Smoky Mountain Christian Living

Women's Prayer Retreat: Summer 2011

2011-06-11T11:57:00.001-07:00

I just returned from an amazing weekend of prayer, bible study, fellowship and rest. What a joy it was for my soul to be with these amazing women who love the Lord and have a desire to obey His Word. They bless me way more than they know....here are some snapshots of the evening:
Mary Beth leading our morning prayer time. I some how can't help but think that she will be the next prayer leader in Papa New Guinea when they leave to serve as missionaries in January.

Our morning quiet time, coffee and Bible are two of my favorite things!

The view while we had our quiet time.

Marcy shared with us how God had been preparing their hearts for serving in Papa New Guinea, I could listen to her talk forever. I love how God, before He called them to serve on the mission field, prepared them in advance by convicting their hearts on the things they would have to give up to go.

As I was sitting there at the end of the night, I couldn't help but reflect on how many prayers God has answered in this little group. He is ever faithful to answer according to His will when we ask. I praise God for each and every one of these ladies who are precious to me.

The peace of God which supasses all understanding

2011-04-21T16:57:00.000-07:00

This has been a whirlwind of a week! Last Thursday began the week of tests for me to determine if the spot on my lung was cancer or just scar tissue from sickness. Now I have to be honest with you, when they first told me that I had a spot on my lung I completely panicked, it's in my nature;) I was raised in a home where both of my parents smoked and before I came to Christ, I myself smoked for a brief time. All I was thinking about when the doctor told me was, "My sins have come back to haunt me!" I really struggled that first day. Then as I was taking Joshua to school the next morning the song Completely Done came on the radio. Here are the lyrics that spoke to my heart:

What reason have I to doubt? Why would I dwell in fear? All I have known is grace, my future in Christ is clear. My sins have been paid in full, there's NO CONDEMNATION HERE, I live in the good of this. My Father has brought me near, I'm leaving my fears behind me now!!!

And that was it, I had a peace from that moment forward. God paid for my sins in full on the cross, He suffered, bled and died, and I was no longer condemned and I was going to stop living like I was!!! So on Thursday I walked into the doctor's office with complete confidence that it was going to ok, however, I still brought my Bible just in case my flesh rose up again. As I was waiting for the results on my blood work these verses seemly jumped off the page:

The Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health. Psalm 41:2-3

So the doctor walked in and told me that normal blood levels are 75, my blood levels all scored 121, 119, 117 and so on--then he told me I had the blood of a 19 year old athlete! Not only did I pass the blood test, I passed it by almost 50 points! God indeed was with me, He cares so much for me!

I left there with such a confidence that God was with me and He was going to deliver me, I had one more test to pass--the CT Scan. Since the doctors appointment was late on Thursday I had to wait until Wednesday to get in for one, and if there is one thing I don't do well it's wait! From time to time thoughts would pop in my mind like, "What if your wrong, what if it cancer?" thankfully my faithful Sunday School teacher had us read a passage of scripture about Jesus being tempted in the wilderness and how he combated Satan when he was tempted with scripture, God's timing is so perfect. When thoughts would pop up I would say ok, what is true? That my blood work looked awesome, that I have a peace. What is right? That no matter what God is with me and I am going to be ok. What is lovely? Jesus is so lovely, and excellent and praise worthy! And those thoughts would flee.

So on Wednesday I walked confidently into hospital with my Bible in hand and once again while I was waiting for my CT Scan more verses seemly jumped off the page:

I relieved your shoulder from the burden, your hands were freed from the basket. In distress you called and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder. Psalm 81:6,7a

So as you can already guess by now my results came back showing no sign of cancer, only scar tissue! God was so good to me, He led me the whole way, He gave peace, He gave scriptures, and He gave me hope. When I was waiting for the results I kept thinking of the stanza of Amazing Grace:
The Lord has promised good to me, His Word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures. Amen! Praise the Lord!

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour

2011-04-13T04:49:00.000-07:00

If you are a Christian, then whether you know it or not, you are in a battle. Our enemy is the devil, and he is described as a roaring lion who prowls around seeking someone to devour. He is real. Over the past 8 months, God is really showing me just how real this battle is. In the first of September 2010 I joined a prayer group called Moms In Touch, it was a time where Christian women gathered together to pray. It truly was one of the most powerful prayer meetings I had ever attended. We exalt God for who He is, confess our sins, thank Him for what He has done and is doing, and pray for our children and community, little did I know that I had just entered the front lines of the battle field. I have never seen God answer so many prayers, our children were being protected, and God was hearing us. In October, my Pastor asked me to get up and speak about my prayer group, after doing so a few of the ladies approached me and asked if I would be willing to start a prayer group at our church. So in November 2010 Moms In Touch was born at Broadway Baptist Church. God has worked in this group tremendously, answering prayers left and right, and even bringing salvation in the lives of our children. So why am I saying this? What on earth does this have to do with the enemy? While my prayer group has had tremendous power through our Lord Jesus Christ, and I believe with all my heart the Spirit has moved in our group, let me just share with you the attacks that have come upon me since I started to pray.

In October my son fell head first six feet off a bridge while riding his bike at the park, landing on jagged rocks and his bike landed on top of him--he escaped with minor bruises, cuts and a hair line fractor in his wrist. His helmet cracked in two, he should of been seriously injured, God was good.

In November I started having migraine headaches {at least that was what I was hoping they were}. The headaches were so severe that my eye would completely black out, my face and arm would go completely numb, and I had a continual headache for 5 weeks straight.

In late January and early February we had 3 upper respiratory infections, 3 separate viruses, and 2 cases of strep throat.

In February I started having a pain in my lower back that penetrated all the way up my side and down into my leg with pain so bad that I couldn't even walk or bend over for two weeks.

In March I had an ovarian cyst burst which happened while my back and side were still hurting causing such intense pain I thought my appendix was bursting.

In April during my daughter's sixth birthday party my arms started to tingle and then went numb.

And now while I went to the doctor to be x-rayed for my arms, they found a dark spot on my lungs.

Is the enemy real? I say yes, but you know what? Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. In the midst of all my troubles, I began to lose my hope. I was so focused on me and all my woes I didn't see clearly just what was going on. I have serious problem with worry, and I believe the enemy knew this and attacked me where it hurt me the most. Last night God showed me very clearly exactly what was going on. He gave me Psalm 55:1-5

¹ Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy! ²Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless^C)'> in my complaint and I^D)'> moan, ³because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they^E)'> drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

⁴My heart is in anguish within me; ^F)'> the terrors of death have fallen upon me. ⁵Fear and trembling come upon me, and^G)'> horror^H)'> overwhelms me.

But He didn't stop there oh no! It goes on in vs 16-18:

¹⁶But I call to God, and the LORD will save me. ¹⁷^S)'> Evening and^T)'> morning and at^U)'> noon I^V)'> utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice. ¹⁸He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for^W)'> many are arrayed against me.

I can not win this battle, but He can! I feel like the Lord set me free last night. Satan is powerful, but our Lord is always the victor! Thank you Jesus that you love me, that care for me, and that I have been set free from my worry!

I lift my eyes up to the hills...

2011-03-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

I am so thankful today that while I sleep, the one who keeps me doesn't. Thankful that He protects me with His right hand from harm. Thankful that He keeps me from evil. Thankful that He keeps my life. That He knows every move I make, both now and forever more!! And in times of trouble, I can lift up my eyes and see Him, and know that I am protected by His right hand. Thank you Father that You are my keeper. ¹Ilift up my eyes tothe hills.
From where does my help come?
²My help comes from the LORD,
whomade heaven and earth.

³He will notlet your foot be moved;
he whokeeps you will not slumber.
⁴Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall notstrike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
⁸The LORD will keep
yourgoing out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore. Psalm 121

Happy Birthday Julia!

2011-02-10T12:58:00.000-08:00

Three years ago, I was blessed to be the mother of this beautiful little girl! She was prayed for, desired, and the Lord heard us and gave us the most healthy little 8lb 2oz baby girl. In the middle of my labor, her heart rate dropped, and when they put the vibration machine on my belly she did not respond. They prepared us for the worst. We prayed to our heavenly Father. Twenty doctors and nurses were called and I was rushed to the operating room. As I anxiously awaited her arrival, I felt a calmness that only God could give me at a time like this. I remember telling the doctor that I had a peace that only God could me and I believed that she was fine. Well, she was a perfect 10 on the apgar, and as I watched the nurses and doctors walk away one by one, I couldn't help but think, God has something good in store for this girl, she was conceived by prayer, and she was delivered by prayer, and what a joy she has been to this family! Here are some snap shots of her day: What who doesn't make their own birthday cake in ballet attire?
The finished product!

The guests--three of the little girls we invited had the flu, somehow I believe that this will be the case at everyone of her parties:(

Wardrobe change!

Doing Bella Dancerella

They formed a band, and it turned out to be so much fun!

Thank you Jesus for my Julia!

You Are Worthy

2011-02-07T07:57:00.000-08:00

“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.” Revelation 4:11

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the Church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.

And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" Revelation 4:8

Come unto Me all you who are weary...

2011-01-07T15:28:00.001-08:00

Life is not easy. The Bible itself tells us plainly that it is hard. In this world you WILL have troubles is what Jesus said, and just because you are a Christian, it does not make you an exception to this rule. In fact Jesus promises us that it will be hard to follow Him, He Himself said,"For the gate is narrow andthe way is hard that leads to life, andthose who find it are few." {Matt. 7:14}. So why am I saying all of this? I have had a HARD winter! Full of burdens, and the stress of life, one thing after the next, compounding anxiety upon me. All the stress and anxiety has come full circle in my life, and now it is time to deal with it. God has "Afflicted" me with migraine headaches for the first time in my life--stress induced migraine headaches. It all started with Joshua falling off of that bridge back in October, while I felt the LORD was with us, it was very difficult as a mother to watch my son fall off of a bridge. I was very anxious, it really did a number on my body physically, all the bruises and cuts all over him and the image of him going over that bridge replaying--fear that something worse may happen. I am human. I am weak in my faith at times. I started to have migraine headaches from this point on. In December a number of VERY difficult issues of all kinds came upon me at once, taking my migraines to a whole new level. I went 5 weeks straight with a headache every day. I could not function, my neck hurt, my shoulder hurt, my right eye would black out from time to time, my right side of my face and my arm would tingle--I was STRESSED OUT! I had the weight of the world on my shoulders!

God allowed this I believe to teach me that I should come to HIM when I am burdened, and that I should be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and with thanksgiving present my requests to God. He is teaching me to think on things that are true, noble, right, pure, excellent and praiseworthy. He is teaching me to let Him be in control. I am only a branch, HE is the vine {thank you Tony}. I need Him, and He is teaching me that I need Him more than I ever realized. Without Him I am nothing! So I am praying today and everyday that I would indeed heed His call in Matthew 11:28-31 to come unto Him:

“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.”

Jesus help me to come to you, help me to lay my burdens down, teach me to be gentle and humble in heart, and give me rest today!

2011: What are my resolutions?

2011-01-01T15:41:00.001-08:00

It is that time of the year again, the time where most of us sit down and set new resolutions for the new year. I must admit that I am among those who LOVE resolutions! I always have a list a mile long every year, and this year is no exception to that rule. So what are my resolutions for this coming year? I have to break them down into Spiritual Resolutions and Physical Resolutions. My Spiritual Resolutions are:

To seek God more and to obey Him more.
To try to be less anxious about things and to pray and rejoice in Him more. Philip. 4:4-8
To pray more.
To trust in God's promises more.
To trust God with my children more.
To more patient and kind with others starting first with my kids.
To be less critical of others, praying Philip. 2:3,4
To slow down and really try to listen to the Holy Spirit that God gave me before I react to a situation.
To be a better wife and mother, be more servant minded praying Proverbs 31 and Philip 2:3-11

My Physical Resolutions are:

To spend less time on the computer {breaking that one already} :)
To do more arts and crafts, reading, playing with the children.
To spend my money more wisely, and to be more giving {this one is both physical and spiritual}
To yell less....
To prioritize my life and not over extend myself.
To eat healthier and exercise more.

So these are my goals, tackling them one at a time, with prayer to an Almighty God! I always try my best to have a lot of goals, that way I can at least hit one of them;) You know what the saying is, "Aim at nothing and you will hit it every time!" I love goals and resolutions! *SIGH*

It's the most wonderful time of the year: Christmas 2010

2010-12-29T10:48:00.000-08:00

I would say that this has been hands down the best Christmas I can ever remember! I really had a very difficult time towards the beginning of December due to stressing out about things that were not in my control, and some that were in my control....about the second week of December I started to pray Philippians 4:4-8:

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

And once again, my God heard my prayers and answered them! He showed me in these verses that this Christmas I needed to think more on HIM and REJOICE in Him! Not only did I have a good stress free Christmas, it was the BEST Christmas EVER!!! He will never cease to amaze me, I feel so loved by Him and so unworthy to be so blessed! Here are some snap shots of the wonderful family moments: This is the Broadway Baptist Christmas dinner and the all the children sang for us after we ate
I forgot my camera that night but someone gave me this picture, it truly was a wonderful Christmasy night! I love this church so much!

Rebekah's ballet recital! She did such an amazing job that night!

Of course church! What Christmas would be complete without church? {Imeant to upload a different picture that was better, but I chose the wrong one}

Christmas Eve at Mamaw and Papaw's
Julia loved her computer game.

