~ and how abounding with grace,compassionate, slow to anger and readily willing to forgive is my God!!

I don't know if this whole post makes no sense, but i couldn't wait to get on here today and share with you how God is working in me ~ He is showing me the *greatness* of the differences between me and Him, in such a gracious and loving way, to teach me what *true* righteousness is~ now never will I be like Jesus, but I am so happy that God is willing to show me what His ways are, ever so patiently, so that I can know them ever so much more fully, in order to then have that knowledge to more fully follow them. I am enjoying His teaching me the rules, knowing that "If anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes by the rules 2 Timothy 2:5" ....

It is time to let go of those last "precious" things that I am having the hardest times with: "But it's not fair!" and "If I put in the Work, I just wanna see the Results!" God is showing me the pride fullness and foolishness of those emotions; they say "I want My timing!" and "I deserve..!..." but no, no it's all about God's timing and I don't deserve....anything. Conforming my mind to the truth is work, but it is good, good work. It is the work of this life and I will never be ungrateful for God doing this good work in me, which I know~ through faith~ that He *will* bring to completion. <3

2007-12-04T06:16:00.000-08:00

I really like this sermon I found of Martin Luther's, I think he does a great job of explaining a person's depravity towards Christ and what a person's response to the gospel of Christ should be, versus how it usually is. Like he says in section 15 of this particular sermon, "Ifyou would be saved you must become an altogether different man; your mind and heart must be changed."(15). That phrase alone gives much food for thought... reminds me that Christ came for the sick not the well,that a real Christian will be born again, not through actual physical re-birth but through the spirit, and that legalism is opposed to grace, just as I posted the other day, and as God is revealing to me His wisdom about as time unfolds...

I am so grateful for this work in my heart and in my mind that God is doing. I can really feel myself changing, my mind occupied with Him more and more and leaving my 'self' screaming for attention! Lol! Let it scream! "Old habits die hard."
"If you be would be savedyou must become an altogether different man; your mind and heart must be changed." I look forward to one day, in Heaven, becoming a truly "altogether different woman" but,for now, I am enjoying(mostly;)the true beginning of my ride in the passengers seat,my altogether patient God
pleasant in spite of my plastered-on grin and white knuckles at times,or my tears,
or sinful anger at other times... Oh how He understands our wayward hearts and yet loves us so, I pray that I will always have *that* kind of love for my children and my family, for my friends and those God puts on my path of life. That I might be more like Him and less like me, that a prayer God loves to bless as evidenced in His words to us in the Bible, Galatians 2:20: "I have been
crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me...", John9:39-41: Jesus said, "I have come into the world to give sight to
those who are spiritually blind and to show those who think they see--that they are blind..."

THE SERMONS OF MARTIN LUTHER, VOL. VIII, PAGE 343:
ENEMIES OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST & THE CHRISTIAN'S CITIZENSHIP IN HEAVEN:
PHILIPPIANS 3:17-21: "Brethren, join in imitating me, and mark those who so live as you have an example in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him even to subject all things to himself."

"Now, the righteousness of the Law cannot effect such confidence of mind. Hence, for me it avails nothing before God; rather it is a detriment... what does avail is God's imputation of righteousness for Christ's sake, through faith. God declares to us in his Word that the believer in his Son shall, for Christ's own sake, have God's grace and eternal life. He who knows this is able to wait in hope for the last day, having no fear, no disposition to flee..."
(7,b.)

"Paul would say of himself: "I, too, was such a one. In my most perfect righteousness of the Law I was an enemy to and persecutor of the congregation, or Church, of Christ. It was the legitimate fruit of my righteousness that I though I must be party to the most horrible persecution of Christ and his Christians. an acThus my holiness made me an actual enemy of Christ and a murderer of his followers. The disposition to injure is a natural result of the righteousness of the Law, as all Scripture history from Cain down testifies, and as we see even in the best of the world who have not come to the knowledge of Christ: Princes, civil authorities in proportion to their wisdom, their godliness and honor are the bitter and intolerant enemies of the Gospel."(10)

"If you ask, Whence such a disposition? I answer, it naturally springs from human righteousness. For every individual who professes human righteousness, and knows nothing of Christ, holds that efficacious before God. He relies upon it and gratifies himself with it, presuming thereby to present a flattering appearance in God's sight and to render himself peculiarly acceptable to him. From being proud and arrogant toward God, he comes to reject them who are not righteous according to the Law; as illustrated in the instance of the Pharisee (Lk. 18:11-12). But greater is his enmity and more bitter his hatred toward the preaching that dares to censure such righteousness and assert its futility to merit God's grace and eternal life.(13)

"I myself, and others with me, were dominated by such feelings when,
under popery, we claimed to be holy and pious; we must confess the fact. If thirty years ago, when I was a devout, holy monk, holding mass every day and having no thought but that I was in the road leading directly to heaven--if then anyone had accused me--had preached to me the things of this text and pronounced our righteousness--which accorded not strictly with the Law of God, but conformed to human doctrine and was manifestly idolatrous--pronounced it without efficacy and said I was an enemy to the cross of Christ, serving my own sensual appetites, I would immediately have at least helped to find stones for putting to death such a Stephen, or to gather wood for the burning of this worst of heretics.(14)
So human nature ever does! The world cannot conduct itself in any other way, when the declaration comes from heaven saying: "True you are a holy man, a great and learned jurist, a conscientious regent, a worthy prince, an honorable citizen, and so on, but with all your authority and your upright character you are going to hell; your every act is offensive and condemned in God's sight. If you would be saved you must become an altogether different man; your mind and heart must be changed."(15).

By Martin Luther (1483-1546)

http://homepage.mac.com/shanerosenthal/reformationink/mlenemies.htm

(following sermon is taken from volume VIII of, The Sermons of Martin Luther, published by Baker Book House.)

2007-12-03T15:37:00.000-08:00

This is great!...

God has designed a wonderful cycle for those who want to worship Him above all things. As you love, praise, give thanks, and delight yourself in God, He will fulfill your desires with the best thing in the world: more of Himself! And as you learn to delight more and more in Him, you will feel less need to find happiness, fulfillment, and security in the things of this world...

Adapted from Peacemaking for Families, by Ken Sande (Tyndale, 2002).

2007-11-30T08:56:00.000-08:00

Yesterday as I was cleaning the bathroom (lol!)God quickened my mind and my heart to be able to understand more of what He was teaching me in the morning hours, so I thought I'd share a follow-up on here. The scripture that God used to speak to me was James 1:20 "for a man's anger does not produce the righteousness of God."

I believe He brought this scripture to my mind for many reasons, one so that I could understand better that a man's anger at injustice will not change injustice, that it is love that conquers evil, and another so that I might see how *very simple* (in it's philiosphy, doctrinally) Biblical Parenting can be at the basic level~ I give my children a gift; I teach them about God and God's way's, I correct them and discipline them as the word of God requires to train their foolish hearts to recognize, and submit to, wisdom.
(At least this is my understanding of it, I am sure there are more thorough explanations!;)

God showed me that my words can indeed be few,I need no more words than God's words,but for basic explanation, because "all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness" Tim. 3:16, and because His words are best; this kills the part of my flesh that wants to 'lecture'~ God doesn't lecture me: it wasn't His law that drew me to Him, it was His grace; besides that I must not add my own understandings/reasonings onto God's words,and so,all of this makes it easy to see the picture before me: as the songs says,
"You are God in heaven and here am I on earth, so I'll let my words be few; Jesus, I am so in love with You."

As far man's anger, well for me it all intertwines in my understanding,as it is often my anger about an injustice that tempts me to get into lecturing, when in fact, all I need do is present God's word with simple explanation and be obedient to apply correction and discipline as God's word says to do, and that is enough on my part~ besides praying, of course ;) And teaching them about The Lord.
Well, there is so much more like caring for their needs and teaching them skills and trades, academics and so on, but the Most Important thing: The Gospel.
And I certainly don't want to add to the gospel, or cheapen God's grace, or pass on legalistic tendacies... I want to walk in a manner that's worthy, know and do grace-filled parenting, pass on an example of faith that suprassses all human understanding! But, there is so much less opportunity for tempation when I keep my feelings about things out of my teaching,correcting and rebuking of my children.

I thank God for showing me what Grace is, and how I can use Love to conquer Evil just as he did by sending His son,Jesus,to die~ for showing me how and when to use my words, one way that *I* can walk in a manner that's worthy of the gospel, one way that *I* can pour out the oil of love as my worship to Him. And again, to you all, online friends and in-the-neighborhood friends ;), who help me change and grow. (Love you all!) so I have much Leaning to do ;) and I am looking forward to all of it!! ;) :)

On a totally unrelated topic, I figured I'd copy-cat Kelly and give you a treat if you made it this far :) Lol! ;)

Here's a really yummy recipe I put together last night and I promise you, it's good!

Pretzel Chicken for 4
Melt one full stick of butter in a pyrex or whatever, and lay 4 freshly-rinsed chicken breasts(we buy them frozen 14 per bag for $10 at the local Save-a-Lot)in a baking dish (spray 1st so it won't stick.)Pour butter over breasts and turn them to coat, dredge in crumbs of food-processed Herr's Whole-Grain Pretzel Sticks($2.59 for a 10 oz. bag at the local Turkey Hill, I used 2 cups of them to make crumbs)with 2 big tablespoons of poultry seasoning and some salt & pepper mixed in,top with extra melted butter(I just use a spoon to scoop it up from the bottom of the pan and ladle it over top), bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes, or more or less, depending on the thickness of your breasts (lol!) er.. 'till it's not pink inside, I should have said :)
We served ours with baked sweet potatoes with more melted butter and brown sugar, and it was a great meal. I know, not low-cal at all,lol! But good!! :)

2007-11-29T06:29:00.000-08:00

Legalism = literally "School of law" ...Doctrinally, it is a position essentially opposed to grace.... "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith" - Galatians 3:24).

Last night at Care Group we had a good talk about the book of Galations, and one of the discussion questions was "Where has God convicted you in areas of being well-known as a Christian?"All I could think about was what had been on my mind all day!, am I *really* trusting that God's work Alone saves? I have been so legalistic lately in wanting to see evidences of grace in my children's hearts that I have been missing all of the real evidences of grace!! And, I have most likely been packing up and trying to pass along my Legalism baggage to them without even seeing my foolishness!! How sobering. And even more sobering is that God knew I would sin in all of these ways, and so many more ways, and yet He still chose me for His own daughter- adopted into His royal family. ( Thanks for that encouragement, Dani.)

It amazes me how vast my foolishness can be, and yet I will never even detect it!
No, the cross Amazes me, but my foolishness just makes me shake my head. There it is, clear as day to God, all of my motives cut right in half and dissected thoroughly by the word of God,and all I have to do is lay bare and open before Him, and he will show me exactly.what.is.right.to.do. Yet I am so desirous to lean on my own understandings that each day I wake up and read my Bible and seek God's will for my day and then by lunch-time I am trying to figure out in my own strength why this labor I am pecking away at seems.so.very.fruitless.sometimes. I have lost, yet again, my vision for what God is doing in our lives, and my part in all that He wants to accomplish. I would be very discouraged about my exceedingly wayward heart if I didn't know that God has promised to, and is faithful to, bind it fast towards Him. He is working. He is working in His ways, in His timings, ways that have Nothing to do with me, ways that I Cannot Possibly understand at all, and it.is. not.my.job.to.figure.out.what.He.is.doing. It Is my job to trust Him, and stay out of His way! ;)

I don't want to get in His way anymore while he is working in my children's hearts; He knows thier hearts so much better than I do, he created them, I see that more clearly now. Thank you to Daryl S. for sharing last night that he has had the most God-honoring times with his children when he has come to them confessing his own sin, and then humbly helping them to see theirs,too. He said that this is the only way he has seen to melt their defensiveness, to break down that wall that exists for a moment between parent & child when child has disobeyed and parent must bring correction and additional instruction. Sometimes those walls stay up far longer than for a moment between my oldest and I, and that grieves me. Thank you also to Jill for teaching me how to confess my sin to Tyler and ask for his forgiveness. This has brought us much closer together. I believe that as I put off my legalistic attitudes and put on more of God's grace-breathed attitude things will *open up* for us... and maybe I won't see the changes I want to see in my way or in my timing but I will trust that they are God's ways and God's timings, even if one of my children were to harden his heart towards God and to go his own way, I know that God is Still God, and I am Not. It is so very scary to hold your children in open palms. But I am not God and I cannot change a heart. But God can.

I so *needed*, needed, needed, needed to be reminded of that last night... I can't even express here what gratefullness I have for all of you in our Care Group,how many times you all have touched my life, how you have been the voice of reason when I couldn't see, like last night. There have been many more times like these. I am nowhere near sanctified, but I have changed so much in the last few years and God has used this group of people so tremendously for me. So, from the bottom of my heart, Thank You, and keep it coming~ keep telling me what you really see in my heart and helping me trust God more. I can't do it without all of you!...
Know that it is with much tears of gratefullness as I type these words, and yes my kids are just starting to stare at me like I have gone off of the deep end! Lol! Aww, Josh just gave me a hug and told me "It's Ok", Lol!! I told him thank-you, I know that it is, it is more than Ok, it is great!" and he said "then Why are you crying???" ha ha :)

And from last night, I have to share with those of you who are not in our Care Group part of the scripture that Joel shared last night:

Isaiah 1: 18:

"Come now, let us argue this out, says the Lord. No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can remove it. I can make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you white as wool."

Love to you all! <3

2007-11-24T06:44:00.000-08:00

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of your own works, so that no one may boast."
Ephesians 2:8-9

So we arrived here in RI not-too-late Thursday night, and I am so happy to say that we were blessed with safe and expedient travel, enough actually-open gas station and restaurants to afford us enough places to pee and breakfast and lunch during our travels, and can I just say once again- Thank You God! for helping someone think up portable DVD players!! We are, as usual, blessed far more than we could ever deserve! Really starting to see that now more and more as time goes on: Can I steal "better than I deserve" now? Maybe just make up my own~ no~ I couldn't come up with anything more succinct or more true than that!
Anyways, once again I was blessed with the opportunity to share the gospel with my 88 year old grandfather(Dan)last night, and Thank You God for continued opportunities. He consistently opens wide doors that *appear* to be closed tight, to the point where I *almost* no longer despair at a shut door; what's the point in becoming anxious when I know God's power??? Such praises I could go on and on about, but the one I want to get to right now is that I was able to leave one of the How Good Are You? mini-booklets that our pastor CB reminded us to bring with to our family gatherings, and hand it to him as I left out the door to go do some Black Friday Christmas shopping, and thanks to the church for making these booklets available~ and for FREE!~ as well as to God for consistently opening doors!, my grandfather was able and willing to read through the booklet while I was gone, and he was willing to engage in a discussion with me about it upon my return.

So, out came the coffee and the booklet and my Bible(Thank you God for our Bibles!!) and I was able to( thanks to consistent, practical teaching week after week at our church and consistent,daily,mercy-filled teaching at God's feet reading my Bible in the mornings, as well as all I am learning from being a daily, hourly, minute-ly (lol)recipient of God's truly unmerited, free and vast grace,)share with him how God Alone Saves, Not by any merit or works of ours But by His Free and Undeserved Grace, and how while we cannot muster up a desire within ourselves to be Saved and then by our own strength make it happen within our hearts, we can get alone with God and lay our desire to be saved at His feet, awaiting then His gracious and wonderful mercies. You see, my grandfather told me last night that he doesn't understand why God is not pursuing Him harder,why He hasn't bestowed upon him the Faith that he needs to make the leap from merely mental understanding to a heart full of faith in God... I shared with him how God *is* pursuing him,obviously,why else would He put it on my heart and Tyler's heart to share the gospel with him again and again and again, month after month and year into year...why would he have heard the religious programs and radio station snippets he has been hearing lately that gave him much meat to chew on, why would he be alive, breathing still, God giving every one of us each breath that we take in, every heartbeat our heart fires off? But I don't have faith, he said, and faith... faith is a delicate partnership, isn't it?
God has to show us that He is real in order for us to get it, and we have to decide to trust Him in response to His "God-ness"...who/what else could ever be like OurGod???

We ended the conversation like this: if you want to be saved grandpa, beg God to save you. Place your desires before Him,and repent;if you will be faithful to do that,He will be faithful to help you by showing you more about Him,to grow in you a faith. That was it, it went rather quickly.... but God had given us those several minutes alone, when for 15 minutes the kids and my sisters were content with the Wii syatem my new brother-in-law brought with, and grandma stayed busy in the kitchen... God opened his heart and cleared the way... I just hope the words I choose were one's that we righteous, that would bring glory to God... if any of you feel a stirring to pray for us, oh please pray for God to do yet another great work, that He will save my grandfather, that I will be content with His timing, that I will trust Him with the state of my loved one's souls, knowing that He is good and that He is God... thanks :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING WEEKEND! XOXO'S! ;)

2007-11-21T09:28:00.000-08:00

So, now that I am relieved off my efforts to manage my sister's life,
(Thank you,Jill,for your wise and Godly council) I have *so* much free time again, freed up to take on tasks that I have just not otherwise had the mental energy,or time,to do lately~ and the first on my list for today is Tackling Some Of This Home school Clutter! Books,folders,papers to log,pencils,markers and pens abound,taking over my kitchen table,my desk, my dreams...*Sigh.*
I guess it's finally time to find a place for all of this 6th grade and Kindergarten stuff. But where? I,alas,do admit to having a nice home school cabinet... that is filled to the gills with stuff already :o! And that's after pruning through it all to bless others with some of it! There are just so many projects, so many ideas,that would be fun to explore...is there hope for a pack-rat homeschooler like me?

Thank you God that today Your word spoke so well to me,as it does every day...
Matthew 5: 14-16: "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand,and it lights up the whole house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven!"

So much of what we do in our homeschooling adventures is fashioned to bring glory to God, from Math to English to Science... all of it shows God's wisdom, His order of creation, His mercy, His grace! We don't have to hide all of that under a basket to have a neat, orderly, God-glorifying home~ we can put it on a stand,let it shine,and let it light up our whole house! Oh, how I am having visions of wall-to-wall bookshelves wrapping around our house,showcasing all of our good books, our children's papers full of facts glorifying God,our globes and our microscopes and our bug-houses and ant farms and aquariums, filled to the rim with Learning and Love! Of course, that would require quite a lot of work for my now-working 2 jobs, tired and scheduled-to-the-max husband, so this dream will probably have to wait for a good while. But,in the meantime,I can get to glorifying God by making what is not neat, neat and by organizing a few of the most glorifying pieces of work around the house, for our and anyone else's, encouragement...

Thank You God that you also
reminded me of this home school -organization link I had posted to utilize at another time, http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/conqueringthehomeschoolinvasion.

The article is copied and pasted below, for your convenience as well.

God bless and Happy Thanksgiving!

Conquering the Home school Invasion
Comment on this item
Organizing the clutter before it takes over the house
by Monika Downey
Friday: Clean and Organized

It begins to creep in slowly and then seems to overtake you--stacks of books, math manipulative's in the bathtub, colored pencils in the silverware drawer. And the papers...ALL of the papers. Your kitchen begins to look like a mad scientist invaded it and you can't find the door to the fridge because of the layers of Art Projects and A+++ reports on "Birds of Prey." (Thank heavens they outgrew that topic!)

If you are realizing it's time for all out warfare on the Home school House Invasion, you may be looking for some ideas on where to begin and how to reclaim your house.

1. Shelves, Boxes and Bins--Organize flashcards in shoe boxes (the clear, plastic ones are wonderful) and cut up subject dividers to keep them separate. Keep large containers with lids for crayons, pencils, stickers and other items. This allows for quick cleanup. A box or milk crate for each child makes transporting to another room or location handy and keeps everything together.

2. Keep a "return" bin handy for books and videos that need to be returned to the library or school.

3. Consider putting up a large bulletin board for papers and clearing the board at the beginning of each month. Keeping a bulletin board in each child's room also gives them a place to hang the real "masterpieces."

4. Find a closet or set of cupboards that you can devote entirely to school materials. Lots of shelves are great for organizing and stacking. Putting all your home school materials away at the end of the week forces you to keep on top of the piles that easily build up.

5. Keep on top of housework by assigning chores. Spending a half hour making beds and picking up before school makes a huge difference. Even the youngest can empty a small garbage can or feed a pet.

6. Make children clean up in small spurts during the day so you don't end up with an enormous mess at the end of the day. Allow kids a break between lessons but only after they clean something up. (Sure it's a bribe but it works!)

7. Buy a small, 10x12, whiteboard for each child to keep the paper buildup down. Kids love them and they are great to work math problems on or practice a new cursive letter.

8. Invest in an inexpensive three-hole punch that makes any paper fit into a binder. Make it your child's responsibility to get papers into his notebook.

A home school house gets a lot of use and a real "lived-in" look. Many veteran homeschoolers have learned that you may just have to lower your housekeeping standards a little. Face it, if you choose to home school you will probably not end up featured on the cover of Martha Stewart Living. However, you will have embarked down an adventure with your children that they will never forget. In the end, your children will probably not remember how clean your house was, but they will remember that you were the only house on the block that had a chemistry lab in the kitchen and a mom or dad more powerful than Bill Nye the Science Guy.

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Freelancer Monika Downey's work has been featured in the San Jose Mercury News, Family Circle, Woodhall's Backpacking Magazine and many others.

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2007-11-20T05:07:00.000-08:00
Another day of working out my sanctification....

This morning God really spoke to me and my current trials using the book of Galations, and I wanted to share with you what He showed me and laugh with those of you who go to my church over how He would choose Galations, the very book our pastor just began a series in this past Sunday! God works in mysterious ways! ;) Guess this study will be particularaly helpful for me...!

Anyways, the chapter I was led to after I sought the Lord in prayer was Deuteronomy
Chapter 8, a chapter about obeying God's commandments so that it will go well with you, because the Lord is bringing you into a good land, and we must remember that this is the work of His hands and not our own, lest we say in our own hearts " My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth" or,like the nations God made perish for His people, so they will perish, because they will not obey the voice of the Lord God.

How kind of the Lord to lead me to this scripture!,on the heels of the last few days when have had to *force* myself to obey Him about some things, obeying against every fiber in my sinful being at some points,knowing what is right, and wanting what is wrong! This has been on the heels of conflict, and a talk I had
with my Care Group leader's wife to seek her council;she talked to me about Redemption. Well,God showed me such a beautiful picture of Redemption in this chapter and in chapter 9!I think I see a theme here!;)

He saves us not because we deserve it, but because He set His heart in love on our fathers and chose thier offspring after them, we above all peoples, Deut.10:15, and
from the day we came out of Egypt until we came to this place, we have been rebellious against the Lord,Deut.8:7.

Oh how I needed to hear this again today as I set myself prostrate before the Lord in prayer, offering up my prayers and petitions to the Lord in the best
thanksgiving I could give and all the joy that I had, knowing that He would be faithful to give me the peace that surpasses all undertstanding, because His word says that he will, Phil.4:6&7. I told Him all about what He already knew was in my heart... LordI still am finding it hard to forgive some things,Lord i am so hurt,I am so nagry still about some things,I feel like I should be past this by now, when will these *feelings* go away? and etc., all the while asking Him to make stronger the feelings of redemptive-love that I *do* have also, mixed in with all of the other,ugly stuff. His answer to me was one that showed me why He saves (Deut.9) and what He asks us to do in light of our salvation(Deut.8) and showed me that all He asks he puts in place so that it may go well with us(!

What kindness, what mercy, what LOVE! And then He talked to me about the crucifiction, and how it feels for Him to have the lukewarm believers we have today as His son's and duaghter's. Jesus died for people who were mocin Him; God saves us and then so many of us honor Him with our lips in private and then act ashamed of His word and His commandments out in public, inciting his grief and anger to where He says to us that if we are ashamed of Him, then He will be ashamed of us.

I am seeing how hard it is to obey sometimes, and how hard it was for God to send Jesus to die, how it was for Jesus to die, for sinners such as us, more and more as time goes by, but I am also graciously and lovingly being shown the promise that comes with obedience: just as we tell our children about Eph.6, so we must remind ourselves also, sothat it may go well with you. And, honoring the Lord with our whole hearts, our whole minds, our whole souls, with our lives,our word and deed, our thoughts, it all.

Taking thoughts captive and forcing yourself to obey is hard work, no doubt about that. I just cannot believe how much more wonderful the rewards are compared to the work that is put in!!!

I watched the movie Amazing Grace on dvd with Ty yesterday afternoon, a movie our pastor told us on Sunday that he enjoys very much, and a line from that movie is sticking in my head as I write this. A man in Parliment says to Wilbur Wilberforce,
"When the world thinks of great men, it will think of men of power, like Napolean, but it forgets men of peace. Napolean will return from his battles in pomp and power, but when he rests his head at night he will be haunted by the blood on his hands. But a man like Wilbur will go home to his family and when he rests his head, he will know peace, knowing that the slave trade is abolished."

This is the reward when we obey even when it is hard: peace. Peace is worth far more than any ounce of power you could ever offer me!

And let me rot as I deserve before you let me be ashamed of your name, my God. Let me open my mouth and have your word in it all the days of my life, especially on the occasions when your word is being called into question. Whether it be with my child, in the town square, with family, or with freinds, let me always honor you above myself and let me uphold your commandments whether it will make me well liked, or not liked at all. Give me that spirit of boldness even more I pray, so that I can boldly speak your word in confidence,in love,allowing me to always love, as You do, always love, especially when all I want to do is turn away from love; bind this easily wandering heart Lord! In Jesus powerful name I pray, Amen. Amen!

