great JOY on this thankful thursday

A thankful heart breeds JOY. When you begin to count your blessings, you can't help but be filled with unspeakable, unending joy. Joy that just begs to be shared with others. Today, I am thankful for these things that fill me with GREAT JOY:

** Spending time with my oldest granddaughter, Mikaela. She has the sweetest personality and always has a smile on her precious face. She still loves to hug me and kiss me and tells me she loves me often. She reminds me so much of her mother when she was a little girl.

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**  Being entertained by Eli wherever we are. He loves to climb on things and to hang upside down. He is quick to give me big hugs and kisses and he is always so serious when he tells me, "Nana, I just love you". 

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** Seeing Mercie rocking her baby doll and singing to it.

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** Seeing the little boys face that I am now sponsoring through Compel Outreach. I pray that I can make a difference in Peters life.

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** Finding scriptures that just minister so sweetly to my spirit and writing them on index cards so I can keep them close to my heart and at my fingertips.

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** Seeing this little fella take 3 steps today! Silas will be walking in no time!

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** Reaching #100 in my 1000 Gifts Journal. It has really made me more aware of the many, many gifts bestowed upon me on a daily basis.

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** Listening to Bryton talk about God and ask a million questions about heaven.

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** Watching Sawyer try to do everything that his big brother does. I told him one day that may get him in trouble...

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** Little sparkly shoes under my coffee table.... because that means little sparkly girls are at my house!

Thank you sweet Lord for all these blessings. You fill me with joy uncontainable and I love you.



it's not about me

I sit on my back patio and close my eyes. The cool and crisp morning breeze delivers a fresh smelling fragrance that is comforting to my spirit. The quiet is broken only by the occasional sounds of nature. The sweet songs of birds communicating with one another ushers in peace.

I love this time with God. I enjoy gazing all around at His creation and then digging into the Holy Word while surrounded by the awesome evidence of a Holy Creator. He is so amazing.

My heart is still so full of the powerful messages delivered during our revival services. Messages straight from God's heart to the lips of His servant and then right into the hungry souls of man. Delivered deep down into the very depths of my spirit.

So much truth. So much power. Just so much....

My heart was sorely convicted. My spirit was joyously renewed. My fervor for the Word re-energized. So many people to reach. So many lives to touch. So little time to do it.

Too much worry about the temporal and not near enough concern about the eternal. Help me, Lord. Too much focus on fleshly enjoyment and not near enough on spiritual growth and satisfaction.

Therein lies the deep hole in our gospel and in our faith. We get burdened for the lost. We get convicted of our sin. But we fail to do anything about it. We have got to be moved by it. We have got to be stirred into action. We have got to be doers of the Word and not just hearers only. (James 1:22)

It's about obedience to God. It's about a glorious faith that leads to works. It's about service. It's about surrender. Christ beckons to us, His followers, to be His hands and feet in a lost and dying world. Will we answer the call?

"God never asks us to give what we do not have,

but He cannot use what we will not give."

(Richard Stearns)

You see, it's not about us. It's not about this world and the things of this world. It's not about bigger houses, better cars or more stuff. It's all about Jesus. It's about bringing a living Savior to a lost people.

Lord, continue to convict my heart of my selfishness and help me to be selfless for You. Continue to stir my heart into seeking what you are teaching me and help me to be willing to go where you are leading me. I want to be about Your business. I want to put You first. I want to be surrendered to You in all things and for all time. I love you, Lord, and I worship you with all that is in me...

a picture filled thankful thursday

"Giving thanks always for all things unto

God and the Father in the name of our

Lord Jesus Christ"

(Ephesians 5:20)

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I am thankful for 8 year old granddaughters, who still like to go to the park with their Nana.

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I am thankful for 5 year old grandsons that appreciate their nana's love of a camera and always oblige with a smile!

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I am thankful for little 3 year old girls in sunglasses.

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I'm thankful for my mother who took her 6 great grandchildren to 'build-a-bear' and had a great time with 2 of her granddaughters and daughter at the same time!

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I am thankful for little boys who love to play outside and love coming to Nana's house.

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I'm thankful for precious little feet in sandals ......

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I'm thankful for the start of ball season....

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I am so thankful for the first page of my 'One thousand gifts' journal that I started. It has caused me to be more aware of the daily gifts bestowed upon me by my Lord. Things that I usually overlook but now am very conscious of. Thank you, Lord for all that you do for me.

Join Dana for thankful thursday each week.



Come Holy Spirit...



