Short Devotion!

     As I am sitting here and looking back on the past year and realizing there is just under 10 hours left of 2011 it makes me think of all the awesome things God has done.  Then it also makes me look forward to the things he is going to do not only for me and my family, but for my friends as well.  Don't forget to praise God in the trials as well as the triumph, for in each of these there is a lesson that God is just waiting to teach us:)

     Have a very safe and blessed 2012! 

Friday Challenge!

     Today's challenge is to make a dreamboard for 2012.  A dreamboard is something I learned to do while working on Xango.  A dreamboard is made up of your dreams and ambitions for the upcoming year..Craig does this and we even do it with Silena!
     The subconscious has a way of putting everything it sees on a regular basis into it's memory.  If you put the dreamboard somewhere where you will see it, then before you know it, your memory will help you to accomplish whatever it is you want.
     Why is it that only kids get to have dreams?  It is very important as adults to have goals, dreams, and ambitions.  These are what get you through the really hard, crappy days when you just want to lay in bed.  We all have dreams...no matter how silly they are!  They could be simple or they could be a stretch, but remember your subconscious will help you to accomplish them!
     Try doing this and remember...a dream has no limit:)

Happy New Year!

A mustard seed!

     I hope all of you are recovering from your Christmas events and gearing up for another great holiday...New Year!  I didn't know what to write so opened my bible and decided on a scripture.  It wasn't the first one I opened to, but found it after searching for a few moments.
     Matthew 17: 19-20- Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He replied, "Because you have so little faith.  I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you."
     I didn't exactly know how small a mustard seed was so I went onto google and this is what picture came up:

I can't believe it...We can move any mountain and it doesn't matter what the world says, but God says this is all we have to have, 20 mm worth of faith, for him to move a mountain for us!  How awesome is that?  It shouldn't matter what we are going through here on earth, no matter how hard the trial is, God wants us to know that we just have to believe he will move the mountain for us.  One thing I learned yesterday while doing my bible study...not only do you have to believe miracles with your heart, but you also have to speak miracles, as if you have received them.  Don't speak against the things you are asking to be moved!  We are truly capable of anything:)

2012!

     I can not believe we are a week away from another new year!  It is crazy..I remember this time 12 years ago when people were freaking out about Y2K.  Wouldn't you know it people are freaking about the Myan Calendar and the fact that they "predicted" the world to end at the end of 2012.  Maybe it's hard to believe because we have literally no snow down on the ground and it looks and feels like spring.  Weird!  As I end my year with reading the whole bible and start my new year by running 13.1 miles, I think about how wonderful my life is.  I am accomplishing all these things before my 30th birthday and I have found a new love for the Lord. 
     I think it is an awesome thing to have really small goals and accomplish those because it makes it really easy to get focused on the bigger goals if you can check off the small ones!  What are your goals for the new year?  Not resolutions that will last a whole month, but true goals that you can work towards!  Remember the Lord wants to see if we can be faithful and responsible with the small stuff...and when he can see that then he will give us more responsibility and bigger blessings:)

Have a great last week of 2011!

Take a minute!

     The excitement in my house is brewing!  My princess made a Christmas chain in school and therefore she knows the exact number of days till Christmas.  Which I honestly thought it would get annoying, but it is rather cute.  She knows what night "Santa" is coming and told me last night that the only thing she hopes Santa brings her are Figit Friends...do I understand the big deal of these...nope!  But guess what, she is getting these, which means her grandparents are pretty much off the hook.  Anything beyond these she will love and will be an added bonus. 
     I remember getting this excited for Christmas and always putting at least one thing on my list that I was hoping and praying that I would get.  And now I understand why my "Santa" would always get excited and have the video camera going every Christmas morning...thanks a lot by the way!  I remember getting my first Nutcracker when I was eight and the excitement is just as high 21 years later whenever I get a nutcracker. 
     My point is to really enjoy the last few days...pick out one or two things this Christmas just to take a minute to enjoy.  Whether it be that you were blessed with money to give to the people you love, or given the ability to bake, or given the chance to bless a complete stranger, or watching your children get truly excited.  These are all things God wants us to remember this weekend. 
     Have a great Christmas and remember to take a minute to enjoy the little things:)