It's a pillow, it's a pet---it's a Pillow Pet!

Joshua obsessing over his football cards, that was the best behaved I have ever seen him!

The annual, "New pajama's on Christmas Eve" picture!

Christmas morning! Julia with her Cinderella Dress.

Rebekah and her coveted unicorn, now she will leave me alone when we are walking through Kroger.

Joshua's favorite gift! A Carolina Panther's jersey!

And it snowed! And it snowed! And it snowed!

My three precious babies! They had so much fun making the snow man.

What Christmas in Tennessee would be complete without going to Dollywood's Winterfest?

We rode The Polar Express in 4-D

Oh my goodness it was 20 degrees out and we froze, but WOW! It was so much fun!

And that was our Christmas! I can not say enough how God has blessed me, and how faithful He is to hear my prayers and answer them in MIGHTY ways! I give Him all praise and honor and glory for the most wonderful Christmas I have ever had!

He Called Me Out Of Darkness Into His Marvelous Light

2010-12-26T05:37:00.001-08:00

‎It was fourteen years ago, the first Sunday after Christmas, that I heard the Gospel for the first time in my life. That day God called me out of darkness into HIS marvelous light, a darkness I will never forget. It is that darkness that drives my love for HIM...for He who is forgiven much loves much but He who is forgiven little loves little. Thank you Jesus for saving my soul from that darkness, and let me never forget how dark my life was without you, lest I stop praising You for what You've done.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel, has come to thee O Israel!

2010-12-21T12:31:00.000-08:00

I was singing this song the other day, and I realized for the first time just how amazing the lyrics of it are. God, made a promise in Genesis 3 to send a deliverer, but He made the plan in eternity past to send His Son to be born of a virgin, a humble beginning, in a barn. It just blows my mind to think that God, the Creator, Sovereign, Supreme, Most High God, would leave His throne in a perfect place to come a dwell among sinners, but not just to dwell among them to save them. He truly is amazing! So this Christmas God is showing me, don't get caught up in the stress, the anxiety, the hustle and the bustle that comes with Christmas. Over and over again He is showing me Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel, has come to thee O Israel! Praise God! And may I rejoice in His promises full filled this and every Christmas to come.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the son of God appears

Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of hell Thy people save
And give them victory over the grave

Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our king of peace

Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

So Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel
Has come to thee, O Israel!
Has come to thee, O Israel!
Israel!

My Prayer Group

2010-12-16T10:49:00.001-08:00

He who knows how to overcome with God in prayer has heaven and earth at his disposal.

-- C. H. Spurgeon

I just wanted to take a moment to show you these very lovely women God has placed in my life. This is my Wednesday morning prayer group. All of us from different backgrounds, some have homeschooled {and some of them still do}, some have Christian schooled, and all of them now public school--but no matter where we have come from, or where we are going to end up, I am ever so thankful for this group of ladies who no matter what kind of school we are doing, worship a mighty God and go to war for our children in prayer together. I know that I could call on anyone of these women and each one of them would be there in prayer for me to our Almighty God. I don't know why or how, but there is power in numbers in prayer. Does God hear us alone? Of course! But there is something about praying in a group. They may look all soft and sweet, but these women are really tough warriors, and I count it an honor to have known and prayed with each and every lady you see here.

Our Jouney Into Public School: Answered Prayers

2010-12-02T05:32:00.001-08:00

Well once again I MUST share the faithfulness of a God who keeps His promises. As I have shared earlier I have had a real battle of unbelief going on in my life {read more of this here} and I have concluded that this unbelief has come from a lack of faith in the promises that God has made. So I set out to pray that God would help me to trust in His promises, and that He would help me over come my unbelief in this area of my life. And once again my God has heard and I will tell of His faithfulness to me and my family. I shall start in the beginning...

I always do devotions with my children every morning at breakfast, 5 minutes of Old Testament and 5 minutes of New Testament. I read through each book of the Bible and touch on the high points. I had been reading about David and Saul and for some reason I just couldn't convey the message to the children, I felt like God was having me move on to a different book... I firmly believe in teaching the whole Bible, but I always, every year feel like it is extra important to go over Genesis and teach creation, and the flood. Well as it turned out, right as I am teaching creation and the flood at home, Joshua is being taught his first dose of evolution at school. He is learning about dinosaurs and how they became extinct.

God never ceases to amaze me. He is so faithful! Even as I type this I am wiping my tears.

The first day that he had his reading assignment on how dinosaurs became extinct, I read to him that very same morning about the flood and how God wiped out everything, and I further explained to him that this was how dinosaurs became extinct, I had no idea that this would be today's homework assignment!

I have been praying that God would shield my children from the devil's arrows, and that He would protect them from the enemies lies. How God answered:
My son recognized the lies immediately and every time he read that dinosaurs became extinct 350 million years ago, he would say, "Lie!" and when I proceeded to tell him that some people believe that we come from fish, he said, " That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard in my life!" "How can a fish turn into a person? That makes no sense!" God showed me His faithfulness to His promises, that if I teach my children He will bless us, and I prayed this prayer this past Sunday in my ladies prayer group that I would be this mother and my children would listen to His commandments:

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. ⁵ Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

So while I rejoice that God has honored His Word and made Himself known in my life once again, I am also left feeling so sad. This lie is being taught in schools everywhere, and most of these children will believe it. My prayer still stands: God hear me, send more Christians into the schools, help us to defeat the enemy and to stop his lies from being spread. Hear my prayer O God! And may YOU receive all the glory when you answer!

¹⁹ Arise, cry out in the night,
as the watches of the night begin;
pour out your heart like water
in the presence of the Lord.
Lift up your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint from hunger
at every street corner. Lamentations 2:19

Lord, Give Me Wisdom...

2010-11-27T17:19:00.000-08:00

"The parent that has trained their children for heaven, rather than for earth - for God, rather than for man - this is the parent that will be called wise in the end." ~ J.C. Ryle

I feel so unwise today, so many things hitting me at once as I attempt to raise my children in a Godly way. I very rarely quote people, however, I really liked this quote today from JC Ryle. I found myself today in my quiet time crying out Psalm 86:11

¹¹ Teach me your way, LORD,
that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.

May He hear my prayer, my plea, I know that I need His help, my thoughts and ways are not His, and may I trust Him with my children both now and always!

What I Am Thankful For 2010

2010-11-19T07:04:00.000-08:00

Every year for the past four years I like to take the time at Thanksgiving to say what God has done in my life that makes me thankful. This year is an exceptional one. I have so much to thank and praise Him for. Where do I begin? I am thankful for the Cross, for the Gospel that saved my soul and gives me hope {where would I be without it}. I am thankful that He called me out of darkness into His marvelous light, that He rescued me from the dominion of darkness and that He brought me into the Kingdom of the Son He loves in whom I have redemption the forgiveness of sins. I am thankful for the love of God which has been made so real to me this year. I am thankful that He brings me out of my despair and gives me hope eternal. I am thankful that He has answered my prayers, and that He gives me exceedingly abundantly more than I could ever ask or imagine. I am thankful that God who demands perfection, is so full of mercy, compassion, grace, and long suffering. I am thankful that God showed me this in a powerful way this year. I am thankful that He showed me that there is a love that surpasses knowledge. I am thankful that He is ever teaching me that I am not in control of anything, and I am thankful that He is in control of everything. I am thankful that He is faithful to His promises. I am thankful that ALL things work together for my good and His glory. I am thankful that He has shown me just how meek and lowly He is. I am thankful that He opened up to me the verse "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." I am thankful that He is teaching me that His mercy has been great to me, and that I should go and be merciful, because He has said, "I desire mercy not sacrifice." I am thankful that He did not leave me this year nor did He forsake me. I am thankful that He began a good work in me, and what He began, He will finish by carrying me onto completion. I am thankful that it is not about me finishing the good work--it's about Him carrying through on His promises. I am thankful for every trial, as hard as they were this year, because they drove me to pray, and brought me closer to Him. I am thankful that my Savior alone is worthy, and that He sits in heaven. I am thankful that one day I will be with Him singing praises to Him! I am so thankful that He is my God, and that I am His child! Praise His holy name! Even so come quickly Lord! I long for your return! O, how He loves me!

Lord I Believe, Help My Unbelief

2010-11-08T15:27:00.000-08:00

There is a real battle going on in my life. There always has been and unfortunately there always probably will be to a degree. It is the battle of unbelief. I find it almost humorous, that I, who profess to know a God who is sovereign {knows and controls everything} constantly try my best to orchestrate out in my children's lives a life of perfection. I find it humorous, because it goes against everything that I believe. I believe that God alone saves, so why do I constantly try to save my children? I believe that God alone draws, so why do I constantly nag? I believe that I am saved by grace alone through faith alone, so why do I expect perfection from someone who is in just as much need of grace and mercy as I am?

The answer is plain and clear: I believe, but I still have an unbelief. Another words my faith is small at times. I am commanded to teach my children, to love them, to correct them, to point them to Him, but never am I commanded to save them. That alone is His work. Nothing I can do can thwart His plan. I can not rescue them from their sin, I can not control their every move, I can not make wise choices for them. The more I realize this, the more I pray. I am ever so thankful for the precious time I spend in prayer to the One who can save them, protect them, and guide them down the path of righteousness. My prayers have so increased since He has shown me my unbelief in this area. That is the beauty of God. He did not save us and make us into perfect little beings, for if we were perfect we would have no need of Him. He saved us, and little by little He shows us that we are sinful, wretched, and totally out of control. I am so thankful today that I believe in a God who controls everything, and that He works all things together for my good and His glory. It has me on my knees praying, Lord I believe, help my unbelief! Help me not to just realize my unbelief but to trust you and let go of my constant need to control every detail. I run back to Isaiah 55 every time, His Word will accomplish His purpose and I am left saying with Isaiah:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:9,10

His plan is better than mine. Lord help me to trust you!

Our Family 2010

2010-11-04T06:40:00.000-07:00

Praise the LORD, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:1-5

God has just been so good to me!

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12

I am just so blessed! I praise YOU Lord for where You have brought me from and what You have done for me! Glory to Your Name! I am so unworthy!

Our Jouney Into Public School: Answered Prayers

2010-11-01T08:52:00.000-07:00

I stand amazed today of a holy God who answers prayers for a nothing and a no one such as myself. I MUST share with you an opportunity that I was given to glorify my Savior! As most of you all know I have been praying specifically for more Christians to ban together and pray for public schools, and I stand here in humble adoration of a God who has answered me! Here are the specifics of the answered prayers this month, and may it bring glory to The Father alone:

I prayed specifically for ways to tell others about our prayer group. How God answered: Pat Byrum gave me a Mom's In Touch brochure to share, I, in turn gave it to the Pastor at Broadway Baptist Church Tony Collin's, who then asked me to speak on Mom's In Touch on this past Sunday morning {youth Sunday} about our group! Not only did I get to share, I got to share with hundreds! God is good and gives way more than I could ask or image!
I prayed specifically that God would cover EVERY school in Blount County with a Mom's In Touch Prayer Group. How God answered: Five women at Broadway have asked to go to war with me by praying for our schools and our children, ALL of their children go to schools in Blount County that are not already covered!

So once again the God of prayer is at work, He IS hearing and He IS answering our prayers. May He be exalted in the lives of our children and our schools in Blount County! I praise you my God for hearing us! You alone are worthy!

In The Beginning God Created The Heavens And The Earth

2010-10-19T18:32:00.000-07:00

For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. Revelation 4:8

One of my absolute favorite things in the world to do is hike in the mountains. I always love to look out and think about my great God who simply spoke this vastness into existence. To just step outside of myself and to worship Him as the Creator, and the sustainer of all life and breath. Our family took a late hike on Sunday after church, late in that it was around 4pm when we arrived on top of Clingman's Dome. I was a little anxious that we would get there and it would be too late to see any good views...little did I know God had saved the best views of the day until last. I was certain that the views would be good given that it was a clear fall day, but what I saw up there simply took my breath away and left me speechless...

The camera really didn't pick up on all the vibrant colors, but they were magnificent.

God even let us spot a rainbow, small as it was, it reminded me of His promises fulfilled.

The day left me praising my God and made me go home and ponder on the verses of Him being our Creator.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. Isaiah 40:28

Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created. Psalm 148:5

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Isaiah 40:26

For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. Colossians 1:16
"Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you." Jeremiah 32:17

God is truly magnificent, almighty, all powerful! And today I give Him praise as my Creator!

How Wide, How Long, How High, How Deep Is The Love Of Christ

2010-10-15T07:26:00.000-07:00

¹⁶I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

This is my new prayer every morning for myself, my church, and the lost in my community. May I never lose sight of your love O' Lord, and may I share with those in and around me the love of your Son Jesus! May He be forever praised...

Finding Satisfaction In Our Labor: Our Week Of Fun And Rest

2010-10-09T16:07:00.000-07:00

¹⁸ Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot. ¹⁹ Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. ²⁰ He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart. Ecclesiastes 5:18-20

I really find great satisfaction from running a household, and hopefully running it smoothly, but I must confess that sometimes I find it hard to relax and enjoy myself. I read one chapter of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes per day, and over the past few months these verses above have really spoken to me. What good does it do me to work myself to death to make sure everything is decent and orderly, when I don't ever take the time to enjoy the fruit of my labor? So over fall break, we did just that! I rested. We rested. We had fun, we still were frugal thanks to some friends who blessed us with the use of their Lakehouse free of charge, but we lived and enjoyed the week without thinking about goals, school, grades, or work that needs to be done around the house. It was just what I needed to remind me that while goals are good (and a must for me) having fun and enjoying all the hard work we have done is just as important. So here are some snap shots of the fun that we had:

Us at Dollywood

Hayride at Maple Lane Farms.