2007-11-13T07:25:00.000-08:00
So we have been very,very busy this Fall, between my sister coming to move in with us, and all of those adjustments, and the usual beginnings of a new school year, with adding Kindergarden into the mix this year,too. Grace being almost-2 keeps me so busy herself climbling everything in sight! And she loves to talk, which I am obligated to contantly decipher, because I want her to always feel that we listen to her, and I want to teach her the right way to enunciate!(If youv'e heard Josh speak,you know where my concern lies.) With all of the antics, there hasn't been much time for peace and quiet, or alone times with the Lord... and there there have been moments of drudgery in keeping this whole household and family running and keeping everyone on time and in the black, maybe more than just a few isolated moments,but there has been Much Joy too, as we have had our home filled to capacity with life,laughter and silliness~ and the 6 still-young cats certainly add to all of that!;), and as we have enjoyed another year of blessings in being able to Home School, and as I have watched and fertilized my children's growing minds.

Counting all of my blessings, I want to especially count our church, the training center where I have been taught and challenged,encouraged,and grown, over the past several years. Sunday was our 6th year anniversary. It is interesting for me to reflect on that this church was formed in the year 2000, when I was just graduating from URI,and did not have God's imput in my life at all(I didn't want it,at that time),that in 2001 it was the second year from our church, and I was merely consumed with who was moving, me or Alan, and if I would find an interesting enough, high-paying enough job after graduation(because,of course, I wasn't sticking with the one I'd had all throughout college; it was all about the more money you can get, you know), and that in 2002 I was saved by a merciful and gracious God who had a plan for me~ a plan that I didn't even know~and who reached down and pulled me out of the pit at exactly the right time, based upon His wisdom. It is that wisdom and mercy that has placed me in the life I am in today,and in the church family I am in today.
For someone who doesn't deserve it at all, He has moved mountains(my carnal mind was a mountain in my life, the mind was all there was for me at that time~ "the magnificent human mind", that's what all the psychologists are obsessed with~ and how little I saw,or understood, under their tutor), and He has Crushed Strongholds
(I used to be very anxious, fear-driven, self-preoccupied)and look at me now,no pillar of selflessness but far,far more peaceful and why? because I can trust God,becaue of The Gospel~ which has changed many a life.

On Sunday Dave Harvey from Covenant Fellowship church in Glen Mills spoke and his message was one that was in very good season for all of us to hear. I thought that you would be blessed too,by the sharing of some of his key points. I also love how the Proverbs 31 Ministries devotional I found in my inbox today speaks to the same subject of contentment and God's sovereignty. I have included snippets from it and then Dave's teachings~ hope you have a blessed day :)

Proverbs 31 Devotional : So there has never been a showy lightning bolt experience that told me, "Ah-ha, THIS is why you brought me here!" I've only found moment-by-moment happenings that beckon me to be Jesus with skin on as I live each day...

Looking back on my life I can see countless times where I thought I knew what God was up to, only to discover later that I had no clue.

Our infectious disease may be anger at the way God answers our prayers.

I encourage you to look beyond your helplessness and behold: The Healer...

Father, we are so blind to your ways. Open our eyes to see past our circumstances and see Your plan. Give us contentment wherever we are in this life and a joyful spirit that gives You praise in the midst of all things. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Dave's teachings: The purpose of trials and temptations is to test our faith: this life is only a test!
~ Our faith is so important to God that he built into creation a testing ground for it. Because tests reveal us, and prepare us; in His wisdom He knew that this would be the best way to wirk out our daily sanctification.
~ the best measure of who we truly are before God is where we turn in times of trial...not in one's offerings, eloquent prayers, or lifting of their hands in worship.
~ We have a sympathetic God who knows and understands,our weaknesses.
~ Indwelling sin is even redeemed by God. It shows us our weaknesses,that drives us closer to seeing our need for a Savior... Satan doesn't want us to see our lack of faith!,If we are seeing that~ count it all joy and be grateful~ because this is the Holy Spirit working in you; that's the beginning of change.
~ Authetic faith cannot be built in times of peace. Only the refiners fire brings out the impurities to the surface where they can then be scraped off. Testing produces steadfastness- that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in Nothing. Tested faith Endures.
~ The next time you, or a friend, is struggling in their situations(s) don't just tell them that God is good or that He is sovereign, though all of this is true~ go a step beyond the pat answers and tell them that not only is God doing a diagnostic on their situation, He is installing a whole new battery system of steadfastness, and He needs to work in The Workhop just as a mechanic does; the workshop is life, where He plugs us into the machinery of trials and temptations.
~ But it takes a long time~ God takes His time~ He is not on our time table. Progress is made slowly and surely, like progress is made in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Yes, it's taking longer than we anticpated it ever would to get from point A to point B but we are still getting there, eventually. God works in His time. Trails are lengthy. And unpredictable. God's pace is part of His process...
~ Wholeness and completeness doesn't come in a slain of the spirit but in how we respond to God in trials~ and when we respond in faith in the midst of trials~ then we can be lacking in nothing~ because we know that God is installing steadfastness, so we can't help but have Joy! (See James 1.)

....Good stuff,huh? Really, really great! :)

2007-11-12T17:04:00.000-08:00
I really like this post that can be found over at http://www.extremetheology.com/law_gospel/index.html .
I heard about this blog from my friend Melissa at http://exupciinuc.blogspot.com/ .
I haven't read the length of the whole blog, but this post speaks so much Truth to me... hope you can find a few minutes to read it sometime!

September 11, 2007
With All Due Respect Pastor Noble...
Pastor Perry Noble of New Spring Church in Anderson, South Carolina is one of the Pastors that I track online. He strikes me as a sincere and passionate man who speaks his mind bluntly and forcefully. He is not afraid to say things that offend people. In fact, he is up front about the fact that what he says and does will offend religious people.

He has a new blog entry that he’s written that I want to take the time to respond to because it gives us an opportunity to explore the issues surrounding law vs "law & gospel" preaching. The name of the piece is called “‘Nice’ Christian Boys and Girls Make Me Sick”. In his post he says that if his daughter were of dating age that the LAST person he would like here bringing home is a ‘nice Christian boy’. The reason, according to Noble is because:

"Nice" Christian boys are one of the reasons Christianity is not advancing the way Jesus has called us to. Why? Because a “nice” Christian boy will go to church, Bible study, raise his hands in worship and then go back to wherever he lives, sit at his computer look at porn and masturbate.”
In other words, Noble believes that Christianity is not advancing against the gates of hell as it should because ‘nice Christian boys’ are going to church and hearing information that they are not putting into practice. Instead they are snared by sin and disobedience and are therefore not truly effective disciples of Jesus. (John 14:15)

Pastor Noble then goes on to describe the need for Christians “who love Jesus” and defines them as those who will be obedient to Jesus no matter what people think.

So the problem with Christianity, according to Noble, is that Christians are sinning and the solution that he is calling for is less sin and more obedience.

Pastor Noble then admonishes us to look at the sins that we need to stop doing and become someone who is radically in love with Jesus. Noble then gives two examples of personal sins that HE overcame.

Nothing personal, but we’ve all heard this pep-talk before.

When I grew up in Christian schools the term we used was ‘sold out for Jesus’. We were told that we’d change the world if we would just ‘sell out for Jesus’. This meant burning our secular albums and only listening to Christian music. It meant committing yourself to never ‘petting or sleeping with your girlfriend’. As a young man, it meant promising to be a man of integrity. Every time, this ‘pep-talk’ would come around some pastor or person would give their testimony and tell a tale of how they looked sin in the eye and conquered it by following some program, method or advice. They would say that we would change the world for Jesus is we’d just be like them.

These pep-talks always sound so good and so practical and so achievable. But they never work and there is a Biblical reason why this method always fails. I’ll explain why below. But, in order to do that I’m going to have to get personal with Perry Noble to make my point. Hopefully he’ll understand because I don’t claim to be a ‘nice’ Christian.

With All Due Respect Pastor Noble...,

I don’t believe you for a second when you say that YOU’VE overcome your sin problems. Here is the reason why. God’s law demands perfect obedience in word, deed and thought. If you are a red blooded heterosexual male descended from Adam and Eve then I know for a fact that you, like me, entertain adulterous thoughts (Matt 5:27-28). I know for a fact that you do not always tell the truth, and that your publicly expressed desire to punch people in the throat makes you guilty of the sin of murder. (Matt 5:21-22) If you loved Jesus as much as you claim then you would not continue sinning like you do and don’t think for a second that God doesn’t care. His law demands PERFECT obedience and if you think you’re pulling it off then you are only deceiving yourself. (1 John 1:8-10)

Pastor Noble, neither you nor I have any right holding ourselves up as an example of ‘model’ moral Christians. To do so would be to engage in the worst type of pride. This is the pride that results in self-righteousness. We are both trapped in our sins and you know it. We are so mired in sin that there is no hope that we could ever set ourselves free from it or manage it into non-existence through better planning and life skills.

ONLY, shouting God’s Law at me and others will not make any of us love Jesus more. In reality, it will only make us hate Him. It will make us hate Him because this type of preaching turns Jesus into a new Moses. He becomes just another cloud that thunders threats and punishments at us. But rather than coming from Mt. Sinai these threats now thunder at us from Mt. Calvary.

I’m not certain I understand why you think that God’s law alone is the remedy for Christianity’s problems. Scripture is clear that the Law cannot save us. Furthermore, the purpose of God’s Law is to convict me of my sin and drive me to my knees in despair of my own righteousness. (Rom 3:19-20) The law points us to Jesus but the law is powerless to make us love Jesus more. (Gal 3:10-13, Gal 3:23-26)

So then what is the message that will make us Love Jesus?

Answer: It is the message of the Gospel.

We see this truth beautifully played out in the parable of the debtors from Luke 7:36-48:

Luke 7:36 Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38 and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is — that she is a sinner.”

Luke 7:40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

41 “Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven — for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”

48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Pastor Noble, you will not motivate people to love Jesus through God’s law. But that does NOT mean you should stop preaching it. Please keep telling people about sin and its consequences. Keep telling them that their evil deeds will earn them hell. Through the preaching of God’s law make the people in your congregation feel their sin so heavily that they think of themselves as worse sinners than that woman who washed Jesus feet with her hair. Keep calling them to repent of their sins.

BUT THEN, tell them about the ONE true Christian. The ONE man who loved God perfectly FOR us. Tell them about HIS sinless life offered for our sins on the cross. Preach the good news in all of its comforting glory. Proclaim Christ’s full and complete forgiveness of their sins offered to them as a gift by faith. Give your people the absolution that they so desperately need to hear. Like Jesus, tell them that their sins are forgiven. This is the MOST important thing that you can tell them and you have to preach it Sunday after Sunday.

1 Corinthians 2:2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
1 Corinthians 15:1-3 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures...

And like the Apostle Paul, please don't hold yourself up to your congregation as one who has overcome his sins, but as the chief of sinners. (1 Tim 1:15)

Preach this message of "Law AND Gospel" week after week and those who’ve been forgiven MUCH will Love Jesus MUCH.

2007-11-09T08:42:00.000-08:00
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~*~*~FALL ANTICS ~*~*~

We went to the park....

Grace had fun playing in the sandbox...

While Josh and Tyler chose Sword-Fighting!...

We made a Thanksgiving Cornucopia...

And Josh practiced making letters like Josiah...
but out of cookies!
Can you see the C and the O? He didn't really
have to work hard for the O, he noticed ;)....

And then, one of us REALLY needed a little nap! Lol!! ;) :)

a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_A6ghhRT_ZaE/RzSU9IjqTtI/AAAAAAAAAYg/JZfGioH3c3g/s1600-h/DSCN1170.JPG">

2007-11-05T04:06:00.000-08:00
It was a beautiful day :)

We had lot's of fun watching the church football game on Sunday,
and Tyler got to PLAY!

2007-11-03T06:00:00.000-07:00
This is what happens when Dad comes home in our house....

First, Gracie follows him upstairs...

Then, Dad comes downstairs and gets jumped on....

and walked on...

and jumped on...

And afterwards, there are hugs for everyone!

2007-11-01T09:50:00.000-07:00
Being on the heels of last night's Halloween Post, and seeing all of the little kids all dresses-up in their costumes, seeing Josh and Tyler share about Jesus with people they did not yet know but had a burden for, or an enthusiasm for... has got men thinking about childlikness; it has broken me deep inside! How sweet, and pure the children are! How easily swayed to the left or the right; how sad that many are turned not towards the right way, but towards the wrong way in their formative years? These days, I understand better what Jesus meant when He said "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” ...

Whomever does not recieve the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it...little children recieve from their parents and teachers without question; they trust~ in perfect peace~ their fathers. They are not questioning; they don't think, "But what if..?" I love how an old Family-Time handout from our churche's Children Ministry program I came across (by chance? ;) this morning put this...
the topic was a Parent-Talk discussion about the popular saying "No Fear!" and what a Christian's response to such ideas in popular culture should be. They say,"He(God)longs to help us as adults regain that place of blessed peace that we see in our fearless children when they are completely secure. As we learn to be like our little one's, our childlike trust in God will show our children a clear and powerful example for them to imitate!"(Gospel Light's Family-Time publication, Lesson 6: Summer b.) As a child, I had a lot of insecurity because my life was not completely secure, but there was always a place in my heart that was peaceful, a place of safety, solitude and rest, of happiness~ and that place was with Jesus. It didn't matter who I was living with, or where I was in the world, He was there... and He cared for me. He drew me in with cords of love. For our kids, raised in Christian households, how much more blessed they are to have God with them all of their lives.

How easy it is to forget how spectacular, how amazing that is! That's why I love the book "Growing up Christian" by Karl Graustien with Mark Jacobs that our church has gone through with our teens in the congregation for Crossfire! Youth Group. This book will not let your teen son our daughter forget how good they have it growing up Christian, or let them forget to make sure their faith is their own, and they are not just riding on their parents religious coat tails!

I know that God is teaching me all of this for a reason; in my heart there IS a treason!~ I trust Him most of the time, but aren't there those times that something rises up inside of you that says "maybe He won't be sovereign this time for me..." that fear sneaks in and starts staining things black, snuffing out the light God has put in our hearts. It's that light we have to be so careful to protect, I am realising. Just as we protect that purity in our child's hearts, so we must protect our own purity; keeping whatever areas of purity we have left pure,and continually submitting to the cleaning up and re-molding of what's left of our minds by God, the master potter.

I know the decietfullness, the lure of Sin, and I know the Grace, the Mercy, of the Father. Keeping my heart pure ~ as much as I can, with a sin-infection and living in the world that I live in~ takes a lot of work; it takes a lot of submission to God. My husband teaches our oldest son,Tyler, to *avert* his eyes,his ears,his heart.
He teaches him to *submit* his will. I like those two words for the fight to keep pure with impure lusts in our hearts, and in our world, vying for our attention...lusting for our souls. Keep on Averting . Keep on Submitting...!

I also have taken a liking to Linkin Parks song"By Myself",to describe the struggle with inswelling sin as Christian and the knowledge and peace that No, we can never turn our hearts back to Egypt... even as it seems we have lost most all of all we have ever known, we forge on in this new land not alone, even as we battle the insecurities and fears that anyone in a new land would have, except this here is a whole new heart...!...and the song "The Valley Song" by Jars of Clay also speaks to me, to describe how His sovereign hand protects us and binds us to Him even as we struggle with our sin, and fight ourselves to submit to His good will.
The lyrics are below, for your edification... God bless and hope you have a great rest of your Thursday :) xoxo's! <3 Stacey

Jars of Clay - The Valley Song

You have led me to the sadness
I have carried this pain
On a back bruised, nearly broken
I'm crying out to you

Chorus
I will sing of Your mercy
That leads me through valleys of sorrow
To rivers of joy

When death like a gypsy
Comes to steal what I love
I will still look to the heavens
I will still seek your face

But I fear you aren't listening
Because there are no words
Just the stillness and the hunger
For a faith that assures

I will sing of Your mercy
That leads me through valleys of sorrow
To rivers of joy

Alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia

While we wait for rescue
With our eyes tightly shut
Face to the ground using our hands
To cover the fatal cut

Though the pain is an ocean
Tossing us around, around, around
You have calmed greater waters
Higher mountains have come down

Linkin Park - By Myself
What do I do to ignore them behind me?
Do I follow my instincts blindly?
Do I hide my pride from these bad dreams
And give in to sad thoughts that are maddening?
Do I sit here and try to stand it?
Or do I try to catch them red-handed?
Do I trust some and get fooled by phoniness,
Or do I trust nobody and live in loneliness?
Because I can’t hold on when I’m stretched so thin
I make the right moves but I’m lost within
I put on my daily façade but then
I just end up getting hurt again
By myself (Myself)

Pre chorus:
I ask why, but in my mind
I find I can’t rely on myself

I can’t hold on
To what I want when I’m stretched so thin
It’s all too much to take in
I can’t hold on
To anything watching everything spin
With thoughts of failure sinking in

If I turn my back I’m defenseless
And to go blindly seems senseless
If I hide my pride and let it all go on
Then they’ll take from me ’till everything is gone
If I let them go I’ll be outdone
But if I try to catch them I’ll be outrun
If I’m killed by the questions like a cancer
Then I’ll be buried in the silence of the answer
(By myself)

Pre chorus
Chorus

How do you think I’ve lost so much
I’m so afraid, I’m out of touch
How do you expect I will know what to do
When all I know is what you tell me to

Don’t you know
I can’t tell you how to make it go
No matter what I do, how hard I try
I can’t seem to convince myself why
I’m stuck on the outside

Chorus (2x)

2007-10-31T19:47:00.000-07:00
We had such a fun time 2nite passing out church invitations and the How good are you? booklets to the little kiddies & their parents... we attatched little Butterfingers, of course ;) and some shiny curly ribbon ;) and we were thrilled to see how positive our neighbors reactions were to us attaching church invites and gospel literature to the candies. We only had one person comment negatively, and they did not give their booklet or invatation back. Thank you God, for that!
The pumpkins we scooped out and Alan carved beautiful crosses and fish into turned out very nice, and they looked lovely glowing away on our porch. I am so proud of Tyler and Josh for sharing the gospel message the way that they did. Tyler can be very articulate in sharing about God with other kids at times, and Joshua is so friendly and pure, so unassuming, that he does not even contemplate the possibility that someone might not want to hear about Jesus. I thank You God, for my children's hearts! I thank You that You are ever at work in their hearts :)

After we had talked to our neighbors and ran out of candy bundles ;) we headed out to Chuck E Cheese, where our kiddos had a great time and did not miss trick-or-treating at all. They even got to have plenty of candy, and soda ;) So I will be brushing their teeth extra good tonight,Lol! before bedtime and that is late 2nite,'cuz they are allowed 2 stay up and watch The Master of Disguise (one of our favorite family movies) until it is over.

I sure hope that you had a great night, and that you shared God's love for all His people with the one's around you ;) I am so blessed to know that many of you did. Your examples are such blessings to me and my family :)

xoxo's ! <3 Stacey

Our Pumpkins :)

Alan & I :)

Joshua and Shannon playing a game together :)

Tyler and I :)

Gracie spent about 20 minutes going down this slide! ;)

Gracie on the horsie ride :)

Gracie kissing the glass :)

Me and a couple of my girlfriends :)

2007-10-29T07:08:00.000-07:00
I am a woman

Hands that have known work,
that have wondered over new babies.
This is a woman's love.

A heart that has cherished my children,
and melted at the touch of my husbands hand~
hands that have gripped the Bible and have
helped my mind be harnessed by scripture,
hands that have taught my children the way to life.
This is a woman's mighty task.

My work is humble yet altogether without price;
my husband benefits from me more than treasures.

I have nurtured boo-boo's and fashioned pony-tails
out of curls;my hands have caught and nurtured frogs and
other creatures to bring delight to my boys,
and my imagination weaved wondrous stories about heroes
in the Holy Scriptures before their wide-open eyes and eager
hearts,

I have loved and served my family, steered them to keep the
ancient path, for righteousness' sake.
My kips have kissed and soothed, corrected and encouraged.

Ask me what I have done as a woman in this world;
I will tell you that I have been a servant of a might God.
I have held down the most pleasant of offices;
I have loved and been spent.

My rewards are beyond priceless,gifts from the Lord Almighty.

Sweeter than any profession on earth, I am wife, mother, a ransomed one.

Proverbs 31:25-30~
"Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
'Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.' Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

2007-10-27T15:27:00.000-07:00
I was so affected by this scripture passage this morning~
A love more faithful than a mother, than a father or a brother: this is our God!
I want to be just like Him!!

Nehemiah 9:6-30

You are Lord, you alone. You have made Heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.
You are the Lord,the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldean's and gave him the name Abraham. You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his off-spring the land of the Cannanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jesuit and the Gigabyte. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.
And you saw the afflictions of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the mist of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths,as a stone into mighty waters.
By a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go. You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from Heaven and gave them right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments, and you made known to them your holy sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant. You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you told them to go in and posses the land you had sworn to give them.
But they and their fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their necks and did not obey your commandments. They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.
Even when they made for themselves a golden calf and said, "This is your God who brought you out of Egypt, and had committed great blasphemies, you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of the cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. You gave your good spirit to instruct them (Thank You, God!)and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell!!!
And you gave them kingdoms and people and allotted to them every corner. So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan. You multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and posess. So the descendants went in and possessed the land, and you pursued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hand, with the kings and the people of the land, they might do with them as they would.
And they captured fortified cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses full of good things, cisterns already Hew, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in your great goodness!
Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies. Therefore you gave them into the hands of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies.
But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard fro heaven and many times you delivered them according to your mercies. And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them he shall live by them, and turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their necks and would not obey. Many years you bore with them and warned them by your spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand the peoples of the lands. Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end them of them or
forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

2007-10-26T07:57:00.001-07:00
Yesterday, we had a lot of fun picking apples and getting big old pumpkins for our porch decorations. We went to Ountalaunee Orchards, where they had a fun preschool program for the kiddos. They read Johnny Appleseed to the little one's and let them go and pick apples from the dwarf apple trees. So cool! Thanks to Tracy for heading that activity up; it was a great Church Play Group activity :)

I have tried to post pics from that activity below...hopefully it works! ;)

On the ride to the orchards yesterday, we listened to C.B.'s sermon from Sunday that we got on tape. In it he preached about the Galatians, and why God inspired Paul to write the letter he did to them, and why God inspired Paul to visit all those areas.
He said at one point in his teachings that The gospel is the most important thing; There is nothing more important than the gospel in a believers life. I was so convicted as I thought about if I really act like I believe this in my own life. Many times lesser things vie for my attentions
and successfully pull me away from keeping my eyes fixed on the one thing: Jesus.

And imagine my surprise when I logged onto the Girl Talk Blog Wednesday night and also saw that the latest post topic was, "What does it really mean to be a woman?"

I was convicted some more, listening to her audio message(there is a link to it in her post from Wednesday.)Much of what she said touched my heart, but one thing she said in particular really pierced my soul; she said that some women expect men to act like women. Quoting Elizabeth Elliot she says "Strange how easy it is for some women to their husbands to be women, to act like women, to do what is expected of women, instead of they are men! They act like men, they do what is expected of men, and thus they do the unexpected!" It dawned on me that yes, so many times I do *expect* Al to feel like me, think like me, do what I would do...and yes, I do become resentful when he does not help me like I help him, many times. If you have fallen into this trap too, Oh how I wish that you will listen to Carolyn's audio post in Girl Talk too! The conviction was flying everywhere for me!In it, she revisited the creation story and returned to the garden of Eden before the entrance of sin, as well as searched the scriptures, for the answer to that question, "What does it mean to be a woman?" At the end of my time sitting at her feet and listening to her teachings, all I could think was "Thank You,God for teaching me and loving me!" It is a powerful teaching because it reviews scripture so thoroughly to expose God's intentions in creation and for women and men to be helpers and workers and leaders. It help clarify that men are not like women, big surprise right!Lol But she calls this "The Simple Truth That Sometimes Isn't So Simple To Remember." Indeed, for me it has been a simple truth that hasn't been so simple for me to remember!

I like how she ended with this:

" ...God did not create man to function like a helper(as a woman was created), so he will never be as good at helping as she is~ he acts like a man because he was created to act like a man... When we grab hold of this truth it will protect us from resenting our husbands or growing bitter when they don't help us in the same ways as we help them. ... So, the next time there are dirty dishes in the sink, and the baby is crying, and your 2 year-old needs to be bathed, and your husband is sitting on the couch reading the newspaper, rather than resenting the fact that he doesn't even seem to *notice* the glaring need, remember this: he's simply being a man. And then graciously ask him to lend a helping hand. ... Ladies, when we appreciate that it is a man that we married, and give thanks to God that he acts like a man, and as we, like Eliza, make it our study to please our man, and as he is able to defer to us when it comes to domestic affairs like Martin Luther was able to do with Katie,we beautifully display our femininity and wonderfully fulfill our role as a helper fit for our husbands..."

Putting what I learned today into action will help me, in one more way, make honoring the gospel the most important thing in my life~ adding it's salve to one more area of my heart that desperately needs it, and bringing glory to God when my husband sees the changes of me respecting and honoring his role as a man, and mine as a woman, better~ and no longer(hopefully! with much prayer and Holy Spirit help),no longer expecting him to act like a woman! Lol.