I felt the Holy Spirit nudging me and felt a real tugging at my heart. I was nestled comfortably in my favorite spot on the love seat and was deep in the Word when the Lord began beckoning me to His House. I got up and walked across the parking lot and entered the darkened sanctuary.

Silence. Peace. I felt the presence of God the minute I passed through the doors. Sweet goosebumps settled on my neck and my arms. I whispered, 'He is here...' I made my way to the altar and sat on the steps in the cloak of darkness. The only light on was the one in the baptistry.

I could hear the water running and I smiled to myself at the significance of it. Salvation. Precious souls giving their lives fully to Christ. Thank you, Lord, for drawing those sweet people to you and for your amazing grace.

As I sat in the stillness, I could feel the powerful presence of God settling over me. His presence was so sweet. The Spirit was so heavy and so thick in the room. Almost stifling. I began praying for the services the next day. Praying that the Holy Spirit be evident to each person walking through those doors. I prayed for God to overwhelm us. Astound us. Fill us with unspeakable joy and allow praise to overflow from our lips.

My favorite preacher walked in from checking the water in the baptistry and we sat in the quiet together. We soaked in the glory of the Lord as it invaded the entire sanctuary. The silence was deafening. In it there was peace, comfort and sweet whispers of the Holy Spirit.

As we prayed together for ourselves and for the collective body of Christ in our church, our hearts cried out in unison for a mighty work to begin in each of us. That our revival would never end and that the fire that has been ignited in us and is consuming us still, burn forever.

We finished praying and just sat in the stillness of the moment. Basking in the awesome goodness of our God. Savoring the sweet aroma of His presence. Reveling in the knowledge that He loves us.  Jesus loves us....

Come Holy Spirit. Come and do your thing in our midst! Assault us with your presence. Blow us away with your power. Do a mighty work in our lives and service like never before.

"And suddenly there came a sound from heaven

as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled

all the house where they were sitting"

Acts 2:2

consuming fire

"So that the priests could not stand to minister by

reason of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD

had filled the house of God"

(2 Chronicles 5:14)

Our church has been in revival since Sunday morning. We have had 5 of the most powerful services that I have ever experienced. The fire of the Holy Spirit has fallen in our midst like never before. The move of the Spirit has been so strong and the anointing of the Lord has just been flowing like a mighty river.

Lives have been changed. Decisions have been made. Peoples hearts have been moved to action. Souls have been saved.

The revival has been held in our church sanctuary, but the people that filled up our pews have been from many different churches and several different denominations. We have come together as one body. The body of Christ.

Hungry for the fire to fall upon us and ignite us with a real and mighty move of God. Desperate for the Word of God to leap off the pages of the holy scriptures and bury itself deep into our hearts. Longing for a real change to take place in our lives. Yearning for a deeper thirst for the living water.

The glory of the Lord has filled the House. We have encountered the consuming fire of God. God has been speaking loudly from the lips of His anointed servant. Speaking truth. Speaking love.

Our services were to end tonight, but the move of the Spirit has been so amazing and the outpouring so strong, that no one wanted it to end. The revival pastor and the worship group said they would stay. We will be having two more services and will conclude on Friday night unless the Lord deems otherwise.

There is nothing I would rather do than worship my Lord. There is no place I would rather be than the House of God.

I am thankful that God is still moving upon His people. I am thankful that for such a time as this, He is doing a mighty work in our midst. I am thankful for the amazing grace that is my salvation.

Consume us, Lord, with the fires of revival.

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Join Dana for Thankful Thursday!

I am  so blessed to be a contributing writer at 2 amazing blogs. I will be posting every Wednesday at DAILY PRAYER and I post every other Wednesday at Titus2inAction. Please join me and the other writers and let God bless you through His servants doing what they love to do - bring the sweetness of His Spirit to yours through the written word.

I'm nothing in the equation of grace

It's a sobering thought that in the spiritual equation that results in Grace, our part in it is nothing. Zero. Nada. Absolutely nothing of our own self is present in that wondrous equation. Jesus plus nothing equals Grace. His Blood plus nothing equals Grace. Grace isn't the result of anything we can do or stop doing. Jesus did it all. Jesus paid the entire price for us at the Cross of Calvary.

What took place at the Cross was not accidental. Every part of it was intentional. It was part of God's plan from the very beginning of creation. God knew exactly what it would take for us to be able to spend eternity with Him. He knew that we couldn't do it ourselves. We couldn't even keep 10 simple rules better known as the Ten Commandments. He knew that it was going to take much more than what we had to offer. It would take a Redeemer. A Justifier. A Savior. Someone to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows. Someone to bear all our iniquity.