Fort Loudon Garrison Weekend

Ken and Gail's Lakehouse--no phones, Internet, or people in sight. What a restful time and a blessed time.

This was my view in the morning for my quiet time with the Lord. What a peace I had every morning I was there.

As I was reflecting on this past week, some thoughts came into my mind, (and yes,they are random)--God is so good to us, He is wonderful, mighty, loving, gracious, merciful, kind, and patient with us. His goodness inspires me to go and be like our Father to others. Thank you God for letting me find my rest in you this week.

Our Jouney Into Public School: Answered Prayers

2010-09-28T18:59:00.000-07:00

Most of you all by now have heard of my prayer group that I meet with every Wednesday morning. It is one of the highlights of my week. This prayer group in and of itself was a direct answer to my prayers! So I thought I would share with you some of the prayers that I have prayed over the course of the last nine months (nine months ago is when the burden to put Joshua in public school started). The purpose of this is to have a record for myself of all that my God has done in my life, and to glorify Him who hears!

I prayed specifically that God would give us the teacher that Joshua needed. How God answered: Joshua has an incredibly hard time working independently and living up to the potential that he has. In essence--he is lazy. God gave us Ms. Dix who is known for how tough she is, and who sets the bar high and pushes her students to achieve. May not be what he wanted, but just what he needed and what I had been praying for.
I prayed specifically that God would give Joshua a friend that came from a Christian home, who had similar values. How God answered: God answered this one in a very miraculous way. The first two weeks of school, Joshua made no friends, and was bullied almost every single day. On the third day of the second week I was informed that another 2nd grade teacher would be moving to 3rd grade and her students would be absorbed by the remaining three 2nd grade classes. A little boy named Tyson was moved into Joshua's class, from a Christian home, sharing similar values, they are best buds. Praise His name!
I prayed specifically that Joshua would be salt and light in the school. Now this one is tricky, because he has yet to make a profession of faith. How God answered: Even though Joshua has made no profession of faith, he still asked all of his friends at lunch to pray with him before he ate, none of them wanted to, so he did so silently. Small as this may seem, if you knew how shy this boy was around a crowd, this was a HUGE thing for me to hear.
I prayed specifically that Joshua would focus better and do better on his tests. The transition to public school was pretty huge for my boy. He has never seen a TCAP in his life, nor had he ever been prepared for one. Needless to say the first tests (and not just the TCAPS) he took were rough. How God answered: This week he brought home 2 100's, 1 104 and 1 98!

So there IS INDEED PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS--as long as there are Christians in them. And these are the answered prayers to date re guarding public school, with so many more being sent up to my Father who hears! I am continually praying for Joshua, Rebekah and Julia's salvation, for ways to share Christ's love in Montvale, for the teacher and friends Joshua and Rebekah will have next year, for more Christians to put their children in public school, that Christ would be exalted in the public schools, and for a prayer group for Montvale/Heritage to born. It is a truly amazing thing, this journey that I am on. The more I step out in faith, the more I rely on God and prayer to God to help me. And that my friends has been the biggest answer of all my prayers, I feel so child like and dependant upon Him, I have never in my life felt closer to Him and I pray that I would keep on trusting Him, casting ALL my anxiety upon Him, because He really does care for me, and O how He loves me!

Love That Surpasses Knowledge

2010-09-23T18:57:00.000-07:00

¹⁰"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee stood up and prayed abouthimself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' ¹³"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' Luke 18:10-13 I am up late tonight, mulling over in my mind some things that I have been thinking and meditating upon this week. Over the past year God has really been doing a mighty work in my life. You see I once was lost, I lived in utter darkness, I had no hope, no future, no God. Then one cold day in December God said let there be light, and He rescued me from that dominion of darkness and brought me into the kingdom of the Son He loves. It has been 14 years ago this December. And I knew not even the verse, "In the beginning God", but I remember having a love for God, I remember having a zeal for God, I remember having humility that God would save a wretch like me. And I remember caring about other people who were lost, I remember being willing to associate with the lost, and I remember what it felt like to be salty and lit up for God....

Then I started to hunger and thirst for the Word, and God filled me up with knowledge of the Word, I began to know the Bible and understand some deep truths, and then something terrible happened-- I began to lose my saltiness and my light. You ask how is that possible? How can you read the Bible and have understanding of it and actually lose your salt and light? The answer is simple. My hope began to move from God, to what I knew. I started to see everything as sinful and I was NOT going to be a part of anything that was sinful. Well, sin was everywhere of course, so I started to remove myself from places and people that I was "too good" to be around. I had lost my first love, and I began to trust in what I knew instead of WHO I knew...

Now what you might ask, has happened to me over the course of this year to make me see this?
The answer is found in Revelation 2:2-5 Jesus speaking to the church of Ephesus:

²I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. ⁴Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. ⁵Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

God made these verses come alive for me one morning, when He showed me that I was this very church He was speaking to. So I committed myself to praying Philippians 2 every morning, that my attitude would be the same as Christ Jesus and then that prayer lead me to pray 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

So as always, when you ask the Father for bread, He does not give you a stone! He started showing me all over the place my over righteousness, my self imposed rules, and Pharisaical ways. And then he sent me Alex. Who is Alex you might ask? Alex is the man who helped us when we were in our bike wreck last WEEK. And I realized that for years I have spent my life wasted in critism, and to my shame just plain "I am better than you" attitude. God showed me that we look at the outside, but He looks at the heart. That man was "The Good Samaritian". Now I don't know that he was saved, but I have learned over the past year that your actions speak louder than your words do. And I felt so much shame in my mind and heart over the fact that I would probably never want him at my house, or around my kids if I had met him under different circumstances. There is a lost and dying world out there, and God came to call the sinners, NOT the righteous to repentance.

So this week a dear friend of mine, who always likes to talk about the ditches of over righteousness and over wickedness told me to start to pray Ephesians 3 for my church, and my life, and that was it! --The missing puzzle piece for everything that God has allowed me to suffer, and to see this year.

¹⁶I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

He wanted me to see that the love of His Son Jesus surpasses all knowledge (vs18b)! What a glorious thing He showed me! Even using that bike wreck in a mighty way, bringing me Alex, and showing me to far to the right is a ditch and swerving wrecklessly to left is a ditch oh but PRAISE GOD that there is a path, it is narrow, and few find it, but it is on that path that I have peace, and joy, and salt and light! Not in and of myself, but in His love!

And oh, how He loves us oh,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all.

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

So may I live out Matthew 5:14-16 by His grace and for His glory!

¹⁴"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Crash & Burn: Lessons Learned From A Bike Wreck

2010-09-18T10:49:00.000-07:00

My baby Joshua (well ok he's not a baby anymore, but you know how we mother's are:) was in a bike wreck at the Greenbelt. This is not just any bike wreck, this was a bike ride gone terribly wrong. Now to my knowledge Joshua has never even remotely come close to wrecking since he has learned to ride his bike. All of this changed drastically Friday, here's how it went down: He was just riding along on the Corporate Center Loop behind Texas Roadhouse, he looked off to the left for a split second, his handlebars wobbled into some loose gravel, thinking he was going off the right side, he over corrected and went too far to the left, which just happened to be the only place that there wasn't a guard rail on the bridge we were about to cross, instead of steering away from the side he tried to stop completely and went very S-L-O-W-L-Y over the side. He fell approximately 6 feet off of the side of an embankment onto some jagged rocks and about ankle deep water his 50lb bike landing directly on top of him. The picture just keeps on replaying in my mind, watching him go over the edge, knowing it was coming, and knowing there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. Thanks be to God that there was a man fishing at that very bridge that helped us. He was a rough looking man, and under normal circumstances I would not of even wanted to be walking by him, tattoos, quarter sized holes in his ears, one tooth in the front of his mouth, dressed in all black with a goatee. He helped John get Joshua out, lifted up his bike out of the water, had antibacterial wipes and neosporin for all his cuts and gave them to us freely, pushed Joshua's and my bike up to the road while we waited for John to return, sat with us until John came back, and told us where we could go to save time and money on x-rays! Sent by God to minister to us I do not doubt it. It all happened so quickly, and here are the pictures of his minor injuries which should of been major:
This bump on his hip turned into a huge purple raised bruise:(

One small bone in his wrist was broken, where the pinky bone meets the wrist.

Elbow pads were on Praise the Lord, however he still banged up his left elbow.

Lessons that I have learned from this bike wreck:

Just because you are with your children, right there with them, instructing them (very loudly I might add) does not ensure their safety, only God does.
God does allow His children to suffer, He does not save us and then never let anything bad happen to us, it is for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28).
Trust God, He does what is best for us at all times, including painful times.
God knows what is best for our children, even though I don't understand what it is at this moment He allowed Joshua to be injured for a purpose.
He sends just the right people, at just the right time when we are in need of help, the most unlikely person always seems to be the ones we need.
Just because you are riding along smoothly and things seem ok, taking your eyes off of the road even for a second, could land you in a ditch with injuries:)

I'll leave you with the Bible verse that kept coming to my mind, and I hope that this experience will help me to understand it deeper:

²⁵ Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze directly before you.

²⁶ Make level paths for your feet
and take only ways that are firm.

²⁷ Do not swerve to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil. Proverbs 4:25-27

Isaiah 55: My Prayer For The Lost & The Struggling Christian

2010-09-16T17:07:00.000-07:00

I had a terrible day today, Satan is out in full "Evil Armor" throwing his fiery darts where it hurts the most. So instead of falling for his schemes, I am trying to meditate on things that are "Good, right, true, noble, excellent and praiseworthy."

I did in my daily Bible reading this week read Isaiah 55, and I have decided to pray this for my children, and the lost that they and we come in contact with. It has touched my soul and gave me more of a desire to see the lost come to know Him who saves! If you don't know Jesus, this is better than any altar call, and if you do know Jesus, this is some awesome encouragement! Good to know that nothing can thwart God's plan, and that His Word will accomplish His purposes! Praise God for Isaiah 55:

"Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.

² Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

³ Give ear and come to me;
hear me, that your soul may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.

⁴ See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander of the peoples.

⁵ Surely you will summon nations you know not,
and nations that do not know you will hasten to you,
because of the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel,
for he has endowed you with splendor."

⁶ Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.

⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

⁸ "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

⁹ "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰ As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

¹² You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.

¹³ Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD's renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed."

Esau: The godless man who sought the blessings of God with tears

2010-09-07T19:36:00.001-07:00

Esau said to his father, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!" Then Esau wept aloud. Genesis 27:38

I have been pondering the story of Esau selling his birth right for a pot of stew lately. Why you ask? I have been stepping out of the bubble, my eyes have been opened to the lost and dying. Those who profess to be Godly, those who even seem to be seeking God, but in the end it becomes apparent that they only want the blessings of God but not God Himself. They don't care about the birth right, in fact they despise the birth right, they only care about the blessing. People who think that they can come to God on their own terms, when they want to, live how they want to, and in the end want the blessing. People who are not willing to "Deny themselves take up their crosses and follow after Jesus." They are the people who have a form of godliness, but they deny His power 2 Timothy 3:1-6:

¹But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ²People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

Esau was a man who had a form of godliness, but he denied its power when he despised his birth right (Genesis 25:34). He sought after the blessing, even with tears he sought it, but it was only the blessing he was after. How sad this is to me. The lessons that I have gleaned from Esau are three fold. First of all, we do not come to God on own terms with our own demands. Jesus prayed "Nevertheless not my will but Thine will be done." Second, we must seek God and not the blessings of God. Third, we must not despise the things of God, but rather walk in obedience to His Word, which brings me to my concluding question: How can we do this? The answer is obvious to me: We CAN NOT do this apart from faith! We can not muster up an obedient heart, we can not seek God unless He draws us. For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith and that not of yourself, it is a gift of God so that no man can boast! Esau lacked the key ingredient and that is faith. He sought blessings, even with tears, but without faith it is impossible to please God. My prayer is, that I would not be godless like Esau:

¹⁶See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. ¹⁷Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears. Hebrews 12:15-17

My prayer is that God would draw me more and more to Himself, that I would want more of Him and not His blessing. That I would seek Him, and live my life for Him and not for things. That I would not be godless and rejected. And I hold fast that yes God alone saves, but He also promises that if we come to Him we will never go hungry, and if we believe in Him we will never be thirsty. John 6:35. And he who comes He will not cast out. I pray that I would hold to your promises O Lord and not Your blessings help me to come to You and not what You can do for me, in Jesus' name I pray Amen.

