My Son is engaged!!!!!!!!!!!!

My precious son asked his darling girlfriend to be his wife today......AND he asked her in front of her parents and my husband and me!!! What an amazing joy that was!! God has answered my prayers for a godly wife for my son. What a joy to share this moment and to have this precious woman for our daugther. Welcome to our family, Lainey. I thank God for you.

God is a Walker

God loves to walk. And not just for exercise either! He walked with Adam and Eve "in the cool of the evening", Genesis 3:8. Just reading those words always makes me want to let out an audible "Ahhhhh....". Imagine walking with God, did they laugh? Did God explain things to them?? Or did they just enjoy each other's company? We'll never know for sure, but we do know this much, sin stopped those walks and hiding from God took the place of walking with God.
But God so loved us, so wanted to be with us, so wanted to walk with us that He sent His one and only Son that whosoever believed in Him might be able to walk with God forever. Jesus was born to take away the sin of the world and to reunite us with our Father, our Creator, the maker and lover of our souls.
Do you walk with God or do you hide from God? When was the last time you spoke to Him first thing in the morning asking Him what He'd like to do in you, through you and with you that day? When was the last time you sought His advice, enjoyed His company, thanked Him for who He is or just cried out in despair to Him?
I've had a dead line on a writing project. With the holidays and with some family issues this deadline has caused me a lot of stress! But while it has caused stress it has also brought me closer to my Lord. Knowing that I cannot accomplish this project in my own strength I have turned to Him in my heart and mind as I talk to Him in prayer constantly. I have not enjoyed the stress but I have enjoyed being closer to Him.
A couple of days ago the deadline was extended. "Yippee!!!", was my first reaction. Joy and enthusiasm were my first feelings yesterday when I awoke. "I have so many things that I can take care of today! I can even visit some family and friends now that I'm not chained to the computer", I thought. And I did have a great day!! But at the end of the day I realized that I'd not walked with my Lord as closely. The reason? I didn't need Him.
Matthew 1:23, "See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel, which is translated "God is with us". Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' birth, Immanuel. God is not content to be with us intermittently, He was to be with us 24 hours a day 7 days a week. He's crazy about us! He "dwells" in us through His Spirit and will never leave us or forsake us. Yet how often do I forsake and leave Him?
Oh, God thank You for the gift of Jesus. Thank You that I can walk with You, dwell with You and enjoy You. Keep my wandering heart knit to Yours.

Becoming an After

I just saw my friend's pictures...her before picture from a year ago and today's picture!! She's lost about 70 pounds this year and I'm so proud of her. Her secret? Just one day at a time doing the right thing.
I so love the "quick fix"...quick is so much easier than slow! I think that is why so few of us grow in Christ. We want quick and easy, but it is the slow steady growth in faith, day after day, that produces the greatest results.
Most of us have put our faith in Jesus for eternal life and we believe that one day we will breath one last ragged breath and be ferried across the great chasm of death to the other side where this life ends and eternity begins. And we also believe that God will somehow gather the ashes of our bodies, the disintegrated, rotted or non-existent particles of ourselves and from that produce a glorified body like His own.
Yet few of us trust Him and believe in Him for our everyday life. Few of us believe Him during the trials, the confusion, the pain, but we must understand that "without faith it is impossible to please Him." Hebrews 11:6
When I finally appear before Him and see Him face to face I want so badly to be an "after", looking much more like Him than I did before I put my faith in Him. I have to admit that I am at a point in my walk with Him where I am struggling. He is teaching me new things and I'll just say right now that old dogs do not learn new tricks easily! While I do not know what He is doing, why He is doing it or when He will finish this new work in me, I do know Who and how it will get done....God through His Spirit, by faith. And each day that I stick to His path, His way, His will, His truth I will be that much closer to eventually becoming an "after" in Christ.

Marathon Mentality

Marathon Mentality The Lord is teaching me the value of endurance. I must admit that for most of my life I either quit what I started or more often than not I wouldn't even try believing that failure was certain. For example, in the past if I had more failed days than success days I would just give up the diet altogether. The same held true for my spiritual walk. Once I decided to read the Bible in a year I would give up entirely once I got a few days behind. Giving up when I failed or things became too difficult was so much easier than enduring through the failures and trials. But, according to James 1: 2-4, perfection is obtained not by a lack of failure, but by enduring in spite of the failures. “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Have you made a goal this year, whether spiritually or in another area of your life? Endure, my friend, endure. Stay in the race, stick to it no matter what your failures, no matter what your set backs, no matter what your obstacles, no matter how you feel and this time next year you will be further down the road than you are right now. My son is an athlete, a runner to be specific. He trained most of 2007 for his first marathon. For months he endured rain, cold, heat, humidity, sickness, injuries and in spite of everything he continued to run, never quitting. Two days before the race we were together and as we were discussing the race I said, “David, I hear it is supposed to be really rainy and cold for the race. Are you bummed out?”I will never forget what he said with clear determination, “Mom, I didn’t train for the weather, I trained for the race.” I stared back at him as I pondered that profound truth. In other words, he gave no consideration to the weather, to his comfort, to his health or to any other thing…he had just one goal: run the race and finish the race no matter what. I have determined to run the race God has set before me with endurance and my goal is simple: keep running until I finish the race, until I see His face and until I hear those words, “Well done good and faithful servant.”

Life Interupts

My life has been interrupted a lot lately. Just when I have all of my plans made....bam, something happens to interrupt them! I'm working on a writing project and so want to continue on and finish it but life keeps getting in the way. With the constant pressure of an unfinished project hanging over my head I easily become discouraged and frustrated. Once I have a goal set I just hate delays.
Today as yet another interruption came my way it occurred to me that I might be interrupting God's plans for me. His plan is for me to be conformed to the image of Christ, for me to walk in the good works that He prepared for me to walk in beforehand and yet how often do I interrupt His grand plans by going on about my life as if it were my own? I wonder how long I've delayed His perfect will in my life?
I want to be mindful, as "life happens", that He is still in control, that He can be trusted and that His plans are far better than my own. I don't want to miss one single thing He has for me.
Oh, Lord, may I have one goal only: to please You in all respects.