Come...

Come thou fount of every blessing

Tune my heart to sing thy grace;

 Streams of mercy never ceasing,

Call for songs of loudest praise, 

 Teach me some melodious sonnet

sung by flaming tongues above; 

Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon it

Mount of thy Redeeming love.

Words from hymn Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Care-Free

This morning, I read a twitter/fb update from Scott England. He wrote: "When I find myself overcome by fear or insecurity, I like to kick it in the teeth with these words." 2 Timothy 1:7

So, after having battled with  feeling a little "less than" over the past few days and no I do not mean less than as in size, but just 'less than'. I have been overcome with some fear, mainly insecurities that rock my soul. This morning, after reading his statement, I had to get up from the breakfast table while the kids polished off the last bites of their bacon and looked up 2 Timothy 1:7.

This is what 2 Timothy 1:7 says in the amplified:
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity [of cowardice of craven and cringing and fawning fear], but He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well balanced mind and discipline and self control."

Jolie is feeling care-free here...

Earlier in the weekend, I received my daily prayer devotional email from Germaine Copeland of Word Ministries. Every day I receive a short little devotion followed by a scripture filled prayer. AND her little emails are always timely. Sometimes the subject matter hits home hard with me and is just what I needed...(same Holy Spirit)...I always say I just wish HE would email me or something...and sometimes He uses Germaine Copeland's email ministry to do just that...The title of her short devotional/prayer was Care free. The devotion stated how our bodies can not tolerate the burden of worry, fretting and anxiety because it causes a chemical imbalance in our DNA and messes up the production of necessary hormones for physical, mental and emotional health. Worry is probably the major cause of sickness...and because of this we should cast our cares and lay them on the LORD.

Feelin' a little carefree here...

Start singing Lay um Down by Need to Breathe as you ponder that last statement... or just watch the following youtube of my oldest singing it..





I want to do as her devotion states and cast my care to the  Lord for He cares for me. She suggested approaching God boldly in prayer and read aloud His word and the worries will subside.

Pray these words from her devotion/prayer email...

Heavenly Father, I thank You for your goodness. In the name of Jesus I cast the whole of my care~all anxieties, worries and concerns upon you! I know that you love me and care for me. ANd those for whom I am praying. Today I make all my requests known to you with thanksgiving. I know you hear me, and I believe your best answers are on the way from the moment I ask AMEN.
Word Ministries Inc....

Today, I prayed that prayer and looked up the scriptures she listed with it.,( Psalm 136:1,Phil.4:6, 1Peter 5:7). However, at speech today, Jolie melted down, and continued the melt all the way home...I joined her. Today was Karlie's last final exam...today is just a melting day. But He cares for me...and I will continue to cast my cares over and over and over. FOR HE cares for me and mine...

me and mine

Peace for a woman's soul...

Yesterday as I was about to head out the door to go to a funeral visitation, I felt a nudge to grab an old book of mine and take it with me. My prayer was that the book could bring some comfort to the mom who had lost her son. So I went in the study thumbed through the book noticing some of my favorite passages, and underlines. I  found the book Peace for a Woman's Soul  about 3 years ago. The book is full of scripture about peace, as well as quotes from various authors. One of my favorite quotes that I underlined and even re-wrote on the back cover was, Dare to believe that he has greater things right around the corner....don't let your ability or inability to think your way around circumstances hold you back. Pray and rest. Then pray some more. Barbara Johnson" Since it was a gift book,  it had one of those presented to pages in the front. Since I bought it for myself, I actually filled it in. As I was reading it yesterday, I noticed it said, Presented to Me, from Myself, for the Occasion, of dealing with a 2nd miscarriage 2/08.

When I grabbed it yesterday, for one last look at the book that had given me some comfort during a very grievous time, I noticed that under that presentation page, I had at sometime gone back and scribbled in this...
"God Blessed us with Jolie through adoption...Feb 2011..."

Did you see that?

3 years later...

to

the

exact

month

of

that

loss...

God

blessed us with

Jolie..

God is faithful...He is always something else...He continues to show up, and bless.

Joy does come in the morning.

Sunday's a comin'

He took my sins and my sorrows,

He made them His very own;

 He bore the burden to Calvary,

And suffered and died alone

O how marvelous, O how wonderful

Is my Savior’s love for me!

It's Friday! BUT Sunday's a comin'

I am participating in Favorite Photo Friday 

over at The Long Road to China and Back

 *words from hymn I stand amazed in His Presence and Sermon Title: It's Friday, But Sunday's a comin'

A Special Invitation from Jolie

Easter is this Sunday!