Anguishing Over The Lost: Our Journey Into Public School Part 2

2010-09-01T08:51:00.001-07:00

Fact: Our county is full of lost people dying and going to hell. It is a cold hard fact. I spent years like an ostrich burying my head in the sand to this truth. Not caring, not seeing, not choosing to see. I spent most of my time opposing public school, and encouraging other Christians to do the same. Boy have I been humbled! I have gone from saying "My kids will never set foot in public school!" to praying that God would raise up Christians who would put their children in public school. That's right, I am praying specifically that God would burden the christian parents in Blount County to send their children to school. My eyes have been opened to the reality that this pagan land that we live in will never change if we all stay at home. Satan is gaining victory over our schools simply by the absence of light being in them, and most Christians are ignorant of the fact that they CAN make a difference. So I pray that you would join me in praying that God would send a revival through our public schools and do great things for HIS glory in them!

Persevering in trials: We will soar on wings like eagles again!

2010-08-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

The phrase "Actions speak louder than words" has been on my mind so much over the past year. This has been one of the toughest years of my life, spiritually speaking. I have had one trial after the other, and one time in particular two very difficult trials that over lapped one another. Now I did not say this to complain about it, rather, I want to share what I have learned in and through these trials that God has allowed me to suffer. In each trial that I was given there was an underlying theme--God placed people in our lives whose actions did not line up with what they were saying they believed, and then He allowed us to see where we were falling short in this same area! He was teaching us discernment. He was teaching us obedience. He was drawing us closer to Himself. He was making us examine our own faith. He was growing us! As each trial came, it was almost as though God used the previous trial to prepare us for the next ever increasingly harder trial.

Over and over again in these trials it was plain what God was teaching us:

²²But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;

²⁴for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

²⁵But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. James 1:22-25

He was teaching us that our actions better be lining up with our beliefs. I started to see it everywhere in the Bible, passages like the Parable of the two sons {Matthew 28:31} where the one who obeyed did his Father's will, not the one who only said he was going to obey. And again with the Parable of the two foundations {Matthew 7:24-27} both men built a house, but only one house stood, and the one that fell, fell because he heard, but he did not act: Jesus said, in verse 26"Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand."

After all true faith will always produce obedience. It is what Jesus meant when He said, "You shall know them by their fruit." Does that mean that we will be perfect at it? Absolutely not! Which brings me to the end of this tough year, the encouragement that God has brought me this week from Isaiah 40:

³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

³¹ but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

We all will grow tired and weary, we all will stumble and fall, BUT if our hope is in the Lord, our strength WILL be renewed, and we will soar, we will run, and we will walk again! Praise God for this hope that He has given me, and may I finish this race that He started in me well!

Charles Spurgeon Thought Of The Day:

2010-08-23T10:59:00.001-07:00

"Trials greatly enlarge the soul. Thus I do not want, in my better mind, to escape great trials, since they involve great graces. If my strength shall be as my days (Deut. 33:25), then let my days be long and dark, for my strength will be mighty, God will be glorified, and I will be blessed. I earnestly urge every tested Christian to dwell on this truth, for it may be a great comfort. There is love, immortal and unchanging love, in heaven toward you, which will never grow cold. You will be helped. God will sooner cease to be than cease to be faithful. Be of good courage, for today He will strengthen your heart." Spurgeon

Eve: The First Legalist

2010-08-17T09:51:00.000-07:00

Legalism has been on my mind A LOT lately, if you can not tell. I really feel like I have been one for a long time, and it is almost like coming out of a cult when you realize it. Everything I did or was going to do, had a command from the Word AND had a Rochele rule attached to it. After all, I have to be holy, and what is more holy than rules? So as I was reading through Genesis last week, I noticed for the first time ever that legalism dates back all the way to the very first sin:

¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

² The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' " Genesis 3:1,2

I had never caught that before. Not that I didn't notice that she added that to the command, but that she went overboard with the command, which is what every good legalist does. Not only was she not going to eat, she wasn't even going to touch it. This was very eye opening to me, and maybe I have lost you already, but she went over board with the commandment and then ended up not only eating it, but giving it to her husband to eat as well.

So what is my point? When we add to the commandments with our self enforced rules, we will fall, we will fail. That is a simple fact, for God Himself gave the command not to add or take away anything from His Word:

" Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it. Deuteronomy 12:32

" You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. Deuteronomy 4:2
Such a eye opening truth for me, I only pray that I can approach God's Word with a heart that longs to obey it just as it is without adding a rule to it! Praise the Lord for eyes to see, may I have a heart that yields and never add to or take away from it!

Anguishing Over The Lost: Our Journey Into Public School

2010-07-28T04:17:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, the Lord planted a seed in my heart for the lost. I have always prayed for the lost, but this time it was a little different. I am a stay at home mom, my kids are in Christian school, and I attend church Sunday morning and Sunday night. Outside of this little bubble I have very little contact with the outside world. God really started convicting me of this back in the fall of 2009 and it has really started to grow over the last four months. Questions such as: How can I be salt and light in this world when I am here, but am not in direct contact with the lost? How is my christian walk impacting the world for the glory of God? Of course I do teach my children the Bible so that is one way, yes, but how am I going to teach my children to step outside of themselves, to go and preach the Gospel to a lost and dying world when 1. I don't, and 2. They don't even understand what that means because everything they do involves Christians.

So I started to pray to the Lord for a burden for the lost. I started to pray that we would step outside of ourselves and be salt and light to world that is in darkness. And every christian that is reading this knows, "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:16. All of the sudden things started to happen, the first of them being putting our children in public school. Yikes! God spent the entire winter showing me that I can NOT save my children, only He can. One morning I was reading the story of Sodom and Gomorrah (which was my biggest argument for christian school) and God showed me very clearly that He alone saves. Abraham did not save Lot, he prayed and pleaded for him, but God rescued him---it is a picture of salvation. Our natural hearts are Sodom and Gomorrah, and we too linger in our sin, and God lovingly draws us out and mortifies what remains. That irresistible grace He alone gives. So on the same day, my husband and I both felt a huge burden to put our son in public school this year. How, after all, can the schools change if there is no light in them? What do we as Christians expect? We look down our noses (myself included) on the public school system, we get disgusted, we scoff, we ridicule, but what do we do about it? Go and live in our bubble? Now I am not saying that everyone who doesn't put their kids in public school is sinful and lives in a bubble, I have no regrets about starting out in Christian school at all! I needed a good buffer between home and public school, this is just a personal burden.

So as we are starting this journey, I am excited, I am nervous, but I hope that I can trust God with my children. I plan on reading verses such as: I will never leave you nor forsake you Hebrews 13:5, and the classic Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In ALL your ways acknowledge Him and HE shall direct thy paths Proverbs 3:4,5 because it is hard to trust, and doubt will creep in. The question becomes where is my trust? Is it in my bubble that I have made for myself? Or in a God who sovereignly draws the lost to Himself? And I pray that my small burden for the lost people of Blount County becomes an anguish to see the lost turning from their sins and following the Holy God of the universe. And I pray at the end of this journey that we are about to begin, He alone would be glorified!

Sola deo gloria! To God be the glory alone!

Charles Spurgeon Quote Of The Day:

2010-07-17T14:20:00.000-07:00

Truth lies between two extremes, and man, like a pendulum, swings either too much this way or that. ~Charles Spurgeon

What Makes A Woman Successful?

2010-07-01T17:13:00.001-07:00

I had a very interesting conversation the other day, in it I was laughing and telling a funny little story about my oldest daughter Rebekah, she was telling me the other day of how she just wanted to grow up, get married, have 14 babies (I hope that number changes--A LOT!) and cook. And while I think 14 is a bit crazy, this is what I hope both of my daughters do. The person that I was speaking with, just laughed and said, "WOW!" "She doesn't have very high goals in life, now does she?" I just became quiet, and thought to myself, how sad. Now before I continue on, I must tell you that I do not think that a woman can not work outside of the home, because I myself have and probably will again one day, but to think that if I don't I am viewed as "unsuccessful" to me was shocking! Being a stay at home mom is hard work after all. Now I am not out to justify what I do, or to condemn any of you who don't do what I do, but I just don't want anyone out there to think that if your goals as a woman in life are to be a keeper of the home, and the primary care taker of your children, that you have low goals and are unsuccessful. No, I am no millionaire, and we have had our share of hard times which you can read more about here, but looking back I would do NOTHING different. Success to me is not in how much money you can make, or what job title you hold, it's about making a difference in the lives of my children. Teaching them about the Lord, teaching my girls how to cook, clean, take care of little ones, to love their husbands. Teaching my son perseverance by making him read a book all the way through , listening to his funny little stories, and teaching him how to get along with his sister's even when they annoy him. Storing up for myself treasure in heaven, not just by giving to those in need, but giving myself to my family, because at the end of my life I don't to be on my death bed surrounded by my money and career, that to me is not success, at the end of my life I want to be surrounded by the things in this life that matter.

Only one life, twill soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last. And when I am dying how happy I'll be when the lamp of my life has been burn't out for Thee.

Joseph & The Forgiveness Of The Cross

2010-06-30T19:56:00.001-07:00

Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! ⁵ And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. ⁶ For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. ⁷ But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. ⁸ "So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. Genesis 45:4-8a
Joseph has to be one of my favorite characters in the whole Bible. If you read this story enough times, you will see pictures of Christ over and over again. This morning, reading it to my children, was no exception to that rule. I saw in this story 10 brothers, in a desperate state, they were hungry and in need of food. I remembered their evil wicked hearts, and the terrible sins they had committed in Genesis 37, the jealousy, the murder, the lying, and the deceit. And then I saw for the first time in this story, something new that I had seen before, but not with clarity. I saw forgiveness. True forgiveness. I saw the cross in all of its glory! Those brothers had a need, and they went to the only one who could fulfill that need. They went to the king, little knowing that this was the same man that they had tried to murder years before. And when Joseph revealed himself to them, it says, " That they were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence." They had every reason to fear for what they had done to their brother. So what did Joseph do? Did he have them executed? Did he throw them into the deepest, darkest dungeon? Did he have them beaten? No. Instead he said come close to me, and he comforted them by telling them not to be angry with themselves. He forgave them. Now did they ask to be forgiven? No. Did they do anything to deserve this forgiveness? No. He just simply forgave them.
So what does this have to do with the cross? It is the same in our own salvation. We come to God poor and needy. He is the only thing we need, just as food was all the brothers were in need of, and God is the only one who has what we need, just as Joseph was the only one who had the food the brothers sought. We come to God whom we have sinned against, just as Joseph's brothers had to come to the one they had sinned against. Joseph offered them forgiveness that they did not deserve, just as we are offered forgiveness at the cross that we do not deserve. I saw for the first time in this story, clearly, that I am the brothers. I am poor and needy, I am wretched and full of sin. I saw for the first time in this story, the picture of the forgiveness of the cross. It is powerful, and it is undeserved, but it is offered to us...and it is FREELY given to those who will receive it.
Oh to see my name written in the wound
For through Your suf‘fring I am free
Death is crushed to death, life is mine to live
Won through Your selfless love

This the pow’r of the cross
Son of God slain for us
What a life, what a cost
We stand forgiven at the cross

Living Life in Moderation: The Narrow Way

2010-06-15T05:15:00.000-07:00

People are extreme. I myself struggle with being extreme. God has took this whole year to show me how being extreme, whether it is in righteousness or wickedness can hurt my walk with Him. He is constantly bringing me back to these verses in Ecclesiastes 7:15-18:

¹⁵In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:
a righteous man perishing in his righteousness,
and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

¹⁶ Do not be overrighteous,
neither be overwise—
why destroy yourself?

¹⁷ Do not be overwicked,
and do not be a fool—
why die before your time?

¹⁸ It is good to grasp the one
and not let go of the other.
The man who fears God will avoid all extremes .

^a]'>

I have prayed these verses for years now, that God would help me not to be over righteous nor over wicked, and that I would fear God and avoid all extremes. I have just recently felt as though God has given me a deeper grasp on these verses. In life there are three different types of people, the over righteous (or the Pharisees), the over wicked (or the lost), and then there are the righteous, the truly humble born again by the grace of God believers.

As I have pondered these verses I have realized for the first time just recently, that in between the extremes of over wickedness and over righteousness lies the narrow way. You can not be on the narrow way if you are either of these! This may not make sense to you, but for me it was a terrifying truth that made me fall on my face with fear and trembling. The way to Jesus is narrow, and only the man who fears God and avoids these two extremes will find it.

For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matthew 7:14

It is not easy to find this narrow way, in this verse in fact it plainly states that it is HARD to find, and it is only through fearing God that we can avoid these two wrong paths and walk on the narrow path with Him. It is not through obeying (although true faith leads to obedience, but faith comes first) it is not through rules and strict living, it is not through false humility, but through our fear of a holy God who sits enthroned and is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY! What an amazing truth, and what an amazing God! May I be a woman who fears God and avoids all extremes, it is the narrow way, it is the only way to salvation!

Meditating Upon the Word of God

2010-03-25T09:31:00.000-07:00

Our words can be a very dangerous thing, we are warned time and time again in the scriptures to be careful what we say. While it is easy to blame the problem on your mouth, I am finding over and over again that the underlying issue is in fact your heart. Luke 6:45 says: The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. So this is not a mouth problem, it is in fact a heart problem.

So then, if we are having issues with our mouth, what is the solution? Not from a man's point of view, but from God's point of view? What I have discovered and what God has brought me personally back to time and time again is Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. We speak what we meditate on. So practically speaking if we are meditating on the world what will come out of our mouths will be worldliness, but if we meditate on His Word what will come out of our mouths will be Christ exalting. This has been powerfully convicting to me over the course of this month. What do I spend most of my time meditating on? Is it frugal blogs? Facebook? What others are thinking about me? And what should I spend most of time meditating upon? Some practical verses that have helped me are:

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

I can think of nothing that is more true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy than my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! And I must meditate upon Him ALL DAY LONG!