God bless your day and xoxox's! <3 Stacey

2007-10-24T14:39:00.000-07:00
Today is the first day we will start praying for the children and families who take part in Halloween celebrations on the 7 nights following the 'holiday;,something I wish I would have done sooner, and an idea I heard about on libertytothecaptives.net
The article is below, in bold.

Some scriptures we will share with others as they knock on our door on Oct. 31st and hear that we are Christians and that is why we do not celebrate Halloween. Hopefully, we will also be able to share the gospel with them, and maybe they will accept a NT booklet and a church invitation. There are always new people who do not know us yet who come into the neighborhood in Halloween looking for candy. I love it that God has changed me so that these days I desire to not only open the door and smile, dispensing out sweet treats,but today to offer them something much sweeter than candy: the gospel! Thank You, Lord!! :)

"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." Ephesians 5:11A

The author tells about his experiences as a child attending Halloween celebrations and his spiritual discernment now, as a Christian, about celerating Halloween:

As a child of four, I contacted the first of many spirit guides (read: demons) while playing with a Kindergarten classmates' ouija board at a chaperoned Halloween party. This spiritual assault ignited an intrigue with the supernatural that culminated in my lifestyle as a practicing witch: divination, necromancy, channeling, astrology, psychic ability, and spell working. It wasn't until I was twenty that I met the real Jesus Christ, and was released from the trap that Satan had set for this young prisoner of war sixteen years earlier.
There are too many casualities on Halloween and far too few troops fighing the enemy. Instead of partying on Halloween, teach your children how to fight. Keep them aware that the fight isn't against occultists, non-Christians, Christians who feel differently than we about Halloween, or institutions that promote Halloween, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers or darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12).
How do we teach our children to wrestle spiritually?§ Discourage them from participating in traditional Halloween activities (2 Timothy 2:4). Then tell them why.

****Encourage them to pray on a regular, daily basis (Ephesians 6:18). Let them know first hand the power that we have in prayer. All Christians should know how to fight on their knees.
****Remind them to be alert and self-controlled (1 Corinthians 16:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:6). Give them the discipline of knowing it is their responsibility to keep watch. They, themselves, might also become casualties in the war.
****Make certain they are prepared for battle (Ephesians 6:11). Do they know the truth? Stand on the Word of God? Have faith? Know the gospel? Are they righteous? Are they saved?…

Instead of celebrating, what's a Christian to do on Satan's feast day? PRAY! Intercession and spiritual warfare should be the first item on our agenda. It is NOT a last resort!

***Join with other families in the church. Have the pastor announce a night of spiritual battle. Organize a group of Christians parents and students from your children's school or homeschool group. As a family, designate the seven nights before October 31 as Family Prayer Outreach nights.
****Pray for protection. Pray over both those who engage in prayer warfare and over those who will be out trick-or-treating or at Halloween parties. October 31 is a prime recruiting time for witches and Satanists…and a time for interested kids to experiment. Pray that the Lord keeps our kids from falling prey to those who worship the enemy.
***Pray for discernment. Let the Holy Spirit direct you to specific prayer requests. Pray that the children who are "out there" will somehow "know" to keep away from certain activities. I have relatives who, even though they were not Christians, "knew" that ouija boards and levitation games were dangerous.
***Pray that the Lord hinder the occult rituals. For four years, I lived in a building which over looked a cemetery where occult ceremonial markings were often found. ON certain occult feast days, usually between midnight and 3am, I would look down into the darkness and kneel at my window binding the demons that controlled the ceremonies. I'll never know this side of heaven what effect my prayers had. Maybe a potential sacrifice escaped. Maybe the occultists weren't successful in summoning their demon. Maybe a new, young recruit decided that this was not the lifestyle he thought he wanted.
*****Pray for the salvation of the occultists. Jesus Christ died for those whom Satan holds captive and deceived, for those who mock Him, who deny His deity or His existence. He doesn't want them to perish, but to come to Him calling Him Father, Lord. Pray the veil is lifted from their eyes, the Lord allows them to see clearly their spiritual condition and their only hope lies in Jesus Christ. Pray also, about whether the Lord would have you take a more active role in bringing the gospel to Satan's servants.
***Let your children know that this is effective warfare. They must know their prayers are heard and acted on by our Father. Let them know they can make a difference. Come October 31, they'll know they have a job to do.

2007-10-24T07:48:00.000-07:00
So, God and I have been discussing my femininity lately~ or lack thereof.
I just don't feel dainty and pretty,I tell Him. You were created to be a woman,He tells me. To me, being a woman means a lot of things~ it means a lot of work, it means being in the submissive role, it means dresses and childbirth and child raising and most of all, being gentle. As I re-read C. Mahaney's book Feminine Appeal,I am reminded afresh of an important principal in God's kingdom, when she says the 7 feminine virtues we will consider in in this book are not an end in themselves. They point to the transforming effect of the gospel in the lives of women~ women who have turned from their sins and have been forgiven and whose hearts have been changed. Maybe that's the problem~ I have sins that I am chersishing and I am not wanting to turn from them? There are so many times when what is considered to be traditionally feminine seems to rub me the wrong way,there are also many times that meditating on Christ's utter selflessness and obedience to the point of a sinners death on a cross, and the selfless life of service He calls me to as a ransomed one,kicks up dust in the corners of my heart that I would rather keep swept under a rug somewhere...but that's not God's way,is it?

Instead,He digs up every motive and thought by the roots.When He fixes a problem, He doesn't just slap some duct tape over the broken spots, No He really fixes the problem ~ that means, it's not coming back up again!

I am looking forward to God's digging around in my heart,the tool of His word cutting through bone and marrow and bringing out what I need to see. I am also nervous,can I feminine? Feminine seems to equal powerlessness to me, a scary place for a * non-believer* and yet,I am a believer now~ it is time to trust God's word all the more, and believe it all the more.

...Can you concieve of anything that sets forth the beauty of the gospel jewel more brilliantly than the godly behavior of those who have recieved it?....

...Consider the lovliness of a woman who passionately adores her husband, who tenderly cherishes her children, who creates a warm and peaceful home, who exemplifies purity, self-control, and kindness in her character and who gladly submits to her husbands leadership~ for all the days God grants her life... I dare say, there are few things that display the gospel jewel with greater elegance. This is true feminine appeal...

Wow, convicting words! And were I not "being confident of this, that He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" and if I didn't know that Psalm 138:8 were the true words of God: "the LORD will perfect that which concerns me", then I would be tempted to start thinking now "Yeah maybe by the time I'm 80,I'll be like that..." lol. Well,it may be by the time I'm 80~ God alone knows His timing~ but I will certainly pray for a sooner debut than that of godly femininity in my heart!

The struggles that come with being submissive to God's will are real; this is not the easy life~ this is self-denial,self-control,laying things down,being right and still having to be unheard for awhile; this is nothing compared to what Jesus went through for us!, and yet my sinful heart still complains. To my shame I flipped that last bit of admonishment from Carolyn's book inside out when I first heard it and hastily scribbled into my book the reverse of her words,so that it would apply to men,basically substituting A Man wheerver she said A Woman and read these new words with self-satisfaction: I was not the only one ceasing to be the godly pinnacle of my sex! While it may be true that a godly man would do well to exemplify her words in reverse,my motive in doing that was not muddled to God: I was taking the blame for my own sin off of myself, and desperately looking for someone else to blame... I was flogging on in my mind about a man who "gladly loves his wife sacrificially, while accepting leadership of the famiy,for all the days God grants him life..."
My husband has not arrived any more than I have and yet I concentrated on where he needed to grow instead of on where *I* needed to grow!

Reading Jeremiah 17:9, the heart is deceitful above all things,and desperately wicked I am convicted afresh that my heart is indeed decietful, and that I will not grow in holiness unless I will submit to Matthew 7:4-5,how can you say to your brother,`Let me take the speck out of your eye,'when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

It is so easy to blame our sin on other peoples sin!

I am not saying all of this to expose my husbands sin, clearly my aim is to expose my own sin,but my point is this,that since the scriptures say that not one is righteous, No not one, then that means not only will our loved ones remain with sin until they get to Heaven but so will we,and to say that God is exposing to me that my sin has no excuse that can cover it~ only the blood of Jesus can cover it.

And only the blood of Jesus washes my heart and makes me want to change,to walk in a manner that's worthy of the gospel.

As my friend Beth prayed for me the other day as I shared about this,Lord help me to, as a Christian woman~ be patient and self-controlled and kind,that when tempatations are all around me that I would fix my eyes on Jesus and run the good race, and not giving my attentions to my circumstances. That I would not grow weary in doing good. Thank You, Beth!

I also found this prayer and I liked it very much;I intend to write it next to her prayer on the post-it in my Bible: "O Father, give us the humility which realizes its ignorance, admits its mistakes, recognizes its need, welcomes advice, accepts rebuke. Help us always to praise rather than to criticize, to sympathize rather than to discourage, to build rather than to destroy, and to think of people at their best rather than at their worst. This we ask for thy name’s sake. (Prayer of William Barclay, 20th century) I thought that this would also be a good prayer to go over with God, many times.

Please join hands with me in prayer that God will work thoroughly and faithfully to weed out whatever is unlovely in me and that He will continue to make me more gentle,more humble, a trait I am always thinking of as this elusive feminity~ but maybe it is humility that is elusive to me,not femininity. Pray that His will be revealed? Thank You,friend!

xoxo's, Stacey

2007-10-22T05:33:00.000-07:00
This morning I began putting together a new study for Ty in school; we are going to learn more fully each one of Jesus' parables that He gave at the The Sermon of the Mount. I can see these lessons will be just as much for me as they are for him!

The parable of the mustard seed: Matthew 13:31, He put another parable before them, saying,"The kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it is grown up it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air make nests in it's branches." There are so many ways to look at this parable; there is the apparent insignifigance of the gospel message and yet look at what a great change and growth it works in peoples hearts. There is the birds that nest in the branches. We will look at every part of the parables to learn more about what our Lord was fully trying to say. I thought this parable tied into what I was thinking about yesterday as we wrapped up this weeks Sunday School lesson. I was thinking about how silly and upside down it is what the public schools will allow in the classroom, and what they won't. Over the years,I have seen a lot of things that have sat with me oddly coming from various classrooms~ at first my own son's classrooms when he was in public school himself, and then in all kinds of classrooms as I served in the PTA and was sent to many different teachers to work,and today since our church meets in a public school building and the classrooms serve as out CM rooms on Sunday mornings. I am grateful that our church is able to rent the use of these classrooms and the caf,and the rooms are always kept very nicely for us and we are treated respectfully. I do not mean to step on any toes, and I hope I don't, when I say that it is just what it allowed into the schools - and what is purposefully kept out- that distrurbs me greatly. In the case that anyone should happen to read this who might have cause to be offended,please know that I am only taking umbridge with the rules in the public schools, not any one individual person or entity. :).

That being said,in public school they will not allow kids to bring in Bibles or prayer cards, religious posters,stickers,t-shirts,etc. and yet the defmation of Christ is tolerable, in the forms that I have seen of Creationism being rejected by the school system,children being teased for identifying themselves as Christians and even being told that they cannot identify themselves as believers in school,while Pagans are allowed to express their beliefs fully and without consequence or bebuttal,and the personal effects that students and teachers are allowed to have at their desks and on their persons that are anti-God,while God-glorifying effects are rejected and shunned: the following are a few examples of the latter that I have seen...
- cardstock cut-out proclaiming "Who cares about God? He doesn't care about you!" perched on the blackboard lip next to the library cart full of books for the kids to choose from,in an 8th grade public school classroom. I gaurantee a placard that said "Care about God! He cares about you!" would not have been tolerated.
- students that wear t-shirts that say Wiccan Earth princess to school and are not told to take them off, whereas my son and other children that we know have worn t-shirts proclaiming Christ and have been made to take them off and been teased by the other children for wearing them(teasing that was made known to various teachers and the principal, and was not controlled, but allowed to go on- this is over 3 different public schools in the PA area.)
- two different teachers that I have witnessed who keep personal effects proclaiming thier Pagan/Wiccan status for all to see (including students)and are allowed to post such things publicly, whereas several believing teachers were told to cease from displaying crosses on or around their desks and even on one mans briefcase(it was embossed on the leather.) Such personal effects of Pagansism and Wiccan beliefs have been in the form of a huge "The witch is in" placard on a teachers desk that has been there year-round; she also has several notecards,charms and figurines that proclaim her Pagan/Wiccan status on the bulletin board behind her desk and all over her desk, another teacher that has an encsribed stone tablet that says
"Question Religion" on it on his desk, another female teacher that has big wodden picture frame on her desk with a picture of her family in it that has "A Mystic lives here" enscribed on it for all to see; she also has various wizardry images (hats, a wand, several Harry Potter memorabilias and all the books, and crystals) all over her desk. And all of THIS is tolerable, but not the gospel of Christ: No, THAT is INTOLERABLE.

Is there any question in our hearts why the public school syetem is corruption for a young believers heart?

And these are just examples that I and my friends have seen. There are several more of kids being sent home for refusing to take off religious bookcovers and there was the boy who wanted to be excused to pray before each of his tests(he knew he would not be allowed to do this in class,and he was used to praying aloud,) and he was not allowed to do this though kids are routinely allowed to leave class to take Ritalin and to go to the guidance counselo to learn about self-esteem and other wordly values. I like how this article I found relates all of this going on as a society to this parable:

"How visibly this has been demonstrated in our day when from the pulpits and the spokesmen of the church has come a flood of stupid, crazy, mixed-up ideas -- evil concepts which have blasted and blighted and ruined the hearts and minds of people, just as our Lord said. It was only a comparatively short time ago that the great denominations of our day, though they represented unnatural and abnormal development, still were basically true to the faith and stood solidly on the authority of the Bible and proclaimed a true gospel. But then along came German rationalization and higher critical theories and socialistic philosophies. The Bible was overthrown and another gospel was substituted and supernatural faith was denied, and the birds of prey moved right into the pulpits in many places. One by one men of true faith were driven out. And it is still happening today. No wonder that when the youth of today look at the part of the church which is like that they say, "It is strictly for the birds!"

But what a comfort it is that our Lord had no delusions about this age! How clearly he foresaw all that has happened. How precisely he unfolds it to us here, that we might not be deluded either. How shall we apply this to our lives? Well, obviously it is important that we retain the nature of the mustard seed, that we be fiery and active and pungent and burning, without doing anything to abet the unnatural growth of this mustard tree. We are to seek to be low-profile wherever we work, not calling attention to ourselves, not seeking to publicize and aggrandize ourselves but to open our hearts unto God and let him take care of the rest.

Thank God that He knows,cares and is In Control. Thanks to Him homeschool laws have protected us parents who want to protect our kids. And this is at the top of the list for the things I am greateful about! Aren't you?? <3 Stacey

2007-10-21T05:21:00.000-07:00
I have been devoting much of my prayer and scripture study time to learning more about being *biblically feminine*~ y'know, somtimes I feel like I could read about it or talk about it all day,but I still wouldn't 'get it.' It is good to see it walked out by other Christian women~ Shannon,Danielle,Kelly,Linda,Jill,Julie,Audrey
Corey,Candy and more come to mind~ women who are walking out biblical femininity so much more so than I am, and who I am blessed to know~ but,just for once,I'd like to be able to get a handle on it myself.So often I feel like I am more like a man in the way I think, and the way I am, but God created me a woman and indeed a woman I am. I think it's easier to excuse selfishness and bad habits as a lack of ability to be truly feminine~ of course I can be fully feminine; got created me a woman! Please pray for me that I will grow in Christ to become more gentle,more kind,good and self-controlled,quicker to dig the Plank out of My Own eyes,transformed.... thank you,friend:) and I pray that you have a blessed day... <3 Stacey

Joyfully Feminine:"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him...."
-Romans 15:13

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
-Romans 12:2a

“Gentleness is part of being feminine - part of being a woman, and God made us distinctly different from men on purpose!”~ Melanie Chitwood (Proverbs 31 Ministries)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” ~ Galatians 5:22-24 (ESV)

"Lord of Heaven and Earth, Life can be frustrating at times. Lord, help us to keep our eyes focused on you. Let You gentle Spirit reign in us so that we may be a light to the world and can share the strength we receive from You with others. In the precious name of Jesus,Amen..."

Mommy Musings
Monthly Column by Anni Welborne
Riding Sidesaddle in this World

Our youngest daughter recently turned 4 years old. At her birthday party, Grandmother Indulgent gave her a toy roller coaster to ride. She had played with one many times before at a local home improvement superstore, so she was thrilled to get one for her birthday. The little car rolls down two little hills on a 10-foot ramp and then coasts to a stop. It’s hard to walk down our hallway, because the roller coaster fills it up. But listening to the girls play on it has been fun.

I had to laugh, though, when I heard our 6 year old daughter tell her little sister in a very matter-of-fact manner, “You’re wearing a dress. Ladies always sit sidesaddle. You have to sit sidesaddle.”

I’ve never taken my girls horseback riding. How on earth did she know about riding sidesaddle?

Because I encourage femininity, that’s how. Because I encourage it, she was on the look-out for femininity. Perhaps we saw a picture, perhaps she read it in a story, perhaps I did mention it at some point. I have no idea. I encourage my girls to be girls, and not boys or something androgynously in between. This is not going to be a tirade against feminism, although I think that title is a misnomer. There’s very little feminine about feminism. This isn’t going to be endless ranting against the current fashion trends, although I do indeed find them deplorable.

Rather, this is going to be a short list of some of the things I do to encourage feminine grace in my girls. By nature, some of the following items will be anti-feminist and will certainly be counter-cultural. But I’m okay with that! I will also include some gloriously feminine resources to which I frequently turn.

First of all, why should girls be girls? Why should women be feminine? Without going into a complete theological treatise, the answer is simple: Because God made us to be so. In Genesis, it says, “…male and female, He created them.” Distinct, different, and from all accounts, delightful. I’ve heard it described in popular vernacular that Adam (man) knew he was man because God gave him the task of naming all the beasts. But when he saw Eve, his first utterance was “Whoa! Man!” (wo-man) He saw Eve, and he liked what he saw! He acknowledged that she was human, but Whoa! What a difference! Woman is most womanly when she embraces those differences and cultivates them.

Second, be intentional. It seems obvious, but in today’s culture, a mom actually has to plan to be feminine. For me, this meant asking a question about each and every piece of clothing. “Is this decidedly feminine?” Another way of asking that question is, “Would a boy feel comfortable wearing this garment?” Not everything feminine is pink or has lace, though, so it’s not as easy as it appears. That’s why the second question is important to ask sometimes.

Intentionality also extends to posture and position. My girls and I talk a lot about how a lady sits, stands, and walks. This doesn’t mean that my girls sit primly in their straight chairs all day long. Little girls must still get proper exercise. For us, that means romping on our grassy acre, climbing the “fort” playcenter, swinging, and sometimes even playing at the McPlayland, which involves crawling and sliding, often in mixed company. This necessitates a dress of modest length, but also shorts under their dresses. Recall the day when girls always, always wore pantaloons or bloomers. Our grandmothers and great grandmothers recognized mobility as well as modesty (and comfort) with the simple undergarment of pantaloons. Frankly, I find them extremely charming – that line of lace sticking out from under a skirt, visible when the girl runs or jumps.

Intentionality includes “beginning with the end in mind.” I owe this concept to the father’s letter in Little Women, in which he refers to his growing daughters as “little women.” I’m not rearing girls, I’m rearing future women. To that end, I try to refer to them as little ladies. Recently, I left both girls sitting in the library at church while I stepped out for just a moment to speak with someone. When I returned, they were engrossed in their books, and I announced my presence by calling, “Ladies?” The librarian behind the desk straightened up and quickly replied, “Yes, ma’am?” I apologized for disturbing her and said I was just calling my girls. She thought it was marvelous that I referred to them as ladies. I replied that I want my girls to know what I expect of them – to behave as ladies.

Third, I must model feminine graces. Am I dressing femininely? Am I sitting lady-like? Children copy their elders. My little girls copy everything I do, and I must make myself a model of femininity before my girls will embrace it for themselves. I have to laugh – that phrase “feminine grace” is pretty far from how I actually feel most days. “Girlish klutz” more accurately describes me. But I can aspire to “feminine grace!” I do this by wearing a skirt most days, wearing a pretty barrette in my hair, sitting politely, and generally upholding femininity and modesty in what I read, watch, and comment upon. If I see a lovely, graceful dress, I point it out to the girls.

Fourth, I must address femininity and modesty issues with the girls from time to time. I don’t constantly harp on it, but when situations arise, I take the opportunity to teach. In particular, I remember one white, frilly blouse to which my daughter was attracted while we were shopping. It was admittedly pretty, lots of lace, decidedly feminine. However, it was a size 6x, and it had a plunging neckline and gathering at the bustline. We discussed that God did not give little girls bustlines yet, and that to wear something that emphasized that area of her body was not appropriate. Furthermore, I asked if a woman were to wear a blouse like that, would we be able to see cleavage, and they both acknowledged that to be true. Our standards of modesty includes not showing any cleavage, and the girls know that.

(Incidentally, we recently discussed cleavage in regards to a Barbie-type doll. To help my daughter understand, I asked her that if she saw a corner of a chocolate bar, would she want to see the whole thing, and she said yes. I asked her if she saw the edge of an apple, would she want to see the whole apple, and again, she said yes. I told her it was the same with body parts, that our minds naturally fill in the missing pieces, like a puzzle. If someone sees the edge of shoulder, that someone will want to see or will picture the whole shoulder in his or her mind. And likewise legs and busts. This concrete example of my daughter’s own desire to see more really helped her understand why we need to protect other people from seeing – or wanting to see – our bodies.)

Fifth, one receives what one expects to receive. I frequently tell my girls “pretty is as pretty does.” Or more specifically, “Princess is as princess does.” If we act and dress like ladies, we will be treated like ladies. One time, several years pre-children, I did a very informal research study. I was working as a secretary at a local university, and I frequently had to take stacks of papers or books over to a nearby building. For a couple of weeks, workers were re-doing the doors of the building, and I’d always have to walk through the construction area. Sometimes I wore slacks, and sometimes I wore a dress or skirt. In the course of the weeks of construction, I noticed a pattern. If I was wearing slacks, the construction workers were not inclined to open the doors for me. However, if I was wearing a skirt or dress, many times they would stop working to open the door for me. I’m not saying that pants or slacks are not feminine, because they certainly can be. I’m just pointing out an interesting trend in the perceptions of others.

And finally, I enjoy a few resources that encourage me to promote femininity both in myself and in my family. Allow me to share these with you.

Of course, the Positively Feminine website! There is a wealth of information and encouragement here!

Ladies Against Feminism is a great resource, highlighting several areas of femininity and grace. They have news items from across the globe as relates to femininity and women’s issues as well. I’ve learned so much from this website!

Vision Forum has an entire section of their website devoted to encouraging our girls to be feminine and graceful. The Beautiful Girlhood Collection has toys, books, and dolls to encourage feminine pursuits. I especially like their definition of Beautiful Girlhood.

Two daughters that have made great strides in re-defining girlhood and daughter-hood are the Botkin sisters. Their website VisionaryDaughters.com and their book are life-changing.

To encourage young ladies in their feminine pursuits and Godliness, I recommend the Issacharian Daughters newsletter.

One mustn’t dress like Elizabeth Bennet to be considered feminine. But if one desires to do so, there are the very lovely Sense and Sensibility patterns.

If you don’t sew, here are some other lovely, modest clothing sites:
Still plenty of summer left! Modest, yet attractive swimsuits: www.SwimModest.com and www.Wholesomewear.com.

Charming little girl clothes: www.Daddys-Little-Princess.com.

Paulina Carmel and Hannah Lise both have lovely, trendy, modest clothing for girls and women. www.PaulinaCarmel.com and www.HannahLise.com.

And two indices with lots more resources, both ready-to-wear and patterns:
A Christian Home - Modesty Index

Modest Clothes

After writing this whole article…I remember now... Our oldest daughter was perhaps 3 ½ or 4 years old, the youngest just a barely-crawling baby. We were at the world-renown, award-wining Children’s Museum (www.childrensmuseum.org) in Indianapolis, riding the carousel. I was wearing a skirt, and I indeed rode my colorful horse sidesaddle. I remember the carousel operator told me I would have to straddle the horse, and I replied, “But I’m wearing a skirt.” He looked surprised for a moment and then replied, “Excuse me, ma’am. I didn’t see that at first. You’re fine.” I dressed and acted like a lady, and the carousel attendant treated me like one.

Action points: Do you have girls? Do you want to encourage femininity in your girls? What practical steps can you take to help your girls be more feminine? Are you yourself feminine?

About the Author: Anni is the wife of Charles Welborne and the homeschooling mother of five children - two daughters (ages 6 and 3) here on earth, and three who graduated early and now dwell with their Heavenly Father. She assists her husband in the tape/CD duplication ministry at their church, where she is also in charge of the Deaf ministry and serves as a sign language interpreter. Anni is also a part-time Developmental Therapist for at-risk and developmentally delayed infants and preschoolers. In her "spare" time, she enjoys sewing, quilting, scrapbooking, and making pysanky (Ukranian decorated eggs). The Welbornes live in Indiana.
Copyright © 2007 by Anni Welborne.

Musings by Mariane
Monthly Column by Mariane Holbrook
Diamonds

"Diamonds Are Created Fifty Miles Below The Surface Of The Earth."

I read the headline and cringed.

Imagine the pressure. Imagine the darkness. Imagine the isolation. Imagine the distance from anyone who would ever appreciate the grueling process or even discover that they were there. And all the while, the refining goes on interminably until an outside force declares “That’s enough” and the release and retrieval of the stones begins.