     I have made it....the Book of Revelation!  There were points in the last three months where I got bored out of my mind reading parts of it and there were points where I honestly wanted to quit.  I am glad I didn't...the things the Lord showed me through reading HIS word are priceless.
     I have learned how truly amazing his love is, like when he kept giving the Israelites chance and chance and they still refused to listen.  It made me mad just reading it...come on already, just stop causing trouble, was my thought.  But it's just like kids isn't it?  We as parents are saying just stop already and you won't have to get into trouble.  The Lord truly loves us with patience, grace and mercy.
     Another thing He showed me was how much he wants to do awesome things for us.  I have always heard lots of scripture to stand on and think about when I am facing trial, but to actually see this same scripture in context has grown my faith to no end.  Every time I have a thought that I know is not from God I have a TON of scripture now to lean on and recite. 
     Not only do I have scripture, but now I can see all the miracles performed and done so people would believe and see that God was real.  It just shows what he can and will do for the people who love him. 
     I am so glad I did this and am looking forward to reading the last book...I am so glad I was able to spend these last three months so intently seeking after God!

Merry CHRISTmas!

     As we are in the week before Christmas and we all rush around trying to finish the baking, decorating and shopping let's try to really enjoy the season.
     This has always been my favorite time of year...except for my birthday of course:)  I am really trying to enjoy the season and it helps that my little princess is finally old enough to really realize what Christmas is.  I think as much fun as shopping, baking and decorating is we need to remember that all that was created by man!  God created Jesus and it was man that decided to turn it into the big hoopla holiday it is.  Jesus was created for us so that we may be forgiven and granted the privelage of living in heaven someday.
     So, as I am in the middle of baking, this is going to be short!  Remember that the holiday is about our salvation and the gift we got 2000 years ago.  Don't forget to say Merry Christmas and help people to remember the reason that we get to celebrate this awesome day...if it weren't for Jesus there wouldn't even be Christmas:)

Could you imagine?

     I think only women could completely understand this, could you imagine bleeding for 12 years?  I could not!  How annoying and scary at the same time...but then could you imagine just stopping immediately all because you believed one man could heal you.  When everyone else thought you were insane?
     Matthew 9: 20-22...Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.  She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."  Jesus turned and saw her.  "Take heart daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you."  And the woman was healed from that moment.
     Some people think that faith is this really big thing and if they get up at 4am and read and pray, or go to church everyday, or memorize thousands of scripture than that is true faith and God will honor that.  I don't think God meant for it to be something that takes that much time...this women didn't pray, or get up at 4am or go to church everyday.  All she said was I have faith that this man will heal me!  That is all God wants from us, is for us to believe he can and will do miraculous things just because he loves us.  Of course, he does what us to memorize scripture and go to church and to pray...but a little everyday. 
     In my opinion the main thing he wants from us is our faith that he can do amazing things, just because he loves us:)
    

He is mighty to save!

     Today's devotion comes from Zephaniah 3:17: "The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."
     This is a very sweet verse.  How cool is it to know that the Lord is here with us all the time?  He is always here to help us through the day and to comfort us when we reach those hard points in our day.  When we do good and honor him he is rejoicing over our successes, and when we know we have sinned or not sinned he is there waiting to offer us grace and forgiveness.  It is amazing how big of a God he is...I don't think I realized how much he really cares until I read the parts of the bible that I hadn't read or heard of before.  He fought for his people and even pleaded with his people to follow and obey him, he cares and loves us more than we will ever know. 
     How cool is that?:)

Friday Challenge!

     I was going tanning the other day and I saw the neatest quote at the front desk!  I thought that could be our challenge for the day:
     Good Morning, this is God,
     I will be handling all your problems today
     so go ahead and give them to me and have a good day! 
    
     I also imagine there is probably an I love you somewhere in there as well.  So go ahead...give God your problems and have a great weekend:)

Waiting...