God took our sins and placed them upon His perfect Son. For us. Isaiah 53:6 tells us, ... and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all".  Can you imagine what it was like for God to take ALL of our sins and intentionally place them upon His Son so that we could live? He placed all of our guilt and all of our shame upon Him. He placed all of our filth and our unrighteousness upon His perfect Son.

"For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin;

that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him"

(2 Corinthians 5:21)

We did nothing in this equation of Grace. Jesus did it all. We don't deserve it. We don't earn it. We can't be good enough or work hard enough to be worthy of it. We don't even seek Him on our own accord. Unless He draw us, we have no power to seek after Him.

"As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one;

there is none that understandeth, there is

none that seeketh after God"

(Romans 3:10-11)

Only through God's precious Son, can we experience salvation. Only when He lives inside of us, can we begin to live a life of righteousness for Him. Only when we believe in Him, can we receive this precious gift of Grace extended so lovingly to us.

Grace is the costliest gift that has ever been given. It cost Jesus everything. It cost  us nothing. He became all of our sins so that we could become His righteousness and live a life of Holiness. If we don't have a desire to live a Holy life, then we don't fully understand Grace. Or the Cross.

We have all sinned. We have all fallen short of His glory. But through Jesus, we have been justified freely by the Grace of God. Through the redemption in Christ Jesus. And all we have to do is receive it.

Thank you precious Lord for becoming my sin for me. Thank you for willingly giving your life at the Cross for me. Thank you for Grace. I love you with all of my heart and I want to worship you and serve you all the days of my life.

"Grace doesn't just get us into the

presence of God, but Grace enables

us to live the life He desires for us

 to  live"  - Louie Giglio

open thy mouth wide...

"I am the LORD thy God, which brought

thee out of the land of Egypt;

open thy mouth wide, and

I will fill it" (Psalm 81:10)

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I am nourished, yet hungry.

Satisfied, but lacking.

My soul yearns for more.

My heart desires to be further enlightened.

I seek....

I dive into the Holy Scriptures frantically,

wanting a Word. Needing a Word.

Craving deep revelation to my soul.
Opening my mouth wide and praying

that He will fill it.

I devour the Bread of Life with urgency.

I fill my soul with the awesome Word of God.

Seeking to know.  Seeking to find. Seeking....

I glory in His Name. Bask in His Word.

Satiate my spirit, O God, with only You.

Breathe in my prayer, Oh, Lord, like a sweet aroma

and exhale your sweet Spirit to cover me.

As I feel your presence wrap around me with

sweet comfort, I marvel at Your goodness.

I stand in awe of Your power and majesty.

I glory in Your embrace. I thirst and hunger for more.

I am longing for a deep filling of Your Spirit. I turn

my eyes toward heaven, hands lifted high. Arms

open to receive.. mouth open wide. 

 Fill me Lord.



I am thankful that God spoke through my excess

As I stood inside my closet, my eyes fell upon stacks and stacks of shoeboxes. I glanced to my left and took in the sight of a shoe rack hanging on the wall. It was filled with even more shoes. I counted them and was shocked. And ashamed. I had 48 pair of shoes. Excess.

I fixed my gaze on the closet rod to my right and began looking at the long row full of shirts, jackets and blouses. I didn't even want to count them, but I did anyway. 100... I had 100 shirts hanging in my closet. And that didn't even count the sweaters that filled a drawer in my dresser. Or the t-shirts that filled another one. Excess.

I looked at my dresses and skirts and pants that occupied yet another rod in my closet. I didn't even bother to count. I knew there were too many.

As I walked into my bedroom from the closet, I opened my drawers and I continued to see too much. Way too much. And I was ashamed.

Who needs 20 pairs of pajama pants and matching shirts? Who needs 30 undershirts in every color possible? Why do I need a drawer filled with bracelets and earrings when I basically wear only a few of them. Why is there a cross on my dresser draped with about 30 necklaces that I never wear but keep them anyway?

I began to think about this and realized that I had becomes much too focused on clothes and shoes and stuff. Much too materialistic.. I had spent way too much money on things that were not very important. I had too much. Excess...And God began convicting my heart and speaking a word to my ailing spirit.

Excess... A quantity much larger than needed. A state of exceeding what is normal or sufficient.

I was guilty of excess alright.. Big-time excess. I suppose I have always been aware that I had too much. I buy things when I don't really need them. I buy things because they're cute and pretty, not necessarily because of a need I have for them. I spend way too much on frivilous things.