The master craftsman cuts away the impurities and imperfections and begins the arduous process of faceting, so that at every possible angle, light is reflected. The final polish produces a diamond as nearly perfect as any jewel on earth and certainly more universally loved than any other.

And so it is with Christians. Those who suffer the greatest pressure, the most agonizing trials, the severest losses, the most mind-numbing isolation and the most debilitating infirmities, are being carefully formed in that unbearably lonely terrain by the One who Himself crafts His saints, His diamonds, the darlings of His care.

Corrie Ten Boon, whose family hid the Jews from encroaching Nazis, was one of these diamonds. When her so-called treason was discovered by the Nazis, Corrie and her sister were incarcerated in a prison camp where Corrie’s sister died as a result of injuries inflicted by Nazi prison guards. Corrie’s account, which was later made into a major motion picture, reveals the loneliness, isolation, suffering, pressure and darkness of a diamond-in-the-making.

Her submission, her faith and trust in Almighty God, her willingness to have the dross repeatedly cut away from her life, permitted her to finally emerge as a diamond ready for the final faceting and polishing. We who are still in the process admire and emulate her.

The Apostle Paul, a devoted follower of Christ, was not spared. His beatings, his loneliness, his incarcerations, his vilification, his suffering, his prolonged illness, his isolation, all became part of the faceting process which shaped him into a model for Christian behavior for all time.

God never promised not to give us more than we think we can endure; indeed, His children have more often than not been subjected to pain and suffering way beyond their endurance. But there is comfort in knowing these words:

Never doubt me, please don't fret,
I’ve never left My children yet.
Remember, child, that you can rest
And trust in me to do what’s best.

My reasons seem obscure to you,
But there are things that I must do
To make you, child, more like My Son,
And only I’ll know when that’s done.

I’ll see you through; I know the way
Will seem so hard, but this I’ll say:
Your very soul is safe with Me
For now and for eternity.

The Master Craftsman, with a painful but loving chisel, is busy at work. And we can trust not only His timeless skill, but His flawless, finished product.
Copyright © by Mariane Holbrook. This writing may be used in its entirety, with credits intact, for non-profit ministering purposes.

About the Author: Mariane Holbrook is a retired teacher, an author of two books, a musician and artist. She lives with her husband on coastal North Carolina. She maintains a personal website www.MarianHolbrook.com and welcomes your emails at Mariane777@bellsouth.net. Note: Due to medical concerns, Mariane is currently taking a short sabbatical from her column.

2007-10-20T06:52:00.000-07:00
This was just too good not to share... :)

Blessings on your weekend~
<3 Stacey

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Yoke

A yoke is a burden itself, a burden in addition to all the other burdens; and yet it has a peculiar way of making the other burdens easier...We are well acquainted with the yoke of the draft animals. The yoke alone enables them to pull the heavy burden without feeling pain or torment in the process, and without getting sore skin from pulling it.

-A Testament to Freedom
"Opeeze, Mama!"

Her dimpled fingers open and close as she stands by my side, and she alternates between patting my leg and pulling on my apron strings.

A helpless glance at the table reveals that the schoolbooks scattered about are still there, the workbook pages remain blank. The sink is full of dirty dishes for the second time today, and an equal number of laundry loads have been run, though they lie in piles on the unmade bed. As a chicken boils in a pot on the stove and the casserole dish lies waiting to be filled, I reach down and grasp Eliana's hand, determined to hold off her request until I finish one more thing.

But now I can't remember what it was.

I turn my back to the dirty, covered counter and slide down the cabinets to the floor, pulling her on to my lap. She tucks her thumb into her mouth and slips into a "huggle" in my arms - our name for a hug and a snuggle. When my to-do list catches my eye from where it flaps over the edge of the table, I chuckle wryly and tip my head back.

"Up, please, Father."

Eliana tips her head back, a smile lighting her tired eyes. "Opeeze!" We rub noses, and settle in deeper for a few moments of respite. It is 9:15 a.m.

Oh, how high my hopes were for this day! Busy, yes, I knew this, but arising earlier than usual and attacking it with a vigor was supposed to be more effective. How quickly the minutes flew by, how vast the list grew, and how effortlessly the plan flew out my window, on the wings of the sparrow, perhaps, who lights daily on the edge of our deck.

I'm supposed to be able to do this - be a Mama - it's all I ever wanted! My older ones are such a help, too, I have no excuses. What is wrong with me? And before I can remind Him that the question is rhetorical, he draws near...

Beloved, it is my yoke. I close my eyes and breathe deep.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 28:11-30)
If the yoke is easy, why do I resist putting it on first, before my toes even uncurl from the warmth of my bed and reach to the floor? It is the burden that overwhelms me, but it is not noticeable until I've pulled it, alone, for much of the day. It rubs my flesh raw, tormenting me until I cry out, "Up, please!"

Jesus wants to put us...under such a yoke so that our burden does not become too heavy for us. He calls it "my yoke." It is the yoke under which he learned to carry His burden. His burden is a thousand times heavier than all our burdens precisely because He carries all of our burdens.

-A Testament to Freedom (emphasis mine)
I sigh contentedly and huggle deeper into His chest, the pleasant weight and warmth of my little one reminding me of the joys of this role.

"Up, please," I had whispered. And He did not attempt to accomplish anything more before pulling me into His arms, and slipping the yoke, His yoke, over my head, its pleasant weight reminding me of the joys of sharing in this role of being yoked. With Him.

You are the rest, you are gentle peace, you are the longing and the one who stills it. -Friedrich Ruckert

You are always welcome at my little place - A Path Made Straight
Labels: Elise's Articles, life, Motherhood

2007-10-19T13:16:00.000-07:00
This is a list I found online that shows 34 virtues of a Godly Woman; I prefer carolyn Mahaney's and Martha Peace's explanations, but what do you think about this guys list? I may share it with a friend who has asked my advice on this subject,but i have already referred her to several Sovereign Grace Church online resources and I'm not sure that my heart is peaceful about *all* that he has said here... please do let me know what you think. I could use some guidance from you other Christian ladies to help me make the right decision...thank you :) :) :)

Don't be afraid to be feminine, in the Bible sense of the word. These are the happiest, most fulfilled ladies on earth. Beside all that, we will be responsible for, and give an account for what the scriptures teach regarding this responsibility. As we then look forward to, and prepare to face God at the Judgement seat of Christ, ladies, consider these 34 characteristics of Biblical femininity:

1. Virtue Proverbs 31:10, "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." Virtue means to be clean and pure. To be morally excellent is a good quality.

2. Loyalty Proverbs 31:11-12, "The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life." Loyalty is the opposite of treachery. Jeremiah 3:20, "Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD." A feminine lady is loyal to her husband, her God, her church, her children, her Savior, etc.

3. Industry Proverbs 31:13-16, "She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard." Industry is the opposite of laziness and sloth. Her energy is given to her household. The word "household" appears four times in Proverbs 31 as the direction of her industry. Many of the other verses in this chapter speak of her industry. She is not a workaholic hiding from God, she is industrious for God.

4. Strength Proverbs 31:17, "She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms." She is not a weakling. She becomes stronger and stronger in body, intelligence, emotions, spirituality, etc.

5. Ministering Proverbs 31:18-20, "She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy." She is not self-serving. The feminine woman ministers to others. She remembers the poor. She is a giver of alms.

6. Wisdom Proverbs 31:26a, "She openeth her mouth with wisdom ...." Wisdom is the ability to use and apply knowledge rightly. She fills her mind and heart with the word of God, and then uses it appropriately to every situation she faces in life.

7. Kindness Proverbs 31:26b, "... and in her tongue is the law of kindness." Feminine women are kind, in word and action. "Charity is kind," 1 Corinthians 13:4. Thus, they are filled with Charity.

8. Fear for God Proverbs 31:30 "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised." Femininity fears God. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Feminine women do their duty.

9. Are Praised Proverbs 31:28, "Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her." Proverbs 31:30, "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates." She is praised by her own husband and by her works. Her works for God are so obvious, that they cry out in praise of her. Only one other being in all of the Old Testament is praised, and that is God! Now lets leave the Old Testament and look at more characteristics defining Femininity in the New Testament:

10. Benevolence 1 Corinthians 7:3, "Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband." She receives benevolence from her husband, and also returns benevolence to her husband. Benevolence means "good will as a conjugal duty; to be well-minded towards; reconciled with."

11. Submission Ephesians 5:22, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." Colossians 3:18, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord." With the type of submission that she has to the Lord, she also directs the same submission to her husband. "Submission" means "to be subordinate to, to yield under to." The same word is used in submitting to God in James 4:7 and to government in 1 Peter 2:13.

12. Reverence Ephesians 5:33, "Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband." She is in awe of her husband. She respects him with fear. This word is usually translated "to be afraid of, to fear." She has a holy devotion to him and fears him similar to her fear for God. Let's look at more characteristics of Biblical Femininity from the following text: 1 Timothy 2:9-15, "In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety."

13. Modest in dress She hides the form of her body. Her clothes are long, loose-fitting and cover all of her nakedness. She does not dress in the "attire of an harlot" as mentioned in Proverbs 7:10, "And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart."

14. Shamefaced She has the ability to blush. Her eyes are down cast unlike a harlot whose face is bold toward impurity. (Proverbs 7:13-23)

15. Her Hair is Simple It is long (1 Corinthians 11:15) and simple. She is not trying to gain the attention of man by her appearance, but the praise of God.

16. Jewelry and Clothes Don't Mean Much to Her They are nice, simple and inexpensive.

17. Good Works She is clothed with good works. She is constantly doing good for her God, her husband, her children, her church, others, the lost, etc.

18. Learns God's Word in Silence She is not a "place seeker" in the church, but a humble student of God's word. She learns God's word and teaches the younger women (Titus 2:4) and her children. (2 Timothy 1:5; 3:15-16) She doesn't seek to usurp authority over men when it comes to the public teaching of God's word in the church. She hears the preaching and teaching ministries in silence. She asks questions at home. (1 Corinthians 14:35)

19. Faith She continues in faith and in the faith. She trusts in God and believes in Him.

20. Charity She is a living example of charity as it is defined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth:" Let's continue to learn more of the characteristics of true femininity by looking at the text in Titus 2:4-5, "That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."

21. Sober She is intelligent. Being feminine does not mean she is dumb or a "dizzy broad." She is an intelligent woman. Sober means to be of a sound mind. She is ever gaining in knowledge.

22. Loves Her Husband There is a fondness in her heart toward her husband. She gives her life for him.

23. Loves Her Children There is a fondness in her heart toward her children. She does more than just put up with them. They are her life. She gives herself for them.

24. Discreet This is the opposite of being sexy. She does not carry herself about in a "sexy" way. She is modest in her dress and behavior.

25. Chaste She is sexually pure. She keeps herself for her husband and only unto him when married. She does not commit adultery or fornication.

26. Keeper at Home She is not a busybody. She loves to stay home and stays home. Home is where her heart is. She does not work out in the world unless she has no husband to care for her or he can't. If she is business-minded, she works out of her home.

27. Good Feminine women are good women. Good is the opposite of bad or evil. She is not bad in character. She does not do evil in practice.

28. Obedience She is obedient to her husband. Her desire is unto him (Genesis 3:16). He is the head of the family (1 Corinthians 11:3). Anything with two heads is a monster. She allows him to lead. Our final text on feminine characteristics is found in 1 Peter 3:1-6, "Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement."

29. Subjection She is subject to her own husband. This word is a military term. It speaks of rank. According to 1 Corinthians 11:3, God has the highest rank, then Christ is under Him, then the husband is under Christ, then the wife is under her husband, then last the children are under the parents. The feminine woman doesn't want to be the General.

30. Fears Properly She has a proper fear for the authorities over her. A reverential and holy respect. She is not proud, rebellious or stubborn toward Divine leadership, family leadership or spiritual leadership.

31. Desire Feminine women have a desire toward their husbands. He is the hidden man of her heart. She is not a "looker". She is satisfied with the husband she has. Her desire is unto him. (Genesis 3:16)

32. Meek Spirited Meekness is the inward strength to depend on God to fight our battles, meet our needs, take care of situations, change people, etc. without taking things into our own hands. Meekness is not weakness, it is strength. The inward strength to truly let go and let God.

33. Quiet Spirited She is calm. She rules her emotions and will very well. Proverbs 25:28, "He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls." She is able to sit still and wait on God. She lets patience have her perfect work in her life and situations, James 1:4, "But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." She is not noisy and demanding.

34. Fearless She is not afraid with any amazement. Nothing amazes her. She is mentally and spiritually prepared for anything. Some things may come up unexpectedly, but she doesn't go to pieces. She doesn't lose her head. She doesn't become an emotional basket case. True feminine women are soft but strong. They have grace and beauty. They mix blue denim with lace. Don't be afraid to be feminine. Ladies, inventory your feminine character by the Word of God. Only let the Bible be your guide in this matter, not the ways of the women of the world. The Bible will be your judge someday, not them. Notice John 12:47-48 "And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." Pray for the help of the Holy Spirit to be the lady God wants you to be. Ask for the grace of God to help you in your time of need, Hebrews 4:16. God's grace will enable you in every good work, including these. Here's His promise: 2 Corinthians 9:8, "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." Do not try this on your own, ask for the help of the Holy Spirit and the Grace of God. Be feminine and be eternally rewarded!

Copyright © 2004-96Permission granted to freely copy.Scripture verses are from the King James Holy Bible. This article available in printed form click here for details. Click here to read our message: You Can Know For Sure That You Are Going To Heaven!

2007-10-18T14:25:00.000-07:00
"A Sovereign Protector I Have"
Augustus Toplady

A Sov’reign Protector I have,
Unseen, yet forever at hand,
Unchangeably faithful to save,
Almighty to rule and command.
He smiles, and my comforts abound;
His grace as the dew shall descend;
And walls of salvation surround
The soul He delights to defend.

Inspirer and Hearer of prayer,
Thou Shepherd and Guardian of Thine,
My all to Thy covenant care
I sleeping and waking resign.
If Thou art my Shield and my Sun,
The night is no darkness to me;
And fast as my moments roll on,
They bring me but nearer to Thee.

Kind Author, and ground of my hope,
Thee, Thee, for my God I avow;
My glad Ebenezer set up,
And own Thou hast helped me till now.
I muse on the years that are past,
Wherein my defense Thou hast proved;
Nor wilt Thou relinquish at last
A sinner so signally loved

"Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." I Corinthians 15:24-26

2007-10-17T17:15:00.000-07:00
Thank You for praying for me today. God definately met me during my extraction in a powerful way! I am very grateful for His comfort and guidance at the dentists office today. The tooth is extracted, and the job was succesful! In fact, I haven't even had one ounce of ear pain since the Novacaine wore off, which was over an hour ago. Could it be that the 2 were correlated?? I hope so! I have not gotten the phone call about my MRI results so I don't know how my jaws are looking, but so far this is a very excellent relief of pain ~ and I am very thankful for it.

Thank you for being patient as I shared with you about this pain I have been in; it was such a comfort knowing you all were praying with me too.

I will kep you all updated.

Hope your having a great night too! <3 xoxox's

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

2007-10-17T06:18:00.000-07:00
Good morning! My <3 is filled with a thousand words (lol~) 2day, proclaiming God's provision! These words kept going through my mind yesterday afternoon as I got ready for, and sat through,the procedure:
God is creator, sustainer, beginner and finisher:God meets all of our needs.
Oh how these words, and the ability to come to God in prayer, comforted me as I lay there in the dentist's chair with him drilling and chipping away at my molar ~ or the tooth of evil I like to call it(instead of axis of evil,I know, lame... :)
I was so thankful when he said that it was beyond a root canal and needed to come out!... I know that sounds wierd but I hate root canals(I had have one done once before; I felt like I couldn't breathe the whole time: not fun at all!) and he went on and on about how there's no gaurantee that a root canal will end all pain...
but! pulling out the little bugger should end all pain!!! At least I hope so! So, today I go in at 4pm again to have them PULL the dreaded tooth out :)
( Now if I could just get someone to pull out whatevers bothering my ear..lol!)
How's that for resting in God's grace?(I know. I am pitiful.;P.)

Anyways~ lol~ I tried and tried to recall those words He gave me yesterday afternoon when the Novicaine was all worn off & I had chewed through the last Vicaden I had. The pain in my gumline and ear was alternately stabbing and throbbing,and it was worse than before in that area of my gums. They came, even in the midst of searing pain. I was comforted to know that God was with me through this valley, even if He wasn't taking the pain away. I felt that, at that moment, my tooth/ear pain was the thorn in my side to keep me from becoming too puffed up. I will continue to share about this journey of mine through pain, not to elicit sympathy from people or cry oh-woe-is-me for everyone to hear and take pity on me but because God is glorified through me telling about His provisions for me as I walk through this pain. I know other believers who have had similar pain, for much longer than I have. More spirit-filled than I, and yet, they suffer too. I cannot understand all of God's ways, they are too marvelous for me to know, but I can rest in these promises:

@@@I know that there will have pain in this life; that we can count on an absence of pain in Heaven :)These scriptures help me to not think in terms of just this life, but in terms of my eternity. God tells us that He doesn't make light of people's suffering in this life, but that He wants to give it perspective.
Also,Job 19:25-27: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth...and after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes-I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!"

@@@Hebrews 5:7-10: During the days of Jesus' life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek... Jesus was made perfect through His suffering.
God is perfect, so it had to be the human part of Jesus that was made perfect through suffering, right? Why did the human side or part of Jesus need to learn obedience and be made perfect? ....
Romans 5:1-5: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.... this passage shows me that through suffering I will learn to persevere, and perseverance produces character, and character, hope. I won't tell you I like this particular passage,lol!, but I have to take God's word as a whole and not skip the parts that make me uncomfortable... this is what the word of God says. He also says to pray for our daily needs... not weekly not yearly,but day to day needs. He gives us the gift of daily, continual prayer! Thank You, God!!

I cannot tell in just words how much the gift of prayer has helped me through many situation in my life. I just wish that I would rely on it, and trust it, more often.
I can think of one situation where I have prayed and prayed and the answer has not come. Why does God leave some prayers unanswered for a period of time only know to Him? Or, forever? There are so many scriptures that tell me about possible reasons for unanswered prayer, yet I know that God's ways will remain too marvelous for me to understand no matter how much I meditate on them!... One could cite:

John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”
And there is 1 John 3:22 “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”
1 John 5:14-15 “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”
1 Peter 3:12 “For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”
James 1:6-7 “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;”
Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

With sadness, I must confess that I can definately see myself in many of those scriptures. I know that I cannot perfectly obey God, but that I must rest in Jesus'work to save me, but I also see that James and Galations tell me to not doubt and to not grow weary if I am doing good, because I will reap if I do not lose heart. In this situation of unanswered prayer, I am guilty of doubting and growing weary, even allowing myself to lose heart; over time I have allowed sadness to grow into anger and bitterness about the situation and no good fruit comes from a bad tree, just as no bad fruit comes from a good tree. I have been baring bad fruit in this stinking, sinful heart of mine because I have doubted and grow weary and I have also allowed bitterness to take root in a situation in which reconciliation/compromise is impossible,for the time being.
I have stopped praying for this person on several occasions over the past few weeks. I have allowed my sin to do this because I have become convinced by my own lack of faith that God will not work in this man's heart.

Yet, this is not what His word says I should do. His word says that I should refrain from all bitterness, forgiving as I have been forgiven, and having faith in God's goodness regardless of the situations I am in in life. If only I would obey God fully.... isn't that always what helps us avoid so many of the troubles in life? So many that we bring onto ourselves... so many situations,like this one,that could be walked through in a God-glorifying, unselfish way spoiled by stubborness and selfishness on my part :(

I know that God's word says that He has a “due season” when He will bring His answers to those fervent prayers to pass...
Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” I must dilegently seek....

2007-10-15T07:14:00.000-07:00
Psalm 118:13&14~ "I was pushed back and about to fall,but the Lord helped me...
The Lord is my strength and my song;
He has become my salvation."

Dealing with this chronic pain in my ear and jaw on the left side of my head over the last several weeks has forced me more and more to the foot of the cross ... I find that pain can really remind me of how powerless I am, and how much I need God.
In the midst of this suffering I am reminded just how much I need to not be shaken by my circumstances; if I were not being taught so well to make sure that I am talking to myself(speaking the truth to myself) instead of listening to myself(letting my feelings dicatate where I will go in my mind,)then I could see myself kneeling to my feelings in this circumstance a lot more,instead of holding strong to God's promises,like the one above, more often. I still have my moments when I am askingwhy!but, thanks be to the Lord,they are not allowed to go on for long because I am surrounded in my home by the word,godly friends and family and Christ-centered worship cd's in almost every room,all of which point me back to the gospel and back to God's promises for me.

Also dealing with chronic pain has added more temptations to be angry and short-tempered, impatient with people and things,when I want people and things to just be easy for me to deal with, because I 'feel' like my plate is already full, and that God's grace is not sufficient for me to deal with this one more thing...basically,
when I am not loving others sacrificially, but selfishly.

I thank God for conviction and daily bring myself to God for help to walk in faith and obedience. I also thank Him for the desire to be obedient to His word, and the sorrow over my sin,these things that I would not be feeling if I were not saved; thank you God for saving me! I know that God will complete the good work that he has started in me, revealing more and more sin and helping me to defeat it.
I am glad for Him to show me my pride and selfishness in all areas,so that He can
dig out the wickedness in me and replace it with righteousness and humility.
If you feel like adding me to your prayer lists, thank you, and pray for humility for me! It is what I need the most! Thanks :)

2007-10-12T05:21:00.000-07:00
God is doing a work in me, talking to me about being a Biblical Peacemaker.
For some time now, oh I guess since July, He has been preparing me for this~ but I couldn't see it until the other day. As it dawned on me how all of the scriptures I have been meditating on fit together into the bigger picture, I realized that this bigger picture was Biblical Peacemaking.

Some of us in the body are better at this naturally than others I suppose, or at least that's what people say. I find that the very best Peacemakers that I know are really the most humble people that I know; they do not get offended easily, they do not prefer themselves over others, they suffer not a wrong done to them, they forgive readily and easily, glorifying God is *really* their chief aim.... I am blessed to know a few people whose faces I see in my mind as I write this.
I know all of them well, and know their lives stories that wove them into the tapestry thier lives are today.

Thier lives were not all easy street~ you know, the old rebuttle "Well, I'd be some great Peacemaker too, if..." it usually ends with if I hadn't been walked on all my life or if I didn't have to deal with so & so, and on and on the excuses flow. I know that sounds harsh, but there really is no other explanation for it.

God has shown me throgh His word that we(believers)really have no excuses, in His book, for not pursuing with all of our might Biblical Peacemaking...

This e-article, entitled "Checking your own heart" is a good resource,I think, for first removing the log from your own eyes...the link for it is http://www.peacemakers.net/peace/heart.htm if you are interested in checking it out sometime. Here are a couple of sciptures:
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34, yet also, check yourselves~ "From whence {come} wars and fightings among you? {come they} not hence, {even} of your lusts that war in your members?"James 4:1~ first. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test? 2 Corinthians 13:5. Also,2 Peter 1:1-11 and Proverbs 6:12-19.

Ephesians 4:22-5:21 says it best,for me:You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. "In your anger do not sin" : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person - such a man is an idolater - has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." Ephesians 4:22-5:21

There is so much in that bit of scripture: putting off the old you, putting on the new you, putting off the listed thought lives & behaviors, mimicking Christ, always giving thanks, bringing to others what is helpful for them, soeaking to them in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs... how many times have I,in the surprise of sudden realization that I have been thrust unawares into conflict,reverted to naturally(bu my sinful nature)responsing in the ways the 'old me' would have responded,and sinning in being more concerned right off the bat about defending myself, not about God's glory foremost, and by using a multitude of words to complete such task~ not all words that are helpful to the other person,not often brought in love if it is in the heat of a conflict(and it usually is,if I'm not being very careful to submit *all* things to Christ,especially conflicts...)

I know this is kind of a long post,but necessary to confession(for me) is sometimes to look at all sides to get to the root of the matter(I do, after all, work out my sanctification on these pages in some ways, meditating on God's word and checking my heart, considering,reflecting...

It is good to do so. Also, to refelct on scriptures about how to bring soemone else *their* sin in a Biblical Peacemaking way, in love and only using words that are helpful to the person... in the online article Biblical Principles for resolving
confict, http://www.peacemakers.net/peace/resolving.htm,the author sites the folowing scriptures:

Matthew 18:15: "Moreover, if your brother should commit an act of sin, be going, show him his sin with a view of convicting him of it and bringing about a confession between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have won your brother over."

Luke 17:3: "Be taking heed to yourselves. If your brother commits an act of sin, reprove him at once. And if he repents, forgive him."

Galatians 6:1: "Brethren, if, however a man be overtaken in a sin, as for you who are the spiritual ones, be restoring such a one in a spirit of meekness, taking heed to yourself lest you also be tempted."

1 Timothy 5:19-20: "Against an elder do not receive an accusation before a tribunal, except it be upon the authority of two or three who bear testimony. Those [elders] who are sinning, in the presence of all be rebuking, in order that the rest may be having fear."

James 5:13-20 "...Remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins."

I have also learned much from Martha Peace's book for wives, The Excellent Wife. There is a chapter in this book explaining how to help others overcome sin, while watching yourself from also falling into sin while trying to help them.
Another good resource from our churches book table is The Peace Maker by Ken Sande. I have a lot to learn about this subject, so I look forward to sharing more with you as I walk through this obligation to Christ to become, through the process of daily sanctification,a better Biblical Peacemaker.