Joshua 1:8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.

Meditating on the Word is the only way to over come sin in our lives--look at the last part of Joshua 1:8 we meditate on it day and night SO THAT we can obey it!

As God has shown me this in His Word and my prayer is that I would meditate on Him continually, so that when I open my mouth to speak, I will be like that "good" person spoke of in Luke 6:45 and I would produce good, not for my glory, but for His glory alone! I will leave you with a final thought from David the Psalmist:

Blessed is the manwhowalks not inthe counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners

norsits inthe seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

Psalm 1:1,2

Meditating on the Lord will keep you from evil, give you delight which comes from the Word, and he calls us blessed when we do it! Help me Lord to meditate upon You!

Spring Break: A Trip to Gatlinburg's Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

2010-03-19T13:39:00.000-07:00

We let Joshua watch Forrest Gump for the first time last month (an edited version) and he fell in love with the movie so since spring break was pretty much a wash, we took him to Gatlinburg to eat at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. He was thrilled!

Rebekah did a toast to shrimp!

This was hilarious! When you needed something you had to change the sign to "STOP FORREST STOP" we were half way tempted to do it just to watch everyone scramble, but that wouldn't be very Christ-like, so we didn't!

Forrest taught Joshua how to dangle.

Here they are with his chocolates and suitcase.

John being silly on purpose.
The kids did have fun, but it was over priced and not very good quality. So that will probably be our first and last trip to the Shrimp House!

Asking for wisdom from God: Part Two

2010-03-17T04:19:00.000-07:00

I left off sharing with you how God was answering my prayers, and making the Word come alive for me, and how He showed me that asking for wisdom really needed be asking for a fear of God, and for obedience to the Word. I felt like I was making progress at this point in my life, when God sent another humbling event into my life, once again after praying for wisdom for 4 1/2 years, someone told me that they were concerned that I was unwise and undiscerning. Double ouch! Not only did they think I was unwise, but this time I was also undiscerning! It was one of the most discouraging points in my christian walk. I really and truly thought that I was making progress, and that I had come along way. I really got angry this time! It took me longer than a week to get over it, and I still struggle with it from time to time. How could I get wisdom? How could I get discernment? Well after a couple of long weeks spent in self pity and sulking about it, I remembered that God really had brought me a long way. That when I did ask for wisdom, He really did show me what it was, and one morning in my quiet time, He opened up Proverbs chapter two in it's entirety to me. That chapter came alive for me:

¹ My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,

² turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,

³ and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,

⁴ and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,

⁵ then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.

⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

⁷ He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,

⁸ for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.

⁹ Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.

¹⁰ For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

¹¹ Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.

¹² Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,

¹³ who leave the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,

¹⁴ who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,

¹⁵ whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.

¹⁶ It will save you also from the adulteress,
from the wayward wife with her seductive words,

¹⁷ who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God. ^a]'>[a]

¹⁸ For her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.

¹⁹ None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.

²⁰ Thus you will walk in the ways of good men
and keep to the paths of the righteous.

²¹ For the upright will live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it;

²² but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

I started to pray for wisdom once again! Not just for me, but for my entire household. I prayed that we would all start by accepting His Word and storing up His commands with in us (the beginning of wisdom!) vs 1-2 and that we would earnestly seek after God and fear Him vs 3-6. That He would give us wisdom, make us upright, blameless and faithful vs 7-8. That He would guard us and protect us vs 8. And then it got interesting. I started to see that if you do the first 8 verses of this Proverb, then and only then will you have wisdom to live your life according to the Word. In verse 9, 10 THEN you will understand what is right and just, every good path! For wisdom will enter your heart! And look what it does when wisdom enters your heart, it will protect you and guard you vs 11, it will save you from the ways of wicked men vs 12-15, it will save you from the adulteress vs 16-19.

So once again, God was faithful in answering my prayers. He opened up His Word to me once again and He showed me more of Himself. I became less and He became more. So am I wise now? Answer: NO! The more God shows me what wisdom really is, the more He shows me that there is only one who is truly wise, and that is Himself. He has brought me a long way, He has revealed Himself to me more and more each passing year, but I truly hope that I never get to the place in my christian walk where I think that I am wise, because then I would be a fool!

Asking for wisdom from God: Part One

2010-03-13T04:26:00.000-08:00

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. Proverbs 9:10

When I was 26, someone said to me, Rochele, you have so much passion, so much zeal for the Lord, but one thing that I think you lack to go with it, and that is wisdom. Ouch! That was a painful thing to hear, but it was needed. When I became a mother I was totally clueless on how to raise my children so, I turned to people to help me, Christian people, but people none the less. I made decisions for my children based on the latest child rearing book that I was reading at the time, I depended upon their advice for everything. Needless to say my children were a wreck, I was frustrated, and my home was in shambles. When this person (who shall remain anonymous:) said this to me it hurt bad, but it turned out to be one of the best things that someone has ever said to me.

After being angry about it for a week or so, I started to ponder it in my heart. What is wisdom? How could I get wisdom? I can't just muster it up, where should I begin? So I decided to start reading the Proverbs, one chapter per day and then pray that God would make me wise. As I was reading the Proverbs over and over again, I began to notice something, I kept seeing over and over again it saying, "Fear God." That was it, that was the answer to how to become wise! I was thrilled! I didn't need to pray Lord make me wise, I needed to pray Lord help me to fear You so that I can be wise!

The Word of God started opening up to me, and I started to see that even the Proverbs 31 woman did all the things that she did because she feared the Lord. Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who FEARS the LORD is to be praised. Proverbs 31:30. God was beginning to answer my prayers, I started looking to the Word and my husband instead of people. I started to see all the areas of my life that needed much improvement and I started to pray scripture for those areas. If I felt like I needed help being submissive (which trust me I did and still do) I would pray Eph. 5: 22-24, if I felt like I needed help being patient and loving I would pray 1 Corinth. 13. The Word came alive for me. Then one day as I was reading the book of Ecclesiastes, I stumbled on this verse: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. Ecc. 12:13b So what is wisdom? I have concluded that if you want to be wise, you need to fear the Lord and if you fear the Lord it will drive you to obedience to the Word. So then my prayers changed once again i began to pray, "Lord help me to fear You so that I can be wise in You, and so that I can obey You."

The fear of the Lord is only the beginning! That's where is starts, without it all would fail and fall. I am so thankful for that person who told me I lacked wisdom, but I am even more thankful that I serve a God who, when you seek Him, He reveals Himself to you. Now I am not at all saying that I am wise, in fact the more I ask to be wise the more God shows me just how unwise I really and truly am, and how much I need Him! In the part two, I will share with you how He has revealed Himself to me even more, and how asking for wisdom for myself has turned into asking for wisdom for my whole house.

Doing our deeds in such a way that we don't get the glory

2010-03-10T09:13:00.000-08:00

"Beware ofpracticing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they maybe praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they havereceived their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." Matthew 6:1-4

I was reading these verses to my children this morning, and for the first time ever I think I actually understood it with my heart. This happens to me quite often actually, where I read something and think that I have a grasp on it, and then God shows me that I never actually understood it. So as I was explaining these verses to the children this morning it all came to me full circle. He tells you to give in secret, not because He doesn't want you to let others know that you are giving necessarily , but it shows your hearts motivation. If you give in front of everyone and let everyone know, you are going to get the glory for your deed. A truly humble heart will give to someone even when no one else knows it is you. That's what it is all about! Jesus came and was the ultimate example of this, in Phil. 2:5-11:
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with Goda thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of aservant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesusevery knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ isLord, to the glory of God the Father.

Did you catch that? He was God, yet He did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped? Wow! And He did it all for the glory of God (vs 11)! Talk about humility! He did His deeds in such a way that God was glorified. And that is how our giving should be, it should be done so that no glory comes to us but the person who receives it leaves praising God! So my question this morning became, how can I do this? How can I know that I am giving in such a way that I don't receive any glory and that God is getting it all? Well right there in the text is the answer, don't sound a trumpet when you give, and don't let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. I think the answer is truly humility. Just as Christ though being God didn't consider Himself anything, we should imitate Him, become nothing so that God will become everything, and if we are doing that then our motives will be correct. It's all about Him, it's not about us. It's all about His kingdom, it's all about His will being done! May it be so in my life today, so that I can say with a truly humble heart: Sola de gloria! To God be the glory alone!

Fasting and Prayer

2010-03-05T08:24:00.000-08:00

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, 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 Corinthians 9:24-27 I am a sinner. There I said it, I admit, I own it, but just because I know that I am a sinner doesn't make it ok to sin. There is a battle waging within me on many areas of my life, they are such a struggle for me that sometimes I am afraid that they may overtake me completely. Some people call this an addiction, I call it sin. One area of my life that I especially struggle with is food. I love it, I think about it, I obsess over not getting it when the clock says that it is time to eat it, I dress for it, and I lust in my heart after it. I started to have some serious conviction over it this winter, but ignored it and almost went completely out of control with it. So about three weeks ago I started to pray about what I could do to be released from this sin, because I literally felted chained and trapped by it, almost like the pantry would follow me around and say eat me, eat me, eat me!

After praying about this, almost immediately God brought these particular verses to my mind in 1 Corinthians, especially verse 27, where it talks about beating your body and making it your slave. I knew that this was the answer and I longed to do this! I had to beat this sin that was dwelling in me. So I thought to myself how have I conquered other sins in my life? Well the answer is on most of my "addictions" I would put them down and never look back, but you can't do that with food, you need some food to survive. So, I started to pray to be released from these chains that bound me, and God led me to Jesus fasting in the wilderness, and that was a light bulb moment for me! That was it! What better way to beat this sin, than to show it who was boss? You don't hear much said on the area of fasting, but over the past two weeks I have seen just how important that fasting can really be. When I am fasting, every time my stomach growls, I pray that God would be my Lord, my trust, and my all. That I would not trust in food, or look to it or bow down to it. And I can feel the chains that have bound me for so long loosening. I have not yet arrived at complete freedom, it will take time, but I can see that my self-control and my reliance on God had majorly increased since I have been doing this. And for those of you who are worried that I might harm myself or my body, I am only doing this for two meals a week. No one on record has ever died from missing two meals a week I promise:-) I plan on continuing this throughout my lifetime. To deny ourselves and to place our trust in God is what Christianity is all about after all. I truly believe that fasting is helping me overcome areas of unbelief in my life, because my reliance on food was just unbelief that God was all that I needed to depend on. It has had me on my knees crying out "Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief!" And there's no greater feeling than that to me.

Hannah: Praying in the midst of trials

2010-03-02T03:36:00.000-08:00

There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 1 Samuel 1:1,2

She wasdeeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life,and no razor shall touch his head." As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. 1Samuel 1:10-13

I was pondering after an excellent Bible study on Sunday morning what exactly caused this woman of faith to pray such a prayer as this. What exactly produced this famous prayer? I always thought of this particular story as a lesson for women on how to pray for their children, and that could be one thing that you could glean from this story, but I think the overall picture is much bigger than I have ever seen before, and for the first time I think God is showing me that this story is not about a Godly woman praying for a Godly son--necessarily. As I was pondering this story this Sunday, I saw for the first time that , God gave her a painful trial, God closed her womb, God allowed her to be mocked by her husband's other wife, God gave her rival children, but allowed her to be barren. The lesson that I saw in this story is that God used this trial to bring this Godly woman to her knees. So my question is, would Hannah of ever prayed for Samuel the way that she did had she not experienced a barren womb? I think she may of prayed for him being that she was a woman of God, but I don't think she would of prayed to this magnitude. As I was sitting there in my chair, I could hardly contain myself! How awesome our God is! How He in His Divine providence closed up this woman's womb, and caused her to pray this prayer and produced fruit from her through this trial! What an awesome God! Only He could orchestrate something so perfectly! Only He could take a situation that seemed so hopeless and produce a Godly man, Samuel, from it. So my question became, how do I handle my trials? Do they drive me to my knees? Do they cause me to pray like Hannah? They should. And fruit will come from those prayers! They should cause me to say "Oh God, make me a praying woman, and let Your will be done in me, for Your glory!" Thank you God for the story of Hannah.

O rejoice in the Lord
He makes no mistake,
He knoweth the end of each path that I take,
For when I am tried and purified,
I shall come forth as gold.

Praising God in the midst of trials

2010-02-25T09:54:00.000-08:00

This has been one of the most difficult years of my life, in terms of my spiritual walk with Christ. I have been in one difficult trial after the other, I have been mocked, lied against, and slandered...it has not been easy. It has been down right hard! In the midst of these sometime painful trials, I felt like I was in a desert. Looking ahead I couldn't see anything except for a long bumpy hard road full of trials and tribulation, until one day, it was as if the scales had fell off of my eyes and I could see clearly for the first time of why God allows this! He kept on reminding me of Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. And then He kept bringing me back to Matthew 7:14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

God was allowing all of these what I was calling "painful" trials to come into my life, to make me stronger and to refine me for His purpose. I can look back on this past year and see how much He has grown me in each trial and the sin that He has cut off from me through it. I did not handle each trial as I should of, I did not always keep my eyes on the prize, but God in His amazing love and mercy brought me through it! He has taught me that hard things are not necessarily bad things, it is my reaction to them that makes good or bad. Oh the lessons that I have learned this year! I am so thankful that I have a Father who loves me enough to give me trials!