Did you know that 40% of the world, or 2.6 billion people, live on less than $2 a day. Two dollars a day.... I spend that much almost every day on a diet cherry coke from Sonic. And I will drive 13 miles to town and 13 miles back just to fill that craving. That is absurd. And that really shames me. 

Did you know that 15% of the world, or 1.0 billion people, live on less than $1 a day. One dollar!

I am living in some major abundance while there are people working very hard for the price of a sonic drink. I waste more money than billions of people make.

Each day, over 26,500 children die of preventable causes related to their poverty. That is almost 10 million children a year. About 9 million people die each year due to causes related to hunger. There are over 350 million children in the world classified as 'hungry'.

And I am sitting here in my excess and not really giving much thought to the poverty that affects so many. I've never been hungry. Never missed a meal because of a lack of food. As a follower of Christ, I need to be more aware of the plight of so many people in this world. I need to realize that in my excess I am not doing what I should be doing to try and help. I am not being a good steward of what God as blessed me

with.

The Lord has been showing me that there are many ways I can cut back in my excess and use it to begin helping those in need.  God has been dealing with my heart on this and helping me to see that I have way too much and it's time to start scaling back. It's time to take the excess and give to those that need it. It's time to find a way to begin doing something to help fight against poverty in this world. It's more than just paying my tithe at church and thinking that's the best I can do. I can't just sit idly by and not try and do my part.

I am thankful that God used my closet to speak truth to my heart. I am thankful that He is changing me little by little and molding me more into who He wants me to be. I am thankful that He revealed this excess in my life deep into my heart.

"When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien" (Leviticus 23:22)

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Join Dana for Thankful Thursday!

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**statistics from "The Hole in our Gospel" by Richard Stearns

all that He is to me

Jesus...

He is Holy,
   Majestic,
   Faithful,
   True

His Name is powerful,
   Wonderful,
   Mighty

He fills me with awestruck wonder,
   Unfathomable peace,
   Unspeakable joy

He is my breath,
   my life,
   my ALL

His mercy brings me to my knees.

His grace astounds me.

His love compels me.

His goodness overwhelms me

 I will praise and exalt Him.
 I will worship and adore Him.

I stand in awe of Him....
   in awe of His word,
   His beauty,
   His majesty,
   His holiness

He fills me. He uses me. He completes me.

Jesus....my Savior. My Redeemer. My friend..

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This song just does it to me everytime. Brings me to my knees in wonder of my God. Listen and enjoy. (If you need to go to the bottom of the page and mute my music, please do. Let this song just wash over you and fill you with awestruck wonder of our King!

so much to be thankful for this thankful thursday

I am thankful for Dana and the gracious way she took the baton from Greg to continue our thankful thursday posts. Thank you, Dana!

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I am thankful that I am a child of the King. Forgiven. Redeemed by His precious blood. Thank you, Lord for the amazing gift of Grace that you so lovingly extended to me. I love you from the very depths of my being and I want to serve you all the days of my life.

"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7)

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I am thankful for the beautiful spring-like weather we have had the past few days. My grandson, Eli, loves it too because he says he can wear his "short-sleeved pants"... I am thankful for the precious things that my grandchildren say as well, that fill my heart with joy!

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I am thankful that my grandchildren understand the power of prayer even at their young ages. When they are sick, after their parents pray for them, they have their mama call "Nana" to pray over the phone. I love being able to pray with them and I love that they KNOW Jesus is the ultimate doctor!

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I am thankful for the sweet conversation we had yesterday with Bryton (4) about God. He was talking about going to heaven to see Him and asking about how we were going to get there and what we would do there. He then looked up at me and said, 'Nana, you can go see your daddy when we get there.." I am telling you, that just about did me in. That he would even remember that my daddy was there, as he has been gone for 16 years, but that he would think about and know how much it would mean to me to see him... I love that little dude.

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I am thankful that in my quest for the direction God is leading me and my husband, I have been reading some amazing books. Books that the Lord is leading me to and books that are confirming... I love "The Hole in our Gospel" by Richard Stearns. It is a life-changing book. One that I highly recommend for ANY Christian. I am still reading it, but came across a quote last night that has just washed over my spirit and settled in my heart. I close with it....

"God can't give you the blessings He has for you

until you first put down the other things you

are clutching in your hands"

Praise you sweet Jesus for the mighty work you are in the process of doing in my life. I am so in love with you that I can't even comprehend the depths of it. You are my breath. My life. My all.

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