<3 Stacey

2007-10-10T08:40:00.000-07:00
If I were a songwriter, today this would be what I would write ...

Today I feel helpless, hazy, burdened beyond my strength,
but I will not succumb,I will lift my hands, lay it all
at the foot of the cross.
I will trust you, Jesus.
Show the way,
You have for me.
Let the words of my mouth
and the meditations of my heart
be pleasing...
to You, Oh Lord.

Though it's all
closing in on me
still I will
remain
firm in your word
You planted me
My vine, You will feed me,
I will not wither away.

Take this weariness,
take this fear of what will be,
take this stubborn heart and bend it straight for Thee
I am but clay now,
You mold me with Your afflictions upon me...
Give me strength to walk this path you have me on...
and in my heart,
and in my mind,
that I would trust in You,
trust in You,
Trust in You.

2007-10-09T13:10:00.000-07:00
Part 3? of my ongoing poem(?) obviously, written over time...lol....

...Oh Lord and I saw You sitting on Your holy mountain...clothed in splendor, power and strength the likes of which I have never seen, oh but Your eyes were kind and gentle as a lamb, You are the greatest and kindest king... I stand in awe of You, oh Lord!
...You stretch out Your hand, You beckon me to join Your banquet.The banquet of the Lord. Oh Lord, I am unworthy...I call out Your name, my voice making no sound, and yet You hear every word."I am not a worthy servant"...I fall to Your feet... in Your eyes pass by every idle word, every useless thought, all of the missed opportunities to serve You...oh Lord,"Forgive me for all of my sins..." and yet there too, is Your redeeming blood, the blood of Jesus, covering us all!

...We are unworthy; You are utterly worthy!
...We are filled throughout with sin; You are alltogeather holy!
Great is the Lord, and most worthy of our praise!
...That He would even offer to pardon us, a people unworthy to see His face...

...Even though the Earth will give away, a fortress will we always have,in the city of the Lord, as we have heard~ on His holy mountain~ where He dwells with a marriage feast waiting for us!

... With an outstretched hand He welcomes home His wayward sons and daughters,
"Abba Father!" we cry; it is finished He said, taking away all of our stains... here we stand with the Father, washed white as snow...He shares His bread with us...He shows us His holy land... here there will be no more tears He says, no death, no poverty! Here is where the angels sing, along with us; a thousand years but a breath while we worship Him!!Now the dwelling of Godf is with men,and He will live with them. He is making everything new! Look!, as the scars heal from your skin. See, as your eyes are attuned anew. Trust, as your broken heart is mended before your eyes!Down unto your knees, as your sin is vanqueshed from you, your ransom paid in full.. a servant comes who is God's own son, fierce obedience in His eyes. A sinner condemned to death stand I, you looked upon me with pity in Your eyes... ransomed from the pit I stand, a work of the Father's hands!... You called my name, no sweeter a voice than all of histories sweetest to give...

....Write down these words on your heart, for they are Trustworthy and True... it is done!He said, I am the Alpha and the Omega, beginning, the end~ to him who is thirsty, I will give to drink, without cost, from life he will drink...Amen! Come Father, come, for all of us who are left. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with us, forever and ever! Amen!!!!!!

2007-10-08T07:30:00.000-07:00
Good morning,friends :)

I have prayerfully decided to do a second blog,in order to break up our adventures with Home Schooling and my personal adventures in my daily sanctification/growing in holiness, way too much for it all to go on one blog!! Lol ;)

http://homeschoolforgodsglory.blogspot.com/ is where you can find this Home Schooling blog.

If you decide to check it out, and to stay with me for this journey, I promise you that you will not be disappointed! and that you will find a friend to support and encourage you in your Home Schooling journey, or in your curiosity to find out more about Home Schooling.

So, grab a cuppa coffee or some tea and come on over! I look forward to "seeing" ya! ;) :) xoxo's, <3 Stacey

2007-10-07T06:05:00.000-07:00
This being just too good, I decided to post it anyways...in it's entirety.
It is long, but it is so worth it, so maybe read a little bit at a time? That's what I did...hope this blesses you, as it did me :)
XOXO'S <3 Stacey

***This excerpt is from http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0034.htm, a great web resource of many of Charles Spurgeon's sermons. If you don't know of him, as I didn't, check out his work; I think you will really like it. Our pastor is keen on him, so we wanted to check him out and now we have taken a shining to him too :)

I. The first enquiry is, WHAT IS IT TO PREACH THE GOSPEL? There are a variety of opinions concerning this question, and possibly amongst my own audience—though I believe we are very uniform in our doctrinal sentiments—there might be found two or three very ready answers to this question: What is it to preach the gospel? I shall therefore attempt to answer it myself according to my own judgment, if God will help me; and if it does not happen to be the correct answer, you are at liberty to supply a better to yourselves at home.

1. The first answer I shall give to the question is this: To preach the gospel is to state every doctrine contained in God's Word, and to give every truth its proper prominence. Men may preach a part of the gospel; they may only preach one single doctrine of it; and I would not say that a man did not preach the gospel at all if he did but maintain the doctrine of justification by faith—"By grace are ye saved through faith." I should put him down for a gospel minister, but not for one who preached the whole gospel. No man can be said to preach the whole gospel of God if he leaves it out, knowingly and intentionally, one single truth of the blessed God. This remark of mine must be a very cutting one, and ought to strike into the consciences of many who make it almost a matter of principle to keep back certain truths from the people, because they are afraid of them. In conversation, a week or two ago, with an eminent professor, he said to me, "Sir, we know that we ought not to preach the doctrine of election, because it is not calculated to convert sinners." "But," said I to him, "who is the men that dares to find fault with the truth of God? You admit, with me, that it is a truth, and yet you say it must not be preached. I dare not have said that thing. I should reckon it supreme arrogance to have ventured to say that a doctrine ought not to be preached when the all-wise God has seen fit to reveal it. Besides, is the whole gospel intended to convert sinners? There are some truths which God blesses to the conversion of sinners; but are there not other portions which were intended for the comfort of the saint? and ought not these to be a subject of gospel ministry as well as the others? And shall I look at one and disregard the other? No: if God says, 'Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people' if election comforts God's people, then must I preach it." But I am not quite so sure, that after all, that doctrine is not calculated to convert sinners. For the great Jonathan Edwardes tells us, that in the greatest excitement of one of his revivals, he preached the sovereignty of God in the salvation or condemnation of man, and showed that God was infinitely just if he sent men to hell! that he was infinitely merciful if he saved any; and that it was all of his own free grace, and he said, "I found no doctrine caused more thought nothing entered more deeply into the heart than the proclamation of that truth." The same might be said of other doctrines. There are certain truths in God's word which are condemned to silence; they, forsooth, are not to be uttered, because, according to the theories of certain persons, looking at these doctrines, they are not calculated to promote certain ends. But is it for me to judge God's truth? Am I to put his words in the scale, and say, "This is good, and that is evil?' Am I to take God's Bible, and sever it and say, "this is husk, and this is wheat?" Am I to cast away any one truth, and say, "I dare not preach it?" No: God forbid. Whatsoever is written in God's Word is written for our instruction: and the whole of it is profitable, either for reproof, or for consolation, or for edification in righteousness. No truth of God's Word ought to be withheld, but every portion of it preached in its own proper order.
Some men purposely confine themselves to four or five topics continually. Should you step into their chapel, you would naturally expect to hear them preaching, either from this, "Not of the will of the flesh, but of the will of God," or else, "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father." You know that the moment you step in you are sure to hear nothing but election and high doctrine that day. Such men err also, quite as much as others, if they give too great prominence to one truth to the neglect of the others. Whatsoever is here to be preached, "all it whatever name you please, write it high, write it low—the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible, is the standard of the true Christian. Alas! alas! many make an iron ring of their doctrines, and he who dares to step beyond that narrow circle, is not reckoned orthodox. God bless heretics, then! God send us more of them! Many make theology into a kind of treadwheel, consisting of five doctrines, which are everlastingly rotated; for they never go on to anything else. There ought to be every truth preached. And if God has written in his word that "he that believeth not is condemned already," that is as much to be preached as the truth that "there is no condemnation to them that are in Jesus Christ." If I find it written, "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself," that man's condemnation is his own fault, I am to preach that as well as the next clause, "In me is thy help found." We ought, each of us who are entrusted with the ministry, to seek to preach all truth. I know it may be impossible to tell you all of it. That high hill of truth hath mists upon its summit. No mortal eye can see its pinnacle; nor hath the foot of man ever trodden it. But yet let us paint the mist, if we cannot paint the summit. Let us depict the difficulty itself if we cannot unravel it. Let us not hide anything, but if the mountain of truth be cloudy at the top, let us say, "Clouds and darkness are around him," Let us not deny it; and let us not think of cutting down the mountain to our own standard, because we cannot see its summit or cannot reach its pinnacle. He who would preach the gospel must preach all the gospel. He who would have it said he is a faithful minister, must not keep back any part of revelation.

2. Again, am I asked what it is to preach the gospel? I answer to preach the gospel is to exalt Jesus Christ. Perhaps this is the best answer that I could give. I am very sorry to see very often how little the gospel is understood even by some of the best Christians. Some time ago there was a young woman under great distress of soul; she came to a very pious Christian man, who said "My dear girl, you must go home and pray." Well I thought within myself, that is not the Bible way at all. It never says, "Go home and pray." The poor girl went home; she did pray, and she still continued in distress. Said he, "You must wait, you must read the Scriptures and study them." That is not the Bible way; that is not exalting Christ; find a great many preachers are preaching that kind of doctrine. They tell a poor convinced sinner, "You must go home and pray, and read the Scriptures; you must attend the ministry;" and so on. Works, works, works—instead of "By grace are ye saved through faith," If a penitent should come and ask me, "What must I do to be saved?" I would say, "Christ must save you—believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." I would neither direct to prayer, nor reading of the Scriptures nor attending God's house; but simply direct to faith, naked faith on God's gospel. Not that I despise prayer—that must come after faith. Not that I speak a word against the searching of the Scriptures—that is an infallible mark of God's children. Not that I find fault with attendance on God's word—God forbid! I love to see people there. But none of those things are the way of salvation. It is nowhere written—"He that attendeth chapel shall be saved," or, "He that readeth the Bible shall be saved." Nor do I read—"He that prayeth and is baptised shall be saved;" but, "He that believeth,"—he that has a naked faith on the "Man Christ Jesus,"—on his Godhead, on his manhood, is delivered from sin. To preach that faith alone saves, is to preach God's truth. Nor will I for one moment concede to any man the name of a gospel minister, if he preaches anything as the plan of salvation except faith in Jesus Christ, faith, faith, nothing but faith in his name. But we are, most of us, very much muddled in our ideas. We get so much work stored into our brain, such an idea of merit and of doing, wrought into our hearts, that it is almost impossible for us to preach justification by faith clearly and fully; and when we do, our people won't receive it. We tell them, "Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." But they have a notion that faith is something so wonderful, so mysterious, that it is quite impossible that without doing something else they can ever get it. Now, that faith which unites to the Lamb is an instantaneous gift of God, and he who believes on the Lord Jesus is that moment saved, without anything else whatsoever. Ah! my friends, do we not want more exalting Christ in our preaching, and more exalting Christ in our living? Poor Mary said, "They have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid him," And she might say so now-a-days if she could rise from the grave. Oh! to have a Christ-exalting ministry! Oh! to have preaching that magnifies Christ in his person, that extols his divinity, that loves his humanity; to have preaching that shows him as prophet, priest, and king to his people! to have preaching whereby the spirit manifests the Son of God unto his children: to have preaching that says, "Look unto him and be ye saved all the ends of the earth,"—Calvary preaching, Calvary theology, Calvary books, Calvary sermons! These are the things we want, and in proportion as we have Calvary exalted and Christ magnified, the gospel is preached in our midst.

3. The third answer to the question is: to preach the gospel is to give every class of character his due. "You are only to preach to God's dear people, if you go into that pulpit," said a deacon once to a minister. Said the minister, "Have you marked them all on the back, that I may know them?" What is the good of this large chapel if I am only to preach to God's dear people? They are few enough. God's dear people might be held in the vestry. We have many more here besides God's dear people, and how am I to be sure, if I am told to preach only to God's dear people, that somebody else wont take it to himself? At another time some one might say, "Now, be sure you preach to sinners. If you do not preach to sinners this morning, you won't preach the gospel. We shall only hear you once; and we shall be sure you are not right if you do not happen to preach to sinner this particular morning, in this particular sermon." What nonsense, my friends! There are times when the children must be fed, and there are times when the sinner must be warned. There are different times for different objects. If a man is preaching to God's saints if it so happen that little is said to sinners, is he to be blamed for it, provided that at another time when he is not comforting the saints, he directs his attention specially to the ungodly? I heard a good remark from an intelligent friend of mine the other day. A person was finding fault with "Dr. Hawker's Morning and Evening Portions" because they were not calculated to convert sinners. He said to the gentleman, "Did you ever read; 'Grote's History of Greece?'" "Yes." Well, that is a shocking book, is it not? for it is not calculated to convert sinners. "Yes, but," said the other, "'Grote's History of Greece' was never meant to convert sinners." "No," said my friend, "and if you had read the preface to 'Dr. Hawker's Morning and Evening Portion,' you would see that it was never meant to convert sinners, but to feed God's people, and if it answers its end the man has been wise, though he has not aimed at some other end." Every class of person is to have his due. He who preaches solely to saints at all times does not preach the gospel; he who preaches solely and only to the sinner; and never to the saint, does not preach the whole of the gospel. We have amalgamation here. We have the saint who is full of assurance and strong; we have the saint who is weak and low in faith; we have the young convert; we have the man halting between two opinions; we have the moral man; we have the sinner; we have the reprobate; we have the outcast. Let each have a word. Let each have a portion of meat in due season; not at every season, but in due season. He who omits one class of character does not know how to preach the entire gospel. What! Am I to be put into the pulpit and to be told that I am to confine myself to certain truths only, to comfort God's saints? I will not have it so. God gives men hearts to love their fellow-creatures, and are they to have no development for that heart? If I love the ungodly am I to have no means of speaking to them? May I not tell them of judgment to come, of righteousness, and of their sin? God forbid I should so stultify my nature and so brutalize myself, as to have a tearless eye when I consider the loss of my fellow creatures, and to stand and say "Ye are dead, I have nothing to say to you!" and to preach in effect if not in words that most damnable heresy, that if men are to be saved they will be saved—that if they are not to be saved they will not be saved; that necessarily, they must sit still and do nothing whatever; and that it matters not whether they live in sin or in righteousness—some strong fate has bound them down with adamantine chains; and their destiny is so certain that they may live on in sin. I believe their destiny is certain—that as elect, they will be saved, and if not elect they are damned for ever. But I do not believe the heresy that follows as an inference that therefore men are irresponsible and may sit still. That is a heresy against which I have ever protested, as being a doctrine of the devil and not of God at all. We believe in destiny; we believe in predestination; we believe in election and non-election: but, notwithstanding that, we believe that we must preach to men, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and ye shall be saved," but believe not on him and ye are damned.

4. I had thought of giving one more answer to this question, but time fails me. The answer would have been somewhat like this—that to preach the gospel is not to preach certain truths about the gospel, not to preach about the people, but to preach to the people. To preach the gospel is not to talk about what the gospel is, but to preach it into the heart, not by your own might, but by the influence of the Holy Ghost—not to stand and talk as if we were speaking to the angel Gabriel, and telling him certain things, but to speak as man to man and pour our heart in to our fellow's heart. This I take it, is to preach the gospel, and not to mumble some dry manuscript over on Sunday morning or Sunday evening. To preach the gospel is not to send a curate to do your duty for you; it is not to put on your fine gown and then stand and give out some lofty speculation. To preach the gospel is not, with the hands of a bishop, to turn over some beautiful specimen of prayer, and then to go down again and leave it to some humbler person to speak. Nay; to preach the gospel is to proclaim with trumpet tongue and flaming zeal the unsearchable riches of Christ Jesus, so that men may hear, and understanding, may turn to God with full purpose of heart. This is to preach the gospel.

II. The second question is—How IS IT THAT MINISTERS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO GLORY? "For though I preach the gospel I have nothing to glorify it." There are some weeds that will grow anywhere; and one of them is Pride. Pride will grow on a rock as well as in a garden. Pride will grow in the heart of a shoe-black as well as in the heart of an alderman. Pride will grow in the heart of a servant girl and equally as well in the heart of her mistress. And pride will grow in the pulpit. It is a weed that is dreadfully rampant. It wants cutting down every week, or else we should stand up to our knees in it. This pulpit is a shocking bad soil for pride. It grows terribly; and I scarcely know whether you ever find a preacher of the gospel who will not confess that he has the greatest temptation to pride. I suppose that even those ministers of whom nothing is said, but that they are very good people, and who have a City church, with some six people attending it, have a temptation to pride. But whether that is so or not, I am quite sure wherever there is a large assembly, and wherever a great deal of noise and stir is made concerning any man there is a great danger of pride. And, mark you, the more proud a man is the greater will be his fall at last. If people will hold a minister up in their hands and do not keep hold of him, but let him go, what a fall he will have, poor fellow, when it is all over. It has been so with many. Many men have been held up by the arms of men, they have been held up by the arms of praise, and not of prayer; these arms have become weak, and down they have fallen. I say there is temptation to pride in the pulpit; but there is no ground for it in the pulpit; there is no soil for pride to grow on; but it will grow without any. "I have nothing to glorify of." But, notwithstanding, there often comes in some reason why we should glory, not real, but apparent to our ownselves.

1. Now, how is it that a true minister feels he has "nothing to glorify of." First, because he is very conscious of his own imperfections. I think no man will ever form a more just opinion of himself than he who is called constantly and incessantly to preach. Some man once thought he could preach, and on being allowed to enter the pulpit, he found his words did not come quite so freely as he expected, and in the utmost trepidation and fear, he leaned over the front of the pulpit and said "My friends, if you would come up here, it would take the conceit out of you all, I verily believe it would out of a great many, could they once try themselves whether they could preach. It would take their critical conceit out of them, and make them think that after all it was not such easy work. He who preaches best feels that he preaches worst. He who has set up some lofty model in his own mind of what eloquence should be, and what earnest appeal ought to be, will know how much he falls below it. He, best of all, can reprove himself when he knows his own deficiency. I do not believe when a man does a thing well, that therefore he will glory in it. On the other hand, I think that he will be the best judge of his own imperfections, and will see them most clearly. He knows what he ought to be: other men do not. They stare, and gaze, and think it is wonderful, when he thinks it is wonderfully absurd and retires wondering that he has not done better. Every true minister will feel that he is deficient. He will compare himself with such men as Whitfield, with such preachers as those of puritanical times, and he will say, "What am I? Like a dwarf beside a giant, an ant-hill by the side of the mountain." When he retires to rest on Sabbath-night, he will toss from side to side on his bed, because he feels that he has missed the mark, that he has not had that earnestness, that solemnity, that death-like intenseness of purpose which became his position. He will accuse himself of not having dwelt enough on this point, or for having shunned the other, or not having been explicit enough on some certain subject, or expanded another too much. He will see his own faults, for God always chastises his own children at night-time when they have done something wrong. We need not others to reprove us; God himself takes us in hand, The most highly honored before God will often feel himself dishonored in his own esteem.

2. Again, another means of causing us to cease from all glory is the fact that God reminds us that all our gifts are borrowed. And strikingly have I this morning been reminded of that great truth—that all our gifts are borrowed, by reading in a newspaper to the following effect:—
"Last week, the quiet neighborhood of New Town was much disturbed by an occurrence which has thrown a gloom over the entire neighborhood. A gentleman of considerable attainment, who has won an honorable degree at the university has for some months been deranged. He had kept an academy for young gentlemen, but his insanity had obliged him to desist from his occupation, and he has for some time lived alone in a house in the neighborhood. The landlord obtained a warrant of ejectment; and it being found necessary to handcuff him, he was, by sad mismanagement, compelled to remain on the steps, exposed to the gaze of a great crowd, until at last a vehicle arrived, which conveyed him to the asylum. One of his pupils (says the paper) is Mr. Spurgeon."
The man from whom I learned whatever of human learning I have, has now become a raving lunatic in the Asylum! When I saw that, I felt I could bend my knee with humble gratitude and thank my God that not yet had my reason reeled, not yet had those powers departed. Oh! how thankful we ought to be that our talents are preserved to us, and that our mind is not gone! Nothing came nearer and closer to me than that. There was one who had taken all pains with me—a man of genius and of ability; and yet there he is! how fallen! how fallen! How speedily does human nature come from its high estate and sink below the level of the brutes? Bless God my friends, for your talents! thank him for your reason! thank him for your intellect! Simple as it may be, it is enough for you, and if you lost it you would soon mark the difference. Take heed to yourself lest in aught you say. "This is Babylon that I have builded;" for, remember, both trowel and mortar must come from him. The life, the voice, the talent, the imagination, the eloquence—all are the gift of God; and he who has the greatest gifts must feel that unto God belong the shield of the mighty, for he has given might to his people, and strength unto his servants.

3. One more answer to this question. Another means whereby God preserves his ministers from glorying is this: He makes them feel their constant dependance upon the Holy Ghost. Some do not feel it, I confess. Some will venture to preach without the Spirit of God, or without entreating it. But I think that no man, who is really commissioned from on high, will ever venture to do so, but he will feel that he needs the Spirit. Once, while preaching in Scotland, the Spirit of God was pleased to desert me, I could not speak as usually I have done. I was obliged to tell the people that the chariot wheels were taken off; and that the chariot dragged very heavily along. I have felt the benefit of that ever since. It humbled me bitterly, for I could have crept into a nut-shell, and I would have hidden myself in any obscure corner of the earth. I felt as if I should speak no more in the name of the Lord, and then the thought came "Oh! thou art an ungrateful creature: hath not God spoken by thee hundreds of times? And this once, when he would not do so wilt thou upbraid him for it? Nay, rather thank him, that a hundred times he hath stood by thee; and, if once he hath forsaken thee, admire his goodness, that thus he would keep thee humble." Some may imagine that want of study brought me into that condition, but I can honestly affirm, that it was not so. I think that I am bound to give myself unto reading, and not tempt the Spirit by unthought-of effusions. Usually, I deem it a duty to seek a sermon of my Master and implore him to impress it on my mind, but on that occasion, I think I had even prepared more carefully then than I ordinarily do, so that unpreparedness was not the reason. The simple fact was this—"The wind bloweth where it listeth;" and winds do not always blow hurricanes. Sometimes the winds themselves are still. And, therefore, if I rest on the Spirit, I cannot expect I should always feel its power alike. What could I do without the celestial influence, for to that I owe everything. By this thought God humbles his servants. God will teach us how much we want it. He will not let us think we are doing anything ourselves. "Nay, says he, "thou shalt have none of the glory. I will take thee down. Art thou thinking 'I am doing this?' I will show thee what thou art without me "Out goes Samson. He attacks the Philistines. He fancies he can slay them; but they are on him. His eyes are out. His glory is gone, because he trusted not in his God, but rested in himself. Every minister will be made to feel his dependence upon the Spirit; and then will he, with emphasis, say, as Paul did, "If I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glorify of."
III. Now comes the third question, with which we are to finish WHAT IS THAT NECESSITY WHICH IS LAID UPON US TO PREACH THY GOSPEL?

1. First, a very great part of that necessity springs from the call itself: If a man be truly called of God to the ministry, I will defy him to withhold himself from it. A man who has really within him the inspiration of the Holy Ghost calling him to preach cannot help it. He must preach. As fire within the bones, so will that influence be until it blazes forth Friends may check him, foes criticise him, despisers sneer at him, the man is indomitable; he must preach if he has the call of heaven. All earth might forsake him; but he would preach to the barren mountain-tops. If he has the call of heaven, if he has no congregation, he would preach to the rippling waterfalls, and let the brooks hear his voice. He could not be silent. He would become a voice crying in the wilderness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord." I no more believe it possible to stop ministers, than to stop the stars of heaven. I think it no more possible to make a man cease from preaching, if he is really called, than to stop some mighty cataract, by seeking, with an infant's cup, to drink its waters. The man has been moved of heaven, who shall stop him? He has been touched of God, who shall impede him? With an eagle's wing he must fly; who shall chain him to the earth? With seraph's voice he must speak, who shall stop his lips? Is not his word like a fire within me? Must I not speak if God has placed it there? And when a man does speak as the Spirit gives him utterance, he will feel a holy joy akin to heaven; and when it is over he wishes to be at his work again, and longs to be once more preaching. I do not think young men are called of God to any great work who preach once a week, and think they have done their duty. I think if God has called a man, he will impel him to be more or less constantly at it, and he will feel that he must preach among the nations the unsearchable riches of Christ.