SHALL I TAKE FROM YOUR HAND YOUR BLESSINGS
YET NOT WELCOME ANY PAIN?
SHALL I THANK YOU FOR DAYS OF SUNSHINE
YET GRUMBLE IN DAYS OF RAIN?
SHALL I LOVE YOU IN TIMES OF PLENTY
THEN LEAVE YOU IN DAYS OF DROUGHT?
SHALL I TRUST WHEN I REAP A HARVEST
BUT WHEN WINTER WINDS BLOW, THEN DOUBT?

O, LET YOUR WILL BE DONE IN ME
IN YOUR LOVE I WILL ABIDE
O, I LONG FOR NOTHING ELSE AS LONG
AS YOU ARE GLORIFIED

ARE YOU GOOD ONLY WHEN I PROSPER?
AND TRUE ONLY WHEN I’M FILLED?
ARE YOU KING ONLY WHEN I’M CAREFREE?
AND GOD ONLY WHEN I’M WELL?
YOU ARE GOOD WHEN I’M POOR AND NEEDY
YOU’RE TRUE WHEN I’M PARCHED AND DRY
YOU STILL REIGN IN THE DEEPEST VALLEY
YOU’RE STILL GOD IN THE DARKEST NIGHT

O, LET YOUR WILL BE DONE IN ME
IN YOUR LOVE I WILL ABIDE
O, I LONG FOR NOTHING ELSE AS LONG
AS YOU ARE GLORIFIED

SO QUIET MY RESTLESS HEART, QUIET MY RESTLESS HEART
QUIET MY RESTLESS HEART, IN YOU.

The faith of Jochebed: Moses' mother...

2010-02-23T18:34:00.000-08:00

By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king's edict. Hebrews 11:23 When I was growing up all I ever wanted to be was a Momma. I would dream about it, and pretend for hours upon hours to feed, rock and hold my baby dolls. I always thought that I would have about eleven children, because I longed for them so badly. I thought that it would be so wonderful, to have and to love something so much and for them to love you too. I never in all of my pretend play ever imagined just how difficult it would be to be a mother. I have since grown up, and been born again by the grace of an almighty God. And I have since given birth to three beautiful children. And I have since then realized that I should not just desire to be a mother who cares physically for my children, but God's plan for me is to be a Godly mother, one who cares both physically and spiritually for my children.

So what does a Godly mother look like? Well don't look at me, I am far from what I need to be. Over the course of the past eight years, God has been showing me in the scriptures just what it is to be a Godly mother and one of my favorite women in the whole Bible is Jochebed, Moses' mother. Some of the things that I love so much about this woman is that her faith in God was so strong, not only did she go against the king's edict, but she had the faith to let her son go so that he could be used by God to deliver His people out of Egypt. Some of my favorite gleanings from her life are:

1. The first one is the most obvious and I have already mentioned, which is her ability to stand firm in her faith and go against the king's edict to kill all male children. Any good Christian mother would agree that this is a noble thing, and would most assuredly do likewise. After all what mother who called themselves a born again believer would hand their son over to a king whose chief end was to destroy all the male babies?
2. The second I believe is a much harder thing to do and that is she not only went against the king, but she did so and then when she could no longer hide him, she had to set him adrift in a basket in the very same river that he should of been thrown into when he was born, by order of the murderous king, all in an effort to save his life once more.
3. The third is that this woman of God, only had until the boy was weaned, which was, according to Hebrew history, about three years, to teach him about Jehovah God. And she must of diligently lived up to this task for we know that he knew he was a Hebrew, and he tried on his own power to deliver his people, Acts 7:24-25 tells us that he tried to kill the Egyptian slave drivers because he thought that his people would see that he was their deliverer.

As I look at the life of Jochebed, I see a woman, who yes, did stand up against the king's edict by faith, but I also see so much more. I see a woman who let her son go unselfishly in the Nile river full of crocodiles and teach him diligently the scriptures for the short time that she had with him, and I see God's faithfulness to bless her in her obedience. May I have the faith of Jocebed, may I go against this world, and teach my children for the short time that I have them about the God of this universe, and may I do it not so I can pat myself on the back and say look at me, look at what I have done...no may it never be! But may I do it all so that God would use them mightily for His glory and His purpose!

Smore Fun!

2009-07-13T05:57:00.001-07:00

As most of you all know, we made the trek down to Florida a couple of weeks ago to visit my mom and dad. The next couple of posts will be on the fun that we had while we were there. On the first night of the trip we had an all time favorite of mine~~SMORES!! I love those things, praise God for the person who invented those perfect little squares filled with marshmallows and chocolate:) And what would smores be without a little fireworks to go with it?? Hey we are All American. Here's Joshua roasting his marshmallow's, from the looks of this shot he could use a few extra smores to go on those ribs!

Here's Rebekah, being a little timid but excited all at the same time.

Clarissa and Evon got in on the action to!

Here is the finished product.

Jay

The proof of it's yumminess is written all over his face 8-)

Danielle's marshmallow mutated from one marshmallow into two.

Now onto the fireworks...

OHHHH!!!!

AHHHHH!!!!!

The master mind behind the fireworks, pyro Mark.

It was a blast!

Hiking up to the Dome

2009-07-08T14:22:00.000-07:00

So one of the adventures of the summer for us while Clarissa was here, was hiking up to Clingman's Dome. Rachel our other niece came along for this adventure. Before we went up to the actual Dome, we had to stop in New Found Gap for a few pictures, it is the Tennessee/North Carolina border. Here are this kids posing beautifully there:

A little better here, but Rachel has her eyes closed:)

Here they are on the actual state line.

Clarissa and Rachel

Rebekah and Joshua, already wore out and we haven't even begun our adventure yet!!

John and I at New Foundland Gap.

Clarissa and I at New Foundland Gap.

All of us!

Rebekah picking flowers at the picnic.

You are too cute little lady!

Clarissa, Joshua and Rachel on top of Clingman's Dome.

Me hanging out in the middle because I am too scared to look over the edge.

Awwww!

John, Joshua, and Rebekah trying to freak me out.

All of us on the hiking trail to Clingman's Dome.

All in all it was one of the best trips that we have had up to the Dome, I'm sure it was because we were accompanied by such beautiful teenage girls:)

Happy 7th Birthday Joshua!!!

2009-07-07T01:00:00.000-07:00

I can not believe that today my little baby is going to be seven!! I have heard people say before that it just flies by, but now I have experienced that for myself. It seems as though just yesterday I was out in the driveway walking back and forth, trying to figure out if I was in labor or not...and now you are going into the first grade and growing up sooo fast!! Since July 7, 2002 my life has never been the same, you have brought me so much joy and happiness and I love you so much Joshua Matthew Chase Eldridge!!!

J- Is for Joy which is what you bring to me...

O- Is for Overly excitable, which is one of the things I love about you most.

S- Is for Super loving, you love others more than any little boy I have ever seen.

H- Is for huggable, you smile at me and I just want to hug you every time

U- Is for Unbelievably giving, you would give away your whole room if I let you.

A- Is for Affectionate, you hug and kiss me way more than I deserve.

I love you Joshua, you are the sweetest, kindest, most loving little boy I know.

Our River Adventure

2009-06-22T16:47:00.000-07:00

It wouldn't be summer in East Tennessee, if we didn't take a road trip to the river. It was up quite a bit and running a little faster than normal due to all the excessive rain that we have had round here. Here is the snap shots of the adventure...

Joshua, Rebekah, and Clarissa

Being silly for that camera:)

Julia stayed on shore and ate mud the whole time.

Yum! More mud pies please!

John and Joshua going for an excursion.

Rachel and Clarissa hanging out in the river...

John and Rebekah going on an excursion, we won't say were they went, let's just say it was ummm interesting...hehe

Julia very upset that daddy was cleaning off her mud pie face.

John floating down the river in his little tube...it's there somewhere I promise.

All in all it was a very fun day...I love our river!!

Slip,sliding away...

2009-06-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

We got out the slip and slide the other day, and man did those kids have a blast going down our death defying hill and an incredible speed:) Clarissa was a bit timid at first about it, but then she loosened up a bit...

What do you think? Does she look like she is having fun or what?

She almost rammed right into me here...I wasn't expecting her to come at me so fast:)

Rebekah, my ever so cautious one even took a slide.

Joshua of course had no fear, he never looks before he leaps...scary for me, fun for him.

Clarissa's here, picking strawberries

2009-06-19T06:47:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, my neice Clarissa is here for the month of June. My next couple of posts are going to be of the fun things we did while she was here. We went down to Rutherford farms and picked strawberries one day last week, the kids really had a great time. Here are some pics of that adventure...Clarissa in action.

Joshua, Clarissa and Rebekah showing off the fruit of their labor. Julia is milling around in the background, she had fun just running up and down the rows.

Back Yard Bible School 2009

2009-06-17T15:05:00.000-07:00

So I have MIA for a couple of weeks, but for good reason come and check out what I have been up to...we hosted our church's very first Bible school in our garage last week, here are the pictures of the excitement: Andrew is our college student, and he led the music/prizes/everything:)
Here are the children looking ever so attentive.

Even the babies came and loved it.

Every night prizes were awarded to the boy and girl who listened the best, Mr. Lidey did a great job with the balloons.

We had games in the front and back yard after it was over, this is our first night's game called over and under.

This is Teresa looking thoroughly confused about what is going on, did I mention it was our first night and our first Bible school?:)

Andrew taking charge.

Some balloon fun.

Emily, sad that the first day was over.

Even Joshua's best bud Charlie came for a couple of the night's...Joshua was just a little excited about that:)

We had a theme every night, this was crazy hair night.

Yes, it was crazy!!

Shelby, she was such a sweet girl.

We had a ventriloquist come every night, and here he is in action.

Julia enjoyed snack time, maybe a chocolate oreo wasn't the best choice...

Rachel looking nervous about my choice of snack:)

We had water games the last night, Andrew got into the house and let the kids throw a wet sponge at him....brave soul.

Here they are firing at him.

Direct hit!!!

Let the water fight begin.

Rebekah and Allison getting each other.

Rachel had fun too...we'll leave it at that...

Performance night....they did awesome.

So it was the craziest week of my life...I think. But it was the best week of my life as well. I was blessed more than they were I am sure, and it was a successful first Bible School. When things got crazy, I had to remind myself of the verse: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, but whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Only one life twill soon be past only what's done for Christ will last. May God receive all the glory for the success of this Bible school.

A Kodak Moment...

2009-06-05T18:37:00.000-07:00

I came down the stairs today to find my three little babies in a kodak moment, so I went quickly to grab the camera because moments like these are few and far between... Joshua reading to the girls.

Makes me wish we had more...for a moment:)

A Lot of Pomp, and a "Liddell" Chariots of Fire

2009-06-01T04:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the big night!! Joshua's very first play and graduation. It was so good (except for the fact that the a/c broke:). They did a play on the life of missionary Eric Liddell (pronounced little). This is one of John's favorite missionary stories so we really loved it. He was a missionary to China during WWII and he died in the concentration camps two days before the war ended, he lived a self less life for our Lord and made many sacrifices to serve Him. He was also an Olympic athlete and they made a movie about him called Chariots of Fire. Anyhow during the play they did "flash backs" of Eric's life here is his Kindergarten graduation...

Here they are, ever so cute and they did their parts flawlessly-every one of them. Here are the little "Chinese Children"

Joshua, Kristen, and Charlie

Here are the guys just hanging out.

And that's about it, I couldn't of asked more out of Joshua this year than what he did. Strait A's in every subject and his teacher's always tell me that he is such a good boy. I've never been prouder of him. We love you Joshua Matthew!

Joshua's Last Day Of Kindergarten

2009-05-29T05:50:00.000-07:00

Well today was my first baby's last day of kindergarten..sniff, sniff. Here he is showing off his awards, he got an award for leadership in his class, and for reading comprehension, we are so proud of him! I can't believe that he will be an official first grader now!! And I can't believe we made it through it at last!! It has been a difficult thing, putting our child into school, who knew that it would be so tough?? After a tough year last year, putting him in public school, pulling him out and homeschooling him...then praying:) for a Christian school that we could afford (which seemed impossible by the way), but with God nothing is impossible, God is so gracious to us!! He lead us to this school, I don't doubt it for a second, He sustained us through the most difficult year we have ever had financially and we never once had to think where is the money to pay the tuition this month going to come from? God provided faithfully for Joshua to go to this school I don't doubt that, if you saw the numbers you wouldn't doubt it either. And we love Fellowship Baptist Academy. This has been the happiest year of my life. So for those of you who have little ones that you have not yet entered the great adventure of school, pray first not last about what you need to do, and spare your self the difficulties!! May God be praised for this school!! Stay tuned for pictures of his kindergarten graduation which is this Sunday night...

Out With The Old And In With The Good As New!!!

