Blogging took a back seat these past months but just the other day I was looking through some old posts and realized how much I enjoyed having past moments and thoughts captured here to go back too. So I am going to try to be more present here and on that note I will begin with my one little word for this year......
Prepare.....just last week as I was thinking  about this God placed this word in my head and I have not been able to get it out! So this year will be all about preparing....

Preparing my mind.... But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 1 Peter 3:15
studying His word.....going deeper in

Preparing my body..... "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body," 1 Cor 6:19-20
healthier eating habits and regular exercise.....remembering my water and vitamins


Preparing my spirit......Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2
Being in constant communication with the one that keeps me on track.....organize my prayer life to be more effective....be still more to hear His voice

I am also praying about how I am preparing my children.......and how I might do better at that. More thoughts on that to come. But for now as we begin this New Year I know I need to draw close to the only one who can give me the strength I need to accomplish His plans for me......

I have had an ahha moment......you know the kind that makes you say "Of course, why did it take me so long to get it!!"

I have been reading through Brother Lawrence's book The Practice of the Presence of God. It is an amazing little book packed with the humble writings of a brother who had an intimate relationship with God. It is about finding God everywhere.....even when washing dishes or sweeping the floors. I read it the first time last year and enjoyed it alot but was somewhat mystified as to if I could really get there.

Fast forward to this year. It is so true that sufferings and troubles bring us closer to our Lord. If I had not been close and in constant communication with God through my fathers illness I don't know how I would have survived. God is my lifeline. He is my strength, my ever present help. Oh I know he has always been there before, but there is something about suffering that just brings my need of Him so much closer, stronger........not sure of the right word for it.......all I know is that without Him I would not have made it.

This year our Pastor has also been preaching on the Holy Spirit and how we as Christians don't even realize the power we have within us......that God has given us......to do his will.....  We have had so many amazing sermons these past few months! The Holy Spirit is flowing and moving in our church and people are being transformed. Isn't this how church is supposed to be!!

Because of all of this I have felt closer to God then ever. I am striving to live my life in His presence and let me tell you it is the most amazing place to be. And the really neat thing is my striving is not a hard thing anymore....it is a peaceful thing......not sure that makes sense. But when I use to try to stay in His presence....I had to think about it and work at it. Now for some reason it is easier...oh sure I wander sometimes but now I feel Him calling me back and my soul longs for His presence and the peace I have only in Him. It's just such a gift.....a gift I never thought to have.....a gift God wants us all to have!

So here is my ahha moment......before when I would worship or pray I was always thinking God was above me or next to me even......I worshiped the God above.....I prayed to my Father who was holding my hand sitting next to me. But God is not away.....above.....or next to me......He is in me.

Well I finished Sally's book Dancing with my Father and I wanted to share some things I learned from it.

This was a timely read for me as I am dealing with my Dads cancer and the struggle my parents go through every day and I am wondering at times what the purpose is for all this pain and despair. Sally talks about finding joy in the midst of trials....

The key to joy in the midst of trials is in knowing and believing that God is always good. Always.
(Wow.....do I really believe that in my heart?)
I must remember and chose to believe that He is working even when I can't see Him; that this test is the work of my life, my opportunity to have a testimony or a story of His faithfulness.
(so every minute, every second even, I need to be turning my heart towards praise, thanksgiving and rest....knowing that God is there working everything together to make me more like Him)

Worrying and fretting only squeeze out joy........I can't live in both worlds at once. I need to chose the peace of Christ or the worry of the world......

Belief is the antidote for a troubled heart.......believe in Him, that He is with me, that He is good and will take care of me.

There was so much in this book that spoke to my heart. Finding joy in suffering is not easy. But this is the kind of faith that pleases God. I need to really believe Rev. 21:4-5.....there will be no more tears, pain, sorrow, all former things will pass away!!

Joy is a choice of my heart. I need to guard my heart against this world and the enemy who would have me doubt my King. I am finding that this is a moment by moment choice that I need to make.....but I am finding the more time I spend with him in His word, the more prepared I am to do battle and protect my heart. The more I model myself after Jesus being humble and gentle....the easier it is to have this joy overflowing in my heart.

This is a book I know I will come back to and read once a year....it's a good reminder on where to find our true joy!!

I just got my hands on Sally Clarkson's newest book Dancing with my Father. This book is all about finding the joy that should be ours ALWAYS in Christ.

Sally begins by recounting the story of David and how he had a different heart. Because he had a different heart he looked at life differently then those around him did. He was able to defeat the giant because of that heart and he also was able to joyously dance in the street to celebrate his God with such abandon and child like wonder. Sally's Mom explained it this way in the book.....

Challenge 18 at JS was to do a page about a goal. As I have been studying about being holy and striving to figure out what that looks like in my life I thought I would do a mini album with the verses I am reading and some quotes that really speak to me. This will be a great reminder to me of my goal to be holy. And believe me I need moment to moment reminders on this!!!