2. But another thing will make us preach: we shall feel that woe is unto us if we preach not the gospel; and that is the sad destitution of this poor fallen world. Oh, minister of the gospel! stand for one moment and bethink thyself of thy poor fellow creatures! See them like a stream, rushing to eternity—ten thousand to their endless home each solemn moment fly! See the termination of that stream, that tremendous cataract which dashes streams of souls into the pit! Oh, minister, bethink thyself that men are being damned each hour by thousands, and that each time thy pulse beats another soul lifts up its eyes in hell, being in torments; bethink thyself how men are speeding on their way to destruction, how "the love of many waxeth cold" and "iniquity doth abound." I say, is there not a necessity laid upon thee? Is it not woe unto thee if thou preachest not the gospel? Take thy walk one evening through the streets of London when the dusk has gathered, and darkness veils the people. Mark you not yon profligate hurrying on to her accursed work? See you not thousands and tens of thousands annually ruined? Up from the hospital and the asylum there comes a voice, "Woe is unto you if ye preach not the gospel." Go to that huge place built around with massive walls, enter the dungeons, and see the thieves who have for years spent their lives in sin. Wend your way sometimes to that sad square of Newgate, and see the murderer hanged. A voice shall come from each house of correction, from each prison, from each gallows, saying, "Woe is unto thee if thou preachest not the gospel." Go thou to the thousand death-beds, and mark how men are perishing in ignorance, not knowing the ways of God. See their terror as they approach their Judge, never having known what it was to be saved, not even knowing the way; and as you see them quivering before their Maker, hear a voice, "Minister, woe is unto thee if thou preachest not the gospel." Or take another course. Travel round this great metropolis, and stop at the door of some place where there is heard the tinkling of bells, chanting and music, but where the whore of Babylon hath her sway, and lies are preached for truth; and when thou comest home and thinkest of Popery and Puseyism, let a voice come to thee, "Minister woe is unto thee if thou preachest not the gospel." Or step into the hall of the infidel where he blasphemes thy Maker's name; or sit in the theater where plays, libidinous and loose are acted, and from all these haunts of vice there comes the voice, "Minister, woe is unto thee if thou preachest not the gospel." And take thy last solemn walk down to the chambers of the lost; let the abyss of hell be visited, and stand thou and hear

"The sullen groans, the hollow moans,
And shrieks of tortured ghosts."

Put thine ear at hell's gate, and for a little while list to the commingled screams and shrieks of agony and fell despair that shall lend thine ear; and as thou comest from that sad place with that doleful music still affrighting thee, thou wilt hear the voice, "Minister! minister! woe is unto thee if thou preaches not the gospel." Only let us have these things before our eyes, and we must preach. Stop preaching! Stop preaching! Let the sun stop shining, and we will preach in darkness. Let the waves stop their ebb and flow, and still our voice shall preach the gospel, let the world stop its revolutions, let the planets stay their motion; we will still preach the gospel. Until the fiery center of this earth shall burst through the thick ribs of her brazen mountains, we shall still preach the gospel; till the universal conflagration shall dissolve the earth, and matter shall be swept away, these lips, or the lips of some others called of God, shall still thunder forth the voice of Jehovah. We cannot help it. "Necessity is laid upon us, yea woe is unto us if we preach not the gospel.
Now, my dear hearers, one word with you. There are some persons in this audience who are verily guilty in the sight of God because they do not preach the gospel. I cannot think out of the fifteen hundred or two thousand persons now present, within the reach of my voice, there are none who are qualified to preach the gospel besides myself. I have not so bad an opinion of you as to conceive myself to be superior in intellect to one half of you, or even in the power of preaching God's Word: and even supposing I should be, I cannot believe that I have such a congregation that there are not among you many who have gifts and talents that qualify you to preach the Word. Among the Scotch Baptists it is the custom to call upon all the brethren to exhort on the Sabbath morning; they have no regular minister to preach on that occasion, but every man preaches who likes to get up and speak. That is all very well, only, I fear, many unqualified brethren would be the greatest speakers, since it is a known fact, that men who have little to say will often keep on the longest; and if I were chairman, I should say, "Brother, it is written, 'Speak to edification.' I am sure you would not edify yourself and your wife, you had better go and try that first, and if you cannot succeed, don't waste our precious time."
But still I say, I cannot conceive but what there are some here this morning who are flowers "wasting their sweetness in the desert air, "gems of purest ray serene," lying in the dark caverns of ocean's oblivion. This is a very serious question. If there be any talent in the Church at Park Street, let it be developed. If there be any preachers in my congregation let them preach. Many ministers make it a point to check young men in this respect. There is my hand, such as it is, to help any one of you if you think you can tell to sinners round what a dear Saviour you have found. I would like to find scores of preachers among you; would to God that all the Lord's servants were prophets. There are some here who ought to be prophets, only they are half afraid—well, we must devise some scheme of getting rid of their bashfulness. I cannot bear to think that while the devil sets all his servants to work there should be one servant of Jesus Christ asleep. Young man, go home and examine thyself, see what thy abilities are, and if thou findest that thou hast ability, then try in some poor humble room to tell to a dozen poor people what they must do to be saved. You need not aspire to become absolutely and solely dependent upon the ministry, but if it should please God, even desire it. He that desireth a bishopric desireth a good thing. At any rate seek in some way to be preaching the gospel of God. I have preached this sermon especially, because I want to commence a movement from this place which shall reach others. I want to find some in my church, if it be possible, who will preach the gospel. And mark you, if you have talent and power, woe is unto you if you preach not the gospel.
But oh! my friends, if it is woe unto us if we preach not the gospel, what is the woe unto you if ye hear and receive not the gospel? May God give us both to escape from that woe! May the gospel of God be unto us the savor of life unto life, and not of death unto death.

2007-10-07T06:02:00.000-07:00
Oh this is good... real good.... go check it out!;)

http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0034.htm
....highlite,right click,copy and paste ;)

2007-10-06T15:41:00.000-07:00
"Above all things have fervent love for one another, for 'love will cover a multitude of sins" 1 Peter 4:8

Isn't this just what God's love did for all of us? His great love,vast enough to send His one and only son to die as a ransom for a sinful people,isn't that what was the power that conquered the darkness and opened up the way to be saved for all who wish to be saved,His great love covering a multitude of sins? Our sins!

I am learning at church that Love really is the only thing that can conquer darkness~ it does it's job like pouring holy water on the demon creatures in silly science fiction shows does ;)I like those shows by the way,Lol...

BUT, my point in coming on to post again 2day is, I have gone to God in prayer and humility,confessed my sin to my husband and my sister, and asked both of their forgiveness. They were both very humble and gave it freely. It's good when you can do that; fight and then drop it fairly quickly, though, it surely is best of all not to fight at all. Sometimes though, between sinful people (and aren't we all!)this is bound to happen. Hopefully, less and less and time goes on,as I grow in humility I am bound to care less and less what insult befalls me, or what insult I imagine is befalling me, and I will become,slowly,closer to Christ in His likeness,by the transforming of my mind,the daily crawl of sanctification. It's a good thing that God does not expect us to grow too much too fast!! ;)

I am on here posting because I want to publicly(as 'public' as this blog gets,lol!)but publicly/openly and freely thank God for His patient work in me, not just today but everyday~ pouring out His grace all the more, and more, and more as I need it,especially today as I prayed and prayed for Him to make me a Peacemaker...I don't think I am naturally a Peacemaker, I don't dislike conflict, and it does serve it's purpose and it is necessary sometimes, but I want to become a better biblical Peacemaker in times of conflict. God is so faithful; I know He will complete His good work in me that He began! (Thanks, Jill!) xoxo's <3 Stacey

2007-10-06T07:40:00.000-07:00
I hope you will pray for me this morning, if you are reading this today.
Today did not get started on the better foot, but the weakest one, and so today will be one of those challenging days. The challenge will be for me not to be sinful in my anger about this situation, but for me to instead make Glorifying God my cheif aim and not Glorifying me (defending me); I know that this is where my hear needs to be.... my sister and my husband and I have started out the day by stumbling into an argument(them against me, or at least that is how it feels to me) this morning and I didn't even get my first cup of coffee or my scripture time in, bad,bad,bad for me,Lol;)If you know me, you know that it is not my best time for conflict if I have not had my "Wheaties",so to speak.
....When is it ever a good time for me to have conflict?

Never, really. I stink at conflict. Doing conflict well (excuse my weird language here) takes Humility, and a nicely honed Humility~ like a rock smoothed of all it's rough,unseemly edges by the powerof the Ocean's waves over time~ you know, smoothed of all those edges that can cut you if you step on it the wrong way! I am more like the rough old rock covered in barnacles that is being washed by the word everyday and shaped and smoothed by the power of God's words but I am not a nice, smooth rock yet; I am full of rough edges and sharp sides and sadly,yes,I will cut you if you step on me or lean on me the wrong way,still today. I am not where I need to be, I know that because, many times this is still true of me. I may have some smooth spots now,thanks only to God's grace, but I am far from being presentable for Christ as a Peace- Maker,and that grieves me....

My toes got stepped this morning, and I was not a smooth rock to be stepping on today. I recoiled in shock(what!ME being accused of doing something wrong? what?what??...as if)and then I coiled up and pouted "you don't know what your talking about; you don't know my heart only God knows that,so check yourself..."
When the said party did not stop and go check themselves (lol) I burned under the pressure to DEFEND MYSELF, instead of letting God defend me and putting it all in His hands.....why oh why do I do this, I know better than this, but oh, I don't act like I do all the time, so, so annoying of me....
...."I refuse to listen to this! I know my motives and they are not what you are accusing me of!! You both are attacking me!!" and then, the most shameful of all, the conflict-ending(for now) comment that includes an expletive(are you really surprised?) and walking out, slamming the door(ok, baby gate, not as satisfying either) behind me. I was real proud of myself, needless to say(Not!)

All I could think of was the thoughts my mind was bombarding me with saying what a model Christian I was(I know!I know!) and how I'd never get this, this humility thing, that I suck at it,I will never grow in this area, it is impossible for me, and on & on it went until~ thank you,God!~ the Word of God broke in and battled that darkness to the ground, far from being on the behalf of a righteous servant who deserved His assistance!,God stepped in in His mercy and kindness and dealt a death blow to those lies with 2 of all of our favorite scriptures,

Romans 8:1:

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

and,

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Thank you God, for coming to my rescue, your straying and stubborn sheep, walking off into the slaughter to foolish to see my ways are leading me to spiritual death.

Please help me to grow in humility; You alone are able to work this growth in me.

Please be with us today as conflict is here and we need to solve it, regardless of who wants to or who doesn't; Glorify Yourself in me Lord and help my husband to lead us, protect our little family from the devil getting in through he cracks we knock in our own walls, let us not argue in front of the children but make this home the little church on Gregg street as our pastor has encouraged our church family to do. In Jesus name, Amen.

2007-10-04T07:20:00.000-07:00
This is very interesting.... posted by Jan @ http://vinegarandhoney.blogspot.com/.
I am one who is also big on looking at a candidates whole history before deciding if I want them in office or not, regardless of political party actions do speak louder than words!! .....

01 October, 2007
Morris's Analysis of Hillary

DICK MORRIS'S ANALYSIS OF HILLARY CLINTON
(Dick Morris (born November 28, 1948 in New York City) is an American political author, newspaper columnist, and commentator who previously worked as a pollster, political campaign consultant, and general political consultant.
Morris is best known for managing Bill Clinton's successful 1996 bid for re-election to the office of President of the United States.)

"Check out Bill Clinton's syrupy five minute ad for Hillary. He introduces the commercial by saying that he wants to share some things we may not know about Hillary's background. His version of her biography is about as reliable as if it appeared in Pravda! So, since I was there for most of their presidency and know them better than just about anyone, I wanted to make a few corrections;
Bill says: Hillary never wanted to run for public office, but she did want to work at public service.

The facts are: When Clinton was considering not running for another term as Governor of Arkansas in 1990, Hillary said she would run if he didn't. She and Bill even had me take two surveys to assess her chances of winning. The conclusion was that she couldn't win because people would just see her as a seat warmer for when Bill came back licking his wounds after losing for president. So she didn't run. Bill did and won. But there is no question she had her eye on public office, as opposed to service, long ago.

Bill says: In law school Hillary worked on legal services for the poor.

The facts are: Hillary's main extra-curricular activity in law school was helping the Black Panthers, on trial in Connecticut for torturing and killing a federal agent. She went to court every day as part of a law student monitoring committee trying to spot civil rights violations and level up grounds for appeal.

Bill says: Hillary spent a year after graduation working on a children's rights project for poor kids.

The facts are: Hillary interned with Bob Truehaft, the head of the California Communist Party. She met Bob when he represented the Panthers and traveled all the way to San Francisco to take an internship with him.

Bill says: Hillary could have written her own job ticket, but she turned down all the lucrative job offers.

The facts are: She flunked the DC bar exam and only passed the Arkansas bar. She had no job offers in Arkansas and only got hired by the University of Arkansas Law School at Fayetteville because Bill was already teaching there. She only joined the prestigious Rose Law Firm after Bill became Attorney General and made partner only after he was elected governor.

Bill says: President Carter appointed Hillary to the Legal Services Board of Directors and she became its chairman.

The facts are: The appointment was in exchange for Bill's support for Carter in his 1980 primary against Ted Kennedy. Hillary became chairman in a coup in which she won a majority away from Carter's choice to be chairman.

Bill says: She served on the board of the Arkansas Children's Hospital.

The facts are: Yes she did. But her main board activity, not mentioned by Bill, was to sit on the Wal-mart board of directors, for a substantial fee. She was silent about their labor and health care practices.

Bill says: Hillary didn't succeed at getting health care for all Americans in 1994 but she kept working at it and helped to create the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that provides five million children with health insurance.

The facts are: Hillary had nothing to do with creating CHIP. It was included in the budget deal between Clinton and Republican Majority Leader Senator Trent Lott. I helped to negotiate thedeal. The money came half from the budget deal and half from the Attorney Generals' tobacco settlement. Hillary had nothing to do with either source of funds.

Bill says: Hillary was the face of America all over the world.

The facts are: Her visits were part of a program to get her out of town so that Bill would not appear weak by feeding stories that Hillary was running the White House. Her visits abroad were entirely touristic and symbolic and there was no substantive diplomacy on any of them.

Bill says: Hillary was an excellent Senator who kept fighting for children's and women's issues.

The facts are: Other than totally meaningless legislation like changing the names on courthouses and post offices, she has passed only four substantive pieces of legislation. One set up a national park in Puerto Rico. A second provided respite care for family members helping their relatives through Alzheimer's or other conditions. And two were routine bills to aid 9-11 victims and responders which were sponsored by the entire NY delegation. Here is what bothers me more than anything else about Hillary Clinton. She has done everything possible to weaken the President and our country (that's you and me!) when it comes to the war on terror.

1. She wants to close GITMO & move the combatants to the USA where they would have access to our legal system.2. She wants to eliminate the monitoring of suspected Al Qeada phone calls to/from the USA.3. She wants to grant constitutional rights to enemy combatants captured on the battlefield.4. She wants to eliminate the monitoring of money transfers between suspected Al Qeada cells & supporters in the USA.5. She wants to eliminate the type of interrogation tactics used by the military & CIA where coercion might be used when questioning known terrorists even though such tactics might save American lives.I can't think of a single bill Hillary has introduced or a single comment she has made that would tend to strengthen our country in the War on Terror. But, I can think of a lot of comments she has made that weakens our country & makes it a more dangerous situation for all of us........She goes hand in hand with the ACLU on far too many issues where common sense is abandoned. She is a disaster for all Americans."

~Dick Morris

Now, Clinton has announced that she wants the government to give every newborn child in the United States a $5,000 "baby bond" to help pay for college or to buy a home.

"I like the idea of giving every baby born in America a $5,000 account that will grow over time, so that when that young person turns 18, if they have finished high school they will be able to access it to go to college or maybe they will be able to make that down payment on their first home."

And Ohio Democrat, Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who endorses Clinton, thinks it's a wonderful idea, too. "Every child born in the United States today owes $27,000 on the national debt, why not let them come get $5,000 to grow until they're 18?"

How's that for logic? Vote for me, and I'll give you money? Meanwhile, where is that money supposed to come from? As for the logic of Ohio Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones? Phffft.

Posted by Jan at 23:20 11 comments Links to this post

2007-10-03T18:24:00.000-07:00
We had such a fruitful, spirit-filled prayer meeting tonight at our churches office building. God was so faithful to meet us there! So merciful on us in our confessions of our weaknesses as he always is; so loving in His kindness to bless us with growing humility in seeing and feeling our weaknesses and reveling in His power, made perfect in our weakness!~Thank You, Lord!~

My husband so blessed me afterwards by revealing to our pastor and me that he had a strong vision during the prayer meeting of himself being in a big toy store, in the isle that held all his favorite things, and he was clutching a toy that he wanted really badly,that he was crying over,saying"I want it! I want it! No Please, I Have To Have This Toy!!" And God was holding out an open hand towards him like "C'mon, let's go...I have an even better plan for you...! " instead of reprimanding, our God is so patient and so loving, just reminding us of how He Has A Better Plan For Us, even when we cannot see it~ Thank You, God! It is true! We Love you, Lord!!

On a totally unrelated note.... I am so looking forward to the revealing of the Top Chef 2nite at 10:00! I sure hope it's not Casey. Sorry Casey, but....imo, your not the Top Chef in this duo. Well, I guess this isn't totally unrelated... we can thank God for entertainment,too! Thank You God for Top Chef! Thank You for another day to breathe and live and serve You, and even get to watch Top Chef! Thank You for all of Your kindnesses!!

2007-10-03T12:40:00.000-07:00
It's Apple Season!
Here are some more great recipes and fun activities to try with apples that I found... :)

Baked Cranberry and Apple CasseroleMakes 8 servings
When you have some extra time, try this unusual cranberry and apple dessert... I served it with pork chops and corn stuffing and evryone said it was really great, even my sister who doesn't usually like cranberries! It is more fun than the traditional applesauce and it tastes even better... it is just as easy to make as applesauce if you make your own,too!

Ingredients:

11/2 cups tart apples, peeled and sliced
11/2 cups delicious apples, peeled and sliced
2 cups cranberries, washed
1 cup oats
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional
2 tbsp. margarine
Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°.
Layer greased 3-quart casserole dish with both types of apples and cranberries.
Combine oats, sugars, and pecans if desired.
Pour sugar mixture over apples and cranberries. Dot with margarine.
Bake for 1 hour.
Calories: 230 Fat: 4g Carbs: 50g Protein: 2g Cholesterol: 0mg Fiber: 3g Sodium: 38mg

Apple Smiles... Joshua really gets a kick out of these!

Materials:
Red apple (unpeeled)
Peanut butter
Miniature marshmallows

Directions:
Cut a crisp apple into wedges.
When laid on its side, each wedge should look like a lip.
Spread one side of an apple wedge with peanut butter.
Add three or four miniature marshmallow "teeth" along the edge.
Spread another apple wedge with peanut butter.
Place it on top of the marshmallows for a big, toothy grin.

Apple Cheddar Spread ...Finely chopped apples give this creamy cheddar spread a sweet flavor. makes 3 1/4 cups (Of 1 Tablespoon servings)
Ingredients:
1 block (8 ounces) nonfat or reduced-fat cream cheese
1 cup nonfat or low-fat cottage cheese
1 1/2 cups finely chopped peeled tart apples (about 2 medium)
3/4 cup shredded nonfat or reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
1/3 cup chopped dates

Directions:
Place the cream cheese and cottage cheese in a food processor, and process until smooth. Stir in the apples, Cheddar cheese, and dates. Transfer the spread to a serving dish, cover, and chill for several hours.
Serve with whole grain bagel slices, whole grain crackers, celery sticks, and apple wedges dipped in pineapple juice to prevent browning....

Nutritional Info.:
Calories: 15 Fat: 0g Carbs: 1.8g Protein: 1.8g Cholesterol: 1mg Fiber: 0.1g Sodium: 48mg.

Sour Cream and Apple Bread Pudding... Apples and sour cream add a new dimension to traditional bread pudding.Makes 8 servings.

Ingredients:

5 cups 1/2-inch cubes firm multigrain or French bread (about 6 ounces)
1 3/4 cups skim or low-fat milk
1/2 cup nonfat or light sour cream
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons fat-free egg substitute
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup diced peeled apples (about 1 medium)
1/4 cup golden or dark raisins
TOPPING
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Place the bread cubes in a large bowl and set aside.
Place the milk, sour cream, egg substitute, sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl, and whisk until smooth. Pour the milk mixture over the bread cubes, and set aside for 10 minutes.
Stir the apples and raisins into the bread mixture. Coat a 2-quart casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray, and pour the mixture into the dish.
To make the topping, place the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, and stir to mix well. Sprinkle the topping over the pudding.
Bake uncovered at 350°F for about 1 hour, or until a sharp knife inserted in the center of the dish comes out clean. Allow to cool at room temperature for 45 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature, refrigerating any leftovers.

Nutriotonal Info.:Calories: 161 Fat: 0.9g Carbs: 32g Protein: 6.7g Cholesterol: 1mg Fiber: 1.8g Sodium: 180mg.

Fruit and Vegetable Printing....a fun activity for Preschoolers and any age, really!

Materials
Various fruit and vegetables
Paring knife
Print pad or stamp pad
Paper

Directions
Cut fruits and vegetables into halves, quarters, circles, or any other shapes, dip into tempera paints or on a print or stamp pad, and then press onto plain or colored paper.
Apples cut in half will have a star design in the middle (where the seeds are), while green peppers make a great shamrock design.
Cut a potato in half and use a small paring knife to create a relief design: circles, squares, hearts, and so on.
(If you make letters, don't forget to carve them backwards so they will print correctly!)

Apple People

To make the face, peel an apple and remove any bad parts (this is a great way to salvage bruised or otherwise "bad" apples). You should also remove the core. Now let your child use a butter knife to create a face (supervise closely). Give younger children a head start by defining basic facial features.

Place the apple in a bowl of salty water to begin the drying process. The salt will help draw the liquid out of the apple. Let the apple soak for about an hour, then dry it with a paper towel.

Insert a Popsicle stick into the bottom of the apple and rest it in a plastic bottle. Now sit back and watch. Every day, the apple will shrivel a bit, and the face will change -- eventually, you'll have a face that looks as old as the hills.

Your kids can make up stories about the "apple people," or perhaps use them as puppets by decorating the bottle with clothing made of felt, paper, etc. (You might want to weigh down the bottle with sand or some small pebbles to keep it from toppling -- a dishwashing or shampoo bottle works well).

Floor Art...a cool activity for Babies, Toddlers, Preschoolers or any age! Great to combine with Apple Stampers....

Time:
15 to 20 minutes

Materials:
Large piece of paper taped to the floor
Crayons, or felt pens
Masking tape

Directions:
This activity allows your toddler to experience an entirely new dimension in scribbling by using the whole body, instead of just the arm, to move around the paper. Tape the large piece of paper to the floor and begin to draw together, moving about as needed. Cut several pieces of butcher paper into basic shapes (circle, triangle, square, etc.). Tape the edges down completely with masking tape and draw on them.Take this activity outside to a sidewalk or driveway substituting chalk...

An Imagination Station Activity: Fall Sponge Paintings
Age: Preschool through elementary
Time: 30 minutes
Type of activity: Seasonal arts-and-crafts

Materials needed:
· Washable tempera paints
· Clean margarine tub or plate to mix paints
· Paint brushes
· Cup of water
· New kitchen sponge
· White or pastel construction paper
· Newspapers
· Old t-shirt or art smock

Take time out for an activity that starts with a walk in the park -- and ends with your child making a unusual autumn painting.

What to do:

Step One: Take a walk with your child and ask her to show you which trees she thinks are the most beautiful. Have her name the colors she sees. Then, you pick a tree and describe its colors to her. Now you're ready to begin.

Step Two: Cover the table where you will be working with newspapers to protect it from spilled paints.

Step Three: Ask your child put on her art smock or t-shirt to protect her from paint.

Step Four: Dampen the new kitchen sponge and cut it into one-inch pieces.

Step Five: Use the paintbrushes to show your child how to mix different colors on a plate or in a margarine tub. Try mixing different colors until you get one of the colors of your trees.

Step Six: Take the sponge and gently dip it into the water. Squeeze out the excess water, and dab the sponge into the paint. Gently dab the paint onto the paper. The texture will look like trees as seen from a distance.

Step Seven: Repeat steps Five and Six until your child's tree is complete. Ask her to paint a tree trunk and anything else she'd like to include in her picture (more trees, grass, flowers, animals, sun, etc.)

Magic Waxed Paper Pictures
Age: Preschool through elementary
Time: An afternoon
Type of activity: Science Arts and Crafts

You've heard of disappearing ink, but have you heard of magic crayons? Your child is sure to be surprised by her mysterious artwork.

Materials needed:
· Waxed paper (one sheet per picture)
· Water
· Black paint
· Crayons
· A mixing bowl for the paint
· A paintbrush

What to do:

Step One: Color a picture on waxed paper using the crayons.

Step Two: Dilute the black paint with a bit of water in the mixing bowl.

Step Three: Paint the entire sheet of waxed paper with the diluted black paint.

Step Four: Magically, the paint won't cover the picture you've drawn!

Step Five: Let the black paint dry and hang your magic picture for friends and family to marvel over!

2007-10-03T12:32:00.000-07:00
Maple-Baked Apple Chicken
From The Kraft Brand Kitchens
Prep Time: 15 min,Total Time:40 min,Makes:4 servings

INGREDIENTS:
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)
1/2 cup sliced onions
2 red cooking apples, sliced
1/2 cup maple-flavored or pancake syrup
1/3 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray large ovenproof nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Heat on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 min. on each side or until lightly browned on both sides. Remove from heat.
PLACE onions on top of chicken; surround with apple slices. Mix syrup and dressing; pour over chicken. Bake 20 to 25 min. or until chicken is cooked through (165ºF). Spoon syrup mixture in skillet over chicken just before serving.