     As I approach my final week in the quest to read the best book ever written, I came upon a very cool verse!  It is from Romans 8: 24-25:
     For in this hope we were saved.  But hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what he already has?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.  I find this verse so intriguing.  The verse before that said that we are in anticipation of eagerly waiting to be adopted into God's kingdom and the redemption of our bodies. 
     Isn't it true?  We never hope for things we have, because of course, what's the point!  I hope for a house...oh, wait I already have one.  I hope for a great job..oh, wait I have one of those too.  I hope for great friends...oh, wait I have those too.  It is kind of goofy to hope for the things we have..unless of course we don't appreciate the things we have.  God wants us to hope for the things unseen!  That is where faith comes in, waiting for the things that God has promised but not quite shown us yet.  He wants us to continue waiting patiently for his promises to be revealed but also to remember that hope is giving him glory and honor in the mean time?:)

     So today's devotion comes from Matthew 16:21-23: From that time on, Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.  Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.  "Never, Lord!" he said.  "This shall never happen to you!" Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
     When I was reading this it made me realize that even Jesus had temptations.  He had to learn to control his thoughts, he had to be careful of his actions and he had to be strong in what he said.  Jesus was human just like us and faced the same things we do today.  As I make my way through the new testament I realize he gave us words and quotes to stand on as satan tries to tempt and control us!  Satan is nothing but a stumbling block, let us remember that Jesus is a rock and rocks never crumble. 
     As each and every day comes and we are tempted to think and say things that are not of God, remember to open your bible and look up quotes to stand upon!  God is our rock and our strength..satan can try whatever he wants and as long as we remember what our rock says we will not stumble:)

Making the difference!

     Sometimes, God puts us in a leadership role and we are asked to inspire, train and reach whoever we are leading.  We work hard and do everything we are asked and it just seems we may not be making a difference.  Let me give a new perspective:
     Since about the second week of dance classes I decided I wanted to teach my classes a "word of the day."  This word is meant only to plant a seed and inspire my dancers to be more than they think they can be.  Every week we discuss a word that I pick: integrity, persevereance, responsibility, respect, humility, generousity, etc.  Of course, we have had a lot more than that, but that is just a few.  Now it doesn't matter age or capability of understanding...which, yes it means I even do this with my four year olds!
     Well, a couple weeks I was stretching with my four year olds and one of them said it was too hard.  Somebody else yelled out perseverance!  Then later on in class when I was explaining that we had to keep our tap shoes quiet, someone else yelled out respect!  I honestly didn't think my four year olds would grasp these concepts.  It is quite advanced and I was just doing it because they seemed to enjoy it and it is always good to teach little kids big, apropriate words.
     These dancers not only remembered the words but used them in the correct context!  You see, even when we think that what we do can't make a difference, or we only see whoever we are leading for an hour a week, it can make a difference.  As long as we plant the seed then God will make sure to sow that seed:)
    

Sometimes you have to hear more than once!

     Okay, so I have read the parable of the sower so many times.  I have heard many variations and I have kind of understood but reading the whole story myself...a light bulb finally went off!
     Jesus sits among large crowds and tells this parable: A farmer scattered seed, some fell along the path and the birds ate it.  Some fell on rocky places and it sprang up quickly because it didn't have much soil.  When the sun came the plants were scorched because they did not have roots.  Some seeds fell among thorns which grew but chocked the other plants.  Other seed fell among good soil where it produced a crop.
     God wants us to be that good soil.  He wants us to have such faith and belief in his word that no matter what comes against us we stay strong because we have roots to ground us.  Some people will be the other seeds and completely fall apart when things come against them, we need to have our moments of panic, but then we need to look at who can turn those moments of panic into praise.  The bible is our root to keep us grounded and focused on what really matters.

Matthew 13: 1-9

Friday Challenge!

     Today's challenge is this: Find an extra person or charity to bless this season.  Jesus said whatever you do in my name for the least of these you do for me. 
     Let's show God how much we appreciate him and his faithfulness by giving a little extra this month.  Craig and I already sponser 2 children through World Vision, one from Zambia and one from Mozambique.  They send us a gift catalog every year around this time for this exact reason.  We have decided to send an extra amount of money to help go toward emergency food and shelter in the Horn of Africa.  We are giving this in honor of our "nieces" first birthday, she got so many presents this year we decided to do this instead. 
     It doesn't matter how much money...it doesn't even have to be money, it could be time.  Let's pay back how blessed we all are by paying the blessing forward!

Have a great weekend...I have a lot going on this weeknd so I won't be writing another one till Monday:)