I used a 7 gypsies rubber band album and then some basic grey and we r memory keepers papers. Lots of fun ribbon and embellys and tags. I took the inside pages which were cream and used a technique I just learned over at 2 peas. Jennifer McGuire is doing a wonderful video class on inking over there for the rest of the month....and it's free! Check it out here Inking Class
I took distress ink and the inking tool and worked the spiced marmalade ink all over the paper. I love the way it looks.....very cool and easy. I even inked one of the flowers up in this way.
Looks like rain again today....more time to scrap...but the kids are bouncing of the walls!!!

Have a blessed day!!

Point # 2 Peter makes is do not conform to the evil desires you had. (1:14) if we love Jesus we will deny our selfish desires and ideas and obey Him. Ouch!! This is sometimes a hard one....I always think I have such good ideas!
But obeying Jesus leads to victory in all spiritual battles!!

Point #3 be holy (1:15-16) Holy means set apart from sin. God is holy and perfect without sin....this is our goal. We are to be different than the world. We are Gods children and are called to be conformed to His likeness. He never said it would be easy, Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Mt 7:13-14)
We are to be truthful pure and loving as he is.

Point #4 live as strangers in reverent fear (1:17) God is our judge. I think we can agree there is not enough fear of god in todays world...even in the church. God will judge us according to what we have done. We are to be set apart from this world, different, strangers.
We are to be pure and full of joy, a light to others for Christ.
We are to fear God.

Just a heads up that I posted on my other blog today All is grace about what it means to be holy and perfect in this world. I feel God calling me to study this deeper and will be looking into 1 Peter the next couple of days. I am working on a mini book for the verses I am pondering and chewing on....I can't wait to share it with you!

but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy". 1 Peter 1:15-16

Our ladies bible study touched on communication for the past 2 weeks and how powerful our words as Moms are.
God has given us our words.....he gave them to us to worship Him. Every word that comes out of our mouths should be worship to him.....Wow! That was just huge to me and convicting!! Do all my words worship Him?
Our words should be so surrendered to Jesus that anyone listening to me is touched by Jesus. My words should bring healing....but can so easily bring devastation...how I communicate should be effective, gentle,and in an edifying and Godly manner.


So much of my speech is unprofitable and useless.....


My religion will be useless if I can not control my tongue....in other words my relationship with Christ will not be effective if I don't bridle my tongue....

All of my communication needs to be filtered through the holy spirit. Will this be easy? No!! It is something I need to work on continually


God tells us it is hard to control our tongues but with the holy spirits help we can do it!!


Our words are so powerful and can either build up or tear down those we speak too.


Everything we say or do should bring glory to God...every word. I need to clamp my tongue and not let anything come out until I have filtered it through the Holy Spirit.

In Matthew 12 33-37 it tells us a tree is known by its fruit.
for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks
our hearts must change for our words to change. Our hearts and tongues are connected....

It is not easy to change!! But if we desire it God will help us and we can have abundant life....abundant speech through Him!!

change=pain=growth=blessings=abundant life!!

Idle words are useless and bring no glory to God. Others should be able to see my good fruits by the words of my mouth.
Have good treasure in our hearts at it will over flow out of our mouths! We do this by hiding His word in our hearts!! This is so important!! Memorizing His word will change our hearts!!

Now let's take all these thoughts into our homes.....
As Moms we have power. Power to speak into our children and spouses words that will transform their lives. I am responsible to see that those words are encouraging and positive .
Another point is that we can not take back our words ......we must think and filter every word through the Holy Spirit.
It is said that for every positive thing you say 10 negative things have already been said. How sad that it is easier for us to be quick to criticize then quick to encourage.....

As a Mom it is so easy to fall into the habit of always correcting, always seeing what is wrong in our child. We are the ones guiding and shaping them so we are looking to catch them and point them in the right direction. But God says we are to be positive and encouraging and always gentle and edifying to Him in our speech.

So I am purposing to turn my speech around to catch my kids when they do something good. To show them the grace that Christ shows me.

Brian and I are praying and making a list for each child of the fruits God wants to see in this childs life. What character traits need work? What fruit do we want to see? And instead of badgering and correcting we are going to start catching this child when they are showing that trait.
Because the things that we speak into our children are what they become.....they will grow into these traits and fruits that we communicate to them. We need to encourage them in these areas with grace and gentleness and be positive about it. Be passionate and sincere about it.
Will this take time? Yes!!! With 7 kids that's 35 positive things to catch them in a day.....
Is it worth it? Yes!!! Because I have the power to raise these children for Christ and this is how He would have us do it. With gentleness and kindness and a bridle on my tongue.

The speaker at our bible study said that when we speak to someone we need to leave them with Jesus. Yes, leave them with Jesus.....so bridle our tongue and our opinions and our comments and let Jesus speak through you and use you......let others see and hear Jesus in you.

This is my memory verse this week.....