KRAFT KITCHENS TIPS:
Cooking Know-How~ If you don't have an ovenproof skillet, simply cover the handle of your regular skillet with several layers of foil before using as directed.

Serving Suggestion: Serve with prepared STOVE TOP Stuffing or hot cooked rice.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Calories 320,Total fat 8g,Saturated fat 1.5g,Cholesterol 65mg,Sodium 430mg,Carbohydrate 38g,Dietary fiber 2g,Sugars 35g,Protein 25g,Vitamin A 0%DV,Vitamin C 4%DV,Calcium 6%DV.

~ Another yummy way to use up all those apples we are picking at the orchards this Fall! ;) <3 Stacey

2007-10-03T05:34:00.000-07:00
I read this today and wanted to share it immediately. See if you can get through the 2nd paragraph without crying!...

Changing My "Wanter"
By Amy Carroll

"... I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him..." Philippians 3:8-9a (NIV)

Devotion:

I just sat there with my mouth hanging open. Surely that woman didn't say what I thought she said. My friend, Luann, had just asked the Ecuadorian mother of 7 what her greatest need was. We wanted to be able to pray for her when we returned to the United States. The woman replied without hesitation. "I want to be able to teach my children about Jesus so that they will follow the Lord all of their lives," she requested.

Looking around her tiny three room house, I could see lots of things that she needed. She needed more beds so that every family member could sleep without rolling into someone else all night long. She needed a refrigerator so that food would keep between visits to the far away market. She needed some carpet on that dirt floor to keep the family's feet warm during the cold nights in the mountains. She needed a four-wheel-drive that could make it through the dirt track that led to her house. The reality was that even some of her most basic needs were not being met.

All of my basic needs are met, and many of my wants are met with abundance. The fact is, though, that sometimes I have my priorities all mixed up. This mother knew the most important thing that her family needed. She knew that they all needed Jesus. He came first on her list for herself and for her children. Her physical surroundings may have been grim, but Jesus still came first. I walked out of her house with tears in my eyes.

David expressed his desire for knowing the Lord this way, "How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked." (Psalm 84: 1-2,10, NIV) In essence, our Ecuadorian friend had said the same thing. She wanted to spend her life in the Lord's dwelling place more than having a spacious, beautiful home. She wanted to be in His courts more than having a powerful position. She wanted to know the fullness of Jesus more than she wanted to leave her dire situation.

I'm sorry to say that I wondered what my response would be to the questions, "What is your greatest need? How can I pray for you?" I do love the Lord, but sometimes He falls to less than first place on my list of perceived needs. A woman with limited education but tremendous wisdom had reminded me of a great truth. She gave my "wanter" a major adjustment, and I walked away with something far greater than the bag of groceries that I had brought in.

Lord, I am surrounded by so much stuff. All my physical needs are met, but sometimes my spirit is starving to death. Will you change my "wanter"? Help me to want you above everything else. Help me to seek you for direction, to feed my spirit on your Word and to want you more than anything else, In Jesus' Name, Amen.

This free in e-mail devotional also comes with
Application Steps and Reflections: I figured I'll fill them out quick, just to apply what I just read and allow it to work in my heart. Also, I seek to be transparent with you all,so I will be known to my friends and so maybe by seeing my stumbling blocks they can then can be avoided by you, as you see their foolishness and submit yourselves to the Lord,as well so you can pray for me better, in my foolishness and help me submit myself better to the Lord... Let me know how I can be praying for you,too!!

Application Steps:

Make a list of things that you want. Be honest!
In all honestly,I know that I could put many things on this list. There are many idols in my sinful heart, and I find myself often wanting to push Jesus off the throne & replace them with those lesser things. By God's grace alone, He has kept my wandering heart fettered onto Him! Some of these idols include wanting things to be fixed in my home,wanting more of my husbands affections,wanting my kids to honor and obey me more often,wanting more discretionary income,I could go on & on. But really these are the lesser things, and I am reminded afresh that I need not care about these things as much as I am content with the Main Thing: that I am saved, that my friends and family are saved or can be saved, and that I CAN teach my children about Jesus so that they will follow Him all of their lives!

Pray and ask Jesus to help you to put Him as number one on your list.
Lord, please pour of your mercy and your grace anew on me, your child in need. I repent of my selfishness and my pride Lord, please forgive me. Please help me see with unclouded eyes that You are #1 on my list, and always continue to help me keep all those idols in my heart at bay so they will not take over and snuff out my ability to hear from You,Oh Lord. Amen!!

Put the rubber to the road. Prioritize time for Bible study and prayer each day.Thank You Lord that, even when I have an extraordinarily busy day, You always find the right time to remind me of my need to read and meditate on Your word everyday,and You always help me see the right time to take to do so.

Reflections:

How do I determine what I value?

What are things on my "wish list" that are legitimate wants? What are things that need to be removed?

How can I grow my desire for Jesus?

Power Verses:

Luke 4:4, Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'" (NIV)

Psalm 73:25, "Whom have I in heaven but you? And being with you, I desire nothing on earth."

If you would like to receive this daily devotion too,visit...

www.Proverbs31.org

...and sign up! <3Stacey xoxo's

2007-10-02T18:05:00.000-07:00
These recipes just looked so good, and so seasonally perfect, that I just had to try them!! All of them are A+, Very Good!!

Apple-Honey Cereal Bars
...peanut butter, dried apples and sunflower nuts pack energy into delicious ready-to-go bars! great on the run, or at home :)
"A+ Apples: Apples are loaded with soluble fiber that helps to lower blood cholesterol. Start slowly sp you have time to get used top more fiber in your diet."
Recipe from eatbetteramerica.

Prep Time:20 min
Start to Finish:1 hr 20 min
makes:16 bars

3 cups Fiber One® Honey Clusters® cereal
1/4 cup roasted sunflower nuts
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup dried apple slices, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup peanut butter

1. Butter bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan, or spray with cooking spray. Place cereal in resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag and slightly crush with rolling pin or meat mallet (or slightly crush in food processor).
2. In large bowl, mix cereal and sunflower nuts; set aside.
3. In 3-quart saucepan, heat honey, brown sugar, apples and cinnamon just to boiling over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in peanut butter. Pour over cereal mixture; stir gently until evenly coated.
4. Press mixture evenly into pan with back of wooden spoon. Refrigerate about 1 hour or until set. For bars, cut into 4 rows by 4 rows. Store covered at room temperature.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): No change.
Nutritional Information:
1 Serving: Calories 150 (Calories from Fat 50); Total Fat 5g (Saturated Fat 1g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 110mg; Total Carbohydrate 23g (Dietary Fiber 3g, Sugars 14g); Protein 3g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 0%; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 2%; Iron 8% Exchanges: 1 Starch; 1/2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 1 1/2
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
MyPyramid Servings 1 oz-equivalents Meat & Beans

"Healthified" Fresh Apple Cake
From eatbetteramerica.
Prep Time:20 min
Start to Finish:2 hr
makes:20 servings

3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups finely chopped unpeeled apples (3 medium)
1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.
2. In large bowl, beat sugars, buttermilk, oil, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 20 to 30 seconds or until blended. Add remaining ingredients except apples and walnuts; beat on low speed about 1 minute or until blended. Stir in apples and walnuts. Spread batter in pan.
3. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on cooling rack 1 hour.
Nutritional Information
1 Serving: Calories 240 (Calories from Fat 90); Total Fat 10g (Saturated Fat 1g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 20mg; Sodium 150mg; Total Carbohydrate 34g (Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 18g); Protein 4g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 0%; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 4%; Iron 8% Exchanges: 1 Starch; 1 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 2 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 2
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
MyPyramid Servings 1 tsp Fats & Oils, 1 oz-equivalents Grains, 1 oz-equivalents Meat & Beans

I am happy to hear that I have 'friends in loving Fall' out there! Hope you enjoy these recipes,too! <3 Stacey xoxo's

Fun!

2007-10-01T21:26:00.000-07:00
This novel recipe is great for gift-giving. Baked in a canning jar, this bread "will last forever," if the seal isn’t broken,the recipe creator writes. (This recipe is from the Stonycreek Farm in Noblesville, Indiana, home of a month-long Pumpkin Harvest Festival each October.)

Canned Pumpkin Bread

2/3 cup shortening
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups pumpkin puree
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cup flour
½ tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
2/3 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325 F
2. Cream together the shortening and sugar.

3. Beat in the eggs, pumpkin and water.

4. Sift together the dry ingredients. Add to the pumpkin mixture, along with the nuts, if desired

5. Pour the batter into clean, greased canning jars, filling them half full. Bake in jars without lids for about 25 minutes, or until the bread rises and pulls away from the sides of the jars.

6. When the bread is done, remove 1 jar at a time from the oven, clean its rim, and firmly screw on a 2-piece canning lid. Let the jars cool on the counter away from drafts. You can tell each jar has become vacuum-sealed when its dome is sucked downward at the center during cooling. Store jars in a cool, dry, dark place.

*** My friend Julie gave us a lovely homemade blueberry jam in a small canning jar with a strip of plaid fabric tied into a loose bow around the neck of the jar, and it was beautiful! I have also seen people use raffia and attatch faux-berry clusters from the craft store with a small hot glue gun(also available at the craft stores.)
*** Can you tell that I have been obsessed with visiting my local AC Moore lately??
I have that crafting itch again, as always when Fall comes along! There are wreaths to make,scrapbooking all of the Summer's events,homemade cards to make for Fall Harvest Parties or Thanksgiving Celebrations, falling crimson and gold leaves to press, yummy breads & desserts and all kinds of seasonal meals, cinnamon sticks and cloves to boil on the stove and pumpkins to decorate with the kiddos! Oh, so much fun!! :)
Not to mention the Hay Rides and Fall Festivals, Apple Picking and Pies and Pumpkin Ice Cream ;) Oh, I just love Fall! Thank you God for Fall!

<3 Stacey

Psalm 8

2007-09-30T04:46:00.000-07:00
Psalms 8

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD;
and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season;
his leaf also shall not wither;
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so:
but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous:
but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Reading this today, I was struck by a revelation about 'the blessed man'; God's
wisdom. The 'blessed man':

*he meditates on the word of the Lord day and night

*his delight is in the law of the Lord~ we are to grow in the grace & knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, sharing His word with unbelievers leading them to taste and see the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to come to a saving faith in the word of God.This is our life aim; why we are here on earth.

* he does not take/listen to/walk in/seek/follow the advice of the ungodly/unbelievers

* he does not stand on the same path/in the same ways as sinners stand(doesn't do what they do, doesn't think as they think, not in their clubs, not in their organizations)

*he will be like a tree that brings forth it's fruit in due season .... have you ever been the recipient of very timely advice from a friend,or scriptural understanding God has blessed you with out of the blue to share with a friend? I know you have,because God is always working! They, and you, have brought forth fruit(the fruit of daily meditating on His word day & night, the fruit of a faith worked out through trials, a salvation worked out with trembling)in the due season(right when God knew that you, or this person, needed to hear this word.)

* his leaf will not wither; whatsoever he does will prosper. He is the vine,we are the branches~ we shall not wither because we are plugged into Him, the true vine. Whatever we do will prosper, as long as we are living a life submitted to Christ...
prosperity is honoring the Lord. This does not always mean we will see what we want to come about in a certain situation will happen; it means we will prosper in glorifying the Lord....our chief aim as sinners saved by grace here on this earth.

* The ungodly are not so,but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away~ the ungodly are not plugged into the true vine, into God. They have no roots, no vine to nourish and keep hold of the branches. No God to fetter them to He when their hearts want to wander. They are rootless, protection less. They will be driven away by the wind :( .....

*Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous~ the sinners won't be standing in church worshipping regularly, because they won't want to be there~ their hearts have not changed, have not submitted to Christ. They will come sporadically, and then not at all. They are like chaff that the wind driveth away. This speaks to me of Heaven as well when I read it; the sinners who will not accept God will not be in the congregation of the saved,the righteous,in Heaven. They won't be there!Because they refuse to repent!

* Finally, but defiantly Not last,
For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish... The Lord knows our ways as believers. We are in His fold, his sheep that He cares for as our shepherd.He knows us, knows where we are in our lives at all times, protects us, cares for us. More so than all that, he knows our hearts better than we even know our own hearts. He created us; every sinewy nerve and every synapse in our brains; He is responsible for every beating of our hearts; the one who provides us air to breathe and lungs that can breathe the air! he KNOWS our way! Foe this reason, and this reason alone,we will NOT perish! But the ways of the ungodly shall perish: they do not have the shepherd, are not plugged into the true vine!

Does reading this not bring you to a heart of evangelism?
Does meditating on this scripture not bring you to a place of repentance if you are not meditating on His words day & night, if you are indeed listening to and maybe following the advice of the ungodly(the world's ideas, a friend's ideas) and you are belonging to worldly clubs?
Does it not encourage you if you aremeditating on His words day&night, and you haveseen Him work through you, and others you know, watching Him bring forth fruit in due season by bringing scripture to your mind for this person and vice-versa just as it is most needed?

I just loved meditating on this Psalm. It is a great wealth of knowledge,all in a dozen or so little lines of words. If you are a student of Psychology, belonging to the American Psychological Association, and 'helping' hurting families by bringing them the 'wisdom' you find in your textbooks and you glean from your professors and co-workers, might you consider Psalm 8? This way, the way of the world, is not God's way. It is the branch that never rooted into the true vine so it never grew right, or the branch that will fall from the vine after spending too much time in the counsel of the ungodly and will sadly be chaff, driven away by the wind. I used to be a lover of Psychology; I was obsessed with the study of the mind:it was really worship of the mind, the vanity of men(and women)being obsessed with learning about how their own faculties work, worshipping the created thing instead of the creator. I was a Humanist, standing in the ways of the ungodly~ I fed Maslow's theories to the hurting teens that came to me for help. I have repented over that, I was but an unbeliever at the time,and I know that God has forgiven me. But be careful now that, as a believer, you do not fall into the worlds ideas while your giving them advice or waxing philosophic; I have to be on the lookout for this everyday. We all know that our hearts are little Idol Factories. Maybe we want to believe what the world says, that we don't have to spank to train up a child or that it is acceptable to use food to meet that need we cannot identify inside of our hearts~ but that doesn't make it true. Will we give our friends the godly advice we know is the truth, and is what they need, whether they will like it(their ears will be tickled) at the time or not?

God bless you as you seek to walk in the ways of the righteous and serve our Lord and God,our Savior! XOXOXO'S

Grace

2007-09-28T06:35:00.000-07:00
Feel like hearing Grace's birth story? Grace was born at a time in our lives when we following our salvation,when we were already rooted into a good church and already feeling the effects of having God's undeserved grace all over our lives. Grace is my little testimony to God's hearing of and answering of prayer, to His desire to bless His people by giving them the desires of their heart,within His perfect will.
I prayed, and asked several members of my church family to pray, that this baby would be a girl. I laid the desires of my heart,first that we would succseed in becoming pregnant soon after we began trying because this was a good time for us to have our last child, and then that I would have a baby girl for my last baby,and God heard and blessed me with the desire of my heart :)

Grace was such a beautiful baby;she is beautiful today and she loves to sing God's praises~ even when she is having a grumpy morning on a Sunday she can always be distracted from herself by the wonderful corporate worship of God at church :)
Even a praise cd at home in the cd-player,while it pales in comparison(in some ways) can put her at ease and before we know it she is dancing around the living room clapping her little chubby hands :)

Prgnancy with Grace was full of surprises for me! Neverhave I been so sickin all my life!Ha ha:) I had morning sickness the likes of which I had never experienced before, and was told that this is normal when pregnant with a little girl! I also had to go an get a sinus infection(normal for me every Spring,before I figured out I had developed allergies & started taking Allegra to ward them off)and of course, since I was under 12 weeks prgnant, they could not treat me for fear of risk to the baby. Some of you may remember this; this was when I was laid out on my back on the living room floor for over a week, with Vertigo that made it impossible for me to be upright for more than several seconds without everything going swirly, and then black, and me inevitably hitting the floor again anyways ;) Lol! It was so funny ( to look back on.) Tyler was such a help to me and his family during these days when I was laid up, there with him and Josh in the living room, reading books and watching dvd's with them, but not really able to be there for them completely when they wanted me to make a snack or get up for anything else~ I would get up to go and do something, and fall back down to my knees half-way across the dining room,Lol! Tyler and Josh would come and help me crawl back to the living room floor, where I would lay there with my arm over my eyes and say "Tyler? Could you ...? I'm not feeling so well these days..." Tyler was always so willing to help, even when it interrupted something he was having fun doing and he was not thrilled about having to stop doing it for a little while. I could not have taken care of him and Joshua as well if he hadn't been so helpful to this cause until Al came home in the evenings. After the sinus infection cleared up(when I passed 12 weeks and was able to take meds,Lol)the rest of the time was cravings stronger than any I'd ever had with the previous 2 pregnancies; annoying cravings that came in the middle of the night and at horrid times like six in the morning, and would not let me out of their clenches until I satisfied them! I could usually make it about 20 minutes trying to ignore them, and then I'd be waking Al up and begging him to go to GIANT at 1in the morning to get me whatever it was I was having cravings for, usually sweets! (He was so patient with me in this; he really,really was. And many times, he would go!)I put on my usual full-pregnancy added weight of 125 lbs. by the 6th month, and by the 9th I had put on 135 lbs. and had the Dr. pestering me about not putting on too much weight and how this causes complications for the pregnancy and birth,Lol!"Get off my back,Dr.,and send your nurse out to get me some chocolate for while I sit through this exam, or I will get ugly!" I would say....(in my mind only.) Lol!

I had a lot of problems with Dr.'s during my pregnancy with Grace. First,my husbands company got bought out by Atlas Copco,so his insurance coverage changed providers, so no more Blue Cross; welcome to United Health. No one in our area likes United Health we found, so we lost our kids Pediatricians and our Dr.'s all in the same few weeks. Great. Lol. It actually took me over 4 months of calling,calling,calling people and the 1-800 customer service # on the back of our new health cards before I found anyone besides the Treatment Center(which wouldn't take our insurance either, and we had to pay $65-75 a pop to see,)to take on our kids and even then getting that was due to more praying, praying, praying and then much begging,begging,begging (Lol!) before somone would take our insurance and that place was Reading Pediatrics; Thank You God for Reading Pediatrics!!! However, they do not provide prenatal care so I had to leave my Dr. for another one, after having already planned out my C-section delivery date with Dr. #1. After seeing me up until 3 weeks before
Grace was born, this Dr. decided to go on vacation during the time my C-secetion was rescheduled for so, yup you guessed it, I had to find yet another Dr. who would be willing to do my birth, and Thank God, the secreatary at this office felt badly for me and made a phone call to the Reading Hospital Obstetrics ward, securing me a Dr. who has headed up the O.B. ward for the last twent years but was retiring in December, to do a Dec. 28th C-Section for me.. 3 days before my previously planned one. He was going to come in especially to do my surgery, and then not come in to work ever again, since he was officially retiring Dec. 1st! What a blessing this was!! I still had to trust yet another Dr. to cut me open,but,she had found a Dr. that would help me, and a good one at that! Needless to point out, I wrote her a glowing Thank-You letter of course and Alan and I sent her roses at her work ;)

Grace was born on Dec. 28th in the early afternoon, and we welcomed this little joy of our lives with open arms. Again, Daddy was the first one to hold the baby just as he had been able to with Josh. I held her constantly too, and just like with Tyler, the nurses couldn't pry her out of my hands unless it was really important(like shots or a check-up with the Dr., not so I could "rest" and she could see the nursery,Lol!)I have always been wierd about giving up my babies once I finally get them into my arms; probably this is foolish, since I did need my rest to recover, but I have always preffered sleeping with their little heads under my chin and their sweet breath on my neck, and I don't suspect that will ever change ;)

When I was 8&9 months pregnant with Grace I took a trip to Cali. to see my Dad and his wife Gaylon before I gave birth and was homebound for awhile (I know, stupidly ambituous) and while I was there she was prophesied over at their church and by my Dad and Gaylon's friends.They said that she would see angels, and that we shouldn't discourage her in this and tell her her visions weren't true; that she would make drawings of them and give them to us and that she would be strong in her Christian faith as a child even as well as an adult, and that she would be witness to many miricles in her lifetime. When one of Gaylon's friends cupped her hand over my huge belly and said this last part, I had an 'Elizabeth moment' because Gracie jumped! in my womb as if she was excited about this prophecy! Ha ha! It was a painful leap for me at least, since living quarters were so tight for her in there by then, but a joyful one too because I had always prayed that God would save all of my children, Gracie being no exception :)

I am so looking forward to watching my kids grow up, the Lord willing, and I am well aware that not everyone gets to do this~ some of God's children are taken up to be with Him again before their little one's are grown up, and I have no reason to believe that I could not be the recipient of that fate. Should God choose to take me from this earth,however, I know that my husband and I have done well to teach these children about God, to take them to this wonderful church, and to these wonderful Christian friends homes, fostered wonderful Godly friendships for them and cared for their souls the best we could, and I would know that God has the best plan, even if that would be it. I so look forward to the blessings of watching them grow, but I know it is the Lord's hands who grow them and establish them firmly in His word and I am but a spectator, planting and watering just as C.B. said on Sunday, but the passively watching the growing take place, for this is the Lord's work and not mine :)

Now I want to do a whole post on God's answers to prayer and His modern-day miricles, like prophecy, but I know that C.B. has preached on this subject and that his sermons are far better at exclaimming and enjoying the word of the Lord than any words I could use, so I will refer anyone who has ears to hear to our churches website: http://www.christccberks.org/, a beautiful site put together by our pastor C.B.'s wife,Shannon. It has many of his sermons available to listen to online under 'resources', and it is such a blessing to us! God bless you,praying for you all to have a God-glorifying day;) :)

(Just copy and paste that link into your web browser:)

2007-09-26T13:35:00.000-07:00
Hi :) Well,today was a day that I didn't have time to post anything this morning but I have time now while dinner is in the oven-Lol!- so now I am going to,finally,tell Joshua's birth-story.( I know you are dying to hear!Lol!!)

As you know, we found out Josh was coming only a few months after I came here to PA to move in with Alan. That was in February of 2001.We welcomed Josh into the world on Feb.4,2002 :) Yes,needless to say, we were surprised but it was a *good* surprise :) Joshua was born into a newly formed, gift-from-God family, comprised of Al and myself, and our son Tyler(whom, as you know,was a product of my previous marriage which lasted for only 3 years.)

Tyler and Josh have been such blessings to us! Josh changed our lives by bringing in a son for us(Al had always wanted a son) and a little brother for Tyler(he was thrilled.) None of us were saved when he was born.We hadn't started going to church yet either but,I credit Josh in some very practical ways for my salvation and I will explain that since yes, we all know that God alone saves. I say that because I was up a lot in the middle of the night feeding him and when I got home with him, those feedings were happening downstairs in the living room...where I could watch TV while he took his time breastfeeding!Lol! ( He was one of those that likes to fall asleep while feeding,and I always had to annoy him to wake him up to finish his feeding, doing things like stripping him and tickling his feet; the nurses made me do it!Ha ha!:) Anyways, there is not a lot on TV at night that is any good, so one night as I was flipping channels and I saw Joyce Meyer on,I stopped to listen to her for a few(after flipping past her at first,after I realized it was 'one of those religious shows'.) I came back because I was bored, and curious, though I didn't know why. But God knew, because He put it on my heart to go back to her show and listen to her and give her a chance, and I am so glad that I did!Because of Joyce,I go to church today. She was talking about her sexual abuse as a child at the hands of her own father.It went on until she was 14, and her father thought it a normal part of their back-woods life. She said that she was not mad at God for what happened to her; that she knew the abuse she received at the hands of her father here on earth grieved God and that He cried right along with her. She said that God punishes people who abuse children fiercely; that she prayed for her fathers salvation and for God's mercy and forgiveness for him everyday after her salvation as a child, and eventually the day came that-as he lay dying in a hospital bed- he allowed Joyce and her husband Dave to pray for him and lead him in the sinners prayer, so that he could be saved before he died. God bless Joyce and her husband for sharing that! I wanted what she had; I had been abused and I had blamed God for my abuse being allowed to happen.I did not want to forgive my mother, but I suddenly wanted to make my peace with God, and the forgiving came later on in my walk with the Lord. About a year later.

Joshua was my little one who kept me up at night,so I could see Joyce, and as her program ended she asked if anyone wanted to be saved and then told the viewers how they could be saved:To ask God for forgiveness for my sins and ask Him to come and live in my heart. I did close my eyes and say that prayer, asking God to show Himself to me and He did!he was very gracious to not only reveal Himself to me, but to SAVE me!, and today I can rest in knowing that my husband is also saved since then as well as my son Tyler,SAVED!, and I am resting in His goodness and grace to save Joshua and Grace as soon as He is willing to. God is so good!!!!!!

Joshua has, by God's grace, grown up in a little family that is not perfect but is under God's undeserved grace, and he is being taught by Christian parents and a wonderful gospel-centered pastor at a wonderful gospel-centered church :) He is five years old today, and since he was just a couple of weeks old so much has happened in our family in his lifetime :) God has showered us with His grace, first in drawing me and then saving me, and then in drawing Alan and saving him, in answering much fervent prayer on our behalf and saving Tyler, and by His grace I know that Joshua and Grace will be saved soon. Joshua watched on from his stroller as Alan and I were baptised in August of 2002, shortly after we found this church that we hold so dear. I will have to tell the story of how this church actually found US in the beginning of the Summer of 2002!

