Hand picked

After class on Sunday morning (thanks, Les) I began thinking about Job. When Satan was looking for someone to go after God pointed out Job to him. "Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason." Job 2:3

When I think about trials in my own life, I can't help but hope that God pointed me out to Satan. "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 1 Cor. 10:13 God has said that He will not allow me to be tempted beyond what I can bear. If God picked me to be tempted by Satan shouldn't I be thankful for every trial I have to endure knowing that God has total faith that I can get through it if I am leaning on Him. He has my back in every situation I will ever be in.

So if that is the case, what should I be gaining from those trials. I believe first that God uses those trials I must go through, because I will soon encounter someone who needs me to help them when they are going through the same type trials. I also believe He is using it so that my faith in Him will continue to grow. If life was easy and I had no problems, then I would have no need to lean on Him. When I look back at my past trials, as tough as some were, I can honestly say I am more than grateful for them. I do feel that my relationship with God was strengthened through each situation and I hope I am a better person because of them.

There is no part of me that believes I have it all figured out, but I do find comfort in knowing that there is a God who loves me unconditionally and therefore He would only allow me to suffer because there is something I am to gain from it.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

I hope that if anyone reads this, they will be able to think about how special and amazing it is that God is allowing you to go through your trials because He knows, with Him, you will come out ahead in the end.

Did I just hear that?

While driving to Mother's Day Out last week, I was flipping through stations cause they are in the middle of the pledge drive on Klove and do a lot more talking than I can handle in the morning. So I land on a station where I hear the dj ask "who would you be willing to sleep with to get what you want?" I honestly could not believe that this is on the radio. Since that day, my mind has been constantly questioning how close we are to being Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19). We are quickly becoming a country with no morals and no backbone. What happened to standing up for what believe in. Are we fearful of what others are going to think or afraid we will hurt someone's feelings? I hope that when I am doing something that is defying my Lord that the people who see it will tell me, in a loving way. It might hurt my feelings, but in the end, if it is someone who is looking out for my soul, I can only be thankful that they care enough about me to want the best for me.

I look at the world that my daughter is going to grow up in and fear what she will have to face if she is living her life for God. I hope she knows how important it is for her to stay pure until marriage. I hope that others see her and see a loving, confident girl who cares for others and their salvation. I hope that this world will not be one where she feels like she has to fit in and be a part of it. I want her to be the VOICE not the echo!

I hope I can be the voice! I need to be constantly seeking to help others grow to know God! I need to be the example of what I want my children to be. My parents were an incredible example to me of living what they taught. I only hope I can be that for my children.

What in the world...

The past week has left me asking a lot of questions about where we are headed as a family. It is often so hard for me to know what it is God wants me to do with my life. I do feel strongly that my place right now is to be at home with Danika, trying my best to raise her in a way that pleases my Lord and will help her to love others and bring others to know Him.

I know he has also put adoption strongly on my heart from a young age. I have always felt that it would be a very obvious thing, when the time was right. So I wonder now, do we consider going through an agency now, or is He telling us to wait. I am praying for the answer and I know He will let us know.

I guess until then my job is to continue to raise this sweet little girl to know

How fun!!! So excited y'all are having a boy!! That is so fun!! I cannot
believe how big Easton is getting!! It is going to be so fun to have 2!God and to one day be a big sister :-)

Life and what I am to do with it...

I have been really thinking a lot about what it is that God wants me to do with my life. I know that me raising Danika and making sure I teach her the way God wants me to is a very important part of what I am supposed to be doing, but the other part of me knows there should be more.

As I reflect on the times in my life where I feel like I was doing part of what God wants me to do, I continue to go back to the times where I was giving my time and energy to others.

I struggle now with knowing how to juggle taking care of Danika, helping others the way God would want me to and not spending money we don't have to do it.

I am going to try and devote my time to praying about this and letting God guide me where he wants me. I hope to use the talents He has given me to glorify him.

From The Cosby Show to the Jersey Shore

With all the political turmoil and the constant reminder from the world around me I keep thinking about how morally unsound our country has become. I can't help but ponder why the sudden decline.

I keep going back to the television. It shocks me when I watch a movie or tv show and some of the words once banned from television is suddenly used repetitively on basic channels. What I have come to realize is that not too long ago our role models on television were the Cleavers or the Huxtables and now the most popular families are not families at all, but couples living together or single parents raising children. Although I am fully aware that those are also the same family units we see in our country it does make me wonder which came first. I look back at some of the shows I watched growing up, when I only knew of one girl from school who's parents were divorced, and I am beginning to think that our society has begun to think that what we see on tv and in movies is real life and so it has become acceptable to live in a way that breaks apart the foundation of the family and what God intended for it to be.