2009-05-25T15:37:00.000-07:00

Well we did!! We are the proud owners of a 2006 Chrysler Dodge Mini-Van!! Through much prayer, the Lord once again provided for us in a miraculous way:) There was nothing wrong technically with our old van, but it just seemed in the past few months there was always something little going out on it, first with the starter then a hose. So we prayed that God would give us clarity of what we should do, then the Denso company vehicles became available so we thought we would put in for them. There were sixty vans available, and do you know that we did not get one of them?? So we started praying again...what should we do? Well we just knew that we were going to get one of those company cars, because after all we are in a bad economy right? So during the wait we put the van in the paper. The ad ran for 10 days and no one called, so we thought maybe we shouldn't be looking, then the phone rang on day 10 at 2pm!!! It was a lady who had just wrecked her Dodge Caravan the day before and she wanted our van and she was willing to pay asking price!! Well we were not about to sell it after all we had no other van to buy and the company cars were selling for trade in price. So again we started to pray:) And then a hose broke in the van, and then John found this van on the Internet that was on sale for Memorial Day weekend only. And can you guess what kind of price was on it? That's right we got it for trade in value!! Only a God who is mighty can perfectly orchestrate something like this. Having the exact person to buy our van at the exact right time, having the right amount on the exact type of van we were looking for, and it being the exact amount (to the penny) that we had saved for last year when times were better. To God be the glory for this van!! Ain't she a beauty?John just had to show you the inside, with all the extras I'm sure he will be obsessed with it until he figures it all out!This looks way complicated to figure out to me!Joshua and Rebekah's favorite feature, and I'm sure it will be ours too on long trips:)

And there she is, our new used mini van!! God is so good to us!!

Julia's First Dip

2009-05-14T07:01:00.000-07:00

Since I never seem to get Julia doing anything besides sitting in her stroller, I thought I would show you that she does have fun too:) Of course she is sitting in her turtle though!! Here she is in the pool for the first time. She loved it! I have never had one so little that didn't cry in the water, ecspecially since I wasn't holding her. When you have three children I have found out that the last one is the most laid back because your more laid back (I think:) They can have fun without you being in their face and making sure that they don't get a bruise...here's the proof!

Let me go Daddy, I'll be fine!

That's fun Momma!! Look at me, I'm a big girl!

Let's Play Ball!!

2009-05-11T17:01:00.000-07:00

Today was Joshua's first real ball game!! It rained out the first one and his second one rained too, it was overcast, but no rain today, yea! And he did awesome:) Baseball is definitely his sport. He loves it, here are some pictures of his first big game... Here he is playing the pitcher's mound, he's all business.

His first time at bat...

He hit that thing all the way to the fence!

He got two doubles, and a triple here he is on second base. It is going to a fun season.

A Day At The World's Fair Park

2009-05-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

Joshua's school took a field trip to the World's Fair Park today, and boy was it neat! The entire trip was free, which is right up my ally:) We went to the Sun Sphere, Fort Kids play ground and picnic area, and then came back to the World's Fair water fountain. Come and see the fun...
Here's Joshua in the Sun Sphere, LeAnna looks like she is karate chopping him:)

Here's Rebekah and her buddy Henry, look how high up we are!! Yikes!! I got a little nauseated.

Julia had fun too!! I always seem to take her picture in the stroller, but when she is out of it I need my hands free to chase her.

Rebekah demonstrating her ballet skills!!

Here's the whole crew.

Here we are at Fort Kid playground. This place was really cool. Joshua got into character as you can see. He wants to be an army man one day.

Rebekah in action, making her way through the maze of playground equipment. I have never seen a playground that was so big in my life, it really was neat.

Here's the group that rode with me. Notice no Joshua. The bus was way cooler to him. These boys were so good.

The girls of course rode with me. Notice the boys playing Joshua's video game... he he. He didn't know how fun my van would be did he?

Here's my friend Laura looking excited, she was a big help to me once again:)

And once again it was another fun field trip. No one was injured, and everyone had a good time. I did not bring my camera for the fountain portion of the trip:( but in spite of the 65 degree weather and cloudy skies, my children dove right in (no not literally). They looked rather frozen when they came out, but that's the price you gotta pay when you want to have fun. We will definitely be going back here as a family sometime in the near future, it was a good day!

Come Back Soon Grandma And Grandpa

2009-05-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

We had such a good time with Grandma and Grandpa, that this post is dedicated to inviting them back real soon:) Here are some more pictures of fun in the pool while they were here. Grandpa actually cannon-balled in, but I wasn't thinking about it and didn't get a picture of that action.

Here's Joshua with his "shield", he was fighting off Grandpa who was on shore with the water gun:)

Rebekah, ready for sun and fun.

Thanks for coming and for bringing the fun, come back soon!!

Blog Changes

2009-05-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

As you can obviously tell, I changed the blog around a bit. I went here and got a FREE (of course, you know me:) background. What do ya'll think? I'm not good at being creative, but I gave it a whirl!!!

Grandma, Grandpa, Great Danes, and Princesses~~Oh My!!!

2009-04-30T11:31:00.000-07:00

So you know that we had a birthday this week, and of course I had to put up some pictures of the fun that we had at the party. You know also that we had Grandma and Grandpa come for the event, and they brought their 150lb (no kidding) dog Buddy with them. So it was an action packed week filled with excitement for all ages. Here are the exciting day's events...Six beautiful little princesses all dressed to impress. What's a party with out food?

And here's that cake that we made!

Hmmm...how do I blow out the candles?

And of course there were presents!!

And carriage..errr...wagon rides:)

Everyone needed to help Daddy.

Notice that no one helped him up the hill???Buddy the Great dane lounged in the only shady spot he could find.

Here are those crazy girls in their shades! It was such a fun time, I know that this will be a party that we all remember for a long time. Thanks to everyone who made it a special day:)

Happy 4th Birthday Rebekah

2009-04-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

I CAN NOT believe that my little girl is already four years old, where did the time go? My little princess is growing up right before my very eyes...sad yet exciting all at the same time. You want to freeze time when they are little, but you also want to see them grow and mature as well. Happy Birthday Rebekah Danae, we love you!!

R- Is for Really sweet, you always seem do the sweetest things when I have a bad day:)

E- Is for Extra lovable, who could resist your sweet smile?

B- Is for Beautiful which is what the name Rebekah means.

E- Is for Ever so loyal, you are our little lap dog.

K- Is for Kind, I am always amazed at how you like to please everyone.

A- Is for Absoulute joy, I love being your mommie:)

H- Is for Heart, you have one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen.

Happy 4th Birthday Rebekah, we love you!

Betty Crocker in the making...

2009-04-25T10:52:00.000-07:00

This is the big birthday weekend for my little Rebekah, and Grandma and Grandpa came in just for the occasion. She requested a pink cake with pink frosting for her "Princess Party" and Grandma thought it would be fun to bring fresh strawberries from Florida and dip them in chocolate for a garnish...yum:) Here are the pictures of them baking the cake the day before the party...

The excitement is written all over their faces...
Here they are whipping up the frosting.
We had to take some time for some brotherly and sisterly love...Awwwwww.

Here they are picking out the perfect strawberries to go on top.

Putting on the finishing touches.

Ta da! Our first homemade birthday cake! It really was as good as it looks. I think we have a little Betty Crocker on our hands:)

GRAND OPENING!!! The unofficial start to Summer is here!!!

2009-04-17T17:07:00.000-07:00

Well it's that time of the year again, the time when the children are finally getting what they have begging for, for at least two whole months now. It's time to open up the pool!! And let me tell you the excitement was in the air all day long! Here are a few shot of the excited children, and their daddy (he gets excited too:) at the grand opening event: Here's Rebekah, she doesn't care that it is filthy and there are worms on the bottom of it (yuk!) nothing stops her from having a good time.
Here's John hard at work trying to get the pump together.

Joshua got home from school today and was down at the pool, oh in about 30 seconds.

Julia was a land lover, but not by choice, we are going to have to keep a close watch on this little adventurer.
Ok daddy let her come in for a second:) Ah, summer how we love thee!!!

Easter Parties Galore

2009-04-14T14:10:00.000-07:00

Easter has come and gone, and boy was it a busy week!! We had fun though. On Thursday the girls and I went to Joshua's school for their Easter party. They had a ton of fun and it was such a beautiful day...Joshua had so much fun, he won a giant chocolate bunny for finding the most eggs, he is all business when they hide money in the eggs! He didn't find the one with money in it, but he had fun trying anyways.Nothing like looking for eggs among the dead:) Julia hung out in her new set of wheels, thanks Missy, we love it! The kids got their Easter baskets on Saturday and did a small hunt at home.

Julia enjoyed...well her grass:)Here are the mighty hunters...no pics outside whoops!

Here are my three little angels on Easter morning, they all looked so cute.

On to the family gathering. Here are all the grand kids.
I did snag some pics of them hunting eggs here.
Julia liked hunting flowers, not eggs.Ben and Joshua trying to be cool, who won...hmmmm I'll let you be the judge!Happy Easter 2009

A life poured out for Jesus

2009-04-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You. John 17:1
As we are approaching this Easter season, and I have reflected on what the cross means to me, I can't help but share what God has taught me over the past six months in His word and through various trials that He has allowed me to go through. This year I have found myself wondering what does Jesus dying on the cross really mean? Does it mean that He died so that I could go to heaven? Did He die for me? Well yes and no. As I have studied the scriptures I realized for the first time this year that Jesus died on the cross, not for you and me, but to glorify His Father in heaven and in doing so He did pay the price for my sin, and yes I can go to heaven because He died on the cross. You see His obedience to the Father, in spite of His desire to not have to go through this trial (remember He prayed to have the cup removed from Him, yet not my will but Thy will be done). And as I pondered these things for months now, God has really shown me the love that was displayed in all this. I've heard it before, oh but my eyes have been opened to the truth!!! GOD sent HIS Son to die for us, but JESUS obeyed His Father as an example to us. The lessons on love that I have learned from this are that God loves us unconditionally, yes it is true, and what does that mean? True love is doing something for someone else without expecting something in return. Pouring out your life in obedience to God, for God and God alone. Living your life for Jesus, will bring glory to the Father. This is love. So this Easter, it means so much more to me than Jesus died on the cross so I could get to heaven. I want to live my life poured out for Jesus and Jesus alone!! I want to obey God, so that HE can be glorified. My challenge to myself first and foremost and to those who took the time to read this, is that this Easter, praise God that He sent His Son to die on that cross and live your life for Jesus so that God can be glorified today!

Only one life and it will soon be past, only what is done for Christ will last. And when I am dying how happy I'll be if the lamp of my life has been burnt out for thee.

A little Spring training

2009-03-31T11:39:00.000-07:00

Today was Joshua's first baseball practice, he was so cute in his little hat and baseball pants. I can't believe that it's already been a whole year and its time to do it again!! Oh well time flies when you have three children:) Here are a few shots of the first practice...

Here they are running the bases, boy was it muddy out there!

Here they are listening intently to every word the coach is saying, Joshua is in the white shirt raising his hand like a good little fella. John had to help coach so I decided to go to the truck instead of chasing after two girls and being out numbered. The girls were thrilled...
Rebekah pretty much could have fun doing anything, she is soooo easy and such a little blessing to have around.
Julia had fun taking us for a spin, he he, I told you my girls love their daddy's truck!

The Razorbacks Came To Town

2009-03-28T08:52:00.000-07:00

John's family from Arkansas came in for a visit, and stopped by to see us. Of course you don't come to my house without getting your cameo shot on the blog. So come and meet the Arkansas kinfolk... This is John's mom, John's Aunt Sandra Ann, and John's first cousin Kris.

This kids played outside for a few minutes.

Nothing like taking a picture of someone else taking a picture:) I wasn't on my game.

Here's Joshua, Ali (I think she would be the kids' 3rd cousin?) Julia and Rebekah.

Thanks for stopping by, next time come and sit a spell. Ya'll come back now ya hear!

Taste and see that the Lord, He is good

2009-03-25T16:41:00.000-07:00

I just had to show you all this cake that our pastor's wife made for a wedding shower at church. Can you believe that this is a cake?? Kim, you can sure be creative in your cooking, that Rick is one lucky man!!

Just crusin' on a sunny afternoon

2009-03-25T16:21:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of Spring break was getting the kids new bikes. They both out grew their old ones at the same time, the nerve of those kids for growing like that:)
Now Joshua can keep up with us much better, and his little bike doesn't hold him back.

Rebekah loves her new princess bike that we bought, with a coupon of course:)

Boys will be boys

2009-03-25T16:10:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like seeing your 6 year old son and his daddy outside with a chainsaw, being men:) We had a dead tree that had fallen during heavy rains and here are some pictures of the boys cutting it up.

You can just here the manly grunting, can't you??

Spring Break fun with paint

2009-03-25T06:01:00.000-07:00

I never get the paint out that often but the weather was nice and the kids were bored, so we took an afternoon and had fun with the paints:)
Little Picaso's in the making!

A day at the Cove

2009-03-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

One of the things that we did on Spring break was go to the Cove in Knoxville to play with the children from our church. It was a beautiful day, and everyone else noticed that too, because everybody and their brother was there that day. We did have fun though and here are the highlights... Of course there was eating...

Julia and Brooke mingled in their strollers.

The ducks thought that they were invited to eat as well, Rebekah was a little scared of them, and notice that none of the children have their legs dangling:)

They played on the play ground for a little bit, but it was just sooo crowded we decided to go for a walk....

Here's the troops, when this little church gets together, we are way out numbered by our kids:)

That is the first of our Spring break stay tuned for more later.