So, as you can tell Joshua has been a huge blessing to our family, and he continues to be. We love his sensitive soul, his love for God and his irresistible laugh and fun-loving spirit. We love how he cares for animals so much,just as his older brother does, and how he tenderly(usually!Lol!) cares for his little sister, and protects her :) The best part is listening to him sing "Open the eyes of my heart,Lord" by Randy Travis ( his favorite song) and having our hearts burst open wide with joy that our son lives a life that in it he is able to worship God and we get to be his parents:)

We are very grateful for all of the soldiers who have served in the past, and are serving now as I type this, to protect America and keep her FREE. We owe our as well as our children's safety to them, our ability to worship freely without persecution to them, and our ability to fall asleep at night knowing that we have a military in place to protect us, and there are no words that we could say that could ever say "Thank You!" enough. Most of all, we owe a debt of gratitude to Our Savior who died a sinners death on a cross even though he was holy, to bare our sins upon himself,in order to save us~ to You, Oh God, how great a debt we owe! What could we bring? What could we sing? What could we do as an offering, Lord? (I just love that song we sing at church!)

XOXOX'S THANKS for listening

2007-09-22T06:07:00.000-07:00
I'm taking a break for a moment before I post about Joshy and Gracie, because I want to share more about my walk with Tyler on here before I move on to my other, younger children. As I said yesterday, it has been a long walk. Almost 13 years. From age 19 to age 31 for me,so far, and (poor Tyler!)for him,it has been a lifetime.LOl!

Thanks only to God's grace, I have not made many more mistakes as a parent than I already have. God gives grace to the humble in increasing measure, and I certainly have more grace on my life now than I did before~ being completely blind
to my pride before ~ but scripture shows that God takes mercy even on the unsaved in the world;
common grace as my pastor calls it~earth,trees,sunlight,oxygen,fire,water,sunrise and sunset and the ability to grow things upon the earth,animals,etc. And that is just physical provision for all He has made; a whole other area is His mercy in not smiting all of us at any time and throwing us into Hell, which is what we do deserve, because we are born sinners and He is a Holy and Just God; unable to tolerate sin~ this is why He sent His son, so His blood could work as a covering for us; Thank You Jesus!!

I also believe, from my own experiences in life and from the Bible, that God can work in even the unsaved in order to establish His purposein someones life/ on this earth. In other words, God is sovereign and we are not! Though He gave us humans our free will that we wanted so bad, and so often we choose to disobey God with it,this does not mean that God will not or cannot reach us; His mercy is from everlasting to everalasting; His faithfulness is forever; His mercies are NEW EVERYDAY and He does not forsake His children; Ephesians 1:7-11: "He is so rich in kindness that He purchased our freedom through the blood of His son, and our sins are forgiven. He has showered His kindness on us,along with all wisdom and understanding.God's secret plan has now been revealed to us;it is a plan centered on Christ,designed long ago according to His good pleasure.And this is His plan:At the right time He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ~ everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because of Christ, we have recieved an inheritance from God,for He chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as He decided long ago..." All things happen just as He decided long ago. Do you believe the word of God when He says that all things are predestined? (For a better undertanding of Predestination and Total Depravity check out this article by John Piper at this link: http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/piper/depravity.html .)
God has shown favor over my life when I was an unsaved sinner, comepletely living for myself, resisiting God's grace and His sovereignty; I believe in God's mercies with His children.

All this to get to my main subject today, which is that God has shown me grace even when I was unsaved. There is common grace. His hands have been all over Tyler's birth story,haven't they?From the beginning; He has been there for me. From even before birth, when He knit me together in my mother's womb, all throughout my childhood I can see His hands on everything, every moment, all of it in order, the way He planned it to be~ until today when His hands are still working, still molding,still shaping. His sovereignty is a great source of comfort for me!

It is also a source of frustaration for my Pride and Self-Sufficiency(one and the same?) Do I always rest in God's soverignty and His grace, in knowing that He has planned Tyler's life and my steps as a parent, in His order, as He wills? No, many times I want to take the wheel.I percieve with my limited vision my environment and I want to lean on my own understanding: foolish idea! In foolish self-sufficiency, I presume upon God's grace but selfishly plod ahead on some day with my plans for how to tacke a certain situation; I am losing out on the power prayer offers;I am stupidly putting my own hands over God's on the steering wheel and saying "No, let me drive!"

We talked about this in Care Group on Weds. night; one of our group discusiion questions was: What defines success to you? And, what defines success in the word of God? Well, this is a very interesting question, isn't it? It will reveal our hearts if we let it. Do you know that scripture when the Lord says "Well done,good and faithful servant?" I always get that mixed up in my brain to say "Well done, good and successful servant." But is that what He said?In fact, I read in my Bible that many times when we are faithful we will not be gauranteed successfullness here on this planet: 2 Timothy 4:5: "But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don't be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at bringing others to Christ. Complete the ministry God has given you." ....

Friends,there are many times that bringing my oldest son to Christ can be suffering~ not because of his sinfullness, but because of my pride.

I am currently praying(for myself)that God will help me to not put my hope in our parenting(which causes major frustration), that we will put on love for Tyler and focus on our own sinfullness, and that I will stop being idolotorus in wanting my ease and comfort more than I am wanting to bring glory to God in every sitaution in my life. Will you help me pray for this?

Whenever there is a situation that involves struggling,as well with the easier situations, the only response is to rest in God's Grace. My prayer is that with my parenting of Tyler I will choose to make my chief aim of every day to bring glory to God,and not to 'have a good day today.'

Bringing glory to God does not always mean it will be a 'good day', at least not by my limited vision/by the worlds understanding. A good day by God's standards is a day I rest in His sovereingty and bring glory to Him by 'pouring out the oil of love as my worship to Him'~ this can mean faithfully teaching my sons and daughter God's ways, while teaching them to obey God and seek repentance and submission to Him, while also showing them an example of a submitted believer~ how much would this attitude transform everyday life?

There would be no more frustration because it wouldn't be about me . I would not feel overwhelmed at times because I would be trusting that God is in control; I wouldn't be leaning on my own understandings at times, but I would be in complete, beautiful submission to Christ.

I remember when I was praying for my husband to be saved back in 2002. I had gotten so entangled in the sin of leaning on my own understandings of how things should be that I was to the point of manipulating him, trying to, into coming to church~ though I didn't have had the wisdom from God to recognize that at the time.
I remember the morning I was just starting to say things meant to bring Al guilty feelings for not coming(my last resort) and I was seeking God,pleading with Him to save Alan and He clearly told me "As long as your hands are on this situation,I will not put my hands on it." I am in that place again, this time with Tyler. His hands need to be working,be in charge, not mine.

So, this is where I am with Tyler today. I am everyday in the process of killing my own pride, entrusting my precious things~ like Tyler~ to Him,telling my foolish heart to Trust In Christ.

It is a beautiful journey.

Thanks for listening.I will share about Joshua's and Grace's birth stories soon... <3

2007-09-21T05:37:00.000-07:00
Reading Danielle's post inspired me to remember Tyler, Joshua's and Grace's birth-day's. No, it's not any of their Birthdays,but,I thought I'd post about them anyways:)

Tyler~Daniel was born to me when I was two months past my 19th Birthday;I remember the night I found out I was pregnant and the afternoon he was born perfectly well:)
I really wanted Tyler; I prayed and prayed and prayed for a baby(this from a person who didn't have a personal relationship with Christ to speak of, but as many people do, prayed when I wanted something really important or when I was in a big pinch.Lol.) I wanted a boy. I got pregnant and was so excited I told everyone I knew well and had ever known well~Lol!~ but when it came time for the the second sonogram, I had a pit in my stomach and it was pouring rain so hard all day that the highways were just about flooded and I barely made it to that imaging center in one piece~ I was driving a Geo Metro and there was at least 5 inches of water lining the roads! {{*shudder* just thinking about it.}} But the news to come was worse; they couldn't find a heartbeat, sent me across the street to a doctor who specialized in high-risk pregnancies. I sat in his office with four other, older women and gazed upon the posters in his office advertising 'safe,effective birth selection' and
'you choose your child's destiny' showing an image of an older woman with a toddler baby boy who appeared to be retarded, her holding his hand and looking all worried like this child had something wrong with it that should have never happened, the child drooling and looking equally as sad. Looking at the other poster, I put two and two together that this doctor wanted to help women kill babies that wouldn't be what they'd expected. I felt a nausea rising up from my belly where my hand covered my now-silent womb, and I ran to the door I hoped was bathroom to throw up. Before I was done rinsing out my mouth, I heard the receptionist call my name. I stepped out of the tiny bathroom shaking, partly from the wet clothing pressed to my skin and mostly because I dreaded to bad news that was bound to come. I had made up my mind instantly in the bathroom that the 'problem' was only that my baby was going to be born retarded then they had better let me alone and let me have it, or I was going to call the police. There was no reason between me and the rest of my family,I figured, that I couldn't handle loving and raising this little boy if he indeed had special needs(I had already decided in my heart that this baby was a boy.:)

Long story short, the 'good doctor' listened into my womb again, and told me that there was no fetal heartbeat; my baby had died. He was sorry. I was shocked! I'd have to go into the hospital for a DNC, did I know what that meant, what health insurance do you have, dear?"Stop talking!" was all I could think and I muttered out "No, I'll be back" and I rushed out into the parking lot. I didn't go back. I drove home with shaky hands and weak knees. I drove thoughtlessly, entombed in a morbid silence that was deafening. I went straight home. I ran to the only parent I had; my Grandfather. He was sitting on his big, tan easy chair watching the news.

I slouched in,dropped down onto my knees and put my head on his lap. I told him everything; the babies dead; no heartbeat,DNC, they don't know why. Said it happens sometimes before the 3 month mark,and no one knows why. My grandfather patted my head, but smacked me in the face with his words. He said "Well Stacey, things are better off this way. Your better off without a baby, you need to go to school. That baby would have only been in your way. This could be seen as a gift from God..." What!? I pulled his hand off of my hair and walked out of that room, walking away from him emotionally for a long time. "I wanted that baby, and you knew it!" I sobbed.The news spread and rest of my family stayed numb near me, as if they didn't know what to say, so they said nothing. Very strange to live in an extended-family home, with your infant's future grandparents, aunt, uncle, and lot's of cousins, and yet have no-one in the home to share your grief over your dead baby with.

A week later I had the DNC to 'clean me out' and I bled so much I thought I was going to die. They told me that I really wouldn't die, the bleeding was normal,and sent me home within a few hours with the biggest pads I had ever seen and a prescription for Tylenol with Codeine. I took those Tylenol and slept and woke briefly, slept again for 3 days in a haze of shock over all that had happened to me(really, I had never considered there was the possibility that I would lose the baby.)

The good news is, I wanted to keep trying to have another baby and I found out less than 4 months later that I was pregnant again! I went into the hospital with horrible stomach cramps, but after they did their blood and urine tests the nurse came back to us and told us that the only thing wrong with me was that I was two weeks pregnant, and was a congratulations in order?? ( WHY do people ask you that just because you are young?! Pet peeve...) This time I did not lose my baby, and he was the boy I wanted~ he was Tyler,I decided,Taylor if somehow he came out a girl.
I remember all 9 months of my pregnancy with him, visiting with my Midwife weekly at the little clinic on the Quonset Military Base. When my due date came and 14 days later Tyler was still snug as a bug, she and I went to the hospital again where,this time,they gave me an IV drip to help me have a baby.

I told all of the above story to get to this part of this story~ I know that God gave me my baby boy even though I lost the first one and I know that I will see that baby in Heaven, and he or she will be my baby and I will be their momma like nothing ever came between our two lives too separate us. Losing this first baby made getting to keep the second one even better :)

When Tyler was born in the afternoon of March 17th,1995 I cried and cried.
The nurses thought I was in pain, No! I said, "I'm Happy! I'm just so happy!" :)
He got his little nostrils and throat cleaned out and they stamped his footprints on the birth certificate, swaddled him in a white hospital blanket and wheeled him over to me in the newborn cart."Take him out" I said,and I never let go of him again except for the few minutes it took for them to wheel him away from me, circumcise him, and bring him back wailing and with a tiny gauze bandage on.( That was traumatizing to hear that crying and we mothers know our babies cry, I wished I had been farther down the hall and I wished the nurse wouldn't have lied to me and told me that it didn't hurt my baby to be cut down there because they numbed it first. My baby wouldn't have been crying if it didn't hurt.:(
Tyler was a ruddy, healthy little 8 lb. 6 oz. baby with a big old head and no hair; he looked across between Charlie Brown and a serious old man I thought, because he was wrinkly and he was always holding his hand up to his chin, curled over like he was in deep thought. I breastfed him as long as I could stand it, a full 24 hrs. Ha ha! but I was so afraid that my baby would starve that I had to break down and insist that those nurses give him something to eat right now or I was going to have a fit! Ha ha! They didn't want to feed him anything other than these tiny glucose water bottles while waiting for my milk to come in, but he was starving and wailing all the time. It wa breaking my heart. He was suctioned onto me like no Hoover I had ever seen and I was beginning to bleed! It's.not.coming. I had decided :)
I finally got hold of a tiny formula bottle and he sucked down that Enfamil so fast that they had to go and get another, and then another. After he gave out a bog burp right next to my ear he was satisfied, and fell asleep breathing sweetly into my ear. I thought I would burst from happiness. My friends came to visit, my grandparents and Mike's mom. I was a little angry that Mike only came into the hospital twice in the entire 4 days I was there, and then only stayed a total of maybe an hour max, but I was so happy with Tyler that I really couldn't care.
He did come to pick us up and bring us home on my discharge date, and I settled into trying to make a life for our little family.

I won't get into the details of how it must have been for Tyler as a baby and toddler to have Mike for a father, or how it was for me to have him for a husband until I finally packed our bags and took me and Tyler out of that situation forever in November of 1998.

But I will get into how God sent us Alan in August of 1998.

I had just spent the saddest 10 months of my life shell-shocked,wondering how I could have made this mistake and where Tyler and I were going to go from there(we were living back in my grandparents home again.)God does work in mysterious ways sometimes. I met Alan in the strangest of places to find a decent guy(in my humble opinion)and no, it was not a bar thought it was close enough;we were at a night club in Rhode Island and he was there visiting his family in RI up from PA for the weekend only; I was there on a Saturday night which was unusual for me as we usually went on Thursday nights when cover was free for ladies Ha ha! We felt drawn to each other beyond the usual "there's a cute guy/girl I'd like to dance with" variety.
I had a lot more baggage than he did, so this was unusual for me since I had sworn myself off of all men for at least a year to get my head straight Ha ha ha!:)
Well I was just shy of a year by 2 months, but I couldn't resist when at the end of the night he gave me his phone number and smiled gentlemanly, not trying to pick me up like a sleeze.I give him my number,too.( Which I never,ever did~ y'know,stalker potential~) but I felt safe with Alan and I think,now,I know why.

Alan is one of God's gift to Tyler and I; ever since he met Tyler in '99,(I waited a year to introduce them until I knew we were a serious couple;I knew Tyler was desperate for a father figure since Mike had stopped coming around and I didn't want him to attach to a guy who would be leaving him in a few months,)they have been inseparable and Tyler even used to call him "Alan-daddy" when he was four years old:) Alan taught him how to pee in the toilet like a big man~ Lol!~ and how to appreciate the finer things in life, like shrimp and ocean fishing. Alan said he'd always though he'd have a son one day, and he found one in Tyler. Tyler found the man he needed to look up to as a father figure in Alan. Alan has been loving our family in Godly, servant leadership ever since then. It has been a great decade together and we are looking forward to much more time with him, Lord willing.

Today, Tyler is growing into a wonderful young man. He is smart,sensitive and funny like all us women want in a man Ha ha! but better than that he has a heart for God, and is truly saved :) Tyler will be 13 in March and he is the main jem in the center of my heart. He is my first born, my beloved in a special way that cannot be duplicated. For awhile there it was just me and him,together against the world.We have a special bond. Even with all of my sinfulness as a parent and mistakes I have made ceasing to show him my love for him due to my selfishness and desire for ease and comfort at times, he still told me yesterday at the park in one of our conversations about him growing up that he would live here in Shillington, to be close to me. He will rent a house near Shillington Park,and walk his dog there he says:) He has a forgiving spirit when I come to him and apologize when I have sinned against him at times, and he is always quick to say yes, I will pray for you. God has all the glory for this!

Well, this is getting long so I guess I'll save Josh and Grace for another day:) I hope you enjoyed walking with me down memory lane; I sure loved remembering the one best gifts God has given me, besides my salvation: Tyler! Thanks for listening :)
<3

"But God!"

2007-09-19T04:19:00.000-07:00
Good morning :) Well, we haven't heard anything yet from Brentwood but a sales job has opened up at my husband's company, giving us yet more options!:) My husband will apply today, as long as he is allowed to(technically the position had run it's listing course and was going unlisted yesterday afternoon as my husband discovered it,but very often they still let guys apply if it hasn't already been filled.) This position his friend alerted him to, and he is someone who does this work on the side as my husband would also be doing: in addition to another F/T job.
I am very hopeful that God is going to do a mighty work, even if it seems like something small~ He is going to work out His will in this situation, whatever it is. I am still waiting to hear back from one place that I submitted a resume to, and it is a bit frustrating~ I hear from friends that this place generally takes a month or more, usually two or three, to get back to people about offering positions or to deny them hire, but that is an awfully long time for someone who needs a job, and I feel like if they really do wait that long, our situation will already be figured out(one way or the other) and I will have to tell them,"You should have called me 2 months ago!" Lol! Oh, well. God is faithful: I', not going to worry about it. We just need to keep ourselves in obedience to His word and loving His people (even in our majorly-in-need-of-grace-but-still-kicking-even-if-half-dead much of the time way,hah ha!)

Today, I read Gideon again. I don't know, I seem to be opening up to him a lot lately just by accident. I can be tempted to think, Lord, why Gideon? After all, he was a man and Deborah is only a few pages before him, why not her? Lol! But I accept God's providence because I know that if He'd wanted me to open up to Deborah's story I would have, but I didn't. One of the character weakness Gideon displayed(according to my Application Study Bible by Tyndale, a great student-Bible)was a fear that his own limitations as a man with his personality would prevent God from being able to work in him and use him. Oh, how often I have said these words to the Lord~ "I can't"~ daily? Sometimes, is it hourly~ every 5 minutes???? Lol! Yes, I have had those kind of days where it seems like every five minutes I have been whining to the Lord about my lack of inherent qualifications, my inferior-to-the-task-at-hand genes, and my overall immaturity in the Word~ imagine being God, who has to deal with me! Lol! Oh, I have been guilty. So, so guilty of entertaining this same fear. Maybe that is why God keeps bringing Gideon's story into my face, for my eyes to wander over and my foolish heart to say,"Gideon again??"

Yes, Gideon again. There are lessons to be learned...
Did God ever ask you to head up a task that you felt you were ill-prepared for, so you didn't want to jump right in to working on it? I know I have. Gideon had this too; doubts about the call itself, guilt about following that call instead of another, equally-good looking call(to us,at least),and feelings of inadequacy to get the job done well... *Raises hand!* been there, done that.I have said in my heart"But Lord...." many times, especially when it comes to parenting. "But Lord.... are You sure you wanted me to be this child's mother??".... "But Lord... are You sure You want me to stay at home/be a homeschooling mother/use the rod/ support my husband in this when I *feel* like giving him a lashing with a wet noodle for even *thinking* it/ tell that guy about the Lord??/ Hug him now when he is so angry,God??....
My list goes on,and on.

I have felt my inadequacies and it has been humbling. Ladies,we all know this~ it easy to feel adequate and not only that but quite independent and rather capable, all puffed up with knowledge right after college graduation, ready to take on the free world as we know it. But, reality comes soon to poke little holes in that over-inflated balloon, until the leak begins to shrivel us up, and, we realize what power we have apart from Christ: Nothing. It is sobering; it is real. It is the end of dependence on ourselves, on our own understandings, on any of the foolish wisdom we picked up at that college we just paid out the nose to go to~ why it all has to be foolish knowledge, they can only teach us what God already knows and what little He has chosen to reveal to man. After graduating from the carnival of Man's Knowledge, let me tell you, you are going to long for a long, cleansing bath in The Word of God to get you clean because not only is it filthy in there(at times,rejecting God's wisdom and His Lordship) but it is also so cold that you go numb~ you start to think that your own, pitiful,worldly, knowledge can save you.... it can't.

So here we are all puffed up, feeling capable, and the slow leak begins to take us against our will off the college campus and back into reality. We have a kid we don't know what to do with,a boss we are overwhelmed by,a death we cannot explain,the answer "no" to trying to have a child; the possibilities of life go on and on. And we see our utter powerlessness; we are no longer so impressed with ourselves , if we are believers we know finally begin to be impressed by God ( if we aren't, we usually get very depressed, don't we? Don't worry, the Humanists will offer you a bottle of pills and Lot's of unending psychoanalytical therapy; you'll never get better but you may never know your lost. Don't you just deplore the worlds way?)

God becomes clearer in our eyes, in better focus. Ohhh, so He IS God!...umm, yeah. We were just to preoccupied with basking in our perceived-capability there for a few minutes ;)And we see we are nothing, not impressive, not hardly capable at all, highly contagious in our lack of faith and overall, not even very cute either (OH! the horror!) but as soon as we see all that, God intervenes, picks us up and dusts us off and shows us through His word "But, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."Philippians 4:13. Ohh, okay~ so this is the real life of a believer,recognizing our hopelessness and His power. I get it!

Or do I? Lol! Back to "But God..." :)

So, we all have our "But God!" moments, and Gideon had his,too. I can so often lose sight of the facts that it's God in control, and not me. HIM who is completing a work, and not me. I am just a hired hand, an ornery one at times in that, and,it is only through my complete submission to God that I can do anything good. To prevent self-sufficiency in Gideon's soldiers, God reduced their Army from 32,000 to 300. With an Army this small, there was no doubt that victory was from God.

God is reducing my self-sufficiency all the time, and graciously letting me know that I can He can give me the strength I need for any situation. When I'm whining again "But God?" yeah, that's when He reminds me of His sovereignty and power, when all I deserve is a smack in the head and for Him to say"It's not about you,stupid!When will you ever get it??" Lol!

No, he doesn't say when will you get it, because He is patient in a way the world can never fully comprehend. We can try, but none of us humans could ever grasp mercy the way He displays it. We are too self-centered,too ambitious. God is concerned with us, our salvation, though we are worms deserving of nothing!

Today I am reminded by God again,through Gideon's story,that I am not the one in charge and that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Join me in washing over your hearts,too, with this word and come back and tell me all the difference it is making in your life! <3

2007-09-17T19:50:00.000-07:00
Alan will be stopping by Brentwood factory(making bumpers for Ford pick-up's)in the morning before work, to see about a part-time equipment maintenance job ~ please pray. This company crew needs someone to help with machine maintanance/troubleshooting/repair, but the company won't hire a F/T guy because then they would have to pay out benefits as well as salary. Al plans on telling them that he is the perfect candidate to help thier crew, because our family already has benefits through his main job. Will you join me in prayer in the morning that God gives my husband favor in the eyes of the man he is going to meet, and that the company higher-up's not only see a need for Alan's expertise and assistance, but also a way to hire him on for a season? Thanks in adavnce:) Love you all :)

God is so faithful!

2007-09-15T06:09:00.000-07:00
This has to be short, because my family is awakening much earlier than expected on this Saturday morning, and I need to go hurry up and make pancakes to feed this crowd that we have here :), but I wanted to at least update quickly how God has been continuing to work in our lives, specifically in the process of praying obout whether I should go back to working again, and there has been a change in my husbands feelings; last night he came to me and told me that he will get up early this morning to go an ask someone he knows in the field about getting a part-time job,a second-half of third shift job that he can do and continue on into working 7a.m. till whenever his jobs are done for his current employer. This would be a lot for him, and I would feel a bit sad having him have to do this much extra work,but I am so pleased that he would consider unselfishly putting all of his desires and I am sure some needs aside,to take care of my best interests and to 'lay down his life for his friend's this way. I have been crying throughout the days the last two days, here and there (nothing major, not saying I have been all Emo-lol- I have just had a couple little tears spring up now and again),when I have gotten to thinking about being away from my little one's for several hours each day, several days a week. I don't desire to put undue stress on my husband, as I am tempted to fear for his health often, and I have to continually take these concerns to the Lord and pray for him and repent of this fearfulness,but this stress would not be undue~ it has to fall on someone~ and if it falls on me, it may or may not be a lot of stress on our little family. My husbands sacrificial love in getting up this morning and going to ask this man if he will give him more work, so that I don't have to leave my home and my children to work, is a warmth in my heart and yet another testimony of God's faithfulness and love in our lives!

JC RYLE:

"I have read the lives of many eminent Christians who have been on earth since the Bible days. Some of them, I see, were rich, some poor. Some of them were learned, some unlearned. Some of them were Episcopalians, and some were Christians of other denominations. Some were Calvinists, and some were Armenians. Some have loved to use a liturgy, and others used none at all. But one thing, I see, they all had in common. They all have been men of prayer."
Thank You God, for leading my husband to pray and for Your blessings to us through Your breathed-out Word, Godly friends and Advisers and for the great sanction of Marriage, in which a Husband and a Wife make up a team, helping one another press toward that ultimate goal~ pursuing Heaven~ while taking care of the matters of life here, together, making the path clear for each other, and one always picking the other one up should they stumble and fall. Amen!

Hipe you all have a great Saturday :)