Won't you come go to Church this Easter?

Jesus loves me!

Jesus loves you!

At my church there are three services to chose from...

Jolie says, " I am from China where worshiping Jesus is not so common. In 1949, the Chinese government implemented state atheism. Christianity is on the rise in China, but many Christians worship in secret. 

BUT 

You

Can

Celebrate 
HIM
Everyday.

Easter is this Sunday, and you do not have to worship Him in secret.

So what's your excuse?

Come worship the Risen LORD at a church near you.

"I'll see ya at church."

"..The Lord is risen indeed..." Luke 24:34

Best Decision I ever made

Life is full of decisions and choices to be made. I have made my share of good and bad choices over my lifetime, but the best decision I ever made was to follow Jesus. At the age of 13 years old, I  finally asked Jesus to take control of my life. You see I  knew who Jesus was, but I didn't KNOW Him. I knew I needed HIM, I knew I was a  mess. So, my mom talked me through the scriptures, and I asked Him to take control of my life and HE did. I have not been the same since! Sure, I have grown a lot, made mistakes, struggled with bad thought life, and even with doubts. BUT I am thankful that although I am growing in Him, I know that He is not done with me yet...I have one of those under construction signs with the orange cones  right in front of my life. I am thrilled that I am a work in progress~HIS work in progress.

At church, our focus has been The Frontier Awaits. Our church has partnered with other churches around the globe, seeking to share JESUS with those who have never heard of HIS saving grace. Also, our pastor challenges us to be a missionary in our own mission field, at work,  in our community, and with our family. After all we are missionaries everywhere we go, our lives are speaking to others,but what is it saying? If we know JESUS then are we being that light in this dark world?

So, I want to make the most of those divine appointments in my life, I want to take this opportunity to share a sweet little card that was given to us at church it was designed by the Billy Graham organization. The card's fold is called the never ending card ...and that's just what eternity is~ never ending.

The never ending card opens like this, and has STEPS to peace with GOD...

Fold the card to see step 2...we see what separates us from GOD and that is sin!

We can see that no matter what good we think we can do, it won't bridge the gap between us and GOD, but one bridge does and it is...

The Cross! God's bridge is The Cross.

Our Response is to TRUST JESUS.

Admit that you are a sinner.

Be willing to turn from your sins.

Believe that Jesus died for you on the cross and rose from the grave.

Pray to Jesus like the prayer listed on the card above.

Next!

 LIVE for JESUS..

If you have asked Jesus to take control of your life for the first time, let somebody know, comment here, or email me, I will be happy to pray for you as you live for JESUS and grow in HIM!

Christmas is FANtasTic

For the 2nd year in a row I have not been involved in the Church musical. All other years since high school, I've participated, but this year it was good to sit back and just watch. Shek was in it this year, so I made sure to take photos. Because our pastor's favorite word is Fantastic, some of the staff did a little spoof video about it and shared it at the beginning of the show tonight. So I titled this blog, Christmas is Fantastic for that very reason. Here's some photos of tonight's show...it was awesome! One of the best I've ever been to!

Simply Christmas was the title of the concert...

 Mark Hall sings.

 Dancing girls...my friends' daughter is on the left

 Our Pastor

 A techno Christmas...playing music on an ipad

Name that tune 

 Mrs. Dee sign language interpreter(she's also an instructor at HOME of FINE arts) ....Isn't sign language the most beautiful of all languages? It's so expressive.

The Preschool and Elementary Choirs sing 

 There's my Shek singing next to the girl, and his friend Christian on the other side.

 Mark Hall of Casting Crowns sings with the kids.

 see my boy...his eyes are peeking out over the blonde girl's head.

 The song they sang was so sweet

 I keep taking photos hoping to get more than just his eyes peeping out.

 He's there in the white shirt, but it's kind of a blur.

 An awesome jazz group played...Tim the drummer that played with them is also one of the instructors at HOME of Fine Arts

 He sounded like Kenny g.

 Staff and choir members sang a little number together

 He alone is worthy!

 The Adult Choir sings

 The strings...Andres at left, plays with the group...he is also an instructor at HOME of FINE arts

The CHOIR

 Children dressed like shepherds, Mary and Joseph, etc...brought candles to light the manger as the Christmas story was told.

 There he is and you can see his whole self...not just his eyes! LOL

 Everyone sings

 On the big screen

 The finale

Christmas is fantastic! Jesus is FANtastic! It's a Fantastic time of year.