God teaches us to love. Love the sinner, hate the sin. We are all sinners and God has amazing grace that will cover those sins if we are striving to do his will for our lives. I fall short daily and cannot judge someone else, because only God knows our heart. What I can say is that as a believer in Christ, I must start looking at the way that I live my life, not only physically, but also what I allow my family to be exposed to. If anything is going to change, we must take a stand for our children and the children in this country who don't have parents who are willing to look out for them, possibly because they have not been taught any better.

I am often so afraid I will step on someone's toes, so I don't get involved in other's lives like I should. This is the time to make a difference and if it is only one person who it helps, that is one person who's life is better for it.

What teaching taught me...

Entering into teaching, I knew I would learn a lot about kids. I did not realize I would learn so much about life.

First off, teaching taught me that a child cannot be expected to learn things that mean nothing to them when they are not being loved and cared for the way God intended. Without someone who cares for them, they will more than likely fail at school subjects.

I also have learned that it takes one person to love them, care about them and let them know they matter in this world. I saw teachers who took the time to show a child love and saw amazing results from it.

We wonder so often what has happened in America. Why do people seem so self centered? I believe a lot of the selfishness we see comes from growing up in a family where children had to scrounge for attention and love from parents who were too busy watching television, worrying about their own life, or over working to keep up with their lifestyle.

In teaching I saw a lot of children who just wanted to be loved. It is obvious why God tells us that love is the greatest command. It is amazing to see the affect of one kind gesture. People crave love and kindness!

I feel we can all learn a lot from the children that I taught and show love, not just once a day, but to that terrible waiter, to the cashier who seems too busy to check you out, to the police officer who pulls you over (yes, I am talking to me) and to any and every person that we come in contact with.

Make your life one that when others come in contact with you, they are better for it.

Places to go and people to meet!

In moving to Memphis, I thought "I'm pretty outgoing, meeting people is not going to be a problem." Although meeting people has not been an issue, I find I still really miss having that super close connection to people, especially at church. I think I have taken for granted the wonderful friendships that I have been blessed with my entire life. I am so thankful for those people!

What I am beginning to realize is that me getting to know people and form close friendships is not someone else's job. It is my job. I have not allowed myself to get very close to others, because I don't want to want to stay here. I want to move back to Nashville and in my mind it makes more sense to keep people at a distance. The truth is, God wants me to use the talents he has given me no matter where I am. Good or bad, for me, forming relationships to encourage others is one way I feel called to show God to this world. So by trying to do my will by not growing close to others, I am going against what God has planned for me. I want to do God's will and glorify him through my life. So I now have a choice, I can continue doing what I am doing with the same results or I can break out and choose to follow God's will for me whether it makes things harder later or not. If I die tomorrow I want to know that God was able to use me daily for his kingdom!

And now I must share the hilarious pic from yesterday ...

Do I care less...

I don't know if anyone else is having this problem, but I am beginning to wonder if seeing people's problems all the time (on Facebook) makes you care less about what is going on in people's lives. I feel a though I usually care about others quite a bit, but lately I have noticed if I am on Facebook, I am often glazing right over serious problems that people are having without really stopping to think much about it. I don't want to become heartless or not care about the serious issues in people's lives. I am beginning to wonder if that is a way the devil is trying to use facebook to harden our hearts. It is like when you see really gory movies over and over and therefore it doesn't affect you. Maybe since we see it on a computer screen instead of a person actually telling us, we begin to think of it as "not real life."

Maybe I am the only person who is feeling this way. I have been limiting myself on how much I get on there so hopefully that won't happen, but it has really started to bother me. I am beginning to think I might be giving it up for good in the very near future.

Wow! What a year!

You could not have told me a year and a half ago that my life would be where it is right now!

I have an amazing husband who works hard and shows his love for our family daily. I have been able to stay at home with Danika, which has always been my hope for when I became a mother. And I have been blessed with an amazing daughter who makes me smile a million times every day.

I know we always hear that God's timing is always right, but it is difficult to see sometimes when things are not going the way you planned for them to go. I am slowly seeing why it is that God has seen fit that we did not have a child before now. First of all, I am now able to stay home (besides teaching mother's day out and art lessons, which I enjoy). But the other things I have noticed is that I have become far more patient the older I have gotten. Because of the miscarriage, I also think I am a lot more appreciative of Danika. I am able to enjoy the little things, that I think before I would have just ignored or gotten annoyed by. I have also benefitted from seeing others raise their children. There are many things I have been taught by watching those around me.

A couple years ago, we were a family, but now we feel a lot more like we are a happy little team with lots of love to go around!