Spring break what are we doing?

2009-03-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

This week is Joshua's spring break. It couldn't of been a better week for it, the weather is supposed to be beautiful and very spring like. So what are we going to do? And where are we going to go? Stay tuned to find out...

Spring cleaning in stages: The kitchen my final task is complete!!

2009-03-13T06:57:00.000-07:00

Well, just in time for the warm weather, I have finished the job. I have fought the good fight,I have run my race, I have finished my course:) I am so glad that I blogged about it, because I would of threw in the towel last week, so the purpose of blogging about it helped me accomplish my work. I of course forgot to take pics on the first day but here are the pics of the second day... before...And afterbefore...

and after

before...

TA DA!!! Mission accomplished. And I will say that I feel great about it. Now stay tuned for normal blogging:) I'll stop being weird now!

Ahhh Spring Has Sprung!!!

2009-03-07T16:44:00.000-08:00

We took a break from cleaning this weekend to enjoy the beautiful Spring day. We took a picnic lunch to the Greenbelt park and then went on a 6 mile bike ride. It was so nice to have a relaxing day to enjoy just being a family. Here are some pictures of the days events...

Joshua enjoyed making me nervous, by playing dangerously close to the water's edge.

And he would not be Joshua, if he didn't throw in every stick he found along the way.
Rebekah had the best time just hanging out and picking flowers.
Here she is showing you the fruit of her labors.
Julia was just excited that we left the house and she didn't have to sit in a shopping cart:)Then on to the bike ride...Joshua does so good riding he keeps up real good, and when he lags behind, I just try to pass him:) He won't be beat by his momma:)Here are the girl's, yeah they pretty much got it made.

And that was our day, how I love Spring!!!

Spring cleaning in stages: John's second task, Rebekah & Julia's Bedroom

2009-03-03T17:02:00.000-08:00

Ok ok, confession time. I did not get my cupboards cleaned out this week:0!! I was too busy with the girls' room to finish them. I did start them though. This is all due to John getting to work on Friday!! Yeah! It put us behind this week with this room, but I definatly am NOT complaining. He got to work again today too, have I mentioned how good God is to us?? It is absolutely amazing to see Him work in our lives, taking care of us. We are taking none of it for granted though, and know that the doors can shut next week if that is what God wants, but today, I give Him praise that John got to work the past two Friday's. Well anyways here is the much needed transformation of the girls' room, again I forgot the before pics, but picture a room that looked like a bomb went off:) and now look at the after... Fresh paint, pink of course, Rebekah's favorite color. And look there is plenty of room to play now. We had to cage Julia up for some of it, but Joshua kept her entertained:)
My Joshua thinks that he has to be in every picture. That comforter I found on clearance at Target for 9.00 and the sheets for 3.00!! You can't tell but there are little ballerina shoes and princess crowns on it, and the best part is, is that it is reversible with solid pink on the other side, and of course we got two of them for when Julia moves into her new twin bed (not pictured because it just was too much in their room for now). Now on to my favorite part....

An organized closet!! Nothing thrills my heart more than to see everything hanging nice, neat and organized:)

John did a good job didn't he?? I love it and most importantly my girls love it too!! Now next week I will have the cupboards in the kitchen cleaned out and wiped down, Lord willing:)

Spring cleaning in stages: The kitchen part two

2009-02-24T16:30:00.001-08:00

I have completed task number two. All in all it took me 1 and 1/2 hours to do, and I split it up into 3 days, so it took 30 minutes each day I worked on it. Plus I had a really cute helper this time that took all the food out and handed it to me to put it back in....Here she is ready to work, she is going to be such a good mommy some day. The first thing we did was polish the stainless steel...

No before picture of the stove but this is after.Before, (I'm a little embarrassed:)

After, much better!!

Cleaning the fridge, it was the most time consuming. This is the top of it before...
And after...The outside before...and after...The inside before...and after.The pantry beforeand after...I moved most of my food to my new downstairs pantry that John put in for me. He did a great job, and it really decluttered the downstairs closet, which is where most of it was before. So there ya have it. With task number two complete, only one more left in the kitchen...the dreaded cupboards!!! EEK!! I haven't cleaned these out since the day we moved in. So hopefully I will have it completed by next Friday. Hopefully:)

Spring cleaning in stages: John's first task, Joshua's room

2009-02-21T15:56:00.001-08:00

With John's hours being cut, he decided to make the most of it and help me to organize/fix up the house a little:) I'm certainly not complaining:)

So we (when I say we I mean John, he he) switched the girls room and Joshua's room around, painted Joshua's room, and added a closet organizer, and man what a difference!!! Check out all my hubby's hard work...

No before pics, I forgot. But doesn't this look good??

And now for the most transforming part....

An organized closet!!! I did not realize just how much space this would add, and I love it!!

Joshua wanted to show it off for ya'll too:)

Ta Da!! One room completely down, stay tuned for more pictures of the girls room, (I'll try and remember before pics) and the kitchen.

SPRING CLEANING IN STAGES: THE KITCHEN TASK NUMBER ONE

2009-02-19T10:30:00.001-08:00

I decided to blog about my spring cleaning...no I'm not a weirdo:) at least I don't think I am. John was giving me grief about it. I thought that it would be a good way to stay on task with it if I gave myself a dead line and I had to blog about it. I got the idea from my friends at http://www.biblicalwomanhoodblog.blogspot.com/ I didn't do it with them because I like to do things my own way at my own pace. I decided to tackle the kitchen first, and get the biggie out of the way. I am going to break it up into three, maybe four different blogs. I did the first one today, I decluttered the counter tops and wiped them down, moved the microwave, toaster and coffee pot and cleaned under them real good, and soft scrubbed the sink. It took me 25 minutes, take a look at the results... BeforeAfter
Before After, I know it looks about the same, but I cleaned off the clutter on top of the microwave and wiped under it too.

Before
After

BeforeTA DA!!!
All done, now for task number two. I will before the end of next week, clean out the refrigerator, inside and out, the pantry, and clean my stainless steel appliances. I want to be more organized this year and GET RID OF THE CLUTTER!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Julia

2009-02-05T03:25:00.000-08:00

Behold, children are a gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of ones youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.

Psalm 127:3-5aJ- is for all the joy that you have brought us.

U- is for unique, the way our Great God made you.

L- is for loveable, ecspecially when you smile:)

I- is for irresistable, who could resist such a beautiful baby?

A- is for adorable, which sums up what you are!!

So we already had Ms. Julia's party on Sunday, so I get to show you her party. I can not believe that she is already ONE year old!!! Where did the time go?? I can tell you that there is not one day that goes by where we don't thank God for her. She is such a joy to us and we feel so blessed to be her parents:) Children indeed are a heritage from the Lord, fruit of the womb, a reward. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them! Thank you God for my children! Now come with us and see how we celebrated her life for her first birthday...
She had some fun with balloons...

Rebekah thought fluffy needed to join in the fun.Stopping to play with Ben.

What's a party without cake??Here she is digging in to her cupcake.YUM!!Joshua and Rebekah enjoyed this part too. Here is Joshua eating his, Rebekah however scarfed her's up before I could get a picture of it.And of course we had a few presents.She loved this little turtle, it plays music and she starts dancing every time it comes on.And here she is with her new purse and shades:) You are too cute little lady!!And there you have it, Julia's 1st birthday, thank you everyone for making it a special day for her. We love you Julia Ruth!!

Look Who's Walking Now!!

2009-01-26T10:37:00.000-08:00

Little Ms. Julia is walking!!! At 11 1/2 months old she took two steps and then each day since she has gotten braver and braver. Here are a few action shot of her first steps..."Look at me momma, I'm a big girl!"

Gotta get my purse....

See ya'll later, I'm going shopping!!

The First Snow... Errrr... Dusting Of 2009

2009-01-22T10:29:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures of our first snow here in East Tennessee...when I first moved here it used to snow all the time, but now we get excited for a 1/2 inch of snow to frolic in. Fortunately my kids don't remember any big snows, so this is big stuff for them, here are some action shots of the days events...

Here comes daddy with the sled, hey when ya get a sled for Christmas you want to make use of it even if you have to improvise a little.

Joshua & Rebekah going for a ride in their sled!

Joshua trying to go down our hill on his belly unsuccessfully.

Here's Rebekah looking rather frozen.

Julia enjoyed the days events from the inside!

And there ya have it the first big snow of the year here in East Tennessee.

Never Will I Leave You; Never Will I Forsake You

2009-01-16T03:47:00.000-08:00

And when He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but He was asleep. And they went and woke Him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing." And He said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" Then He rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey Him?" Matthew 8:23-27
As many of you who know us have heard, there is a storm brewing here in Maryville Tennesse. The future of John's job is very uncertain, there are major cut backs being made and everyone in the whole company is being forced to work 32 hours instead of 40 hours, that's a loss of $600.00 per month, and the possibility of more hours being cut is very possible....so what does this mean for us? The future of John's job is uncertain and stormy indeed. As I pondered over this in my morning time of Bible reading and prayer, these passages in Matthew came alive for me. Just because I am a follower of God does not mean that I will not be allowed to experience storms, my life is not going to be rosy posy and a fairy tale. He allows these storms for a purpose and it will work together for our good I am sure. In these verses the disciples followed Jesus onto the boat, Jesus allowed them to get on the boat knowing that there was a storm coming...and the storm did indeed come and yes the disciples were afraid, and yes it appeared that Jesus was asleep and unaware of what was going on, but then He awoke and displayed His glory by commanding the storm to go away!! This is our hope!! Yes, following Jesus does not mean an easy life, yes following Jesus we will sometimes go through storms, oh but in the end He will be glorified!! And I am so thankful that we do not have to go through this storm alone!! May God be glorified during this storm in our lives, may we not have little faith, may we trust in Him and not Denso and money during this uncertain time, and may we not forget the command and the promise of Hebrews 13:5 to Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

A Weekend In The Wilderness???

2009-01-09T17:05:00.000-08:00

This year with our Christmas money, we wanted to do something fun, something that we have never done before, soooo we decided to take it and spend a weekend in the wilderness...Wilderness at the Smokies that is!! It's the world's largest indoor water park!! And what fun we did have, so come with us on our little family adventure in the wilderness and see the fun and excitement...

Here is the slides that come from the inside and go outside, then come back in..they were surprisingly very warm. When we came over the hill and Joshua saw it for the first time, he hung his mouth open and all he could say was "Whoa!".

Ok so by now all of you know that we can not take a trip without some exciting, life or death experience. The first night of our stay at about 8:30 the fire alarm went off...ok, now what? So we called down to the front desk and they said, "Nothing to worry about, just a glitch, or something burnt in the kitchen." So we tried our best to drown out the high pitched sound of the fire alarm (of course Joshua & Julia both would of went up in flames, as neither one of them so much as stirred in their beds). Well 30 minutes went by and that alarm still was going strong and then the phone rang, and you guessed it, they said "We need to evacuate the building immediately." So here we go out the door with three very sleepy children in their pj's down to sit in our truck in the frigid cold and boy oh boy did we come close to getting our money back and going home that night:o But all was well they took care of the problem and I took these pictures so that I would laugh later that I had to sit in my truck in the freezing cold when I had paid $150.00 a night for a hotel room:)

Well we did not go home, and we were so glad we stayed, here are the pictures of the fun that we had...

All three children ready to go and have some fun.

My favorite spot was the hot tub, the only problem is that once you get in it, everything else feels cold, so I tried to stay away till the end. This hot tub was so cool, it was indoor and outdoor and it was absolutely huge!

John had a mid-life crisis moment and thought he would try to surf:) He really did do better than I thought he would, no broken bones, and all limbs were in tact when he got off.

A little father daughter bonding moment

Julia enjoyed herself on shore eating snacks while daddy and I took turns with the older two.
Joshua in the wave pool, this was by far his favorite, and mine too:) It was just like the beach and we had so much fun trying to fight the waves.
John tricked Rebekah by taking her out when the waves weren't on and then riding the waves in...she did not enjoy herself in here and everytime John would take his hand off of her she would let daddy know about it.
She liked it much better in the shallow part.

Over in kiddie land, the girls really had a blast! Didn't I tell you that anywhere there is a swing you will find Rebekah in it? Even in the water.

Julia liked the swings too.

Joshua even liked kiddie land for a few minutes:)

This slide is where Rebekah spent about 75% of her time.

So there ya have it, another Eldridge family vacation. We came, we had a fire emergency, we froze in the truck (which by the way we are convinced is cursed), we almost left, we decided to stay, and we had a blast!!!

Joshua's First Basketball Game

2009-01-03T13:30:00.000-08:00

Joshua's first game was this Saturday, and it was sooo much fun to watch! He still is not liking it, but once he understands more I think he will. Here he is on his first time in...

Uhhh what am I supposed to be doing again???

Here he is playing a little bit of defense.

Overall he had a really good first game for not really knowing what was going on, he didn't score but he got 3 rebounds and 1 assist. Not to shabby, and not that we care:) It's all just for fun and exercise and mainly to run off all that energy that he has:)

I Can't Put My Arms Down!!!

2008-12-31T18:02:00.000-08:00

These are the cutest pictures of my sweet baby girls, they are all bundled up to go walk the neighborhood in 45 degree weather.
"Help me Momma, I can't put my arms down!"